Like the jazz and blues artists before them, the rock 'n' rollers of the '50s and '60s were often ripe for rip-offs. He was staying in his grandmother's apartment on West 165th Street. 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. 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. Each woman suspected he was sleeping with the other, and both apparently were correct. 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. 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). Absent the kind of star performance Jennifer Lopez gave in Selena (and that films cleaner, more direct story line), cornball dramaturgy can take audiences only so far and not one note further. 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. Frankie Lymon Music - Singer Why Famous: Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers, band Age: 25 (8/30/1942 - 2/27/1968) Frankie Lymon's Relationships (3) Elizabeth Waters Other - Spouse 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. In fact, Rubin calls them "mundane, everyday.". So the trial went forward. They wanted to impress their friends in school by being on the radio. Only after the trial to expose his wife was revealed, Fox was appointed as the producer. ("I thought royalties was a dessert," says Elizabeth.). The next month, according to Zola, she and Frankie drove to Tijuana and got married in a small chapel. The losing widows might appeal. 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. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Elizabeth, 43, of Philadelphia, claims she married Lymon in Alexandria, Va., in 1964, and that the couple had a child who died. That case can now proceed, their attorney says. Her singing group, the Platters, was sometimes referred to as the Four Platters and a Dish; Zola, in her low-cut gowns, was the dish. She plays Lemmons second wife. 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. 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. Lymon was discharged a year later, he'd said "I do" once more. "I'm not going to wear mink coats with {you} in jeans," she announced. Artists Rights helped secure a financial settlement for Richard Berry, composer of "Louie, Louie" just before the song was used in a wine cooler ad. He took the bus to the post from her familys home each day. Span wrote that she was conscious of her stardom and arrived at court daily in a limousine. The stone was dedicated by his fans and friends on February 27, 1988, the 20th anniversary of Frankie's death and one month before the opening arguments in the case that would determine his legal wife and rightful heir. DONALD LYMON OBITUARY. Levy ruled his empire with an iron hand, using both fear and intimidation as part of his business model. In his book, Me, the Mob, and the Music, Tommy James characterized Levy as willing to strong-arm the artists signed to Roulette, and that the label was notorious for not paying its artists for their record sales. His bride was Emira Eagle, an elementary school teacher who lived with her family in nearby Augusta. Zola Taylor, a former member of the teen-age doo-wop group the Platters, also said. He had the type of personality that would draw people, she said. Eagle's New York counsel Ira Greenberg agreed that his "current inclination" was to appeal. The death certificate said he died of "acute intravenous narcotism.". He then was a private in the Army taking basic infantry training at Fort Gordon and assigned to Company D, 16th Battalion, 2nd Training Brigade. 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. The court found that "the decedent and Elizabeth {Waters} have satisfied the requirements of common law marriage in the State of Pennsylvania." He then located Emira, put her in touch with an attorney, and helped line up witnesses and documentation. Visit Sat. The signs were plain, she says now, that Lymon was floundering, working only intermittently, addicted to drugs and probably to alcohol as well. "He had been busted in California again for drugs." 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. 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. With the trial about to begin and still believing that he had a firm agreement with Emira, Ronnie ran a second benefit concert in the fall of 1985 to raise additional funds for Frankie Lymons tombstone. Paula Span, Frankie was addicted to drugs and alcohol and Elizabeth, who was 19 at the time, was sympathetic. In 1986, the women, who were never divorced from Lymon, filed copyright claims in federal court in New York for Lymons songs. It was Rubin who, several years ago, came to the conclusion that Lymon's estate was not receiving appropriate royalties. Lymon is always short of money, no childhood, and, in most descriptions, lacks calmness, but when a small star appears on the stage, he always steals the limelight. 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. He was apparently a bigamist, or maybe a trigamist. The Associated Press AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Funeral services have been held for the widow of '50s rock star Frankie Lymon. He was clean for a time when she became pregnant in 1963, and he was deeply saddend by the death of their infant daughter. Who owns the rights to old songs matters as much or more now than it did when they were hits. "And he was still just a kid when he started on the next wife, Elizabeth Waters," said Nava. Executive producers Gregory Nava, Mark Allan, Harold Bronson. Elizabeth went on to testify that she also saw Frankie the day before he took his last, fatal dose of heroin. 1/28/23, noon until 2pm service at Small's Mortuary. Copy. Both Elizabeth's and Zola's attorneys say Emira offered their clients 20 percent (for Elizabeth) and 5 percent (for Zola) of the estate. He moved into her home and her bedroom. The trial of the three wives went forward, and final briefs were due in early 1988. His was a wasted life, and he was so talented., Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. According to the obituary published Sunday in The Augusta Chronicle, funeral arrangements will be announced by W.H. This time his bride was Emira Eagle, an educated, churchgoing elementary school teacher who lived with her family in nearby Augusta. She attempted to recover all the royalties from the date of the records release because she alleged that neither Levy nor his predecessor as co-writer, George Goldner who discovered and recorded the Teenagers, was actually a songwriter. "He was honest, completely honest," Elizabeth insisted, "Up to a point." She told Span that she never recovered financially from the loss of her home and still feels "cheated." Zola Taylor had also been a teen-aged star. She told the judge that Frankie Lymon was a charmer. If none of the women was found to be Frankie's widow, the surviving members of his family stood to inherit. Most record buyers did not become aware of this latest change until the Happenings recorded a cover version of "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" in 1967 with Levy's name listed on the label. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three . Bigger than life! A pop record seemed disposable then, before the rise of the nostalgia industry. He was inducted into the Army in December 1966, and sent to Fort Gordon, Ga. By the time Pvt. US fails miserably against Russia at the crucial UN Vote. With black rhythm and blues releases beginning to win white audiences, music had become a ticket to glory. He was used and misused, and he used others also, she concluded. They're awaiting the decision now, the quiet schoolteacher from Georgia, the brassy singer from California and the struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia, all nursing their separate memories of life with a former teen idol. By the time Waters connected with Lymon, he had become a junkie, and she ended up ruining herself trying to pay for his drugs. Waters provides convenient access to libraries, the . That eventually led to singing on street corners with friends and being discovered at age 12 by George Goldner of GEE Records. 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. Recording costs and commissions for everyone from managers to choreographers could siphon off much of a group's earnings. Emiras attorneys argued that Elizabeth and Frankie separated in mid-1965 and never lived together as man and wife thereafter, invalidating her claim to a common-law marriage. 05:00 PM - 08:00 PM. According to Span, Rubin was not opposed to generating new income from old music. At one point, Levy owned more than 90 companies that employed 900 people.These included record pressing plants, tape-duplicating plants, a distribution company, a prominent New England chain of record stores, and numerous record labels. Levy's attorney, Leon Borstein, says that Levy "assisted in the writing of the song; you have to remember, if he added one word, that's sufficient" to justify coauthorship. 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. Dr. William Eugene Sexton Age 88 Hephzibah, GA, GA Dr. William Eugene Sexton, 88, husband of 69 years to Martha Frances Greenway Sexton, entered into rest Wednesday, February 22, 2023. Why Do Fools Fall In Love was a prime example, and its publishing rights may have earned a lot of money by 1984, according to Chuck Rubin of Artists Rights Enforcement Corp. Rubin established his organization in 1981 to represent artists who he believed had been deprived of their earnings by their record companies. Recording costs and commissions for everyone from managers to choreographers could siphon off much of a groups earnings. "Emira's Frankie Lymon is not this drunken bum," Pomeroy says. He seemed clean during her pregnancy in 1963 and he was genuinely shaken, Elizabeth says, when their daughter Francine died shortly after her birth. Zola, the second supposed wife, got to be pretty friendly with the first. All these arguments were laid forth in voluminous briefs, memoranda, and affidavits filed in Surrogate Court. Big Seven agreed to pay Elizabeth an additional $5,000 if the federal lawsuit is dismissed because the plaintiff (Emira) is not the legal widow. Paralleling the spectacle of these three women battling over Lymons heritage is the way different elements of this film, directed by Nava from a script by Tina Andrews, are in conflict with one another. 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. He followed it with Im Not a Juvenile Delinquent, I Want You to Be My Girl and other songs characterized by his trademark piercing high voice. Levy was aware of all the details of Frankie Lymons love life, and he used it to his advantage by bringing in Elizabeth Waters and Zola Taylor to challenge Emiras claim to be Frankies widow and, by having the court determine her marraige to be invalid, derail her lawsuit. Privacy Policy Agreement * I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy. Lymon's work had largely been reduced to lip-syncing at record hops; he said Zola could help get him some gigs in Los Angeles. He probably found out through her attorney, who Ronnie now had to deal with during the lawsuit., His dealings with Emira had all been oral. Emira's attorneys argue that Elizabeth and Frankie separated in mid-1965 and never lived together as man and wife thereafter, invalidating her claim to a common-law marriage. In 1984, as the original copyright term of Why Do Fools Fall In Love was expiring, Emira Eagle Lymon brought suit in the U.S. District Court in New York against Morris Levy, his record label, and his publishing company. Copyright document.write(new Date().getFullYear()), Michigan Rock and Roll Legends. She did not know the druggie described in this trial. Zola Taylor said she married Lymon on Oct. "Frankie Lymon just transcended all the other doo-wop groups," says Bob Hyde, whose Murray Hill label reissued the Teenagers' recordings last year. There may be further delays, though, while that executive faces federal extortion charges. Cinematographer Ed Lachman. 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. That's why we're here today.". Army discipline, I think, teaches a man how to protect himself. What is less clear from the file is why, 20 years afterward, it has become so important to be Frankie Lymon's legal widow. Screenplay by Tina Andrews. I often tell people that Frankie didnt end up living a glorified life. Levys attorney responded that the agreements with Elizabeth and Zola amounted to standard industry contracts. Consequently, he left behind a tangled and miserable legal and financial mess along with three wounded women. Waters bore Lymon's only known child, a daughter who died shortly after birth. It was painfully revealed in court testimony, however, that Frankie Lymon, for all his talent, was a bigamist, hustler, liar, and thief. He had always regarded Zola as his stage mother, she said. "If you have any kind of heart at all," she says, "you know that he went through hell.". It is Frankie Lymon's only real legacy, that two minutes and 15 seconds of doo-wop. "He had always regarded Zola as his stage mother," Elizabeth explained during the trial. However, it turned out she had been married to someone else at the time. Zola and Elizabeth declined, but say they were willing to accept an equal, three-way split. She claimed to have . Who wrote "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"? 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. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. She was 19 and sympathetic; she wanted to help him regain what he'd lost. 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. Wiki User. If none of the women is Frankie's widow, the surviving members of his family stand to inherit. She called the work "moonlighting" and testified that she was arrested for it 15 or 20 times. He then called Elizabeth and urged her to join him. Required fields are marked *. Frankie was arrested at 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. The essence of their dispute was which of the marriages was legally binding, given a certain laxity in some quarters about divorce. It was also Rubin who located Emira, put her in touch with an attorney, helped line up witnesses and documentation. He got on that stage, and baby he was huge! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. Zola's attorneys argue that California law makes her a "putative spouse" entitled to share in Lymon's property. She has never remarried. But "I couldn't get my hands on him, couldn't find him." If Emira won, she would share the proceeds with Chuck Rubin and go after Morris Levy. Emiras case was just beginning when Elizabeth Waters Lymon petitioned the Surrogate Court claiming that she was Frankie Lymons widow, and Zola Taylor also objected claiming that she was Lymons rightful widow. Rubin's 200 or so clients constituted an honor roll of early rock and roll. "Frankie was that kind of person, your honor," she said. She turned to heroin and cocaine herself, she acknowledged on the stand, and to support her daughter from her first marriage, she became a prostitute. She'd come with two girlfriends to meet her onetime idol. Fox), a prison-hardened former shoplifter and prostitute. Times guidelines: a bloody beating and some genteel scenes of lovemaking. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. By the time Frankie showed up, unannounced, in Los Angeles, Zola had done well for herself. "She's a square," Zola decided, noticing that Emira was coming to court in sneakers. 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. He didn't mind. 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. Emira Eagle Lymon. Thats why were here today.. Debunking the Myth: Is Maduro a Dictator? Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. 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. Leon Borstein, Levy's attorney, said that Levy "assisted in the writing of the song; you have to remember, if he added one word, that's sufficient" to justify co-authorship. 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. When she returned in April, the house was in foreclosure and Frankie was gone; she never saw him alive again. Kids didnt know about royalties said Bob Hyde of Murray Hill Records. Back in 1956, the hit song had first been credited to Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, and George Goldner - head of Gee Records. All rights reserved. "If you have any kind of heart at all," she said, "you know that he went through hell.". When she and Frankie fought about it, Elizabeth said in court, he pulled a gun on her and she fled. No one foresaw that the people who grew up with the music would refuse to relinquish it, repeatedly recycling it into movie sound tracks and albums, cover versions, oldies compilations and TV commercials. Zola Taylor Lymon, who was 50, had flown in from Los Angeles. "He had the type of personality that would draw people," she said. Its a mark of how shallow Fools is that even as gifted an actor as Tate (excellent in Menace II Society and Dead Presidents) cant turn Lymon into anything more than a cipher. Taylor, of Los Angeles, a singer with the Platters, contends she married Lymon in 1965 in Tijuana, Mexico. When she recovered, she declared that "she knew it; she'd had faith all along," Peterson said. The Happenings' 45. They had been married for 4.1 years. 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. The following month, Zola testified that she and Frankie drove to Tijuana and got married in a tiny chapel. Emira came to New York to arrange for Frankies funeral mass and burial. 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). Neither Zola nor Elizabeth could quite. 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. Frankie's particular scam, she believed, was getting married. Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, the legally declared widow of '50s teenage rock star Frankie Lymon, died Saturday at AU Medical Center. He had a bad year in 1966. "Up to a point." (Diana Ross also had a hit with it), "Goody Goody," "Little Bitty Pretty One" and "Im Not a Juvenile Delinquent.". After learning of this, Elizabeth went to court to request the suspension of the law. And that was that, the last of the hits. ELIZABETH OGLE WATERS OBITUARY. 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. He told Zola that the new house guest was "a friend from New York," Zola remembers. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" 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. "Sell, sell, sell," he advised. None of the three women in court, all of whom he deceived and betrayed, seemed willing to condemn him. Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago, the two surviving members of the original Teenagers (Sherman Garnes, the inventive bass, and Joe Negroni were the others), say they wrote "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. "She did not know the druggie described in this trial She knew a soldier.". Lymon was only 12 when he hooked up with the foursome that became the Teenagers, but there was an aura about him that the city's doo-wop entrepreneurs recognized. Final briefs are due next week, with a decision expected later this spring. I know its been good for me.. He claimed that both women thought that their agreements with Levy were fair, and that neither planned to take legal action against him if she is found to be Frankies widow. If Emira wins, she'll share the proceeds with Chuck Rubin and go after Morris Levy. People sometimes compare him with the young Michael Jackson, who also knew how to combine innocence and knowingness. Lymon related that he started singing publicly with his three brothers in a choral group at Gospel Church in New York City. So estimates Chuck Rubin, a former agent who's become a kind of musical bounty hunter. In December 1989, the New York Supreme Court ruled that Bryant was Lymons only legal wife. And the true imponderable, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". And that song, which he wrote or helped to write and which will bear his boyish vocal signature forever. They fought and separated continually. Yet she also talked about Lymon's ruptured family, and, again, his drug dependency. During 1965, the copyright for Why Do Fools Fall In Love was changed. Women was found to be Frankie 's widow, the copyright for Why Do Fools Fall in was. Than it did when they were hits Allan, Harold Bronson Emira, put her in with... Beating and some genteel scenes of lovemaking in Lymon 's property a point. 'd! Scam, she and Frankie drove to Tijuana and got married in a limousine led to singing on corners! Home each day her in touch with an attorney, helped line up witnesses and documentation prison-hardened former and... 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