1st.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 314: DERRECK
MORGAN (1939- )
1868
The Hampton Institute is founded in Hampton, Va, USA. (tr-iokts)
1895
Alberta Hunter,
blues singer born, Memphis, Tenn. In the late 1920's this singer
helped bridge the gap between classic blues and cabaret-flavoured pop
music. (dies Oct 17 1984)
1897
Lucille Bogan a.k.a. Bessie Jackson,
blues singer, born, Amory, Mississippi, USA. Died August 10, 1948,
Los Angeles, California, USA. Best known to blues record collectors
and historians for writing and singing Shave Em Dry, one of the
bawdiest blues songs ever recorded ("I got nipples on my titties
big as the end of my thumb/ I got something ''tween my legs 'll make
a dead man come"). (mn-rs)
1905
Clara McBride Hale
freedom fighter born. Clara Hale was and still is a very caring
and loving person. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She
grew up with many children in her house. That's because her mother
didn't only care for her children, but for neighbor's too. That's
what Clara started to do when she grew up, but even better. She took
care of addicted children, and children or babies with AIDS. Not long
from then, Clara had, had over 22 addicted babies. She had a lot, but
it didn't stop there. In 1973, Clara founded Hale House to help more
babies with AIDS. Over 600 children were cared for by Clara. They
grew up to be stronger and healthier then they were supposed to.
Since Clara cared for and helped others, she got the 16th Annual
Truman Award. In 1985, President Reagan said that Clara is an
American heroine. She is still living today. (tr-bl)
1927
Amos Milburn,
singer/pianist born in Houston, Texas, USA. d.3/1/80. In the late
40's and early 50's, this singers records for the Aladdin label -
especially those that dealt with alcohol consumption - were familiar
to the top of the R&B charts. He has also the rarest album on the
Motown label changing hands for £700 plus. (mn)
1930 Zawditu,
the first reigning female monarch of Ethiopia dies. On April 2,
1930, two days after Ras Gugsa Welle was killed in battle, Empress
Zauditu died. It is known today that Zauditu suffered from diabetes,
and was seriously ill, but it is not universally agreed that this was
the cause of her death. According to some popular histories, Zauditu
died of shock and grief at hearing of her husband's death, but other
accounts contradict this, claiming that Zauditu was not informed of
the battle's outcome before her sudden death. The timing of her death
immediately after news of the outcome of the battle reached Addis
Ababa has caused considerable speculation as to her cause of death.
Some, particularly conservative critics of her successor, Emperor
Haile Selassie, allege that once the rebellion had been decisively
defeated, he or his supporters felt safe in poisoning Zauditu.
Speculation as to the cause of Zauditu's death continues today.
Empress Zauditu was succeeded on the throne by Negus Tafari, who took
the name of Emperor Haile Selassie. (wickpedia)
1946
Arthur Conley, soul singer born. He
owes his career break to Stax artist Otis Redding who signed him to
his Jotis label (via Atlantic) in the mid-60's. Here Arthur recorded
songs including 'I'm A Lonely Stranger', the Redding/Conley-penned
'Sweet Soul Music' (1967) and 'Funky Street' (1968). (mn-jt)
1948
Jimmy Cliff,
reggae singer born James Chambers in St. Catherine, Jamaica, West
Indies. On of the great popularizes of reggae music, Jimmy blazed a
trail into rock that Bob Marley later followed. His first hit
'Hurricane Hattie' was at the age of 12 describing a recent local
storm. (mn-jt)
1949
Gil Scott-Heron Poet/writer
born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He had published two novels 'Nigger
Factory' ,'The Vulture' and a book of poems by the age of 12. (mn)
1984
Marvin Gaye,
singer/songwriter/producer shot dead by his father in Los Angeles
after a violent argument. Born in Washington in 1938, Marvin Pentz
Gay - he later added the 'e' to emphasise his heterosexuality -
gravitated from local vocal groups the Rainbows, Marquees and the
Moonglows to become Motown's premier male singer of the sixties.
Joining Detroit label as a drummer, he married the company boss,
Berry Gordy's sister Anna and hit with Stubborn Kind Of Fellow in
'62. Gaye spent most of the 60's around the chart tops. A long period
of abstinence, ended in '71 by the release of his masterwork 'What's
Going On'. He was shot dead in Los Angeles by his father on April
1st, 1984 after a violent family argument. His father was then
diagnosed to have had a brain tumour. (also see 31st March (mn))
1957
Vivian 'Sugarlove' Jones reggae
singer born today. Established as a 'loversrock' singer, emerged in
the late 70's, by 1980 'Good Morning' topped the reggae charts and
signalled a run of hits for the singer. In 1988 he was
acclaimed as the best reggae performer and won the award four
consecutive years. By the mid-90's he had established his own
Imperial House label. In 1995 he recorded his debut for Fashion
Records 'Dedicated to His Majesty'. He has also appeared on
PCRL birthday dates. Also found live on PCRL DVD 5th Birthday party. (mn/rd)
1976
David Oyelowo (actor)
born. (nationmaster)
1985
Leona Louise Lewis
(born April 1985 in Islington, London, England) is an English (ab
intra British) singer and songwriter, who was the winner of the third
season of the The X Factor. She is the first female winner of the
show. Her debut single, "A Moment like This" was released
on 20 December 2006. The single was also available as a digital
download from midnight on 17 December. The single is believed to have
broken a world record, by being downloaded 50,000 times within 30
minutes of being available online. (wickpedia)
2nd.
APRIL
315:
LEE 'SCATCH' PERRY
(1936- )
PCRL's
DAVID PRINCE & TANISHA WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
1796
Toussaint L' Overture commands
French forces at St. Domingo. Toussaint
L'Ouverture is a slave in Sainte Domingue who has served his master
as a coachman and has achieved some degree of literacy. He emerges as
one of the leaders of the first independence movement in the West
Indies. The rebellion of the slaves against their French masters in
1791 is not fully successful until Toussaint L'Ouverture and others
join an army invading Saint Domingue in 1793 from the Spanish half of
the island (Santo Domingo, forming the eastern end of Hispaniola).
Thereafter Toussaint steadily establishes himself as the strongest of
the various Negro leaders. By 1800 he is master of French Saint
Domingue. In 1801 he invades Santo Domingo and achieves control over
the entire island. (historyworld.net))
1895
Black Invention: Elevator
Safety Device, James Cooper. (sc)
1918
Charles White,
award winning artist is born in Chicago, US.(tr-iokts)
1939
Marvin Pentz Gay,
songwriter/singer/producer/drummer born in Washington D.C., USA. One
of the greatest artists in the history of soul music. Began singing
at the age of three in a church environment provided by his father
the Rev. Marvin Gay Sr., later played the organ in church every
Sunday. He sang with Harvey & Moonglows, Harvey Fuqua introduced
him to Motown in 1961. His first hit was Stubborn Kind of Fellow
(1962). The rest is history. (mn)
1956
Gregory Abbott,
soul singer born in New York, USA. (mn-jt)
1960
Linford Christie,
Olympic gold medallist born today. Also holds European 100m record
9.87 in 1993. (mn-t-tx)
1981
Black Peoples Day Of Action, one of the biggest demonstrations of
black people in post-war Britain. (mn-ts)
1966
Garnett Silk reggae
singer born Garnett Smith on this day in Manderville, Jamaica. (1966-1994)
(Dies at home with his mother after a hand gun was discharged into a
gas cylinder causing an explosion in 1994). Reggae was robbed of one
of it's brightest stars. A devout Rasta and sweet-voiced, if
untutored, singer, Silk was making an enormous impact on contempary
reggae as his 100% righteousness cut a swathe through the gun culture
and slackness that was dominating the music. (mn-jc-lb)
1987
Buddy Rich, soul singer/drummer dies.
Drummer for jimi Hendrix band. (mn-jt)
2001
Race Relations Amendment Act 2000
comes into force. Extends the act made
in 1976 - new act applies to the police - public can now bring a
court action if they think they have been racially discriminated
against. (mn)
3rd.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 316: DUKE
REID (1915-1975)
1884
Maya Angelou,
noted author an San Francisco’s first African American street
car conductor, is born in St. Louis, Mo, USA. (tr-iokts)
1917 [Bill
Finnegan, born Newark, New Jersey,
USA. Pianist Finnegan’s first successes were the arrangements he
wrote for the Tommy Dorsey band, but his real breakthrough came in
1938 when he became a staff arranger for Glen Miller]. (cl)
1928
Pierre Michelot,
born in Saint Denis, France. Michelot studied classical bass from
the age of 16, but it was the playing of Jimmy Blanton and Oscar
Pettiford which attracted him to jazz. Later he played with
Django Reinhardt, Bud Powell and Dexter Gordon. (rt)
1934
Jimmy Garrison,
born Miami, Florida, USA. (d. 7 April 1976 - lung cancer), bass
player with Ornette Coleman and John Coltraine. (cl)
1938
Philip Wynne,
soul singer with The Detroit Spinners is born. (mn-jt)
1950
Dr. Carter G. Woodson,
"The Father of Black History", dies in Washington, D.C..
Born December 19, 1897 the oldest of nine children, dropped out of
school to work to help support his family. Despite this, he went on
to earn his A.B. and M.A. from the University of Chicago (1908) and
his Ph.D. from Harvard (1912). He hoped that a greater understanding
of black history and culture would improve race relations. Published
over 20 books and countless articles, both popular and scholarly. (mn-ss)
1961
Eddie Murphy,
comedian and actor born in Hempstead, New York, USA. Murphy began
his comedy career at the young age of 16. At 19 he became a performer
on NBC's Saturday Night Live television show, not long after
graduating from Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School. His characters
include a parody of Buckwheat from the Little Rascals and of Fred
Rogers. Former SNL writer Margaret Humphert has said Murphy and Bill
Murray are the two most talented people in the history of the show.
Murphy left the show midway through the 1983-1984 season, appearing
in filmed sketches for the remainder of that season. Murphy later
starred in many comedies including the Beverly Hills Cop series, for
which he was recognized by receiving a Golden Globe nomination for
best actor in a comedy for his performance in Beverly Hills Cop, as
well as Trading Places, and Coming to America in subsequent years. (wickpedia)
1981
Brixton Riots UK. Youths
attack the police and local shops. In January 13 young Black people
had perished in a fire at a house in Deptford, an area where other
black homes had been attacked and a community centre had been burned
down. Tension had been building up, also this month saw 15,000 black
people march from Deptford to central London. (mn-tx-pf)
1985
Leona Louise Lewis
is a British singer and winner of the third series of The X Factor UK
television talent show. Her UK debut single, "A Moment like
This", was released in December 2006, breaking a world record
after it was downloaded over 50,000 times within 30 minutes. Her
second single, "Bleeding Love", was the biggest-selling
single of 2007 in the United Kingdom, topped over twenty-nine
national singles charts and became a number one single on the first
week in France on March 22 and number one in the US on April 5, 2008.
Her debut album, Spirit, was released in Europe in November 2007, and
became the fastest-selling debut album ever in both the United
Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.[5][6] Released in North America
in April 2008, Spirit debuted at number one in the US Billboard 200
chart and made Lewis the first British artist to debut at the top of
the chart with a debut album. With her album reaching number one in
at least three continents and nine countries, Lewis has had the most
successful launch of any television talent show winner ever. (nationmaster)
1990
Sarah Vaughan
singer dies. Born 27 March 1924, Newark, New Jersey, USA. Took piano
lessons for 10 years and sang in her church choir and became organist
at the age of 12. She won amateur night at the Apollo Theatre in
Harlem in 1942, and the musical opportunities followed. (cl-mn)
1991
Sal Nistico, alto saxophonist dies.
Played with the Jazz Brothers, Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman, Count
Basie and Don Ellis. (cl)
4th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 317: SKATALITES (FOUNDED:1963)
1915 Muddy
Waters, blues artiste born. He
was an African-American musician and cultural icon. Born in
Rolling Fork, Miss., to sharecroppers, Waters began playing harmonica
as a teen and picked up guitar after hearing the likes of Charlie
Patton, Robert Johnson and Son House. He quickly developed a
bottleneck style of his own, recorded first by field folklorist Alan
Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1941. With dreams of stardom,
Waters moved to Chicago's South Side in 1943 and played at
neighborhood clubs with Blue Smitty and Jimmy Rogers. At the small
clubs, his acoustic guitar could not be heard, so he decided to plug
it into an amp and "put a little drive in it." In
1947 he recorded his first records for Leonard Chess' Chess Records
(then known as Aristocrat) as a sideman for Sunnyland Slim. He
recorded his own sides in '48, which quickly became hot items and
catapulted him to stardom. While on Chess throughout the '50s he
recorded songs such as Honey Bee, Got My Mojo Workin', Rollin' Stone,
and Hoochie Coochie Man with the likes of Willie Dixon, James Cotton,
Little Walter Jacobs and Jimmy Rogers. A concert at the 1960 Newport
Folk Festival exposed him to a much larger and whiter audience. As a
staple on the '60s Chicago blues scene, he worked with a younger
generation, such as Buddy Guy and Matt Murphy, in perpetuating the
electric Chicago blues sound. He worked with rock bands such as the
Rolling Stones, and groups such as Canned Heat and Cream covered his
songs. An auto accident in 1969 slowed him down a bit, but he still
toured around the world and recorded on Columbia Records' Blue Sky
label. If not for the pioneering electric guitar work of Muddy
"Mississippi" Waters, Chicago would probably not be known
as a blues hub today. He died in his sleep in 1983. (aareg.com)
1928
Maya Angelou
famous for her literature, performances and club singing is born in
St. Louis, Mo, USA.
1934
Carl Davis,
record producer, born Carl Adams in Chicago, USA. (mn-cl)
1941
Major Lance
soul singer from Chicago, Illinois, USA. Lanky soul singer much loved
by UK Northern soul fans. Born in Winterville, Mississippi,
USA, d. 3 September 1994, Decatur, Georgia, USA. A former amateur
boxer and a dancer on the Jim Lounsbury record-hop television show,
Lance also sang with the Five Gospel Harmonaires and for a brief
period with Otis Leavill and Barbara Tyson in the Floats. His 1959
Mercury Records release, "I Got A Girl", was written and
produced by Curtis Mayfield, a high school contemporary, but Lance's
career was not truly launched until he signed with OKeh Records three
years later. "Delilah" opened his account there, while a
further Mayfield song, the stylish "The Monkey Time" in
1963, gave the singer a US Top 10 hit. The partnership between singer
and songwriter continued through 1963-64 with a string of US pop
chart hits: "Hey Little Girl", "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um,
Um", "The Matador" and "Rhythm". Although
Lance's range was more limited than that of his associate, the
texture and phrasing mirrored that of Mayfield's work with his own
group, the Impressions. "Ain't That A Shame", in 1965,
marked a pause in their relationship as its commercial success waned.
Although further vibrant singles followed, notably
"Investigate" and "Ain't No Soul (In These Rock 'N'
Roll Shoes)", Lance left OKeh for Dakar Records in 1968 where
"Follow The Leader" was a minor R&B hit. Two 1970
releases on Curtom, "Stay Away From Me" and "Must Be
Love Coming Down", marked a reunion with Mayfield. From there,
Lance moved to Volt, Playboy and Osiris, the last of which he
co-owned with Al Jackson, a former member of Booker T. And The MGs.
These spells were punctuated by a two-year stay in Britain (1972-74),
during which Lance recorded for Contempo and Warner Brothers Records.
Convicted of selling cocaine in 1978, the singer emerged from prison
to find his OKeh recordings in demand as part of America's "beach
music" craze, where aficionados in Virginia and the Carolinas
maintained a love of vintage soul. A heart attack in September 1994
proved fatal for Lance. (mn-net)
1960
Independence Day in the Republic of Senegal
(from France).
1968
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
assassinated by James Earl Ray, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. A shock
wave set off black rioting and looting all over the USA. He was
described by Dr. Benjamin E. Mays of Morehouse College ten years
earlier in the following words: "You are mature beyond your
years, wiser at twenty nine than most men at sixty, more courageous
in a righteous struggle than most men can ever be, living a faith
most men preach about & never experience ... your name has
become a symbol of courage & hope for oppressed people everywhere".
1978
Lemar (obika)
(uk singer) born. Fame Acadamy star. (nationmaster)
5th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 318: THE WAILERS
1839
Robert Smalls,
navigator/slave-hero/congressman born a slave in Beauford, South
Carolina, USA. (mn-ra)
1856
Booker T. Washington,
educator, born in Hale's Ford, Va. As one of the most influential
black men of his time, Washington was not without his critics. Many
charged that his conservative approach undermined the quest for
racial equality. "In all things purely social we can be as
separate as the fingers," he proposed to a biracial audience in
his 1895 Atlanta Compromise address, "yet one as the hand in all
things essential to mutual progress." In part, his methods arose
for his need for support from powerful whites, some of them former
slave owners. It is now known, however, that Washington secretly
funded antisegregationist activities. He never wavered in his belief
in freedom: "From some things that I have said one may get
the idea that some of the slaves did not want freedom. This is not
true. I have never seen one who did not want to be free, or one who
would return to slavery." (nps.guv)
1928
Tony Williams,
singer with The Platters is born. The platters became one of the
first groups to break out of the rhythm-and-blues ghetto in which the
US radio and charts kept black music in the 50's. Also the first
black group to reach No.1 on the American pop charts. (mn)
1937
Colin Powell,
first African American to serve as chief of staff of the armed
forces, is born in New York, N.Y., USA. . The son of Jamaican
immigrants, Luther and Maud Powell, he was raised in the South Bronx.
Powell was educated in the New York City public schools, and at City
College of New York (CCNY). He participated in ROTC at CCNY and
received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upon graduation.
He subsequently received a Master of Business Administration degree
from George Washington University. Powell served two tours of duty in
Vietnam, and as a battalion commander in Korea. He later commanded
the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and V Corps,
United States Army in Europe, and was Commander in Chief of Forces
Command, headquartered at Fort McPherson, Georgia. General Powell was
the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 1989
until September 30, 1993, serving under both President George H.W.
Bush and President Bill Clinton. (tr-iokts-lucidcafe.com)
1944
Nicholas Caldwell, singer with the
soul group The Whispers is born. The Whispers signed to the Soul
Train label in the 70's, this was an offshoot to America's most
important black music show organised by Don Cornelias and Dick
Griffey. (mn-jt- Bmacd)
1951
Checker Records founded.
Popular Chicago blues label. (web)
1972
Jahmali,
reggae artist born in Vere, Claredon, Jamaica. Born Ryan Thomas.
Early school years had Ryan singing at whatever chance available.
Reggae star Coco T is from the same parish was his early influence.
Ryan was so influenced by him that he adopted a stage name close to
Coco T’s. Ryan T was the name he used in his early recording
years. Although Ryan had a great love for music, he did not, by any
means, shortchange his education. He was successful in high school at
Vere, where he spent four years. He then moved to Kingston for
tertiary education at Mico Teacher's College. The next few years were
to find him in constant deliberation whether he wanted to limit
himself to be a class room teacher, or to teach the world by way of
his musical message. He changed his name to Jahmali. Mali means FREE.
He decided to take his Culture Message to the world in the form of
recording and live performances. He is somewhat of a preacher on
stage, a great performer. He has done recording for some of the
biggest name producers in the music industry in Jamaica such as
Jammy’s and Penthouse. Jahmali is on a mission; he wants to
share his music and message with the world. He has just ended a very
successful European and U.S. with Reggae Superstar Buju Banton. (mn-cl-hometown.aol)
1990
Brown's Black Prison Period.
After serving 15 months of a six year sentence James Brown moved to
Lower Savannah Work Centre where he was paid $4 per hour for
counselling drug abusers. (mn-jt)
6th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 319: DENNIS
ALCAPONE
1712 New
York Slave Rebellion. Reacting to
harsh treatment by their masters, about 25 Black slaves and American
Indians set fire to an outhouse and laid in ambush of their
oppressors, killing nine men and wounding several others. The slaves
then fled into the woods where within two days more than 40 had been
arrested and 6 other committed suicide before apprehension.
Twenty-seven slaves were convicted of murder and sentenced to death,
although the bulk of the evidence used to convict them was
questionable; 18 were acquitted. Six, including a pregnant woman,
were let go. Many disagree on the exact number of people executed,
but about twenty were hanged, three more were burned to death. Chains
hanged one man until he died; another was broken on a wheel. Shortly
after the rebellion, New York’s legislature toughened its slave
codes. Slaves gathering in groups of three or more were subject to 40
lashes and property crimes were deemed punishable by death.
1905
W. Warrick Cardozo, physician and
pioneering researcher on sickle cell anemia, is born in Washington,
D.C., USA. (tr-io
1909
Matthew Henson, explorer, leads a party of 5 to reach the North
Pole after a 20 year odyssey. Born on a farm in Charles County,
Maryland, USA, he went to sea when he was about 12, In 1887 he met
Robert E. Peary, then a lieutenant in the US navy and already
committed to exploring the Artic region. Henson began as Peary's
personal assistant. For 20 years Henson led sleds and was Peary's
right hand man. On this day in 1909, Peary, Henson and four Eskimos
were the first known humans to reach the North Pole. (mn-ss)
1941
Charles Wright
singer/songwriter/keyboards/guitar/producer born in Clarksville
Mississippi, best known for 1970 hit 'Express yourself' that was
played on UK mid-80's 'Rare Groove' scene. (mn)
1968
Bobby Hutton,
a Black Panther, 17 years old was shot dead by Oakland police.
In a 90 minute gun battle the unarmed Hutton (one of the original
Black Panthers) was shot ten times after his home is set on fire
andhe was forced to run into the streets and an imminent barrage of
bullets. Two days earlier Dr. Martin L. King Jr. was assassinated
after re-thinking his own non-violence doctrine. (aareg.com)
1974
Gina Yashere
(actor/presentor/comedian) born in Finsbury Park, London. (nationmaster)
7th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 320:
LORD CREATOR
1885
Black Invention: Type
Writing Machine, Lee S. Burridge/Newman R. Mashman. (sc)
1885
Black Invention:
Apparatus for Transmission of messages by Electricity, Granville T.
Woods. (sc)
1872
William Monroe Trotter,
civil rights leader, born. He was perhaps the most militant of the
known civil rights activist of the 19th century. An honor student
from Boston, Trotter was the first Black member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Between 1897 and 1906 he worked as an insurance and mortgage broker
in Boston, Massachusetts. He founded the Boston Guardian, a militant
newspaper, in 1901, for the purpose of "propaganda against
discrimination." In 1905, Trotter assisted in founding the
Niagara Movement but refused to join the NAACP because he felt it to
be too moderate and instead formed the National Equal Rights League.
In 1919, Trotter appeared at the Paris Peace Conference in an
unsuccessful effort to have the organization outlaw racial
discrimination. The State Department had denied him a passport to
attend, but he had reached France by having himself hired as a cook
on a ship. Because of his strident unwillingness to work with
established groups, the Civil Rights Movement has been slow to
recognize Trotter. But many of his methods were to be adopted in the
1950s, notably his use of nonviolent protest. In 1903, Trotter
deliberately disrupted a meeting in Boston at which Booker T.
Washington was scheduled to speak; his arrest was to gain publicity
for his militant position. He also led demonstrations against events,
plays, and films that glorified Ku Klux Klan. William Monroe Trotter
died on April 7, 1934 in Boston. (tr-iokts-aareg)
1915
Billie Holiday,
blues singer, born Eleanora Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
USA. Born into extreme poverty, abandoned by father when her mother
became ill she turned to prostitution but could not tolerate the
abuse. Failed to get work as a dancer and started a life long
addiction to heroin. Her recording Strange Fruit (1939), about
lynching, was a cause calibre; her song God Bless The Child, about
the poverty of her youth, a perennial standard. (d.17/7/59) (mn-ss)
1922
Mongo Santamaria
born in Havana, Cuba. Percussionist toured with Perez Prado, Tito
Puente and Cal Tjader. Own group from 1961. No 8 R&B with
'Watermelon Man' in 1963. Recorded over 12 of his own albums. (mn)
1937
Charley Thomas,
singer with The Drifters is born. (mn-jt)
1938
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet player
born in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
1947
Pat Bennett,
singer with The Chiffons, born. (mn-jt)
1948
Carol Douglas,
singer with The Chantels, born. (mn-jt)
1959
Lorraine Hansbury is first African American playwright to win New
York Drama Critic Award, for 'Raisin in the Sun'. (tr-bl)
1997
Wynton Marsalis, trumpeter was awarded Pulitzer Prize for his 3 hour
musical piece 'Blood on the Fields' about slavery. (mn-v)
8th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 321: JOHN HOLT (1947-
)
[JOHN
WESTON - FROM THE PCRL CONSORTIUM BORN]
1964 Biz
Markie, class clown rapper from
Harlem; Long Island; Brooklyn, USA, real name Marcel Hall is born. (mn-ms)
1974
Henry Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's Major League record with 715 home
runs. (USA baseball) (mn)
1981
15,000 black people marched 10
miles from Deptford to central London.
They demanded justice for black people over recent racist murders.
This was in the run-up to riots all over the U.K. In January,
thirteen young Black people had perished in a fire at a house in
Deptford, an area where other black homes had been attacked and a
community centre had been burned down. Tension had been building up
in central London (mn-tx-pf-read: Staying Power by Peter Fryer). (mn)
2000
Bernie Grant,
Labour MP for Tottenham since 1987 dies aged 56 in a Middlesex
hospital from a heart attack. Grant was born in Guyana and emigrated
to Britain in 1963. He was a former trades union official and leader
of London's Harringate Council was an active campaigner for black and
minority rites. (mn)
2001
Tiger Woods wins the Masters Golf Tournament, he has now won the four
major world golf titles. (mn)
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 322: THE
MAYTALS (f. 1962)
DAVID
PRINCE - BIRTHDAY (GOSPEL PRESENTER)
1888
Florence B.
Price is born at Little Rock,
Arkansas, USA, the first black woman recognised as award winning composer.
1898
Paul Bustil Robeson, born Paul Bustil
in 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. According to legend, when he
was called upon to whistle when he appeared in Eugene O' Neill's play
the Emperor Jones in 1925, he instead sang - and soon found himself
the most famous African-American singer of his generation. By 1926
his fame as an actor and singer was reaching it's zenith, Robeson's
outspoken political views were beginning to raise eyebrows in some
quarters, his praise of communism resulted in loss of passport until
1958. He then resumed his international career but retired 5 years
later due to poor health. (mn)
1937
Dave Pratter,
soul man with Sam & Dave born. (or 5 sept) (mn-jt)
1939
Marian Anderson sings at Lincoln Memorial. (tr-bl)
1988
Brook Benton Dies
One Hit Short Of Half Century. Velvet-voiced American R&B singer/songwriter
Brook Benton (real name Benjamin Franklin Peay) died of
complications following spinal meningitis. Before he embarked on his
solo career in 1953, he had sung in gospel groups. His first (minor)
US hit, 'A Million Miles From Nowhere', came in 1958, and by the end
of 1970 he had taken 49 singles into the US chart. (mn-jt)
2001
Police in Cincinnati kill an un-armed black youth (Timothy Wilson),
which sparks off a week of rioting in the city. (mn)
2002
Dorothy Love Coates
gospel singer/sonwriter dies in Birmingham, Al, she was 74. (mn)
2009
Randy Cain (of
the Delfonics / Blue Magic) dies. b. Herbert Randal Cain III, 2nd
May 1945, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. d. 9th April 2009, Maple
Shade, New Jersey, U.S.A. Randy Cain, of the Sweet Soul vocal group,
the Delfonics has died. He was 63. Randy was an original member of
the Delfonics and the founder of Blue Magic. His death was confirmed
by Rob O’Neal, an investigator with the Burlington County
medical examiner’s office on Thursday the 9th of April 2009. The
cause of death has not yet been determined. The Delfonics were formed
in Philadelphia by Randy, along with William and Wilbert Hart and
Ritchie Daniels as the Four Gents and later the Orphonics,. The group
came to the attention of promoter/record shop owner Stan Watson, who
introduced them to producer Thom Bell and Moon Shot Records. They
then changed their name to the Delfonics, and scored two regional
hits on Moon Shot before Stan created his own Philly Groove imprint.
Ritchie Daniels was then drafted into the military. The remaining
trio achieved 16 pop and 20 R & B hit records, including 'La La
Means I Love You' (number 4 pop, number 2 R & B in 1968), 'I'm
Sorry', 'Ready Or Not Here I Come' (both 1968) and 'Didn't I (Blow
Your Mind This Time)' (number 10 pop, number 3 R & B in 1970).
Randy left the group in 1971 (and was replaced by Major Harris) and
two years later joined the group Blue Magic by combining, singer and
songwriter, Ted Mills with the quartet group Shades of Love. Blue
Magic had several hits, including, 'Sideshow' (number 8), in 1974.
Randy returned to the Delfonics in the 1980's, (singing with Major
Harris, who had left for a solo career in 1974 but returned as well),
before leaving for the last time. (soulwalking)
10th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 323: U-ROY (1942-
)
1926
Johnnie Tillmon-Blackston born.
I'm a woman. I'm a black woman. I'm a poor woman. I'm a fat
woman. I'm a middle-aged woman. And I'm on welfare. In this country,
if you're any one of those things, you count less as a person. If
you're all those things, you just don't count, except as a statistic.
I am a statistic. --Johnnie Tillmon, 1972
Perhaps
Johnnie Tillmon was precisely what she claimed to be: a statistic.
Still, like all of us who have been measured by one kind of numerical
datum or another, she was so much more. Johnnie Tillmon was a woman
who combined the keen clarity of Audre Lorde, the historical momentum
of Fannie Lou Hamer, the straight-forward presence of Sojourner
Truth, and the unmovable dignity of Rosa Parks, with a grit and wit
all her own. Yet, unlike Lorde, Hamer, Truth, and Parks, the life and
works of Johnnie Tillmon have not been widely recognized. Tillmon saw
past the thin guises of politics and rhetoric. "I believe in
rhetoric to a certain extent," she once said, in an interview
with Brian Lanker, "But you can only rhetoricize so long and
then you have to deal with the fact. Now, I can do as much
rhetoricizing as the next person. But sometimes I had to start a mess
to get to the facts." Tillmon's pointedly sassy attitude and
unadorned style of speech endeared her to millions -- from activists
and organizers to welfare mothers, and even to a handful of
policy-makers. She was a woman thunderously resonant with pride, and
her works imbued that shamelessness to others. Like Sojourner Truth's
1851 impromptu address, "Ain't I A Woman," Tillmon's
now-famous 1972 essay, "Welfare Is A Women's Issue"
galvanized not only her generation, but those to come. Yet, while
both seminal works are now regularly taught in Women's Studies
courses, there remain those bastions of education where Tillmon's
work is unknown, where welfare and poverty issues are studied absent
the searing context of voice and personal experience, where
"Welfare Is a Women's Issue" is an essay that has been
unfavorably viewed as "anti-intellectual." Still, Tillmon
made her voice heard and her presence undeniable across the U.S.,
including in the nation's capital. There, in 1972, at the age of 46,
she was called a "nigger" for the first time. "I
politely took off my coat, handed my bag to my attorney, and went and
had me a fist city on that man's head. He didn't hit me back or
nothin', but he ran. Never had been called that by a white person out
of all the thirty-five years I lived in Little Rock and Arkansas. But
many years ago I had decided that's what I was going to do."
(Lanker, ibid.) Irrepressible in both determination and humor,
Tillmon lived in Watts for a good deal of her life, while travelling
to nearly a thousand cities, bringing dignity to social and political
change. We are a proud people. Yet the work of Johnnie Tillmon
humbles us, deeply. Which is as it should be. Every day, all over the
world, we lose leaders. Many go unnoticed, in life or in death. Many
cannot be replaced. The people who knew Johnnie Tillmon, through the
courage of her person or the vastness of her works, continue to mourn
her passing, and to celebrate her many achievements. Dies 1995. (tr-bl)
1922
John Brim, guitarist/singer, born,
Hopkinsville, Ky, USA. Died 1 October 2003, Gary, Indiana, USA. Born
on a farm, Brim played blues guitar from an early age. In the
mid-40s, he relocated to Chicago, where he joined the burgeoning
post-war blues scene, playing with artists such as John Lee
"Sonny Boy" Williamson, Muddy Waters and later Jimmy Reed.
The tough sound of his music placed him firmly in the Chicago style
of the day; his vocals were raw and convincing and his guitar-playing
rough yet effective. His records, some of which featured his wife
Grace Brim singing and playing drums, appeared on a variety of
labels, but the best were probably the later 50s tracks, such as
"Rattlesnake" (which was based on Big Mama Thornton's
"Hound Dog" and featured the superb harmonica work of
Little Walter), "Lifetime Blues", and the topical
"Tough Times". Brim continued to play in the 60s, although
largely on an amateur basis. He issued an interesting if rather rough
single in the 70s before Van Halen's cover version of his classic
"Ice Cream Man" led to renewed interest in the late 70s. A
new studio album was released to good reviews in 1994. Grace's death
in 1999 shocked her ex-husband but in 2000, at the age of 79, he
released a new studio album. He remained active on the blues scene up
until his death in November 2003. (mn-rs-music.us)
1930
Ray Agee, blues singer born in Dixons
Mills, Alaska, USA. West Coast rhythm & blues singer whose smooth
and relaxed vocal style was not unlike Charles Browns', Ray Agee made
a number of mostly overlooked records in the 1950s and 1960s. Agee
suffered from polio as a child and was left permanently disabled by
the disease. After moving with his family from Alabama to Los Angeles
in the 1930s, Agee and his brothers formed a gospel group called the
Agee Brothers. The group often performed in local churches. Despite
his gospel roots, Agee eventually turned toward blues and rhythm &
blues and began recording in 1952. Throughout his career Agee
recorded prolifically, though much of his recording catalogue, with
the exception of his work with the Modern and Aladdin labels, is
found on little-known labels such as Mar-Jan, Check, Solid Soul, and
Krafton. Some of Agee's later records include guitar work by Bay Area
artist Johnny Heartsman. By the mid-'70s Agee had disappeared from
the rhythm & blues scene. He supposedly died sometime around 1990.
1936
Bobby Smith, soul singer with The
Detroit Spinners is born.The Spinners are a Detroit, Michigan -based
soul band popular in the 1960s and 1970s. The band still tours as of
2006. The Spinners are known in the United Kingdom as The Detroit
Spinners or The Motown Spinners because a Liverpool based folk band
had taken the name "The Spinners" in Britain during the
1960s. (mn-jt)
1938
Nana Annor Adjaye,
Pan-Africanise, dies in W Nzima, Ghana.
1943
Arthur Ashe,
first African American to win the U.S. Open and men's singles at
Wimbledon, is born in Richmond, Va., USA.As a youngster, Ashe was
small and not well-coordinated. But by the time he entered high
school, he starred in tennis, basketball, and football. In tennis, he
won the state championship, while in football, he helped lead his
team to the city championship as a speedy wide receiver. Ashe began
to attract the attention of tennis fans after being awarded a tennis
scholarship at UCLA in 1963. That same year, Ashe was the first
African American ever selected to the US Davis Cup team. In 1965,
Ashe won the individual NCAA championship. He was also a chief
contributor in UCLA's winning the team NCAA championship in the same
year. With this successful college career behind him, Ashe quickly
ascended to the upper echelon of tennis players worldwide after
turning professional in 1969.By 1969, most people considered Ashe to
be the best American male tennis player. He had won the inaugural US
Open in 1968, and had aided the US Davis Cup team to victory that
same year. Concerned that tennis pros were not receiving winnings
commensurate with the sport's growing popularity, Ashe was one of the
key figures behind the formation of the Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP). That year would prove even more momentous for
Ashe, when he was denied a visa by the South African government,
thereby keeping him out of the South African Open. Ashe chose to use
this denial to publicize South Africa's apartheid policies. In the
media, Ashe called for South Africa to be expelled from the
professional tennis circuit. In 1970, he added a second Grand Slam
title to his resume by winning the Australian Open. In 1975, after
several years of lower levels of success, Ashe played his best season
ever by winning Wimbledon, unexpectedly defeating Jimmy Connors in
the final. He remains the only black player ever to win the men's
singles at Wimbledon, the US Open, or Australian Open, and one of
only two black men to win a Grand Slam singles event (the other being
France's Yannick Noah, who won the French Open in 1983). He would
play for several more years, but after being slowed by heart surgery
in 1979, Ashe retired in 1980. Also July 10th (tr-iokts)
1944
Danny Woods singer with
Chairmen of the Board born today in Atlanta, Georgia. USA. Briefly
known as the Gentlemen, this Detroit-based quartet was instigated by
General Norman Johnson (Born 23 May 1944, Norfolk, Virginia, USA). A
former member of the Showmen, he left that group in 1968 intent on a
solo path, but instead joined Danny Woods (Born 10 April 1944,
Atlanta, Georgia, USA), Harrison Kennedy (Born Canada) and Eddie
Curtis (Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) in this budding
venture. Signed to the newly formed Invictus Records, the group
secured an international hit with their debut single, "Give Me
Just A Little More Time". His elated performance established the
General's emphatic delivery, which combined the emotional fire of the
Four Tops' Levi Stubbs with the idiomatic "trilling" of
Billy Stewart. Its follow-up, the vibrant "(You've Got Me)
Dangling On A String", was a more substantial hit in the UK than
America, the first of several releases following this pattern. Such
commercial contradictions did not detract from the excellence of
"Everything's Tuesday", "Pay To The Piper" (both
1971) and "I'm On My Way To A Better Place" (1972) as the
group furthered its impressive repertoire. Although Johnson provided
the most recognizable voice, Woods and Kennedy also shared the lead
spotlight, while the overall sound varied from assertive R&B to
the melancholia of "Patches", later a hit for Clarence
Carter. The group ceased recording in 1971, but singles continued to
appear until 1976, while a final album, Skin I'm In (1974), was also
compiled from old masters. Curtis left Invictus altogether but the
remaining trio each issued solo albums. Johnson also worked with
stablemates the Honey Cone and 100 Proof Aged In Soul, while he and
Woods kept the Chairmen name afloat with live performances. The
General subsequently signed with Arista Records, where he enjoyed a
series of late 70s R&B hits before reuniting with Woods.
"Loverboy" (1984) reflected their enduring popularity on
the American "beach"/vintage soul music scene, and was a
minor hit in the UK three years later. (mn-music.us)
1947
Jackie Robinson signs a professional baseball contract and becomes
first black player in the sport.
1947
Bunny Wailer, reggae harmony singer
with The Wailers, born in Kingston Jamaica as Neville O' Riley
Livingston. His relationship with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, the two
other principle members of the Wailers in the 60s and early 70s,
stretched back to his childhood, when Marley and the Wailers lived
under the same roof in Trench Town. His group with brought roots to
an international audience in 1973 with the album Catch A Fire. (mn-cl)
1956
Nat King Cole was badly beaten up while on stage for an all-white
audience in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. (mn-jt)
1958
Chuck Willis,
soul singer dies. He was dubbed the King Of Stroll during the 1950s,
but his turban-wearing cat provided more than just a background music
for a dance craze. In fact he was one of R&B's finest
singer/songwriters. other ref say's 30/04 (mn-jt)
1959
Babyface,
singer/producer born Kenneth Edmonds in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
The King of Pop! - Since the late 80s, Babyface wears the crown. The
triple treat songwriter-producer-performer has had more than 100 Top
10 pop and R&B hits, and in sales of 26 million-selling singles
and 72 million-selling albums. (mn-gk)
1960
Afrika Bambaataa,
born Kevin Donovan, Bronx, NY. Afrika Bambaataa fell out of the
limelight in the latter half of the 80s, as new generations of disc
jockeys and rappers stepped forward with their own innovations and
fresh beats. However, The Light included an enterprising cast (UB40,
Nona Hendryx, Boy George, Bootsy Collins, Yellowman and George
Clinton - the latter a huge early musical and visual influence on
Bambaataa). The Decade Of Darkness (1990-2000) also went some way
towards redressing the balance, including an update of James Brown's
"Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud". In March 1994,
Bambaataa cropped up on Profile Records with the disappointing
"What's The Name Of This Nation?". Two years later, he
re-formed Soul Sonic Force to record Lost Generation, and continues
to DJ and record new material on a regular basis. Afrika Bambaataa's
influence on rap's development is pivotal, and is felt in many more
subtle ways than, for example, the direct sampling of his work on 90s
crossover hits such as 95 South's "Whoot! There It Is" or
Duice's "Dazey Duks". The Tommy Boy anthology Looking For
The Perfect Beat is a perfect introduction to this seminal
artist. (mn-Jazz-music.us)
1960
Linford Christie, OBE born in St.
Andrew's, Jamaica, is a former British athlete and the only man ever
to win Olympic, World, Commonweath and European 100 m gold medals.
Christie's career was tainted after he was twice found guilty of
using performance enhancing drugs. However, the first offence for
trace amounts of ephedrine was accepted by the IOC and consistent
with testimony given by Christie. The second offence was another in a
long line of 'nandrolone' offences to plague professional sports in
athletics and tennis. Nandrolone has been shown in other sports to be
a contaminant in many sports supplements and is not considered to be
a significant source of androgenic advantage. In 2004 the British
tennis star Greg Rusedski was cleared by the WTA for having
nandrolone levels significantly higher than Linford Christie, as
followed a moritirium on all tennis cases of nandrolone
offences.There is no doubt that had Linford Christie chose to appeal
the findings, he would have been cleared, but he was retired and his
achievements would never have been overshadowed by the nandrolone
witchhunt of the mid 1990's.
1962
General Election held in Jamaica.
Jamaica Labour Party wins. (mn-cb)
1971
Q-Tip, friendly rapper from Queens,
USA, real name is Jonathan Davis, member of A Tribe Called Quest,
born today. Q-Tip made his name as MC with hip-hop pioneers A Tribe
Called Quest, one of the finest acts to emerge from New York's Native
Tongues Posse. Their fluid jazz influenced grooves and Afrocentric,
socially conscious lyrics helped up new possibilities in rap music,
and was also highly commercial. The trio disbanded following the
release of 1998's The Love Movement, with all of the members starting
work on solo projects. Davis, now known as Kamaal Fareed following
his conversion to Islam, released his debut in November 1999.
Recorded with the Ummah production crew (former colleague DJ Ali
Shaheed Muhammed and Jay Dee of Slum Village), Amplified mined a rich
groove musically but Q-Tip's reinvention as a salacious mack figure
left a lot to be desired. The following year the rapper co-wrote and
starred in the sociological drama, Prison Song. (mn-ms)
1979
After protests by people like Lena Horn, Paul Robeson, Jr., and
Equity, Paul Robeson had a star bearing his name placed on the Walk
of Fame. His granddaughter Susan Robeson wrote this of her
grandfather: 'My grandfather challenged the inherent racism of the
film industry to its foundations, for which he paid the price perhaps
greater than that of any artist in American history. He did so
proudly, as a matter of principle and with no regrets' (mn)
1983 Pass
the Dutchie in New York. British
teenagers Musical Youth, five schoolboys from Birmingham, played at
New York's Ritz concert hall. Aged between 11 and 16, they had topped
the British chart 6 months earlier with 'Pass The Dutchie', a
Jamaican song based on 'Pass the Koochie', meaning marijuana. The
word was changed to Duchie which is a Jamaican cooking pot to avoid
adverse comment. (mn-jt)
2003
Little Eva (Eva Narcissus Boyd) died
in the Lenoir Memorial Hospital, Kinston, North Carolina. She was 59
and had been fighting a long battle with cervical cancer. The singer
had hits with The Locomotion & Swinging On A Star (with Dee
Irwin) in the mid 60's. (born June 29, 1943)
2006
The BBC broadcast a 1 hour program with interviews with the 1981
Brixton roisters and the police 25 years after the event. The police
admit that the policing at the time was to blame for the Brixton
Riots of April 10-11, 1981. (mn)
2006 Thousands
turn out to popular London DJ Swing's funeral.
Beverly Knight and Omar sang at the church service. In August 2005,
Channel 4 aired the programme, Saving DJ Swing, to document the
campaign. In October 2005, more than 500 people from the African
Caribbean community turned out to give blood at one clinic organised
by the ACLT at Leicester Square club Rococo. Beverley said: ‘One
of the things Swing said to us before he died was, “When I’m
back on my feet I’m going to dedicate my life to helping you
guys because what you’ve done is just amazing”, which was a
real humbling experience for myself and Orin [co-founder of the
ACLT]. (newnation)
2007
Dakota Staton,
singer dies in New York. Born 6 March, 1932 in Pittsburg,
Pennsilvania. (mn)
2007
Zola Tayor
with The Platters dies in Los Angeles. Born 17 March 1938 in New
York. (soulwalking)
11th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 324:
DELROY WILSON (SKA ENDS)
LINCOLN
BORN - TALK-BACK TEAM
1908
Jane M. Bolin,
first female African American judge in the United States, is born in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., USA. (tr-iokts)
1935
Richard Berry, soul singer born in
Extension, Louisiana, USA. Berry was brought to Los Angeles as an
infant, where he learned to play the piano, playing along with
records of Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers. In high school he
formed a vocal group and began recording in 1953 under various names
(the Hollywood Blue Jays, the Flairs, the Crowns, the Dreamers, the
Pharaohs) as well as doing solo sessions for Modern's Flair
subsidiary. His most famous moment is his bass vocal contributions to
the Robin's Riot In Cell Block 9 (d. 23 January, 1997). (mn-cl)
1981
30th
Anniversary of Brixton
Riots: On the Friday evening of
10 April 1981, 19-year-old Michael Bailey from Brixton was snatched
by his friends from the police as he bled from a stab wound. He was
then taken to an ambulance. Rumours circled that Bailey had died at
the hands of the police. Despite this, the police continued with what
they called 'Operation Swamp' by posting an extra 96 officers on
Brixton streets. This policy was counter productive as on this day
Britain experienced one of its worst nites of violence. The incident
sparked all that bottled-up anger that black youth had against the
police. The rioting was vicious and intense. By nightfall Brixton was
alight. The eruption was reported as far as Russia. It lasted two
days and included the first use of petrol bombs on mainland
Britain. At it's peak about 7,000 officers were deployed to restore
order in an area less than a square mile. The damage totalled
£6.5 million. (mn-ts)
1987
[Joss Stone]
soul singer born Joscelyn Eve Stoker in Kent, UK.This precociously
talented white soul singer made a notable impact with her 2003 debut
album, The Soul Sessions, released when she was only 16 years old.
Stone grew up in the rural village of Ashill, Devon. She began
singing in her early teens, making her first public performance at
Uffculme Comprehensive School with a version of Jackie Wilson's
"Reet Petite". In 2001, Stone won a local audition to
perform on a junior version of the BBC talent show Star For A Night.
Her appearance on Junior Star For A Night (singing Donna Summer's
"On The Radio") helped launch a career in music, with the
teenage singer hiring a management team that brought her to the
attention of London-based production team the Boiler House Boys. The
latter passed the word on to US record company executive Steve
Greenberg who flew Stone to New York for an audition, following which
he signed the 14-year old singer to his S-Curve label. Greenberg
introduced Stone to veteran soul artist Betty Wright, with the
original intention being to co-write an album of contemporary
material. The direction of the album took a different turn when
Greenberg and Wright suggested bringing in some well-known names from
the 70s soul scene, including keyboard players Latimore and Timmy
Thomas, and guitarist Little Beaver. (music.us)
12th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT:
NATTY
ROOTS - NATTY CULTURE 325: ABYSSINIANS
PCRL
CONSORTIUM MEMBER DAVI-A BORN
1872
Jamaica saved from capture by Admiral Rodney's victory over the
French fleet at the Battle of the Saints. (mn-cb)
1898
Sir Grantley H. Adams,
political leader, president of Barbados, born. Sir Grantley Herbert
Adams (Died - November 28, 1971) was a Barbadian politician. He
served as the first Premier of Barbados, as the island proceeded
towards self-governance and then as the first and only Prime Minister
of the West Indies Federation. He was president of the Barbados
Workers' Union from 1941 to 1954, after serving as leader of the
Barbados Labour Party from 1938. Grantley Adams later became the
first Premier of a self-governing Barbados, and in 1958 became Prime
Minister of the West Indies Federation as leader of the West Indies
Federal Labour Party. The Sir Grantley Adams International Airport
located in Christ Church, Barbados was renamed after the former Prime
Minister in 1976. The late Grantley Adams is also one of Barbados' 10
national heroes. also 28th april (wickpedia)
1913
Lionel Hampton,
jazz vibraphonist born. d. 31 August 2002, New York, USA. After
living briefly in Louisville and Birmingham, Alabama, Hampton was
taken to Chicago where he lived with his grandparents. They sent him
to Holy Rosary Academy at Collins, Wisconsin, where he was taught the
rudiments of military band drumming by a Dominican nun. Following the
death of his grandmother, Hampton, now in his early teens, went to
live with his uncle, Richard Morgan. A bootlegger and friend to many
showbusiness stars, Morgan encouraged his nephew in his ambition to
become a musician. (Morgan later became an intimate friend of Bessie
Smith and was driving the car in which she had her fatal accident.) (mn-jt)
1925 Prentiss
Barnes , Moonglows singer born in
Magnolia, Mississippi, USA. The Moonglows were discovered in
Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952 by legendary disc jockey Alan Freed. Lester
sang lead, Fuqua was the alternate lead, Graves the first tenor, and
Barnes the bass. From 1953 to 1954 they had minor success in the
rhythm-and-blues market but achieved national fame only after signing
with Chess Records in 1954. On such successful records as
"Sincerely" (1954), "Most of All" (1955), "We
Go Together" (1956), and "Ten Commandments of Love"
(1958), the Moonglows perfected the distinctive rhythm-and-blues
vocal harmony technique called "blow harmony," through
which blown breath becomes part of harmonies that resonate as if they
originated deep in the singers' chests. Freed helped make the group
one of the most significant early rock-and-roll acts, including them
in many of his stage shows and in his motion pictures Rock, Rock,
Rock (1956) and Mr. Rock and Roll (1957). Fuqua, the group's leader
and songwriter (and later a producer, label owner, and promoter),
broke up the ensemble in 1958 and formed a new Moonglows group, whose
members included Marvin Gaye. The group disbanded in 1960 but
reorganized in 1972. Later albums include The Return of the Moonglows
(1972) and Sincerely (1991). The Moonglows were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. (wickpedia) (other ref 25 April)
1940
Herbie Hancock,
jazz-man born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Growing up in a musical
household, Hancock studied piano from the age of seven and gave his
first public performance just two years later. Although he played
classical music at his debut Hancock's interest lay mostly in jazz.
During high school and college he played in semi-professional bands
and on occasion accompanied visiting jazzmen, including Donald Byrd.
It was with Byrd that Hancock first played in New York, in 1961,
recording with him and as leader of his own small group. Among the
tunes on this later album was "Watermelon Man", a Hancock
original that appealed to more than the usual jazz audience. A
version of the song, by Mongo Santamar¡a, reached the US Top 10. (mn-jt)
1955
7,000 black children are expelled from school for protesting against
the Bantu Education Act S Africa, 100 teachers loose their jobs. (drum)
1966
Emmett Ashford becomes the first African American major league unpire
1970 Delroy Pearson, soul singer with the group Five Star is
born. (mn-jt)
1975
Josephine Baker,
singer/humanitarian dies. Born Freda Josephine McDonald she
participated in the French Resistance and post war activities on
behalf of orphaned and deprived children. Made her world debut in a
chorus line of Shuffle Along in 1923 and began singing in Harlem's
Plantation Club. (mn-jt-ss)
1978
Aretha Franklin married actor Glynn Turman. Her father, the Revd
C.L. Franklin officiated at the ceremony, which was attended by the
Four Tops, who serenaded the bride by singing 'Isn't she lovely'. (mn-jt)
2006 June
Poiner, singer with the Pointer
Sisters dies from cancer in her sisters arms. (mn)
13th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 326: ASWAD (f.
1975)
1907
Harlem Hospital opens in New York, N.Y., USA. (tr-iokts)
1940
Lester Chambers,
singer with The Chambers Brothers, born. The group was formed in
1954 in Los Angeles by four brothers from Mississippi, Lester,
George, Willie and Joe Chambers. They toured extensively throughout
southern California but did not achieve nationwide success until 1965
when, with the addition of drummer Brian Keenan, they appeared at the
Newport Folk Festival. Shortly after this they recorded their debut
album People Get Ready. The band scored their first major hit in 1968
with the title track from their third album Time Has Come Today.
However they found it difficult to build on this success and
eventually split up in 1972. They reformed in 1974 to record Unbonded
and have toured regularly since. The Chambers Brothers was also the
name of a gang in Detroit, Michigan. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1946
Al Green soul/gospel
singer born in Forrest City, Arkansas, USA. He recorded 9 albums and
had 7 Top 10 hits between 1971-74 that collectively sold over 30
million copies, he later returned to Gospel in 1976. The singer's
personal life, however, was rocked in October 1974. Following an
argument, his girlfriend, Mary Woodson, burst in while the singer was
taking a bath and poured boiling grits over his back. She then shot
herself dead. Although he occasionally recorded gospel material, a
scarred and shaken Green vowed to devote more time to God. (mn)
1951
Peabo Bryson singer born Robert Peabo
Bryson in Greenville, South Carolina, USA. This talented soul singer
and producer is a former member of Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town
Display and Michael Zager's Moon Band. Between 1976 and 1978, Bryson
had hits with this latter group, with "Reaching For The Sky"
and "I'm So Into You'. His numerous appearances in
Billboard"s R&B chart include "Underground Music",
"Feel The Fire", "Crosswinds", "She's A
Woman" and "Minute By Minute". "Gimme Some
Time", a 1979 duet with Natalie Cole, was the first of several
successful partnerships. However, despite hits with Melissa
Manchester and Regina Belle, the singer is best known for his work
with Roberta Flack, and in particular the dewy-eyed ballad
"Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", which reached number 5 on
the US R&B chart and number 2 in the UK pop chart in 1983. Such
releases have obscured Bryson's own career, which included, notably,
the US Top 10 hit "If Ever You're In My Arms Again" from
1984, but he remains an able and confident performer blessed with an
effortless voice. Soundtrack duets with Celine Dion ("Beauty And
The Beast") and Regina Belle ("A Whole New World (Aladdin's
Theme)") in 1992 provided Bryson with further chart
success. (mn)
1957
Wayne Lewis,
soul singer with Atlantic Starr, born. Atlantic Starr was formed in
1976 when they moved to Los Angeles. Later in the 70s, they enlisted
the services of New York-born Sharron Bryant as lead singer, and
signed to A&M Records. Under the auspices of Philadelphia
producer Bobby Eli (whose other work includes Major Harris, Brenda
And The Tabulations, Booker Newbury III and Ronnie Dyson), they
recorded their first two albums. "Gimme Your Lovin'", from
the first of these, became a hit in the UK charts, before they
switched to the production tutelage of James Anthony Carmichael
(Commodores, Lionel Richie) for a series of three albums. Bryant
departed after Yours Forever to marry Rick Brenna from Change. She
then worked as a session singer before re-emerging in 1989 with the
solo Here I Am and the single "Foolish Heart". Her
replacement in Atlantic Starr was Barbara Weathers, although Daniels,
Suddeeth, Archer and Carroll also parted company around the same
time. (mn-jt)
1963
Sidney Potier is the first male African-American to receive an
Academy Award. He also turns his hand to directing and make Stir
Crazy, the largest grossing movie by a African-American director.
1965
Leontyne Price, opera singer, awarded the "Order of Merit of the
Italian Republic."
1975
Bruce Antionio Dyer,
6',11", 11.3 footballer born in Ilford, England. International
Honours: E: U21-11. (bh-mn)
1986
Dorothy Ashby,
jazz harp player dies in Santa Monica, USA. Dorothy Ashby (August 6,
1932-April 13, 1986) was born Dorothy Jeanne Thompson in Detroit,
Michigan and died in Santa Monica, California at age 53. She was a
noted jazz harp player who grew up around music in Detroit where her
father, guitarist Wiley Thompson, often brought home fellow jazz
musicians. Often, even as a young girl, Dorothy would provide support
and background to their music by playing the piano. She attended Cass
Technical High School where fellow students included such future
musical talents and jazz greats as Donald Byrd, Gerald Wilson, and
Kenny Burrell. While in high school she played a number of
instruments including the saxophone and bass before coming upon the
harp. A story has it that 14 students in the high school had to share
5 harps, and so Dorothy soon became passionate about the dream of
owning her own harp one day. She found in the harp a great
opportunity to express via a musical instrument the resonance and
syncopation in jazz that are usually only found in the human voice.
And so her desire in her music was to explore the harp through a
number of musical traditions that included bop, jazz, and funk. (mn-wickpedia)
14th.
APRIL
BLACK HEROES PAST & PRESENT 327:
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 327: BLACK
UHURU
1775
First U.S. abolitionist society is founded in Pennsylvania; Ben
Franklin is its president. (tr-iokts)
1915
James Hutton Brew,
Pioneer of West African Journalism, dies.The Gold Coast Times,
according to Prof. Jones-Quartey became the first of its kind in the
country to be owned and run exclusively by natives. The Times was the
brainchild of James Hutton Brew, one of the historical figures of
Ghana, popularly called ‘Brew of Dunkwah.’ In the earlier
article I quoted some historians as saying that the Bannerman
Brothers and later Dr. Nkrumah established their papers with the sole
aim of counterbalancing European control over the flow of
information. Even more forceful was the reason behind the
establishment of Brew Hutton’s Gold Coast Times. (mn)
1915
Muddy Waters,
bluesman born. He was the patriarch of the post-World War II Chicago
blues. A master artist who played slashing slide guitar and sang with
a tough, sinewy view of a man who had seen his share of good and evil
in life. Waters was also a compelling song writer and song
interpreter, a powerful stage performer and recording artist, and
superb bandleader.(Dies April 30, 1983, Chicago). (mn-jt)
1943
Maceo Parker, saxophonist with James
Brown born in Kinston, NC, USA.Maceo Parker (born February 14, 1943)
is a noted African American funk and soul jazz saxophone player, best
known for his contributions to James Brown's distinct sound. He was
born in Kinston, North Carolina in a musically-rich environment. His
mother and father sang in a church and both his brothers are
accomplished musicians (drums and trombones). He and his brother,
Melvin Parker, joined James Brown in 1964; In his book Brown says
that he originally wanted Melvin as his drummer but agreed to take
Maceo under his wing as part of the deal. Maceo, Melvin and a few of
Brown's band members left to found Maceo & All the Kings Men
which toured for two years. In 1973 Maceo returned to James Brown's
band. In 1975 Maceo and some of Brown's band members, including Fred
Wesley, left to join George Clinton's Parliament. Maceo once again
joined James Brown from 1984 to 1988. In the 1990s he finally
embraced a successful solo career. He has released seven solo records
and plays 250 tour dates per year. (mn-lb-wickpedia)
1952
Jerry Knight,
with soul group Raydio born. Jerry Knight (born in Los Angeles)
was an R&B recording artist in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Along with Ray Parker Jr., he was a founding member of the group
Raydio, singing vocals on their early hit Jack and Jill. He then left
to pursue a solo career, releasing two solo albums and achieving
moderate success with minor hits such as Overnight Sensation, Perfect
Fit, and Turn It Out. In 1983, Jerry Knight teamed with Ollie Brown
to form Ollie & Jerry. Together, they provided the title track to
the soundtrack to the movie Breaking, which reached #9 on the
Billboard pop charts. Although his solo career faded, Jerry Knight
continued to write and produce for groups such as the Whispers,
Patrice Rushen and DeBarge. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1971
Tim Austin IBF
Bantamweight World Champion Boxer born. Record: 17-0-1 (16). Best
wins: Javier Diaz; Eddie Rangel and Mdulelo Botile. He lives in
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. (mn-ring)
1972
Colin James Alcide,
footballer, height: 6' 2", weight: 11.7, powerful striker born
in Huddersfield. Crystal Palace paid £1,100,000 for him on
10/3/94. (mn-bh)
1983
Wonder's Multi-Million Motown Deal Signed.
Following his winning of four Grammy Awards in both 1974 and 1975,
singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder re-signed with
Motown Records, the company for which he had always recorded even
before his first million-selling smash hit, 'Fingertips Part II', in
1963 when he was 13 years old.
2009
US music producer Phil Spector has been convicted of murdering
actress Lana Clarkson, after a five-month retrial. (mn)
15th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 328: DENNIS
BROWN
1894
Bessie Smith,
singer is born. The greatest female blues singer of all - the Empress
of the Blues - was born in Tennessee and died from injuries received
in a car crash in 1937. She was orphaned at the age of seven and sang
in the streets for pennies, eventually becoming a headliner in
Vaudeville and a toast of the New York smart set (for whom her
respect was not total: a hard-drinking woman, she took no nonsense
from anyone). 160 of her recordings still survive, all now on
CBS in five 2-disc sets. In 1929 she made a short film St Louis
Blues. (Dies September 26, 1937, Clarksdale, Miss). (mn-jt-dc)
1915
Johnny Shines,
blues guitarist/singer born. (d.20/4/1992)He was born John Ned
Shines on April 26, 1915 in Frazier, Tennessee. He spent most of his
childhood in Memphis playing slide guitar at an early age in local
“jukes” and for tips on the streets. His first musical
influences were Blind Lemon Jefferson and Howlin’ Wolf, but he
was taught to play the guitar by his mother. Shines moved to Hughes,
Arkansas in 1932 and worked on farms for three years putting his
musical career on hold. But it was a chance meeting with Robert
Johnson, his greatest influence, that gave him the inspiration to
return to music. In 1935, Johnny Shines began traveling with Robert
Johnson, touring the south and heading as far north as Ontario.
There, they both appeared on a local radio program. In Chicago,
Shines found work in the construction trade and continued to play in
local bars. He made his first recording in 1946 for Columbia Records,
but the takes were never released. He later recorded for Chess and
was once again denied. He kept playing with local blues musicians in
the Chicago area for several more years. In 1952, Johnny Shines
recorded what is considered his best work for the J.O.B. Records
label. The recordings were a commercial flop and Shines frustrated
with the music industry, sold his equipment and returned to
construction. In 1966, Vanguard records found Shines taking
photographs in a Chicago blues club. He recorded with the label takes
for the 3rd installment of Chicago/The Blues/Today!. The album has
since then become a blues classic and it brought Johnny Shines into
to mainstream music scene. Shines toured with the Chicago All Stars
alongside Lee Jackson, Big Walter Horton and Willie Dixon. In the
late sixties and seventies, Johnny Shines toured with Robert
Johnson’s step-son, Robert Junior Lockwood as the last remaining
original delta blues musicians. In 1980, Shines’ music was
brought to a standstill when he suffered a stroke. He would later
appear in the documentary “Searching for Robert Johnson”
and manage to release one last album, Back To The Country. Johnny
Shines Died on April 20, 1992 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (mn-rs-wickpedia)
1919
Elizabeth Catlett,
sculptor and lithographer born. She attended the Lucretia Mott
Elementary School, Dunbar High School, and then Howard University
where she studied design, printmaking and drawing. In an interview in
December 1981 in Artist and Influence magazine, she stated that she
changed her major to painting because of the influence of James
Porter, and because there was no sculpture division at Howard at the
time. She received her BS, cum laude from Howard in 1935. She then
worked as a high school teacher in North Carolina but left after two
years, frustrated by the low teaching salaries for blacks. Mother and
Child, 1939. In 1940 Catlett became the first student to receive an
Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture at the University of Iowa.
While there, she was influenced by American landscape painter Grant
Wood, who urged students to work with the subjects they knew best.
For Catlett, this meant blacks, and especially black women, and it
was at this point that her work began to focus on African Americans.
Her piece Mother and Child (done in 1939 for her thesis), won first
prize in sculpture at the American Negro Exposition in Chicago in
1940. She studied ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1941,
lithography at the Art Students League in New York in 1942-1943, and
with sculptor Ossip Zadkine in New York in 1943. She became the
'promotion director' for the George Washington Carver School in
Harlem located at 57 W. 125th St. Roy DeCarava was one of the
students. Some of the teachers included Ernie Crichlow, Norman Lewis,
and Charles White, who was for a time her husband. (tr-bl-wickpedia)
1928
Norma Merrick Sklarek born.
Sklarek was the first African-American woman to be licensed as an
architect in the United States and the first woman to be elected
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Then, in 1985, she
became the first African-American woman to open her own architectural
firm. (tr-bl-aareg.com)
1949
Marsha Hunt,
soul singer born. Hunt grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and
studied at the University of California, Berkeley (at the time of the
student riots) but in the late 1960s moved to Britain. She has lived
in Ireland since 1995. She also lives in France where she owns a
home. She is the mother of Mick Jagger's first child, Karis Jagger,
who was born on November 4, 1970 in the UK. Marsha Hunt is the
inspiration of the Stone's hit "Brown Sugar". Ms. Hunt was
at the time a member of the cast in the London production of the
musical Hair (playing "Dionne"), reportedly approached
Jagger at a party and, rather bluntly, informed him that she wanted
to have his baby. Jagger obliged her but would not enter into a
long-term relationship with Hunt, who, consequently, had to bring up
her daughter as a single mother (although she also wanted to make her
way in show business). Jagger even denied being Karis's father and
refused payments. A lengthy lawsuit followed, and a settlement making
him support Hunt and their daughter was only reached in 1979. Mick
Jagger has been close to Karis for years. She would often vacation
with Jagger and his family as a teenager. He attended Karis's
graduation from Yale, her wedding in 2000 and was at the hospital for
the birth of her son in 2004. He has been very close to Karis for
more than twenty years. Hunt was also professionally associated with
musicians such as Alexis Korner, John Mayall, Elton John, and Marc
Bolan. In her later years Hunt has taken to writing. After her 1986
autobiography, Real Life: The Story of a Survivor, she published her
first novel, Joy, in 1990, and her second novel, Free, in 1992. In
late 2004, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and had surgery to
remove her right breast and her lymph nodes. She has written about it
in a memoir, Undefeated, and has been the subject of a documentary,
Beating Breast Cancer on ITV, broadcast on 26 September 2005. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1959
African Freedom Day is declared at the All-African Peoples Conference
in Accra, Ghana.
1989
Black Rap Leads The Pack.
Loc-ed After Dark, the album by Los Angeles based rap star Tone Loc,
became the first rap release to top the US album chart. (mn-jt)
16th.
APRIL
GOSPEL
PRESENTER TARNISHIA BORN
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 329: SLY
AND ROBBIE
1864
Flora Batson,
acclaimed soprano baritone singer is born in Washington, D.C., USA. (tr-iokts)
1929
Ed Townsend,
soul singer/producer born. His first hit was 'For Your Love' in
1958. Gained singing experience while in the Marine Corps in Korea.
Wrote songs for Nat King Cole, Etta James, Impressions, Shirelles,
Chuck Jackson, Dee Dee Warwick and Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On'.
Hosted a TV program in Los Angeles. (mn)
1929
Roy Hamilton,
soul singer born in Leesburg, Georgia, USA. Cited by Elvis Presley
as one of the all time great voices. His booming baritone voice made
him a 50s hit-maker singing gospel-flavoured pop songs. In the late
40s Hamilton honed his singing skills in a church choir and as a
member of it's offshoot quartet, the Searchlight Singers. He won a
talent contest at the Apollo Theatre in 1947, but it was not until
1953 that he was discovered by his soon to be manager Bill Cook who
was a local disc jockey. His first hit was You'll Never Walk Alone,
(R&B No.1 in 1954) later a UK football anthem song. He also made
the original hit with Unchained Melody (an R&B No.1 in 1955).
Dies 20 July 1969. (mn-cl-jt)
1947
Lew Alcindor (Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar), basketball player, is born. (tr- iokts)
1965
Mayor General B.O. Davis, Jr. becomes Lt. General, highest rank held
by an African American in the U.S. Armed Forces.
1969
Desmond Dekker & The Aces hit No.1 chart position with The
Israelites, this is in the record books as the first reggae single to
reach No. 1 on the UK pop music chart. (mn)
1970
(Louis) Gabrielle (Bobb)
(uk singer) born in London. (nationmaster)
1990
Mandela Concert at Wembley.
Massive concert to celebrate the release of Nelson Mandela. Artists
included The Neville Brothers, Tracy Chapman and Aswad. (mn-jt)
17th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 330: KING TUBBY
1758
Francis Williams, first U.S. black college graduate, publishes a
poem book in Latin.
1816
Patrick Henry Reason,
abolitionist, is born. (tr-iokts)
1872
William Munroe Trotter,
pioneer in protest techniques, born this day in Boston, USA. Dies on
the same date in 1934. A journalist who vigorously opposed
discrimination during the early twentieth century, Trotter employed
methods - notably non-violent protest that would be used in the
twentieth century. He was an honours student at Havard University. He
founded the Guardian (1901) and worked with W.E.B. Du Bois in
founding the Niagara Movement (1905).
1924
Althea T. L. Simmons born. (tr-bl)
1930
Alexander Graves,
singer with The Moonglows is born. (mn-jt)
1947
Chris Bartley, soul singer born in
Harlem, New York, USA. (mn-cl)
1969
Dean Anthony Wallace,
6'0", 11.11 footballer born in Leeds, England. Club Honours:
Div 3 '95; AMC '97. International Honours: St. Kitts.
1976
David Alleyne,
5' 11" Middlesex cricketer born in York. (cm-mn)
1999
48 hurt In Bomb Blast
Read the headline in the Sunday Mercury newspaper the next day after
a 5.30 pm nail bomb blast near Brixton market, it was thought
by some to been a racist attack. (mn)
2003
Earl King, r&b
singer/songwriter/guitarist dies from diabetes related complications
at St. Charles General Hospital, New Orleans, he was 69. (in basement 31)
18th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT
331:
BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS (Reggae
ENDS)
1924
Clarence Gatemouth Brown,
blues guitarist, born Vinton, La, USA. (rs)
1963
Philip Verant Simmons,
Right-hand bat, right arm medium bowler for Leicestershire is born
in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, West Indies. County debut: 1994; County
capo: 1994; Test debut: 1988; Tests: 26; One-Day Internationals: 130;
1000 runs in one season: 1; 50 wickets in one season: 1. (cm-mn)
1980
Independence Day - Zimbabwe: Joshua
Nkomo and president Robert Mugabe struggled for black liberation
against Ian Smith and his white government - Leading Rhodesia into a
blood 20 year war. At midnight, Rhodesia became known as Zimbabwe.
Rhodesia was named after the colonialist Rhodes, whose statue was
removed from the streets of the capitol he named Salisbury, which is
now named Harare. (sc)
1983
Alice Walker is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for 'The Color Purple. A
prominent novelist and poet, Walker was born in Eatonton, Georgia,
and attended both Spellman College and Sarah Lawrence, where she
received her A.B. in 1965. Before settling in San Francisco she
registered voters in Gorgia, worked for Head Start program in
Mississippi, and worked with the Welfare Dept. in New York. Her early
poetry and fiction drew on both her family's history and her own work
and travels and already revealed her special concern for the
African-American woman's experience. The Color Purple was made into a
film staring Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldburg and Danny Glover. (ss-tr-iokts)
19th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT:
AFRICAN-AMERICAN
ACHIEVERS STARTS:
332:
ANDREW YOUNG/COLEMAN YOUNG
Republic
Day-Sierra Leone
1892
Black Invention: Overboot for Horses,
Robert Coates. (sc)
1936
Ruby Johnson, soul singer born
in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, USA
1938
Nana Annor Adjaye, Pan-Africanise,
dies in West Nzima, Ghana. (iokts)
1945 Cleo
Sylvestre, black British actor, born
in Hertfordshire, but grew up in Huston, London. She appeared in
Coronation St soap and, Cathy Come Home, and Up the Junction in the
BBC's Wednesday Play series in the 1960s. Also a familiar face in
Crossroads in the 1970s. (mn-sb)
1960
SWAPO was born to organise, unite, inspire, orient and lead the
masses of the oppressed Namibian people in the strugle against
colonial oppression and for national independence. Today SWAPO the
concentrated expression of the polital wishes and aspirations of the
oppressed masses of our people. (swapo-tr)
1972
Imamu Mayfield IBF
Cruiserweight World Champion Boxer is born. Record: 17-1 (13). He
resides is New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. Best wins were Earnest
Mateen and Uriah Grant. (mn-ring)
1977
Alex Haley receives a special Pulitzer Prize for his book
'Roots.' Roots was made into a TV serial and shown all around the
globe. Characters like Kunti Kinte and Chicken George were house-hold names.
1986 Kiss
Triple Topper for Prince. Prince
(real name Prince Rogers Nelson) simultaneously topped three US
charts - pop, dance, and R & B - for the third time in his
career. (mn-jt)
1991
Leon Sullivan leads African/American Summit.
2006
Gracie Ridgeway
of the Ridgeway Sisters group dies. (mn)
20th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT:
333:
OPRAH WINFREY/STEVIE WONDER
PCRL
Presenter: PAUL RUEBEN BORN
ON THIS DAY
1923
Tito Puente,
afro-Cuban musician born. Four time Grammy Award Winner; featured
motion picture performer; doctorate of arts & sciences;
Internationally acclaimed world wide performer; there are not enough
adjectives to describe Tito Puente. His hit records and arrangements
have become classics in Latin music as well as popular rock. Carlos
Santana recorded two of his hits, while jazz greats such as Buddy
Morrow and Woody Herman collaborated with The King. He has a
"star" in the Hollywood Walk of Fame, right in front of the
Chinese Theater and two colleges, SUNY at Old Westbury and Hunter
College, have both bestowed the King with honorary doctorates for his
work in music and his help to young artists through his Tito Puente
Scholarship Fund. He is also the Latino Ambassador of Good Will
receiving numerous keys to Cities nationally and around the world.
But more important, his good will, talent and spirit have propelled
him to bridge racial,cultural, and generational gaps. His concerts
are attended by a colorfully diverse mix of people from every race,
age, and religion. His fans range from celebrities such as Bill
Cosby, to young Japanese students who watch him avidly when he is in
Japan or at the Blue Note. His recordings range from collector's
items classics to cutting edge hits. (mn-jt)
1926
Harriet Elizabeth Byrd
born. (tr-bl)
1951
Luther Vandross,
soul singer born in Bronx, New York, USA. He was musically inspired
by his family. His sister sang with the Crests who had a 50's hit
with Sixteen Candles, and his mother encouraged him to take a piano
and work with his sister after the death of his father in 1959. As he
grew older he was greatly inspired by female singers of the day,
Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and Diana Ross. Luther became the
voice on the Kentucky Fried Chicken TV adds. 1975 he formed his own
group Luther and recorded two albums on Cotillion, he later brought
back the rights to these so they could never be re-issued, that's why
they are so rare! Dies 2005. (mn-rt)
1968
"Britain Must Be Mad, Literally
Mad" - Enoch (Powell)
"Like The Roman - I Seem To See The River Of Blood".
"It's like watching a nation heaping up its funeral pyre".
Read the headline in The Evening Standard newspaper. Soon after this
speach he was asked to resign as Conservative MP for Wolverhampton. (mn-standard)
1970 Perry
Bradford,
composer/arranger/producer/pianist, dies, New York. Perry Bradford
was a singer, songwriter, pianist and vaudeville and minstrel
performer who forever changed the sound of American popular music by
convincing Okeh Records to release the first Blues record in 1920.
Bradford was sure that there was a market for African-American music
aimed at African-American consumers. He had a hard time convincing
the record companies in New York of this, but he kept at it and
managed to get Okeh records interested in the idea in 1920. He felt
that singer Mamie Smith a star of the musical revue "Maid of
Harlem" had the right stuff to reach the African-American
audience. Their first try was a couple of Perry Bradford pop songs
with a slight Jazz and Blues feel "That Thing Called Love"
and "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down". It sold well enough
that Okeh was willing to be a little more adventurous and record some
real contemporary African-American music on their next release. The
songs were "Crazy Blues", and "It' s Right Here for
You" but this time Okeh played up that fact that this was an
African-American singer and band in their advertising and sheet music
sales that accompanied the record. The record was a smash hit and
some say it ended up selling over a million copies. After the success
of this record almost all other record companies then jumped on the
band wagon and started recording African-American Blues and Jazz
musicians. Bradford led several sessions in the 1920s that featured
Jazz luminaries such as Louis Armstrong, James P. Johnson, Johnny
Dunn, and Alberta Hunter. Strangely enough, Bradford was also an
influence on rock music. Rock n' Roll musician Little Richard (who
had a big hit with Bradford's song "Keep A Knockin'" in
1957) had this to say about him, "Everything happens for a
reason. Who knew that the style Perry was developing in the Twenties
would lead to Rock and Roll."
1978
Carl Gary Greenidge,
5'11", 12.6 Surrey cricketer born in Basingstoke. Country
debut: 1998 (one-day). (cm-mn)
1987
Bert Hardy's World (A Portrait)
- Broadcasted by CH4 television, a documentary about the celebrated
photo-journalist Bert Hardy, including references to his
documentation of the pre-war black communities of Cardiff and
Liverpool. (mn-sb)
1992
Johnny Shines, blues singer/guitarist
dies (b.15/4/1915) Best known as a traveling companion of Robert
Johnson, Johnny Shines' own contributions to the blues have often
been unfairly shortchanged, simply because Johnson's own legend casts
such a long shadow. In his early days, Shines was one of the top
slide guitarists in Delta blues, with his own distinctive, energized
style; one that may have echoed Johnson's spirit and influence, but
was never a mere imitation. Shines eventually made his way north to
Chicago, and made the transition to electrified urban blues with
ease, helped in part by his robust, impassioned vocals. He was vastly
under-recorded during his prime years, even quitting the music
business for a time, but was rediscovered in the late '60s and
recorded and toured steadily for quite some time. A 1980 stroke
robbed him of some of his dexterity on guitar, but his voice remained
a powerfully emotive instrument, and he performed up until his death
in 1992. (mn-rs-music.us)
1984
Mabel Mercer
UK singer dies, (Feb.3, 1900 - Apr.20, 1984), cabaret/concert singer
and song stylist, was born Mabel Alice Wadham at Burton-Upon-Trent,
Staffordshire, England, to Emily Mame Wadham, an English-Welsh
music-hall entertainer, and Benjamin Mercer, an African-American
tumbler or acrobat. Her parents being unmarried, Mabel was raised by
maternal grandparents in north Wales in a family of singers, dancers,
and painters. At seven she was placed in a Catholic convent school in
Manchester. Emily, before going on a world tour from which she never
returned, took Mabel onto the stage of an empty music hall. Climbing
to the balcony, she yelled, "All right, sing! And I want to
understand every word!" Mabel experienced the first of lifelong
stage fright but her mother heard every word. (mn)
21st.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT
334:
JOHN WILLIAMS/MARY WILLIAMS
1914
Pauline Henriques,
actress, born in Half Way Tree, Kingston, Jamaica. Along with Connie
Smith was the first black actresses on British television on 16th.
September, 1946 in Eugene O’ Neil’s play All God's Chillin
Got Wings on the BBC. (mn-sb)
1942
Bobby McClure, soul singer born in
Chicago, Illinois, USA. By the time of his second birthday, his
family had relocated to St. Louis, and by the age of nine, McClure
had begun singing in church. His fine tenor voice quickly caught the
attention of others, as he sang with several of the area's best-known
gospel groups, including the Soul Stirrers, which Sam Cooke was
singing lead with at the time. (mn-cl)
1966 Imperial
Majesty Haile Selassie (Power of the Trinity) visits Kingston, Jamaica.
Haile Selassie was born in Harar Province, Ethiopia July 23, 1892. He
became emperor of Ethiopia in 1930, his rein ended in 1974 when
military leaders over through him. Haile Salassie worked for economic
and social reform, such as making slavery punishable by law. He gave
Ethiopia it's first written constitution in 1931. Ethiopia was
attacked by fascist Italy in 1935 and Haile Salassie lived in exile
in England until 1941. British forces liberated Ethiopia during World
War II and restored him to the throne. Rebels seised the government
on December 13th 1960 while he was in South America, but he regained
his throne four days later.Haile Salassie was born Ras Tafafari, he
belonged to a dynasty that claimed to be the descendants of King
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. (dies August 27, 1975). (mn-jc)
1966
Pfc. Milton Lee Olive is awarded the Medal of Honour posthumously
for bravery in the Vietnam War. (tr-iokts)
1970
Earl Hooker,
slide-guitarist and cousin of John Lee Hooker, dies in Chicago, Ill,
USA. Earl Hooker was a slide guitarist in the same league as Elmore
James, Hound Dog Taylor, and his mentor, Robert Nighthawk. Some
Chicago blues guitarists even consider Hooker to have been the
greatest slide player ever. Hooker never achieved the success that
James did mainly because he rarely sang. Realizing his voice lacked
texture and range, Hooker concentrated on being a blues
instrumentalist. (mn-rs)
2008
Al Wilson
dies. (b. 19th June 1939, Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.A.) d. 21st
April 2008, Fontana, Nr. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Soul Singer
Al Wilson has died. He was 68. Reports state that he died due to
kidney failure in a hospital in Fontana, a city about 50 miles east
of Los Angeles. Al Wilson was not only a talented vocalist, he was
also a drummer. He moved from Mississippi to California in the late
'50's, and sang with a group called The Rollers between 1960 to 1962,
a San Bernardino-based quartet whose major claim to fame came in 1961
with 'The Continental Walk'. Al was, also, a former member of the
Jewels. He was a member of Johnny Harris & the Statesmen in the
mid-'60's, and then signed with Soul City in the late '60's. Al then
turned to solo recording, signing to the Soul City imprint, a label
owned by the singer Johnny Rivers. Al released his first single, 'The
Snake', in 1968. His biggest release arrived in 1974 with 'Show and
Tell'. The song spent one week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hit 100
singles chart in January 1974 and was originally recorded by Johnny
Mathis. His song 'I've Got A Feeling (We'll Be Seeing Each Other
Again)' reached number 3 in the R & B charts. Al's last chart
appearance came in 1979 with 'Count The Days'. (soulwalking.co.uk)
22nd.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT
335:
BILL WHITE/JOSH WHITE /JOHN WIDMAN/L WILDER
1922
Charles Mingus,
bassist, composer, and bandleader is born. He is also known for his
activism regarding racial segregation. Mingus's legacy is enormous:
He is generally ranked among the finest jazz composers and
performers; some consider him perhaps greatest bassist in jazz
history. Many Mingus albums are easily available; most are highly
regarded. Dozens of musicians passed through his bands and later went
on to impressive careers. His songs – though melodic and
distinctive – are sometimes underrecorded by later musicians,
due in part to their challenging nature. Mingus is nearly as well
known for his volatile temperament as for his ambitious music. His
refusal to compromise his musical integrity led to many onstage
explosions, though it has been argued that his temper grew also from
his desire to vent frustration. Ironically, a perfect show could
irritate him by closing this outlet. Mingus was prone to depression
(possibly manic-depression). He tended to have brief periods of
extreme creative activity, intermixed with fairly long periods of
greatly decreased output. Most of Mingus's music retained the hot and
soulful feel of hard bop, and drew heavily from black gospel music
while sometimes drawing on elements of Third Stream Jazz and free
jazz. Yet Mingus avoided categorization, forging his own unique brand
of music that fused tradition with unique and unexplored realms of
jazz. Mingus is often considered the heir apparent to Duke Ellington,
for whom he expressed unqualified admiration. (tr-iokts)
1943
Mel Carter,
soul singer born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. (mn-cl) Possesses a warm
smooth tenor voice that gave him MOR hits in the mid-60's, his
music had enough rock and roll edge to make them reach the Top 40.
Biggest hit came after he left Sam Cook's Derby label for Imperial
with "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me", number 8 pop in 1965.
1958
Inauguration of Federation Parliament of the west Indies in
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. (mn-cb)
1967
Prince Paul rap music producer, real
name Paul E. Houston, born in Queens, Amityville, Long Island, USA. (mn-ms)
1968
Heath sacks Powell over race speach.
Read the front page headline in the Daily Express news paper. Powell
made his speach at the Midland Hotel in Birmingham. (mn)
1970 Student
strike was called at Yale in support of eight Black Panthers on trail.
1978 The
One Love peace concert initiated by
rival gang leaders Bucky Marshall and Claudie Massop brings both
political parties' gunmen together. Bob Marley himself the survivor
of an assassination attempt - forces Manley and Seaga, who hitherto
had been mentioned solely as a record producer, to hold hands. (mn-sb/pd-tr)
1990
Little Joe Blue,
guitarist/singer, dies, Reno, Navada, USA. (mn-rs) Real name Joseph
Valery Jr., has often been dismissed, unfairly as a slavish B.B. King
imitator. Joe though gets a tough vocal sound unlike Kings style, and
his lyrics are often interesting. Worked up until his death around
the west coast of the USA. (mn)
1993
Earl Fatha Hines, pianist dies. Born
28 December 1903, Pennsylvania, USA. An outstanding musician and a
major figure in the evolution of jazz piano playing. Began his
professional career in 1918. Played with all the jazz great's and
laid down over 50 albums. Read: World Of Earl Hines by Stanley Dance. (mn-cl)
1993
Stephen Lawrence murdered in a racist
attact by Gary Dobson, David Norris and at least three others. They
were found guilty after 18 years of campaining by Lawrence's parents. (mn)
2001
World Boxing Champion Lennox Lewis looses his title after a
knock-out. (mn)
23rd.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT
336:
ANDRE WATTS/C.WEST/C.WHARTON
1856
Granville T. Woods,
inventor of steam boilers, Furnaces, incubator, and auto air brakes
is born in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Granville T.
Woods dedicated his life to developing a variety of inventions
relating to the railroad industry. To some he was known as the
"Black Edison, both great inventors of their time. Granville T.
Woods invented more than a dozen devices to improve electric railway
cars and many more for controlling the flow of electricity. His most
noted invention was a system for letting the engineer of a train know
how close his train was to others. This device helped cut down
accidents and collisions between trains. (mn)
1895
Black Invention:
Potato Digger patented by F.J. Woods. (sc)
1895
Black Invention:
Photographic Print Wash, Clatonia Joaquin. (sc)
1952
Narada Michael Waldon,
soul singer born, Kalamazoo, MI, USA. American producer, singer, and
songwriter. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the
early 1970s and his musical career spans three decades, in which he
was awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. (mn-nc)
1967 Capleton
'The Prophet', real name Clifton Bailey born in Islington in St. Mary
Jamaica. Along with Buju Banton and Sizzla, Capleton spearheaded
dancehall's return to reggae tradition, tackling Rastafarian
spiritual themes and using classic roots reggae as a musical
foundation. Capleton was born Clifton George Bailey III on April 13,
1967, in the rural town of Islington, in Jamaica's St. Mary parish.
Capleton's namesake was a prominent local lawyer, and young Clifton
earned that nickname as a verbally gifted youth with a similar talent
for logical argument. He also loved music, counting both Bob Marley
& the Wailers and dancehall DJ Papa San as early favorites, and
sneaking into sound system shows at age 12. At 18, he moved to
Kingston in hopes of starting a music career, and performed with
several small sound systems before catching on with Stewart Brown's
African Star, a combination sound system and label with connections
in both Jamaica and Toronto. Visiting the latter in 1989, Capleton
shared a concert bill with the hugely popular Ninjaman, and impressed
enough that he was offered the chance to record with major producer
Philip "Fatis" Burrell upon his return to Jamaica. (tr-rr)
1971
William V.S. Tubman,
president of Liberia, dies.
1993
Stephen Lawrence,
18, murdered in Greenwich, London while waiting for a bus by a gang
of racists. Recorded as racially motivated. Charges dropped due to
'insufficient evidence', when translated means 'racist police'.
Family still fighting for justice seven years later. (rd-mn)
1979
To protect a hand full of National Front supporters 2,756 police,
including Paramilitary Special Patrol Group units, dogs, vans and
helicopters pored into Southall. Police broke up 5,000 protesters,
injuring 100's and arresting 342 people, and beating Blair Peach to
death. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner said afterwards 'If you
keep off the streets in London and behave yourselves, you won't have
the SPG to worry about'. (mn-pf)
2006
Florence Mars: Remembering a woman of
rare courage Florence Mars, whose defiant stand against Ku Klux Klan
terrorism in Neshoba County in the 1960s came at great personal
sacrifice, died today at her Philadelphia home. She was 83. Her
poignant memoir of life in Neshoba County, Witness in Philadelphia
(LSU Press), remains an important voice from that turbulent era in
Mississippi's history. Mars was in every sense of the term a
Renaissance woman. Her photography of New Orleans architecture and
scenes of rural poverty were published in The New York Times and Time
magazine. During World War II, Mars worked for Delta Airlines in
Atlanta. Back in Philadelphia after the war, she was an accomplished
businesswoman, cattle farmer, stockyard owner, and author. Mars will
be remembered most for having the courage of her considerable
convictions in the face of menacing Klan intimidation. Klansmen who
had infiltrated the ranks of local law enforcement arrested Miss Mars
on dubious misdemeanor charges as part of an orchestrated attempt to
ruin her reputation and her business successes in retaliation. But
Mars stood her ground and would not be silenced. Mars' life should be
honored as that of a brave woman whose belief in common decency
toward all and the rule of law never wavered, no matter the
consequences. (clarion ledger)
24th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT:
337:
HAROLD WASHINGTON/MUDDY WATERS/DENZEL
WASHINGTON/DINAH WASHINGTON
1884
First African-American medical society, the Medico - Chirurgical
Society of Washington D.C., is founded.
1928
Johnny Griffin,
saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Once accurately billed as
"the world's fastest saxophonist," Johnny Griffin (an
influence tone-wise on Rahsaan Roland Kirk) has been one of the top
bop-oriented tenors since the mid-'50s. He gained early experience
playing with the bands of Lionel Hampton (1945-47) and Joe Morris
(1947-50), and also jammed regularly with Thelonious Monk and Bud
Powell. After serving in the Army (1951-1953), Griffin spent a few
years in Chicago (recording his first full album for Argo) and then
moved to New York in 1956. He held his own against fellow tenors John
Coltrane and Hank Mobley on a classic Blue Note album, was with Art
Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1957, and proved to be perfect with the
Thelonious Monk quartet in 1958, where he really ripped through the
complex chord changes with ease. During 1960-1962, Griffin co-led a
"tough tenor" group with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis.
He emigrated to Europe in 1963, and became a fixture on the Paris
jazz scene both as a bandleader and a major soloist with the Kenny
Clarke-Francy Boland big band. In 1973, Johnny Griffin moved to the
Netherlands, but has remained a constant world traveler, visiting the
U.S. often and recording for many labels including Blue Note,
Riverside, Atlantic, SteepleChase, Black Lion, Antilles, Verve, and
some European companies. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide (mn-cl)
1933
Freddie Scott songwriter/singer
born in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Scott was a contract
songwriter with Screen Gems/Columbia, and had also recorded for a
score of minor New York labels. His 1963 hit, "Hey Girl",
was issued on Colpix, but after two lesser hits, Scott signed to
Shout Records. "Are You Lonely For Me", later recorded by
Chuck Jackson, was a US R&B number 7 in 1966. Scott subsequently
issued emotional versions of Solomon Burke's "Cry To Me",
Van Morrison's "He Ain't Give You None" and a powerful Bert
Berns/Jeff Barry composition, "Am I Grooving You". Shout
latterly folded and the singer moved between several companies. (mn)
1945
Robert Knight,
soul singer born. Robert Knight made one of the greatest uptempo
romantic tunes of the late '60s, the majestic "Everlasting
Love" in 1967. Although it is now an acknowledged classic, the
song only reached number 14 on the R&B charts, and actually did
better on the pop side (number 13). Knight, a Franklin, TN-native,
sang with the Paramounts before joining Dot in 1960. He never
repeated his success. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide (mn-jt)
1947
Ann Peebles soul
singer born in East St. Louis, Missourie, USA.Through her crossover R&B/pop
hit of 1974, I Can't Stand The Rain (featured on female rap
sensation Missy Elliott's smash single The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly), Ann
Peebles has come to be known as a real "singers' singer"
and a "musicians' musician." A strikingly, even classically
beautiful woman, Ann Peebles has always been her own person. Perhaps
this explains, at least in part, why she has had such an influence on
real soul music, R&B, and pop music since her great successes in
the early seventies. In fact, her recordings of I'm Gonna Tear Your
Playhouse Down, Come to Mama, I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's
Home, and even standards like I Pity The Fool and Part Time Love are
considered the definitive versions. With the worldwide success of I
Can't Stand the Rain (written with her husband Donald Bryant and a
local disc jockey), she exploded into the musical mainstream. (mn)
1966
The first World Festival of Negro Arts ends at Dakar Senegal.
1970
Otis Spann,
blues man dies. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1930, Spann was a
legend in his own lifetime when today he dies of cancer in Chicago.
With Muddy Waters and Little Walter he was one of the greatest of the
originators of post-war Chicago blues. He arrived there in the early
50's and played almost continuously in Waters' band from 1953, also
recording with Howin' Wolf and Bo Diddley, as house pianist at Chess
and a solo artist for Chess/Checker. (mn-dc)
1985
The Greater London Council's Ethnic Minorities Unit presented the
Paul Robeson Exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall. The event opened
by Paul Robeson Jr., and was a great success. (mn-sb)
1999
Nail Bomb No. 2 goes off in
Southall, London - No.1 was last
Saturday in Brixton, Combat 18, a racist group, claims
responsibility. (mn)
25th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT
338:
ALICE WALKER/WELDAY WALKER
1856
James Wharton,
prize-fighter boxer, dies. (hear GNPAP 180). (mn-pf)
1913
Earl Bostic,
born Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Bostic began his career in jazz, making
his first recording with Lionel Hampton in 1942 where he played along
with Red Allen,J.C. Higginbotham,Sid Catlett,Teddy Wilson,and
Hampton.Before that he performed with Fate Marable on New Orleans
riverboats. Bostic graduated from Xavier University in New Orleans.
He worked with territory bands as well as Arnett Cobb, Hot Lips Page,
Rex Stewart,Don Byas, Charlie Christian, Thelonious Monk and other
jazz luminaries. He formed his own band in 1945, and turned to rhythm
and blues in the late 1940s. His biggest hits were
"Temptation," "Sleep," "Flamingo,"
"You Go to My Head," and "Cherokee." At various
times his band included Jaki Byard, John Coltrane, Benny Golson, Blue
Mitchell, Stanley Turrentine,Tommy Turrentine,Keter Betts and other
musicians who rose to prominence in jazz. Bostic held his musicians
to a high standard and demanded that they read music faultlessly. He
was influenced by the great Sidney Bechet. John Coltrane was clearly
influenced by Earl Bostic. (d. 28 October, 1965). (mn-cl-wickpedia)
1918
Ella Fitzgerald,
first lady of song, born in Newport News, Virginia, USA. She ran
away from home at 16 to compete in a talent contest. The following
year she became singer in Chic Webbs Orchestra. It was then she
recorded her first hit A Tisket a Tasket in 1938. For all the
enviably high quality of her jazz work, it is as a singer of superior
popular songs that Fitzgerald remains most important and influential.
Her respect for her material, beautifully displayed in the
"songbook" series, helped her to establish and retain her
place as the finest vocalist in her chosen area of music. Due largely
to deteriorating health, by the mid-80s Fitzgerald's career was at a
virtual standstill, although a 1990 appearance in the UK was well
received by an ecstatic audience. In April 1994 it was reported that
both her legs had been amputated because of complications caused by
diabetes. She lived a reclusive existence at her Beverly Hills home
until her death in 1996. (mn/music.us)
1923
Albert King,
guitar/singer born Albert Nelson. (although three other dates have
also been published), Indianola, Mississippi, USA, d. 21 December
1992, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Despite the fact that his work has
been overshadowed by that of his regal namesake BB King, this
exceptional performer was one of the finest in the entire blues/soul
canon. King's first solo recording, "Bad Luck Blues", was
released in 1953, but it was not until the end of the decade that he
embarked on a full-time career. (mn-jt)
1932
Willis "Gator" Jackson aka
Gator Tail Jackson, saxophonist, born, Miami, Fla., (Died October
25, 1987) (mn-rs)
1953
Cory Daye,
soul singer with Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band (later to
be known a Kid Creole & The Coconuts), is born. The voice on
hit's 'Che-Che
La Femme' and 'I'll Play The Fool'. (mn-t)
1970
James Brown records classic Sex Machine at Starday-King Studios,
Nashville, Tennessee. It reaches N0.2 in R&B chart. (mn)
1976
William Powell founder of The O' Jays
dies. Recorded as the Mascots before taking the name the O'Jays after
Cleveland disc jockey Eddie O'Jay, who had given them considerable
help and advice. Having signed to Imperial Records in 1963, the
O'Jays secured their first hit with "Lonely Drifter", which
was followed by an imaginative reworking of Benny Spellman's
"Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)" (1965) and "Stand
In For Love" (1966). (other txt says 25/5/77)
1988 Whitney
The Record Breaker. Whitney Houston,
daughter of soul star Cissy Houston, who scored her biggest solo hit
'Be My Baby', when Whitney was almost eight years old, and cousin of
Dionne Warwick, added to the remarkable array of records she had
broken since launching her solo career in 1985. (mn-jt)
1988
Carolyn Franklin, younger sister of
Aretha, who had a couple of small R&B hits as a soloist after
working as Aretha's backing vocalist for some years, died of cancer
at the age of 43. (mn-jt)
26th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES 339: MARIO VAN PEEBLES/MELVIN
VAN PEEBLES
1886
Ma Rainey, 20s blues-singer, born,
Gerrude Pridgett, Columbus, Ga., USA. (Dies December 22, 1939,
Columbus, Ga., USA. (mn-rs)
1892
Black Invention: Ironing
Board, Sarah Boone. (sc)
1957
Belafonte's Million Dollar Deal.
Calypso hitmaker Harry Belafonte signed a $1 million deal. During
1956/7 he dominated the US charts with eight separate singles and
five Top 3 albums, an incredible achievement by any standards. (mn-jt)
1984
Count Basie,
jazz pianist dies. Born William Allen Basie in New Jersey in
1904. He learned to play the piano from his mother and then studied
informally with Fat's Waller. When turning professional, he began on
the Vaudeville circuit, then joined the Blue Devils, later many of
them would be in his own ensemble, after Bennie Moten died in 1935
the band became Basie's. In 1937 they became enormous jazz stars. (mn-jt-mm)
1990
Dexter Gordon,
jazz artist dies. Born 27 February 1923, Started by studying the
clarinet and changed to saxophone in his mid-teens, played with
Lionel Hampton in 1940. Played with Louis Armstrong and Colman
Hawkins nominated him as his favourite sax player. Drugs and two
broken marriages had there toll on his life. He later played a
alcoholic saxophonist in the 1986 film 'Round Midnight' (mn-jt)
1991
Maryann Bishop Coffey becomes the first female African American co
chair of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. (tr-iokts)
1994
South Africa conducts first 'all
race' elections.
1998
Dennis Edwards
from the soul super-group the Temptations is interviewed by Bill
Randle and broadcasts his life story on PCRL.(mn) (ref: md 926/927)
27th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT
340:
SARAH VAUGHN/ELLEN STEWART
1883
Hubert Harrison,
writer, freedom fighter, born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands.
1915
Una Winifred Atwell,
pianist born in Jubilee Street, Tunapuna, near Port of Spain,
Trinidad, according to her 1947 marriage certificate. Some sources
give the year of birth as 1913 or 1914, but it could have been as
early as 1910. Popular in the UK from late 40's to mid-60's, although
her record sales peaked mid-50s. (d. 27/2/83) (mn-sb)
1927
Coretta Scott King,
civil rights activist is born in Marion, Alabama USA. Tributes:
President George W. Bush opened his State of the Union address the
night of January 31, 2006, by paying tribute to her. On February 6,
Bush issued a proclamation flags to be flown at half staff
throughout the day of King's interment, February 7. King's body was
returned to Atlanta and carried through the streets on a horse-drawn
carriage to the Georgia State Capitol as the crowd threw roses at the
casket and a lone bagpiper played "Amazing Grace"; King
became the first woman and black person to lie in state at the
Georgia State Capitol. King's body also lay at historic
Ebenezer Baptist Church (where her husband was pastor). The beginning
of Super Bowl XL was marked by a moment of silence in memory of King
and Rosa Parks. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force issued a
press release honoring the memory of the late Mrs. King. "Mrs.
King worked tirelessly after her husband's death in 1968 to carry on
his legacy of social justice activism. She was a steadfast ally in
the struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
rights, and was honored by the Task Force in 1997 for her support of
the cause. In addition, Mrs. King was a featured speaker at the Task
Force's Creating Change 2000, where she rallied hundreds of activists
gathered for the country's largest LGBT rights organizing conference.
In 2003, her son, Martin Luther King III, was personally responsible
for inviting Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman to join Mrs.
King to speak from the podium at the 40th anniversary of the 1963
Civil Rights March on Washington." A proposal before the Atlanta
City Council (as of April 2006) would rename Atlanta's Simpson Street/Road
after Mrs. King. [16] The road bisects the Vine City neighborhood, a
long time residence of Mrs. King and, earlier, the King family. Dies
Jan 2006. (tr-iokts-wickpedia)
1932
Maxine Brown,
soul singer, born, Kingstree, S.C. There’s always been a
nagging sense of R&B fans that Maxine Brown never had the career
that her wonderful voice should have given her, and it's hard to
figure out why. Most likely her signing to Wand at the same time as
Dionne Warwick and being, at best, second fiddle. (mn-gg)
1938
Dr. Barry Shango,
pan-Africanise/writer born in USA. Speaks on PCRL's 'Talk-Back'
programme in 2000. (mn-bs-bb)
1944
Cuba Gooding singer
with the Main Ingredient until 1978 when he went solo, born today in
New York, USA. The group fist started singing as the Poets for the
Red Bird Label, cutting an album in 1965, having a modest hit with
She Blow a Good Thing the following year. In 1969 they became the
Main Ingredient after the death of Donald McPherson, with Cuba
Gooding joining as lead singer the trio recorded many hits in the
early 70s. (mn-gg)
1947
Ann Peebles,
soul singer born.(some books show 24.4.47) Often overlooked in the
shadow of Al Green's success, her seven albums for the Hi Label
contain some of soul music's finest moments of the 1970s. Like Green
her records were produced and arranged by Willie Mitchell, and
featured the same Hi house band. (mn-jt)
1961
Sierre Leone Republic achieves independence from Great Britain.
1964
Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to become the African Nation of Tanzania.
1969
Mica Paris,
soul singer born Michelle Wallen in London, England. A member of the
gospel troupe the Spirit Of Watts at age 16, Paris was recruited by
Hollywood Beyond to be part of the groups touring lineup. By the late
1980's, Paris had her own deal and her first British hits, though
there was a curious disinterest from U.S. audiences. Paris has never
given up, however, and these days she's still working as a in-demand
guest on others albums. Sang with Hollywood Beyend &
Shakatak. (mn-gg)
1984
Z.Z. Hill,
soul singer dies, Dallas, Texas, USA. Born September 30, 1935, in
Naples, Texas, USA. Hill had been a journeyman soul singer for nearly
20 years before the world caught wind of his 60s-based R&B. While
he began his musical career with the gospel group the Spiritual Five,
it wasn't until he signed with Kent that his secular side began to
bud. (mn-ao)
1994
South Africa's first 'free and fair' elections were held with Nelson
Mandela elected as head of the African National Congress party.
28th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT
341:
CLARENCE THOMAS/EMMIT TILL
1928
Carl Gardner,
soul singer with The Coasters is born. At the end of the white-bread
1950's, America's mainstream chose the comical Coasters as their most
beloved black entertainers. Under the watchful eye of
writer-producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the Coasters issued a
number of playful singles, which kept the group at the top of the
charts well into the early 60's. (mn-ao)
1934
Otis Rush,
blues-man is born. Arguably the greatest living blues-man, with only
John Lee Hooker and B.B. King to rival him as a guitar vocal stylist.
His discography is shockingly thin as compared to other mentioned
artists, however his 1956-1958 Cobra recordings are highly
recommended . (mn-sh)
1934
Charley Patton, Delta bluesman
dies. If the Delta country blues has a convenient source point, it
would probably be Charley Patton, its first great star. His hoarse,
impassioned singing style, fluid guitar playing, and unrelenting beat
made him the original king of the Delta blues. Much more than your
average itinerant musician, Patton was an acknowledged celebrity and
a seminal influence on musicians throughout the Delta. Rather than
bumming his way from town to town, Patton would be called up to play
at plantation dances, juke joints, and the like. He'd pack them in
like sardines everywhere he went, and the emotional sway he held over
his audiences caused him to be tossed off of more than one plantation
by the ownership, simply because workers would leave crops unattended
to listen to him play any time he picked up a guitar. He epitomized
the image of a '20s "sport" blues singer: rakish, raffish,
easy to provoke, capable of downing massive quantities of food and
liquor, a woman on each arm, with a flashy, expensive-looking guitar
fitted with a strap and kept in a traveling case by his side, only to
be opened up when there was money or good times involved. His records
-- especially his first and biggest hit, "Pony Blues" --
could be heard on phonographs throughout the South. Although he was
certainly not the first Delta bluesman to record, he quickly became
one of the genre's most popular. By late-'20s Mississippi plantation
standards, Charley Patton was a star, a genuine celebrity. (rs-mn)
1958
Chuck Willis, R&B singer, dies,
Atlanta, Ga., USA. He was dubbed the King Of Stroll during the 1950s,
but his turban-wearing cat provided more than just a background music
for a dance craze. In fact he was one of R&B's finest
singer/songwriters. (mn-rs-kb) Other ref:10/4/58
1966
Too Short,
straight-up pimp rapper from L.A.; Oakland, USA, real name Todd Shaw,
born today. (mn-ms)
1967
Mohamed Ali, world boxing champion, stripped of his title for refusal
to enter the armed forces.
29th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT
342:
CARL STOKES/LEON SULLIVAN /ART
TATUM/BILLY TAYLOR
1899
Duke Ellington (Edward Kennedy), world
famous musician, born in Washington, D.C., USA. Dies 1974. Duke
Ellington brought a level of style and sophistication to Jazz that it
hadn't seen before. Although he was a gifted piano player, his
orchestra was his principal instrument. Like Jelly Roll Morton before
him, he considered himself to be a composer and arranger, rather than
just a musician. Duke began playing music professionally in
Washington, D.C. in 1917. His piano technique was influenced by
stride piano players like James P. Johnson and Willie "The
Lion" Smith. He first visited New York in 1922 playing with
Wilbur Sweatman, but the trip was unsuccessful. He returned to New
York again in 1923, but this time with a group of friends from
Washington D.C. They worked for a while with banjoist Elmer Snowden
until there was a disagreement over missing money. Ellington then
became the leader. This group was called The Washingtonians. This
band worked at The Hollywood Club in Manhattan (which was later
dubbed the Kentucky Club). During this time Sidney Bechet played
briefly with the band (unfortunately he never recorded with them),
but more significantly the trumpet player Bubber Miley joined the
band, bringing with him his unique plunger mute style of playing.
This sound came to be called the "Jungle Sound", and it was
largely responsible for Ellington's early success. The song "East
St. Louis Toodle-Oo" is a good example of this style of
playing. The group recorded their first record in 1924 ("Choo
Choo (Gotta Hurry Home)" and "Rainy Nights (Rainy
Days)", but the band didn't hit the big time until after Irving
Mills became their manager and publisher in 1926. In 1927 the band
re-recorded versions of "East St.Louis Toodle-Oo," debuted
"Black and Tan Fantasy" and "Creole Love Call",
songs that would be associated with him the for rest of his career,
but what really put Ellington's Orchestra over the top was becoming
the house band at the Cotton Club after King Oliver unwisely turned
down the job. Radio broadcasts from the club made Ellington famous
across America and also gave him the financial security to assemble a
top notch band that he could write music specifically for. Musicians
tended to stay with the band for long periods of time. For example,
saxophone player Harry Carney would remain with Duke nonstop from
1927 to Ellington's death in 1974. In 1928 clarinetist Barney Bigard
left King Oliver and joined the band. Ellington and Bigard would
later co-write one of the orchestra's signature pieces "Mood
Indigo" in 1930. In 1929 Bubber Miley, was fired from the band
because of his alcoholism and replaced with Cootie Williams.
Ellington also appeared in his first film "Black and Tan"
later that year. The Duke Ellington Orchestra left the Cotton Club in
1931 (although he would return on an occasional basis throughout the
rest of the Thirties) and toured the U.S. and Europe. Duke who had
recorded Jazz music's first two-sided, six-minute song in 1929 with
his version of The Original Dixieland Jass Bands' "Tiger
Rag" (part 1) and (part 2) in 1929, began to push the limits of
78 rpm records (three minutes per side) and compose longer works
including "Creole Rhapsody" in 1931, and "Reminiscing
in Tempo" in 1935. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the
Ellington Orchestra was able to make the change from the Hot Jazz of
the 1920s to the Swing music of the 1930s. The song "It Don't
Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" even came to define
the era. This ability to adapt and grow with the times kept the
Ellington Orchestra a major force in Jazz up until Duke's death in
the 1970s. Only Louis Armstrong managed to sustain such a career, but
Armstrong failed to be in the artistic vanguard after the 1930s .
Throughout the Forties and Fifties Ellington's fame and influence
continued to grow. The band continued to produce Jazz standards like
"Take the 'A' Train", "Perdido", "The 'C'
Jam Blues" and "Satin Doll". In the 1960s Duke wrote
several religious pieces, and composed "The Far East Suite".
He also collaborated with a very diverse group of musicians whose
styles spanned the history of Jazz. He played in a trio with Charles
Mingus and Max Roach, sat in with both the Louis Armstrong All-Stars
and the John Coltrane Quartet, and he had a double big-band date with
Count Basie. In the 1970s many of Ellington's long time band members
had died, but the band continued to attract outstanding musicians
even after Ellington's death from cancer in 1974, when his son Mercer
took over the reins of the band.
1945
Tammi Terrell soul
singer born Thomasina Montgomery in Philadelphia, USA. Started out
with the James Brown Review and later had 6 hit records with Marvin
Gaye between 1968-69 on Motown records. Dies from a brian tumour
16/3/70. (mn)
1986
O' Kelly Isley singer with the Isley
Brothers dies. A longtime member of the Isley Brothers,
singer/songwriter O'Kelly Isley performed with his influential family
group for close to four decades, a period spanning not only two
generations of siblings but also massive cultural shifts that
heralded their music's transformation from gritty R&B to Motown
soul to blistering funk. Born in Cincinnati, OH, on Christmas Day
1937, as a teen O'Kelly joined siblings Rudolph, Ronald, and Vernon
to form the earliest incarnation of the group; after Vernon's 1955
death in a bicycling accident, Ronald was tapped as the remaining
trio's lead vocalist. Early singles stiffed, but "Shout" --
their 1959 debut for RCA -- sold a million copies, despite failing to
crack the Top 40. (mn)
1988
Dave Pratter
singer with Sam & Dave dies in a car crash. They first performed
together in 1961, but it was not until Jerry Wexler signed them to
Atlantic Records that their talents blossemed. For political reasons
they appeared on Stax Records, where You Don't Know Like I Know, Hold
On I'm Comin' (both 1966), Soul Man (1967) and I thank you (1968)
were some of their finest moments. (mn-cl)
1992
LA riots. All
across the country, people who turned on their TVs suddenly found
themselves watching coverage of one of America's most violent
insurrections since the Civil War. The unrest led to dozens of
deaths, thousands of injuries and more than $700 million in damage
made it clear, the verdict in the Rodney King beating case was just
the spark that ignited anger about long-standing problems. (mn-ms)
1997
Black actors and actresses have rarely been recognized for film and
television awards in Britain, and so it was hardly surprising to find
a group of black actors and film-makers staging a protest at the 1996
BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards at the
Royal Albert Hall. (mn-sb)
2001
The Codex law is used to stop professor Ssali selling his Mariandina
herbal health capsule. He had brought his pill to the UK in 1999 from
Africa, where he claimed to cured thousands of people of many
ailments including AIDS the biggest killer of African's at this time.
He had spoke on PCRL about his product and the importance of a good
diet. (mn-dp)
2007
Alexander Brown,
singer with the Persauders. Born 3 June 1950. (mn-soulwalking)
30th.
APRIL
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT
343:
CAROL SIMPSON/JOHN SINGLETON BESSIE SMITH
ERROL
- TALK-BACK HELPER BORN
1828
Shaka,
the great Zulu king, killed. In 1787 out of a chance encounter an
African Warrior prince and a beautiful commoner was born Chaka. Being
an outcast from birth, Chaka developed a drive for power and revenge
which carried him to head the Zulus. As a solitary, brooding youth,
he was ridiculed by his fellows because of his illegitimate birth. He
saw his father, Zenzangakona, drive his mother, Nandi, and himself
into exile where he grew up with a rival tribe. But, instead of
being crushed by the hardships he and his mother endured, Chaka
sharpened his native intelligence and conditioned his body to win
recognition and acceptance as a warier. It's on his military skill
and leadership that his fame rests. (mn-ss)
1915
Marbel Scott
born in Richmond, Virginia. Moved to NY in 1921. Professional debut
in 1932. Moved to Cleveland in 1936, then to LA in 1942. Married to
Charles Brown 1949-51. Active until the late 50's. Her chart entries
were Elivator Boogie (Juke box #6, Best seller #11) 1948, Boogie
Woogie Santa Claus (Best seller #12) 1948 (JW)
1930
Bobby Marchan,
soul singer born in Youngstown, Ohio, USA. A larger-than-life
performer best remembered for his 1960 R&B chart-topper
"There Is Something on Your Mind," singer Bobby Marchan was
born Oscar James Gibson in Youngstown, OH, on April 30, 1930.
As a child he became fascinated by the female impersonators who
appeared on the so-called "chitlin circuit" of black
nightclubs, and began singing and performing comedy in drag while in
his teens. In 1953 Marchan organized his own drag troupe, the Powder
Box Revue; during a booking at New Orleans' Dew Drop Inn, he became
enamored with the city, making it his home for the remainder of his
life. There he accepted a job as MC at the Club Tijuana, where he was
discovered by Aladdin Records president Eddie Meisner. Marchan cut
his debut single, "Have Mercy," for producer Cosimo Matassa
in 1954, but Aladdin dropped him soon after, and he landed at Dot for
the follow-up, "Just a Little Ol' Wine." (mn-jt)
1983
Blues Great Muddy (Muddy Waters)
Dies. At
68 celebrated blues/r&b veteran McKinley Morganfield, better
known to millions of blues fans around the world as Muddy Waters,
died after a heart attack in his adopted city of Chicago, where he
had moved 40 years before to work in a paper mill. (mn-jt)
2000
Dr. Barry Shango, pan-Africanise writer talks on PCRL's 'Talk-Back'
|