ENTERTAINERS, ENTERTAINMENT, PAST AND PRESENT. REVOLUTIONISTS AND LUMINARES THAT HAVE GRACED THE STAGE AND SCREEN AND TOUCHED MANY A HEART
HUMOUR THAT BRINGS A SMILE AND SONGS THAT WILL MAKE YOU DANCE, LAUGH OR CRY.
THESE ARE ALL A PART OF WHO I AM AND WHO I WISH TO CONVEY THROUGH EACH AND EVERY PODCAST AND WRITTTEN WORD.....ENJOY...WELCOME TO MY WORLD
Authors Note: a special thank you goes out to blogger Corey Jarrell from the "I've got you posted" blog for his corrections which were taken and used to help make this a better, correct blog! Thank you my brother!
This week we will enjoy two clips from Ethel Waters and The Brown Sisters. http://trueurbanehavoc.podOmatic.comFeatruring the song Underneath The Harlem Moon, and Am I Blue ( from on with the show!" By: Jahlaune K: By the early 1930's Ethel Waters was already a huge star. Apperaring on stage and screen and a frequent guest of the top society people in New York (think of author Carl van Vechtin author of the book Nigger Heaven). Her songs such as Dinah! Recorded in the 1920's was already beloved along with so many of her other hits such as, "At the New Jump Steady Ball, Birmingham Bertha and of course Am I Blue?' One of her songs she is famous for and which is rarely heard today is "Underneath The Harlem Moon" by today's standards its consdiered extremly racist but in the early 1930's it was a very popular pop tune recorded (as was the usual in those days) by many diffrent bands and vocalists but I think many people will agree the two definitive versions are by Ethel Waters and The Brown Sisters. On todays Ethel marathon we compare these two video clips back to back. And yes thats a very young Sammy Davis Junior in the clip ( from Rufus Jones for president) with Miss. Waters. visit our new fan page on facebook!!!http://www.facebook.com/pages/True-Urban-Havoc-Entertainment-Hour/132173473467821
L Description: With all this shouting I offer a very special shout out to my bff Mikey Reidout in Miami Fla, Bernadette Blair- Young In Thomasville, NC and all the others that helped make this project a reality. Their are so many of you : Tammy Dawson who took me to my first all night tarry service in Hempstead New York, The choir and members of Bethel Gospel Tabernacle Church, On New York Blvd in Jamacia, NY. during the time of Bishop Roderik Ceaser, Sr Your Youth For Christ choir is simply AWESOME!All these years later I can still here them making that recording to many years ago to disclose! To Dee Peters from Queens who cant sing but can SANNNNNGGGG! Elder Lawrence Harper who first introduced me to the COGIC church in the Bronx, Thank You! I learned so much in the past few months from COGIC elders, Pentacostals, Holiness, Apostolic and all the various degrees of Protestant. To one of the greatist singing Pastors from my child hood "Uncle Willie" The Rev. Wilfred Quimby from the Christ Gospel Baptist Church of Jamacia New York. Thanking Refuge Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY for all the great music I listened to NON Stop. This podcast is for all of you! May you enjoy this praise and worship podcast. Featuring: Elder Moore on Organ, and a variety of what I feel is the best praise music I have ever heard in my entire life!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
What a program we have instore for you tomorrow! Its titled "PLAY TIME IS OVER" ITS PRAISE TIME WITH JAHLAUNE AND FRIENDS! We came with the best of the Baptist, COGIC, Pentacostal churches and chiors and even a special performance by one of my favorites "The Roberta Martin Singers!" our line up this week includes: On the praise organ Brother Chris Edwards, The Georgia Mass Chior, Sister Albertina Walker, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, Stephanie Mills, Helen Baylor, The Chicago Mass Chior with Lemmie Battles on lead! and so much more! Your host and yes Im talking! Jahlaune K and friends....only on podomatic.com or click here on blogger to experience this time of praise yourself!
What a delcious program we put together today! Totally diffrent than most of our jazz shows!We ventured into the eclectic with the likes of Lester Youngs quartet! Then a bit of Babette Van Veen who I must say is a very capable vocalist. True to True URban Havoc Entertainment form we threw in some Ethel Waters who is a regular at our studio! and of course a tease of Nancy Wilson singing from the Billie Holiday songbook! A great show! Enjoy and share with a friend!
New podcast featuring DJ Lex Eboni and the smart set. Lex Eboni was born Lexington McCowan May 6, 1984 in Brooklyn NY. Raised in West Babylon NY He began DJing local parties at the age of 13.
Lex Eboni is the current DJ for the True Urban Havoc Entertainment Hour. His first effort is titled Ijerk a 15 plus minute set of jerk tunes a nod to the jerk nation movement.
IM HOPING THIS SUMMER IS AS FUN AS LAST SUMMER!!! REMEBER THE NEW BOYZ RECORD THAT WAS EVERYWHERE "YOUR A JERK" (THE SKINNY JEANS SONG?...iT TOOK MY AZZ TILL FALL TO LEARN THE DANCE GOOD SO WHATS GONNA BE UP THIS SUMMER!!??? IM DYIN TO KNOW...COME SUMMER COME!
The world of music to me is sometimes as hard to figure out as a oft quoted scripture from the Bible. Music holds a mystery one that many of us long to master yet few are blessed to understand and even fewer are able to leave a mark.
Our series offfers a fun tribute to performers of modern times that share a first name with someone remarkable from quote another era. Yes, we who love and respect jazz know of the legendary Ethel waters and a few of us are fortunate to know of Ethel Beatty.
I became aware of Ethel Beatty the summer of 1984 when going through my mothers vast record collection I stumbled upon the Broadway album "Bubbling Brown Sugar" a revue which my parents had seen in 1976. I remember taking it out of its case. almost reverantly (in our home their were few African American soundtract albums and even fewer that intriqued me. I remember scanning the songlist and seeing titles like "God Bless The Child" and "Honey Suckle Rose" and a song I had just heard on another album...."I Got It Bad"
I quickly took the record from the basement to my second floor bedroom and put it on my stereo sysytem looking at the clock. It was little before 4:00PM I had one hour to hear it and get it out the room or hidden.
Of course at that young age I was about 10 or eleven this music was not suitable My mother bought me "Golden records" those mother goose shits with songs like "little Red Caboose" and the like. My father, who had found religion had denounced all of his records as worldly and strangly enough hadn't thrown them away but set them up by his prehistoric Hi-Fi which was in the basement.
After a first listen to "I got it bad" I figured Ethel Beatty was a old woman with a powerful set of lungs and loved her! I Imaginged she wore wigs and that brown powder and coral lipstick like my mother friends and maybe carried one of those pocketbooks they were always talking about that had 14 compartments and your first and last initial. But I dug her. I just thought she was old.
Over the years I admit I did absolutely no research on the woman. Until I started this blog series imagine my shock when I found out. She was a young good looking woman in the 80's! It nearly blew me away and I will be quite honest I just found this out two days ago.
I quickly listened once again to her moving rendition of the song and checked youtube for some of her other work. I was amazed!
Preassumptions are something are they not?
BIOGRAPHY
ETHEL BEATTY BARNES IS A GRADUATE OFC.W. POST COLLEGE OF LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY. SHE OBTAINED HER DEGREE IN MUSIC EDUCATION, SPECIALIZING IN VOCAL PERFORMANCE, AND VOCAL PEDAGOGY. HER HONORARY DEGREE IN THEOLOGICAL MUSIC IS A DIVINE GIFT FROM SHILOH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. ETHEL WAS AWARDED WITH THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF HER TRUTH IN THE USE OF HER WONDROUS INSTRUMENT. ETHEL HAS SUNG IN DISTINGUISED PLACES SUCH AS THE OPERA HOUSES IN GUANAJUATO AND GUADALAJARA, MEXICO, THE RENOUND ST. PETER’S BASILICA, THE MEDICI PALACE AND VATICAN RADIO IN ROME, THE WESTMINSTER ABBEY IN ENGLAND, THE “PALACE DE VERSAILLES”, THE “CATHEDRAL DE CHARTRES” IN FRANCE AND THE ROYAL PALACE OF LUXEMBOURG. ETHEL WAS A SOLOIST IN THREE INTERNATIONAL TOURS OF MADRIGAL AND CHAMBER SINGERS AND A PARTICIPANT IN A CARNEGIE HALL CHORAL EVENT WITH THE NEW YORK ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY.
ETHEL MADE HER BROADWAY DEBUT AS “ELLA” IN BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR. HER OTHER BROADWAY CREDITS AS A FEATURED PERFORMER INCLUDE EUBIE, DREAMGIRLS AND SHOW BOAT. HER OFF BROADWAY CREDITS ARE THE PRODIGAL SISTER, BINGO LONG, BLUES IN THE NIGHT AND SUGAR HILL. HER MOVIE CREDITS ARE “GARBO TALKS”, DIRECTED BY SIDNEY LUMET AND FRANCIS FORD COPPOLLA’S “THE COTTON CLUB”. (FEATURED VOCALIST SINGING, “BANDANA BABIES”.) ETHEL HAS RECORDED WITH THE GREAT ROY AYERS AND THROUGH HIS DIRECTION OF VOCAL USE AND STYLE VARIATION; SHE WAS CHOSEN TO SING HIS ARRANGEMENT OF “STAIRWAY TO THE STARS”. THERE WAS A LENGTH OF TIME WHEN A WELL KNOWN NEW YORK RADIO STATION’S MOST RENOUND “D.J.” CLOSED OUT EACH NIGHT WITH THAT SONG. THE GREAT PIANIST JOE KURASZ CHOSE ETHEL TO RECORD A DUET WITH HIM ON HIS CD. THE SONG, “SOFT MUSIC” IS ONE OF THE FEATURED SELECTIONS. WHENEVER CONTRACTED IN THE STUDIO AS A BACKGROUND VOCALIST, ETHEL’S GREAT INSTRUMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN FEATURED. (HER RESUME LISTS ALL OF THE CREDITS.)
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, ETHEL BEGAN A PERFORMING ENSEMBLE OF CHILDREN RANGING FROM AGES FOUR THROUGH THIRTEEN. THIS WAS KNOWN AS “PERFORMING ARTS AFTER SCHOOL”. THE STUDENTS WERE TRAINED TO PERFORM AND WERE FEATURED IN THREE MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS PER YEAR. THIS HAS BEEN MAINTAINED THROUGH GROWTH AND LOCATION CHANGES AND IS NOW KNOWN AS “MISS ETHEL’S KIDS!” THERE IS A GREAT CD OF MESSAGE COMPLETED AND FOUR NEW SINGLES ARE IN PRODUCTION. ETHEL SEES THE NEED FOR THE COMMITMENT OF PASSING THE ARTS ON TO OUR CHILDREN. SHE ENCOURAGES OTHER ARTISTS TO DO THE SAME. SHE HAS WRITTEN A WONDERFUL CHILDREN’S TELEVISION SHOW AND SEVERAL LIVE MUSICALS FOR ENTIRE FAMILIES.
HAVING BOTH THE ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE CREDENTIALS, ETHEL IS HIRED BY ORGANIZATIONS, SCHOOLS AND CORPORATIONS AS A CONSULTANT FOR FURTHERING THE ARTS AND ADHERING THEM TO THE STIPULATIONS OF GRANTS RENDERED.
ETHEL HAS CONTINUOUSLY DONATED HER TIME AND HER TALENT TO HER CHURCH THROUGH PROFESSIONALLY DEVELOPING A DRAMA TEAM, AND A CHILDREN’S CHOIR. ETHEL IS HONORED AND REQUESTED BY MINISTRIES AS A SOLOIST AND IS REGULARLY PRESENTED IN CONCERT.
COMPLETE PORTFOLIOS, VIDEOS, AUDIO TAPES AND CDs ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
THE PERFORMING ARTS IS A DIVINING ROD! HAVE YOU BEEN TOUCHED BY A DIVINING ROD? KNOW THIS… I HAVE
Born on July 21, 1926, in Brooklyn, NY; died on April 13, 2001, in Manhattan, NY; daughter of Lucas Premice; married Timothy Fales, November 14, 1958; children: Enrico, Susan.
Career
Singer, 1950s-1970s; theatrical and television actress, 1943-59, 1965-93.
Life's Work
Josephine Premice was one of the premier stage actresses of the 1940s and 1950s. She appeared in numerous Broadway plays including Blue Holiday, Jamaica, A Hand is on the Gate, and Bubbling Brown Sugar, twice garnering Tony award nominations for her performances. She was also known for her calypso music which she often performed at night clubs between acting stints, and would go on to record for Virgin Records. Though she left the acting business for close to six years in the mid 1960s, she came back strong in the 1970s, performing not only on the stage but branching out into television as well with roles on popular programs such as The Jeffersons and A Different World. When Premice died in 2001, she was hailed by many in the acting industry as a role model of how to survive through adversity and how to change with the times to keep an acting career alive.
Josephine Mary Premice was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 21, 1926. Her parents were Haitian immigrants and part of the aristocracy of their birth country. Her father, Lucas Premice, who allegedly had claim to the title Count de Bodekin, had fled Haiti with his wife when he was part of an unsuccessful coup to try to oust the current dictator of the country. They eventually immigrated to New York where Mr. Premice became a furrier. They were extremely proud people and raised Premice to have a strong belief in her own self worth. At a time when African Americans were considered second-class citizens even in the northern states, Premice and her sister, Adele, were given the education and training of an "at-home finishing school" and treated like part of the elite.
Launched Career on Broadway
As a child, Premice was happy and outgoing. From the very beginning she was a natural performer. She pressured her parents to let her take dancing lessons and eventually she studied with Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham. At 14 she choreographed a Harlem Theatre production of "Jason and the Golden Fleece" for Owen Dodson, a family friend. At 16 she auditioned for and got a part in a performance of Katherine Dunham's dance company, but her aristocratic father literally pulled her off the stage, declaring she was to dance solo, as a star, or not at all. By 1943 she had lived up to his expectations and was acclaimed as an outstanding performer when she danced in the First African Dance Festival at Carnegie Hall to sold-out audiences that included Eleanor Roosevelt. She launched her career from the Village Vanguard, a West Village nightclub where such greats as Harry Belafonte and Judy Holiday launched their careers and many famous stars habitually hung out. It was common to see Charlie Parker, Fred Astaire, or Tallulah Bankhead among the patrons. She also spent seven months performing at the Blue Angel, a swanky East Side nightclub.
Premice was a tall, skinny, sophisticated brown-skinned woman who was often reminded that she wasn't "pretty." She laughed at her detractors and carried herself with so much self-esteem and poise, that she made her own presence. In 1945 she repeated her success, dancing in the Second African Dance Festival at Carnegie Hall and then toured the country with blues singer Josh White.
Her initial Broadway performance was in the 1945 production of Blue Holiday at the Belasco Theatre with Ethel Waters and Josh White. She followed this in 1947 with a performance in Caribbean Carnival at the International Theatre. Richard Watts of the New York Post reviewed the show, noting that it had some good points: "Point one is Josephine Premice ... a fine, tall, delightful girl, who sings amusingly, engagingly and with distinction." In 1954 she opened with the cast of House of Flowers in Philadelphia, but left the cast before it moved to Broadway. House of Flowers also starred Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. She returned to Broadway in 1956 in Mr. Johnson at the Martin Beck Theater. She played the wife of Earl Hyman who starred in the title role.
Marriage Changed Her Career
During 1957 and 1958 Premice performed in over 500 performances of the vastly popular musical Jamaica at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway. The musical starred Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalban. Premice played Horne's best friend. The part earned her a nomination for a Tony Award as Best Featured Performer.
It was during a performance of this play that her future husband, Timothy Fales, saw her and made the instant decision that she would be the mother of his children. Fales was very much a part of the White Anglo-Saxon aristocracy of Upper East Side New York. He was also very rebellious against the very staid, "proper" life that his parents attempted to mold him into. After several months of heavy courtship, the two moved in together and then married in a very quiet ceremony on November 14, 1958. Fales had won over Premice's very strict father by their mutual love for and service on the sea, but Fales' father refused to accept the inter-racial marriage until years later and didn't speak to his son for several years. Premice worked hard to create an environment for her family that would ignore the hatred and prejudices associated with mixed marriages at the time. Because of her star status and his social standing, their marriage made the headlines and caused a lot of negative feelings from some of the more radical groups across the country.
With her marriage, Premice made the decision that her husband and subsequent family were her priority and it affected on her career. Several months after they were married, Fales moved the family to Rome. They lived there for six years while Fales was an executive in a shipping company. Their son, Enrico, was born in 1959 and daughter, Susan, in 1962. Her career, however, never recovered from the break. Broadway producers have short memories, and the six-year break in her career came at a time when she was very successful.
Family Life Degraded as Career Restarted
In 1966, as part of a group of talented black artists, Premice received her second Tony nomination for her performance in A Hand is on the Gate. This was an evening of black poetry and song at the Longacre Theatre. It starred such notables as Cicely Tyson, James Earl Jones, and Moses Gunn among others. For the next ten years, Premice appeared in a limited fashion in several all-black shows like The Cherry Orchard at the Public Theater in 1973. For the most part, she was a renowned hostess and fundraiser of the social elite. In her personal life, her marriage had deteriorated and her roving husband spent a lot of time away. They maintained a relationship because it was expected of them and the publicity if they had split would have been an embarrassment to both of them. For years, Timothy stayed at home and worked on writing a book. Then he eventually joined the merchant marine and captained ships sailing around the world. He was gone for long periods of time.
In 1976 Premice returned to Broadway with the cast of Bubbling Brown Sugar, which had a full two-year run and almost 800 performances before it closed. A New York Times review of the show said that Premice "can almost make a feather boa come alive." Then in 1978 Lena Horne called and asked her to play the salty sidekick in a new performance of the musical Pal Joey. This seemed to be a chance of a lifetime, but required Premice to move to Los Angeles. For over 20 years she had put her family and children first and curtailed her career by eliminating the ability to travel around the country. Now she hired a governess for her kids since her husband was at sea and took off for California. The show had only limited success and caused a further rift in her marital life. Her performance, however, brought her to the notice of some television executives, and she had roles on The Jeffersons in 1979 as Louise Jeffersons' sister and on A Different World in several roles from 1991 to 1993.
In 1984, as their daughter graduated from Harvard with honors, Premice's marriage received it's final death blow. Fales separated from his wife and moved to Paris where he lived with a 21-year-old girl from Senegal. The separation was a blow to Premice and more than anything else in her life affected her self-esteem and outlook on life. They never divorced, and remained cordial but estranged for the rest of her life. This final break started a downward spiral where Premice neglected her finances and her health, ultimately leading to her losing battle with emphysema. She died on April 13, 2001, at home in her Manhattan apartment. She was survived by her estranged husband, Captain Timothy Fales, her daughter, Susan Fales-Hill, her son, Enrico Fales, and her sister, Adele Premice. Her memorial service was attended by a long list of socialites and stars who paid homage to her talent and spirit. She had spent her years smiling at life and her friend's remembered and loved her for it. In tribute to her mother's illustrious career, Susan Fales-Hill released a moving biography, Always Wear Joy, in 2003.
BLOGGERS NOTE: WE HAVE SHOWCASED JOSEPHINE PREMICE IN OUR PODCAST PRODUCTIONS MOST RECENTLY IN OUR "STARS OVER BROADWAY" REVUE WHERE SHE CAN BE HEARD DOING A DO OR DIE (REALLY IS THEIR ANY OTHER WAY TO COVER A VERSION OF THE ETHEL WATERS SONG?) PERFORMANCE OF "THEY'LL BE SOME CHANGES MADE" WE WILL REPEAT THIS EPISODE APRIL 18,2010.
This has got to be one of the cleverest E-mails I've received in awhile. Someone out there must be "deadly" at Scrabble. (Wait till you see the last one)!
PRESBYTERIAN: When you rearrange the letters: BEST IN PRAYER
ASTRONOMER: When you rearrange the letters: MOON STARER
DESPERATION: When you rearrange the letters: A ROPE ENDS IT
THE EYES: When you rearrange the letters: THEY SEE
GEORGE BUSH: When you rearrange the letters: HE BUGS GORE
THE MORSE CODE: When you rearrange the letters: HERE COME DOTS
DORMITORY: When you rearrange the letters: DIRTY ROOM
SLOT MACHINES: When you rearrange the letters: CASH LOST IN ME
ANIMOSITY: When you rearrange the letters: IS NO AMITY
ELECTION RESULTS: When you rearrange the letters: LIES - LET'S RECOUNT
SNOOZE ALARMS: When you rearrange the letters: ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S
A DECIMAL POINT: When you rearrange the letters: I'M A DOT IN PLACE
THE EARTHQUAKES: When you rearrange the letters: THAT QUEER SHAKE
ELEVEN PLUS TWO: When you rearrange the letters: TWELVE PLUS ONE
AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:
MOTHER-IN-LAW: When you rearrange the letters: WOMAN HITLER
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
SEE ANY STREET, ANY ADDRESS
This is really amazing. When you enter an address you will see a picture of that place. There's a little map with a little man on it - you can move the little man up and down the block if you need to. I just looked at my childhood home! Really nice website!
John receved a free ticket to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately. John's seat was in the last row in the corner of the stadium. He was closer to the Goodyear Blimp than the stadium. He noticed an empty seat 10 rows up from the 50-yard line. He decides to make his way to the empty seat. As he sits down he asks the man next to him if anyone is sitting there. The man told him no, it was empty. John is very excited to have a seat like this at a Super Bowl and asks why in the world no one is using it? The man replied that it was his wife's seat but she passed away. He said this was the first Super Bowl that they have not attended together since they were married in 1968. John said that it was really sad and asked if he couldn't find someone, a relative or a close friend to take the seat?
Only in America ......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
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