Corey @ I'll Keep You Posted

LA VERN BAKER dropped, scratched and damn near ruined!

It's not everyday that you'll walk into a media outlet - they're no longer called record shops unless they ARE record shops, right - and find this album.  It's rare that it'll be in mint condition with only a $7.00 price tag especially when it's never been released on CD and the bidding alone for it can start from $25.00 to $60.00 on Ebay.  Simply titled, La Vern is the second album that pioneer R&B singer La Vern Baker recorded for Atlantic records sometime in the mid-1950's.  Known for sultry blues ballads like Soul On Fire, scorching rockers like Jim Dandy and pop fluff like Tweedle Dee, the singer decided she wanted to go in for a more mature approach on this album with songs that have since become standards like I'll Never Be Free, Everybody's Somebody's Fool and Fool That I Am.

I was anything but a fool when I immediately snatched the album up for $7.00 shortly before summer!  Yes, sometimes WE WIN when store owners and record dealers who always try to play the customer sometimes end up playing themselves!  However, I ended up playing my own self and singing my own blues when the disk slipped from my fingers, across the front of the control receiver, and right onto the floor as soon as I got ready to put it on the turntable. After I picked up my face, I picked up the record to see an otherwise clean recording with an unsightly scratch on what turned out to be the best side of the album.

That was months ago but I still haven't gotten over it.  Sometimes, I can't even bring myself to look at the album.  Yes, I've said before that I wouldn't list Miss Baker as one of my favorite singers but that doesn't mean that I don't like her.  Baker probably would've cut me before she let me anywhere near her but after being hijacked, ripped off and cheated throughout her career, I only ended up dropping, scratching and damn near ruining her.  Damn, she deseves better and quite honestly, so do I!

 

A Very Spiritual Moment With ASAFA POWELL!

 

I recently became aware of this powerful one minute and ten second video when it was posted in a men's group on Facebook.  The group focuses on spiritual issues and there was an initial question whether there was any edifying content contained within the visuals but that question was quickly answered by the many brothas who replied in the affirmative.  One said his "spirits" was lifted, another said he would continue to draw from its "inspiration" all day, while yet another was moved to quote part of Ecclesiastes 9:11 when it speaks of the 'race not being given to the swift.

No one can dispute that the world-class Jamaican sprinter known as Asafa Powell is anything if not swift. Powell specializes in the 100 metres, held the 100 m world record for four years straight and as of July 2011, he has broken the ten-second barrier legally 80 times - more than anyone else in the game! 

Here, in the video that I wish to share with you, is Mr. Powell in all of his ..... GLORY!  I was personally quite mesmerized to the point of deep thought, meditation and even the feeling of tranquility that some people say comes from being HYPNOTIZED!  And that's quite spiritual to ME!

 

MARSHALL TITUS says "I WILL"

 The message in the music (and in the beautiful video) simply says BE STRONG!  BE BRAVE! 

Directed by John Gress.   Sung by Marshall Titus.   Lead actor, Julius.

I WILL!  WILL YOU?

 

 

(On The Set Of) Francis Ford Coppola's 1984 Edition of THE COTTON CLUB

Fans of Francis Ford Coppola's 1984 film, The Cotton Club, are usually divided into two camps; those who love period gangster flicks with campy acting and those who love the musical sequences and wish there were more of them INTACT!  Fans of the movie often wish for a lot of things - primarily that it could have been a more solid film and that the "lost" footage will one day be restored! 

But one thing on which everyone can usually agree is that it's a wonderful kaleidoscope of cinematography, fleshed out with beautiful people of color all the way to the very last reel. 

 

The Cotton Club is set in the late 1920's & early 30's and is largely known as a film that can't make up its mind about what it wants to be.  Yet, it's STILL an entertaining movie and no one can deny that the cast doesn't look fabulous trying to figure it all out!  Through 129 minutes of plots, subplots, and quick edits, the characters are decked out and dressed to the nines in fantastic period costumes as they sing, dance, move and murder to the beat of the Jazz Age.

The Art Deco sets and the backdrop of the whole era is so brilliantly and stunningly captured that you feel like you want to step into the film and become a part of it.  And if the history isn't always as accurate as it should be, the actual recreation of the Cotton Club, originally situated at 142nd & Lenox Ave., and the atmosphere of discrimination and racial politics is on point.   So are the sometimes blatant and sometimes loosely-based depictions of the great iconic stars that shined on the Cotton Club stage including Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Bill Robinson and the club's beautiful tall, tan and terrific chorus girls.

Richard Gere's  screen gigolo persona is forever captured to great effect, as is the dynamic tap dancing and complex onscreen-offscreen relationship between Gregory and Maurice Hines (left).  Lonette McKee never looked so wistful & soulful as she does singing Ill Wind while juxtaposed against a video montage of the Depression era.  One of the reasons things stay as interesting as long as they do is because of the supporting cast & extras who were too beautiful not to be seen, and who were eventually too much for tv, magazines, fashion, records and the movies. 

Yes, the Cotton Club (the film) employed some of the most gorgeous black men and women in the industry including stage actors, background singers, well-known models, those who were on the brink of stardom and those who probably had scenes end up on the cutting room floor.
 

1) Believe it or not, the sultry diva above in the lingerie is Jackee Harry. 2) At the time, Mario Van Peebles was no more than a successful male model.  3) Of course, you recognize Patti Austin's familiar smile.

Before Tyson Beckford, we had Tyrone Spears and Mario Van Peebles.

A few random shots on the set include Maurice Hines (center) with model Tracy Ross (left).

The photos included here are from the private collection of Mr. Kenneth Hanson.  Mr. Hanson worked as the stage manager for the many wonderful musical sequences that was filmed for The Cotton Club but were chopped, hacked and otherwise deleted from the film.  I would like to thank him for his graciousness in the use of the photos, and offer a resounding BRAVO for the beauty and truth that he helped to bring to the film.

 

 

 

 

SHE'LL UNDO YOU!

You may think no gal made has got a shade on Sweet Georgia Brown, that is until you've met Undine.  She's worst than Hard Hearted Hannah, the vamp of Savannah, GA!  The moment you see her over in the corner feelin' up on some other man, you know that she's not to be trifled with yet you love her.  And only little Harold Nicholas, way up past his bedtime, was safe when she breezed in the club with that home-girl swag and sized up the competition with "I knew her before she straightened her hair" and commenced to whuppin' ass!

 

Undine was a mess!  Ask the Hollywood producers who "blackened" her up with greasepaint because they thought she was too light-skinned!  Or just ask Paul Robeson!  No disrespect to Mr. Robeson, but Fredi Washington's brief role in 1933's The Emperor Jones is sometimes all you need to see in this movie.  Undine will undo you and leave you that way - as well she should for that dark makeup they smeared on her face.  Take a look for yourself!

The legendary stride pianist, James P. Johnson is heard on the piano soundtrack in the salon scene where a very butch Jackie "Moms" Mabley is the proprietor.  It's said that a very young Billie Holiday is somewhere in the nightclub scene but never appears directly on screen, and little Harold Nicholas does just fine without his brother Fayard dancing way past his bedtime.  Robeson, now about 35 years old is still as handsome as ever.

 

BLANCHE CALLOWAY: SKIN DEEP BEAUTY

 


Blanche Calloway, in the late 1920's & early 1930's, was as popular as her brother Cab Calloway!  He is documented as saying SHE is the reason he wanted to be an entertainer.  Some say that Cab's flamboyance on stage was actually a facsimile of Blanche's onstage antics.  Others say she was the first (or one of the first) female bandleaders to lead an all-male unit called the Joy Boys - which consisted of members from the orchestra known as Andy Kirk & His Clouds of Joy.  With her skill, showmanship and direction as a leader, it is no surprise that that organization has now gone down in history for more than just the novelty of having a female leader in a time when women musicians were not taken seriously. 

Blanche Calloway's looks appeared fair and delicate but she was anything but!  She could be rough, ready and almost raunchy in her vocals.  She was a tough businesswoman and later played an extremely important role in the rise of singer Ruth Brown's career during the 1950's.  There is some talk that even before the quick rise (and fall) of her own career, Miss Calloway was a cosmetics "tycoon" with her own skin care "empire" that sold preparations designed specifically for women of color.

In this 1932 print ad for Black and White Bleaching Cream, the lady tycoon peddles a concoction made with peroxide that boasts a skin lightener so powerful that it sunk all the way "down beneath the four layers" of the skin where the "coloring" took place.  Already light, bright and damn near white, there was apparently more to Miss Calloway than met the eye!

The Day That I Met CAB CALLOWAY!

Cab Calloway arrived for his sound check at Cincinnati's Music Hall alone, somewhat frail-looking and without fanfare; indeed, I was the only "fan" waiting at the stage door to meet him.  As I approached him, he seemed to be lost in thought but when I called him by name, he snapped into himself and flashed me a megawatt smile of yellowing teeth.  Mr. Calloway was quite amused by the fact that I was so young and seemed to know so much about him which at the time really wasn't that much at all.  He was also surprised when I whipped out an old photograph that I wanted him to sign.  It must have been in the late fall of the year because we both had on lightweight coats.  His overcoat was very simple and if you didn't know better, you'd think he was just another old man on the street.  We talked about the film Stormy Weather for a minute - or rather I did - while he just smiled and looked on in what seemed like amazement.  The day that I met Cab Calloway, he wasn't high he was ever so warm and gracious and looked a little something like he does right here in this photo.

Had I met Mr. Calloway at the ascent of his career as a bandleader during the days of the Cotton Club, Minnie The Moocher, Reefer Man, That Man From Harlem, Kickin' The Gong Around and Bugle Call Rag, he most certainly would've been high and he would've been full of youth & vigor and would've looked a little something like THIS ....... 
Cab Calloway, circa 1930-33.

 

 

CHEW IT UP, CHUMA

"I love summer and I hate that it's leaving.  I'm one of those sun worshipping boyz!" says my buddy Chuma. 

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated as the symbolic end of summer but considering the 100 degree temperatures just last week, you can't prove it by me. As disgustingly hot as it was just two days ago, it seems as though the summer is continuing to rage at full force, and at a glance, it also seems as though the sun might actually worship Chuma instead of the other way around. But I guess everyone's entitled to their own opinion!

On the other hand, today's temperature is 65 degrees - drastically different from the hellish weather that I had to endure last week.  Maybe the "what a difference a day makes" idea of Labor Day has some validity after all.  I know I certainly won't be disappointed to see the BITCH called summer leave - at least for another year if not forever!

For the record, I am not one of those people who is never satisfied always complaining throughout the year about it being too hot in the summer and then too cold in the winter.   Quite the contrary!  I love the loveliness of fall, the wonderful soups and cozy fireplaces of winter - wow, I love EVERYTHING about winter, and I find the showers of spring perfectly MARVELOUS!  But summer ... UGH!  Even as a child, I disliked summer but only pretended not to because it wasn't cool for a kid NOT to like summer.

I hate pesky flies and I've had enough itchy mosquito bites this year to last a lifetime.  I don't care if Billie Holiday and Tallulah Bankhead came back from the grave and invited me to their barbecue picnic - that's just one more outdoor event that I would not be attending.  I hate the blazing sun and temperatures so hot & miserable that I can't breathe.  I hate feeling like I'm withering by degrees to the point of melting away or throwing up.  And now that I'm allergic to sweat, I hate the rashes that break out on my forehead.

Okay, so I've used the word hate in the last paragraph too many times, but there's one thing that I know I LOVE about summer and that's the half-naked brothas!  I think everyone knows that about me by now!  My friend Chuma might be able to chew up the scenery on the beach in his red bikini drawz but I personally can't wait to chew up the summer and SPIT IT OUT!

Chuma Christopher-Hicks Marshall is a poet, author, publisher and aspiring improvisationalist.  He is married to Dammeon Hicks-Marshall and they live in Atlanta, GA.

 

 

 

THE WHITE PARTY

Have you ever wrapped (or buried) yourself in luxurious white?  There's something quite fabulous about big, bulky Ralph Lauren towels in solid white and I find thick-as-tablecloth high-grade blinding white bedsheets quite decadent.  I also enjoy my timeless white linen suit during the summer months because it's the only time I get to wear it!  However, with Labor Day upon us, they say white will soon be out of season.

Basic Black is de rigueur for most of us!  And yes, once you go black you never go back!  Yet, I know there will be some brothas who'll be disappointed that they did not receive that invitation to this summer's White Party.  I also know some of us don't necessarily adhere to antiquated fashion or social contricts and there are such things as open invitations. 

Personally, my white linen suit is as close as I've ever gotten to that kind of party but I must admit that those open invitations can sometimes look most intriguing!

 

 

 

WISHFUL THINKING

Keep hanging around with them and you'll turn out just like them!  That's what they say!  

Carl Van Vechten's supposedly sophisticated downtown friends had seen it coming for quite some time.  Perhaps their so-called social graces stopped them ever so short of calling it as they actually saw it.  Certainly they were relieved when Miguel Covarrubias, the famed Mexican caricaturist, came forth and boldly proclaimed it as he also saw it.

Carl's more primitive uptown neighbors may have had a few more choice, unprintable epithets but for the most part, they probably just laughed and said it was Wishful Thinking! 

A Prediction by Covarrubias, late 1920's.