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BULL CITY NITE HAWKS OF THE 3Ci
One Musician's Legacy
THE FRANK WRIGHT STORY
— (By EVERETT L. GOLDSTON)— I
Few persons in Durham past j
the age of 25, will fail to re- j
call memories of the Bull City |
Night Hawks dance orchestra |
when the' name of Frank ;
Wright is mentioned.
Wright's death last month ;
marked the end of an effort g
by him to provide dance music I
here and throughout the sur- I
rounding areas. It also ended |
his career as a band leader I
which had lasted trnrp than 8
three- decades.
'Die band was organized dur- I
ing theearly' 30s. about 1933.
when the term "big band" was
not reserved for a musical
yf over eight pieces and
"combos" were the current
novelties. 'Wright and the late
Wellington Black, both pupils
of the late Prof. I. H. Buchan
nan. conceived the idea of j
forming a band; much in the
same- manner in which today's j :l
musical youngsters eagerly set i '
out to form their combos j J
Just as the leader of any
organization! knows, there are i t
many problems to be solved
peculiar to that organization' •=
and headfSgf'^k
proved to Iro M
successful leader mus» at times | fc
bear many burdens of which ;
the public and those closely as
sociated with him. have no t
knowledge. r
Wright brought in players to J
Durham and financed them un
til they had become better situ P
ated (Semi professional or s
part-time musicians had a full- '
time job, while playing became | £
; somewhat of an avocatiofi; a| n
situation which has not changed
over the years.
t
One of the band's early en- ii
gagements was at Benedict Col- v
Siege, in Bennettsville, S. C. t
" where Wright was successful cl
in talking Mac Segani, a stu- e
dent there, into joining the sax- p
ophone section. Seganzi left the e
group after several months 1
and his whereabouts are un- t
known. ' o
Bob Currey who hailed from ' a
I
O©PIMJJ'-okb
KENTUCKY V
STRAIGHT
BOURBON
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NATIONAL DISTILLERS PRODUCTS CO.. NEW YORK. 86 PROOF '
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FRANK WRIGHT %• , V
a
a Charleston. S. C„ orphanage, j f
famous for its street dancing I t
youtii band, joined the Night | a
Hawks and remained with j s
them until a better opportunity j s
beckoned £rorr t "up state." i V
"An. "ijH'ginirt J;
ing tn Chapel j Hill, left the s
band for a five-year tour with i
the legendary King Oliver band e
but returned, and remained the r
tenor sax anchor man until be n
retired In
Graff Barbee: of Durham
played tenor banjo, the main
stay of rhythm sections up to J
that time, but switched to
guitar which was being used
more and more to replace the
banjo. '
A dance orchestra during the
thirties enjoyed an- era where
in the demand for its services *
was constant. Competition for ?
the most part, was among the '
dances for high schools, col
er s. Musicians delighted in
playing for appreciative audi- n
ences and Wright's Night h
Hawks became the talk of the *
town, taking over the limelight ( -
of the popular "Steam Five" 11
and "The Carolina Serenaders"
I
in this area.
- In reviewing the highlights j
of the band's career, sortie j
readers will recall the music J
battles with the once renown |
Capital City Aces of Raleigh
Vocalists bellowed their lyrics
through megaphones, since am j
plifiers were quite bulky, ex- |
pensive, and not too reliable. |
Later engagements included j
dances for higo schools, col- j
leges, benefits and charities,
etc., throughout North Caro- j
lina, South Carolina and Vir- 1
ginia. '... I
Perhaps one of the events;
most looked forward to by I
area music loverjs prior to'
World War 11, was the annual j
June German jield at Rocky j
Mount. At one such affair-
Wright's band was featured in i
a double hilling with Louis
Armstrong and it was reported
that the audience both inside
and out of the building, re- !
spcnded enthusiastically by
shouting and dancing for [
"more" even at the close of
tta^affair.
~, v • ■ . erft oJrs; -»S".D
r(Weight's baritfl
successful performances dur
ing the years that followed and ,
even during the war years, as j
many new faces replaced those >
musicians who had either]
moved on, been drafted or
died. After more than ten years;
still remaining were veteran
players Vernon Farrington, •
drummer, now residing in Dur-.
ham: Hargrave, Black, Howard
Harris, original bass violin |
player since the band's organi
zation, now residing in Florida;
Bob Tate who had recently re
turned from the Navy and re
joined the group, now resid
ing in Newport News, Virginia:
Johnny Toarn and Benny La
kin were relatively new brass
men; and vocalists Helen Ta
born (Truitt) and Theodore
Freeland. Bennie Stewart and
Owen "Pete" Anthony, original
members, died during the early
history of the band.
Before the big band was to
bow out to the trend in the
direction of smaller ones, many
musicians were to contribute
their talents to the Wright ag
gregation. Included were Phil
more . "Shorty" Hall, former
Hillside High band director
and now a resident of Falls
Church, Va. ; W. "Lanky" Cole,
also a former Hillside band
director; W. F. Carlson, Jr.,
now director of the A. and T.
College band at Greensboro.
Also there were Jasper Allen of
the currently popular "Jam
mers"; Dennie "Radio" Regis
ter, at that time a student of
Hargrave is a trumpet playing
vocalist, who later recorded
professionally; and Helen Ta
born, vocalist who was featur
ed on tour with The Interna
tional Sweethearts of Rhythm;
and many others.
Wright finally reduced his
band to about eight pieces still
retaining Hall and Laken on
trumpets. Hie group, now al
most a legend In this locale,
never ' completely disbanded.
The members ever loyal to
Wright's Ideals of fair and
squire dealing, rallied to his
summons to play although
these engagements were not
now as frequent as In the put.
J. A. Carter became the new
drummer
Much of the Prank Wright
story has been omitted for It is
difficult to expreas a devotion
to an idea and the effort exert
ed io make the idea a reality.
He never let go of his original
drive, having played his final
performance at Lyon Park
Elementary School just a few
weeks before his death.
Whiffed Cagers
End Season
Undefeated
Whitted Junior High School's
basketball Vikings and junior
Vikings, unbeaten in twelve
games, concluded the school'*
first undefeated season last
Friday evening with double
victories over Shepard Junior
High's varsity and junior var
sity.
In winning Eastern Seasonal
honors, Whitted had a perfect
6-0 mark in county play and
aonther 6-0 slate against East
ern opponents.- TTie Vikings
piled up a 78.0 offensive aver
age for the season while defen
sively holding opponents to a
43.3 average per game. Hitting
in double figures in 11 of the
12 games in which he partici
pated, Captain Ellis Davis led
the Viking charge with a 19.1
average. Johnny Russell scored
a season high of 35 points in
one game to seriously challenge
a school record of 38 points in
I one game by Connie Hickson
j last season. Russell posted an
| 18.3 seasonal average. Larry
I Duncan and Larry Williams
I had 12.9 averages while Arthur
Smith rounded out the start
ing five with an 11.8 mark
i Coach Leondras Williams' crew
I set a school record this season
j of 107 points in one game witn
I the starting quint hitting in
j double figures. Winning 22 of
24 games over a two year pe
| riod, the Vikings reached the
j century mark plus against sev
jn opponents.
I
Coach H. T. Pettiford's jun
j ior Vikings parlayed 296 field
I goals and 81 of 161 charity
! tosses into a 56.1 team offen
j sive average. Aggressive defen
sive play limited opponents to
128 two pointers and 82 frtje
j shots for a 28.2 average points
i per game. Shepard's junior
| Panthers scored the highest
j opposing points, 37, against
: the baby Vikings during the
I season while the Whitted five
roared to a g?mo high of 70.
Individually, fastbreaking
| George Stevens hit in double
i figures in 9 of 11 games to
i lend the Whitted quint with a
; 14.3 average. Captain Tony
Harris 10.0, Charles Shepard
i 8.5; Warren Allen 6.6, Claiborn
ffMrrisrn and Ef-eddie Clayton
5.1, are the top 6, Jimmy Dew
! Gerry, Joseph McGill, Arthur
i McMillan, Wayne McKinnie,
, Howard McAllister. David Rog
J P:S. George Tharrington, and
Claiborn Webb are other mem
; bers of the team.
j Wright has left with us many
| pleasant tunes from a by-gone
era, for which many of us hope
! fully await a return engage-
I ment.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Frank
Wright had mentioned only a
few days before his death, of
his desire to compile the ex
perience of the orchestra in
book form. Persons having ad
ditional information on the va
rious contributions of this dis
tinguished person are asked to
forward same to the City Edi
tor. CAROLINA TIMES, Dur
ham, N. C.
Hmm Ml-9144
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BEL
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Mr U*;
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BATTLE
Technical Sergeant Leon J i
Battle, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Leon 0. Battle of Rt. 1, Rocky •
Mount, has been presented the |
U.S. Air Force Outstanding
Unit Award at McChord AFB,
Wash.
Sergeant Battle, an air trans-
Dortation supervisor, received
the award as a permanent deco
ration for helping the 62nd ,
Military Airlift Wing achieve
a n exceptionally meritorious
rating at McChord.
# ♦ »
Staff Sergeant Thomas H. ■
Yow, son of Mr. and Mrs. Nor
•nan F. Yow of Fernway i
Christopher R. Outlaw, son j
of George G. Outlaw of RFD 1
?, Laurel Drive, Durham, has
been promoted to airman sec
ond class in the U.S. Air Force.
Airman Outlaw is a drafts
man at Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
He is a member of the Air
Force Systems Command which
manages research, develop
ment, production and procure- i
FORD DEALER USED GAR
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ii
N. C. D««ler'» Liceni® No. ISM
Technical Sergeant James H.
Caddell Jr., son of Mrs. Ethel
J. Caddell of 1109 Fern St.,
Durham, on duty at Da Nang
AB, Vietnam. Sergeant Cad
dell, a personnel technician,
has been in the fight against
Communist aggression since
December 1966. He is a mem
ber of the Air Force Com
munications Service in support
of the Pacific Air Forces which
provides offensive - defensive
airpower for the U. S. and . its
allies in the Pacific. The ser
geant is a graduate of East
Durham High School.
* . *
Reuben R. Kissell 111, son
of Mr. and Mrs. Reuben R.
Kissell Jr. of 1227 Shepard St.,
Durham, has been promoted
to airman second class in the
U. S. Air Force.
Airman Kissell is an air traf
fic controller at Aviano AB,
Italy. He is a graduate of
Durham High and attended U.
of N. C.
Court, Durham, has re-enlisted
in the U.S. Air Force at Pope
AFB, N C.
Sergeant Yow, who will com
plete the 20 years necessary
for retirement during this en
listment, is an aircraft equip
ment technician at Pope.
The sergeant served during
the Korean War
s -
His wife, Barbara, is the
daughter of Dovie R. Merritt of
707 Guthrie Ave.
m w
OUTLAW
•nent of USAF missiles, plane;;
and support systems.
The airman, a graduate of
Northern High School, Durham,
attended,.Durham Technical In
stitute «'n d Allan Hancock
College, Santa Maria, Calif.
SATURDAY. MARCH 4, 1967 THE CAROLINA TIMES—i
Hi
U...
MR. AND MRS. SWEETHEART
The GS 22 Club held it's An- :
nual Sweetheart Ball recently
in Durham. Extra added attrac- 1
tion was the crowning of Ben I
Taylor and Mrs. Arlethia Brooks 1
as "Mr. and Mrs. Sweetheart"
HILLSIDE CLASS 1942 CHANGES
DATE OF PLANNING SESSION
The regular monthly meet
ing of the planning committee
for the Hillside class d
1942 reunion will meet the
third Sunday, March 19, at
5 p.m.
Mrs. Alice Hines Jones,
secretary to the committee
is in the process of forward
ing a letter which covers
plans made to date. The le
tter is as follows:
Dear Classmates; Plans are
being formulated for a re
union of the 1942 Graduating
Class of Hillside High
School in comemoration of
its Twenty Fifth Anniver
sary. Tentative plans are
for this reunion to consist of
a banquet, dance, church
services, and a family day
picnic.
Committees have been ap
pointed to work out final
Watches Rings
SPIDEL
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by Master of Ceremonies, Ray
mond E. Perry. Taylor and
Mis. Brooks were crowned for
having the largest advance
ticket sales. Music was by the
Lee Darvis swinging band.
details of events. You will
be advised as they progress.
Each member is being as
sessed $25 to help defray ex
penses for these activities.
This amount may be paid in
installments or in full. Do
not send cash. Make your
check or money-order pay
able to CLASS OF '42-FI
NANCE COMMITTEE and
forward it to either me at
the address given or to Mrs.
Edith Malone Johnson, 116
Nelson Street, or Mrs. Eli
zabeth Summers McKellar,
3213 Apex Road, Durham,
N.C. May we count on your
joining us in th b celebra
tion?
Mrs. Hines' address is: Rt.
7, Box 566, Cooke Rd., Dur
ham, N.C. 27707,
3A