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The Augusta News-Review - April 8, 1976 -
Playin’
The Changes
By Stan Raines
RONNIE LAWS:
Talent With A Big Sound
Ronnie Laws was bom in
Houston, Texas on October 3,
1950. You might say that he
was born to be a musician
because everyone in his family
played, even his brother-in-law.
At home there was always
music - records playing,
someone singing, or someone
practicing. Ronnie’s now
famous brother, Hubert was
always practicing his flute and
his sister Eloise was always
singing, in fact she sings
professionally now also. So of
eight eight children, three are
now professional musicians.
Hubert, Eloise and Ronnie.
Ronnie attended Robert E.
Lee High School where he was
the first Black to get into the
music department. He was also
an outstanding baseball player
who could throw, hit, run and
catch, and with this talent he
played every position on the
team. He has always loved
sports but his love for music
was even greater; therefore, he
chose to follow in the family
tradition and be a musician.
Ronnie’s father, Hubert Sr.,
started out early in life as a
working man. He married early
and wanted to get ahead fast so
he worked two jobs. He
worked as a porter and a
mechanic; in fact, he is said to
be a top notch mechanic.
Ronnie never had a rough
time at home. His father
provided well for all of them.
As the children became old
enough to choose a career in
life neither their father or
mother forced them to choose
any particular career. They
were free to choose whatever
they wanted.
Upon choosing music,
Ronnie’s mother gave him
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some very strong
encouragement.
After learning “Misty” on
the alto saxophone from his
brother-in-law, he joined the
Junior High School Band
where he began to study in
earnest. In searching for a
style, he was greatly influenced
by David “Fathead” Newman’s
renditions of “Willow Weep
For Me” and “Hard Times”.
Upon completing high
school, he was offered SIB,OOO
worth of scholarships,
including offers from Berklee
School of Music in Boston and
North Texas State. He declined
these offers to attend Stephen
F. Austin State Universtiy in
Nacogdoches, Texas. Here he
felt that he got more personal
care and attention. He got
married after spending two
years at college. He and his
wife, Karmen, moved to Los
Angeles where he worked with
the rock group called “Von
Staff Member
Os Month
Selected
Mrs. Dorothy Gilbert has
been selected as Bethlehem
Community Center’s Staff
Member Os The Month.
Mrs. Gilbert has been at
Bethlehem Center since 1971
and works in the Child
Development Project. She is a
hard working teacher and a
great lover of children. Mrs.
Gilbert, with her slow assuring
smile, has away of brightening
the day of everyone she comes
in contact with.
She is a mother to all the
young staff members of
Bethlehem Center.
The widow of Mr. Eli
Gilbert, she resides at 722
Fleming Ave. with her nephew,
John Freeman. She is a
Missionary worker, attends
Elam Baptist Church, and is
presently a contestant for Miss
Elam Baptist Church. She loves
to cook and has one daughter,
Mrs. Evelyn Etheridge.
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He later played three
concerts with Quincey Jones
and recorded with Walter
Bishop, who is an ex-Charlie
Parker pianist.
While still searching for his
own individuality, he joined
“Earth, Wind, And Fire” and
appeared on their first
recording.
Ronnie is a very religious
person and was orginally a
Baptist but is now a confirmed
Jehovah Witness.
He has a goal in life that is
somewhat i different r than any
other musician that I have
mentioned. His goal is to
progress to a point where he
feels that he is equal musically
to his brother, Hubert.
Os Hubert, he says “I think
he is one of the those people I
look toward as being an ideal
musician. 1 think that he’s an
exceptional, phenomenial,
musician, not just because he’s
my brother either. I think
anybody in this business would
recognize that without any
question. What he has done on
flute puts him in a class all by
himself.”
With the things that Ronnie
is now doing while he is still
under 26 years old, I feel that
his potential is unlimited. He
practices four to six hours a
day and has a road manager,
Eugene Mingus, who is the son
of Charlie Mingus, to guide him
on his travels. Be looking out
for Ronnie Laws, he is Hubert
Laws’ brother,true, but, he is a
musician in his own right. He
has talent with a big sound.
Dent Hosts
Consolidation
Meeting
State Representative R.A.
Dent will host a meeting April
13 at 5:30 p.m. at the Pilgrim
Civic Room to discuss the
House Bill No. 1009, a bill to
consolidate the city and
county governments. Members
of the Panel will consist of Jim
Hinton, Joe Jones, Charles
Walker, and R.A. Dent.
The public is invited.
HOWLETT SMITH
Blind Musical Director
Helps "Me And Bessie”
Make It Through The Night
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Howlett
Smith is a name familiar to
television viewers who caught
the CBS documentary special
devoted to his remarkable
career, “They Call Him
Smitty”. Now conducting the
band for “Me and Bessie” on
Broadway, he has been
involved with this project since
its inception. The fact that he
is blind has, if anything,
spurred him on to a variety of
accomplishments in the
musical world.
A composer whose songs
have been recorded by such
well-known artists as Andy
Williams, Jack Jones, Nancy
Wilson, Glen Campbell, and
Peggy Lee, he is recognized by
the top people in the music
in|
i tE .J
■MR
Gwendolyn Brooks
Donates To
Paine Books
Gwendolyn Brooks, Pulitzer
Prize - winning Poet and Poet
Laureate of Illinois, recently
donated a collection of books
to the Paine College Library.
The collection includes books
written by Ms. Brooks, Don
Lee, and Dudley Randall.
Ms. Brooks was the featured
artist during Paine’s Founders’
Week. During her visit, she held
seminars, and read and
interpreted some of her works.
Mrs. Ann Johnson,
chairperson of the Paine
College Lyceum Committee,
stated that this gift will have a
lasting impact as a significant
addition to the Paine College
Library’s special collection of
works by Black authors.
field as arranger, pianist and
singer, as well as songwriter.
In addition to appearances
on TV with such stars as Joey
Bishop and Art Linkletter, he
was featured in the PBS
Educational TV “Homeweed
Jazz Series” and also appeared
in the motion pictures “Faces”
and “Alex in Wonderland”,
two films which won high
praise from the critics.
Prior to his present
Broadway engagement,
Howlett Smith performed with
a trio and a quartet at various
leading clubs on the West
Coast. “Me and Bessie” starring
Linda Hopkins as the legendary
Bessie Smith is at the Edison
Theatre and is one of the most
popular attractions in town.
Roy Wilkins
Receives
Award
WASHINGTON,-- Roy
Wilkins, executive director of
the NAACP, today received the
American Jewish Congress
1976 Civil Rights Award at a
luncheon in his honor at the
L’Enfant Plaza Hotel.
Judge Justine Wise Polier of
New York made the
presentation before 500
delegates attending the
American Jewish Congress
national biennial convention
here.
The citation to Mr. Wilkins
read: “The American Jewish
Congress is honored to present
the 1976 Civil Rights Award to
Roy Wilkins for distinguished
contributions to the cause of
racial justice in America and
for recognizing that only by
working together for the goals
we share can the Black and
Jewish communities help
achieve the goal of full equality
in a free society for all
Americans.”
Rabbi Arthur Hartzberg,
president of the American
Jewish Congress, told the
luncheon:
“We are honored to pay
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150 Years Os Black History
Remembered At Bicentennial Time
n nit. - - ■
Three senior Black historians were honored by the St. Louis Frontiers at a
testimonial luncheon for many decades of outstanding research, writing and
lecturing on “Blacks Who Helped Build St. Louis”.
Shown L - R (front row): The Rev. Herman Dreer, Ph.D., retired university
professor and editor of The History of Omega Psi Phi; Miss Julie Davis, retired
educator for whom a library branch has been named and retired Municipal Judge
Nathan B. Young, formerly editor of the SL Louis American newspaper.
Standing are Harold Antoine, Frontiers chairman and The News-Review
columnist, Philip Waring, founder of the St. Louis Frontiers in 1956 and now its
historian, who also coordinated the Bicentennial Black History Luncheon.
Commission Group Elects Mclntyre
The Association of County
Commissioners of Georgia
(ACCG) Tuesday unanimously
elected Richmond County
Board of Commissioners
Chairman Edward M. Mclntyre
to its board of managers.
Mclntyre, the first Black to
serve on the board of
managers, will represent the
10th District during the fiscal
year 1976-77. He was chosen
during die association’s 62th
annual state convention held in
Atlanta.
A woman also was elected to
the board for the first time in
the history of the organization.
She is Liane Levetan, a DeKalb
County commissioner
Paine College Conducts Church Music Workshops
The choral area of the Music
Department at Paine College
has been provided a Grant to
offer a series of Music
Workshops, choral musicians in
tribute to one of the great
leaders of the cause of civil
rights in America.
“Roy Wilkins is not only a
pivotal figure in the fight for
racial justice; he has also been
an enormous influence for
understanding and mutual
respect between the Jewish and
Black communities.
“Together the American
Jewish Congress and the
NAACP have worked for full
employment, decent health
care and a variety of goals
aimed at translating into reality
the dream of life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness.
“During all the years we
have striven together, Roy
Wilkins has been a stalwart
figure of courage, of strength
and of dignity. We salute his
achievements as we honor the
man.”
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representing the board’s 4th
District.
An ACCG spokesman said
there are only approximately
10 Black commissioners in the
organization’s membership of
587.
Mclntyre said, “1 am
delighted to serve in this
capacity and represent the
people of this country and
district.”
“I will serve to the best of
my ability as we strive to meet
the needs of the people of our
state.”
The association, which
includes representatives from
Georgia’s 159 counties, acts as
official spokesman for county
TG
~ W
EILEEN TERRY
the Augusta community.
This Grant has been given by
the Board of Global Ministries
of the United Methodist
Church to assist the college in
implementing programs which
“GARY TYLER’’
Cont’d from page 1
aspect of the case. The police
have made no efforts to
increase protection of Tyler
activists nor Southern
University students. In a
telephone interview, Sgt. Frank
Hayward, of the NOPD, stated
that local police have “not
asked the FBI to come into
this case” and that they are
treating the Dunn shooting as a
routine homocide. Police had
no comment on a statement by
Gus Givens, Dunn's
companion, that the police
tried to make him say that
Dunn's murders were Black.
A number of organizations,
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961 Broad Street
The First All Gospel
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Os Augusta
ALBUMS, SONG BOOKS,
SHEET MUSIC
10:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. - FBI.
10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
SAT. 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Bro. Alphonso Allen, Mgr.
government in Georgia, a
spokesman said.
The ACCG meets quarterly
but also holds called meetings
occasionally, the spokesman
said.
Mclntyre replaces James G.
Blanchard Jr. of Columbia
County as 10th District
representative. There are 10
members on the board of
managers, each representing
one Georgia congressional
district.
Bill Fallin, a Moultrie
attorney and Colquitt County
Board of Commissioners
chairman, was elected
president.
provide opportunities for the
development and improvement
of leadership in Church Music
Administration, Education,
and Performance.
Choral directors, pianists,
organists, soloists, pastors and
other interested persons are
invited to attend these
workshops. The sessions began
in January, and will continue
through the month of May.
-The last three sessions are
scheduled as follows in tHe
Gilbert-Lambuth Memoiidl
Chapel: Saturday, April 10, 10
a.m. til 12:30 p.m.; Saturday,
May 8, 10 a.m. til 12:30 p.m.;
and Thursday, May 13, 8 p.m.
Choral Concert. (Choral
Concert by Workshop
Participants)
Miss Eileen Terry, choral
director at Paine College, is the
director of the Church Music
Workshops.
including the Southern
Conference Educational Fund
(SCEF) and the local New
Orleans branch of the Southern
Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) have
demanded that Dunn’s killers
be found and punished. They
are currently planning actions
to press this demand.
Bob Zellner, executive
director of SCEF and long-time
civil rights activist, said in a
statement to the press, “It’s
pretty obvious that if a white
youth had been killed by two
Black men, the police would
have picked up every Black
person with an orange VW for
200 miles. When Gary Tyler
was framed up, it was front
page news and they
manufactured evidence in
order to convict an innocent
Black youth.”
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