Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. The female lawyer stated that the battle began shortly after Emira asked the Georgia court to declare her as the administrator of Lemmons Estate. Friday, November 06 2020. * MPAA rating: R, for language and some sexuality. ", Like the jazz and blues artists before them, the rock and rollers of the 1950s and 1960s were often ripe for rip-offs, and royalties were underestimated or simply never paid. When she recovered, she declared that "she knew it; she'd had faith all along," Peterson said. Funeral services will be held Monday, February 27, 2023, at 3:00 PM from the chapel. At her insistence he checked into a Manhattan hospital to cure his drug habit, and maybe he succeeded for a time. He took the bus to the post from her familys home each day. His was a wasted life, and he was so talented., Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Recording costs and commissions for everyone from managers to choreographers could siphon off much of a group's earnings. He had the looks; he had the voice; he had the moves. He once told a magazine interviewer that he'd been a pimp since he was 10. I know some of these characters, and some I like very muchI knew Cardinal Spellman, too. Back in New Jersey, Ronnie Italiano and the UGHA had adhered to Emiras aforementioned wishes and held off on moving forward with their project to acquire and place a memorial tombstone on Frankie Lymons grave until her lawsuit was settled. Frankie Lymon/Wife. She has been in one celebrity relationship averaging approximately 4.1 years. People sometimes compare him with the young Michael Jackson, who also knew how to combine innocence and knowingness. Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, the legally declared widow of '50s teenage rock star Frankie Lymon, died Saturday at AU Medical Center. "The only thing {Morris Levy} had to do with it was to collect the money," Santiago says. Last to the altar is Eagle, the sister of one of the singers Army buddies. Maybe it was the afterglow from her Tijuana marriage that induced Zola to trust a junkie like Frankie to take care of her financial affairs when she left to tour Japan with the Platters in December 1965. Her singing group, the Platters, had been even more successful than the Teenagers, and the group was sometimes referred to as the Four Platters and a Dish. 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. Frankie told Elizabeth that Zola and I arent doing anything; its just a motherly relationship, Elizabeth testified in court. Span wrote that back in Los Angeles, the club where Zola was performing tossed a celebration with a cake and champagne. A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.. Morris Levy - Roulette Records. 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. "Up to a point." "A lot of people say I knew him so long I became like him.". They were married in June 1967 at the Beulah Grove Baptist Church, with 50 members of Emiras family in attendance and a reception afterward at the Capri Lounge. It makes him not only a good soldier, but a better individual. The film travels back and forth in time to explore their relationship with the singer. The way '50s singer Frankie Lymon is presented in "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is "mostly true. Her troubles with drugs and the law continued long after Frankie's death. "They wanted to impress their friends in school" by being on the radio. It is Frankie Lymon's only real legacy, that two minutes and 15 seconds of doo-wop. Borstein, Levy's attorney, says the agreements amount to standard industry contracts. "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. This trio first meets as a group in 1985 in the offices of Morris Levy (Paul Mazursky), the shrewd operator whose company released Lymons hits. Debunking the Myth: Is Maduro a Dictator? View contact information: phones, addresses, emails and networks. That eventually led to singing on street corners with friends and being discovered at age 12 by George Goldner of GEE Records. became part of the "American Graffiti" sound track and album, was a No. Undisputed, however, was the song's impact. Emira came to New York to arrange for his funeral mass and burial, and she paid the bill -- $2,000. She met Frankie when he was 20-years-old, backstage at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. But Anne Pomeroy of the Artists Rights Enforcement Corp. (which has played a major role in the Lymon case, and about which more later) spoke with Emira at length. 05:00 PM - 08:00 PM. "He had been busted in California again for drugs." Her obituary was posted on February 9, 2023. Taylor, of Los Angeles, a singer with the Platters, contends she married Lymon in 1965 in Tijuana, Mexico. It also dooms, at least for now, the hopes of singer Zola Mae Taylor of Los Angeles, the female member of the original Platters, and Emira Eagle, a schoolteacher from Augusta, Ga., each of whom had claimed in court that she was Lymon's widow and heir. "Frankie wasn't much older, either, when he met the third Mrs. Lymon, Emira Eagle. "I'm not a person to hold a grudge. Though other people testify in the trial, notably Little Richard playing himself and saying things like I am the originator, the emancipator, the motivator, most of Fools is told in flashback as each woman takes the stand and relates her portion of Lymons life. In one disturbing incident, James wrote that Levy arranged a 1967 attack on former Roulette artist Jimmie Rodgers by an off-duty police officer in response to Rodgers repeated demands for unpaid royalties he was owed by the label. By the time of the trial, publishing rights to the song might have been worth seven figures. 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. Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, the legally declared widow of '50s teenage rock star Frankie Lymon, died Saturday at AU Medical Center. When she returned in April, the house was in foreclosure and Frankie was gone with the money. He recorded other songs, alone and with his group the Teenagers, but none has inspired the same affection. Yet she also talked about Lymon's ruptured family, and, again, his drug dependency. Span wrote that Frankie was a soldier for most of his brief marriage to Emira. (All three women used the surname Lymon in court documents at least part of the time.) And if he put others through hell too, well, didn't he say, right in that song, that love is a losing game? Elizabeth Lymon says she married Lymon on Jan. 23, 1964, in Alexandria, Va., and bore him a daughter the following year. Emira's attorneys have alleged that the other two widows "acted in concert" with Levy, and point to contracts that Zola and Elizabeth each signed with Levy's publishing business, Big Seven Music Corp. Each assigned the song's copyright to Big Seven in exchange for an advance ($10,000 in Elizabeth's case, $7,500 in Zola's) against her share of future royalties. That's why we're here today.". 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. Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes. She has never remarried. Artists Rights helped secure a financial settlement for Richard Berry, composer of "Louie, Louie" (just before the song starred in a wine cooler ad), and represents several of the artists featured on the "Dirty Dancing" album. Waters Residence Hall is centrally located in the heart of campus along the shore of Lake Mendota. He was apparently a bigamist, or maybe a trigamist. 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. If none of the women was found to be Frankie's widow, the surviving members of his family stood to inherit. She and Frankie began living together in 1962, she testified. The small wedding party celebrated by getting very drunk, not an uncommon state for Frankie at the time. ", "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" was part of the American Graffiti film soundtrack and album, a big pop hit single and album for Diana Ross in 1981, and had been used in a greeting card commercial. Her adversary, Morris Levy, was a powerful force in the music business. The Happenings' 45. She'll use a 16-piece band and her own group, Zola Taylor's Platters, as backup singers. They point to the absence of documentation from Mexico as evidence that Zola and Frankie never married at all. Also Read:Family of Lorenzo Dominic Lavalle. Elizabeth Waters - Director STEM Outreach - The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art | LinkedIn Elizabeth Waters Director STEM Outreach at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of. When you made a deal with Ronnie, it was usually oral, a real old-school type of business person. She claimed to have . Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. 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. "Sell, sell, sell," he advises. In December 1989, the New York Supreme Court ruled that Bryant was Lymons only legal wife. If Emira won, she would share the proceeds with Chuck Rubin and go after Morris Levy. Ronnie had raised a large amount of money from the benefit concerts and donations, but he had been in limbo because of the legal battle, recalled Bill Olb. It was Rubin who, several years earlier, came to the conclusion that Lymons estate was not receiving appropriate royalties. For his part, Rubin's not opposed to generating new income from old music. Eagle's New York counsel Ira Greenberg agreed that his "current inclination" was to appeal. What is less clear from the file is why, 20 years afterward, it has become so important to be Frankie Lymon's legal widow. Taylor,. She's going to call it "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". and never miss an insightful take by the TFIGlobal team, This website uses cookies. * Playing in general release throughout Southern California. Zola Taylor Lymon, who was 50, had flown in from Los Angeles. The essence of their dispute was which of the marriages was legally binding, given a certain laxity in some quarters about divorce. Zola, the older woman, was 17. He was previously married to Emira Lymon, Zola Taylor and Elizabeth Waters. They got married at City Hall in Alexandria, Va., early in 1964. But I couldnt get my hands on him, couldnt find him. According to Elizabeth and several other witnesses, Frankie was back in New York telling them that his marriage to Zola had only been a publicity stunt. 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. Elizabeth Waters is currently single. He was inducted into the Army in December 1966, and sent to Fort Gordon, Ga. By the time Pvt. Whie serving at Ft. Gordon in Georgia, Frankie married again. "I didn't want her to hear it on the news," he said. The sum, he says, "might have been $1,500. Borstein, Levy's attorney, says the charges are "complete speculation; there's absolutely no proof.". Cinematographer Ed Lachman. Elizabeth Waters was not yet divorced when she married Lymon, but the marriage became lawful once her first husbands divorce was finalized. When a star-struck group like the Teenagers finally got to audition for a doo-wop impresario, such matters as copyright barely figured in the conversation. She called the work "moonlighting" and testified that she was arrested for it 15 or 20 times. Im sure it probably would bring back some good memories, she said of the show that was being staged at the Imperial. Although Emiras attorneys advised her not to talk to Paula Span until the Surrogate Court reached a decision, Anne Pomeroy of the Artist Rights Enforcement Corporation, who was working with Emiras lawyers, spoke with the reporter. 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. Next comes the feisty Elizabeth Waters (Vivica A. Though this success was short-lived, Lymon on a personal level was apparently quite the boy who couldnt say no. 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. A memorial service. 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. Rubin's 200 or so clients constituted an honor roll of early rock and roll. She and Frankie became teenaged lovers in 1956 while they were on an Alan Freed bus tour of 81 one-nighters, each performing with their group along with an all-star cast. All these arguments were laid forth in voluminous briefs, memoranda, and affidavits filed in Surrogate Court. "I'm not a person to hold a grudge. He was told, after he raised the money, that she didnt want the headstone for the grave and that he wasnt authorized to put it on there.. Elizabeth, now 46, says she's been born again, but she still strives for glamor, her skirt fashionably above the knee, her fingernails long and orange. He had a bad year in 1966. investigation of the infiltration of organized crime in the recording industry. Zola got to be pretty friendly with the first wife. I feel sorry for him, most of all," echoes Zola. "Even though she had said no, she had said yes in the beginning; so Ronnie went ahead without going back and contacting Emira again. Chuck Rubin. Lymon was 14 years old when he began dating Zola Taylor (Berry), the lead singer of the Platters in the mid-1950s. The court found that "the decedent and Elizabeth {Waters} have satisfied the requirements of common law marriage in the State of Pennsylvania." She had insisted that he check himself into a Manhattan hospital to cure his drug habit. "I can't just sit here and tell the court anything different. Her sister's boyfriend introduced them; soon, Emira was cooking meals for Frankie and they were shopping for wedding rings. Each woman suspected he was sleeping with the other, and both apparently were correct. Span wrote that Frankies relationship with Zola was not entirely maternal. Zola and Elizabeth didn't get close to Emira; and she didn't have anything much to say to them either during the 10 days they spent in court reliving the past. She testified that she and Frankie had started living together shortly after they met. When she left to tour Japan with the Platters in December 1965, she says, she left Frankie living in her hillside house with instructions to pay the bills out of an allowance forwarded by her attorney. "He had been busted in California again for drugs. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. The Taylor sections are the most fun, largely because Taylor knew Lymon when he was at his performing peak and director Gregory Nava, whose last film was Selena, does an energetic job of re-creating the exuberant rock stage shows of the period. Kenneth Turan is the former film critic for the Los Angeles Times. And that was that, the last of the hits. He then called Elizabeth and urged her to join him. Zola testified that their affair continued off and on for several more years. He was characterized as The Octopus by Varietymagazine for his far-reaching control and power in the record industry and his connections to organized crime. Frankie could fool you, he could fool me; Frankie could fool God. 1 pop hit for Diana Ross in 1981 and recently turned up in a greeting card commercial. Smalls Mortuary - Eastern Shore. Waters provides convenient access to libraries, the . Legacy.com reports daily on death announcements in local communities nationwide. It spent months on the pop charts, led to national tours and TV appearances and bubble-gum cards with the Teenagers' picture on them. Emira came to New York to arrange for Frankies funeral mass and burial. It was not, for long, a happy one. Zola Taylor Lymon, now 50, one of the original Platters, had flown in from Los Angeles. Last in line is Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a demure, well-bred Southern educator. If Elizabeth or Zola is found to be his widow, they have agreed to share the proceeds of his estate equally. Elizabeths lawyers, on the other hand, maintained her marriage was valid, which meant that neither Zolas nor Emiras could have been. According to Spans story, Frankie moved into Zolas home and her bedroom. Zola had also been a teenage star. Frankie Lymon, the rock and roll icon who composed and performed Why Do Fools Fall in Love and died decades ago of a heroin overdose has a legal widow named Elizabeth Waters of Philadelphia. 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. Frankie's particular scam, she believed, was getting married. When Frankie Lymon died from a heroin overdose in 1968, he was broke and trying again for a comeback that he never achieved. 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. Unfortunately for Zola, she was unable to locate records documenting her Mexican wedding to Frankie, or documentation of her Mexican divorce from her previous marriage (her second). According to Paula Spans story, he was arrested a least three times in New York for grand larceny or heroin possession, and the Selective Service, hungry for recruits as the war in Vietnam escalated, was after him. A decision was reached in November, but the case would not end there. Emira Eagle Lymon. He was a hustler, a liar and a thief. Director Gregory Nava. Executive producers Gregory Nava, Mark Allan, Harold Bronson. During the trial, the judge even raised the disquieting possibility that none of his three supposed marriages was legally contracted, that Lymon has no widow. By the time Frankie showed up, unannounced, in Los Angeles, Zola had done well for herself. 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. "He had such presence, he'd just take over a stage and wipe an audience out. He was energetic; dynamic; charismatic. Published by Mobile Register and Baldwin County from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27, 2023. What seemed pretty clear from all the filings is the reason why, 20 years afterward, it had become so important to be Frankie Lymon's legal widow. Recording costs and commissions for everyone from managers to choreographers could siphon off much of a groups earnings. This time his bride was Emira Eagle, an educated, churchgoing elementary school teacher who lived with her family in nearby Augusta. "Emira's Frankie Lymon is not this drunken bum," Pomeroy says. "I'd have killed him, I was so angry," she says. It was the hit that made him and the Teenagers famous back in 1956, and the one song that he recorded that remained both popular and valuable over the years. '' was to collect the money, '' he advises and Elizabeth Waters again, his drug habit,! Connections to organized crime Eagle 's New York Supreme court ruled that Bryant was only! 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