20,000 vinyl LPs 408: Jerry Goldsmith ~ A Patch of Blue

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Jerry Goldsmith  ~ A Patch of Blue 

vinyl LP front cover 

 cover photo by 

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Today is the birthday of American composer, conductor and orchestrator Jerry Goldsmith. He was born on February 10, 1929, in Los Angeles, California. He had a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions between 1954 and 2003. He was considered one of film music's most innovative and influential composers.    

 

He composed scores for five films in the Star Trek franchise and three in the Rambo franchise, as well as for films including Logan's Run, Planet of the Apes, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Patton, Papillon, Chinatown, The Omen, Alien, Poltergeist, The Secret of NIMH, Medicine Man, Gremlins, Hoosiers, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Air Force One, L.A. Confidential, Mulan, Rudy and The Mummy. Of all the great scores he created, A Patch of Blue holds a cherished spot in my heart.    

 

Jerry Goldsmith  ~ A Patch of Blue 

vinyl LP front cover 

 cover photo by 

photo of album cover by Styrous®

 

 

A Patch of Blue is a 1965 American drama film directed and written by Guy Green about the friendship between an educated black man (played by Sidney Poitier) and an illiterate, blind, white 18-year-old girl (played by Elizabeth Hartman in her film debut), and the problems that plague their friendship in a racially divided America. Made in 1965 against the backdrop of the growing civil rights movement, the film explores racism while playing on the idea that "love is blind."       

 

Sidney Poitier gives a gentle, refined and lovable performance that brings on tears while the Shelley Winters role makes you want to hate her completely but she did win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. It was the final screen appearance for actor Wallace Ford; his portrayal of the loving but impotent father left the audience in tears.       

 

A Patch of Blue may be the best reviewed film ever (links below) and it has been translated into many foreign languages. 

 

                  

 

 

 

 

Jerry Goldsmith  ~ A Patch of Blue 

vinyl LP sides 1 & 2 

photos by Styrous®

 

   

Tracklist:
       
Side 1:

        

A1 - Main Title - A Patch Of Blue - 2:06
A2 - The Park - 2:04
A3 - Stringin' Beads - 1:43
A4 - Pineapple Juice & Discovery - 2:44
A5 - Ol' Pa, Help Me - 2:40
A6 - Just The Radio - 2:47

       
Side 2:
       
B1 - Waiting - 2:44
B2 - Friends - 1:45
B3 - Grandmom's Music Box - 1:55

B4 - I Walked Myself - 2:07

B5 - Finale - Love, The Equalizer - 3:25
        
Credits:
       
    Composed By, Conductor – Jerry Goldsmith
    Edited By [Edited & Equalized For Album] – Chuck Britz, Joe Sidone
    Film Director – Guy Green
    Film Producer – Pandro S. Berman
    Producer – Jackie Mills
        

Barcode and Other Identifiers

 

Jerry Goldsmith – A Patch Of Blue (Original Sound Track Recording)
Label: Mainstream Records – 56068
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1965
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Score 
       

         

Viewfinder links:         

        

Wallace Ford          

Elizabeth Hartman        

Sidney Poitier        

Shelly Winters       

        

Net links:        

        

The Angler ~ A Patch of Blue (review)                         

AWFJ ~ A Patch of Blue (review)                          

LetterBxd ~ A Patch of Blue (review)                          

Movie Mania Madness ~ A Patch of Blue (review)                           

Practical Pagan ~ A Patch of Blue (review)       

Shades of Black & White ~ A Patch of Blue (review)               

Silver Screen Classics ~ A Patch of Blue (review)                        

Variety ~ A Patch of Blue (review)               

        

YouTube links:           

 

A Patch of Blue trailer       

A Patch of Blue (10 tracks)        

        

         

        

        

         

        

        

        

Styrous® ~ Tuesday, February 10, 2026        
       

 

 

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Sidney Poitier ~ 1927 - 2022

 

Sidney Poitier - 1940's

American Academy of Achievement

photographer unknown

One of my Immortal Loves (link below), the great actor, Sidney Poitier, died yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, California; he was 94 years old. 

 

He had many groundbreaking roles and he was in two of my favorite films, Blackboard Jungle, in 1955 with Glenn Ford and Anne Francis, then A Raisin in the Sun with Ruby Dee in 1961.            

 

 

 

A Raisin in the Sun - 1961 

movie poster

 

Sidney Poitier was born on February 20, 1927, in Miami, Florida. He is a Bahamian-American actor, film director, author and diplomat. In 1964, Poitier became the first Bahamian and first African-American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, for his role in Lilies of the Field. The significance of these achievements was bolstered in 1967, when he starred in three successful films, all of which dealt with issues involving race and race relations: To Sir, with Love; In the Heat of the Night; and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, making him the top box-office star of that year. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Poitier among the Greatest Male Stars of classic Hollywood cinema, ranking 22nd on the list of 25.    

From 1997 to 2007, he served as the non-resident Bahamian ambassador to Japan. On August 12, 2009, Poitier was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama. In 2016, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for outstanding lifetime achievement in film.    

In 2002, Poitier received the 2001 Honorary Academy Award for his overall contribution to American cinema. With the death of Ernest Borgnine, in 2012, he became the oldest living man to have won the Academy Award for Best Actor.    

 

 

        

Viewfinder links:       

         

Glenn Ford         

Anne Francis                

Immortal Loves        

Sidney Poitier      

     
Net links:       

         

AP News ~ Oscar winner star Sidney Poitier dies      

Sidney Poitier: Hollywood trailblazer dies, aged 94              

CNN ~ Sidney Poitier, Hollywood's first Black movie star, dies at 94      NBC News ~ Sidney Poitier, who broke barriers, dies at 94    

              

     
YouTube link:      
         

Sidney Poitier        
                  

         

        

        

        

Styrous® ~ Friday, January 7, 2022

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In Memoriam
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45 RPMs 66: Lulu ~ To Sir With Love & Neil Diamond

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Lulu ~ To Sir with Love

45 RPM record 

photo by Styrous®

     

 

Today is the birthday of Lulu Kennedy-Cairns CBE, aka affectionately as just plain, Lulu. But there was nothing "just plain" about her. In August 2017, Lulu's family history was the subject of an episode in the UK series Who Do You Think You Are?. The research showed that her mother had been brought up by another family. The investigation into her genealogy showed that Lulu's maternal grandparents had come from across the religious divide in Glasgow. Her grandfather Hugh Cairns was a Catholic and her grandmother, Helen Kennedy, was a Protestant. Cairns had been a member of a Catholic gang and was found in the research to have been in and out of prison at the time of the birth of Lulu's mother. Kennedy was found to be the daughter of a Worthy Mistress of the Ladies' Orange Lodge 52; the discovery explained why the two families had opposed the union between Kennedy and Cairns.     

 

 

Lulu ~ To Sir with Love

45 RPM record 

photo by Styrous®

 

 

Lulu was born in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, Scotland, and grew up in Dennistoun, Glasgow. When she was 12 or 13, she and her manager approached a band called the Bellrocks seeking stage experience as a singer. She appeared with them every Saturday night: Alex Thomson, the group's bass player, has reported that even then her voice was remarkable. When she was  14, she received the stage name "Lulu" from her future manager Marion Massey, who commented: "Well, all I know is that she's a real lulu of a kid."                          

 

 

 

Lulu ~ To Sir with Love

45 RPM record 

photo by Styrous®

 

 

When she was fifteen and billed as Lulu & The Luvvers, her version of Shout by the Isley Brothers and delivered in a raucous but mature voice, peaked at No. 7 on the UK chart. In 1966, she toured Poland with the Hollies as the first British female singer to appear live behind the Iron Curtain. In the same year, she recorded two German-language tracks; Wenn du da bist and So fing es an for the Decca Germany label (links below).       

 

Lulu left Decca in 1966 and signed with Columbia where her records were produced by Mickie Most. All seven singles she cut with Most made the UK Singles Chart, ending with Boom Bang-A-Bang, an om-pa-pa waltz, reaching number 2 in 1969.    

                            

There were many artists who covered To Sir with Love. Roberta Flack recorded an almost reverent piano duet; Al Green did a really nice dance à la Motown version; Chaka Kahn had a lush strings intro, that was almost a dance version; Vicki Sue Robinson did a disco version, of course. The Ventures did the only instrumental version on their December 23, 1967, release $1,000,000 Weekend. Midge Ure was the latest entry in 2008 (links below).         

 

To Sir with Love is the title song to the 1967 movie of the same name. Lulu was in the film with Sidney Poitier - she got the gig after director James Clavell saw her open a show for The Beach Boys. At first she had just a small role in the movie, but Clavell was so impressed with her that he expanded her role and had her sing the theme song.       

 

I remember at the time I loved this song, I thought the lyrics and music were very romantic. Don Black wrote the lyrics and Mark London composed the music.      

To Sir With Love

Those schoolgirl days
Of telling tales and biting nails are gone
But in my mind
I know they will still live on and on

But how do you thank someone
Who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn't easy, but I'll try

If you wanted the sky
I would write across the sky in letters
That would soar a thousand feet high
"To Sir, with love"

The time has come
For closing books and long last looks must end
And as I leave
I know that I am leaving my best friend

A friend who taught me right from wrong
And weak from strong, that's a lot to learn
What, what can I give you in return?

If you wanted the moon
I would try to make a start
But I would rather you let me give my heart
To Sir, with love

To Sir, with Love - 1967

lobby card

 

I was familiar with Sidney Poitier from the time he was in Blackboard Jungle, the first film I saw him in. I'd also seen him in Porgy and Bess, A Raisin in the Sun (I would play the character, Bobo in the theater group I belonged to later) Lilies of the Field and A Patch of Blue, one of his finest films.      

Lulu - 1965 

Dutch television

 

Lulu returned to the UK singles chart in April 1967, reaching No. 6 with The Boat That I Row, which was written by Neil Diamond; it was the "B" side of To Sir with Love.        

 

 

 

Lulu ~ The Boat That I Row

45 RPM record 

photo by Styrous®

 

Lulu ~ The Boat That I Row

45 RPM record 

photo by Styrous®

Lulu ~ The Boat That I Row

45 RPM record 

photo by Styrous®

        

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - To Sir With Love, written by D. Black*, M. London* - 2:44

Side 2:

B - The Boat That I Row, written by N. Diamond* - 2:43

Companies, etc.

    Manufactured By – IFC
    Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute

 Credits:

 

    Producer – Mickie Most 

 

Notes:

[A]: From The Columbia Pictures Release "To Sir With Love"

Barcode and Other Identifiers        

        

    Pressing Plant ID (Etched in runouts): T
    Matrix / Runout (Matrix - Center Label - Side A): ZSP 119030
    Matrix / Runout (Matrix - Center Label - Side B): ZSP 119007
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A): ZSP 119030-1H T IIIII
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B): ZSP 119007-1L T III

 

Lulu – To Sir With Love / The Boat That I Row
Label:    Epic – 5-10187
Format:    Vinyl, 7", Single, Styrene, Terre Haute
Country: US
Released: Sep 2, 1967
Genre: Pop, Stage & Screen
Style: Vocal, Soundtrack

        

        

        

Viewfinder links:       

        
10,000 Maniacs     

The Beach Boys          

Madeline Bell          

Neil Diamond         
Divinyls            
Roberta Flack         

Lesley Gore         

Al Green          
Chaka Khan        
Carole King         

Mark London          
Lulu                  

Mickey Most            

Sidney Poitier       

Vicki Sue Robinson        
Gabor Szabo        
Midge Ure                
The Ventures        
Betty Wright      
     
Net links:       

         

SongFacts ~ To Sir With Love by Lulu          

Song Meanings + Facts ~ To Sir With Love by Lulu        

     
YouTube links:      
        
10,000 Maniacs ~ To Sir With Love        
Madeline Bell ~ To Sir With Love        
Divinyls ~ To Sir With Love         

Roberta Flack ~ To Sir With Love           

Lesley Gore ~ To Sir With Love            

Al Green ~ To Sir With Love        
Chaka Khan ~ To Sir With Love                 

Lulu ~         

           The Boat That I Row       

           Boom Bang-A-Bang         

           To Sir With Love                  

           So fing es an       

           Wenn du da bist       

Lulu And The Luvers - Shout          

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas ~ To Sir With Love        

Vicki Sue Robinson ~ To Sir With Love          

Gabor Szabo ~ To Sir With Love        

Midge Ure ~ To Sir With Love         
The Ventures ~ To Sir With Love        
        
        
         

        

        

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, November 3, 2021

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Sidney Poitier articles/mentions

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Poitier & Belack ~ Poetry of the Negro      

      

     

mentions:     

Blackboard Jungle      

Black History Month          

Bill Haley ~ Rocks Around the Clock          

Lulu ~ To Sir With Love & Neil Diamond   

Gregory Peck ~ Mr Suave     

     

     

     

     

Sidney Poitier - 1968  

For Love of Ivy promo photo

     

     

     

      

     

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Movie Articles 

Movie People 

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Ernest Borgnine articles/mentions

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Marty     

     

     

mentions:       

Richard Egan & Demetrius and the Gladiators      

Sidney Poitier ~ 1927 - 2022     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

Ernest Borgnine - 1955 

photographer unknown  

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Movie Articles 

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Blackboard Jungle

Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inter-racial inner-city school, based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. It is remembered for its innovative use of rock and roll in its soundtrack and for the unusual breakout role of a Black cast member, future Oscar winner and star Sidney Poitier as a rebellious, yet musically talented student. It also starred,  Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, a malevolent Vic Morrow and Louis Calhern.  

The film marked the rock and roll revolution by featuring Bill Haley & His Comets performing Rock Around the Clock over the film's opening credits (with a lengthy drum solo introduction, unlike the originally released single), as well as in the first scene, in an instrumental version in the middle of the film, and at the close of the movie, establishing that song as an instant hit. The record had been released the previous year, gaining only limited sales. But, popularized by its use in the film, Rock Around the Clock reached number one on the Billboard charts, and remained there for eight weeks.        

In some theaters, when the film was in first release, the song was not heard at all at the beginning of the film because rock and roll was considered a bad influence. Despite this, other instances of the song were not cut.   

The music led to a large teenage audience for the film, and their exuberant response to it sometimes overflowed into violence and vandalism at screenings. In this sense, the film has been seen as marking the start of a period of visible teenage rebellion in the latter half of the 20th century. In the United Kingdom the film was originally refused a cinema certificate until heavy cuts were made. When shown at a South London Cinema in Elephant and Castle in 1956 the teenage Teddy Boy audience began to riot, tearing up seats and dancing in the aisles. After that, riots took place around the country wherever the film was shown. In 2007, the Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture published an article that analyzed the film's connection to crime theories and juvenile delinquency.  

In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".     

Blackboard Jungle Links:     

         

Bill Haley ~ Rock Around the Clock         

Bill Haley Rocks Around the Clock          

Sidney Poitier & Doris Belack ~ Poetry of the Negro        

The Plot     

The Cast & credits         

Awards and honors   
Cultural impact        
Blackboard Jungle opening & credits on YouTube                          

Tico Tico by the Andrews Sisters on YouTube              
       
   
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, April 12, 2017  

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Movie articles 
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20,000 Vinyl LPs 80: Sidney Poitier & Doris Belack ~ Poetry of the Negro

 iPhone photos by Styrous®

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, front cover detail

 

This is Black History Month (see link below) and today is the birthday of Sidney Poitier; he is 90 years old. WOW! I remember when he began acting. The first film I saw him in was Blackboard Jungle. This film not only introduced me to Poitier but rock 'n roll as well (link below).    

So, I went trotting off to my vinyl LP collection to see how I could honor him and came up with this vinyl gem, Sidney Poitier in Poetry of the Negro, which features Poitier reading poems of the American Negro. Reading with him is Doris Belack who was an American character actress of stage, film and television. She was born on February 26, 1926. She died on October 4, 2011. The album was produced by her husband, Philip Rose, who died on May 31, 2011.  

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, front cover

photo by Styrous®

Rose met Poitier while producing, A Raisin in the Sun, a 1959 play written by Lorraine Vivian Hansberry. Rose owned a rhythm and blues label, Glory Records, and asked Poitier to record a spoken word album, Poetry of the Negro, with liner notes written by the then unknown Hansberry. 

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, front cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

The title of Hansberry’s play is taken from a Langston Hughes poem, called “Harlem” in which the poet asks, “What happens to a dream deferred?/ does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?” In one critic’s words, Hansberry wanted “to write a social drama about blacks that was good art” (npr.org). Because the project was considered risky, investors were scarce, but idealistic record executive Philip Rose was willing to take a chance and produce the play. He knew he had an asset in the star power of his friend, Sidney Poitier, Hollywood’s first black leading man, whom he met after the actor’s phenomenal success as a young juvenile delinquent in Blackboard Jungle (1955) which featured the song, Rock Around the Clock (link below).   

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, back cover

photo by Styrous®

Hansberry was born May 19, 1930, in Chicago, where her father was a prominent real-estate broker and political activist who successfully challenged the segregated city’s restrictive real estate covenants. These laws denied equal housing to blacks, but Mr. Hansberry illegally moved his family to a white neighborhood and then successfully challenged the laws all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court stuck down the covenants in Hansberry v. Lee, 1943. By the early 1950s, she was writing essays and reviews for leftist journals and was one of an avant-garde circle of black intellectuals. In 1953, she married a Jewish writer and activist, Robert Nemiroff, whom she met on a picket line. At 26, disgusted with the stereotyped portrayals of blacks on stage, she wrote A Raisin in the Sun, produced in 1959. It was the first play by a black woman produced on Broadway, and Hansberry was the first black author to win the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, defeating fellow nominees Eugene O’Neill, Archibald MacLeish and Tennessee Williams. Hansberry, erudite and outspoken, wrote only two complete plays before her career was cut short when she died of cancer at 34.  

The poets & their poems 
with links to their work

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, back cover detail

photo by Styrous®

Paul Laurence Dunbar

At Candle Lightin’ Time
When Malindy Sings
An Anti-Bellam Sermon
The Debt
Ere Sleep Comes Down To Soothe the Weary Eyes
We Wear the Mask

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, back cover detail

photo by Styrous®

James Weldon Johnson
The Creation
Lift Every Voice

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, back cover detail

photo by Styrous®

Countee Cullen
To John Keats
Yet Do I Marvel

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, back cover detail

photo by Styrous®

Langston Hughes
I, Too
Blues at Dawn
Mother To Son

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, side 1

photo by Styrous®

Gwendolyn Brooks
When You Have Forgotten Sunday

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP label, side 1

photo by Styrous®

M. Carl Holman
Debate of the Dark Brothers

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Armand Lanusse
Epigram

Sidney Poitier ~ Poetry of the Negro

vinyl LP lable, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Sidney Poitier With Doris Belack ‎– Sidney Poitier Reads Poetry Of The Negro
Label: Glory Records ‎– GLP-1
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1969
Genre: Jazz, Non-Music, Stage & Screen
Style: Poetry, Spoken Word

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1     The Creation     4:15
A2     Mother To Son     2:00
A3     When Melinda Sings     3:06
A4     Debate Of Dark Brothers     1:06
A5     To John Keats, Poet At Springtime     3:15
A6     At Candle Lightin' Time     2:39
A7     Yet I Do Marvel     3:01

Side 2:

B1     An Ante - Bellum Sermon     4:36
B2     Ere Sleep Comes Down To Soothe The Weary Eyes     4:16
B3     I, Too     00:37
B4     When You Have Forgotten Sunday     1:55
B5     The Debt     00:52
B6     Epigram     00:43
B7     We Wear The Mask     1:08
B8     Blues At Dawn     00:35
B9     Lift Every Voice     2:25

Credits:

    Percussion, Piano – Specs Powell

Net links:
    
IMBD bio          
Sidney Poitier Filmography                 
Bill Haley ~ Rock Around the Clock            
Black History articles               

Happy birthday, Sidney!

        
Styrous® ~ Monday, February 20, 2017

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