Frank Beacham's Journal

Earl Robinson was born 112 years ago today

Earl Robinson and Paul Robeson working on Ballad for Americans, 1939

Earl Robinson was born 112 years ago today.

A singer-songwriter and composer from Seattle, Robinson wrote such songs as "Joe Hill," "Black and White" and the cantata, "Ballad for Americans." In addition, he wrote many popular songs and was a composer for Hollywood films.

Robinson studied violin, viola and piano as a child, and studied composition at the University of Washington, receiving a music degree and teaching certificate in 1933. In 1934, he moved to New York City, where he studied with Hanns Eisler and Aaron Copland.

He was also involved with the depression-era WPA Federal Theater Project, and was actively involved in the anti-fascist movement. He was the musical director at the Communist-run, Camp Unity, in upstate New York.

In the 1940s, he worked on film scores in Hollywood until he was blacklisted for being a Communist. Unable to work in Hollywood, he moved back to New York, where he headed the music program at Elisabeth Irwin High School, directing the orchestra and chorus.

Robinson's musical influences included Paul Robeson, Lead Belly and American folk music. He composed "Ballad for Americans" (lyrics by John La Touche), which became a signature song for Robeson. It was also recorded by Bing Crosby. He wrote the music for and sang in the short documentary film, Muscle Beach (1948), directed by Joseph Strick and Irving Lerner.

Other songs written by Robinson include "The House I Live In" (a 1945 hit recorded by Frank Sinatra) and "Joe Hill," a setting of a poem by Alfred Hayes. “Joe Hill” was later recorded by Joan Baez and used in the film of the same name. He also wrote the ongoing ballad that accompanied the film, A Walk in the Sun, that was sung by Kenneth Spencer.

Robinson wrote, “Lonesome Train,” a musical poem on the life and death of Abraham Lincoln.

He wrote "Black and White" with David I. Arkin, the late father of actor Alan Arkin. It was a celebration of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The song was recorded by Pete Seeger, Three Dog Night, the Jamaican reggae band, The Maytones, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Greyhound, the UK reggae band.

His late works included a concerto for banjo, as well as a piano concerto entitled, The New Human. His cantata based on the preamble to the constitution of the United Nations was premiered in New York with the Elisabeth Irwin High School Chorus and the Greenwich Village Orchestra in 1962 or 1963.

Robinson was killed at the age of 81 in a car accident in his hometown of Seattle in 1991. The jazz clarinetist Perry Robinson is his son.

Here, several artists, including Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Three Dog Night, perform a medley of songs written by Earl Robinson in a trailer for Earl Robinson: Ballad of an American.

Hermann Hesse was born 145 years ago today

Hermann Hesse was born 145 years ago today.

Hesse was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist and painter. His works include Steppenwolf, Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game. Each work explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality.

In 1946, Hesse received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Medgar Evers was born 97 years ago today

Medgar Evers was born 97 years ago today.

The African American civil rights activist was involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi. He was active in the civil rights movement after returning from overseas service in World War II and became a field secretary for the NAACP.

Evers was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the Mississippi White Citizens' Council, on June 12, 1963. As a veteran, Evers was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Evers’ death inspired civil rights protests, as well as numerous works of art, music and film. His murder and subsequent trials caused an uproar.

Bob Dylan wrote his 1963 song, "Only a Pawn in Their Game," about Evers and his assassin. Nina Simone wrote and sang, "Mississippi Goddam." Phil Ochs wrote the songs, "Too Many Martyrs" and "Another Country," in response to the killing.

Matthew Jones and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Freedom Singers paid tribute to Evers in the haunting, "Ballad of Medgar Evers."

Eudora Welty's short story, "Where Is the Voice Coming From," in which the speaker is the imagined assassin of Medgar Evers, was published in The New Yorker. Rex Stout used the event as a plot device in his civil rights-themed mystery, A Right to Die.

On July 5, 1963, Bob Dylan flew through the night to perform “Only a Pawn in Their Game” at a civil rights, voter registration rally in Greenwood, Mississippi.

In 1983, artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude surrounded eleven islands in Miami's Biscayne Bay with pink polypropylene floating fabric

One of Christo's Surroounded Islands, taken from a helicopter, in early May, 1983 — 39 years ago

Photo by Frank Beacham

The artist couple of Christo and Jeanne-Claude did a project based on Jeanne-Claude's idea to surround eleven islands in Miami's Biscayne Bay with pink polypropylene floating fabric.

It was completed on May 4, 1983, with the aid of 430 workers and was left standing for two weeks.

Surrounded Islands was located between the city of Miami, North Miami, the Village of Miami Shores and Miami Beach, 11 of the islands situated in the area of Bakers Haulover Cut, Broad Causeway, 79th Street Causeway, Julia Tuttle Causeway and Venetian Causeway.

The islands were surrounded with 6.5 million square feet of pink woven polypropylene fabric covering the surface of the water, floating and extending out 200 feet from each island into the Bay.

The fabric was sewn into 79 patterns to follow the contours of the 11 islands.

For two weeks Surrounded Islands, spreading over seven miles, was seen, approached and enjoyed by the public, from the causeways, the land, the water, and the air.

The luminous pink color of the shiny fabric was in harmony with the tropical vegetation of the uninhabited verdant island, the light of the Miami sky, and the colors of the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay.

As with Christo and Jeanne-Claude's previous art projects, Surrounded Islands was entirely financed by the artists through the sale by C.V.J. Corporation (Jeanne-Claude Christo-Javacheff, President) of the preparatory pastel and charcoal drawings, collages, lithographs and early works.

Christo died in 2020; Jean-Calude in 2009.

Paul Williams, founding member of the Temptations, was born 83 years ago today

Paul Williams (left front) and the Temptations

Paul Williams, founding member of the Temptations, was born 83 years ago today.

A baritone singer and choreographer, Williams along with David Ruffin, Otis Williams (no relation) and fellow Alabamians, Eddie Kendricks and Melvin Franklin, founded the legendary Motown group. Williams was a member of The Temptations during the "Classic Five" period.

Personal problems and failing health forced Williams to retire in 1971. He was found dead two years later as the result of an apparent suicide.

Born and raised in the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama, Williams was the third son of Sophia and Rufus Williams, a gospel singer in the Ensley Jubilee Singers.

He met his lifelong best friend, Eddie Kendricks, in elementary school. The two first encountered each other in a fistfight after Williams dumped a bucket of mop water on Kendricks. The two eventually became good friends. Both boys shared a love of singing and sang in their church choir together.

As teenagers, Williams, Kendricks and their friends, Kel Osbourne and Willie Waller, performed in a secular singing group known as The Cavaliers. They had dreams of making it big in the music business.

In 1957, Williams, Kendricks and Osbourne left Birmingham to start careers, leaving Waller behind. Now known as The Primes, the trio moved to Cleveland, and eventually found a manager in Milton Jenkins, who moved the group to Detroit.

Although The Primes never recorded, they were successful performers, and even launched a spin-off female group. They were called The Primettes, who later became, The Supremes.

In 1961, Kell Osbourne moved to California, and the Primes disbanded. Kendricks returned to Alabama, but visited Paul in Detroit shortly after. While on this visit, he and Paul had learned that Otis Williams, head of a rival Detroit act known as The Distants, had two openings in his group's lineup.

Paul Williams and Kendricks joined Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin and Elbridge Bryant to form The Elgins, who signed to the local Motown label in 1961 after first changing their name to The Temptations.

Although the group now had a record deal, Paul Williams and his bandmates endured a long series of failed singles before finally hitting the Billboard Top 20 in 1964 with "The Way You Do the Things You Do." More hits quickly followed, including "My Girl," "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" and "(I Know) I'm Losing You."

Williams suffered from sickle-cell anemia, which frequently wreaked havoc on his physical health. Life on the road was starting to take its toll on Williams as well, and he began to drink heavily.

In 1969, after a failed business and being in debt, his health had deteriorated to the point that he would sometimes be unable to perform, suffering from combinations of exhaustion and pain which he combated with heavy drinking.

Each of the other four Temptations did what they could to help Williams, alternating between raiding and draining his alcohol stashes, personal interventions and keeping oxygen tanks backstage. But Williams' health, as well as the quality of his performances, continued to decline and he refused to see a doctor.

In April, 1971, Williams was finally persuaded to go see a doctor. The doctor found a spot on Williams' liver and advised him to retire. Williams left the group. On August 17, 1973, Williams was found dead in an alley, in the car with a gun, having just left the new house of his then-girlfriend after an argument. A gun was found near his body.

His death was ruled a suicide by the coroner. Williams had expressed suicidal thoughts to Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin months before his death.

Here, Paul Williams and the Temptations perform “For Once In My Life”

Federico Fellini casting for Casanova in Paris, 1975

Dan Aykroyd is 70 years old today

Dan Aykroyd is 70 years old today.

A Canadian actor, comedian screenwriter and singer, Aykroyd was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers (with John Belushi) and Ghostbusters. He has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.

In 1990, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Driving Miss Daisy.

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Aykroyd grew up in the Canadian capital, where his father, Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd, a civil engineer, worked as a policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His mother, Lorraine Hélène, was a secretary.

Aykroyd was born with syndactyly, or webbed toes, which was revealed in the movie, Mr. Mike's Mondo Video, and in a short film on Saturday Night Live, "Don't Look Back In Anger." He was also born with heterochromia – his right eye is green and his left eye is brown.

Aykroyd was raised in the Catholic Church, and intended to become a priest until the age of seventeen. He attended St. Pius X and St. Patrick's High Schools and studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University. However, he dropped out before completing his degree.

Aykroyd worked as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and ran an after-hours speakeasy, Club 505, in Toronto for several years. He developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendances at Le Hibou, a club that featured many blues artists.

Aykroyd described these influences:

“...there was a little club there called Le Hibou, which in French means 'the owl'. And it was run by a gentleman named Harvey Glatt, and he brought every, and I mean every blues star that you or I would ever have wanted to have seen through Ottawa in the late '50s, well I guess more late '60s sort of, in around the Newport jazz rediscovery.

“I was going to Le Hibou and hearing James Cotton, Otis Spann, Pinetop Perkins, and Muddy Waters. I actually jammed behind Muddy Waters. S.P. Leary left the drum kit one night, and Muddy said 'anybody out there play drums? I don't have a drummer.' And I walked on stage and we started, I don't know, Little Red Rooster, something.

“He said 'keep that beat going, you make Muddy feel good.' And I heard Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett). Many, many times I saw Howlin' Wolf. As well as The Doors. And of course Buddy Guy, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. So I was exposed to all of these players, playing there as part of this scene to service the academic community in Ottawa, a very well-educated community. Had I lived in a different town I don't think that this would have happened, because it was just the confluence of educated government workers, and then also all the colleges in the area, Ottawa University, Carleton, and all the schools — these people were interested in blues culture.”

Aykroyd's first professional experience at the age of 17 was as a member of the cast of the short-lived Canadian sketch comedy series, The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour with Lorne Michaels. He was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago.

Aykroyd gained fame on the American late-night comedy show, Saturday Night Live, where he was a writer and the youngest cast member for its first four seasons, from 1975 to 1979. He brought a unique sensibility to the show, combining youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator and an almost lunatic intensity.

While Aykroyd was a close friend and partner with fellow cast member John Belushi and shared some of the same sensibilities, Aykroyd was more reserved and less self-destructive.

During some guest appearances, he resurrected The Blues Brothers musical act with frequent host John Goodman in place of Belushi. He became the second member of the original cast to host SNL in May, 2003 when he appeared in the season finale.

During his monologue, he performed a musical number with James Belushi similar to the Blues Brothers, but neither Aykroyd nor Belushi donned the famous black suit and sunglasses. When they met in a club Aykroyd frequented, he played a blues record in the background, and it stimulated a fascination with blues in Belushi, who was primarily a fan of heavy rock bands at the time.

Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music and, with a little encouragement from then-SNL music director, Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters.

Backed by such experienced professional R&B sidemen as lead guitarist Steve Cropper, sax man Lou Marini, trumpeter Alan Rubin and bass guitarist Donald "Duck" Dunn, the Blues Brothers proved more than an SNL novelty.

Taking off with the public as a legitimate musical act, they performed live gigs and released the hit album, Briefcase Full of Blues, in 1978. They were further popularized in a 1980 film. The Blues Brothers Band continues to tour today, featuring original members Cropper and Marini, along with vocalist Eddie Floyd.

In 1992, Aykroyd, along with many other notable music and Hollywood personalities, founded the House of Blues with the mission to promote African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art.

From 2004 until its sale to Live Nation in 2007, the House of Blues was the second-largest live music promoter in the world, with seven venues and 22 amphitheaters in the United States and Canada.

Here, the trailer for the Blues Brothers movie in 1980

The Blues Brothers

Delaney Bramlett was born 83 years ago today

Delaney Bramlett was born 83 years ago today.

A singer, songwriter, musician and producer, Bramlett's five-decade career reached peaks in creativity, performance and notoriety in partnership with his then-wife, Bonnie Bramlett, in Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, a revolving troupe of professional musicians and rock superstars.

Bramlett was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi. After a stint in the Navy, he moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where he established himself as a singer-songwriter. He wrote with fellow musicians Joey Cooper, Mac Davis and Jackie DeShannon.

By 1965, Bramlett was a regular member of the Shindogs, the house band of the television show, Shindig! During this time, he worked with J.J. Cale and Leon Russell and released some unsuccessful solo singles. One of these, "Guess I Must Be Dreamin'," entered the Cashbox "Looking Ahead" survey on May 14, 1967.

In the late 1960s, British guitarist Eric Clapton joined Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on tour after which Delaney produced and co-wrote songs for Clapton's debut solo album, Eric Clapton. Clapton still credits Delaney for pushing him to sing and teaching him the art of rock vocals.

Bramlett produced King Curtis' last LP, which had two hit singles: "Teasin'" and "Lonesome Long Way from Home." He taught then Beatle George Harrison to play slide guitar, which led into a gospel jam that resulted in Harrison's hit, "My Sweet Lord."

Bramlett wrote, recorded or appeared on stage with many notable performers, including Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Billy Preston, John Lennon, The Everly Brothers, Spooner Oldham, Steve Cropper and Billy Burnette.

Musicians appearing in concert or recording with Bramlett on Friends albums include a galaxy of stars and highly respected side men, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Leon Russell, King Curtis, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Keltner, Bobby Keys and Gram Parsons.

In 2006, Bramlett was one of the duet artists on the Jerry Lee Lewis album, Last Man Standing, singing and playing guitar on the song, "Lost Highway." In 2008, the year of his death, Bramlett released his first CD in six years, A New Kind of Blues.

The Bramlett's "Never Ending Song of Love" has been covered by others, and appears on the soundtrack of the films, RV, and A Good Year. He co-wrote the Eric Clapton hit, "Let It Rain."

Described in an obituary as a "Southern Legend," Bramlett died from complications of gall bladder surgery on December 27, 2008 in Los Angeles.

Here is a complete television special of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends from December, 1969. The “friends” in this special were the future Derek and the Dominoes

Eric Clapton, Bonnie Bramlett, Delaney Bramlett and George Harrison backstage at Birmingham Town Hall, Dec. 4, 1969

Charles Laughton was born 123 years ago today

Charles Laughton was born 123 years ago today.

An English stage and film character actor, director, producer and screenwriter, Laughton had a successful career in Hollywood. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926.

In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife, Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death. They had no children. He played a wide range of classical and modern parts, making a big impact in Shakespeare at the Old Vic.

His film career took him to Broadway and then Hollywood, but he also collaborated with Alexander Korda on some of the most notable British films of the era, including The Private Life of Henry VIII.

Laughton, was one of the most recognizable and beloved character actors of his generation, and portrayed everything from monsters, misfits and kings. Among his biggest film-hits were The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Mutiny on the Bounty, Ruggles of Red Gap, Jamaica Inn, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Big Clock.

In his later career, he took up stage directing, notably in The Caine Mutiny Court Martial and George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell, in which he also starred. He directed one film, the acclaimed thriller, The Night of the Hunter.

Laughton has been seen by some actors as one of the greatest performers of his generation.

Sir Daniel Day-Lewis has cited him as one of his inspirations, saying "He was probably the greatest film actor who came from that period of time. He had something quite remarkable. His generosity as an actor, he fed himself into that work. As an actor, you cannot take your eyes off him."

James Cotton was born 87 years old today

James Cotton, New York City, 2007

Photo by Frank Beacham

James Cotton was born 87 years old today.

A blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, Cotton performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.

Although he played drums early in his career, Cotton was famous for his work on the harmonica. He began his professional career playing the blues harp in Howlin' Wolf's band in the early 1950s.

In 1965, he formed the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet, utilizing Otis Spann on piano to record between gigs with the Muddy Waters' band. In the 1970s, Cotton played harmonica on Muddy Waters' 1977 album, Hard Again, produced by Johnny Winter.

Cotton became interested in music when he first heard Sonny Boy Williamson II on the radio. He left home with his uncle and moved to West Helena, Arkansas, finding Williamson there.

Williamson mentored Cotton during his early years. When Williamson left the south to live with his estranged wife in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he left his band in Cotton's hands. "He just gave it to me,” Cotton said. “But I couldn't hold it together 'cause I was too young and crazy in those days an' everybody in the band was grown men, so much older than me."

Cotton made his first recordings as a solo artist for the Sun Records label in Memphis in 1953. In 1954, he recorded an electric blues record "Cotton Crop Blues," which featured a heavily distorted power chord-driven electric guitar solo by Pat Hare.

Cotton began to work with the Muddy Waters Band around 1955. He performed songs such as "Got My Mojo Working" and "She's Nineteen Years Old," although he did not appear on the original recordings. Long-time Muddy Waters harmonica player Little Walter was utilized on most of Muddy's recording sessions in the 1950s.

Cotton's first recording session with Waters took place in June, 1957 and he would alternate with Little Walter on Muddy's recording sessions until the end of the decade until he left to form his own band.

In 1965, he formed the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet, using Otis Spann on piano to record between gigs with Muddy Waters' band. Their performances were captured by producer Samuel Charters on volume two of the Vanguard recording Chicago/The Blues/Today!

After leaving Muddy's band in 1966, Cotton toured with Janis Joplin while pursuing a solo career. He formed the James Cotton Blues Band in 1967. They mainly performed their own arrangements of popular blues and R&B material from the 1950s and 1960s.

Two albums were recorded live in Montreal that year. In the 1960s, Cotton formed a blues band in the tradition of Bobby Bland. Four tracks that featured the big band horn sound and traditional songs were captured on the album, Two Sides of the Blue.

In the 1970s, Cotton recorded several albums with Buddah Records. He played harmonica on Muddy Waters' 1977 album, Hard Again, produced by Johnny Winter.

The James Cotton Blues Band performed Live From Chicago: Mr. Superharp Himself!, and a second for his 1987 release, Take Me Back. Deep in the Blues.

Cotton battled throat cancer in the mid-1990s, and his last recorded vocal performance was on 2000's Fire Down Under the Hill, but he continued to tour, utilizing singers or his backing band members as vocalists.

Cotton died of pneumonia on March 16, 2017, at the age of 81, at a medical center in Austin, Texas.

Here, Cotton performs “Slow Blues (Blues in My Sleep)”