Angel, Me and the Three Kings of Orient Noir

First, thanks to Harry for the title pun. Such things are expected and forgiven at this time of year…

Absolutely*Kate, Commander-In-Chief of Harbinger*33 (it’s coming!) has been kind enough to post a story of mine, A Room at the Star, over at the Bijou. What’s more, I’m privileged to be double-featuring with Angel Zapata, who has another Magi-oriented story on the same bill, entitled El Dia De Los Reyes {The Day of the Kings}.

Please read, enjoy and have a safe and serene Christmas, Holiday, Hanukah, Kwanza, etc.

Peace and Love.

Holidays? Humbug! It’s Christmas!

Nothing like clustering around the warm glow of your monitor to enjoy this clip a few dozen times over the Silly Season…

Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters

While Clyde McPhatter’s groundbreaking contributions as a soul and R&B vocalist have gone generally undernoticed outside of music circles, his fervent voice and passionate delivery influenced such artists as Smokey Robinson, Ben E. King (one of his heirs in the Drifters), Aaron Neville and Jackie Wilson (his successor in the Dominoes).

“He was one of the first guys I ever listened to,” Robinson said shortly after McPhatter’s death in 1972. “When he first came on the scene with Billy Ward and the Dominoes, he was The Man.”

“Anything Clyde sings is a prayer,” Aaron Neville told Goldmine’s Bruce Sylvester. “When I was growing up, I don’t care what else was going on in the world - Jim Crow, all the other stuff - you could put on Clyde McPhatter and it would all disappear.”

(© The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Inc)