There's a song on
Second Avenue called "Sleepin' Late." It was written in the 1960s by my mom's best friend,
Fangette Willett. They met in 1967 when they shared a hospital room waiting to give birth to sons (Chris, my brother, and Jason, who owns
The True Vine in Baltimore). Back in the day Fangette wrote songs for Motown, including "Dark Shadows and Empty Hallways," and "Uphill Climb to the Bottom." Fangette gave me my first singing "lesson" at her grand piano in her house on Ellicott Street when I was about four. I remember her telling me to wave my arms around when I sang! Fred "Cello Guy" Lieder and I visited her in Arizona last year when we were on tour, and she regaled us with stories about
Mama Cass and
Roberta Flack and recordings of her songs by
Billy Eckstine and Lou Rawls and others. There is a really interesting and fun article about Fangette in
Spectropop.com that refers to a lot of 1960s DC music history -
Bohemian Caverns, Clydes, the Chad Mitchell Trio and more.
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
2:13 PM |
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