Brad Posted May 16, 2005 Report Posted May 16, 2005 Sounds like the beginning of a Sam Spade novel. Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted May 16, 2005 Report Posted May 16, 2005 Now, on to more important things...... Hal Kusick? McKusick's Father? Mike Quote
Christiern Posted May 16, 2005 Report Posted May 16, 2005 Here's what the NY Times reported on January 27, 1959... Quote
Christiern Posted May 16, 2005 Report Posted May 16, 2005 Then, February 21, came the denial... Quote
Christiern Posted May 16, 2005 Report Posted May 16, 2005 And you shouldn't be left hanging, as it were. Here's the NYT item re the sentencing... Quote
Christiern Posted May 16, 2005 Report Posted May 16, 2005 (edited) ...and 13 years later (NYT Feb. 20, 1972), at Slugs: Edited May 16, 2005 by Christiern Quote
ghost of miles Posted May 16, 2005 Report Posted May 16, 2005 What happened to Helen? Hope there's a good Lee bio some day... I'd especially like to read more about his last several years. Brad: I was thinkin' Peter Gunn. The one where the spotlight opens on the piano player, who then falls off the bench with a knife in his back. Quote
bertrand Posted May 17, 2005 Report Posted May 17, 2005 (edited) The only info anyone has ever produced on the fate of Helen More were vague statements like 'she only served a few months' and 'she died a few years ago' (I heard this about 5-6 years ago). There are a number of Morgan bios in the works, but I don't think any are near completion. The info about More's death comes from a man in North Carolina named Willam Pitt, who is one of the potential biographers. I haven't heard from him in a long time, and I don't know where he got the information from concerning her possible death (she'd be 80 now, if she was 47 in 1972). Perhaps the social security death index might help, but I don't know how to search this. Jeff McMillan did his thesis at Rutgers on Lee; it is probably available at IJS. He found a lot on Lee's Philadelphia days, but almost nothing on the last part of his career. He did not explore the 'what happened to Helen' angle at all. He expanded on the Philly days in a later article for which I do not have the reference handy. Bennie Maupin's notes to the Lighthouse set seem to indicate that he and other musicians were close to her; perhaps they (discretely) stayed in touch? I saw a picture of Helen at the home of Lee's late brother Jimmy; she was very creepy-looking. Bertrand. Edited May 17, 2005 by bertrand Quote
clifford_thornton Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 Funny, I just heard about the Birdland shooting from Ted Curson last night. He was apparently there to sign a contract with Roulette, left for a minute, and came back to mayhem. Needless to say, he didn't sign on... Quote
AllenLowe Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 I met Morris Levy once - he called me "kid" - Quote
bertrand Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 Ted Curson told me he was there the night Lee got killed as well!!! Bertrand. Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 Any truth to the rumor that Art Blakey was there for both? Mike Quote
JSngry Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 Ted Curson told me he was there the night Lee got killed as well!!! Bertrand. If Ted Curson's behavior in Dallas a while back was any indication of his, uh..."integrity", I'd take anything he said with a grain of salt... Quote
JSngry Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 He was booked as a single to play a Coltrane tribute. He showed up with Montego Joe and a shitload of originals that none of the locals wanted to play (their myopia, no doubt, but the understanding up front was that the focus was going to be on Coltrane's music). After a rather laborious afternoon rehearsal, where Curson repeatedly taunted a "sick" James Clay and made no friends with his extremely condescending attitude towards all present (and his claims of superiority for his originals over Coltrane's music), a compromise was reached - 1 Curson original for every 3 Trane tunes. The evening gig rolled around, and Clay was no longer "sick" (able as he was to always find "medicine" when it counted). He came loaded for bear and totally fried Curson on the Tranetunes and the originals both. Montego Joe was a freakin' sideshow as well. Clay talked for years afterwards about "Turd" Curson, and word got back here that Curson had gone back to NYC taking about the no-playin' motherfuckers he was stuck with in Dallas. Truth is, he really did not play very well that night, and the locals at the very least were propping him up. A commonplace event in the world of singles travelling with a book, no doubt, but Curson made no friends here, to put it mildly. Not that he really gave a rat's ass.... Quote
Jazzmoose Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 Oh. I thought you were going to say he was on the grassy knoll or something... Quote
Christiern Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 A curson him. Seriously, I am sorry to hear that about Ted. I haven't seen him in many years, but I remember him as one of the most amiable musicians I had the privilege of knowing beyond an interview. Quote
MartyJazz Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 What happened to Helen? Hope there's a good Lee bio some day... I'd especially like to read more about his last several years. I've told this story several times before so hopefully when I finish this post I'll remember to store my words for future use. In a nutshell, I was at Slug's the night Helen, his common law wife, fatally shot Lee. However I did not witness the shooting as it had begun to snow heavily outside and since my friend, who was driving, did not have snow tires, we left after the 2nd set ended. On our way out, I said hello to Helen who was coming towards me as I knew her from my involvement with Rahsaan Roland Kirk's Jazz and People's Movement - Helen was either the secretary or treasurer for the group, I can't recall. Helen ignored my hello and kind of crashed into a chair as she walked by me, making me think that perhaps she had one drink too many. The following morning I got a call from Mark Davis, who was a very good friend of Rahsaan's, and he asked me what happened the night before since I had told him I was going to Slug's. Of course, I didn't know what he was talking about, and he then informed me of the shooting. At that point, I phoned Billy Harper, Lee's tenor at the time, whom I knew also because of his involvement with the JAPM. I expressed my shock and condolences and pleaded with him to tell me what happened as he knew I had been present the night before. Harper told me that basically Lee had been seeing another woman, that Lee had been in a minor auto accident earlier that day with this woman in the car and that the latter also had been at the club, all of which apparently incensed Helen. A couple of years later, I had the good fortune to know Joe Henderson who lived in Brooklyn Heights as I did at that time, and he told me that, contrary to what one would expect, fellow musicians felt sympathy for Helen as they viewed it as a crime of passion. Indeed, Joe said that they had taken a collection for Helen's legal costs. It was his understanding that Helen received probation and did not serve any jail time. Certainly it was known that Helen had done much to help Lee and revive his career when he had fallen into some very hard times due to a bad drug habit. That is my entire recollection of the event. Quote
marcello Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 Certainly it was known that Helen had done much to help Lee and revive his career when he had fallen into some very hard times due to a bad drug habit. This is the feeling of muscians that I knew at the time. I love Lee as a player but he may have been not so well liked as a person when he was sick and it was said that Helen Morgan put up with a lot of grief for many years. Quote
JSngry Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 A curson him. Seriously, I am sorry to hear that about Ted. I haven't seen him in many years, but I remember him as one of the most amiable musicians I had the privilege of knowing beyond an interview. I can believe that, too. Shit happens, right? Especially out of town. Quote
bertrand Posted May 18, 2005 Report Posted May 18, 2005 Wow - I didn't know that musicians had actually paid for her legal costs. Marty, any truth to the stories from both Ted Curson and Donald Byrd that they were there that night? I don't believe either of them. Bertrand. Quote
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