Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 893

Musicians @ Google: Eric Roberson

AtGoogleTalks
Two time Grammy-nominated artist Eric Roberson visits Google NYC for an exclusive acoustic performance followed by an interview.

The Music1. "Change For Me" (The Vault 1.5)2. "Dealing" (Music Fan First)3. Improvised song with audience4. "Shake Her Hand" (Mister Nice Guy)5. "Couldn't Hear Me" (The Vault 1.5) 
Eric Roberson - vocalsIan McColly - guitar
Conversation with Ryan Loren

Marvin Junior: The Multi-Generational "Voice" of Black Culture by Bob Davis

The Dells at the Rock Hall with filmaker Robert Townsend.  Marvin Junior: The Multi-Generational "Voice" of Black Culture by Bob Davis of Soul-Patrol.com | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile)
My very first encounter with the Dells was in 1969. I had just heard the song "Oh What a Night" on the radio in NYC. I was listening to the radio in my bedroom and of course I thought the song was off the hook. As the song was just about to end, my father walked in to the room and said:
Mr. Davis: What's that you are listening to?
Young Earthjuice: It's a brand new song.
Mr. Davis: That song isn't new.
Young Earthjuice: Frankie Crocker just said that; "it's the brand new release from the Dells."
Mr. Davis: It may be a new release, but that song is old as dirt. It first came out when I was a teenager and the guy singing it has to be at least my age, if not older.
Sure enough, as I would later learn, via continuous listening to Frankie Crocker,  that the Dells had indeed originally released the song "Oh What a Night," back in 1955. Frankie said that it had been a hit song and that the Dells were one of the few "doo wop" groups that were still around and kicking.  He also said that the Dells lead singer Marvin Junior had co-written and sang on the original 1955 version of the song.
Years later when I met Marvin Junior, I told him that story. He told me that he has heard a variation of that same story many times from many different people. He said that every time he hears it that it made him smile because it means that the Dells are truly "multi-generational."
And that they are. Marvin Junior might just be the single most influential "voice" in the history of Black music. His influence on male singers like Teddy Pendergrass, David Ruffin, Cee Lo Green and others are quite obvious. Other influences are just as powerful, but perhaps not quite so obvious. Take for example our friend Chuck D, front man of the legendary rap group Public Enemy. A few years ago, Chuck D. told me that when he first started, he intentionally set out to sound as much like Marvin Junior as possible. I didn't quite believe him, so I decided to spend an afternoon listening to Public Enemy songs & Dells songs, back to back to back. The vocal similarities are astounding. Chuck really does sound like Marvin. Not exactly, but "almost," in the same kind of way that Teddy Pendergrass and David Ruffin did.
So one way we can think about Marvin Junior is that his influence runs from "doo wop to hip hop."
But more important would be to think about and consider exactly why Marvin would have such a multi-generational influence?
Well I think that is also painfully obvious. Marvin's voice is that of a proud and virile Black man. It is of someone who recognizes the struggle that he faces and faces it head on. It is a voice of teachers and preachers. It is a voice that all men who want to influence others would want to emulate. It is in fact the voice of leadership. Listen carefully to speeches of people like Martin Luther King. Jr.,  Jessie Jackson, Louis Farrakhan and  others. Listen to the voices of some of your favorite Black politicians, DJs, actors, etc. Don't many of them sound like they are emulating the voice of Marvin Junior?
All of this may just be too much to think about or to consider, after all, wasn't this man just a singer? Or even just a great singer?
Well perhaps you are correct?
Perhaps it is all too complex to think about?
Maybe I should just let it go?
After all, the whole topic of Rhythm & Blues itself is a pretty complex topic, and perhaps its complexity is best left alone and we should simply focus on the songs?
Marvin Junior wasn't really what you would consider "computer literate."
However he was quite interested in Soul-Patrol. He told me that he would have someone print out many of the things I had written, and whenever I would see him, we would have conversations about some of the topics I had written about.
Once backstage Marvin said to me; "Bob one of the reasons that I like you so much is because you understand that Rhythm & Blues is a complex thing.
Of course I knew just where he was going, but I could tell that he wanted to let it all out, so I said to him...How so Marvin?
Marvin said; "One of the reasons why some Americans prefer Blues over Rhythm and Blues, is because Blues is pretty simple. Blues is easy to play and it's easy to relate to. Blues is straightforward, simple, and reflects a back to a time that is simple and uncomplicated. Rhythm and Blues on the other hand was born first of the complexities of the great migration of Blacks from the south, then the complexities of World War II and the integration movement of the 1950's/1960's. Rhythm and Blues is complex, it's harder to play, harder to interpret, it's complicated and carries with it implications for America that some Americans don't want to deal with."
Of course I smiled and when I did, I thought about all of the people from the major music publications who questioned why the Dells belonged in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame. They told me that they thought the Dells weren't significant enough, that they hadn't accomplished enough, etc. I could look into their eyes and know what they were really thinking.
They were thinking; "the Dells are nothing but a broken down, bunch of dumb doo wop singers."
They never bothered to get to know Marvin Junior and that was their loss. They just might have missed out on their opportunity to learn something about Rhythm and Blues. But then again, maybe that is what they were afraid of?
Back to that "leadership thing" for just a moment...
Whenever I was around Marvin and started talking about artists like Smokey Robinson or Lionel Ritchie, Marvin would always say the same thing...
"Bob, what I don't understand is why when these guys decide to go solo, they don't take the rest of the group with them? Seems to me that even as a solo artist, you still need background singers, why not keep the same background singers who made you successful in the first place? After all, these are the people who best know how to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses..."
Now to be perfectly clear, speaking as someone who knows the Dells very well, I can tell you that the Dells don't have a "leader."
They are the shining example of "harmony" on multiple levels, which each member making a valuable contribution to the whole, if often unseen by the general public. Notice I didn't say that they always agree on everything. But they always found a way to make "harmony" out of a disagreement. That's the reason why the Dells have been together for so long, unlike many of their contemporaries.
But Marvin was their lead singer, on most of their songs. And he certainly could have become a "solo artist" had he wanted to. But instead he stands as a shining example of "leadership among equals." And that my friends is something that we can all take inspiration from.
RIP - Marvin Junior

***

Bob Davis is co-owner/creator (with his brother Mike) of the award winning Soul-Patrol.com.  Davis was instrumental, along with Soul-Patrol.com, in helping The Dells to become inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Follow him on Twitter @Kozmicfunk.

30 Days of 'Left of Black': Joshua Bennett

30 Days of 'Left of Black': Joshua Bennett

One of the best things about an institution like Duke University is the number of  “major figures”—to riff off of James Braxton Peterson—who come through on a regular basis.  As you will see during the course of 30 Days of Left of Black, we’ve been fortunate to get many folks to spend some time with us in our studios in the John Hope Franklin Center.  Josh Bennett with William 'Sandy' Darity and Mark Anthony NealWhen Joshua Bennettcame to visit in September of 2010, it was our first opportunity to have a live performance on the show.   Joshua had been burning up the Spoken Word circuit as Brave New Voices champion, performing at the White House, and then there was the viral response to his piece “10 Things I Want to Say to a Black Woman.”  My best friend Franklin Paul, Jr. and I, have often joked that Joshua—wearing his “thing” t-shirt—was the kind of dude we’d hope our daughters would end up with—if they were inclined. I was unaware of this Joshua when I first met him in the Fall of 2008 at the University of Pennsylvania, where I was a visiting scholar for the semester.  Joshua was one of four undergraduates in a graduate seminar that I taught called (Il)Legible Blackness, and easily established himself as one of the sharpest minds in a class that included current Northwestern Professor C. Riley Snorton and Dr. Khadijah White.
When Joshua visited the Left of Black studios, he was months away from beginning his Marshall Scholarship and a year away from beginning his doctoral work at Princeton University. Three years later this episode is still one of my favorites.

The Feminist Wire: Feminists We Love—Tracy D. Sharpley Whiting

The Feminist Wire

Tracy D. Sharpley-Whiting is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Distinguished Professor of Humanities (AADS and French). She teaches comparative diasporic literary and cultural movements, 18th & 19th century French narratives, Black France, Black Europe, colonialism and empire, critical theory and race, feminist studies, Jazz Age Paris, film and black popular culture. She was Director of the W.T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire and Modern French Studies from 2006-2012.
She is the author/editor or co-editor of eleven books. Her latest, Pimps Up, Ho’s Down: Hip Hop’s Hold on Young Black Women, received the 2007 Emily Toth Award from the American Culture Association/Popular Culture Association for the Best Single Work by One or More Authors in Women’s Issues.  She has recently edited and translated, Beyond Negritude: Essays from Woman in the City (SUNY Press, forthcoming 2009), a book on Paulette Nardal and the Martinican journal La Femme dans la Cité as well as a collection on Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” address entitled, THE SPEECH: Race and Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” for Bloomsbury USA (2009). She is co-editor of the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism (2nd Edition) and series editor of “Blacks in the Diaspora” (Indiana University Press) and co-editor with Robert Bernasconi of “Philosophy and Race” (SUNY Press). She currently directs the Research Center arm of AADS.  She is author of the forthcoming Bricktop’s Paris and The Autobiography of Ada “Bricktop” Smith.

30 Days of ‘Left of Black’: Novelist Zelda Lockhart and Professor Stephane Dunn

30 Days of ‘Left of Black’:  Novelist Zelda Lockhart and Morehouse Professor Stephane Dunn

We had no idea what Left of Black was going to be.  The germ of the idea came from Duke News and Communications staffers Camille Jackson and James Todd; the title was all mine, though folk at Duke still ask, what exactly it means—I remain coy.
Within a month of the idea, we were in production, acquiring on-campus partners at the John Hope Franklin Center, a space at Duke I have special affection for as it was where the Department of African & African-American Studies was housed when I first came to Duke, and of course, the building’s namesake, who could often be found pulling up to the building in his Lexus, preparing to hold court with whoever was interested (and we were always interested).
The Center’s director Jason Doty handled Left of Black's branding and Catherine Angst, the center’s videographer, became the show’s director and producer.  There’s much to be said about the young White woman from Pennsylvania, who knew little about African-American Studies when we began the show, but who’s comfort and dexterity with archival material has given Left of Black its distinct look—just check the show’s Pinterest page.  We were also fortunate to have Gavin Wells come on-board, an undergraduate at HBCU North Carolina Central University who participated in an internship program between our two institutions; he shot B-roll footage for us throughout the first year.  Later in the year we also were joined by Laura Maule, a Duke undergraduate, who would work with the show for three years until her recent graduation, organizing our social media presence and booking guests.
We of course needed some theme music and my friend and “Sampling Soul” teaching partner Patrick Douthit—9th Wonder—didn’t hesitate to send us that “your point of view” ("Merry Go Round")  beat, that so resonated with the themes of the series.
For the very first episode, broadcast on September 13, 2010, I went to people I could trust.  Zelda Lockhart’s first novel, First Born, was published by one of the imprints at a big New York publishing house in 2002.  When that publisher essentially canned her second novel Cold Running Creek, she took the unprecedented step of buying her work back from the publisher (at great cost) and published the book herself.  Zelda’s DIY style—she will launch LaVenson Press Studios in June of this year—was exactly the kind of spirit that we wanted to embrace with Left of Black.  Why wait for Charlie Rose or NPR to have conversations with Black thinkers and artists?  Do it yourself.
We were also joined by Morehouse Professor Stephane Dunne, author of "Baad Bitches" and Sassy Supermamas: Black Power Action Films, who discussed Reggie Rockbythewood’s 30 for 30 documentary One Night in Vegas , about the friendship between Mike Tyson and the late Tupac Skakur.  In the first year, we were still committed to the show having a local presence, so between segments there is a “question of the week,” where we ask local residents questions relevant to the week’s show.
Mark Anthony Neal, Ph.D.Host, Left of BlackProfessor of African & African American Studies at Duke University

NAACP Head Ben Jealous on Assata Shakur, Black Political Prisoners and Unsolved Lynchings

Democracy Now
Earlier this month, former Black Panther Assata Shakur was added to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist List, becoming the first woman ever to make the list. In addition, the state of New Jersey announced it was adding $1 million to the FBI's $1 million reward for her capture. She was convicted in the May 2, 1973, killing of a New Jersey police officer during a shootout that left one of her fellow activists dead. She was shot twice by police during the incident. In 1979, she managed to escape from jail. Shakur fled to Cuba where she received political asylum. Shakur has long proclaimed her innocence and accused federal authorities of political persecution. We ask NAACP President Benjamin Jealous about her case. "We have not taken any position on the Shakur case," Jealous says. "But I do think that if we are going to heal as a nation, we must look at the violence, the sort of politically motivated violence on both sides, and figure out how we heal both at once."

Tell Me More: Audra McDonald Goes Back Home With New Album

Looking for Leroy? Op-Docs: Subway Ballet

TheNewYorkTimes

Young -- Black and Brown -- men perform daring aerial dances in a crowded New York City subway car.

Read the story here: http://nyti.ms/112IdFj

Did Public Television Commit Self-Censorship to Appease Billionaire Funder David Koch?

Democracy Now

Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal say plans for their new documentary to air on public television have been quashed after billionaire Republican David Koch complained about the PBS broadcast of another film critical of him, "Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream," by acclaimed filmmaker Alex Gibney. Lessin and Deal were in talks to broadcast their film, "Citizen Koch," on PBS until their agreement with the Independent Television Service fell through. The New Yorker reports the dropping of "Citizen Koch" may have been influenced by Koch's response to Gibney's film, which aired on PBS stations, including WNET in New York late last year. 
"Citizen Koch" tells the story of the landmark Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court that opened the door to unlimited campaign contributions from corporations. It focuses on the role of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity in backing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has pushed to slash union rights while at the same time supporting tax breaks for large corporations. The controversy over Koch's influence on PBS comes as rallies were held in 12 cities Wednesday to protest the possible sale of The Tribune newspaper chain, including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, to Koch Industries, run by David Koch and his brother Charles.

Bono: "Nile Rodgers Wrote the Future"

Charlie Rose Show
Bono on Nile Rogers of Chic