When Crawford Cornelius Jr. passed away in April of 2008, he was remembered for not only his music, but for his industrious tenure as a schoolteacher in the Columbia, South Carolina area. Befittingly, this song is appropriate for churchgoers and kindergarteners alike, blurring the line between church ballad and lullaby.

(Click Article to Enlarge)

Wax Poetics is a fantastic publication, for whom I have been granted the liberty of telling many a Carolina tale over the years. The latest, from Issue 40, sheds some light on the roots of Winston-Salem’s permanently burgeoning rap scene. Due to lack of infrastructure and negligent radio, rappers from Winston never seem to gain true traction, and no one’s willing to back me on the brilliance of PWISD’s “Scared of the Tre Fo” (Keep your heads up, fellas). The magazine is available at Borders, Barnes and Noble, and a grip of independent bookstores, most of which can be located here. You’ve got ‘til the end of month. 

If you’ve never tuned in to North Carolina’s A&T’s collegiate frequency, 90.1-WNAA, you are assuredly missing out on some of the state’s finest, commercial-free programming. The latest addition to the Voice’s rich roster is local legend, Busta Brown, who spent ten years at 102 Jamz before making a grown-and-sexy migration to 97.1 WQMG. Despite generating meaningful, socially constructive content and unifying generations of Triad listeners in the process, WQMG declined to renew Brown’s contract. Brown is now at 90.1 where he continues to host “An Afternoon Thang.” Advantages: He can play old school hip-hop and mention weed. Disadvantages: He is not getting paid for his services. “For me,” explains Brown, “doing the show here is not about the money—it’s about continuing to connect with my audience.” 
“The Afternoon Thing,” can be heard from 3-5pm, Monday-Thursday on 90.1-WNAA.

The Educators Band—an off-shoot of the same-named group that came together in Washington, DC and made “Everybody Doing Their Thing (Parts 1 & 2)” (Dy-Rich DM 4538) there in the mid 1970s—is open for business:

The best band for your event. Call us for sound reinforcement, sound installation. For your entertainment needs at (803)236-2929 or (803)236-7552.NEW MYSPACE.COM/THEEDUCATORBAND .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Specializing in Weddings, College Dates, Grad Chapter Fraternity’s,Soritey ‘s. Concert openers,with William Bell, B.B. King, Betty Wright, Bill Pickney Drifter’s.Dennis Edwards of TEMPS.

Leader/saxophonist Ricco Richardson moved to South Carolina a few years after producing that funky 45 with Clifton Dyson, and he has been there ever since. Merging with a local group, Blackrock, and combining names as “Blackrock Educators”, Richardson was involved in their rarity “Isn’t It Nice” b/w “Give Into Love”, released on Bobby Cohen’s eponymous imprint in 1979. The Blackrock affiliation did not last very long, and Richardson reverted to his band’s original handle. In addition to the dynamic sax-man, the current line-up also consists of Gregg Johnson (lead guitar), Thomas Kelsey (bass guitar; ex-Profiles Band and Revue* of “Boo-Koo-Stump” Carolina Soul fame), and Tim Faber (drums; also ex-Profiles Band and Revue). Local South Carolinian “James Brown, Jr.” is available on request.

*Note: “Profiles” was actually a typographical error for “Profilers”. The defunct Columbia, South Carolina outfit is still remembered locally by their correct band name. Some music enthusiasts in town also remember their unmistakably-titled synthesizer-funk jam, “Boo-Koo-Stump” (Columbia World Of Music 0055-J), which you can hear at the end of this entry.

The current line-up again, in picture form (in upper advertisement only), from left to right, Kelsey, Johnson, Faber, and Richardson:

Midnight Blue’s rendition of the Leiber-Stoller composition “I Who Have Nothing” is right up there with Moe The Rooster as a frequent topic of email received here at Carolina Soul, and in this case, the writers always ask how they can hear the song again. As a response, we are offering an mp3 right here in this blog posting.

Midnight Blue is clearly a well-remembered Columbia, South Carolina group, and this song in particular must have been their hottest. Indeed, within a year after its local release on Samarah, it was picked up by Motown of all labels. On the strength, Samarah gained some momentum and diversified beyond just releasing records, as shown by this 1988 listing in a trade journal:

The success of “I Who Have Nothing” must have funded more off-beat releases like King Clyde’s or a seasonal offering that I have yet to come across, “What Is Christmas Without A Toy?”, by Drake and Company, featuring saxophonist Skipp Pearson.