1903 Birth of “Cool Papa” Bell
James Thomas “Cool Papa” Bell, a Negro League outfielder was reputed to have been the fastest player in baseball. How fast was he?
He was so fast that he could turn off the light and be under the covers before the room got dark.
He was so fast that he once hit a pitch up the middle of the field and he was struck by the ball as he slid into second base.
He was so fast that he stole home on an infield bunt. (True story).
1944 Birth of Jesse Winchester
One of the greatest singer-songwriters of his generation was born in Louisiana and migrated to Canada in 1967 in order to avoid the Vietnam draft. In Montreal he began to compose songs that could rock but were usually marked by a kind of sweet melancholy. He became a Canadian citizen in 1973 but returned to the USA after Jimmy Carter’s amnesty, becoming better-known among fellow performers than the general musical public. Winchester died of cancer in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2014.
Here is a selection of his music that I hope will encourage readers to investigate him.
“Rhumba Man”
“The Brand New Tennessee Waltz”
“Just So Much”
“Lay Down the Burden of Your Heart”
“Sham-A- Ling-Dong”