In 1971 Don Mclean released an album (sorry about that CD/iPod/MP3 generation) entitled American Pie, which included a cut of the same name, that would become his signature song. American Pie is an anthem that was an ode to a February 3, 1959 plane crash that killed three Rock & Roll talents; Buddy Holly (age 22), Richie Valens (age 17), and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) (age 28). The catch-phrase, “The Day the Music Died” was immortalized by the song American Pie.
Losing those three popular artists in one foul swoop could be characterized aptly as, “The Day the Music Died.” Of course there have been numerous such days since that wintry evening in 1959. November 10, 2006, June 25, 2009, and February 11, 2012 all come to mind. I recall, vividly in fact, what I was doing at the pivotal moment when I heard the saddest of news on each of those days.
Friday evening, November 10, 2006, I was attending Homecoming/Black Alumni Reunion activities at the University of NorthCarolina (Chapel Hill) when a newsflash interrupted regular programming to announce that singer Gerald Levert had been found dead at home in his bed. Gerald, who was known as the Teddy Bear, was my favorite male vocalist. While it was initially reported that he died of a heart attack, an autopsy later revealed that his death was caused by a lethal combination of prescription narcotics and over-the-counter drugs. Gerald had been self-medicating for acute pain lingering from shoulder surgery, and he also had pneumonia. He was 40 years old.
Thursday afternoon, June 25, 2009, I was taking a break between games hooping (er a, playing basketball, that is) at First Baptist Church in “up-town” Charlotte, when some one indicated TMZ had just reported Michael Jackson died.
News of the King of Pop’s death spread so quickly online that both the TMZ and the Los Angeles Times websites experienced outages, Google believed it was under cyber-attack and blocked searches for Michael Jackson for 30 minutes, Twitter and Wikipedia crashed, and AOL shut down for 40 minutes.
Michael died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication after suffering from cardiac arrest. His death was ruled a homicide, and Dr. Conrad Murray, his personal physician was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Saturday evening, February 11, 2012, I was at Time Warner Cable Arena in
Of these three icons, Gerald Levert claimed the biggest physical stature. He had a voice that could fill any venue, but his voice and talent were always matched, and occasionally overshadowed by his size and weight, with which he admittedly struggled. Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. His showmanship was matchless, and his career accomplishments dwarfed most, and paled in comparison to none. But Whitney Houston was “the Voice.” At her peak, she commanded a combination of range, pitch, and power, accented by a complementary subtlety that was not just unique, but stellar.
She was also an actress, a producer, and a model, but really, she was such a commanding presence in the arena of her principal craft, singing, she would never be fully appreciated for what were considered her ancillary talents. The Guinness World Records cited Whitney as the most awarded female act of all times. All times! Her awards include two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards in her lifetime.
Without question, “Last Saturday The Music Died: Déjà vu All Over Again!” I’m done; holla back!
Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment