Eric Carmen (August 11, 1949 – March 10, 2024) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Born Eric Howard Carmen, in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his musical training at an early age. By the age of six, he was taking violin lessons, and by 11, he was playing piano and penning his own original compositions. With his discovery of the Beatles in the early '60s, Carmen's attention shifted toward rock & roll and he began playing piano and singing with high school bands. It was while he was a student at John Carroll University that he joined a local group called Cyrus Erie, who, apart from issuing several obscure singles on Epic Records, failed to leave much of an impact outside of the local region.
But when another popular local rock outfit, the Choir, split up, Carmen and another Cyrus Erie member, guitarist Wally Bryson, joined forces with former Choir members Dave Smalley (bass) and Jim Bonfanti (drums), which led to the formation of the Raspberries. Mixing rockers that combined the melody of the Beatles and the guitar riffs of the Who with lush ballads, the quartet quickly created a buzz, which resulted in a recording contract with Capitol. Right off the bat, the quartet scored a massive hit single with the infectious "Go All the Way", which peaked at number five on the singles charts. Despite issuing further solid albums, the group became known first and foremost as a "singles" act, as their albums failed to match the chart success of their hit singles. Carmen's increasing frustration with the group led the Raspberries to split in 1975. It wasn't long, however, before other groups began translating the Raspberries' sound and approach into their own hits, especially Cheap Trick and the Knack, among countless others.
Immediately thereafter, Carmen inked a solo deal with Arista where he opted for a more mature, singer/songwriter/ballad style, as evidenced by his self-titled 1975 debut. The shift in musical styles soon reaped rewards for Carmen, as it spawned two big hits, "All by Myself" and "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again," while the album almost cracked the Top 20. Despite a strong start to his solo career, the hits soon dried up, as his subsequent albums sold less than their predecessors. Carmen sank from sight for several years, but penned the Top Ten hit power ballad "Almost Paradise" (from the incredibly popular 1984 film Footloose), sung by Heart's Ann Wilson and Loverboy's Mike Reno.
With the single proving that a large audience still existed for Carmen-penned ballads, the singer resurfaced a year later with his first solo album in five years, the second self-titled release of his career. While it did spawn a moderate hit with the single "I Wanna Hear It from Your Lips," the album failed to move up the charts. It was another movie soundtrack, 1987's Dirty Dancing, that would land Carmen his next big hit, the Top Ten "Hungry Eyes." Carmen scored another hit a year later, "Make Me Lose Control," and also toured as part of the Dirty Dancing concert tour.
Eric with Ringo Starr
When the tour wound up, Carmen pulled a disappearing act once more, yet throughout the '90s, a wide variety of renowned artists covered songs of his, including Babes in Toyland, Peter Cetera, Sheryl Crow, Celine Dion, and Diana Ross, among others. 1998 saw Carmen issue his first solo full-length in 13 years, the Japanese release Winter Dreams (released in the U.S. as I Was Born to Love You a year later), then in 2000 he joined Ringo Starr's All-Star band for a spell of touring. Meanwhile, rumours had begun to swirl regarding an impending Raspberries reunion tour.
While it was true that all four original Raspberries members met up in early 1999, and three of them performed a few months later in Cleveland at a party, a reunion ultimately failed to materialize until 2005, when the original quartet reunited for a show at L.A.'s House of Blues. The show was released in 2007 as Live on Sunset Strip. Carmen himself released a newly recorded song, "Brand New Year," in 2013, just as a career retrospective set titled The Essential Eric Carmen was being assembled. It hit shelves in 2014 and proved to be the last record issued during his lifetime. According to his wife, the singer/songwriter died in his sleep in Paradise Valley, Arizona on March 10, 2024, at the age of 74.
Floyd Eugene Robinson (August 10, 1932 – May 28, 2016) was an American singer, born in Nashville, Tennessee, who was briefly successful in the late 1950s.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Floyd Robinson decided that a career in music would be his life. He was barely in his teens when he formed his first band, called the Eagle Rangers. They performed at pre-teen hops, school functions, parties and local radio programs. While he was in high school, Robinson had a regular radio show on Nashville's WLAC and WSM radio. And in between shows, Floyd and his Rangers served as the back-up band for country music singers on tour, among them George Jones, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold and Little Jimmy Dickens. The band also appeared on the Grand Ole Opry.
According to some sources, Floyd was one half of the bluegrass duo Jack and Daniel (Autry Inman and Floyd Robinson), who recorded for Decca in the early fifties. In 1958, Robinson wrote a novelty song called "The Little Space Girl" for his cousin Jesse Lee Turner, who scored his only hit (# 20 in early 1959) with this extra-terrestrial tune. Smash hits like David Seville's "Witch Doctor" and Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater" had created a huge demand for sped-up novelties, so RCA Victor approached Robinson and asked if he had more funny songs. Floyd came up with "My Girl" , a story about a strange dude with an emotionally damaged girlfriend.
He was signed by RCA and rushed into their Nashville studio to record the song, under the supervision of Chet Atkins. However, disc jockeys soon discovered that the other side, "Makin' Love" was a much better song and Floyd made the charts for the first and only time. "Makin' Love" peaked at # 20 in September 1959 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart the same year. It also did well in several European countries, spawning local cover versions in French ("T' Aimer Follement"), Spanish ("Locamente Te Amare"), Italian, German and Dutch.
RCA released eight singles and one LP (simply titled "Floyd Robinson", RCA LPM 2162) by Floyd, but there were no further hits. He continued throughout the 1960s in the same teen-oriented vein for such labels as Jamie, Dot, Groove and United Artists, but all to no avail. Floyd worked as an engineer on Duane Eddy sessions in the mid-1960s. In 1971 and 1975 he recorded two duet singles with his cousin Jesse Lee Turner (who recorded at least seven of Floyd's compositions).
In 1973, Floyd became the inventor of "Christian animal music". Directed by the Holy Spirit and inspired by David Seville's Chipmunks, he recorded and released at least fourteen LP's of children's evangelical music, with such titles as "Charlie the Hamster Teaches Bible Stories With Floyd Robinson" and "Charlie the Hamster Sings the Ten Commandments With Floyd Robinson". In 1977, Robinson was sued by the lawyer son of the late David Seville, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., for plagiarism and copyright infringement. The matter was settled out of court, but meant the end of Robinson's animal records.
In the 1990's Robinson self-published two books, the instruction manual "Guitar Playing Made Easy" (1992) and the novel "The Guitar" (1994). He owned a used car dealership, but remained active in the music industry. Robinson died on May 28, 2016, in Hendersonville, Tennessee, after a long illness, at age 83.
Peter Paul Posa MNZM (8 August 1941 – 3 February 2019) was a New Zealand rock and pop guitarist most famous for his instrumental "The White Rabbit", which was released in 1963. The song is a guitar instrumental that sold 100,000 copies.
Posa was born in Henderson, West Auckland, New Zealand, to Paul and Millie Posa, who had migrated from Croatia. He was the youngest of three sons born into the industrious Yugoslav family. The family business was an orchard growing apples, peaches and plums, but eventually Mr Paul Posa could see that Henderson was proving to be an ideal place for making wine. So out went the fruit trees and in came the vineyard. Peter wasn't greatly interested in all that because from a very early age he had his mind set on music and specifically playing the guitar. He started on ukulele when he was seven. After that he used to spend all his spare time making his own toy guitars.
Pere & His Combo
Finally for his ninth birthday, Peter was given his first real guitar. It was a South African Galatone which his father bought for £5 from a second-hand shop. He used to listen to his family's old 78 rpm records, country artists like Tex Morton and Col Wilson and try to copy the guitar licks. He had a few lessons to learn the chords, but worked out all the rest for himself. The family couldn't get the guitar off him. He got a better instrument when he was eleven and his older brothers used to take him around to talent quests. At age twelve Peter at last got his first amplifier and began taking a deep interest in the multi-guitar sounds which Les Paul was turning out in the States, this was a major influence on his early career. As he developed in his teenage years he led the Peter Posa Combo which used to play for all types of dances and functions in West Auckland. After leaving Henderson High School, Peter thought it was time to make his first record, so he approached Eldred Stebbing of the Zodiac label. Eldred wasn't interested in recording the Posa Combo, but could see a real technical challenge in the multiple guitar style in which Peter overdubbed all the tracks himself.
So the first record was put together in late 1959. It was "Sweet Georgia Brown"/"Some Of These Days" and was the start of his solo career, with nightclub engagements and several more singles to follow. In 1961 the first real breakthrough came when Peter did his own version of the Stringalongs hit "Wheels". It was played on the Lever Hit Parade and suddenly he had a nationwide tour as support act for the English singing sensation Helen Shapiro.
By 1963 Peter was feeling the need to branch out and develop his own guitar style in different directions. So he signed a deal with Viking Records, the "hot" label at the time, which also had the advantage of overseas outlets. His first record there was "Galloping Guitars"/"Jessie", but out of the blue two Auckland musicians, Bill Ivory and Graham Rosling arrived with a tune that they thought had potential. Peter loved it at first hearing and it was about to change his life. "The White Rabbit" was the name, and even in that wonderful year of 1963, when the Beatles had just arrived and the charts were overflowing with million sellers, it received enormous airplay.
Peter was now headlining his own national tour with co-artists Bill & Boyd, and Max Merritt and the Meteors. A string of hit records followed including "Thee Mad Hatter", "Grasshopper" and "Hitch Hiker". Peter himself wrote "Gonk", named after the fluffy toy of the moment, and then the track mysteriously called "?", and the radio contest to find it's name, which was eventually "Flapjack".
1963 and 1964 were one long whirl, Peter says he worked 363 out of 365 days in one of those years. On top of his New Zealand shows, he toured Australia, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tahiti and Vanuatu. To cap it all off, Viking's Ron Dalton arranged for "White Rabbit" to be released in the USA and for Peter to do six months work there. Before he left, his farewell tour, the "Peter Posa Spectacular" swept through the country, which took about eight weeks so huge was the public interest.
Peter right of Frank Sinatra
In Nashville, Peter spent time at all the major recording studios and met his hero Chet Atkins. He played on the TV show Hollywood Palace where he was accompanied by the legendary jazz guitarist Herb Ellis. He met Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in Las Vegas, and worked his gigs mainly in LA. Peter was on his own in the States and very homesick. So he made the decision to come home for Christmas 1964 and to confine his future touring to the South Pacific. Back in New Zealand Peter became a prolific recording artist making more albums than any other New Zealander. He toured the country many times, often as part of the Miss NZ Shows, which now included the likes of Eddie Lowe, Howard Morrison, John Hore and Paul Walden, and also on tours by Marty Robbins, Roger Whittaker, Hank Snow, Slim Whitman and Demis Roussos. In Fiji he was made an honourary chief, in Noumea he was known as "King Peter", and he dedicated one of his compositions "French Caledonian Blue" to that market. He had residencies at some of Auckland's top venues, including the Troika.
In 1965, Peter released one single with the Chicks called "Do You Wanna Dance"/"Terry".There were a few more singles during 1967 and 1967. They were two on Zodiac and one on Joe Brown, and this bought his total singles to 27. During the vinyl years, Peter released 20 albums, (2 on Zodiac, 16 on Viking, 1 on Salem and 1 on Axis).There were also 16 EP's from 1961 to 1967.Then at the height of his fame, he collapsed, suffering from nervous exhaustion, and checked himself into a private hospital where he was given electric shock treatment. "My health improved. I think the ECT helped a lot." He kept it a secret; if the public knew he was suffering from depression, his career would have collapsed. Over the years Peter began drinking to help with his anxiety issues, eventually the drinking got worse. He crashed his car driving home drunk one night in 1970. The car crash was the beginning of the end of his career. He never made another LP. Peter went on the sickness benefit, suffering from agonising whiplash, and drank even more to try to dull the pain.
There are two people in this story who have been pivotal in the resurrection of Peter Posa. Most importantly his wife Margaret who he met at a church healing meeting and married in 1991. By 1992 he was off the bottle and starting to pick up the guitar again. The other is Jim Wallace, whose sons Alex, Robert and Jimmy accompany Posa on the two-CD, half country/half gospel album ‘My Pick’ recorded in 2003. That fact is the more remarkable considering that Posa was not as match-fit as he would like to be and was still suffering on-going health problems. Guitar overdubbing would seem to be the obvious option, but he wanted to capture the spirit of a live group playing together in real time. It’s for reasons of the same search for immediacy and expressiveness that he switched to acoustic. By December 1992 he and Margaret moved to Margaret’s family property in Te Awamutu. It wasn't until 2007 that Peter's album My Pick was named International Instrumentalist CD of the Year by the United States’ National Traditional Country Music Association.
He had three attempts at taking his life. After the third he was rushed to Waikato Hospital, and transferred to the psych ward. It was during these dark days that Posa was listed in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours and was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to entertainment. In 2012, White Rabbit The Very Best of Peter Posa went to the top of the New Zealand album charts, spending six weeks at the number-one spot making it the year’s biggest selling release. But nothing ever really changed with Posa's depression, until he suffered a massive stroke in 2016. The left side of his body was paralysed. Much later he recovered movement in his shoulder and arm, but the hand remained inert. It was like the ultimate shock treatment that helped him turn to religion. Posa said: "The best thing that ever happened to me. It made me see the light. I'm a born-again Christian. I love my life now." Peter continued to live happily in Auckland with his wife Margaret, until he passed away at Waikato Hospital on 3 February 2019.
(Edited from a bio by Bruce Sergent & Peter Posa's website)
Idrees Sulieman (August 7, 1923 – July 23, 2002), born Leonard Graham, was a bop and hard-bop trumpeter who achieved more success in Europe than the United States but left a worldwide legacy as a sideman on some of the most important recordings in jazz and as a composer of unusual, beautiful pieces.
Brass section Carolina Cotton Pickers
Born Leonard Graham in St. Petersburg, FL, in 1923; he changed his name to Idrees Sulieman when he converted to Islam. Sulieman originally wanted to be a sax player, but switched to the trumpet because his father could not afford a saxophone. His passion for music brought him to the prestigious Boston Conservatory in the mid-1930s. Shortly after, he began his professional career playing with the Carolina Cotton Pickers in 1939 and the wartime Earl Hines Orchestra (1943-1944). Bird and Diz were both in the Hines Band then and it had a profound effect on Sulieman. Diz’s play inspired Sulieman to perfect his own style.
Sulieman & Monk
The 1940s brought Idrees into the circles of some of the most important figures in jazz—he worked closely with Mary Lou Williams and Thelonious Monk. In fact, on October 15, 1947 Sulieman’s played on Monk’s first recording for Blue Note Records. He then became a member of Cab Calloway's band in 1948. By the mid’50’s, he had found his niche as a top flight bebop sideman. He appeared on Max Roach’s first studio album in 1953 and alongside Gigi Gryce on Mal-1, Mal Waldron’s first disc.
In 1956 he played in Fredrich Gulda's ensemble of American musicians. Other notable turns as a sideman or co-leader include The Hawk Flies High (1957) a Coleman Hawkins session, Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors, along with John Coltrane, Donald Byrd and Bobby Jaspar; Coolin’ with vibraphonist Teddy Charles and Waldron; Three Trumpets with Byrd and Art Farmer and the aforementioned The Cats with Coltrane. He gigged with Randy Weston (1958–1959), in addition to appearing with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton.
He toured Europe in the late 50's with pianist Oscar Dennard, and stayed, settling in Stockholm at first, where he became fairly proficient playing the alto saxophone with Eric Dolphy, Bud Powell and Don Byas. He also returned to big band work, with a decade’s worth of fine recordings. the Danish Radio Orchestra, after moving to Copenhagen. A soloist with the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band from the mid-1960s through 1973, Sulieman frequently worked with the Danish Radio Orchestra and the Danish Radio Big Band under Thad Jones. In Europe, he had steady work and a significant following.
Although Sulieman was on the scene for parts of six decades, his discography as a leader is surprisingly thin. His album for Swedish Columbia (1964) and three albums for Steeplechase(1976 - 1985) are all available. The best of these is Now Is The Time, from 1976, with Cedar Walton, Sam Jones and Higgins. In 1985, he was among the performers on Miles Davis's album Aura, which was not released until 1989. Sulieman's career slowed down considerably in the 1990s and he moved back to St. Petersburg.
Though he performed sparingly during his later years, Sulieman remained a prolific composer. His estate includes a horde of compositions that were never recorded. In semi-retirement, he would spend his days practicing and writing new compositions, often calling Don Sickler in New York to play them for him over the phone. Sickler’s publishing company, Second Floor Music, published the tunes but much of it is still unperformed. Brian Lynch has begun to rectify that, by recording four Sulieman works on his Unsung Heroes project.
Sulieman died of bladder cancer at St. Anthony’s Hospital in his native St. Petersburg, Florida, on July 23, 2002 at the age of 78. He left an impressive and eclectic body of work that should be heard; though it takes a bit of cross referencing to find.
(Edited from Curtjazz.com, Jazz Lead Sheets & Wikipedia)
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor and singer. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances.
Robert Mitchum was an underrated American leading man of enormous ability, who sublimated his talents beneath an air of disinterest. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Ann Harriet (Gunderson), a Norwegian immigrant, and James Thomas Mitchum, a shipyard/railroad worker. His father died in a train accident when he was two, and Robert and his siblings (including brother John Mitchum, later also an actor) were raised by his mother and stepfather (a British army major) in Connecticut, New York, and Delaware.
An early contempt for authority led to discipline problems, and Mitchum spent good portions of his teen years adventuring on the open road. He later claimed that on one of these trips, at the age of 14, he was charged with vagrancy and sentenced to a Georgia chain gang, from which he escaped. He then spent the rest of the decade traveling across the country and taking various jobs. He participated in 27 professional boxing matches but retired from the ring after a fight that broke his nose and left a scar on his left eye.
Mitchum married Dorothy on March 16, 1940, in the kitchen of a Methodist parson in Dover, Delaware. He brought her to Los Angeles to settle down. He worked at Lockheed Aircraft, where job stress caused him to suffer temporary blindness. About this time Mitchum discovered acting in a Long Beach, California, amateur theatre company. Working a wide variety of jobs (including ghost-writer for astrologist Carroll Righter),it wasn't long before he found work as a film actor in June 1942 and began to obtain small roles in films, appearing in dozens within a very brief time.
In 1945, he was cast as Lt. Walker in Story of G.I. Joe (1945) and received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. His star ascended rapidly, and he became an icon of 1940s film noir, though equally adept at westerns and romantic dramas. His apparently lazy style and seen-it-all demeanor proved highly attractive to men and women, and by the 1950s, he was a true superstar despite a brief prison term for marijuana usage in 1949, which seemed to enhance rather than diminish his "bad boy" appeal. Though seemingly dismissive of "art," he worked in tremendously artistically thoughtful projects such as Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955) and even co-wrote and composed an oratorio produced at the Hollywood Bowl by Orson Welles.
One of the lesser-known aspects of Mitchum's career was his foray into music as a singer. Critic Greg Adams writes, "Unlike most celebrity vocalists, Robert Mitchum actually had musical talent." Frank Sinatra said of Mitchum, "For anyone who's not a professional musician, he knows more about music, from Bach to Brubeck, than any man I've ever known."Mitchum's voice was often used instead of that of a professional singer when his character sang in his films. Notable productions featuring Mitchum's own singing voice included Pursued, Rachel and the Stranger, One Minute to Zero, The Night of the Hunter, The Sundowners, and Maria's Lovers. He sang the title song to Young Billy Young and River of No Return.
Monroe & Mitchum
Mitchum recorded two albums. After hearing traditional calypso music and meeting artists such as Mighty Sparrow and Lord Melody while filming Fire Down Below and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in the Caribbean islands of Tobago, he recorded Calypso – is like so. On the album, released through Capitol Records in March 1957, he emulated the calypso sound and style, even adopting the style's unique pronunciations and slang. A year later, he recorded "The Ballad of Thunder Road", a song he had written for the film Thunder Road. The country-style song became a modest hit for Mitchum, reaching number 62 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in September 1958. The song was included as a bonus track on a successful reissue of Calypso – is like so.
Although Mitchum continued to use his singing voice in his film work, he waited until 1967 to record his follow-up record, That Man, Robert Mitchum, Sings. The album, released by Nashville-based Monument Records, took him further into country music and featured songs similar to "The Ballad of Thunder Road". "Little Old Wine Drinker Me", the first single, was a top-10 hit on country radio, reaching number nine there, and crossed over into mainstream radio, where it peaked at number 96. Its follow-up, "You Deserve Each Other", also charted on the Billboard Country Singles chart. Mitchum was nominated for an Academy of Country Music Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist in 1968.
A master of accents and seemingly unconcerned about his star image, he played in both forgettable and unforgettable films with unswerving nonchalance, leading many to overlook the prodigious talent he can bring to a project that he finds compelling. He moved into television in the 1980s as his film opportunities diminished, winning new fans with The Winds of War (1983) and War and Remembrance (1988). It was during this time that he entered the Betty Ford Centre in Palm Springs, California, for treatment of alcoholism. In 1991, Mitchum was set to receive a lifetime achievement award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. He rejected it, however, after learning that he would have to pay for his own transport and accommodations and accept it in person. That same year, he received the Telegatto award and, in 1992 the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Golden Globe Awards. His last film was James Dean: Live Fast, Die Young (1997) with Casper Van Dien as James Dean.
A lifelong heavy smoker, Mitchum died in his sleep at 5 a.m. on July 1, 1997, (age 79 years) at his home in Santa Barbara, California, from complications of lung cancer and emphysema. His wife of 57 years, Dorothy, was by his side. His sons James Mitchum and Christopher Mitchum are actors, as is his grandson Bentley Mitchum.
Damita Jo DeBlanc (August 5, 1930 – December 25, 1998), known professionally as Damita Jo, was an American singer and comedian who remains best known for the million-selling 1960 smash "I'll Save the Last Dance for You," her ingenious riposte to the Drifters' "Save the Last Dance for Me."
Born in Austin, Texas, she was the daughter of Herbert and Latrelle (Plummer) DeBlanc, and she showed singing ability at a very early age. During World War II the family relocated to Santa Barbara, California, where her father was stationed in the United States Navy. She attended high school there but periodically returned to Austin to visit relatives. DeBlanc attended Samuel Huston College in Austin and the University of California at Santa Barbara. In 1949 with the backing of pioneering Los Angeles disc jockey Joe Adams she landed a two-month residency at the local Club Oasis in Los Angeles. Signed to Discovery Records, DeBlanc, known simply as Damito Jo, released her debut single, “Until the Real Thing Comes Along.”
In 1951 Damita Jo joined the rhythm-and-blues group Steve Gibson & the 5 Red Caps, making her recorded debut on their single "I'm to Blame." Damita Jo was not only the featured vocalist on the Red Caps' 1952 hit "I Went to Your Wedding," but two years later became Gibson's wife. As the group's fortunes floundered, so did their marriage, they divorced in 1958, but she remained with the group until 1960.
Signing to Mercury Records by producer Shelby Singleton, Damita Jo supported her Steve Allen-penned debut single "It Takes a Little Loneliness" with an appearance on Allen's late-night television showcase. Despite the publicity the record was not a hit, but she scored a Top 20 R&B smash with the sumptuous follow-up "I'll Save the Last Dance for You," written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. With 1961's "I'll Be There," an answer song to Ben E. King's "Stand by Me," Damita Jo reached number 12 on the Billboard pop charts. That same year she married Biddy Wood, her manager, and they had a son.
In 1962 she recorded "Dance with a Dolly (With a Hole in her Stocking)", previously made famous by the Andrews Sisters and Bill Haley, for Mercury Records. Subsequent singles like "I Had Someone Else Before I Had You" and "I'll Get Along Somehow" stalled, and in the wake of the 1962 live LP Damita Jo at the Diplomat, a downturn in Damita Jo’s popularity led to Mercury’s termination of her contract.
She then signed with Epic and scored a minor chart entry with 1965's "If You Go Away." On May 9, 1967, she was honoured by the mayor and city council in Austin, Texas, on "Damita Jo Day" and by having a street named in her honour. Damita Jo gave birth to a daughter in 1970, but the girl died of sickle cell anemia three years later. With her recording career in decline, she turned to performing on the supper club circuit in the 1970s. She also toured with comedian Redd Foxx and appeared on his television show. In 1977 she toured with standup comedian Redd Foxx, and also played Atlantic City and backed up such greats as Ray Charles, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton.
During her career she recorded on many labels, including Discovery, RCA Victor, Mercury, Epic, Melic, and her own label, Black Masters. In 1983 she also composed and recorded a song entitled "The Color of Your Skin Makes No Difference" which has been used as a part of a program for students in the public school system in Baltimore, Maryland. Following a 1984 Atlantic City residency in support of Joey Bishop, Damita Jo announced her retreat from secular R&B, performing contemporary gospel for the remainder of her career.
By the mid-1980s Damita Jo focused on performing strictly gospel music. After a long battle with respiratory illness, Damita Jo died on Christmas Day 1998 in Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of 68.
Singer Janet Jackson, whose middle name is Damita Jo, named her album Damita (2004) after DeBlanc. In 2009 Damita Jo DeBlanc was inducted into the Austin Music Memorial.
(Edited from Texas State Historical Association, Wikipedia & AllMusic)
Mel Henke (August 4, 1915 – March 31, 1979) was an American jazz pianist, Chicago bandleader, composer, arranger and jingle writer.
Henke was born in Chicago. Illinois and studied at the Chicago College of Music. He began to work professionally in music playing piano in the house band at the Chez Paris nightclub in Chicago, then working in small combos in clubs around the city in the late 1930s with Mitch Todd, Frank Snyder, Stephen Leonard and others. He recorded his first solo record "Henke Stomp / Lady Be Good" for the Collectors Item label in 1939, then recorded a few sides with Bill Davison during February 1940. In 1943 He joined Horace Heidt's band, replacing Frankie Carle, who left to form his own group. He worked in radio and television after World War II, and performed on camera on George Gobel's and Gary Moore's variety shows. He also worked behind leaders such as saxophonist Bud Freeman.
By the early '40s he had settled in Los Angeles, and for ten years or so continued to work as a performer. Henke recorded many jazz standards with his own arrangements, including a 1946 piano solo on Bix Beiderbecke's 1928 "In a Mist". In 1947 he recorded a few sides with Vido Musso & His Orchestra. Henke usually led a trio with Bill Newman on guitar and Bob Reed on bass, supplemented by Shelly Manne and Sammy Weiss on drums. This outfit landed a deal to make a pair of albums on the Contemporary label, which is where jazz buffs inevitably come across him.
Henke's unusual career that included recording downright weird tunes such as "Shock Treatment," "Cocky Coo-Coo Clock," and "Frenzied Flight," as well as creating what might be one of the masterpieces in the genre of lounge music, although fans of the type of challenging jazz often presented on this label may find the concoctions of Henke a bit bubbly; his followers seem to drift in more from the aforementioned loungey or space age waiting rooms. just about the time he called his performing career quits.
In 1955, he joined the television department at Disney, where he composed most of their commercials and for a few television series, most notably , Disneyland, the first incarnation of Walt Disney's long-running series. He also became a partner at TV Spots, Inc., a production house that specialized in commercials. Unlike many musicians who dismissed commercial work as hack work, Henke took to the format immediately, and he was soon experimenting, adding sound effects and snatches of dialogue along with musical passages. He and graphic artist Eyvind Earle collaborated on numerous trailers for Hollywood movies, including "West Side Story."
Inevitably, he created a series of albums in the early '60s combining these techniques with full-length musical performances and instrumental skullduggery. "La Dolce Henke", worth hunting down for its title alone, is considered his masterpiece.
Henke shows up in the rhythm section on some Louis Armstrong records, and meanwhile over in Nashville, he once successfully placed a song with Conway Twitty. Henke was trained to please in writing ad copy, an influence that has been considered both a pro and con factor in his recorded works. Perhaps Henke's greatest influence as a musician was in the advertising field itself, as he was innovative in producing attention-grabbing commercials of the '60s. His best-known jingles from over 2000 that he reputedly composed, included the Ajax cleanser "stronger than dirt" jingle, for Colgate-Palmolive, and "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" jingle for Chevrolet.
By the way, that's not Henke pictured on the top album cover - it's actually San Francisco radio DJ Tom Donahue. According to the liner notes by Brother Cleve of Combustible Edison, it was a "bizarre marketing move...undoubtedly hoping for airplay in return."
Mel Henke died in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, on March 31, 1979 (aged 63)
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