Posted on 07/02/2018 7:10:20 AM PDT by ETL
A train pulls into the station roughly 3/4s of the way through video but leaves in time for the nice finish.
Homeless Man Singing My Girl
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_yCgjI2XW2A
Love it.
Back when Black America was making REAL music.
He seems like a decent chap. I hope he lands on this
feet someplace.
Different sort of thing here, but also very nice.
“Shy little girl leaves the judges in TEARS with her AMAZING Voice”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JOW94fC9foQ
In the first week of March, 1965, “My Girl” reached #1 in Southern California, knocking out the Righteous Brothers’ “ You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” which had sat atop the chart since New Years Eve.
America is a better country than many of us think. he’s not homeless, because he makes close to a living singing like that. See here: https://www.musiccrowns.org/featured-post/danny-small-soul-man/
Mitchell Hughes aka Danny Small aka Geechee* Dan aka The Singing Dragon is a 73 year old soul singer from South Carolina. He moved to New York at the age of 18 in hopes of becoming a famous singer. He never learned how to sing, instead he taught himself by imitating Tchaikovsky (he calls it singing without singing). His musical influences include Van Morrison, Beatles, Elvis Presley, Chubby Checker, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson and Al Green…
To put an end to all sorts of speculations, he is NOT homeless. He lives in a 1 bedroom apartment in a senior housing complex together with his 28 year old son in Harlem, New York.
There he also has a kind of recording studio where he produces his own CDs under his own label called “Geechee Records, LLC.”. He earns about $100 to $200 a day and sometimes even up to $400 whereas most of his earnings are spent on music equipment. His only passion is music.
Since 2000, he has been singing in the subway for 5 to 6 hours a day and is loved by his audience. Everyday he still carries his equipment to the subway by himself although he has arthritis. He hasn’t always earned enough to make a living, therefore he worked in bars, cleaned toilets and carried out food for many years to make money on the side.
25 years ago he had a commitment with the cotton club, the most famous Jazz club in New York, for 4 years where he performed 2 to 3 songs a night. There he performed under the name “The Singing Dragon”, on the same stage as Greats like Louis Armstrong and so on. He quit performing at the Cotton Club because he wanted to go on tour with a gospel band, unfortunately without success. Since then, he has never had the courage to go back there again.
Besides performing at the Cotton Club, he has also performed at big and popular venues like Nios, Small’s Paradise, Baby Grand and even a club owned by John Gotti with his band “Geechee Band”.
Music Crowns
Music Crowns is an online magazine for indy and unsigned music stars from across the globe. We are also an opportunities and promotion hub for the independent and unsigned music community.
Nice find. Thanks.
Here’s a young lady with a brilliant rendition of the Rolling Stones’ song Wild Horses.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OxLtGurNXOc
Strange that you mentioned the Righteous Brothers. Because the first video on the sidebar of the the My Girl vid that I sampled was a black guy singing Unchained Melody, also in the NYC subway.
Nothing more true than this.
Two weeks from now we're going to the big D to see the Four Tops/Temptations/Stylistics in concert.
I was a Motown baby in Detroit and it was the best of times.
Back when *America* was making REAL music. Because White and every other type of music over the past few decades pretty much sucks too, as does many other aspects of our once great culture, amazing new technology being just about the only bright spot.
Rising now in all her former glory - thanks to our great potus who spoke so lovingly of my childhood city.
Nonetheless Motown was symbolic of good times for America. You betcha.
“In the first week of March, 1965, “My Girl” reached #1 in Southern California”
“My Girl” brings to mind my last night at Camp Pendleton in July ’66.
Our flight date Down South was on deck and we’re restricted to the company area. In prep for going “in-country”, aside from walking around money, we’d money-ordered home or otherwise turned in US currency. We’re basically broke.
Well, our platoon sergeant, a truly decent Marine who’d previously been a Drill Instructor in Special Training Battalion at Parris Island, had other ideas about our last night in the States.
So Staff asks, “who has money?” After a response indicated WE ALL had money, he suggested pooling our funds and head down to the 1-2-3 Club. In a military manner of course.
In formation, off we went to spend a few hours in the club drinking Tre-Deuce beer, eating chips and whatever passed for hamburgers & hotdogs. All the while listening to possibly every jam on the jukebox. And a great evening it was…..
Now getting back to our area was literally an uphill trip. Ordinarily, moving a formation in a military manner on anything other than level ground can be a challenge. The task was now compounded by darkness and Tre-Deuce beer.
Somewhere along the way, Staff began calling cadence and someone was inspired enough to slip in a few lines of “My Girl” in response. Immediately everyone kicked in with some semblance of a marching chant.
Now the point of so much spiel is to provide an image of a platoon of half-tight Marines marching uphill, in the dark, to “My Girl” AND punctuating the key lyric “My Girl” with SAPPHIRE”…as in “talkin’ bout…talkin’ bout..SAPPHIRE”. EVERY time since that I hear Smokey, I think of that night and I’ve gotten more than one strange look if I smile and say “My Girl’s true name.
We flew out the next day to Oki via commercial. Once there we boarded C-130’s. Between a feathered engine in route, loss of cabin pressure and a tarmac fuel gusher, it took three tries for our Bird to get to Danang. An aside; among the cast of characters in my platoon was a Marine with the unlikely of Harvey Oswald. A short-timer with less than six months remaining on his enlistment, a critical need for someone with his MOS had necessitated his transfer.
Kudos to you for your service in Vietnam.
The Frau and I saw the Coasters, Drifters and Platters at the restored Galveston Opera House a few years ago. Great show. The Platters have always been my favorite.
I wish Houston had more buskers, and places for busking. Some of them - SOME of them are very talented.
I also love the surprised looks on the busker’s face when the original artist happens by (Steven Tyler in Romania, etc.)
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