Al Corey Music Center: Playing On
By Michelle Troutman

One of 10 children born to Lebanese parents, Elias Corey began playing music as a child, having received a harmonica as a Christmas gift from his sister Catherine. He later switched to the saxophone, and formed an army infantry band during World War II. After the war, he and the band continued playing locally.

Somewhere along the way, El became Al. "And his story behind that, I don't know how true it is -- I can't back it up with anything -- was that The El Corey Band was going to play some where, and the newspapers actually typoed it and wrote it A-L, and it was Al Corey from then on," says Al Corey Music Center assistant manager Mae Beth Smart.

She believes he opened his store about 1949 as a small lessons studio at 120 Main Street. To serve those students, he began selling instruments. By 1959, the store had moved to its current location, 99 Main Street.

Manager Brian Sullivan began working there part-time while attending Thomas College 40 years ago, and has seen the inventory change from records to CDs, and TVs, and stereos to a leaner operation revolving around sales of sheet music, pianos, keyboards, guitars, band instruments, and accessories. They still offer lessons by musicians with experience playing those instruments.

Smart started work after graduating from high school in 1973, and has worked on and off over the years. "We get a lot of customers who still come in here and say, 'I remember standing right here at this counter looking through the 45s to see which one was the top hit.'"

Nowadays, the majority of their customers are parents and young people. The parents are often buying starter instruments, such as guitars, for their kids, spurred on by the popular video game Guitar Hero.

"We've sold a number of guitars to parents of kids that have come in. They got started with Guitar Hero, and now they're fascinated with the whole Guitar Hero concept," Sullivan says.

After Al died in 2003 at age 86, his family inherited ownership and ran the store for a year before selling it to Thomas Burns.

The Al Corey Band still plays swing and big band music with the famous soft “Corey touch” statewide at fairs and other events under bandleader Brian Nadeau.

Of Corey, Sullivan says he was more of a people person than a businessman. "His success was based on his personality, and how he worked with people. Most people loved him, especially the little kids.”

"I don't know how many people have come back in over the years saying, 'Oh yeah, I remember when Al used to make balloon dogs for me. He did the quarter trick -- he'd pull a quarter out of my ear.'"

As a boss, Sullivan says Corey "was just really very laidback. He let you know what he wanted, but he was not pushy, he wasn't really demanding. He was a lot of fun at times."

Not surprisingly, they've had a few brushes with greatness. Bela Fleck and Arlo Guthrie number among their customers. Sullivan recalls that the Dave Brubeck Trio came in to change before a local performance, and during their visit, Al's saxophone mouthpiece became an item of interest. "That was a big deal to Al, that he had a saxophone mouthpiece that -- I think it was Paul Desmond, or at least Dave Brubeck's saxophone player wanted to buy. Of course, Al wouldn't sell it to him. It was rare."

Smart and Sullivan credit their regular customers for their enjoyment of the business and its longevity. "We're grateful, and thankful, for all the customers that we've had that have become friends, really," says Smart.

"It's the customer loyalty that's helped us get through the tough times, and it's looking better now, because of that," agrees Sullivan.

Al Corey Music Center at 99 Main St. is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00am to 5:00pm: 207-872-5622. www.alcorey.com.

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