19 Year Old Al Sharpton
In 1974, at the age of 19, Rev Al Sharpton (President of National Youth Movement Inc) appeared on Soul Train to present an award to his idol James Brown.
Don Cornelius (Sept 27, 1936-Jan 31, 2012)
Don Cortez Cornelius was born and raised in Chicago IL. Don, a former Chicago policeman, began his career in radio as a news announcer and deejay at WVON in Chicago in the 1960s. In 1970, he created a live dance show, Soul Train along with a friend, Clinton Ghent. Soul Train was one of the longest running syndicated shows in history. Teenagers jam packed the small studio at WCIU tv after school. Soon after Soul Train moved to Los Angeles and became ‘the hippest trip in America.’
It as said that Don had been suffering from serious health problems lately. We appreciate Don’s contributions to the music culture. He will certainly be missed.
“As always…and in parting…we wish you Love…Peace…and Soooouuuuul!”
Farewell Etta James (Jan 25 1938 – Jan 20 2012)
Sadly, Etta James has passed away from a long battle with leukemia in Riverside CA. While we will miss you Ms James, we know that you are no longer in pain and suffering. We thank you for your awesome contributions to R&B music. There would have been a huge void had it not been for you. We miss you and love you. May you rest in eternal peace!
What??? Berry Gordy and President Carter are cousins???
Accordiing to Wikipedia: Lillian Gordy Carter (August 15, 1898 – October 30, 1983) was the mother of former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. Carter was born Bessie Lillian Gordy to James Jackson Gordy (1863–1948) and Mary Ida Nicholson (1871–1951) in Richland, Georgia in 1898. (She is actually a biological half 1st-cousin of Berry Gordy Sr, the father of Berry Gordy Jr who founded Motown records). She volunteered to serve as a nurse with the U.S. Army in 1917 but the program was cancelled. Instead, she worked for the US Post Office at Richland before moving to Plains in 1920 where she was accepted as a trainee at the Wise Sanatorium before completing her nursing degree at the Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia in 1923. Lillian’s family initially disapproved of her choice of a career in nursing, but she continued her training and became very successful, earning the respect of both the black and white communities. “Miss Lillian,” as she was often known, allowed black people to enter her home through the front door, rather than through the back door as was the social norm, and would often have them in her living room for casual conversation just as she would a white neighbor. These conversations would even continue after her husband Earl was to arrive home expecting the guests to depart.
Temptations and Supremes 50th Anniversary
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Two of the most popular and socially significant singing groups in music history celebrate their 50th anniversaries in 2011. Both the Supremes and the Temptations signed their recording contracts with Motown in 1961, launching careers that changed not only the sound and style of pop but smashed racial and cultural barriers in America and around the world. Continue Reading…
RIP Esther Gordy
Esther Gordy Edwards...Michael Jackson...Stevie Wonder
Motown legends remember Esther Gordy Edwards, who died Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011.
Berry Gordy Jr. and the Gordy family
“Esther Gordy Edwards was a top Motown executive, businesswoman, civil and political leader, who received numerous awards, commendations and accolades. She was the most educated in our family and was the go-to person for wisdom in business.
“Whatever she did, it was with the highest standards, professionalism and an attention to detail that was legendary. She always came out a hero. Esther wasn’t concerned with being popular. She was dedicated to making us all better—the Gordy family and the Motown family.
“Esther turned the so-called trash left behind after I sold the company in 1988 into a phenomenal world-class monument where Hitsville started—the Motown Museum.
“She preserved Motown memorabilia before it was memorabilia, collecting our history long before we knew we were making it. She nurtured and held it together through the years, protecting the Motown legacy for generations to come—which is only one of the reasons people all over the world will remember and celebrate Esther Gordy Edwards.
“Despite my sorrow, I will proudly continue to honor and celebrate her. She will always be my big sister and she will forever live in my heart.”
Stevie Wonder
“I’m taken back by the loss of Esther Gordy Edwards. She meant so much to me as a human being—she embodied the idea of never giving up. She was ever determined in everything she did, she was full of energy and her spirit will continue live on. She loved the idea of what we were creating in Motown.
“She believed in me—when I was 14 years old and many other people didn’t or could only see what they could at the time, she championed me being in Motown. I shared with her many of my songs first before anyone else. She was like another mother to me, she was an extension of that same kind of motherly love.
“I’m in Washington, D.C., right now celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King and Esther, who was also a friend of Coretta Scott King, without question will be celebrated here this week and weekend, and her spirit will continue live on.
“When we lose someone, we often think ‘they don’t make people like this anymore.’ It is my hope that younger generations and the world will know of her spirit and her pride in world culture.”
DETROIT FREE PRESS
RIP Nick Ashford♥
Nickolas ‘Nick’ Ashford (4 May 1942, Fairfield, South Carolina, USA) and Valerie Simpson (b. 26 August 1946, the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA). This performing and songwriting team met in the choir of Harlem’s White Rock Baptist Church. Having recorded, unsuccessfully, as a duo, they joined another aspirant, Jo ‘Joshie’ Armstead, at the Scepter Records / Wand Records label where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap (‘Never Had It So Good’), Maxine Brown (‘One Step At A Time’), the Shirelles and Chuck Jackson. Another of the trio’s songs, ‘Let’s Go Get Stoned’, gave Ray Charles a number 1 US R&B hit in 1966. Ashford and Simpson then joined Holland/Dozier/Holland at Motown Records where their best-known songs included ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘You’re All I Need To Get By’, ‘Reach Out And Touch Somebody’s Hand’ and ‘Remember Me’. Simpson also began ‘ghosting’ for Tammi Terrell when the latter became too ill to continue her partnership with Marvin Gaye, and she sang on part of the duo’s Easy album.
In 1971 Simpson embarked on a solo career, but two years later she and Ashford were recording together for Warner Brothers Records. A series of critically welcomed, if sentimental, releases followed, but despite appearing on the soul chart, few crossed over into pop. However, by the end of the decade, the couple achieved their commercial reward with the success of ‘It Seems To Hang On’ (1978) and ‘Found A Cure’ (1979). At the same time their production work for Diana Ross (The Boss) and Gladys Knight (The Touch) enhanced their reputation. Their status as imaginative performers and songwriters was further assured in 1984 when ‘Solid’ became an international hit single.
Although their commercial success had dried up by the end of the 80s, Ashford and Simpson, who were married in 1974, remain one of soul’s quintessential partnerships. In 1996 they collaborated with poet Maya Angelou on Been Found, and received The Founder’s Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
