entertainment
James Baldwin Remains American,
A Reflection Of Black Experience
Although he spent a great deal ol
his life abroad, James Baldwin
always remained a quintessential^
American writer. Whether he was
working in Paris or Istanbul, he
never ceased to reflect on his ex
perience as a black man in white
America, using the filter of a foreign
culture to examine his own. In
numerous essays, novels, plays and
public speeches, the eloquent voice of
James Baldwin spoke of the pain and
struggle of black Americans and the
saving power of brotherhood. A rich
and textured portrait of this powerful
author emerges in “James Baldwin:
The Price of the Ticket,” a 90-minute
film premiering on “American
Masters” Monday, Aug. 14, at 9 p.m.
on PBS.
In “James Baldwin: The Price of
the Ticket,” much of Baldwin’s story
is told in his own words, as the film
makes extensive use of public
speeches Baldwin made as well as in
terviews with the writer conducted
over the course of his life. Com
plementing this footage are inter
views with many of Baldwin’s close
friends and colleagues, including his
brother David; his biographer David
Leeming; writers Amiri Baraka,
William Styron, Ishmael Reed and
Maya Angelou; and entertainer Bob
by Short.
James Baldwin was born in Harlem
in 1924. The eldest of nine children, he
grew up in poverty, developing a
troubled relationship with his strict,
religious father. As a child, he cast
about for a way to escape his cir
cumstances. As he recalls, “I knew I
was black, of course, but I also knew I
was smart. I didn't know how I would
use my mind, or even if I could, but
that was the only thing I had to use."
And he used it, spending much of his
time as a boy at the local library. "I
read everything there, I mean every
single book in that library... I was try
ing to make a connection between the
books and the life I saw, and the life I
lived.”
By the time he was 14, Baldwin
knew he wanted to be a writer. A ma
jor influence on the young author was
the time he spent as a Pentecostal
preacher while he was a teenager.
“Those three years in the pulpit—I
didn’t realize it then—that is what
turned me into a writer, really, deal
ing with all that anguish and that
despair and that beauty.”
Biographer Leeming sees the in
fluence of the church in Baldwin’s
style, which reflected the language
and patterns of the Bible.
Eagei to move on, Baldwin “left
the pulpit and left home the same
day. ’ ’ After spending three years as a
book reviewer, he went to Paris—the
first of many voluntary exiles. “The
best thing I ever did in my life, I
think, was in effect to flee America
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to ensure oral health care. For in
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caused by receding gums, your den
tist may suggest that you use a
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using the right preventive measures
you can protect your teeth and gums
for years to come.
and go to Paris in 1948, he states. “It
gave me time to vomit up a great deal
of bitterness.”
After writing a number of pieces
that were published in various
magazines, Baldwin went to
Switzerland to finish his first novel,
“Go Tell it on the Mountain,” an
autobiographical work about growing
up in Harlem that was published in
1953. Throughout the rest of the
decade, Baldwin moved from Paris to
New York to Istanbul, writing
“Giovanni’s Room,” dealing with the
then-taboo theme of homosexuality,
and “Another country,” about in
timate relationships between blacks
and whites.
Being abroad gave Baldwin a
perspective on his life and a freedom
to pursue his craft that he felt he
could not have at home. “Once you
find yourself in another civilization,”
he notes, “you’re forced to examine
your own.” But wherever he lived, he
never really left his roots. "The first
thing I realized in Paris was that you
don’t ever leave home. You take your
home with you.” As Leeming ex
plains, “He always considered
himself very much an American... us
ing Paris, using France as a means of
discovering his own identity.”
Baldwin returned to America in the
early 1960s to take part in the civil
rights movement, and traveled exten
sively through the South. "I fell in
love with those people,” he recalls,
“and I was very happy to be in the
South, even though it was frightening.
Something in me recognized it.
Something in me had come home.”
His experiences and observations
during this period were passionately
expressed in “The Fire Next Time,”
an explosive essay telling white
Americans what it was like to be
black, and in the equally controver
sial play “Blues for Mr. Charlie,”
mounted on Broadway in 1964, an in
tense Southern dama that reflected
the struggles of the times.
Craving peace and solitude,
Baldwin moved to the south of France
to work on "If Beale Street Could
Talk,” a book reflecting his disillu
James Brown On
The Beat With
New LP Release
While American musical giant
James Brown pays his debt to socie
ty, his unstoppable beat goes on with
the release of “Soul Session—Live!,”
a new album by James Brown and
Friends coming July 25 on Scotti
Brothers/CBS Associated Records.
The soundtrack from his widely
aired Cinemax television special,
“Soul Session—Live!” features some
of Brown’s all-time classic songs per
formed in heated duets with fellow
superstars from the worlds of rock
and R&B. James sings “Cold Sweat"
with Wilson Pickett, “I’ll Go Crazy”
with Joe Cocker, and “I Feel Good (I
Got You)” with Robert Palmer. The
album also includes “Gimme Your
Love,” a special studio recording pro
duced by Narada Michael Walden
which pairs the Godfather of Soul
with the Queen of Soul, Aretha
Franklin. James Brown also sings
“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,”
“Out of Sight,” and “How Do You
Stop,” and brings “Soul Ses
sion-Live!” to an ecstatic close
with the anthemic “Living in
America.”
. .
giviuuv<i< ■■ in
America in the ’60s—the assassin
ations, the brutality, the injustices.
Although some thought that Baldwin
had grown bitter at this point, writer
Maya Angelou comments, “Jimmy
was not bitter. What Jimmy was was
angry—he was constantly angry at
injustice, at ignorance, at exploita
tion, at stupidity, at vulgarity. Yes,
he was angry.”
Baldwin spent many of his later
years in America, teaching at a
number of colleges and universities
while he continued to write. Cynthia
Packard, Baldwin’s academic assis
tant, recalls, “I thought he was a
marvelous teacher, and very
talented, and really cared that he was
getting through to the students and
that there was that connection, that
there was a dialogue going on... He
wanted to be around young people
who are getting the basis for their
ideas, and he was interested in what
they were thinking.”
James Baldwin died of cancer in
1987. Film footage from his funeral,
which opens and closes the documen
tary, reveals the depth of feeling
Baldwin evoked in those who knew
him. According to Leeming,
“Everybody who came into contact
with Jimmy had his or her life chang
ed, I think. And that’s the mark of a
real teacher, it’s the mark ofa real
preacher, and it’s the mark of a pro
phet.” And Baldwin influenced and
inspired millions more through his
work. As author Amiri Baraka con
cludes, "I think that all of us owe
James Baldwin—those of us who are
interested in black liberation, those of
us who are interested in human pro
gress, those of us who are interested
in writing—owe him a Brest deal.”
-- 1,1,1 -
THE COMMODORES, EXTREMELY TALENTED
Commodores Master Musical Styles
Without Losing Fans, Trademark
The Commodores have proven to be
more than just a world-renowned,
chart-topping band—they are an ex
tremely talented group of per
formers, writers, musicians and pro
ducers who have been able to alter
their musical styles without losing
their trademark sound and image.
From their early days in Tuskegee,
Ala., through their astonishing
award-winning recording career with
Motown, the Commodores have con
sistently brought their legion of fans
an enormous body of pop and rhythm
and blues hits that are instantly
recognizable. The Commodores show
no signs of stopping with a solid string
of new hits from their latest Polydor
album, ‘‘Rock Solid.”
Since their first release, the band
J
JAZZIE B OF SOUL II SOUL
“Keep On Moving" Wine
Acclaim As innovative
Keep On Movin’” is the first single
and title cut from the debut album
from Soul II Soul—one of the most ex
citing and innovative sound machines
of the decade, being released here by
Virgin Records. This sound and
movement have already won extraor
dinary acclaim and success in Lon
don and throughout Europe and are
destined to be an international
phenomenon.
Soul II Soul is a musical organiza
tion created by Jazzie B., a Londoner
and former DJ. He started out in the
North London blues scene of the late
’70s where he and his partner Dada
made the rounds of the East End
warehouse circuit.
In 1982, they renamed their music
movement Soul II Soul and began to
lay the groundwork for what has
since become an ever-expanding sub
cultural industry. From their
Camden headquarters, Soul II Soul
provides their peers with sound
equipment, parties, records, clothes
and above all, a new musical expres
sion. What’s more, it has become the
clearinghouse for the raw, untapped
talent of London’s street scene.
Soul II Soul has taken a group of
young clubbers and allowed them to
make the music they most wanted to
hear. Jazzie applied the technical
skills he had acquired as a sound
engineer to fuse the rough-edged funk
of the dance underground with the
moody sounds of British reggae
culture. Along with the musicians us
ed to create this sound, Jazzie
recruited three stunning female
vocalists—Caron Wheeler, featured
on “Keep on Movin'" with the Reggae
Philharmonic Orchestra providing
strings for this soulful, Jassy dance
tune; Rose Wlndroes, the voice on the
hard-driving "Fairplay;" and
Do’Reen, whose sexy, atylized chant
Is heard on the cut ’Teel Free.” The
resulting album incorporates soul,
reggae, hip hop, house, Jazz and
African rhythms to create a perfect
“I’m trying to
Front
tog to recreate in your
the feeling you’d get from
raving the hell out of your body at a
warehouse jam," explains Jazzie B.
“Soul II Soul is about a collective
organization putting ideas about the
way we want things to progress into
practice. We want to make music now
and run our own business.”
The band that has been
acknowledged as London’s number
one sound has arrived in the States
full-force. The vibe on Soul II Soul is
so strong that some U.S. program
mers have already played the import
version of “Keep On Movin’.”
Billboard says of this single as it is
about to be “officially" released
here, “UK outfit could very well
become the Chic of the '90s. Soul II
Soul’s timing, look and musical ap
proach should make a serious im
pact.”
The Soul II Soul posse have combin
ed to create what they call the “Funki
Dred” lifestyle. The Funki Dred is
Jazzie B’s alter ego—his motto is, “A
happy face/a thumping bass/ for a
loving race.”
has been at the top of the charts
throughout the world, won awards
similarly and have set precedents in
the areas of product licensing and en
dorsements early on in their careers.
They were Motown’s best-selling act
in the 1970s. Their very first album,
“Machine Gun,” went gold in five
countries, while their single, “Three
Times a Lady,” reached the top five
in 25 countries. Their first four
albums went gold, then they had two
platinum albums, a double platinum
album and two triple platinum
albums. Today, the Commodores
have to their credit 24 gold and
platinum albums, with global sales at
the 40 million mark.
Winning the Grammy Award for
“Nightshift” in 1985, they added to
their already impressive list of both
pop and R&B awards (including
American Music Awards, NAACP
Image Awards, NARM awards for
sales records and Rolling Stone
awards, to name a few), was further
testament to the endurance, creativi
ty and musical credibility of the
group.
With their album, “Rock Solid,”
the Commodores’ versatility and win
ning combination of individual tastes
and areas of expertise has created a
diverse and extremely current blend
that’s sure to be welcomed by their
ever-expanding audience.
The songs range from the first
single, “Solitaire,” a catchy and in
fectious turn for the Commodores, to
the funk salsa tune “Bump the La
La," written by veteran lead singer
Walter “Clyde” Orange, who was
also responsible for “Nightshift” as
well as the national anthem of fUnk,
“Brick House.” Two other cuts from
Clyde are the sassy, street-smart
“Grrip” and “I’m Gonna Need Your
Loving,’ 'a soulful Orange ballad.
“Thank You,” produced by Com
modore William King, doesn’t let us
forget the Commodores’ magic as
love balladeers. It was written by the
same team that brought us “Lady
(You Bring Me Up)”: King, his wife
Shirley Hanna King and veteran
Mean Machine member Harold Hud
son.
Milan Williams, who wrote the
Commodores’ first hit, the in
strumental “Machine Gun,” as well
as “Wonderland” and "Only You,”
has contributed “Ain’t Givin’ Up,”
which he also co-produced with Hawk
Wolinski.
The Commodores were lucky
enough to nab the hauntingly
beautiful “Right Here ’n’ Now,” for
which J.D. Nicholas and Howard
Hewett served as co-producers. J.D.
Nicholas also co-wrote the fitness
flavored “Stretchhh” and also the
danceable, sexy tune, “Miracle
Man."
Kaye Lowe & John Williams
To Be Featured In Concert
Soloists Kaye Lowe and John
Williams are the featured soloists at
the second annual Pops at Meridian
concert—a lakeside evening of light
classical and popular music. Lowe
and Williams will perform with the
Arts Festival Orchestra at 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 29, at the Meridian
Business Campus, located at the in
tersection of 1-40 and N.C. 55 (Exit No
278 from 1-40).
Sponsors of the event are Meridian
Business Campus and the Herald and
Sun newspapers. The concert is free
and the public is invited to attend.
Kay Lowe is a Durham native and a
graduate of the North Carolina School
of the-Arts and Florida State Univer
sity. She has traveled extensively
throughout the eastern United States
and in Europe performing in a wide
variety of operatic roles, as well as
oratorio and recital appearances.
Lowe has been soloist with the
Camerata Chamber Singers on a
European tour and with Europa Can
tat IV in Graz, Austria. She has per
formed world premieres of numerous
contemporary works, and made her
New York solo recital debut in 1963 at
Alice Tully Hall. Lowe was the only
soloist at last year’s inaugural Pops
at Meridian concert.
Baritone John Williams is a
graduate of the North Carolina School
of the Arte, where he was the reci
pient of several honors and awards.
He also studied at the Academia
Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy.
Williams has performed with the
North Carolina Symphony, the
Manhattan Philharmonic Orchestra,
the Charlottesville Oratorio Society,
and the Raleigh Symphony. He was
soloist in the PBS telecast of Agnes
DeMille’s ballet “The Cherry Tree
Carol.” This will be Williams’ first
appearance at Pops at Meridian.
“We are pleased to present two of
the finest soloists on the east coast as
part of Pops at Meridian,” com
mented James R. Higley, vice presi
dent of CMD Southeast, developers of
Meridian Business Campus. “We are
proud to offer an encore performance
of this unique cultural event.”
The Arts Festival Orchestra, a
group of specially selected musicians
from the Durham and Raleigh sym
phonies, will perform with each
soloist. Organized during the 1967
Olympic Fetsival, these musicians
join together each year for a rare per
formance at Pops at Meridian. Alan
Nielson, fhusic director for the
Durham and Raleigh symphony or
chestras, will conduct the concert.
Meridian’s seven-acre lake serves
as a backdrop for the open-air con
cert and the audience is encouraged
to bring blankets and picnic baskets.
A rain date is scheduled for Sunday,
July SO, it 7 p.m.
Meridian Business Campus la a
270-acre multi-use business environ
ment offering corporate offices,
research and service space, lakefront
sites, and bulld-to-suit facilities. CMD
Southeast is a subsidiary of CMD
Corp., the nation’s oldest developer of
industrial and businessjwrks.
Cyndi Lauper’s New Video A First
Bearing Closed Captioned.Symbol
Cyndi Laupers next video, "My
Firet Night Without You,” wiU be the
first music clip ever to beer the of
ficial “closed captioned” symbol,
sanctioned by the Caption Center. It
will also be only the second music
video in the medium's history to be
closed captioned for the hearing im
paired.
"Video has provided additional op
portunity to hearing impaired per
sons to participate In musical enter
tainment," says Dan Beck, vice
president of product development for
Bide and Associated Labels. "Closed
captioning—rand letting the audience
know a video is closed captioned by
the official symbol—Is a chance to
add to that participation.”
Leupcr planted the idea's seed at
her label in the dip for “Time After
Time," in which me decided to flp
the eong’e teg line. A few yeere later,
the Cheep Trick video, “It's Only
Love," told e story about com
munication. It featured an actor sign
ing the song’s entire lyric. This put
year, Living Colour producer Ed
Stasium (whose teenage daughter,
Sara, is hearing impaired), received
an enthusiastic response when he
suggeeted to the band that doeed cap
tioning be added to their clip "Opm
Letter to a Landlord."
The Caption Center encouraged
Epic to use both the captioning and
the viewer-alerting symbol. When
Beck approached Lauper about In
cluding them in “My first Night
Without You,” the follow-up to her
eighth top-io single. 'Drove All
Night," the artist felt strongly that
' heir inclusion would Be imporuini. "1
think that tbers are many hearing im
paired people would enjoy rock muaic
U exposed to It. It’s such an easy pro
cess to create which could open up a
whole new experience for them.”
At present, Epic plans to use closed
captioning and the symbol on “select
videos, ” Beck states, adding that he
seas that “select” group growing
larger over time. “Cyndi’s new video
represents the beginning of an ongo
ing policy in this area and Epic's
commitment to it. Hopefully, it's also
a chance to raise some consciousness
both within the recording industry
and among hearing video viewers.”
The next Epic clip slated for dosed
captioning and use of the indicator
symbol is Living Colour's “Glamour
Boys," to be released in late summer
or early fall.