B.B. King (1980)

  “A guy comes out of the gumbo, he likes to walk on concrete awhile.”   October 14, 1980 Lippman House, Harvard University, Cambridge   When B.B. King came to Harvard University, it was a special day. Not only for the fortunate few who got to witness an intimate performance in a small wooden house…

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Lee Mitchell

  “Lo and behold, Al Green came out with ‘I’m So Tired of Being Alone’….Those songs I was supposed to sing….I just knew that it would have been a successful thing for me.”     In a parallel universe Lee Mitchell – not Al Green – emerged as the top male soul star of the…

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Ben E. King (1987)

“I’ve come to accept that ‘Stand By Me’ is my secret key to survival…” In early 1987 Ben E. King – who died April 30 at 76 – was enjoying an entirely unexpected return to the upper reaches of the pop charts. The original recording of his 1961 song “Stand By Me” had become a…

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