I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— the sole US exhibition of Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment— with 130 works (by Cézanne, Monet, Morissot and others) that were shown in the “radical” 1874 exhibition considered to be the birth of modern painting — is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (no admission fee) to January 19th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is this essay in ProPublica noting that a community deemed a food desert (with no grocery store, only dollar stores) cannot necessarily be saved by simply opening a community-sponsored food store.
HAIL and FAREWELL to three musicians: folksinger/author Billy Edd Wheeler (whose High Flying Bird was a hit for Judy Henske and later the Jefferson Airplane) at age ninety-one …. the blues-rock guitarist Nick Gravenites (a member of The Electric Flag, who wrote for Janis Joplin and is the composer of the Butterfield Blues Band song Born in Chicago) at age eighty-five … and the saxophonist Benny Golson (whose best-known song Killer Joe has been covered numerous times) at age ninety-five … and whose passing leaves Sonny Rollins as the sole survivor of the iconic 1958 photo A Great Day in Harlem (of fifty-seven noted jazz musicians).
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Marley the Cat - an English kitteh who has been named Cats Protection's National Cat of the Year 2024, for his work at a safe house for women who have been enslaved, exploited and trafficked, with its director saying, "Marley placing a paw on our guests' legs is the first kindness they've experienced in years".
BOOK NOTES— a new book about the murder of Emmett Till reveals some heretofore unknown details about the exact location it took place. Moreover, book reviewer Walton Muyumba (of the University of Wisconsin) notes that while his two killers were acquitted by an all-white jury, they “were ostracized in the white community for killing Till. Even among the most staunch racists, they had broken the code against murdering children … both men would die cancer-ridden, miserable, and alone”.
CHEERS to the legendary singer Dionne Warwick— who will have a street named after her by her hometown of East Orange, New Jersey.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Cilla the Cat— also an English kitteh who won the Connected Cats crown by serving as a calming influence for students at a primary school, with the headteacher saying, “She’s the first name on our staff list, ahead of me, and that’s well deserved.”
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this Substack essay by Paul Waldman, praising Kamala Harris for granting interviews to local radio and TV, rather than national pundits … upset they are not able to ask gotcha and horse-race questions.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
DIRECT DESCENDANTS?—
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… due to the immediate reaction I had to a news item this week: a reprise of a profile of an R&B performer whose rendition of a song … is what caused that reaction.
Among those who are considered the forefathers of rock music are R&B entertainers whose music led to what-was-to-follow: besides Big Joe Turner and Louis Jordan, another name in that category was Wynonie Harris - a talented dancer and drummer who became a premier blues singer in the 40's and 50's.
Unlike other performers whose career was diminished following the British Invasion of the mid-60's, his was derailed after the first wave of rock music came following 1952. Yet he does have a legacy as a singer of party songs and earned his nickname of "Mr. Blues".
Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1915, he dropped-out of school at age sixteen and performed in a dance troupe with Velda Shannon before turning his attention to singing. His idols were Big Joe Turner and Jimmy Rushing, and he performed in clubs in Chicago and Kansas City before relocating to Los Angeles in 1940.
After establishing himself in that city's Central Avenue jazz clubs, his big break came when he was noticed by the jump blues bandleader Lucky Millinder in 1944. This gave him much more prominent exposure, staying for over a year. Before he left, he sang Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well? - which became a big hit for Millinder, reaching #1 on the R&B charts and even reaching #7 in the pop charts (garnering an unusual early white audience for R&B).
Going out as a solo performer after the war, he had some early hits such as Wynonie's Blues, and even recorded some sides with pianist Herman "Sonny" Blount (who later earned fame as the eclectic jazz bandleader Sun Ra).
Then after signing with the Cincinnati-based King Records in 1947 his career took off, with several hits through 1952. He featured a band with a swinging horn section, with songs about partying with quite ribald lyrics. Among his hits on the R&B charts were were All She Wants to Do Is Rock plus "Grandma Plays the Numbers", a cover of the country tune "Bloodshot Eyes" and also "Sittin' On It All the Time".
His most noteworthy recording was one that he originally passed-up: Good Rocking Tonight was offered to him by its composer Roy Brown - and only after Brown's own recording took-off did Wynonie Harris record it himself in 1948 (and reach #1 on the R&B charts). Six years later, Elvis Presley did a cover version (early in his recording career), with others following suit such as Montrose, Buddy Holly, James Brown and Bruce Springsteen.
Yet his career suffered after the advent of rock and roll, and from 1952 only recorded a few records achieving any success. Wynonie Harris died of throat cancer in 1969, at only age 53.
Yet twenty-five years after his death, his work was recognized in several ways. He was the subject of a biography plus a Rhino compilation album and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis.
That song I referenced at the outset? Good Morning Judge was written and first recorded in 1950 by country singer Louis Innis— and was covered thirty-seven years later on the debut album of Buster Poindexter (David Johansen) in 1987. Yet it was Wynonie Harris’s cover in the same year of 1950 (reaching #6 on the R&B charts) that first made the song famous.
The other morning when I read this quote from Hizzoner, the mayor of NYC:
“If I am charged ... I am innocent.”
… I can hear a plaintive plea likely to come from Eric Adams at his arraignment:
Good morning Judge, why do you look so mean? Sorry, Mr. Judge ... what can the charges be? If there's been trouble, I will plead not guilty It must be someone else ... you know it can't be me!