joey bishop, the high priest of schlock comedy and the last of the fudge packers, died in the chocolate city at the age of 89. to be frank, he was a dean of comedy, and i could listen to his jokes every davis of the week. there should be a lawford against someone being that funny. he had all the peter o'toole's that a comedian needs, i'm shirley about that. great scott, it is hard to imagine a world without him.
we in this country have a limited view of what we consider to be an assasination. i would like to bring up a few cases that are never thought of as such, if they are thought of at all. i believe they demonstrate modern variations of slavery and show the total control that the powerfully corrupt continue to exercise over independent, talented, often BLACK people.
Rudy Lewis, lead singer for the drifters on such hits as "on broadway" and "up on the roof" decided he was gonna go out on his own to start a solo career. shortly afterward, he was found dead in a hotel.
Sam Cooke, whose "a change is gonna come" had been done within the previous year, who would not allow himself to be controlled by the mob, and had recently started his own record label, has his clothes and wallet stolen by a young white woman that he has taken up to hotel room for an asexual conversation on the literature of faulkner and a game of checkers. furious, he runs downstairs, and becomes convinced that the host of the hotel is hiding the young woman. a tussle ensues and cooke is shot dead. the host, a black woman in her 40's, will later claim at trial THAT SHE HAS NEVER HEARD OF COOKE, A HUGE STAR AT THAT TIME. the host is found not guilty.
Wardell Gray, a 26 year old tenor sax player of tremendous ability, is fond of discussing the philosophy of sartre and the politics of henry wallace, who attempted to get a 3rd party started in this country when he realized the militaristic, right wing elements within the democratic party were taking the party completely over. Gray, who friend hampton hawes said would never touch drugs, is found dead with a broken neck in a river in las vegas.
There are many more such cases, but these will suffice for now. murder is used by those in power much more than we would like to admit. just ask your average iraqi.
there is a group that unites the children of holocaust survivors with the children of nazis. this seems a good idea and got me to thinking about other groups that may be worth having. how about...
the children of massacred indigenous cultures with the children of savage european colonialists. (wait a second, we already have that, it's called america) the children of african slaves with the children of african slaveholders. (wait a second, we already have that, it's called america) the children of those who had half of mexico stolen from them with the children of those who stole half of mexico. (wait a second, we already have that, it's called america) the children and parents who are having their country destroyed in iraq with the parents and children who are destroying that country with cluster bombs, depleted uranium, and torture to bring them something our leaders call "freedom" but which is called genocide when done by others.
these are just a few ideas. many more could be discussed. but no, we would rather shed crocodile tears over something someone else did than to face the genocide in our past, present and you can be sure, future.
i went to a dinah down the shore. the food was good. it was called bob the chef's and they were playing sam cooke on the stereo. jack was the dj and when i looked, dennis johnson and the celtics (pronounced keltics, for there is no such thing as a celtic) were playing coleman hawkins and the atlanta hawks. i watched the game like a hawk while a chain gang passed by my window. if only silberg had been there, but he was doing time, the only thing that would agree to have sex with him. silberg often expressed his opinion that sex was overrated, particularly when he wasn't having it. he would say there were many things better than sex, including the music of victor borge, the writings of zane, and watching ken burns's documentaries straight no chaser locked in your living room like a monk. there is room for many more of these jokes, say what you will. i was gonna write my will, but it didn't feel right. who should i leave my copy of "jackie sings the blues" to? thousands are fighting over it, and i know how ugly people can get, even when they are not fighting. ugly betty wants it, you can betty your life on that. she is a girl who knows how to have pun, realizes that nelson riddle was a bitch, and can have me in stitches when she spins those yarns of hers. i never run out of material. there is no need for me to hem and hampton hawes, and that is the 88 keys to my success. freddy redd that line and liked it, saying that he thought it was james worthy of a horace silver medal, or at least, an oscar peterson. by the way "jews without money" by mike gold is a great book. it is more lasting than bronze.
until then, keep your ears open.
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