Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?

Subject: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 01:26 AM

Recently after many years searching I was alerted on mudcat to the Leadbelly biopic movie   becoming available on dvd on e bay. As I said, in another thread, I would recommend it to anybody as it brings the songs alive and illustrates them very vividly - particularly to someone like myself, who never really knew what Leadbelly was about. I knew that there was substance there, from what clever people said, - but equally I knew I was missing it.

I wonder - are any of our stateside friends knowing about any of these artists. Perhaps I am asking a dumb quesion, and they are very famous. But I just thought I'd check and see if you were familiar with the names.

Hi Tide Harris who sang the Leadelly vocals
David Cohen and Dick Rosmini - who along with Sonny and Brownie played some of the music - the guitar playing is stunning.

Roger Mosley who acted the title role.

Madge Sinclair who plaed Miss Eula

Art Evans who played Blind Lemon Jefferson

John Henry Faulk who played Governor Pat Neff

All prominent players in an excellent ensemble.

Just wondered.

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Nerd
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 02:24 AM

Roger Moseley played one of the four principal characters on Magnum, P.I., the detective show with Tom Selleck. That's what he's really known for, but he has always had work as a character actor. You don't see him much anymore, but he can probably live off his Magnum residuals!

John Henry Faulk was an important folklorist and radio host whose lawsuit helped end the blacklist. He wrote a book about it called Fear on Trial, which was published in 1963. The book was made into a TV movie which won an Emmy in 1975. William Devane portrayed Faulk and George C. Scott played Faulk's lawyer, Louis Nizer. The following year, Faulk acted in Leadbelly; he had also known Leadbelly personally, because of his folklore work.

As a folklorist, Faulk was a student of J. Frank Dobie and a friend of John and Alan Lomax. He collected a great many hymns, spirituals, songs and sermons which are now in the American Folklife Center Archive at the Library of Congress--just shy of 350 sides.

Faulk had a song written about him by Phil Ochs, and the main branch of the Austin, Texas public library is named for him!

For the others, try looking them up at imdb.com. It's fun!

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Nerd
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 02:31 AM

Wow...one of the funny things you can discover on imdb.com is that, in addition to all the honors heaped on Faulk, such as the library being named after him, the Paul Robeson Prize, and the Phil Ochs song, he also acted in...



....The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Nerd
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 02:48 AM

Oh, and...Faulk died in 1990. But not before he played U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond in a 1983 TV movie!

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 04:47 AM

Yes I googled them after I posted that.

Fascinating that we should be discussing - who needs recording studios, and I'm asking about Dick Rossmini - the guy who it turns out was behind the portastudio revolution.

I just wondered if any of our American pals knew these guys spontaneously. after all we have amongst our number some of the guys who were in Washington Square in the fist days of the folk revival.

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Mark Ross
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 12:08 PM

I knew Art Evans in the'60's when I was playing around the Village.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 03:21 PM

Madge Sinclair died of leukemia in 1995. Born in Jamaica, worked as a teacher, was in Star Trek, 6 seasons on Trapper John, MD.

Hi Tide Harris made a number of recordings (mostly RCA). He never became very wellknown. He may be found on youtube (a gospel song).

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 07:37 PM

Fascinating Mark. I think the Blind Lemon in the film was a more compassionate, decent, and more jocular character than the guy of record who who abused and treated the young Josh White so cruelly.

have you seen the film, and what do you remember of Art Evans?

best wishes

al

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Mark Ross
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 09:39 AM

I saw the film(I have a taped copy). It probably could have been better, but that's the fault of the film company, when Gordon Parks was in the middle of the production the company management changed.
Since this movie was intitiated under the former regime, the new bosses decided not give it the support it deserved. It's not a bad movie, it's just not a great movie.

I knew Art to talk to around the Village, we didn't get to be tight friends. I see him every once in a while second billed in movies but I haven't talked to him in over 35 years.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 09:56 AM

What about you Mark, are you stilll putting it about, as they say?

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:00 AM

And then answering his own question:-

http://www.last.fm/music/Mark+Ross

But are you up to anything exciting Mark?

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Mark Ross
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:40 AM

Who put that site together? I'm still out there playing, mostly practicing child abuse(playing banjo for little kids), teaching private lessons, and so far this summer I have appeared at Railroad Days in Alberton, Montana, The Toledo(Oregon)Folk Festival, I was in Butte for the National Folk Festival(I wasn't hired by the Festival but some of the locals were a little miffed that they weren't doing anything about Labor or Mining and chipped in to bring me there to do some shows on that on the fringes), and shared the bill here in Eugene with Brendan Phillips(Utah's son)and his band Fast Rattler. Next month I will be doing a couple of shows with George Mann here in Eugene and Corvallis.

"A successful musician is on who is still eating, and still playing."

Dizzy Gillespie


Take It Easy, But Take It!

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:48 AM

I heard Dick Rosmini in a coffee house once or twice in the Village in the early 60's. I had an album with him on it, so long ago I can't even remember what it was. He was a fine 12 string player from what I remember.

Hey, that was a long time ago, and he certainly wasn't a friend.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 11:08 AM

Ive got to admit, I'd never heard of Strom Thurmond before.

That's one weird story. A career pro-segregationist, who had an unacknowledged black illegitimate daughter. I wonder how he managed to keep that quiet for 70 odd years!

I think your gutter press must be a bit more under control than they are in England.

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: Mark Ross
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 06:24 PM

Just remembered, I do have a web site(a little out of date perhaps).

Mark Ross

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: M.Ted
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 09:14 PM

It's a little early for this, but here's John Henry Faulk's Christmas Story It will give you an insight into what a remarkable man he was. There's a very good biography on the page, as well--and, as some of you may recall, he was a regular on "Hee Haw"--

Subject: RE: Leadbelly Film stars-where are they now?
From: GUEST,eli g
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 09:03 PM

just to say I'm glad ypu did this website/chatroom. I've always wondered... I happened to attend original screening in NYC of the
film where Roger Moseley introed it in person live, & explained why he
was promoting it himself cause studio had dropped it. Just a step
away (I thought) from becoming a major black film actor, but filmhistory's full of many might=have-beens