"A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.". Span wrote that Elizabeth called her work as a prostitute moonlighting in her testimony, and that Elizabeth said she had been arrested for it 15 or 20 times. Lymon didn't even leave a grieving widow to serve as keeper of his flame. He was inducted into the Army in December 1966, and sent to Fort Gordon, Ga. By the time Pvt. Lymon's 1967 marriage to Eagle, marked by a ceremony at the Beulah Grove Baptist Church, was invalid, according to the opinion, because he was still married to Waters. Her adversary, Morris Levy, was a powerful force in the music business. Wiki User. 2010-02-12 00:06:12. Frankie's particular scam, she thinks, was getting married. The Platters. The film travels back and forth in time to explore their relationship with the singer. Cinematographer Ed Lachman. A pop record seemed disposable then, before the rise of the nostalgia industry. 507 residents | Coed by wing | Single and double rooms. Bigger than life! The elephant in the room was the large sum of money that would be awarded to whoever was determined to be the songwriters of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love. It was copyrighted in the names of Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy. This time his bride was Emira Eagle, an educated, churchgoing elementary school teacher who lived with her family in nearby Augusta. ", Doo-wop historian Philip Groia, author of "They All Sang on the Corner," attended one of Alan Freed's legendary rock 'n' roll shows at the Brooklyn Paramount in the spring of 1956. He was an actor and composer, known for American Graffiti (1973), October Sky (1999) and The Big Fix (1978). Frankie told Elizabeth that Zola and I arent doing anything; its just a motherly relationship, Elizabeth testified in court. Artist Rights Enforcement Corporation was heralded by the New York Times as the white knight of rock n roll for its efforts in recovering uncollected royalties for a host of artists including Wilbert Harrison, Richard Berry, the Coasters, and the Dell Vikings to name just a few. It teaches him responsibility and how to stand on his own two feet. In 1986, the women, who were never divorced from Lymon, filed copyright claims in federal court in New York for Lymons songs. They had been married for 4.1 years. Emira came to New York to arrange for his funeral mass and burial, and she paid the bill -- $2,000. The Teenagers tried recording on their own, with a new lead singer. Rubin's 200 or so clients, from the Del Vikings to the Coasters, constitute an honor roll of early rock 'n' roll. When you made a deal with Ronnie, it was usually oral, a real old-school type of business person. He established his Artists Rights Enforcement Corp. in 1981 to hound, bully or sue record companies that he thought were depriving artists of their earnings, taking a substantial cut for his efforts. A Rhino Films Production. She had insisted that he check himself into a Manhattan hospital to cure his drug habit. Army discipline, I think, teaches a man how to protect himself. Screenplay by Tina Andrews. and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. Lymon's managers tried packaging him as a solo crooner in a cravat. probe. That's why we're here today.". Kenneth Turan is the former film critic for the Los Angeles Times. Editor Nancy Richardson. If Emira wins, she'll share the proceeds with Chuck Rubin and go after Morris Levy. Best Answer. And it was not uncommon for someone -- an agent, producer or record label head -- to name himself cowriter of a group's songs, entitling him to half the author's publishing royalties. As a child star, however, I was subjected to discipline from agents, managers and lawyers, but it was a discipline that protected me from myself so to speak. Elizabeth Waters may be entitled to an estate worth $750,000 in accumulated royalties from Lymon 1956 hit and its more modern iterations, according to Surrogate Court Judge Marie Lamberts ruling. According to Spans story, Frankie moved into Zolas home and her bedroom. Morris Levy had not become a force in the music business through fear alone; he was also very clever. He died on February 28, 1968 in New York City, New York, USA. Elizabeth Lymon says she married Lymon on Jan. 23, 1964, in Alexandria, Va., and bore him a daughter the following year. Last in line is Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a demure, well-bred Southern educator. Years later, in the wainscoted courtroom where Lymon's love life was being retraced in painful detail, Elizabeth turned to the judge. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. However, it turned out she had been married to someone else at the time. It makes him not only a good soldier, but a better individual. Zola, the older woman, was 17. Lymon was discharged a year later, he'd said "I do" once more. She says he didn't mean to hurt her, and blames his behavior on his addictions. Zola got to be pretty friendly with the first wife. Elizabeths claim to be Frankies wife and heir was weakened by the fact that she was still legally married when she wed Frankie in 1964. See all Elizabeth Waters' marriages, divorces, hookups, break ups, affairs, and dating relationships plus celebrity photos, latest Elizabeth Waters news, gossip, and biography. As Waters' claim went to court, Taylor claimed that she had been sexually active with Lymon as early as the "Biggest Rock "n" Roll Show of 1956" tour. Aside from Waters, the winner of this legal round is Morris Levy, head of Roulette Records, among the defendants when Eagle brought a federal suit in 1984. Taylor, of Los Angeles, a singer with the Platters, contends she married Lymon in 1965 in Tijuana, Mexico. Mini Bio (1) Frankie Lymon was born on September 30, 1942 in Harlem, New York City, New York, USA. Like the jazz and blues artists before them, the rock 'n' rollers of the '50s and '60s were often ripe for rip-offs. "And he was still just a kid when he started on the next wife, Elizabeth Waters," said Nava. Morris Levy - Roulette Records. With the matter now in a confused state, the federal judge stayed Emiras lawsuit. "The only thing Morris Levy had to do with it was to collect the money," Santiago said. She is attempting to recover all the royalties from the date of the record's release because -- she alleges -- neither Levy nor his predecessor as cowriter (George Goldner, who discovered and recorded the Teenagers) is actually an author. "I'm not going to wear mink coats with {you} in jeans," she announced. What was there about Frankie Lymon? Obituary. By the time Waters connected with Lymon, he had become a junkie, and she ended up ruining herself trying to pay for his drugs. "He had the type of personality that would draw people," she said. He told his family that night he was on his way to a gig. He was used and misused, and he used others also, she concluded. But the case may not end there, of course. Zola never saw him alive again. Back in 1956, the hit song had first been credited to Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, and George Goldner - head of Gee Records. Last in line is Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a demure, well-bred Southern educator. He can't remember what Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers sounded like that day -- the girls' shrieks all but drowned them out -- but he recalls the excitement. Her published account of the trial and the three women contesting to be named Frankies legal wife and heir was titled The Three Wives: The Legacy Of Love. Levy ruled his empire with an iron hand, using both fear and intimidation as part of his business model. Frankie had started using heroin again, and she was forced to hide the money from his occasional gigs in a hole in the wall of their apartment to prevent him from using it to buy drugs. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. "He had the type of personality," says Elizabeth Waters Lymon, Wife No. Required fields are marked *. None of whom had ever divorced, was his legal widow and heiress. Similar to the stars of today, whenever the press cites "exhaustion" it's drug related. The retired Richmond County schoolteacher in her years after Lymon was married to Augustan Leroy Bryant. Did Ukraine use innocent civilians as human shield against Russia in the name of evacuation? He lived for 26 years, was a star for one and a half of them, and left behind a miserable financial and legal mess and three wounded women. Waters provides convenient access to libraries, the . The sum, he says, "might have been $1,500. Costumes Elisabetta Beraldo. Lymon in February 1967 talked about his life and show business career with Chronicle reporter P.K. It was Rubin who, several years ago, came to the conclusion that Lymon's estate was not receiving appropriate royalties. The record company executive has other problems: He was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for his conspiracy conviction arising from an FBI investigation of racketeering in the recording industry. I feel sorry for him, most of all," echoes Zola. The Teenagers, too, have filed a federal suit saying they're entitled to their share of the proceeds regardless of who Lymon's widow is. Her divorce didn't come through until 1965. It was not, for long, a happy one. Elizabeth testified that she saw him on that visit, as she had a number of times both before and after his wedding (which Elizabeth says she knew nothing of). Also Read:Uplift Suasion: the notion to change racism, Your email address will not be published. It was put on hold until the completion of a new trial to determine which of three women Frankie Lymon was said to have married, but none of whom he ever divorced, was his rightful widow and heir. Levy had been arrested earlier in 1986 as part of the F.B.I. For his part, Rubin's not opposed to generating new income from old music. She'll use a 16-piece band and her own group, Zola Taylor's Platters, as backup singers. When he died of a drug overdose in 1968, just past his 25th birthday, he left behind a marital history worthy of a man several times his age. "He had been busted in California again for drugs." The trial of the three wives went forward, and final briefs were due in early 1988. Back in the 1950s, when a star-struck group like the Teenagers finally got to audition for the head of a record company, such matters as copyright barely figured in the conversation. November 2, 1988 NEW YORK -- The judge who last winter heard three middle-aged women testify to their heartaches with the late Frankie Lymon -- the doo-wop idol who cowrote and sang "Why Do Fools. He told Elizabeth that "Zola and I aren't doing anything; it's just a motherly relationship," Elizabeth testified. * MPAA rating: R, for language and some sexuality. According to Paula Span, her sisters boyfriend introduced them, and soon after, Emira was cooking meals for Frankie and they were shopping for wedding rings. Zola Taylor Lymon, now 50, one of the original Platters, had flown in from Los Angeles. NEW YORK -- It's been 32 years, but the song still shimmers and bops: first that calliope-like bass ("ehhh toom ah-ta toom ah-ta toom ah doe doe"), then a wash of "ooh-wahs," followed by the swooping soprano of 13-year-old Frankie Lymon, asking his immortal musical questions: Why do birds sing so gay? Left-Wing Meloni: Italys Attempt to Replicate Giorgia Meloni, Europe is dumping its migrants in Africa in exchange of money, Antoinette Giancana Biography, Family and Movies, David Von Drehle: Biography, Career, Education and Books, Uplift Suasion: the notion to change racism, Mexicos constitutional crisis has its roots in Washington, The EU-Mercosur Deal: Macrons Duplicity Unveiled, Paraguay declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. Yet she also talked about Lymon's ruptured family, and, again, his drug dependency. Elizabeth testified that she did not object. She testified that she and Frankie had started living together shortly after they met. What's different here is that before the suit could come to trial, Elizabeth petitioned the Surrogate Court claiming that she was Lymon's widow and Zola objected claiming that she was. They wanted to impress their friends in school by being on the radio. He had the type of personality that would draw people, she said. They pointed to the contracts that Elizabeth and Zola signed with Levys publishing business, Big Seven Music Corp. Each assigned the songs copyright to Big Seven in exchange for an advance ($10,000 for Elizabeth and $7,500 for Zola) against her share of future royalties. At the trial, Elizabeth testified that she saw Frankie on that visit, as she had a number of times both before and after his wedding to Emira, which she said she knew nothing of. The way '50s singer Frankie Lymon is presented in "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is "mostly true. Then he called Elizabeth and urged her to join him. Lymon was 14 years old when he began to date Zola Taylor (Berry), lead singer of the chart-topping group the Platters in the mid-1950s. Also Read:David Von Drehle: Biography, Career, Education and Books. With the waters thoroughly muddied, the federal judge stayed Emira's lawsuit in 1986 pending determination of which woman was Lymon's widow. It spent months on the pop charts, led to national tours and TV appearances and bubble-gum cards with the Teenagers' picture on them. Neither Zola nor Elizabeth could quite figure Emira Eagle Lymon, the 48-year-old third wife from Augusta, Ga. Frankie marrying a schoolteacher? And it stalls or kills a federal lawsuit Eagle had brought to reclaim control of the publishing rights to his song. Key parts of this chronology are in dispute, of course. Zola: "I perform all over the world"), she arrived at court daily in a limousine. It was Rubin who, several years earlier, came to the conclusion that Lymons estate was not receiving appropriate royalties. The court found that "the decedent and Elizabeth {Waters} have satisfied the requirements of common law marriage in the State of Pennsylvania." "They wanted to impress their friends in school" by being on the radio. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Back in Los Angeles, the club where Zola was performing tossed a celebration, with a cake and champagne. I feel sorry for him, most of all," echoed Zola. Waters bore Lymon's only known child, a daughter who died shortly after birth. Pearl, who emulated Frankie Lymon with a distinctive sound all her own, sealed the deal for Robinson, and the Kodaks were signed to the Fury label. "I didn't want her to hear it on the news," he said. Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes. Lymon, known for being the lead vocalist of the world-wide popular rock group Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, died less than a year later on Feb. 27, 1968, at age 25 in New York City, reportedly of a heroin overdose. Recording costs and commissions for everyone from managers to choreographers could siphon off much of a group's earnings. According to Paula Span, people sometimes compared Frankie with the young Michael Jackson, who also knew how to combine innocence and knowingness. Parts of the above testimony and chronology of events were disputed in court. Instead, he has posthumously provoked a trial that will determine which of the three women he is said to have married -- without ever scrupling to divorce any of them -- is really his widow and heir. He had a bad year in 1966. Although most of Rubin's cases don't wind up in court, the allegations Emira made are not unusual. And that led to his 1955 smash hit "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," singing for Queen Elizabeth II at the London Palladium and performing in nightclubs and theaters worldwide. Id have killed him, I was so angry, Zola told Span. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. This legal drama was made into a movie earlier this year, named after his hit song Why fools fall in love. Neither has Elizabeth or Zola. "Just make sure the artist or writer gets his share." An employee of a furniture store in north Philadelphia, she was in South Carolina for a family funeral. He moved into her home and her bedroom. In a matter that grew steadily more complex, Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago, the two surviving members of the original Teenagers, filed their own federal suit against Levy and his companies, with Emira also named as a defendant. DAPHNE, AL 36526. All these arguments were laid forth in voluminous briefs, memoranda, and affidavits filed in Surrogate Court. View our. Span reported that Zolas secretary and her booking agent both testified that they were witnesses to the wedding, and that her attorneys argued that California law made her a putative (believed to be) spouse entitled to share in Frankie Lymons property. Others still do, however. (All three women used the surname Lymon in court documents at least part of the time.) He left no fortune, but his name was listed as one of the songwriters of Why Do Fools Fall In Love. He was clean for a time when she became pregnant in 1963, and he was deeply saddend by the death of their infant daughter. Smalls Mortuary - Eastern Shore. At the least, records and witnesses' recollections seem to indicate that Frankie Lymon did stand before a magistrate or minister on three occasions to promise himself to each of these women until death parted them, which turned out to be a fairly short time. Copy. Frankie was that kind of person, Your Honor, Elizabeth said. Though Navas soapy directing style makes Fools watchable enough in a campy way, the films unsophisticated nature undermines its better qualities. View contact information: phones, addresses, emails and networks. Lymon signed with both 20th Century Fox Records and Columbia Records, but both deals were short-lived. Funeral services will be held Monday, February 27, 2023, at 3:00 PM from the chapel. "She did not know the druggie described in this trial She knew a soldier.". Span wrote that Frankies relationship with Zola was not entirely maternal. Rubin gets his share, too: Emira testified in Surrogate Court that her arrangement called for any money recovered through her suit to be shared 50-50 with Rubin, after expenses and legal fees, which have already reached a substantial subtotal. None of the many tracks they made together or separately ever duplicated the jubilance of their early records. "He sort of changed my life for me," Elizabeth says. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. That wasn't his style. Paula Span reported that, during the trial, the judge even raised the disquieting possibility that none of his three supposed marriages was legally contracted, that Lymon had no widow. Macron wont let go off Africa so easily, he is love sick, Canadas Debt Crisis: A Never-Ending Burden Passed On From Generation to Generation, Alcohol tax in Canada: Canadian government is taking a sip out of your beer. That eventually led to singing on street corners with friends and being discovered at age 12 by George Goldner of GEE Records. They were married in June 1967 at the Beulah Grove Baptist Church, with 50 members of Emira's family in attendance and a reception afterward at the Capri Lounge. Sound Veda Campell. A pop record might have seemed disposable before the rise of the nostalgia industry. She had a big house in the hills with a swimming pool, and she immediately took the scruffy Frankie shopping for suits and tuxedos. Also Read Inside Data and Cyber Security issue in Barbados Europe plays chess with Wagner's African moves, imposes sanctions He was a soldier for most of their brief marriage, taking the bus from her family's home to the post each day. Her attorneys advised her that it might look bad for her in court if she allowed an outside organization to place a headstone on Frankies grave. I cant just sit here and tell the court anything different. -- those he abused and betrayed seem loath to condemn him. He once told a magazine interviewer that he'd been a pimp since he was 10. Opened 1940 | Named after Elizabeth Waters. Zola and Elizabeth declined, but said they were willing to accept an equal, three-way split. Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, the legally declared widow of '50s teenage rock star Frankie Lymon, died Saturday at AU Medical Center. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Though this success was short-lived, Lymon on a personal level was apparently quite the boy who couldnt say no. She and Frankie were riding a tour bus together in 1956, doing 81 one-nighters with a rock 'n' roll cavalcade that included Chuck Berry, the Coasters, the Penguins and Bo Diddley, as well as the Platters and the Teenagers. Elizabeth 'Mickey' Waters : You see, y'all gotta understand. Rodgers, who had been Roulettes top-selling artist in the 50s and early 60s with his #1 hit Honeycomb and 26 other charting singles, suffered traumatic head injuries from a blunt instrument in the beating. And yet -- what was it about him? If none of the women is Frankie's widow, the surviving members of his family stand to inherit. Emira came to New York to arrange for Frankies funeral mass and burial. A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.. He was the . 1, "that would draw people to him.". Ten years after his initial success, however, he was wearing an Army uniform as a private at Fort Gordon. "I'm not a person to hold a grudge. Gender inclusive room options available. Family and friends said goodbye Friday to Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, who. It was modified to just Lymon and Goldner on subsquent recordings for the next decade before Goldner's name was replaced by Levy's. The Lymon she knew was more of a homebody than a homeboy--someone so different than the man the other two women married that, as someone sarcastically comments, it seems like anything in a skirt was Frankies type.. "If you have any kind of heart at all," she said, "you know that he went through hell.". So the trial went forward. "Sell, sell, sell," he advises. By 1962, Frankies career had been in decline for several years but she had nevertheless come with two girlfriends to meet her onetime idol. Each woman suspected he was sleeping with the other, and both were apparently correct. And that song, which he wrote or helped to write and which will bear his boyish vocal signature forever. "Frankie Lymon just transcended all the other doo-wop groups," says Bob Hyde, whose Murray Hill label reissued the Teenagers' recordings last year. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. "She was speechless, actually unable to talk," reported the attorney, Dwight Peterson. First Visitation. Frankie could fool you, he could fool me; Frankie could fool God. What is less clear from the file is why, 20 years afterward, it has become so important to be Frankie Lymon's legal widow. When trading Miss Thing"-type insults doesnt clear the air, a lawsuit to determine the identity of the true widow and heir to Lymons royalties becomes inevitable. Mays Mortuary, 1221 James Brown Blvd. She has never remarried. When the Emiras case just started, Elizabeth Waters Lymon petitioned the proxy court, claiming that she was the widow of Frankie Lymon and that Zola Taylor was also Objected, claiming to be Lemmons legal widow. They point to the absence of documentation from Mexico as evidence that Zola and Frankie never married at all. As Water's claim went to court, Zola Taylor ex-member of the Platters, claimed that she had been sexually active with Lymon as early as the "Biggest Rock "n" Roll Show of 1956" tour. In December 1989, the New York Supreme Court ruled that Bryant was Lymons only legal wife. One of his records with the Teenagers was called "I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent," but for all the conviction in his sweet young voice, he probably was one. "He was honest, completely honest," Elizabeth insists. He was energetic; dynamic; charismatic. 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Phils 2023-24 season lineup celebrates the 20th anniversary of Walt Disney Concert Hall, Cardi B changes tune on community service, calls it best thing, spiritual journey, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Shocking, impossible gas bills push restaurants to the brink of closures, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Im visiting all 600 L.A. spots on the National Register. became part of the "American Graffiti" sound track and album, was a No. A memorial service. Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 - February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group The Teenagers.The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. She plays Lemmons second wife. Waters of Philadelphia claimed to be Lymon's common-law wife during the mid-1960s, according to papers. By 1964 he was using again, and she was hiding the money from his occasional gigs in a hole in the wall of their apartment to keep him from buying heroin with it. "Frankly, we do not believe that the claims set forth in the federal court case have merit," says Terrance McKnight, one of Zola's attorneys. "I'd have killed him, I was so angry," she says. (Diana Ross also had a hit with it), "Goody Goody," "Little Bitty Pretty One" and "Im Not a Juvenile Delinquent.". The opinion dismisses the claims of Taylor, who was unable to produce "credible proof" of her marriage to Lymon or her divorce from her previous husband, both of which she said occurred in Mexico. Taylor,. It was engraved with the words, In Memory Of Frankie Lymon Sept. 30, 1942 - Feb. 27, 1968 "We Promise To Remember". 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Drug dependency she arrived at court daily in a cravat 2023, at 3:00 PM from the chapel doing ;. Old music to Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, who also knew how to combine innocence and knowingness life... Who also knew how to combine innocence and knowingness been a pimp since was. That she and Frankie never married at all, now 50, one of the above testimony and chronology events! And that song, which he wrote or helped elizabeth waters lymon obituary write and which will bear his vocal! Span, people sometimes compared Frankie with the week 's best events, to help explore... The allegations Emira made are not unusual she knew a soldier. `` blames behavior...