PAGE FOUR
THE BENNETT BANNER
FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1985
Blues legend boogies
by Mardell Griffin
Greensboro had the blues March
4. The real blues—deep, dark and
primal.
The kind of moaning sound that
tells about all of life’s losses and
leaves an ache even when it
leaves a laugh.
Sound that cries of deep sexual
need that seems to mock simple
passion as an emotion of the
faint-hearted.
Contradictory sound, both
smooth and gravelly, that pleads,
teases, urges. The sound of the
“Boogie Man,” “Boss of the
Blues,” John Lee Hooker.
And boogje the boss man did
at Chaser’s on Spring Garden St.
From his slow opening number
“Crawling King Snake” to his
jumping encore “Can’t Stop
Groove’n,” the “Boss” was in
charge of the packed house.
The audience, made up of peo
ple that were college to middle
age, dressed in jeans to business
suits, crowded as close to the
stage as possible. Some people
stood on chairs at the tables along
the walls. Others sat on railings
that separated the raised table
areas and bar from the open floor
space. One man in a well-tailored
business suit sat on the railing,
wildly shaking his head and slap
ping his hands on his thighs in
time with the music. Down on the
floor, others danced alone with
varying degrees of enthusiasm
and expertise.
Everyone wanted a good view
of the man wearing shades,
dressed in an immaculate dark
gray three-piece suit, complete
with precisely placed white pocket
handkerchief, white shirt, dark tie
and white hat with stickpin.
For most of the performance,
the 67-year-old Hooker sat on a
chair at the edge of the, stage
playing his red guitar and singing
the music that made him famous
over 40 years ago. Somehow, his
sitting made the performance
more intense, as if the toll the
years took is just one more rea
son to sing the blues.
He stood up and strutted across
the stage and did an occasional
hip twist to the cheers of the
audience during his rendition of
“Good Walk’n Night.” The audi
ence also showed appreciation
with loud hoots and hollers for
Hooker’s familiar “Boom, Boom”
and for his first recorded song,
done in 1943, “Boogie Chillen.”
The response of the audience
made it clear why the blues has
been so influential on modern
music. The haunting sounds are
heard in various versions coming
from the strings of guitars played
by much younger fingers than
Hooker’s, like those of the Coast
to Coast Blues Band that backed
him.
The band consists of four young
men from the San Francisco Bay
area that have played with Hook
er for about four years. Larry
Hamilton, bass player and singer,
gave an energetic solo of “Do the
Boogie” that the audience went
wild over when he dropped to his
knees and picked the guitar with
his teeth.
Tim Richards on drums kept
the beat going with a beautifully
concentrated style and all-out ef
fort that required him to grab a
white towel between numbers to
wipe sweat from his face and
hands.
Roy Rogers, acoustic guitarist,
lent music with an accomplish
ment that blended with the others
in a smooth and easy way while
still maintaining an integrity of
its own.
Mike Osbourn on guitar played
with such a relaxed manner that
he could go unnoticed on stage
amid the cavorting of the other
players if it hadn’t been for the
high quality of his work.
Their styles meshed perfectly
in the slow tune “If You Take
Care of Me, I’ll Take Care of
You” that quieted even the row
diest in the audience to a few soft
“yeahs” during the performance.
It is easy to understand why the
group draws crowds in places as
diverse as Greensboro and Japan,
where they toured last year. In
May, they go for a return visit
to Europe.
“We’re going to England, Nor
way and France,” said Hamilton.
“We get a better reception over
seas. The audience is more edu
cated about the blues.”
Hooker is schooling the young
men in his band in the music he
brought with him from the delta
country of Mississippi where he
was born in Coahoma County on
August 22, 1917. Hooker attributes
his style to Will Moore, his step
father, who played blues guitar.
But Hooker has a uniqueness that
he developed over the years. It
came from singing in churches as
a young boy and, after he left
home at 14, at places on B'eale
Street in Memphis during the ’30s
and then others in Cincinnati and
on Detroit’s Hastings Street in
the ’40s.
He learned from listening to
bluesmen like Charley Patton and
Blind Lemon Jefferson. He
learned as he sang the blues at
night and worked during the day
for theaters as an usher or in fac
tories or even for a company that
drained cesspools. He learned, he
mastered, then he created a style
all his own. The emotional qual
ity of his voice still vibrates from
the stage with a pain that sounds
as if he’s alone, always has been
and always will be, even in a
room full of people.
In the dressing room, Richards
said of Hooker, “He knows ex
actly what he wants to hear. He
encourages us.”
Hamilton said, “With John Lee
you learn tremendously. He’s one
of the better stars to work with.
He doesn’t hold you back, let’s
you really stretch out. Of course,
nothing you do will overshadow
John Lee.”
After the two 45-minute sets,
some fans lined up at the dressing
room door to see Hooker. They
wanted his autograph on his pic
tures and albums. A young man
brought a guitar for the singer to
sign. Others had tapes of their
own mu5ic they wanted to give
Hooker to listen to. One fan read
from several pages of material
that he wanted Hooker to critique.
Hooker seemed an oddity in the
small dressing room, an older
gentleman among the casually
clothed members of a younger
generation. But they were all out
late on a Monday night, paying
homage to a man who has im
printed his mark on several gen
erations of music fans.
Ernest Parker of Salisbury said,
“It was an excellent performance.
I grew up on this music—travel
miles to hear it.”
Steve Pearsall of Greensboro,
waiting with two albums he
brought from home for Hooker’s
autograph, said, “The band’s real
ly good, great. I would like to see
more of Hooker. I’ve seen him
one other time. He has a very
distinctive sound, unique.”
Hooker, looking tired, treated
his fans with the grace and charm
befitting a true professional.
As the last of the admirers left.
Hooker was asked to define the
blues. He said, “That’s what ev
eryone wants to know. The blues
comes from men, women and
heartache, and from being broke.
But you don’t have to be broke
to have the blues. A millionaire
can have them, too. All music is
the blues, just in different forms.”
When asked how he felt about
the blues. Hooker grinned and
said, “I’ll love it until I die.”
Harrigan’s climb
by Teresa A. Lipscomb
A rock-solid sense of fam
ily has formed the foundation
of Mrs. Elaine Harrigan’s
success.
The new director of the
audio-lingual lab attributes
her motivation to some oft-
quoted advice from her
grandfather during her sum
mer visits as a girl to Edge
field, S. C.
“If God has blessed you
with good health and a sound
mind, you can accomplish
goals far more than you
imagine,” he told her.
A native of Queens, N. Y.,
Harrigan became involved
with computers when she
worked as a keypunch opera
tor for three years at South
Carolina State in order to
help pay her tuition.
Later, in Georgia, she en
rolled in a night computer
course, and the importance of
family rose again. Her hus
band, now an executive with
IBM, decided to take the
class, too. He made all A’s.
“I think this is for you,”
she told him. “I introduced
my husband to computers,
and he has been involved for
18 years,” she says.
Call it clairvoyance or good
luck, but that small beginning
has resulted in a family busi
ness, Harrigan and Associ
ates, which now includes the
two Harrigan daughters,
Pamela and Sherrice.
“My husband and I take
great pride in being a team,
and we work well together.
We respect each other’s ideas
and ethics. My family is very
close-knit because we are a
mobile family, having lived in
six different states.”
Harrigan is constantly ex
panding her horizons. She
finished her undergraduate
work at Howard, took a mas
ter’s in supervision adminis
tration in education at Har
vard and now she’s pursuing
a doctorate at UNC-G.
Another family, consisting
of her race, is driving her to
grow.
“The education of young
people is very important to
me,” she says. “I feel strongly
about blacks’ reaching out to
help other blacks. It is a part
of our responsibility because
it is a part of our rich
heritage.”
She has become deeply in
volved with campus life dur
ing her first year here. Re
cently, she appeared in a tel
evision commercial which will
help recruit students.
She plans to exoand the lab
in order to enhance student
development and exnosure to
technology as it relates to the
use of computers, video equip
ment and self-awareness.
She’s very interested in
having soeech and drama stu
dents videotaped so that they
can learn from the process.
This desire is in keeping
with her allegiance to another
family—that of Bennett.
Big Meeting; Members of Kappa Omicron Phi, the National Home Economics
Honor Society, Dr. Lovie Booker, Phyllis Hambright, Duanne Hoffler,
A&T chapter adviser, Lois Wilkie and Swanda McCormick. Not pictured
is Dr. Geraldine Ray, Bennett KOP adviser.
Training leaders
by Bernice Scott
Several students from Ben
nett, along with others, have
participated in a new Inter
disciplinary Studies Program
Workshop.
The Learning for Leader
ship workshop, which is a
liberal arts aproach to learn
ing leadership styles, was
held on six Saturdays, during
January and February.
The classes left strong im
pressions on the students’
minds.
“It was very well orga
nized,” said sophomore Patri
cia Hairston. “The instruc
tors showed an enthusiasm
that made it more enjoyable.”
Not all impressions were
positive, however.
“It needs to be longer, more
detailed on subjects such as
attire,” said freshman Har
riet Heyward.
The classes also taught the
students things about them
selves and how to deal with
others.
“I learned that I am inse
cure in certain areas, espe
cially finacial areas ... I have
a negative atitude when sit
uations upset me,” said
Hairston.
The program is scheduled
to be offered again the spring
semester of ’86.
However, “This program
will be more advanced,” said
Dr. Helen Trobian, one of the
directors.
Hairston and Heyward
both said they would be will
ing to take the next part of
the program.
Hairston said, “The film
strips taught me a lot . . .
They made me more secure
about myself.”
The Belles who attended
were freshman Harriet Hey
ward and sophomores Kathy
Cole, Victoria Dunn, Karen
Exum, Patricia Hairston and
Lanette Smith. One student
from A&T and eight others
who registered through the
ALERT program also
attended.
The Learning for Leader
ship program was taught by
Trobian, Mis. Carolyn Mark,
Ms. Myra Davis and Dr.
Alma Adams.
Heyward said, “If you
don’t take the course, you
really should see the video
tapes.”
Veejay pioneer
by Alaina Cloud
Sally Hayes is part of TV
61’s lineup of video music
jockeys and is grateful that
she is a pioneer in a new
industry.
Hayes graduated from
Texas Southern University in
Houston with a double major
in telecommunications and
journalism. In 1978 she be
came involved with politics,
and decided that was not one
of her interests. “Politics was
too dirty and I was too sensi
tive for the news,” she said.
Hayes then worked in Texas
from 1981 to 1983, with Sak-
owitz Store in advertising,
and eventually became an air
traffic manager. For person
al reasons she decided to re
turn to Greensboro, her home,
to work.
Now she can be seen from
6 to 11 a.m. Monday through
Saturday. TV 61 was the first
independent high - powered
video music station in the
country. Along with her re
sponsibilities as acting video
music jockey, she also helps
coordinate public service an
nouncements and does voice
overs.
Hayes thinks TV is mis
leading: “Do not be misled by
the glamour that television or
the media can hold. It takes
hard work, intelligence, per
severance and direction.”
Some celebrities that she’s
had the pleasure of meeting
are trumpeter Wynton Mar
salis, Rev. Jesse Jackson,
Ashford and Simpson, Billy
Ocean and jazz pianist Bob
James. Hayes is very con
scious of her physical appear
ance, and has professional
facials every month. She vis
its health spas and has den
tist’s appointments every
three months.
The most influential people
in her life are James Wash
ington, who heads his own
advertising agency and is
owner of Focus Communica
tions Group in Dallas and her
father who is deceased.
“Education was very im
portant to him,” she said. He
instilled in her a quote that
always stays with her, “If it’s
in my mind, no one can take
it away from me.”
Hayes hopes that children
do not sit in front of the tel
evision absorbing all that is
shown.
“Children begin to emulate
what they see,” she says. She
often tells children, “Do your
homework, do your chores, go
out and play, and then come
back to watch the show.”
Children think of her as
“larger than life” because
she’s a television personality.
“People think that I should
be driving a Mercedes,” she
says.
Sallie Hayes is a down-to-
earth person who does not
consider herself a celebrity.