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0658-MUS-11/2013
Angelo (Ace) J. Lewis
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Ace Lewis was born in Shreveport, Louisiana to Lucille and Frank Lewis. He went to Allendale school and then to Fair Park High School. He started taking drum lessons in elementary school and when he was eleven years old he bought a set of drums for $45. At a dance at the Coronado Club, Ace met his future wife, Josie Ronald, when she was fourteen and he was seventeen. They danced to Stardust, a song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish. He and Josie were married in 1960. His two brothers, his uncle and his cousin, D.J. Fontana were all musically talented and Ace has been fascinated by drums all his life becoming a premier drummer. Over the years Ace has recorded with Jim Reeves, Johnny Horton, Slim Whitman, Webb Pierce, Floyd Cramer and Faron Young. His favorite musicians were Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson. Some of his favorite clubs were The Stork Club and The Coronado Club in Bossier and The Dunes, the Glass Hat, The Magic Bar and the Zephyr Room in Shreveport. Ace went into business with his brother, Stan, and opened a second Stan's Record Shop to handle only albums. Originally they were located on Texas Street then moved to Milam and then to Shreve City shopping center in 1961. They had many famous people buying records including Ferranti and Teicher and Van Cliburn. One of his fondest memories is of George Carlin who was stationed at Barksdale but was also a DJ on a radio station. He would borrow jazz records from the shop and play them on his show and return them the next day. He says the music industry is different now because there are CPAs and attorneys running the business. In the past, the industry was motivated more by the love of music. He also thinks Shreveport never grew into a big music city because many influential people were not into country music nor music in general. A studio could have opened and it would have been successful because everyone who was anybody in country music was here at one time. Many of the best rock and rollers were here also. Ace's favorite songs are Stardust and Here's That Rainy Day, A Time for Love. His favorite artists are Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mandel and Mel Torm. He and his wife Josie have one son and one daughter.