Paul Williams (The Temptations)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background information
Born July 2, 1939
Origin Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Died August 17, 1973 (aged 34)
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Genre(s) R&B, pop, soul
Occupation(s) Singer, dancer, choreographer
Instrument(s) Singing
Years active 1955 - 1973
Label(s) Motown
Associated
acts The Temptations, The Supremes
Paul Williams (July 2, 1939 - August 17, 1973) was an American second tenor/baritone singer.
Williams is noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the popular Motown group The Temptations. Along with David Ruffin, Otis Williams (no relation), and fellow Alabamians Eddie Kendricks and Melvin Franklin, Williams was a member of The Temptations during their most successful years in the 1960s, later dubbed the "Classic 5" period. Paul Williams himself was a member of the group from its founding in 1960 until 1971, when personal problems and failing health forced him to retire. Those same problems would later cause Williams to commit suicide two years later, at the age of thirty-four. The Paul Williams family does not believe, due to undisclosed reasons, that Mr. Williams killed himself.
Biography
Early years
Paul Williams was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Williams met his lifelong best friend Eddie Kendricks during their grade school years; supposedly, 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 had in common a love of singing, and sang in their church choir together. As teenagers, Williams, Kendricks, and their friends Kel Osboure and Willie Waller performed in a secular singing group known as The Cavaliers, with dreams of making it big in the music industry. In 1957, Williams, Kendricks, and Osbourne left Birmingham for greener pastures, leaving Waller behind. Now known as The Primes, the trio moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and eventually found a manager in Milton Jenkins, who moved the group to Detroit, Michigan. Although The Primes never recorded, they were successful performers, and even launched a spin-off female group called The Primettes, who later became The Supremes.
In 1960, Kel Osbourne moved to California, and the Primes disbanded. Williams and Kendricks returned to Alabama, but soon found themselves back in Detroit again after learning 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.
With 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 sang lead on several of the group's songs, and served as lead singer during the group's early years. Considered the Temptations' best dancer, Williams served as the group's original choreographer, devising routines for his group and The Supremes as well (most notably their trademark "Stop! In the Name of Love" routine), before Cholly Atkins took over that role for all of Motown's acts. Williams' later leads on Temptations songs included "No More Water in the Well", "Just Another Lonely Night", and his signature song, "Don't Look Back". One of his best-known lead performances is his stand out live performance of "For Once in My Life," from the television special TCB, originally broadcast on December 9, 1968 on NBC,where most critics and fans felt he "stole the show". The song "No More Water in the Well" is also frequently cited as one of his stand out performances.
Personal problems and decline
Williams suffered from sickle-cell disease, which would keep him in poor health at times. In 1965, Williams began an affair with Winnie Brown, hair stylist for The Supremes and a relative of Supremes member Florence Ballard. In love with Brown but still devoted to his wife and children, Williams was also depressed because he was now being denied lead spots on the Temptations' singles in favor of David Ruffin, and Cholly Atkins' presence now made Williams' former role as choreographer essentially obsolete. As a result, Williams, who previously never drank, began to drink alcoholic beverages heavily, and soon slid into alcohol dependency. Because of Williams' sickle-cell condition, which already made touring hard on him, alcohol took a stronger than usual toll on his health.
In 1969, Williams and Brown opened a celebrity fashion boutique in downtown Detroit. The business was not as successful as planned, and Williams soon found himself owing more than $80,000 in taxes. By now his health had deteriorated to the point that he would sometimes be unable to perform. 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 continued to decline and he refused to see a doctor.
Otis Williams and the other Temptations decided to resort to enlisting an on-hand fill-in for Paul Williams. Richard Street, then lead singer of fellow Motown act The Monitors and formerly lead singer of The Distants, was hired to travel with The Temptations and sing all of Paul Williams' parts, save for Williams' special numbers such as "Don't Look Back" and "For Once in My Life", from behind a curtain. When Williams was too ill to go on, Street took his place onstage. In April of 1971, Williams was finally persuaded to go see a doctor. The doctor found a spot on Williams' liver, and demanded that the singer retire from The Temptations. Williams left the group and Street became his permanent replacement. In support of helping Williams get back on his feet, The Temptations kept Williams on their payroll as an advisor and choreographer, and Williams continued to help the group with routines and dance moves for the next two years.
Later years
Now spending most of his time at home, Williams continued to be troubled by the problems of his affair, the boutique, and his dependence on alcohol. By early 1973, Williams had returned to Motown's Hitsville USA recording studios, and was now working on solo material. Eddie Kendricks, who had quit the Temptations just before Williams himself left, produced and co-wrote Williams' first single, "Feel Like Givin' Up", which was to have been issued on Motown's Gordy imprint with "Once You Had a Heart" as its b-side. However, Motown decided to shelve the sides, and the single was not released.
Williams never overcame his depression or his personal and health problems. On August 17, 1973, Williams, age thirty-four, was found on the ground near his car, dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot to the head, in a deserted parking lot near 14th Street and West Grand Blvd., not far from Hitsville.
The mysterious circumstances surrounding Paul Williams' death caused many people, including the Williams family, to suspect (and continue to suspect) that some form of foul play or murder was the actual cause of Williams' death. According to the coroner, Williams had used his right hand to shoot himself in the left side of his head. In addition, a bottle of alcohol was found near Williams' left side, as if he'd dropped it while being shot. Finally, the gun used in the shooting was found to have fired two shots, only one of which had killed Williams. Despite the unusual evidence, Williams had in fact previously expressed suicidal thoughts, and his death was officially ruled as being self-inflicted.
Paul Williams' funeral was held on August 24, with his family, friends, and former bandmates in attendance. It is rumored that Eddie Kendricks asked that Paul's coffin be opened and kissed his cheek at the gravesite part of the service. He was survived by his wife, Mary Williams, and their six children: Sarita, Paula, Kenneth, Mary Agnes, Paul Jr., and Paul Lucas. As a member of the Temptations, Paul Williams was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. Both of his solo recordings were later released by Motown on Temptations-related compilations in the 1980s and 1990s. .
John the farmer was in the Fertilized Egg business. He had several hundred
young layers (hens), called "pullets" and eight or ten roosters,whose job it
was to fertilize the eggs.
The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into the
soup pot and was replaced.That took an awful lot of his time so he bought a
set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters.
Each bell had a different tone so John could tell from a distance, which
rooster was performing.. Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an
efficiency report simply by listening to the bells.
The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch, and a very fine specimen he was
too.But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch's bell hadn't
rung at all! John went to investigate. The other roosters were chasing
pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would
run for cover.But to Farmer John's amazement, Butch had his bell in his beak
so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to
the next one.
John was so proud of Butch, he entered him in the Renfrew County Fair and
Butch became an overnight sensation among the judges.The result...The judges
not only awarded Butch the No Bell Piece Prize but they also awarded him the
Pulletsurprise as well.
Clearly Butch was a politician in the making: who else but a politician could figure out
how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at
sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention.
Welcome back, hawkman. We missed you yesterday. Loved the pun anecdote, but I'm afraid the comparison part was too true to be funny.
Thanks once again for informing us of the background of the notables. Weird about Paul Williams of The Temptations, Boston Bob.
Until that pup of ours arrives with her various visages, let's hear one from The Temptations.
Artist: The Temptations Lyrics
Song: My Girl
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).
I've got so much honey the bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Ooooh.
I don't need no money, fortune, or fame.
I've got all the riches baby one man can claim.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
with my girl.
I've even got the month of May
with my girl (fade)
Oops. Raggedy was quite quiet as she padded into our wee studio.
A great trio, PA, but I don't know Lindsay. Does she sing? <smile>
My word, listeners, I find this quite ironic. Here's one written by Paul for John. More than an epistle, I believe.
When The River Meets The Sea
~ sung by John Denver / Written by Paul Williams
When the mountain touches the valley
All the clouds are taught to fly
As our souls will leave this land most peacefully
Though our minds be filled with questions
In our hearts we'll understand
When the river meets the sea
Like a flower that has blossomed
In this dry and barren sand
We are born and born again most gracefully
Plus the winds of time will take us
With a sure and steady hand
When the river meets the sea
Patience my brothers
And patience my son
In that sweet and final hour
Truth and justice will be done
Like a baby when it is sleeping
In its mother's loving arms
What a newborn baby dreams is a mystery (a mystery)
But this life will find a purpose
And in time we'll understand
When the river meets the sea
When the river meets the almighty sea
Why, baby, why
Don't you treat me
Like you used to do
Why, baby, why
Don't you need me
Like I'm needing you
If you need
Love and affection
Come to my loving arms
I'll be your
Shield and protection
I won't do you no harm
There will be
No trouble and strife
I'll be your slave
The rest of my life
I offer you
My heart and soul
Wrapped up in
A band of gold
Why, baby, why
Do you tease me
Won't you please be fair
Why, baby, why
Won't you please me
When you know you care
There will be
No trouble and strife
I'll be your slave
The rest of my life
I offer you
My heart and soul
Wrapped up in
A band of gold
Why, baby, why
Do you tease me
Won't you please be fair
Why, baby, why
Won't you please me
When you know you care
When you know you care
When you know you care
NEW YORK - Beverly Sills, the Brooklyn-born opera diva who was a global icon of can-do American culture with her dazzling voice, bubbly personality and management moxie in the arts world, died Monday of cancer, her manager said. She was 78.
It had been revealed just last month that Sills was gravely ill with inoperable lung cancer. She died about 9 p.m. Monday, said her manager, Edgar Vincent.
Beyond the music world, Sills gained fans worldwide with a style that matched her childhood nickname, Bubbles. The relaxed, red-haired diva appeared frequently on "The Tonight Show," "The Muppet Show" and in televised performances with her friend Carol Burnett.
Good morning, WA2K folks.
edgar, thank you for both the song and the information regarding Beverly Sills. She was indeed made(maid) in America.
First, listeners, an answer to edgar's song, then a reflection from Beverly.
ELVIS COSTELLO
Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used To Do)?
(From the album "ALMOST BLUE")
Why don't you love me like you used to do?
How come you treat me like a worn out shoe?
My hair is still curly and my eyes are still blue
Why don't you love me like you used to do?
Ain't had no lovin' like a-huggin' and a-kissin' in a long, long while
We don't get nearer, further, closer than a country mile
Why don't you be the sort you used to be?
How come you find so many faults with me?
I'm the same old trouble that you've always been through
Why don't you love me like you used to do?
Ain't had no lovin' like a-huggin' and a-kissin' in a long, long while
We don't get nearer, further, closer than a country mile
Why don't you spark me like you used to do?
Say sweet nothings like you used to coo
Somebody's changed, so let me give you a clue
Why don't you love me like you used to do?
Aria from the Ballad of Baby Doe
Ever through the changing
Of sun and shadow, time and space,
I will walk beside my love
In a green and quiet place.
Proof against the forms of fear
No distress shall alter me
I will walk beside my dear
Clad in love's bright heraldry.
Sound the battle's loud alarms
Any foe I shall withstand
In the circle of his arms
I am safe in Beulah Land.
Passion fades when joy is spent;
Lust is lure for gold and crime.
Beauty's kiss is transient -
Love alone is fixed in time.
Death cannot divide my love;
All we sealed with living vows.
Warm I'll sleep beside my love
In a cold and narrow house.
Never shall the mourning dove
Weep for us with accents wild;
I will walk beside my love
Who is husband, father, child.
As our earthly eyes grow dim
Let the ancient song be sung:
I will change along with him
So that both are ever young,
ever young.
This is the last aria from the opera (Ballad of Baby Doe). It's nowhere to be found online in its entirety, so I thought I'd post it here. It's not the same without the actual music, but I like the words too.
George Sanders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born July 3, 1906
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died April 25, 1972, age 65
Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain
Spouse(s) Susan Larson (1940-1949)
Zsa Zsa Gabor (1949-1954)
Benita Hume (1959-1967)
Magda Gabor (1970-1971)
Notable roles Addison DeWitt in All About Eve
Shere Khan in The Jungle Book
Academy Awards
Best Supporting Actor
1950 All About Eve
George Sanders (July 3, 1906 - April 25, 1972) was an English actor best known for his silky, upper-crust English accent in British and American films.
Birth in Russia
Sanders was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, of British parents. In 1917, when he was eleven, the family returned to Britain on the outbreak of the Russian Revolution and, like his brother, he attended Brighton College, a boys' independent school in Brighton. After graduation he worked at an advertising agency. It was there that the company secretary, an aspiring actress named Greer Garson, suggested a career in acting. His elder brother, Tom Conway was also a film actor, to whom Sanders later handed over the role of 'The Falcon'.
Film
He made his British film debut in 1934 and after a series of British films made his American debut in 1936 with a role in Lloyd's of London. His British accent and sensibilities, combined with his suave, snobbish and somewhat menacing air were utilised in American films during the next decade. He played memorable supporting roles in prestige productions such as Rebecca, in which he goaded the sinister Judith Anderson as Mrs Danvers, in her persecution of Joan Fontaine and he played leading roles in lesser pictures such as Rage in Heaven. During this time he was also the lead in both The Falcon and The Saint film series. He played Lord Henry Wotton in a film version of The Picture of Dorian Gray. In 1947 he co-starred with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison in the classic The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
In 1950 he gave his most widely recognised performance and achieved his greatest success as the acid-tongued, manipulative, cold-blooded theatre critic Addison DeWitt in All About Eve, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role.
Television
He moved into the field of television and was responsible for the successful series George Sanders Mystery Theatre and provided the voice for the malevolent Shere Khan in the Walt Disney production of The Jungle Book. Sanders is noted as the first of the 'Urbane Villains' in many of the Disney animations that followed. Scar of The Lion King (Jeremy Irons) and Judge Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Tony Jay) are two recent examples.
Singing
Sanders not only had dramatic flair, he was a talented singer. He released an album entitled The George Sanders Touch: Songs for the Lovely Lady and went to great lengths to get himself signed to sing in South Pacific, but severe anxiety over the role caused him to quickly drop it. Sanders' singing voice can be heard in Call Me Madam and The Jungle Book.
Marriages
His marriage from 1940 to 1949 to Susan Larson ended in divorce. From 1949 until 1954, he was married to the Hungarian actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. Sanders was married to actress Benita Hume from 1959 until her death in 1967. His last wife was Magda Gabor, his second wife's sister; the marriage lasted a year.
It was during this period that he completed his autobiography, Memoirs of a Professional Cad; though now out of print, it is still celebrated for its wit.
Death
For many years Sanders lived in Spain and it was in Castelldefels (a coastal town near Barcelona, Catalonia) that he committed suicide with an overdose of barbiturates, leaving behind a suicide note that attributed his action to boredom. His friend David Niven recorded in his autobiography that Sanders had predicted his own suicide many years earlier. The note read: "Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck." One of Sanders's final screen roles was in the 1972 feature film version of the popular television series Doomwatch.
Trivia
Sanders published an autobiography in 1960 titled Memoirs of a Professional Cad.
Sanders' smooth voice, urbane manner and upper-class British accent were the inspiration for the Peter Sellers' character "Hercules Grytpype-Thynne" in the famous BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show. Sellers and Sanders acted together in the Pink Panther sequel, A Shot in the Dark.
He has been honoured with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - for Motion Pictures at 1636 Vine St, and for Television at 7007 Hollywood Blvd.
He is mentioned in The Kinks' song Celluloid Heroes: "And if you covered him with garbage/George Sanders would still have style," referring in fact to his star on Hollywood Blvd and referring allegorically to Sander's screen persona.
Sanders' ghost makes an appearance in Clive Barker's 2001 novel Coldheart Canyon.
Sanders played Mr. Freeze in two episodes of the Batman Series of the 1960's.
Pete Fountain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background information
Birth name Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr.
Born July 3, 1930
New Orleans, Louisiana
Genre(s) Dixieland Jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s) Clarinet
Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr. (born July 3, 1930) is a New Orleans clarinetist. According to a Belgian radio program ("La troisieme oreille", produced by Marc Danval) his name was originally Pierre de la Fontaine.
About Fountain
Pete Fountain was born in New Orleans and started playing clarinet heavily influenced by Irving Fazola. Early on he played with the bands of Monk Hazel and Al Hirt. With his long time friend, trumpeter George Girard, Fountain founded The Basin Street Six in 1950. After this band broke up 4 years later Fountain was hired to join the Lawrence Welk band, and became well known for the many solos he took on Welk's national television show, The Lawrence Welk Show. Fountain returned to New Orleans, played with The Dukes of Dixieland, then began leading bands under his own name, owning his own club in the French Quarter in the 1960s and 1970s. He later acquired "Pete Fountain's Jazz Club" at the Riverside Hilton in downtown New Orleans.
In 2003 Fountain closed his club at the Hilton with a performance before a packed house filled with musical friends and fans.
He then began performing two nights a week at Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi where he had a home (later destroyed by Hurricane Katrina).
After heart surgery in 2006 he performed at JazzFest, and helped reopen the Bay St. Louis Casino which has the new name of the Hollywood Casino. As of March, 2007 he has returned to performing Tuesday and Wednesday nights there.
Fountain was a founder and is the most prominent member of The Half Fast Walking Club, one of the best known marching Krewes that parades in New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day. The original name was "The Half-Assed Walking Club" and was an excuse to take a "lubricated" musical stroll down the parade route. Pete changed the name under pressure exerted by the parade organizers. On Mardi Gras Day 2007 Pete once again joined his Half Fast Walking Club, having missed the event in 2006 due to illness.
Fountain's clarinet work is noted for his sweet fluid tone. He has recorded over 100 LPs and CDs under his own name, some in the Dixieland style, many others with only peripheral relevance to any type of jazz.
Loyola University New Orleans awarded Fountain an honorary degree in 2006.
Two Blondes
Two blondes are shopping at the mall. When they are done they go out to their car, which happens to be an awesome leather interior convertible. When they get to the car, they realize they had locked the keys in the car. So they both kind of stand there and think for a while.
Finally one gets am idea to try to open the car with a hanger. So the first blonde starts fiddling with the lock with the hanger. The other blonde looks up at the sky and suddenly becomes very worried.
"HURRY, HURRY," she urges. "IT'S GOING TO RAIN AND WE LEFT THE TOP DOWN!
Beverly Sills, whose radiant soprano and vibrant personality made her "America's Queen of Opera," as Time magazine called her in 1971, died last night. She was 78.
Thanks again, hawkman, for the great bio's. Ah, those poor convertible blondes. How do we ever survive?
Hey, dys., if you will check out messages for the morning, you will find that edgar informed us of Beverly, and you will also hear an excerpt from her "Baby Doe"
Until our precious pup arrives with photo's, here is one from Pierre de la Fontaine. (love that name)
Louis Armstrong
Basin Street Blues
Won't you come and go with me
Down that Mississippi
We'll take a boat to the land of dreams
Come along with me on, down to New Orleans
Now the band's there to greet us
Old friends will meet us
Where all them folks goin to the St. Louis Cemetary meet
Heaven on earth.... they call it Basin Street
I'm tellin' ya, Basin Street...... is the street
Where all the white and dark folk meet
New Orleans..... land of dreams
you'll never miss them rice and beans
Way down south in New Orleans
They'll be huggin'.... and a kissin'
That's what I been missin'
And all that music....lord, if you just listen'
New Orleans....I got them Basin Street Blues
(instrumental break)
Now ain't you glad you went with me
On down that Mississippi
We took a boat to the land of dreams
Heaven on earth...they call it Basin Street.
Thanks, sachmo, for not being politically correct
(pssst ... wrong Paul Williams in the photo gallery)
Hey, Beth. I wondered about that, but our Raggedy is seldom wrong. Here is the one who took his own life, I think.
The one that our pup showed us is the writer of wonderful songs and I think our dys has met him.
Dedication time, folks. This is one fine jazz song, and it was originally written with lyrics. Goes from minor to major, incidentally.
For panz. Where is that manz?
And those weird China blues
Never go away
Sad, mad blues
For all the while they seem to say
Oh, Limehouse kid
Oh, oh, Limehouse kid
Goin' the way
That the rest of them did
Poor broken blossom
And nobody's child
Haunting and taunting
You're just kind of wild
Oh, Limehouse blues
I've the real Limehouse blues
Can't seem to shake off
Those real China blues
Rings on your fingers
And tears for your crown
That is the story
Of old Chinatown
Rings on your fingers
And tears for your crown
That is the story
Of old Chinatown
