Angela Basset This Star Is For YOU!

Let me start of by saying how PROUD I am of my favorite actress Angela Basset because for those that don’t know she received her star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame! Yes the actress best known for her role in the film version of Terry McMillan’s How Stella Got Her Groove Back to her phenomenal roles as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It!

A loving wife mother actress mentor and friend Angela has it all and her star has just began to shine!

Well this couldn’t have come at a better time because her new role in Tyler Perry’s Meet The Browns is getting rave reviews and like everything Tyler touches it turns to GOLD because it’s a box office SMASH!

Congratulations Angela and as I always say

YOU GO GIRL!

To paraphrase Ice Cube, Thursday was a good day for actress Angela Bassett. But, it didn’t start out that way for her.


“Do you ever have one of those days? I woke up and the sun wasn’t really shining but then it burst through the clouds and it was glorious. Hallelujah!” Bassett spoke those words to the crowd gathered to watch her accept her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


At the ceremony, the Yale University trained and Oscar nominated actress was joined by her husband Courtney B. Vance, their children and guests Forest Whitaker, Laurence Fishburne and Rick Fox, her co-star in the new film “Meet the Browns.”


“You get a lot of no’s in this business and you have to have that desire and determination which is what Angela has,” Fishburne shared.

Whitaker said that Bassett was “a powerful artist, a beautiful person, a mother, a wife, a friend who illuminates my life.”
http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur41950.cfm

THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!

I am pretty sure a lot of you read that garbage in the New York Post thanks to Stacey Brown and another associate but I want to take the time to clear the air once and for all okay? The Jackson family is not in any deep funk and I usually don’t respond to such nonsense because it gives what these trolls wanted all along! More hits or attention but this time Stacey Brown has gone too far. Stacy being an adult and associating yourself among Jehovah’s Witnesses I think it’s about time you come to grips with reality and start telling the truth before you make an attempt to spread the TRUTH which is printed in the Scriptures.

Now Mr. Brown do you not remember the scripture about not letting a rotten thing come out of your mouth?Do you not know Jehovah’s views on Gossip and Lies? Now if readers had common sense they would notice that out of all the Jackson family you went on the attack after the Jackson men and not the women and I guess you want an applause. Or you would like kudos for that but Stacey you are a COWARD!But with a feminine name why am I not surprised you playing the role of female jilted lover?

First of all Stacy you need to get your facts straight, you were never a friend of Michael you were only a friend of Rebbie Jackson.You have had no comment since you were dismissed and that was during the trial. See you should have thought twice before you went on and decided to write a book which in my opinion was the most ignorant and poorly written effort to bash Michael and his family that I have ever seen.

Personally Mr. Brown, whatever issues you and the Jackson’s have amongst each other you would think you would be a MAN and handle that face to face. No like a little girl you decide to take money because The New York Post is a tabloid and you go and gossip out of anger, bitterness, stupidity, or all of the above. Now remember after you wrote that book and took jabs at Michael how you claim a fan left you threats? Now what makes you think anybody believes you? The reporters on CourtTV laughed in your face when you were discussing or describing you ordeal Mr. Brown. What tickles me is that you didn’t have the nerve to confront either of the Jackson men to their face! You scoffed and laughed at Jermaine after her confronted you when you claimed he yelled at you about betraying the family.

You made a snide remark saying he came at you like Marlon Brando’s character in the Godfather. Yet you only have the BALLS to insult them in print and not to their face!Ladies and gentlemen let me show you the face of a COWARD!





So readers out there with a brain, it’s called CHECKING YOUR FACTS that is what RESPECTABLE Journalist do they check their facts not make fools of themselves.But you know what readers this man made fools out of many of you and INSULTED your intelligence.

Stacey must have personally thought only Michael Jackson fans would have caught on and think readers are too stupid to check out his credibility. He thinks oh well I was around the family before anything I say about the family has got to be true readers are too lazy or ignorant to go and check it out. See they believe anything in the press about the Jackson’s and I mean ANYTHING. Why?Because it’s only credible when it’s negative and juicy.

Yes negative press is out there but there comes a time when this crap has to stop. When I read comments like I blame Joe Jackson I want so seriously throw a book at somebody to make them read.

BECAUSE OF JOE YOU HAVE THE JACKSON 5 YOU HAVE JANET JACKSON YOU HAVE THE JACKSON FAMILY PERIOD!!! THINK BEFORE YOU TYPE PEOPLE AND DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE!

If the Jackson family was that bad off where is the proof? Where are the tax returns? If Michael Jackson was that broke why hasn’t he declared bankruptcy?WHY wasn’t he on the list of those not paying their taxes? How can he manage to keep Uncle Sam’s pockets full and on time if he is broke?

PEOPLE USE YOUR COMMON SENSE! Explain HOW can he be broke when every-time you hear your favorite songs on the radio all the songs that are getting mad airplay is putting money in his pockets?Remember the Sony/ATV catalog? Have any of you people have a clue of this man current access or even have a copy of his W2?Stacey STAND UP BE A MAN say it in the Jackson men FACE instead of making a fool of yourself using the press and not bothering to make an about face. Because I’m telling you right now let you would have lied on MY family like that? Trust me brother you don’t want none because it would have been on and popping!

It kills me when one of our own get the crab syndrome it really does and what’s interesting is that every time the family distant themselves from snakes they take the same route by going to the tabloids rehashing nonsense as if they are getting some kind of revenge when they are not making any sense with their ramblings! Readers I want you all to be clear of course you’re going to think I have a bias because yes I am a fan and been a fan for many years; but there comes a time when you get fed up with the crap and you want the truth out there. I am sick to death of blogs eating this up as if it’s a fact.I am sick of this family who I consider the FIRST SUCCESSFUL family of music getting disrespected and dragged through the mud.People praising the Osmond’s but damning the Jackson’s I am going to call people out on it because it’s ridiculous, disrespectful, and I will not tolerate the garbage anymore. BLACK AMERICA I’M TALKING TO YOU!

Those gossip sites and they know who they are!WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO WAKE UP? When are you going to stop HATING ON EACH OTHER? WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO STOP THE DIVIDE AND CONQUER?When are you going to stop calling each other names if a celebrity doesn’t want to vote for your choice in the Presidential election? WHEN are you going to stop DISRESPECTING CELEBRITY CHILDREN AND SPOUSES!

BLACK AMERICA you loved them then remember? WHY HATE NOW? What is the problem readers? Why I see the most ignorant comments about a family that entertained us and been apart of our lives for years? Most of the idiots making the comments don’t even remember The Variety Show that showcased the family’s true talents and for the haters saying they blame Joe well it was JOE that made that SHOW possible.The same fools need to check the Youtube hits The Jackson’s Variety Show gets alone!A lot of you haters man you all really need to stop! Probably one of the folks hitting up the links enjoying it.Here is something a lot of TODAY’S artist need to be schooled on!It’s called having TALENT! Anybody can ENTERTAIN but a FEW have TRUE TALENT!



Tell Chris Brown Justin Timberlake and Omarion to TRY THAT! Now readers do your reasearch check your facts and READ before you comment taking liars like Stacey Brown word for truth! Do yourself a favor and for a change QUESTION the authors credibility. Question the SOURCE and do some FACT CHECKING!

Stormy Weather!

I love MANY films but one of my all time favorite is Stormy Weather!!

cast
Lena Horne - Selina RogersBill "Bojangles" Robinson - Bill WilliamsonFats Waller - HimselfDooley Wilson - Gabe TuckerCab Calloway - HimselfEddie "Rochester" Anderson Flournoy E. Miller - MillerColeman Hawkins - SaxophonistThe Nicholas Brothers - ThemselvesKatherine Dunham - HerselfAda Brown - Herself
The Tramp Band - ThemselvesBabe Wallace - Chick BaileyErnest Whitman - Jim EuropeZuttie Singleton - ZuttieMae Johnson - HerselfJohnny Lee - LylesRobert Felder - Cab Calloway, Jr.Nick Stewart (Nicodemus) - Chauffeur

The movie is about a musician looking back on his life and career and to see all the talent just amazes me! I mean from the Nicholas Brothers to Mr Bojangles! It's surely a treat with the singing dancing and classic entertainment at it's finest.

Dont know why theres no sun up in the sky

Stormy weather

Since my man and I aint together,

Keeps rainin all the time

Life is bare,

gloom and misry everywhere

Stormy weather

Just cant get my poorself together,

Im weary all the time

So weary all the time

When he went away the blues walked in and met me.

If he stays away old rockin chair will get me.

All I do is pray the lord above will let me walk in the sun once more.

Cant go on, evry thing I had is gone

Stormy weather

Since my man and I aint together,

Keeps rainin all the time

Venus Williams You GO GIRL!

Venus in Motion©PA / S. Parson Saturday, 7 July, 2007

Venus Williams and the Venus Rosewater Dish were reunited on Centre Court today when the 27-year-old collected her fourth Championship with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over France's Marion Bartoli that was harder earned than the score would indicate.Never before in Wimbledon's modern era had the women's final been contested by players so lowly-ranked. Williams, ranked 31 after an injury-hit year of little activity, was awarded the 23rd seeding on the strength of her previous record here, while Bartoli was seeded 18th.Williams collected £700,000 for her one hour and 30 minutes victory, the first year of equal pay for men and women at Wimbledon, but her delight at the end showed that the money meant little to this millionairess whose prospects of another title here had been largely discounted.

Venus had proved, and how, that she is still a grand slam contender, despite having arrived at Wimbledon with just seven tournaments this year and one victory, at Memphis in February.The 22-year-old Bartoli's high moment had come in the semi-finals on Friday evening, when her rocketing ground strokes pole-axed the world number one and top seed, Justine Henin. Today those were less effective because of Venus's longer reach and speed around the court.The way the Centre Court crowd got behind Bartoli was clear indication that they feared a one-sided contest. That this did not happen was due to a combination of Bartoli's dogged determination to give no ground to such famous opposition and to the fact that Venus had one of her less accurate days.She certainly started impressively enough, breaking Bartoli in the second game thanks to a double-fault from the Frenchwoman.

That was elevated to 3-0 before the fightback began, although Venus had a point for a 4-0 lead (on another double-fault).Then Bartoli settled, buoyed by the crowd's support, stretching Williams from side to side with her flat, raking groundstrokes from her double-fisted grip.She broke Williams when Venus sent a wild forehand sailing over the baseline and then levelled the match at 3-3, courtesy of two more poor Williams backhands. Could this become another thriller, like the Henin match?As it turned out, no.

Bartoli, gallantly though she played, always looked the inferior performer against such classy opposition and when her fifth double-fault of the match presented Venus with two set points Bartoli was able to fight off only one of them before Williams stroked away a sweet backhand volley. The set had lasted 45 minutes.The second set followed a similar course, with Williams breaking serve in the second game and going 3-0 up, at which Bartoli took time out for treatment to her left foot. Williams then also asked for treatment to her left leg, leading to a stoppage in all of 11 minutes.When play resumed, Bartoli won the first game to love but that was effectively the end of her resistance. Venus sailed through the next three games, ending with a thunderous serve.Bartoli, clearly delighted with having reached this stage of the tournament, congratulated Williams, calling her "the best player on grass in the world." Today she proved that.

Written by Ronald Atkin

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/match_reports/2007-07-07/200707071183804728484.html

The Delany Sisters!

Bessie Delany

Sadie Delany

I was watching a very amazing movie about Bessie and Sadie Delany and the movie and play that depicted their story is called Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters First 100 Years. To think that their story became a hit play, New Times Best Seller and a wonderful movie from a simple article! These sister lived well over 100 years and their story is amazing and fufilling! Take a look and see why it inspired me and hopefully inspire you.

The New York TimesSUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1991Copyright © 1991 The New York Times

Two 'Maiden Ladies' With Century-Old Stories to Tell
By AMY HILL HEARTH

MOUNT VERNON -"I don’t see why everybody’s making such a fuss about us," said Sarah Delany, who was talking about herself and her "little" sister, Dr. Elizabeth Delany, who celebrated her 100th birthday on Sept. 3. The Delany sisters, who live together in the house they bought here 34 years ago, are a little overwhelmed. Their birthdays have been recognized by the White House, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, Mayor Ronald A. Blackwood of Mount Vernon and even by Willard Scott, the weatherman on NBC’s "Today" show. "We’re not anything special," insisted Sarah Delany, who is called Sadie. "We’re just two old maids." But if the sisters don’t see themselves as extraordinary, it is easy to see why others do. For one thing, the sisters are as alert as 30-year-olds. They still maintain their finances and run the household without help. On a recent afternoon, a visitor was welcomed into their Victorian-era living room, where crocheted dollies are draped across the backs of parlor chairs and a piano serves as the centerpiece of the room. There was no date, name or other detail that the sisters could not recall about their century long lives. And as for current events, the sisters read newspapers daily and watch the "MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour" on Public Television each weeknight. They are women of considerable accomplishment, having had successful careers -- one as a dentist and the other, a teacher -- during an era when black women had very few opportunities.

How It Was Before Jim Crow Laws
The daughters of a slave, the Delany sisters remember life in their native Raleigh, N.C., before the passage of Jim Crow laws that institutionalized segregation by race at the turn of the century. As young women, they moved to New York City, living in Harlem during its heyday in the 20’s and 30’s. They have stories to tell. The sisters attribute their longevity to their life style. They perform yoga exercises each morning except Sunday. They never drink water from the tap without boiling it first. They start the day with a swallow of cod liver oil and a chopped clove of garlic. They attend St. John, St. Paul and St. Clement Episcopal Church in Mount Vernon and hold daily prayer vigils at home. And they enjoy each other’s company. The sisters added, in jest, that another reason they have lived so long is that neither one ever married. "We never had husbands to worry us to death," Bessie Delany said. As for other secrets of longevity: "No drinking, no chewing, no smoking," said Sadie Delany, sweetly but firmly. "And always clean your plate." The Delany Sisters were born on the campus of St. Augustine’s College, a school for blacks in Raleigh where their father, Henry Beard Delany, was a teacher and administrator and their mother, Nanny James Delany, was the matron supervising day-to-day operations. Their father was born into slavery in St. Mary’s Ga., on the coast near the Florida border. Henry Beard Delany was 6 years old "when the surrender came," she said referring to Gen. Robert E. Lee‘s surrender to the Union at Appomattox Court House. Their mother was an issue-free Negro whose ancestry was mostly white and who could have passed as a white woman if she had wanted to, the sisters said. An issue-free Negro was an individual who had some black ancestry but whose mother was a free person. When their father was a young man, a white Episcopal priest encouraged him to get an education and become a minister. Thus, their father began a long career as a distinguished theologian, eventually becoming the first elected black bishop of the Episcopal Church in America. The sisters recalled that their parents were strict and held high expectations. There were 10 children. As adults, they all enjoyed successful careers. Among them were two dentists, a doctor, two lawyers (one of whom became a judge ) and three teachers. Besides Sadie and Bessie, another sister, 87-year-old Laura Edith Murrell of Oakland, Calif., is also alive. The family was poor, the sisters said, and the siblings worked and saved to pay for college. "We had everything a family could want except money," Bessie Delany said. "We didn’t have one cent." As young girls, the sisters said, their lives changed abruptly with the passage, around 1900, of the Jim Crow laws. "Suddenly, everything was different," Bessie Delany said. "All of a sudden," she recalled, "we were told we had to sit in the back of the streetcars. Before that, we sat anywhere we wanted to."

They remember the day when they went to Johnson’s Drug Store in Raleigh for a limeade, as was their custom, only to be told they would no longer be served. And they vividly recall the day they went to a spring to get water and found that a divider had been placed across the middle of the spring, along with a sign on one side that read "Whites Only." (When no one was looking, Bessie Delany reached across the divider and dipped water from the white side. "We were children, after all," she said.) They remember the signs at city parks in Raleigh that read. "No Jews or Dogs Allowed." "They didn’t even think enough of us to put ‘No Coloreds’ on the sign," Bessie Delany said. "Obviously they did not want us there either." "It was a terrible time," Sadie Delany added. "People got lynched – it was just terrible." Asked if they knew anyone who was lynched, Bessie Delany replied: "Are you kidding? It seemed like everybody was lynched. People were lynched all the time – white and black." None of the Delay men met that fate, she added. The sisters were protected and sheltered. "We were not allowed to go anywhere without an escort," Sadie Delany said. "And Papa forbade us to talk to white men or married men, because he said there was no good reason for us to have anything to do with them." Black women, the sisters said, were frequently molested by white men. Despite their protected upbringing, the sisters had ambitious plans for the future. When one of their brothers moved to New York City, they soon followed to pursue their education.

All Patients Accepted

Sadie Delany attended a two-year program at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and graduated at age 31 with a bachelor’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1920. In 1925 she earned a master’s degree in education from Columbia. Bessie Delany graduated in 1923 -- when she was 32 -- from the School of Dental and Oral Surgery at Columbia University. She was the second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York City. Bessie Delany became known in Harlem for never turning away a needy patient, no matter how poor or sick. "I remember a child with syphilis, and nobody else would touch her," she said. "I said, Well, somebody’s got to help her, so I did." The sisters shared an apartment at 145th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem, 10 blocks north of the office where Bessie Delany practiced dentistry. Harlem was lively and prosperous, and "a woman could go where she wanted without being afraid," Bessie Delany said. The sisters socialized with many of the most prominent blacks of that era, including W.E.B. DuBois, Paul Robeson and Langston Hughes. While Bessie Delany practiced dentistry, Sadie Delany taught home economics at P.S. 119 in Manhattan, Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx, Girls High School in Brooklyn and finally, at Evander Childs High School in the Bronx. "I was the first appointed Negro in home economics at the high school level in new York City," she said. That was in 1926.

Obstacles to Becoming a Teacher

But Sadie Delany recalled obstacles she faced. "High schools would boast that they did not have Negro teachers," she said. To get her first high school teaching position, she skipped a meeting she was supposed to have attended, received her teaching appointment though the mail and "just showed up" on the first day of school, she said. "They just about dropped dead when they saw me," she said with a laugh. One way black teachers were prevented from teaching at certain schools was that administrators would refuse to hire anyone with a Southern accent, claiming it was bad for the children, Sadie Delany said. "Of course, many black teachers had Southern accents, so it was just a way of keeping us out." Bessie Delany said she also had encountered prejudice. She recalled an incident in dentistry school at Columbia. An instructor was dissatisfied with her work and told her to do an assignment over. Bessie Delany and her friends believed the instructor had failed her because she was black. To prove it, one of her white female friends – there were 11 women in a class of 200 – volunteered to secretly present Bessie Delany’s failed work as her own. It was promptly passed by the same instructor, she said. There were other frustrating and humiliating incidents, such as one that occurred at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan in 1924 when Bessie Delany asked a man at the front desk for directions to the room where she was to attend a medical conference. "That louse directed me to the men’s room," she said, her voice rising in anger. More than 65 years after the incident, she says, "I have never gotten over that." Bessie Delany retired in 1950 to take care of the sisters’ widowed mother, who had moved from North Carolina to the Bronx, where she died at age 95. Sadie Delany continued to teach until 1960. In 1957, the sisters moved to their house in Mount Vernon, where they have lived quietly ever since.

1889 - Sadie is born.
1891 - Bessie is born.
1991 - Amy Hill Hearth followers her instinct and her heart to the Delany sisters’ doorstep in Mt. Vernon, New York, on an assignment for The New York Times.
1991 - Her article "Two ‘Maiden Ladies’ with Century-Old Stories to Tell" appears on September 22.
1991 - People at Kodansha America Publishers read the article and invite Amy and the sisters to do a book.
1993 - Having Our Say, The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years, is published. Sadie and Bessie, at 104 and 102, talk to the press and enjoy it very much.
1993 - By December 7, the book is on the bestseller list, where it remains for 28 weeks.
1993 - Producers Cosby and James and writer Emily Mann begin the dramatic process.
1994 - Dell Publishers releases the paperback. It enters the paperback bestseller list at No. 8, jumping up to No. 3, and remains on the bestseller list.
1995 - Having Our Say, "A Play Of The Century," enjoys hugely successful runs at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre, and the Booth Theatre for nine months on Broadway.
1995 - September 25, Dr. "Bessie" dies at her home in Mt. Vernon in her sleep at age 104.
1996 - Having Our Say plays Chicago for five months and goes on a ten-month tour visiting 58 U.S.A. cities.
1997 - February. Sadie’s third book comes out, On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie.
1997 - September. Sadie celebrates her 108th birthday.
1998 - January. Having Our Say leaves for a college tour visiting campuses in at least 34 more cities.
1998 - June. Having Our Say opens its first international date in Johannesburg.
1999 - January 18, production begins for the Kraft sponsored CBS movie of Having Our Say - to air April 18, 1999.
1999 - January 25, the remarkable Miss Sadie, 109, died peacefully at her home in Mt. Vernon.

Thanks to

http://www.havingoursay.com/

A Note of Knowledge!

As promised this blog will be to Entertain, Enlighten, and Educate and though many don't want to believe it I decided that I post a timeless interview with a timeless and should be honored artist. Otis Blackwell is the man who is responsible for Elvis biggest hits and it makes me proud as an African American to be able to spread the knowledge on to all the readers out there.

Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you the TRUE writer of Elvis hits Mr. Otis Blackwell in an interview taken from Time Barrier Express Magazine in July of 1979. The interview was conducted by Brandon Harris and Ralph Newman. Read and be informed!

TBE - We'd really like to take you back to the beginning. Where are you from originally, and when were you born?

OB - I'm from Brooklyn, New York, born on February 16, 1932.

TBE - When did you first get interested In music? How old were you?

OB - Well, I had an uncle who was into music. He went to a lot of shows. You know, those things at the Apollo Theatre and all the dances at the Savoy Club. He used to take me to what they called round robins, different bars. That's how we used to make a little change. I'd get up and sing a song or two, people would throw quarters. You know, the old tap-dance thing on the corners, except it was in the bars. One day he took me to a friend of his who was working for New York's Amsterdam News, a gentleman by the name of Willie Saunders. He more or less took me over; he had deals with different clubs. That's how I began singing. I was 16.

TBE - Who were some of your early influences?

OB - Tex Ritter was my idol. In my neighborhood there was a movie theatre called the Tompkins. I used to sit from morning to night watching cowboy pictures. I grew up with cowboys - Tex was my man. I would have preferred to sing country but when I went out I used to sing 'Ill Get Along Somehow,' by Larry Darnell, that was one of the songs I enjoyed doing. Larry Darnell and Chuck Willis were two other idols.

TBE - That must have been very early Chuck Willis on Okeh Records, before he became really popular on Atlantic. When did you start writing songs of your own?

OB - I started writing when I began singing. I'd sit down and doodle and fool around but I must have been 18 when I got out and hustled the songs. That was the first stuff I did when I recorded for Joe Davis. I know I was very young; I had to bring my mother to sign the contract.

TBE - I believe you made the first Joe Davis record in 1948 on RCA, not on his own label. The train record.

OB - That was a song written by Benny Benjamin, "Nobody Met The Train." "Daddy Rolling Stone" was the second record.

TBE - How did you first meet Joe Davis?

OB - A friend of mine, Cliff Martinez, had a booking agency. He used to get me little spots where I'd sing with the cocktail drummer and piano player. I didn't particularly like the idea of show business, at the time, because to tell the truth I wasn't making any money at it! I had to go to work pressing clothes. Anyway, he introduced me to Joe Davis.

TBE - How long did you stay with Joe Davis? About 3 years?

OB - Well, it was something like that. We had a little problem. He had me under contract as an artist and a writer. I was supposed to collect $50 a week as a writer and I don't remember how much for the other contract. I think I got two checks and from then on all I got was stories. You know, a lifetime contract and I got $100. Later on I had to pay a pretty good dollar to get out of it.
TBE So you left Davis around '50 and went back to work. Your next music involvement was with Eddie Cooley and "Fever?'

OB - There was a group I became friendly with. One of its members Eddie Cooley, wasn't a singer then, we just write songs for the group. When the group broke up, he went back to the diamond business. It paid 180 dollars a week, so we had an agreement to write songs together and I would come to New York to hustle them and he would split his weekly pay with me. That enabled me to get around and meet people, the publishers, record companies, to hustle whatever songs we could a $25 advance for. A friend took me to Henry Clover at King Records to play a few songs - "Fever" was one. We got a few dollars advance and when it became a hit it made us professional writers. I guess.

TBE Why does the song credit John Davenport instead of Otis Blackwell?

OB - Since it seemed Mr. Davis wasn't going to live up to his agreement for $50 a week, he definitely didn't want to give me a release from the contract, and I knew nothing about going to lawyers or BMI or ASCAP or any of the agencies that would have be able to help me. I began to write under my stepfather's name, John Davenport. I felt that if the publishing went through Joe Davis I wouldn't see any of the royalties.
TBE - Is it true that Little Willie John didn't want to do "Fever?"

OB - That's what Henry Glover tells me. It wasn't the type of thing Willie was doing it the time, he didn't like the finger snapping. Finally Henry convinced him to record the song and they went in that night and did it.

TBE - Let's talk about Moe Gayle. Isn't that where you went next?

OB - On Christmas Eve '55, I was standing outside the Brill Building with no hat & holes in my shoes. It was snowin'. Leroy Kirkland, the arranger who worked with Screamin' Jay asked if I had any songs. I said. 'Yeah, I'm trying to get some Christmas money.' He took me to Shalimar Music where I met Goldie Goldmark, Al Stanton and Moe and if he didn't become big ,I really wasn't losing anything. So I said OK.

TBE - Did he give you an advance at that time against the song?

OB - Yeah, it took a little time, I guess to show how much he believed in it, he advanced me a good piece of money for it. I figured if he believed in it that much, I'd go along with it.

TBE - At that point, Elvis cut "Don't Be Cruel." Is it true that he asked you to write "All Shook Up' for him?

OB - Well no, I was working for Shalimar and he was with Hill & Range. So they got together to co-publish. After 'Don't be Cruel', Shalimar said I had a chance to get Presley again, so I wrote "All Shook Up."

TBE - Didn't the idea for "All Shook Up" come from Al Stanton?

OB - He walked in one day with a bottle of Pepsi, shaking it, as they did at the time, and said. 'Otis, I've got an idea. Why don't you write a song called "All Shook up". Two days later I brought the song in and said,' Look, man. I did something with it.'' After that song the agreement about sharing song writing credit was washed. We had both proved how good we were and had a good thing between the two of us.

TBE - You never met Elvis Presley. Correct?

OB - I had the chance a couple of times, I was invited down by the Presley people. But, things were going so well, I Was - considered one of the top writers and was doing a lot of records. I figured that if I split, I might've lost' it, so I didn't go anywhere.

TBE - Tell us why "Paralysed" never got off the ground as a single, even though it was on that best selling 'EP"

OB - 'The story I got was that, because of the word 'paralyzed' a lot of organizations got down on the thing, so they wouldn't release it as a single. At least that was the case here in the US - in Europe. It didn't hurt anybody.

TBE - How did you get involved with the film Jamboree?

OB - After a few years, I had a misunderstanding with Shalimar and left: I went to Paul Case at Hill and Range who asked me if I wanted to get involved with making a movie. I said yeah and they gave me the job of Musical Director, I don't remember who was all in the movie.

TBE - Buddy Knox, Charlie Gracie, Jimmy Bowen. Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis...

OB - But Jerry Lee wasn't originally in the movie, it was a "low budget" and they needed to fill up some space, so they asked me to find an artist to put into the thing. I went to a friend's record store in Brooklyn and just listened to records in his back room. I must have listened to 100 records until I came across this record ... in fact he only had one copy of it ... way in the back. I took this record back to Paul Case and said. I'm gonna tell you man. I hear this dude as being one of the top artists. Maybe even bigger than Presley!" It was Jerry Lee Lewis doing 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Coin' On." They approached him and got him, but then they wanted an original song for him to do. I said I didn't have anything at the time, but I would look around.
A few days later a writer by the name of Jack Hammer brought me a group song called "Great Balls of Fire." I liked the title so I said, "Give me the title, I'll write the song." So I wrote the song around Jack Hammer's title and they got Jerry Lee to record it. They signed Jerry Lee and were promoting "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and it was a big record, which I was happy about since I was going to have his next release.

TBE - After that he recorded 'Breathless," which is a song you wrote totally by yourself. You got a Charlie Gracie tune out of the movie too - "Cool Baby." And you also had Eddie Cooley The Dimples with "Priscilla." That was quite a successful period for you.

OB - We wrote "Priscilla'' at the same time as "Fever." A lot of my titles used to come from the comics. Priscilla was a little girl in the Daily News. I convinced Jack Hook, of Royal Roost, to record Eddie Cooley, He and his partner Teddy Reed were doing a jazz session and he had Eddie Cooley and the two girls and me come up at the end to record this. The musicians had never done anything like this before and Teddy didn't know what the hell was going on. But Jack dug the song and I guess he thought he could do something because he was real tight with Alan Freed. It was real funny man, 'cause when they started doing the song, Teddy said, 'God! What is this?" and got up and left!

TBE - Your next major success, during the summer of '59, came with two hits by Dee Clark. How did that come about?

OB - By this time I was back at Shalimar. They had very tight connections with VeeJay. I wrote "Just Keep It Up" on a plane from California. I was doing a lot of heavy travelling in those days. Staying away from home a great deal. I got to thinking that it wouldn't he long before I'd be told by my wife: "just keep this up and see what happens!" That's how it hit me -I wrote the song right there and took it to Shalimar. They sent it to Vee Jay and the next thing you know, I got a call informing me that it was recorded by Dee Clark. Shalimar also got me the follow up, "Hey Little Girl (In The High School Sweater' which I did not originally write with that "Bo Diddley" beat. That was added later at the session.

TBE - At what point did you start writing with, Winfield Scott? Whose big hit had been "Tweedlee Dee" by Lavern Baker

OB - I first met Winfield Scott at Roosevelt Music - the first time I left Shalimar. When I went back, we wrote a couple of songs. Then he wanted to go back to Roosevelt and I did. We didn't have a contract it was just on a song-by-song basis and office space. Then Elvis came back on the scene and Hill & Range called. We had been doing songs for different artists but then we concentrated on Elvis. The first song was "Return To Sender'. The movie people gave us some titles to write. The only song we wrote for the movie was "Comin' In Loaded but we played "Return To Sender" for Col. Parker. They recorded it and it came out in the movie. We also had "One broken heart for sale", Such an easy question, Don't drag that string around, it was the B side of "Devil In Disguise" and some others that were never released.

TBE - Wasn't it also during this period that you began producing Jimmy Jones?

OB - yeah. Jimmy came to me with an idea for a song called" Handy Man," which Just needed a little work on it, a few words here, a few words there. We went into the studio and made a demo of it, which Goldie played for Arnold Maxim at MGM. They put it out, and it was the demo that they released, with a few little things added to it

TBE - What that Jimmy Jones' very first solo record? You know that earlier he had been in a group called The Pretenders.

OB-We almost got into a "court thing" over that! I didn't know that Jimmy had been in a group and that they had already recorded a song called 'Whistlin' Man." What made it so ironic is that "Handy Man" had whistling in it, which I did.The only reason I did that was because the flute player didn't show so I whistled the flute part. When I finally did hear 'Whistlin' Man' some years later, I had to admit that the two songs were pretty close.

TBE - You went on to produce Jimmy Jones' 'Good Timing" and Roy Hamilton's 'Don't Let Go," neither of which you wrote, correct?

OB- Don't let go was a Jesse Stone song, which Jesse had arranged a little lower. When I came to the session, Jesse was kind of despondent 'cause Roy couldn't seem to get it the way he wanted it. So I said, "lets pick it up" and told Roy to holler 'uh uh" every time I tapped him on the shoulder. That was the "thing" at the time, everyone moaning and groaning.

TBE - Who were some of the other artists you produced? With whom did you moat enjoy working?

OB - What got me off the most was producing Mahalia Jackson, Before Arnold Maxim came to MGM, he was at Columbia- I was introduced to Mahalia and john Hammond, who was recording her. He asked me if I wanted to work with Mahalia and went over to the hotel where she was staying, played her a tape of a couple of tunes and she picked "For My Good Fortune," which was also done by Pat Boone. I wrote that song with Bobby Stevenson with whom I'd written "Hey little girl". He was also playing drums with me during the $3 per 'gig' days way back when I worked with Johnny Ray who I produced for Shalimar. It was the beginning of them using outside people to come in and produce.

TBE - You didn't seem to get production credit in those days. That wasn't "in" at the time, right?

OB - No, there were no production deals at the time. We were doing it because the publisher had an 'in' with the A&R man. I also produced Frankie Valli & The Four Lovers, In fact, I wrote "Apple Of My Eye" in the bathroom because they needed a song, Frankie Valli and I got to he really good friends. I was supposed to be the best man at his wedding.

TBE - The death of Elvis must have affected you. How did you first hear of Elvis' death and what were your thoughts?

OB - I was in a friend's studio when a buddy of his called and told him. He said "I got some news for you. It's bad news in one respect and good news in another. Do you want me to tell you now or later?" I said later because I was in the studio when President Kennedy was killed and also when Martin Luther King was killed. I know the effect bad news can have on a session. When the session was over he told me and I thought he was joking. It didn't hit me until I lay down to sleep. The one other time that I experienced that was when my mother died and my son. It wasn't because he wouldn't he doing any more of my songs. It was like a piece of the whole business. I mean some people you just figure are never going to die. Inside man, they'll always live. When they're gone, a certain piece goes and you just can't believe it.

TBE - There were lots of younger people who only became aware of Otis Blackwell when Elvis died, after they read how much of his early material you had written. What are your feelings about that? What prompted you late in '77 to go out on tour with Elvis' songs?

OB I thought it was time to step out of the shadows. Before he died! I had already started an album of all my stuff. I had planned on meeting him when he opened up in Vegas. So we had started rehearsals, gotten a band together. I felt well there are all those singer-songwriters now - "what the hell, let me try it. So I got a few fellows together and did a few spots and I found that I really liked it.

That ladies and Gentlemen was Mr. Otis Blackwell and he indeed was more than just the Black Man wrote for Elvis, but also a producer and a major force in the industry.

Thank you for paving the way!

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I'd like to welcome you to the blog I promised I was going to compose solely based on facts on history because we all need to be informed that's a fact. Nothing is more important that being very well rounded in what's going on around you. That doesn't mean being bored to death by articles but also means not being manipulated in what the media chooses to inform you about. Yes because as people should know they choose what is reported and I am tired of people believing what they or the powers that be want you to hear.

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