Salty Brine: Grand Père et Petit Fils

We may have indulged ourselves (and oldest friends and family) at some point by doing a post on New England broadcaster Salty Brine (Walter Leslie Brine, 1918-2004), but we hop to it today because there’s timely business in the second part, another shoe to drop, as it were.

For over a half century, Salty was the big star at radio station WPRO out of Providence, spinning yarns and records with equal cheer. We listened to radio constantly in those days (that is, when we weren’t watching television) and so he was a part of all of our daily lives. From his name and his appearance (above) you ought to be able to glean that he was a highly nautical fellow. But he was more than that. He was kind of like the mascot who embodied the spirit of Rhode Island. He was our equivalent of Uncle Sam or Mickey Mouse or something. Except he was flesh and blood. He lived one town over from me in Narragansett, and so you would see him at public events, and be thrilled when he warmly shook your hand. And you’d have the uncanny experience of witnessing the God-like voice that announced the snowstorm school closures (“no school Fawstah-Glawstah) — coming out of HIM.

The nickname evolved from an earlier one, Walt the Salt, for he loved sailing and the sea. Rhode is called “The Ocean State”, because it basically consists entirely of the area surrounding Narragansett Bay. It was founded by religious heretics who fled Massachusetts; it’s so small because Connecticut was founded due West before Rhode Island had a chance to expand. (For those who are wondering why such a tiny State exists at all). Salty was born and raised in the Boston ‘burbs to parents who’d immigrated from Nova Scotia. When he was nine he tried to hop a freight train and lost his leg, no doubt one of the reasons he took to the relatively sedentary employment of sitting in a sound booth talking. He started out at local Boston and Salem stations. He was at PRO from 1943 to 1993. He arrived a hair too late to cover the Hurricane of 1938, but I certainly heard him announce news about the blizzard news 40 years later. Salty also did a kids show on WPRI-TV (channel 12) from 1955 through 1968, but that was before my time.

So revered was Salty back in the day that you’ll find many places and institutions named after him around Rhode Island. One of them is a local beach in my hometown. Formerly known as Sand Hill Cove, it’s the first beach I ever swam at, and indeed the site of one of my earliest childhood memories. I was thrilled to bring my wife there about ten years ago.

But, now for, as Salty’s fellow radio broadcaster Paul Harvey used to say, “the REST of the story”.

Nowadays there is another Salty Brine. His grandson uses the same handle and couldn’t be more different from his granddad. He’s a queer NYC based cabaret artist, who’s been in residence at all favorite downtown spots like Joe’s Pub, The Slipper Room and Pangea. He specializes in interpreting classic pop records (and before that he was involved in re-creating the vaudeville act of Pepper and Sam). In light of that all I find it rather astounding that we haven’t crossed paths before! With any luck it won’t be a permanent state of affairs. At any rate, as I mentioned there’s a timeliness to this post — he’s performing his take on Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual at Pangea tonight at 7pm. You still have time to check it out. Details here.

Oh, and happy birthday to Salty the First. August 5 is Salty Brine day!

For more on vaudeville and variety entertainment, please see my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous; and keep an eye out for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.