#1 R&B Song 1974: “I Feel a Song In My Heart,” Gladys Knight & the Pips
Born: Walter “Brownie” McGhee, 1915; Johnny “Shuggie” Otis, 1953; June Pointer (The Pointer Sisters), 1954
************************************************************************
1956 The Jive Brothers recorded their immortal “Bad Boy” (#36 pop, #7 R&B). For their lead vocalist, thirty-nine-year-old Clarence Palmer, who had been performing since the [...]
WILLIAM GIBSON, PLAYWRIGHT
By DAVID CARR
Published: November 27, 2008
William Gibson, a playwright who had a gift for creating strong, popular female characters and wrote “The Miracle Worker,” died on Tuesday in Stockbridge, Mass. He was 94.
His agent, Mary Ann Anderson, confirmed his death.
First written for television, “The Miracle Worker,” which portrayed the relationship between the young [...]
GAY MARRIAGE AND A MORAL MINORITY
By CHARLES M. BLOW
Published: November 29, 2008
We now know that blacks probably didn’t tip the balance for Proposition 8. Myth busted. However, the fact remains that a strikingly high percentage of blacks said they voted to ban same-sex marriage in California. Why?
Earl Wilson/The New York Times
Charles M. Blow
Multimedia
Graphic
There was [...]
#1 R&B Song 1980: “Master Blaster (Jammin’), Stevie Wonder
Born: Billy Strayhorn, 1915; John Wilson (Sly, Slick & Wicked), 1949
*************************************************************
1915 Big band composer/arranger supreme Billy Strayhorn was born. Strayhorn was behind-the-scenes glue to many a Duke Ellington hit, collaboarating on such classics as “Take The A Train,” “Johnny Come Lately,” and “Rain Check.” He was with [...]
In this new novel of the 17th century, Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison performs her deepest excavation yet into America’s history and exhumes this country’s twin original sins: the enslavement of Africans and the near extermination of Native Americans.
*************************************************************************
ORIGINAL SINS
By DAVID GATES
Published: November 28, 2008
The Greeks might have invented the pastoral, the genre in which [...]
#1 R&B Song 1953: “Money Honey” the Drifters
Born: Berry Gordy, Jr., 1929; R. B. Greaves, 1944; Dawn Robinson (En Vogue), 1968
********************************************************************************
1929 Berry Gordy, Jr., founder of Motown Records, was born. Though he is best known as a pioneering executive who built a record, publishing and touring empire, Gordy’s start was as a songwriter. He wrote [...]
#1 R&B Song 1948: “It’s Too Soon To Know,” the Orioles
Born: Jimi Hendrix, 1942
*********************************************************************
1954 Sarah Vaughn made the hit list with “Make Yourself Comfortable” (#6) her biggest single of thrity-three hits.
1961 Ray Charles had his eighteenth of a career of seventy-six chart singles when “Unchain My Heart” reached the Top 100.
1965 The Royalettes, a Baltimore [...]
Our Father in Heaven, and Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
I come before you this day to give thanks to you for all that you have given me in this life. I thank you for the many people, known, and unknown, who have so profoundly touched my life in so many enriching ways:
I thank you [...]
#1 Song: “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” The Supremes
Born: Tina Turner (Anna Mae Bulluck), 1938
**************************************************************
1955 The Turbans appeared on the R&B charts with their rock ‘n’ roll classic “When You Dance,” reaching #3 and #33 pop. The group’s gimmick was to actually wear turbans on-stage.
1965 Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Otis Spann performed at [...]
By COLLEEN SLEVIN – Nov 7, 2008
DENVER (AP) — Colorado voters became the first in the nation to reject a ban on state affirmative action programs, narrowly defeating a measure that California businessman Ward Connerly has helped pass in four other states.
But with so many factors in play this historic election, it’s not clear whether [...]
