Here are 10 you cant miss, Review: A reimagined Secret Garden fails to flower anew at the Ahmanson Theatre, Moroccan singer convicted of rape in Paris, gets 6-year term, Jonas Brothers promise Broadway residency will be a walk down musics memory lane, Toxic sex, social anxiety, 90s guitars: How L.A.s Blondshell pulled off the rock debut of 2023, Rihanna making the FCC work, work, work, after Super Bowl viewers file 103 complaints, Brad Paisley drops new song featuring President Zelensky to mark one year of Ukraine war. They became lovers, Zola testified, one night in Bangor, Maine, when Frankie had won $1,700 gambling with Clyde McPhatter and she had gotten "a little loaded drinking scotch and water." When he died of a drug overdose in 1968, just past his 25th birthday, he left behind a marital history worthy of a man several times his age. It teaches him responsibility and how to stand on his own two feet. Zola had also been a teenage star. Her singing group, the Platters, had been even more successful than the Teenagers, and the group was sometimes referred to as the Four Platters and a Dish. Her complaint charges fraud, misappropriation and copyright infringement, among other offenses. Kenneth Turan is the former film critic for the Los Angeles Times. Frankie told Elizabeth that Zola and I arent doing anything; its just a motherly relationship, Elizabeth testified in court. "Just make sure the artist or writer gets his share." Taylor,. Who owns the rights to old songs matters as much or more now than it did when they were hits. Ten years after his initial success, however, he was wearing an Army uniform as a private at Fort Gordon. Key parts of this chronology are in dispute, of course. 2010-02-12 00:06:12. Zola Taylor Lymon, now 50, one of the original Platters, had flown in from Los Angeles. "Emira's Frankie Lymon is not this drunken bum," Pomeroy says. It makes him not only a good soldier, but a better individual. Ronnie had raised a large amount of money from the benefit concerts and donations, but he had been in limbo because of the legal battle, recalled Bill Olb. As soon as the hearing began, Emiras attorneys alleged that the other two widows acted in concert with Morris Levy. View our. Their affair continued off and on for several years. A headstone was not part of the package, however, and Frankie Lymon was buried in an unmarked grave at St. Raymonds Cemetery. Elizabeth Waters may be entitled to an estate worth $750,000 in accumulated royalties from Lymon 1956 hit and its more modern iterations, according to Surrogate Court Judge Marie Lamberts ruling. When she and Frankie fought about it, Elizabeth told the court, he pulled a gun on her and fled. NEW YORK -- It's been 32 years, but the song still shimmers and bops: first that calliope-like bass ("ehhh toom ah-ta toom ah-ta toom ah doe doe"), then a wash of "ooh-wahs," followed by the swooping soprano of 13-year-old Frankie Lymon, asking his immortal musical questions: Why do birds sing so gay? Absent the kind of star performance Jennifer Lopez gave in Selena (and that films cleaner, more direct story line), cornball dramaturgy can take audiences only so far and not one note further. Waters, who on the witness stand acknowledged a long struggle with drugs and prostitution during her tempestuous relationship with the onetime star, got the news from her attorney Monday night. Zola never saw him alive again. Span wrote that Rubin gets his share too. Why Do Fools Fall In Love was a prime example, and its publishing rights may have earned a lot of money by 1984, according to Chuck Rubin of Artists Rights Enforcement Corp. Rubin established his organization in 1981 to represent artists who he believed had been deprived of their earnings by their record companies. Her sister's boyfriend introduced them; soon, Emira was cooking meals for Frankie and they were shopping for wedding rings. It teaches him responsibility and how to stand on his own two feet. I cant just sit here and tell the court anything different. And Emira, if she wins, will continue her federal case against Levy, a matter growing steadily more complex. Paula Span, Frankie was addicted to drugs and alcohol and Elizabeth, who was 19 at the time, was sympathetic. However, it turned out she had been married to someone else at the time. Elizabeth, now 46, says she's been born again, but she still strives for glamor, her skirt fashionably above the knee, her fingernails long and orange. He was back in New York where, Elizabeth and several other witnesses swore, he said that his marriage to Zola had been only a publicity stunt. Frankie had a very bad year in 1966. Thats why were here today.. But he will apparently have little trouble with Elizabeth Waters. It was engraved with the words, In Memory Of Frankie Lymon Sept. 30, 1942 - Feb. 27, 1968 "We Promise To Remember". At the age of 13 little Lymon and his group of singers Teens signed a recording contract. "I can't just sit here and tell the court anything different. The only child he is known to have fathered died hours after her birth. Neither has Elizabeth or Zola. "I'm not a person to hold a grudge. However, it turned out she had been married to someone else at the time. Her divorce from Phillips was not finalized until 1965. Last in line is Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a demure, well-bred Southern educator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP6P329DMKY. Levy declined direct comment of the Lymon matter. Army discipline, I think, teaches a man how to protect himself. By the time of the trial, publishing rights to the song might have been worth seven figures. Elizabeth, now 46, says she's been born again, but she still strives for glamor, her skirt fashionably above the knee, her fingernails long and orange. "He had been busted in California again for drugs. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. Back in 1956, the hit song had first been credited to Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, and George Goldner - head of Gee Records. Her obituary was posted on February 9, 2023. The doo-wop classic (its earnings boosted by Diana Ross' 1981 version and by its use in a greeting card commercial) was recorded by Lymon's group the Teenagers. She claimed to have . Frankie Lymon died in New York. Opened 1940 | Named after Elizabeth Waters. Paula Span reported that neither Zola nor Elizabeth could quite figure Emira Eagle Lymon, the 48-year-old third wife from Augusta, Georgia. He moved into her home and her bedroom. Legacy.com reports daily on death announcements in local communities nationwide. Recording costs and commissions for everyone from managers to choreographers could siphon off much of a groups earnings. The film travels back and forth in time to explore their relationship with the singer. As a been-around woman never at a loss for an insulting put-down (He dropped you like a whores panties is one example), Fox gives Fools most engaging performance. Privacy Policy Agreement * I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy. These scans come from my rather large magazine collection. Heres the glamorous Zola Taylor (Halle Berry), a member of the Platters, one of early rocks supergroups. Frankie, bouncing at the mike, was "this adorable little boy, with this little smile, the little suit; you wanted to take him home All I remember was the girls screaming about how cute he was.". A Rhino Films Production. By 1964 he was using again, and she was hiding the money from his occasional gigs in a hole in the wall of their apartment to keep him from buying heroin with it. He then located Emira, put her in touch with an attorney, and helped line up witnesses and documentation. In his book, Me, the Mob, and the Music, Tommy James characterized Levy as willing to strong-arm the artists signed to Roulette, and that the label was notorious for not paying its artists for their record sales. Though this success was short-lived, Lymon on a personal level was apparently quite the boy who couldnt say no. Before the case came to court, Emira changed her mind about the tombstone, despite initially agreeing to have Ronnie Italiano and the UGHA to undertake the project. Paula Span revealed that if Elizabeth or Zola was found to be his widow, they agreed to share the proceeds of his estate equally. He then called Elizabeth and urged her to join him. She turned to heroin and cocaine herself, she acknowledged on the stand, and to support her daughter from her first marriage, she became a prostitute. Eagle claimed that Levy had committed fraud and copyright infringement by crediting himself as coauthor of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (a not uncommon practice in the history of early rock 'n' roll). "Frankly, we do not believe that the claims set forth in the federal court case have merit," says Terrance McKnight, one of Zola's attorneys. He also represented several of the artists featured on the "Dirty Dancing" album. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. During his brief lifetime, Lymon became world-famous for his hit singles with The Teenagers including "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" Whie serving at Ft. Gordon in Georgia, Frankie married again. Last to the altar is Eagle, the sister of one of the singers Army buddies. Zola: "I perform all over the world"), she arrived at court daily in a limousine. Get our L.A. Executive producers Gregory Nava, Mark Allan, Harold Bronson. "The only thing {Morris Levy} had to do with it was to collect the money," Santiago says. Left-Wing Meloni: Italys Attempt to Replicate Giorgia Meloni, Europe is dumping its migrants in Africa in exchange of money, Antoinette Giancana Biography, Family and Movies, David Von Drehle: Biography, Career, Education and Books, Uplift Suasion: the notion to change racism, Mexicos constitutional crisis has its roots in Washington, The EU-Mercosur Deal: Macrons Duplicity Unveiled, Paraguay declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. It also dooms, at least for now, the hopes of singer Zola Mae Taylor of Los Angeles, the female member of the original Platters, and Emira Eagle, a schoolteacher from Augusta, Ga., each of whom had claimed in court that she was Lymon's widow and heir. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. He is skeptical, too, about some of the harrowing descriptions of Lymon that have surfaced during the legal jousting. "If you have any kind of heart at all," she said, "you know that he went through hell.". The Lymon she knew was more of a homebody than a homeboy--someone so different than the man the other two women married that, as someone sarcastically comments, it seems like anything in a skirt was Frankies type.. became part of the "American Graffiti" sound track and album, was a No. Similar to the stars of today, whenever the press cites "exhaustion" it's drug related. Taylor's attorneys could not be reached for comment. Back in Los Angeles, the club where Zola was performing tossed a celebration, with a cake and champagne. He got on that stage, and baby he was huge! Levy declined direct comment on the Lymon matter. He recorded other songs, alone and with his group the Teenagers, but none has inspired the same affection. Smalls Mortuary - Eastern Shore. When she and Frankie fought about it, Elizabeth said in court, he pulled a gun on her and she fled. Royalties were underestimated or simply never paid. She'll use a 16-piece band and her own group, Zola Taylor's Platters, as backup singers. "He was honest, completely honest," Elizabeth insists. What's different here is that before the suit could come to trial, Elizabeth petitioned the Surrogate Court claiming that she was Lymon's widow and Zola objected claiming that she was. He was the . Her complaint charged fraud, misappropriation and copyright infringement, among other offenses. Mays Mortuary, 1221 James Brown Blvd. As the lead vocalist for the Teenagers, Lymon (played by Larenz Tate) helped turn Why Do Fools Fall in Love into one of the biggest hits of 1956. Neither Zola nor Elizabeth could quite. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. "She's a square," Zola decided, noticing that Emira was coming to court in sneakers. She attempted to recover all the royalties from the date of the records release because she alleged that neither Levy nor his predecessor as co-writer, George Goldner who discovered and recorded the Teenagers, was actually a songwriter. She knew a soldier., Frankie was interviewed by The Augusta Chronicle while he was stationed at Ft. Gordon. The following month, Zola testified that she and Frankie drove to Tijuana and got married in a tiny chapel. Next comes the feisty Elizabeth Waters (Vivica A. 1/28/23, noon until 2pm service at Small's Mortuary. Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes. He was a hustler, a liar and a thief. A memorial service. "As far as I know, he was a very nice guy. And if Zola wins she's also decided to record an album of Frankie's hits -- "I Want You to Be My Girl," "I Promise to Remember," all the big ones. He was a master manipulator, however, and it was just two months after his less than honorable discharge for repeatedly being AWOL that he went to New York, telling Emira that he wanted to see about reviving his career while also secretly planning to contact lady friends and drug pushers in the city. By the time I met Frankie, he was a record deal-needing, broke ass, scam-on-his-momma-for-a-fix druggie! So estimates Chuck Rubin, a former agent who's become a kind of musical bounty hunter. "He had been busted in California again for drugs." First Visitation. For part of Lymons appeal to women was how uncommonly young he was; the singers first hit came before he was 14, younger than most romantic leads can play. ", Like the jazz and blues artists before them, the rock and rollers of the 1950s and 1960s were often ripe for rip-offs, and royalties were underestimated or simply never paid. I caught Frankie at a good time in his life. By the time Frankie showed up, unannounced, in Los Angeles, Zola had done well for herself. investigation of the infiltration of organized crime in the recording industry. He was previously married to Emira Lymon, Zola Taylor and Elizabeth Waters. Instead of filling my house with old moldy magazines, I scanned them (in most cases, photographed them) and filled a storage area with moldy magazines. Rubin gets his share, too: Emira testified in Surrogate Court that her arrangement called for any money recovered through her suit to be shared 50-50 with Rubin, after expenses and legal fees, which have already reached a substantial subtotal. Levy's attorney, Leon Borstein, says that Levy "assisted in the writing of the song; you have to remember, if he added one word, that's sufficient" to justify coauthorship. probe. When you made a deal with Ronnie, it was usually oral, a real old-school type of business person. * Playing in general release throughout Southern California. Span wrote that back in Los Angeles, the club where Zola was performing tossed a celebration with a cake and champagne. LYMON REESE OBITUARY. "She's a square," Zola decided, noticing that Emira was coming to court in sneakers. Not to mention that two other members of the Teenagers have filed suit claiming they cowrote "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" Ah, Frankie. A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.. 05:00 PM - 08:00 PM. Morris Levy had not become a force in the music business through fear alone; he was also very clever. And the true imponderable, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". Kids didnt know about royalties said Bob Hyde of Murray Hill Records. But "I couldn't get my hands on him, couldn't find him." Her attorneys advised her that it might look bad for her in court if she allowed an outside organization to place a headstone on Frankies grave. Published by Legacy on Jul. She also turned to prostitution to support her daughter from her first marriage, to one Charles Phillips, when she was just 16. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Neither Zola nor Elizabeth could quite figure Emira Eagle Lymon, the 48-year-old third wife from Augusta, Ga. Frankie marrying a schoolteacher? "She was so taken with the idea of being once and for all declared the real Mrs. Frankie Lymon." During the trial, the judge even raised the disquieting possibility that none of his three supposed marriages was legally contracted, that Lymon has no widow. Protected by reCAPTCHA and the true imponderable, `` Why Do Fools Fall in?! 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