~
mentions:
Bette Davis - 1937
publicity photo
Showing posts with label Howard Hughes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Howard Hughes. Show all posts
November 15, 2021
September 22, 2021
Richard Gere articles/mentions
Edward Hopper ~ House by the Railroad
King Sunny Ade ~ Aura
January 25, 2021
20,000 vinyl LPs 268: Leadbelly's Last Sessions ~ Volume Two
~
photo by James Chapelle
photo of album cover by Styrous®
A couple of days ago was the birthday of Huddie Ledbetter, AKA Lead Belly. He was born on January 23, 1888, on a plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana. He was an American folk and blues singer, musician and songwriter notable for his strong vocals and virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar. He also played the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, and windjammer, a type of accordion.
He was also known for the folk standards he introduced, including his renditions of Goodnight, Irene, Midnight Special, Cotton Fields, and Boll Weevil.
Lead Belly's songs covered a wide range of genres and topics including gospel music; blues
about women, liquor, prison life, and racism; and folk songs about
cowboys, prison, work, sailors, cattle herding, and dancing. He also
wrote songs about people in the news, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Jean Harlow, Jack Johnson, the Scottsboro Boys and Howard Hughes. Lead Belly was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
He sang a great cover of the House Of The Rising Sun, however, it sounds nothing like the Eric Burdon & The Animals version.
In 2015, Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, was released.
It is a five-disc set that is the first comprehensive overview of this
monumental, sprawling career. The compilation, a follow-up to a 2012
Grammy-winning Woody Guthrie
boxed set, includes 108 songs (most taken from the Folkways archives),
16 of them previously unreleased. One of the discs comes from a series
of radio shows that Lead Belly made for WNYC in the 1940s, which have
seldom been heard since. Mr. Guthrie recommended him for the show,
telling the producer that of all the living folk singers he’d ever seen,
“Lead Belly is ahead of them all.”
This is the two record set that was recorded (with Vol 1) over 3 nights in September/October 1948 in the New York City apartment of Frederic Ramsey Jr. Apart for a few minor edits, the
sessions are presented as recorded, including Leadbelly's introductions and general between-song chat. It was Lead Belly's only commercial recordings on magnetic tape. The set includes a booklet with liner notes by Ramsey.
photos by James Chapelle
photo of album booklet by Styrous®
photos by James Chapelle
photo of album booklet by Styrous®
photos by James Chapelle
photo of album booklet by Styrous®
photos by James Chapelle
photo of album booklet by Styrous®
vinyl LP record labels, side 1 & 2
photos by Styrous®
vinyl LP record labels, side 3 & 4
photos by Styrous®
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 Midnight Special
A2 Boll Weevil Blues
A3 Careless Love
A4 Easy Rider
A5 Cry For Me
A6 Ain't Going' Drink No More
A7 Birmingham Jail
A8 Old Riley
A9 Julie Ann Johnson
A10 It's Tight Like That
A2 Boll Weevil Blues
A3 Careless Love
A4 Easy Rider
A5 Cry For Me
A6 Ain't Going' Drink No More
A7 Birmingham Jail
A8 Old Riley
A9 Julie Ann Johnson
A10 It's Tight Like That
Side 2:
B1 4, 5, And 9
B2 Good Morning Babe
B3 Jail House Blues
B4 Well You Know I Had To Do It
B5 Irene
B6 Story Of The 25 Cent Dude
B7 How Come You Do Me Like You Do Do Do
B8 Hello Central, Give Me Long Distance Phone
B9 The Hesitation Blues
B10 I'll Be Down On The Last Bread Wagon
B2 Good Morning Babe
B3 Jail House Blues
B4 Well You Know I Had To Do It
B5 Irene
B6 Story Of The 25 Cent Dude
B7 How Come You Do Me Like You Do Do Do
B8 Hello Central, Give Me Long Distance Phone
B9 The Hesitation Blues
B10 I'll Be Down On The Last Bread Wagon
Side 3:
Side 4:
D1 Talk About Fannin Street
D2 Fannin Street
D3 Sugared Beer
D4 Didn't Old John Cross The Water
D5 Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out
D6 Bully Of The Town
D7 Sweet Jenny Lee
D8 Yellow Gal
D9 He Was The Man
D10 We're In The Same Boat, Brother
D11 Leaving Blues
C1 Springtime In The Rockies
C2 Chinatown
C3 Rock Island Line
C4 Backwater Blues
C5 Sweet Mary
C6 Irene
C7 Easy, Mr Tom
C8 In The Evening When The Sun Goes Down
C9 I'm Alone Because I Love You
C10 House Of The Rising Sun
C11 Mary Don't You Weep And Don't You Moan
C2 Chinatown
C3 Rock Island Line
C4 Backwater Blues
C5 Sweet Mary
C6 Irene
C7 Easy, Mr Tom
C8 In The Evening When The Sun Goes Down
C9 I'm Alone Because I Love You
C10 House Of The Rising Sun
C11 Mary Don't You Weep And Don't You Moan
Side 4:
D1 Talk About Fannin Street
D2 Fannin Street
D3 Sugared Beer
D4 Didn't Old John Cross The Water
D5 Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out
D6 Bully Of The Town
D7 Sweet Jenny Lee
D8 Yellow Gal
D9 He Was The Man
D10 We're In The Same Boat, Brother
D11 Leaving Blues
Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – Folkways Records & Service Corp.
Pressed By – Plastylite
Credits:
Liner Notes – Frederic Ramsey Jr.
Liner Notes [Production Notes] – Moses Asch
Photography By – James Chapelle
Vocals – Martha Ledbetter (tracks: C5, C6, C10, C11, D10)
Vocals, Guitar – Huddie Ledbetter
Notes:
Recorded (with Vol 1) over 3 nights in September/October 1948 in the NYC apartment of Frederic Ramsey Jr. Apart for a few minor edits, the sessions are presented as recorded, including Leadbelly's often illuminating introductions and general between-song chat.
Includes leaflet "Leadbelly's Last Sessions" on black background and inlay folder "Leadbelly's Last Sessions" for FP 2941 and FP 2942 (on white background).
FP 242 on spine of box
FP 2942 on labels
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout etched, [Plastylite Ear] stamped): FA2942Ax ⨀ MK [Plastylite Ear]
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout stamped, 2942B 3T etched): FP 242 B [Plastylite Ear] PB 3D1 2942B 3T
Matrix / Runout (Side C runout stamped, 3T etched): FP2942 C [Plastylite Ear] PD 3D20 3T
Matrix / Runout (Side D runout stamped): [Plastylite Ear] FR2942 D PB
Leadbelly – Leadbelly's Last Sessions Volume Two
Label: Folkways Records – FP 242, Folkways Records – FP 2942
Format: Box Set, Album 2 × Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1953
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country Blues, Folk
Label: Folkways Records – FP 242, Folkways Records – FP 2942
Format: Box Set, Album 2 × Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1953
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country Blues, Folk
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Folkways ~ Lead Belly's Last Sessions
NY Times ~ Lead Belly Has a Smithsonian Moment
Washington Post ~ Lead Belly, from sharecropper & prisoner to iconic voice
YouTube links:
Huddie Ledbetter ~
"No white man ever had the blues."
~ Lead Belly
September 15, 2020
Jean Harlow articles/mentions
Howard Hughes in Hollywood
King Kong & Fay Wray
Wedding in Monaco ~ Princess Grace
Jean Harlow - ca. 1935
photographer unknown
Ginger Rogers articles/mentions
December 15, 2018
Olivia de Havilland articles/mentions
Antonin Dvořák ~ Symphony #9 (Goin' Home)
William Hopper ~ The Suave Gumshoe
Howard Hughes in Hollywood
Miklós Rózsa ~ The Lost Weekend
Olivia de Havilland - 1940
Santa Fe Trail publicity photo
April 5, 2017
Howard Hughes ~ a strange life
1905 ~ 1976
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. died over forty years ago today on April 5, 1976. He was an American entrepreneur,
known during his lifetime as one of the most financially successful
individuals in the world. He first made a name for himself as a film
producer, and then became an influential figure in the aviation
industry. Later in life, he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle, oddities that were caused in part by a worsening obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and chronic pain from a plane crash.
The Odd Beginning
The birthplace of Howard Robard Hughes Jr. is recorded as either Humble or Houston, Texas.
The date remains uncertain due to conflicting dates from various
sources. He repeatedly claimed that his birthday was on Christmas Eve. A
1941 affidavit birth certificate
of Hughes that was signed by his aunt Annette Gano Lummis and Estelle
Boughton Sharp states that he was born on December 24, 1905, in Harris County, Texas. However, his certificate of baptism recorded on October 7, 1906, in the parish register of St. John's Episcopal Church in Keokuk, Iowa, listed his birth as September 24, 1905 without any reference to the place of birth.
At a young age, Hughes demonstrated interest in science and technology. In particular, he had great engineering aptitude and built Houston's first "wireless" radio transmitter at age 11. He went on to be one of the first licensed ham radio operators in Houston, having the assigned call sign W5CY (originally 5CY). At 12, Hughes was photographed in the local newspaper, identified as being the first boy in Houston to have a "motorized" bicycle, which he had built from parts from his father's steam engine.
At a young age, Hughes demonstrated interest in science and technology. In particular, he had great engineering aptitude and built Houston's first "wireless" radio transmitter at age 11. He went on to be one of the first licensed ham radio operators in Houston, having the assigned call sign W5CY (originally 5CY). At 12, Hughes was photographed in the local newspaper, identified as being the first boy in Houston to have a "motorized" bicycle, which he had built from parts from his father's steam engine.
Howard Hughes 12yo
photographer unknown
The Bizarre End
In his final reclusive state, Hughes kept his urine stored in jars in
his room and wore Kleenex boxes as slippers due to his crippling fear of
germs. He also had a fear of radiation and pollution. During one reclusive stretch, Hughes lived for five months in a
screening studio in Hollywood. During that time, he ate and drank
exclusively Hershey Bars, pecans, and milk. One of his more odd obsessions was with peas: he would arrange them on his plate according to size.
His appearance when he was found dead was extremely grotesque. He
was covered in uncut, matted hair, had extremely long toenails, and the
once strapping, 6′ 4″ man weighed only 90 pounds.
Hughes Family grave site
photographer unknown
Time magazine cover
July 19, 1948
"Money can't buy happiness."
Viewfinder link:
Net links:
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, April 5, 2017
April 4, 2017
Howard Hughes & the "Spruce Goose" ~ November 2, 1947
Howard Hughes formed the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1932, 85 years ago. He spent the rest of the 1930s setting multiple world air speed records and building the Hughes H-1 Racer and the H-4 Hercules (also known as the "Spruce Goose"; registration NX37602). Made out of wood, it is the largest flying boat ever made.
The Hughes H-4 Hercules is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use during World War II,
it was not completed in time to be used in the war. The aircraft made
only one brief flight on November 2, 1947, and the project never
advanced beyond the single example produced.
Rearward view of the Hercules H-4's fuselage
photographer unknown
H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose"
photographer unknown
H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose"
photographer unknown
Hughes acquired and expanded Trans World Airlines and later acquired Air West, renaming it Hughes Airwest. Hughes was included in Flying Magazine's list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation, ranked at No. 25.
Hughes climbs into the cockpit of his Northrop Gamma H-1 plane
photographer unknown
Howard Hughes standing in front of the Boeing Army Pursuit Plane (Boeing 100A) in Inglewood, California in the 1940s. The black "halo" is intended to make the head stand out better. (Not uncommon at the time for photos intended to be reproduced via low resolution newsprint wire photos). The photo is from the Library of Congress, specifically reproduction # LC-USZ62-63333.
reproduction # LC-USZ62-63333
"I want to be remembered for only one thing –
my contribution to aviation. "
my contribution to aviation. "
Net links:
Howard Hughes Viewfinder articles
footage of the 1947 "Spruce Goose" flight on YouTube
Howard Hughes on YouTube
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Howard Hughes in Hollywood
Howard Hughes inherited his family's successful oil tool business and began investing in and producing films. He gained prominence in Hollywood beginning in the late 1920s, when he made big-budget and often controversial films like The Racket (1928), Hell's Angels (1930), Scarface (1932), and The Outlaw (1943) (link below). He entered the entertainment industry after dropping out of Rice University and moving to Los Angeles. His first two films, Everybody's Acting (1927) and Two Arabian Knights (1928), were financial successes, the latter winning the first Academy Award for Best Director of a comedy picture. The Racket (1928) and The Front Page (1931) were also nominated for Academy Awards.
The Racket (1928) movie poster
Hell's Angels (1930) movie poster
Scarface (1932) movie poster
The Outlaw (1943) movie poster
Hughes was well known in his early filmmaking days for romancing famous
actresses. Aside from his extended relationship with Katherine Hepburn,
Hughes was linked to Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Ginger Rogers, Ava Gardner and Faith Domergue.
Howard Hughes w/Jean Harlow (1930)
Howard Hughes w/Ginger Rogers (1937)
Howard Hughes w/Bette Davis (1938)
Howard Hughes w/Ava Gardner (1946)
"I’m going to turn this gal into a sex symbol."
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, April 4, 2017
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