#Mary Elaine LeBey

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mary Elaine LeBey

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“All too often women believe it is a sign of commitment, an expression of love, to endure unkindness or cruelty, to forgive and forget. In actuality, when we love rightly we know that the healthy, loving response to cruelty and abuse is putting ourselves out of harm's way.” ― Bell Hooks, All About Love: New Visions

#Bell Hooks #quotes #All About Love: New Visions #Mary Elaine LeBey #women #feminism #power

[heronstill]

80th Anniversary - December 7th, 1941 - women firefighters doing their part, as planes with bombs soared over their heads.

ph Mary Elaine LeBey

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Song of the Day - Happy 60th Birthday to “Surfer Girl”, by The Beach Boys, the single of which was released on July 22nd 1963.

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The B-side was “Little Deuce Coupe”. This song was written and then lead-sung by Brian Wilson, who composed it in his head in his car one afternoon, inspired by his three-year girlfriend Judy Bowles. Brian says this tune was also inspired, style-wise, by Dion’s “When You Wish Upon A Star”. The song was instantly popular, with Cash Box Magazine calling it a “lilting soft beat-ballad charmer.” This song is most famous for being Brian’s first solo songwriting song. … He was 19. The song has endured as one of the band’s most popular, and they still play it in every concert. An irresistible singalong classic. And the first glimmers of Brian’s genius

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

#music #songs #Surfer Girl #The beach boys #1960s #Brian wilson #Mary Elaine LeBey

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Quote of the Day... 60th Anniversary.... the last line of the speech JFK didn't get to give...

“Neither the fanatics nor the fainthearted are needed. And our duty as a Party is not to our party alone, but to the nation, and indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom. ..So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nation’s future is at stake.”

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

#JFK #quotes #Mary Elaine LeBey #peace and freedom #history

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

TODAY’S FROZEN MOMENT - 50 Years Ago Today - March 12th, 1974 This debauched trio - Harry Nilsson, John Lennon and May Pang went out together on one hell of a bender, in LA… Now called by history books John’s “Lost Weekend”, this night found him out with somewhat-sanctioned mistress May Pang and his pal Harry Nilsson, at the Troubadour Club in West Hollywood… The Smothers Brothers were performing … This rowdy trio got drunk rude and began loudly heckling the brothers, hurling nasty insults at them… The club had them bodily removed… and the press in the aftermath was brutal to Nilsson, who they decided should take all the heat for the ugly evening… They all said he as a bad influence on John… As Nilsson later recalled, "It ruined my reputation for 10 years. Get one Beatle drunk and look what happens.”

Mary Elaine LeBey

#stories #Harry Nilsson #John Lennon #May Pang #Mary Elaine LeBey

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

TODAY’S FROZEN MOMENTS - 80 Years Ago Today - July 14th, 1943, German former athlete and then soldier Luz Long was killed in battle. But just before his death, knowing it would be his last gesture, he wrote a letter to his close friend asking a last favor of him. His friend was American track star Jesse Owens.

Luz Long had been the German long jump champion six times - in 1933, 1034, 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1939. He was arguably the best long jumper in the world - that is until he went to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, and had to settle for the silver medal in his event, the gold going famously to American Jess Owens.

But, Luz Long’s greater legacy might be his friendship with Owens, which happened during those Olympic Games on 1936, when Long befriending Owens was a dangerous brave act to do under the nose of Adolf Hitler. As Owens remembers, "It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler.… You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment. Hitler must have gone crazy watching us embrace…”

In this last letter Long wrote to his friend Jesse, he said, “I am here, Jesse, where it seems there is only the dry sand and the wet blood. I do not fear so much for myself, my friend Jesse, I fear for my woman who is home, and my young son Karl, who has never really known his father. My heart tells me, if I be honest with you, that this is the last letter I shall ever write. If it is so, I ask you something. It is a something so very important to me. It is you go to Germany when this war done, someday find my Karl, and tell him about his father. Tell him, Jesse, what times were like when we not separated by war. I am saying—tell him how things can be between men on this earth. Your brother, Luz’”

After writing and posting this letter, Long was killed in action, 80 years ago today.

Jesse Owens did indeed travel to Germany after the war and delivered this story and message and gratitude and admiration to Luz Long’s song Karl., fulfilling his friend’s dying request.

These two shots are of Owens with Luz, and then later with Karl.

[h/t and thank you to Mary Elaine LeBey]

#stories #friendship #spirit buddies #Mary Elaine LeBey #frozen moments #one moment in time #WWII

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

TODAY'S FROZEN MOMENT - 10th Anniversary of this amazing shot... March 27th, 2014 -

As dawn broke over the Paranal Observatory in Chile, visiting photographer, Iranian Babak Tafreshi, photographed the Milky Way - or at least the center of it - as it passed directly overhead....this fisheye shot truly producing a moment of awe... Tafreshi is the founder and director of The World at Night, a group of photographers who work to share the beauty of the night sky... a star chaser and immensely talented shooter... his work is life-affirming and stunning… and great for the soul...

(Mary Elaine LeBey)

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We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.

“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

[alive on all channels]

#space #the Milky Way #Babak Tafreshi #photography #Mary Elaine LeBey #alive on all channels #The alchemist #Paulo Coelho

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Sign(s) of the Day - March 21st is, among other things, World Poetry Day... This sign, and the other two that followed it, are a salute to poets and creative smartasses…

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

#signage #poem #poetry #Mary Elaine LeBey #World Poetry Day

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

TODAY'S FROZEN MOMENT - Today marks the 65th Anniversary of this phenomenal photo - August 12th, 1958 - this now-famous photo was taken… later to be given the title "A Great Day in Harlem" when it was published in Esquire magazine. Art Kane, an art director for the magazine, was finally allowed to do a photo assignment... A jazz lover, Kane said he wanted to assemble the best in jazz for a shot, at 10 in the morning... Most people laughed at him...but...somehow he pulled this off; they showed up...as requested, to 17 East 126th Street...astonishing really... Subsequently, a documentary about the photo added to the magic... as did the allowance of the neighbors, the kids in the front and the folks in the windows… just so special… See below for a list of who's who... of the 57 musicians here, only 2 remain: Sonny Rollins and Benny Golson... but the shot, like all of the music, is eternal…

[01 – Hilton Jefferson, 02 – Benny Golson, 03 – Art Farmer, 04 – Wilbur Ware, 05 – Art Blakey, 06 – Chubby Jackson, 07 – Johnny Griffin, 08 – Dickie Wells, 09 – Buck Clayton, 10 – Taft Jordan, 11 – Zutty Singleton, 12 – Red Allen, 13 – Tyree Glenn, 14 – Miff Molo, 15 – Sonny Greer, 16 – Jay C. Higginbotham, 17 – Jimmy Jones, 18 – Charles Mingus, 19 – Jo Jones, 20 – Gene Krupa, 21 – Max Kaminsky, 22 – George Wettling, 23 – Bud Freeman, 24 – Pee Wee Russell, 25 – Ernie Wilkins, 26 – Buster Bailey, 27 – Osie Johnson, 28 – Gigi Gryce, 29 – Hank Jones, 30 – Eddie Locke, 31 – Horace Silver, 32 – Luckey Roberts, 33 – Maxine Sullivan, 34 – Jimmy Rushing, 35 – Joe Thomas, 36 – Scoville Browne, 37 – Stuff Smith, 38 – Bill Crump, 39 – Coleman Hawkins, 40 – Rudy Powell, 41 – Oscar Pettiford, 42 – Sahib Shihab, 43 – Marian McPartland, 44 – Sonny Rollins, 45 – Lawrence Brown, 46 – Mary Lou Williams, 47 – Emmett Berry, 48 – Thelonius Monk, 49 – Vic Dickenson, 50 – Milt Hinton, 51 – Lester Young, 52 – Rex Stewart, 53 – J.C. Heard, 54 – Gerry Mulligan, 55 – Roy Eldridge, 56 – Dizzy Gillespie, 57 – Count Basie.]

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

#Mary Elaine LeBey #Jazz #music #hall of fame #history

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Song of the Day - "The Boxer"

Today marks the 55th anniversary of Simon and Garfunkel releasing the single “The Boxer” - March 21st, 1969.

The plaintive ballad, written by Simon, was recorded over a hundred plus hours in several different recording venues - from under the dome at St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University in New York, to Nashville’s Columbia Studio. The Nashville sessions included famed pedal steel player Curly Chalker, harmonica player Charlie McCoy, and guitarist Fred Carter, Jr. who played with Simon.

The famous bullet-sounding drum was the legendary Hal Blaine of the Wrecking Crew, who they placed in a hallway next to the elevator shaft for get the effect they wanted - that sounded like a cannon going off.

Simon has said the lyrics were a metaphor for his feeling beat up by critics, but as it evolved it became more about poverty and loneliness.

The famous “lie la lie” chorus was a place-holder of Simon’s for which he hadn’t written lyrics yet… but it just kinda stuck. But he says every time he does them, he’s embarrassed.

As for legacy, it is one of the very few songs Dylan ever covered. A beauty of a ballad...

(Mary Elaine LeBey)

#Mary Elaine LeBey #songs #music #my favorites #Simon and garfunkle #The Boxer #stories #songwriters

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Happy Fat Tuesday Y'all! Laissez Les Bontemps Roulez!! 

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

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“America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.” ― Tennessee Williams

#NOLA #New Orleand #Tennessee Williams #Mary Elaine LeBey #Fath Tuesday #Mardi Gras

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Song of the Day - “Can’t Find My Way Home” Today marks the 55th anniversary/birthday of Blind Faith. This short-lived but magical band formed today, February 8th, 1969, in Berkshire, in England… Made up of Stevie Winwood, Eric Clapton, Rick Grech, and Ginger Baker, Blind Faith were a beautiful asteroid… They existed for just one year, did one brief tour, and gifted us exactly one album. And it was enough. If all they left us was this one song, it would be plenty. “Can’t Find My Way Home” was written by Stevie Winwood, and, as nice as the original recording is (except for the overly-loud tambourine) .. do yourself the great favor of listening to Stevie doing this second recording of Stevie doing the song solo while sitting at his hearth… I saw Stevie and Eric on a tour they did right around this time, at Madison Square Garden, and that stellar voice of Stevie’s is intact and maybe even better with age… it really restores one’s faith - blind or otherwise - in the lasting beauty of a great song… almost nothing better… All Hail Stevie and Blind Faith

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

#Blind Faith #Stevie Winwood #songs #music #history #Mary Elaine LeBey #Can't Find My Way Home #Youtube

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Art Tatum :: Tenderly

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Song of the Day - “Tenderly”

70 years ago today, December 29th, 1953, the brilliant piano man Art Tatum had an impressive recording session.

Tatum, who was universally seen as a genius pianist, never seemed to have a successful career commercially. He always worked, and is cited by most every other piano player of the era as being a teacher and an inspiration. But he just never had a career commensurate with that stature.

Tatum also had a terribly unhealthy lifestyle, drinking vast quantities of beer while only exercising enough to get himself from one club to the next. By 1953, Tatum’s kidneys had started to fail.

But the smart impresario producer Norman Granz decided to do right by Tatum, by at least immortalizing him forever on record. He signed Tatum to one of his labels, Clef Records, and on December 29th, 1953, booked Tatum a studio, open-endedly, put a few cases of Pabst on ice, and told Tatum he wanted to record his entire repertoire… or really just whatever the heck Tatum felt like putting down. Tatum obliged with recording an astonishing sixty-nine acceptable tracks - by midday.

One of the tracks was this one, “Tenderly”, which was composed as a waltz by Water Gross, a pianist and a conductor at CBS Radio in the 30s and 40s. Years later, the lyricist Jack Lawrence added the lyrics. But Gross always said the song was meant as “pianistic” and that Tatum’s performance of it was/is the ultimate interpretation ever.

This is classic Art Tatum, who really may indeed “own” “Tenderly”…

The album Granz made out of this day of tracks recorded, was titled “Tenderly”… and the whole album is sublime, all standards… each one outdoing the last… On the other tracks, Granz added in sidefolk - some drums and bass… But “Tenderly” needed none…

[Thanks to Mary Elaine LeBey]

#music #songs #Tenderly #Art Tatum #jazz #piano #Mary Elaine LeBey #Youtube

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

TODAY'S FROZEN MOMENT - 65 Years Ago Today - January 22nd, 1959 - here are Waylon Jennings and Buddy Holly in a photobooth shot taken in Grand Central Station as they left off on The Winter Dance Party tour...

Buddy would be dead in a few days...

But here are two old friends from Texas hamming it up in a photobooth.

Buddy had taken Waylon under his wing as teenagers back in Lubbock as his bass player, and he kept him close from then on...

They wrote a couple songs together...

Famously Waylon was bumped from the charter plane to the next gig which took Buddy's life and the others...

Even earlier this day, Buddy had sat in his NYC apartment and recorded, in a flurry of creativity, five songs, just solo on his acoustic guitar... the recordings were found later, taken into the studio and overdubbed and released posthumously…

But this photo, like the music, is eternal...

(Mary Elaine LeBey)

#Buddy Holly #Waylon Jennings #photobooth #friendship #music #Today's Frozen Moment #Mary Elaine LeBey #Rock and Roll #history

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

TODAY’S FROZEN MOMENT - 90 Years Ago Today - June 11th, 1933 - Anglo-Irish activist Charlotte Despard riles the crowd at an anti-Fascist rally in Trafalgar Square. Fascinating character Charlotte was. A pacifist, socialist, novelist and famed suffragette, she led countless initiatives and protests on behalf of the poor, women’s equality, against war, and for several political causes. She was frequently arrested, but was fearless and tireless, and her speeches, like this one here, riveted the crowds… Feisty girl…

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

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“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt

#fascism #Charlotte Despard #anti-fascist #quotes #FDR #Franklin Delano Roosevelt #Mary Elaine LeBey

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

TODAY'S FROZEN MOMENT - 85th Anniversary - March 15th, 1939 - Hitler and the Nazis just rolled right into Prague, taking Czechoslovakia... easy peasy... Amazes me that history doesn't resonate with so many people... After America gave so much precious blood to defeat this monster, here we are just a generation later, where we have almost an entire party of Americans who would let this era's monster have his way and have America cease to support his defeat. That the vast majority of the GOP, and even the son of RFK, would see America's support of Ukraine as something not worthy of doing, is incredible to me. Disgusting ... tragically shameful...

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

#mary elaine lebey #Today's Frozen Moments #Nazis in Prague #history #nazis #America's support of Ukraine