"Love Me or Leave Me" - Nina Simone

Only Nina Simone could pull off this amazing piano solo in the middle of a jazz number. Ms. Simone, a native of North Carolina, began playing piano at the age of 2. Just look at the decisive way she bears down on the keys, like she's been living with them all her life. And she did!

By 12 years of age Ms. Simone was already performing in public and by her early 20’s had graduated from Julliard School of Music in New York City as a classical pianist. That would have been around the year I was born in 1954. I did not become aware of Ms. Simone until I was listening to WLIB radio in New York when I was about 15 years old. This voice came out of the radio, singing a scathing set of lyrics, using her vocal chords almost like a stinging electric guitar. That record was "Backlash Blues", a poem written by Langston Hughes shortly before his death in 1967. If you have never heard it, you should be hitting You Tube right after reading this. It's a powerful song about Civil Rights, which I have posted here before. As a matter of fact, I’ll post it here again, with lyrics, at the end of this piece.

Ms. Simone, a native of North Carolina, where I live today, went on to become an iconic jazz performer and singer-composer in her own right. Some folks say that her 1976 album, "Nina Simone - Live in Montreux" is one of the greatest jazz performances ever caught on vinyl. All I know is that when I was 15 years old she knocked me over with a voice I had never heard before, singing Langston Hughes' poem about social injustice. In one of her last conversations with him, Mr. Hughes told her to sing the song wherever she went, because he wouldn't be around much longer.

Jump around a bit on You Tube for some incredible performances by Ms. Simone, either alone at her piano, or in one of the many combos she performed with over the years. And here is "Backlash Blues", followed by the Langston Hughes poem;



THE BACKLASH BLUES
by Langston Hughes

Mister Backlash, Mister Backlash,
Just who do you think I am?
You raise my taxes, freeze my wages,
Send my son to Vietnam.

You give me second class houses,
Second class schools.
Do you think that colored folks
Are just second class fools?

When I try to find a job
To earn a little cash,
All you got to offer
Is a white backlash.

But the world is big,
Big and bright and round--
And it's full of folks like me who are
Black, Yellow, Beige, and Brown.

Mister Backlash, Mister Backlash,
What do you think I got to lose?
I'm gonna leave you, Mister Backlash,
Singing your mean old backlash blues.

You're the one
Will have the blues.
not me--
Wait and see!

For more about Nina Simone hit the following link to The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame; http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/

"Red Summer" by Cameron McWhirter

The summer of 1919 would become known as the Red Summer, not for the Communist scare sweeping the nation under the heel of the Palmer Act, but for the red blood of African-Americans, coast to coast, who were beaten, stabbed, shot and hung, from Connecticut to California.

Imagine coming home from war after having served your country and being denied the rights of a full citizen as a reward for your efforts. In the summer of 1919 African-American veterans of the First World War, during which they had shown supreme courage in some of the longest fighting of the war, earning more medals than their white counterparts, were faced with exactly that.

In the first part of the year, African-American troops returning from France marched up Fifth Avenue and through Harlem, with crowds, black and white, cheering all the way. Savoring the moment was a good idea, as the camaraderie wouldn't last long.

By July of 1919 the United States would be gripped by a wave of fear and paranoia. First there was the Red Scare engendered by the Communists, which prompted the infamous Red Act, which stifled political dissent and saw many Americans imprisoned for their belief in a different political system. On top of that there were the Unions, with their attendant violence, making their way across the land, further fueling the fears of political change.

But the straw that broke the camel's back was the expectation of thousands of African-American Veterans; men who had fought to preserve the system now under fire from the Unions and Communists; that they would be free at last from the yoke of Jim Crow laws, which had proliferated in the days after the Civil War. Alas, it was not to be. Instead, these brave men received some of the most brutal treatment in the history of the nation.

In many cases these men were victimized by the very soldiers that they had served with overseas. The white Veterans could not stand to see the African-American Veterans receive the same accolades as themselves for their service. This attitude, which begat the wholesale violence of that summer, was not confined to just the South, but spread like wildfire across the entire nation. Rumors and outright lies were the cause of most of the violence.

As Mayors and Governors attempted, in some cases, to quell the violence, politics entered the fray. These politicians, who wished to be re-elected needed to choose a side, and they did so quickly, mobilizing the local Police and National Guard units to quell the violence, mostly at the expense of the victims, who in many cases would not have the right to vote for almost another 50 years.

But something different was beginning to happen in America; African-Americans were starting to fight back. They had fought for the liberty of all Americans, including themselves. From this point on, there would be no turning back. The bloody summer of 1919 would give life to the Civil Rights Movement, and though it would take the better part of the 20th Century to accomplish the goals set forth by its members, the long march toward equality had begun in earnest.

Carefully researched, with 60 pages of notes on the sources used in writing this book, Mr. McWhirter has given us a complete and accurate picture of just what it took to spark the fire which would lead to the quest for racial equality in America.

"And Then There Were None" with Barry Fitzgerald, Roland Young, and Walter Huston (1945)

Sit down in your favorite armchair and enjoy this classic British whodunit by Agatha Christie, with a screenplay by Dudley Nichols. The basic plot is just as it sounds, ten unrelated people are invited to an island for the weekend, by someone whom they do not know. Once there, they are made privy to the details of one another's indiscretions and short comings. And then, one by one, they are killed in retribution. But by whom?

It may sound trite and simple, but this is a fun movie to watch. The cast of characters includes the wonderfully wry Barry Fitzgerald, the majestic C. Aubrey Smith, a remarkable Walter Huston, the ever bumbling Roland Young, a cold and aloof Judith Anderson and the perfectly inept Mischa Auer, to name just 6 of the 10. Directed skillfully by René Clair, this is one of those rainy day movies that made growing up fun.

The First Elvis Impersonator

The best thing about this little clip is that Elvis and Johnny Cash were still very much in contact with one another at the time it was made. This video is from the mid-late 1950's when both were still growing in popularity as members of the so-called "Million Dollar Quartet", the group of musicians from Sun Records on which the show of the same name is based. It's a great clip of a fun time in musical history. Also, this may be the first professional "Elvis" impersonator on record!

"Hoppity Goes to Town" by Max and Dave Fleischer (1941)

If you have never seen this wonderfully idealistic cartoon before, then here's your chance. Max and Dave Fleischer, my favorite cartoonists of all time, collaborated on this 1 hour and 12 minute feature in 1941. The story takes place in New York City, in a weed patch known as Bugville. The inhabitants of this tiny weeded lot are making an attempt to live peacefully amongst themselves, as well as their human hosts, with all sorts of problems.

The myriad of characters are a sheer joy; there is Hoppity the grasshopper, the dreamer; Mr. Bumble Bee, who owns the honey shop, and his daughter Honey Bee; C. Bagley Beetle, a businessman, who schemes for greed, and enjoyment; Smack, the aptly named Mosquito; and Swat the common fly. Last, but not least is Little Buzz, a "young bee" who is a member of the Bee Scouts.

Long before contemporary animated films such as "Avatar", with all of its technology; or "Wally", with its politically correct message, would attempt to tackle the problems of mankind, Max and Dave Fleischer were already taking note of the human condition. Then, with the comparatively primitive technology available to them at the time, they played it back to us in the form of simple animation, hoping that we would see ourselves more clearly.

Look closely, and somewhere in this cartoon you will see yourself, as well as all of the problems with which we still live today. Throw in a couple of cool songs by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser, and this is a really entertaining piece of work. The film was also released under the title "Mr. Bugs Goes to Town."

"How Green Was My Valley" with Maureen O'Hara, Roddy McDowall and Donald Crisp

One of the most remarkable things about this film is that it was filmed in California. Unlike John Ford's later classic, "The Quiet Man", which would be filmed on location in Ireland, this one was filmed in America due to the Second World War, which had already begun in Europe, making it almost impossible to ship the actors, equipment and technicians safely to Wales. But, with John Ford directing, magic could be created anywhere.

This is the story of a Welsh coal mining family, living outside of Cardiff at the turn of the century. The Morgan's were a coal mining family; they always had been; and it was expected that they always would be. They lived in an idyllic town with all the things that were necessary to live a decent, if not hard, life. Mr. Morgan, played by Donald Crisp, and his wife, Sara, played by Sara Allgood, have 4 sons. The youngest, Huw, is played by Roddy McDowall, whose character also serves as the narrator, looking back on his time as a child in the valley. The Morgan's also have a daughter, Angharad, played by Maureen O'Hara.

The paradise of Huw's youth is interrupted when men from another town, who are out of work, come to Huw's village looking for jobs. Taking advantage of the glut in labor on the market, the owners of the mine choose to reduce wages, prompting the men of the town to form a Union and go on strike. The elder Mr. Morgan is aghast at the prospect and even outraged when his own sons decide to take part in that effort.

When Mr. Morgan is threatened over this issue, by the very men he has worked alongside for so many years, his wife, Sara, who has learned of a secret Union meeting that night, gets Huw to take her to the place where the meeting is being held. It is winter, and a snowstorm rages as Mrs. Morgan lambasts the men as cowardly in their actions towards her husband. After venting her rage at the men she leaves, with Huw, in the midst of the storm.

As the men, who are now somewhat ashamed of themselves, make their way back to their homes, they hear a cry for help. Mrs. Morgan has fallen into the stream, with Huw holding her head above the freezing waters. The men save her, and Huw, returning them to their home. It is months before the two recover from the events of that night, with Huw having to learn to walk again.

In the middle of all of this there is also the story of the Preacher, played with acidic cruelty by Arthur Shields, one of the finest actors to ever grace the stage or screen. He is a fire and brimstone preacher, who shows his true colors when he attempts to cast out a girl from the village who is unwed and pregnant. Only the brave protestations of Mrs. Morgan and Angharad save her from being exiled for the crime of being human and falling short of "God's glory."

While the Preacher is a vengeful man, his assistant, Mr. Gruffydd, played with great sensitivity by Walter Pidgeon, is just the opposite. He is kind and understanding. He is the one who helps Huw learn to walk again after that freezing night in the stream. He brings Huw all of the classics to read, things like "Treasure Island", which transport the boy beyond his limited world and sufferings. When Huw has recovered he is able to gain entrance to a Public School, opening the way for him to go beyond the coal mines to make a living. But the boy will have none of it, instead choosing to work beside his father and brothers in the mines.

When Angharad falls in love with Mr. Gruffydd, he gently lets her down, explaining that he has given his life to God. This sets the stage for her to marry the mine owner's son, which should give her happiness, but does not fill the hole she carries in her heart for her true love.

When the price of coal drops and the mines reduce wages again, 2 of the sons leave for America, breaking their mother's heart. The movie largely resembles some of my family's own background. They were Welsh, living just outside of Cardiff, at about the same time this story takes place. Perhaps that is why this movie strikes such a chord with me.

The film is filled with the imagery and hard work which was the way of life in Wales back then. Director John Ford, using wide sweeping panoramas, as well as tight close-ups, conveys all the joy, and hardships, of an era that tested the hearts and souls of all who struggled through those times. With the added attraction of the Welsh Singers, who play themselves, along with the antics of Barry Fitzgerald as the town "sportsman", Cyfartha, this film garnered 5 Academy Awards, and 5 additional nominations. From start to finish, this is a movie that will resonate with the viewer forever.

Blue Yodel #9 - In Black and White

Back in the early 1970's Johnny Cash had the most unusual variety show on television. Each week, like Ed Sullivan did on his show, he featured a popular musical act, or musician; but with one major difference; Johnny Cash was a musician and songwriter himself, and so he managed to get out there with his guest stars and perform with them. It was quite a treat for the viewer, and I suspect, for Johnny Cash as well.

This performance of Jimmie Rodgers "Blue Yodel #9" is really unusual at first glance, but when you look a bit further into the history of country music and blues, it's really not.

Here's an audio link of the original July 16th, 1930 session which Mr. Armstrong refers to in his conversation with Johnny Cash;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7rfq25JDJg