RAMBLINGS 2/15/12

Welcome to another Ramblings….the recent death of Whitney Houston is another demonstration of the proliferation of the wide-spread usage of drugs (legal and illegal) within the entertainment industry. Yes, the official cause of death is still not in, but it is no doubt that drugs played a major rule in her sudden demise. From the reports of her activities – and with the pictures as evidence – prior to the moment she was declared dead, it is clearly seen that drugs did her in…like everyone else, I was a great admirer of Whitney Houston from around 1983 to 1996, why 1996? well, that when I first learned about her drug usage… back then it was about her capacity smoke weed, a lot of it! One of my cousins called me early one morning in ’96 saying he had just gotten back home from being in the city all night, and that he had some bad news for me, he sad it was about “my girl” and knowing how I feel about her, I’m gonna be disappointed…I said go ahead tell me (not knowing which “girl” it was gonna be) I prepared myself for the bad news. He said at about 1:00am he got a call from his idren Tony, who asked him if he could follow him (Tony) into Manhattan on a little “run” – Tony kinda dabble a little in the weed business…my cousin agreed to accompany Tony to Manhattan, Tony got a call to bring all the weed he can gather at that time of morning…when they got to Manhattan, it was at a recording studio in midtown, and they were surprised to learn that the client was Whitney Houston! she was recording tracks for the album “My Love Is Your Love” which was later released in 1998.

My cousin was blown away, because as far as he was concerned Houston had a squeaky clean image and spotless reputation…he could not believe his eyes, seeing “my girl” for the first time, and to see how Whitney Houston was “licking the pipe” like a pro…he knew this news would break my heart because he knew I also thought of Whitney as a virgin, not mix up in the sub-culture world of drugs…all my inner circle know I don’t drink, smoke, or use illegal drugs, and how I feel about such usage, he knew I don’t even allow anyone to smoke in my car, in my office, in the studio, or anywhere near me, he knew it would be a devastating blow to me…and it definitely was…from he told me what he witnessed, my antennas went up on Whitney Houston, and I began looking out for signs of drug use from her, I began to read and hear more tales of her erratic behavior and my love for her also began to diminish, still I continued to like her music and buy her albums (being vex that my money is helping to feed her drug habit)… but over the years it got worse, and like the rest of the world has seen, I knew it was just a matter of time….I knew drugs will get the better of her, history was not on her side!  I was in a supermarket parking lot buckling up to pull out, after Georgia had picked up a few items, when radio station Hot 105 made the announcement that Whitney Houston just died at age 48! I immediately said “I bet you drugs have something to do with it”…..this is sad, but not surprising to me, just look back 50 years and see the countless number of talented people who have been savaged by drugs (including cigarettes) and alcohol, they can never win…may her soul rest in peace!

Man, are you keeping count on the astonishing  amount of talented people who have left us within the past 3 months? let me see if I can recall them…and in no particular order…Phillip “Fattis” Burrell, Errol Scorcher, King Stitt, Etta James, Don Cornelius, Barry “Heptones” Llewellyn,  Winston Riley, Dobie Grey, and Whitney Houston…am I missing anyone here?