flat5 Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Some people who were VERY nice to me when I was 17-20: George Marrow, Allan Praskin, Steve Bohannon, Bill Pitman (the black bassist), Benny Harris, Norman Williams, Ollie Mitchell, Don Raffell, Ross Pollack, Albert Stinson, Smiley Winters. There were others. Some names are hard to recall just now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fasstrack Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Smiley Winters! You must be from the West Coast! I remember ads for a Mark Levine recording, Smiley and Me. Great title, and sure enough Smiley was smilin'! Must've been a hell of a guy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 (edited) flat5 - is that THE Benny Harris? Doesn't seem possible. btw, I forgot the biggest schmuck I ever spoke to: Allen Eager. Edited September 7, 2012 by AllenLowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fasstrack Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 I thought Milton Berle HAD the 'biggest schmuck' (; Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 well, I never spoke to his schmuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat5 Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Oops. George Morrow. Yes, Los Angeles & San Francisco. I knew Benny in San Francisco 1966-1970. Slightly interesting story. I was walking down the street with Benny trying to keep him from drinking and we see a newspaper headline. Louis Armstrong has died. Benny starts crying and I knew he was going to drink and I did not try to stop him. He told me when he was a very young kid Louis was on a horse in the New Orleans mardi gras and somehow they were introduced and shook hands, if I remember correctly. Benny wrote songs till the end and tried to sell them. Allen Eager came through SF about 1970 and was talking about putting a big band together. He said he was going to use me. He was impressed that a young person could play softly :-) He decided no one was good enough for him and left town. Probably there is more to that story but I don't have details :-) I should look for that Levine record. Smiley in on a Norman Williams record, a Bert Wilson record, maybe a Sonny Simmons record, and his own. I'm sure Goggle would find other recordings. Yes, a hell of a guy! Hey! This is a nice read: http://www.crouchingphotographer.com/Smiley%20Winters.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 do you have any pics of Benny? There is so little on him, you should write something up,. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat5 Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 (edited) 1970 San Francisco Edited September 7, 2012 by flat5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 wow; thanks; he's an important guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fasstrack Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 I couldn't get the byline on that. Did Stan-uh-ley write it? Beautiful interview. It made me chuck my NY chauvinism-and it always makes me smile when a drummer says he has a melodic conception! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat5 Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 I Googled on 'article originally published in Jazz Now Magazine in 1992'. Didn't help much. There are/were contributors from the east and west coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fasstrack Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 The web address has Crouch(ing) in it. And the intro paragraph reads like Stanley's writing. Maybe it was Crouching Tiger-ably assisted by Hidden Dragon.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 it was Harvey Crouch - he's the mens room attendant at the Vanguard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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