Sam Parkins ~ LIVED



Special Thanks to Ed Berger for permission of the use of this picture.
Mr. Berger's Flickr Site


Over the Christmas Holiday I started hooking up all my stereo and video equipment to my computer system.  During the process I got together a few hard drives from computers years past,  got a little gadget that allows me to plug them right into a USB plug.  I found a goldmine of "STUFF"... the most important was my original links to a very talented Musician,  Leroy "Sam" Parkins.  What I didn't find were the few emails we shared a few years back.

It was Sam whom I had originally chatted with years ago regarding Raymond Scott and a performance back in 1962 - 63 on the Bell Telephone Hour.  He wrote me he had performed in one of the Quintet's last live performances on television,  at that time I had not seen the December 1962 performance. When I finally viewed the original televised performance I was instantly drawn to the sax player, feeling this was John .  Originally when I had corresponded with Sam I just assumed it was he that would be playing Sax when he performed with Scott.  On the official Raymond Scott website there are a couple of statements credited to Sam about the Bell Telephone Performance, and in one... October 1963 is given as the date of the performance, the other refers to 1962.

Maybe my research is not so good... but, on IMDb you can look up all the episodes for BTH which aired once a month.  October 1963, the  Raymond Scott Quintet is not listed as performers in the show.  The last Raymond Scott Performance I can find listed is the December 8, 1962 episode which the complete performance is available for viewing.  I have asked if anyone out there in Music Land could identify any of the performers other than Scott & Dorothy Collins.  I have looked at some of the pictures of Sam in his later years  and I have seen one where he did have on a pair of glasses.  I have a strange feeling Sam Parkins is playing clarinet in the BTH performance Designs in Music.  Sitting right next to who I believe was John Lewis Bartee.  I'm sure Sam's friends & family could verify if this is the younger version of the man.   Original blog post of Raymond Scott Video.

And why are the clarinet & trumpet player's images burned into my brain?   Did they both work for a TV network as Musicians and get drafted in the hallway for a small television role or commercial.  Or did I see this original show in a rerun as a child?   Since John's cousin Carlos Faulkner told me of his visit to see John in 1940 I have looked into the Raymond Scott connection for whom he said John was doing some work for at the time.  Although,  when I first saw the photo of the Original Quintet with Dave Wade as a replacement on Trumpet I thought it might be a sign I might be on the right track.

   Raymond Scott Quintet ~ Designs in Music

  Bell Telephone Hour  December 8, 1962

Now that I had Sam's name and the links to contact him again last month I had new questions to ask of him about the performance, once again time stepped in...  A couple of weeks ago I found out Sam had died a little more then a year ago.  Seems like so often TIME takes others away before we get to know about them or say hello to them one last time.  I started searching to know more about Sam with his passing,  and I would like to introduce him to those of you that haven't heard of him.

Sam's Myspace website

Leroy (Sam) Parkins: born in reign of Calvin Coolidge. Heard Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton 1936 - 1945. Charlie Parker from then on. Normal life no longer possible. Cornell for composition; New England Conservatory for Masters. Saxophonist-in-residence two whorehouses (Bowdoin Bar & Grill, Boston, 1945; Barbara Kelly's Glass Hat, NYC 1960), the Heroin Capital of the North Shore (Melody Lounge, Lynn MA, 1954 but didn't sample the wares); Carnegie Hall (one-shot, 1976) etc.etc. Sixteen years with two major society orchestras. Duties included playing New Years Eve for the Carnegies and Mellons at Rolling Rock Country Club, Ligonear, PA.; deb parties as far away as St. Louis, MO. Joined production staff CBS Masterworks 1967. Recorded the complete Charles Ives chamber music. One Grammy (European); four Grammy nominations. Recorded Milton Babbitt, John Cage, Charles Wuorinen et al for New World Records, 1975. Black composers series, various labels: Music of Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson, Eubie Blake, Cecil Taylor, Benny Carter, Scott Joplin. Stravinsky's 'Ebony Concerto' with Richard Stolzman and Woody Herman's Thundering Herd, RCA Victor, 1987. Grammy nomination. As featured soloist, 'Take Me To the Land of Jazz', Aviva records. Stereo Review, Album Pick of the Year, Acoustic Jazz, 1979. Recorded 'Preservation Hall Live!' for Sony Classical, 1991. Miscellaneous recordings since; clarinetist-in-residence, Cajun Restaurant, NYC; ditto weekly stint New York Public Library. Commence writing 'Journey to Bohemia' 1997.    Lived.




Leroy "Sam" Parkins


Published: January 3, 2010  New York Times

Sam Parkins, 83, of Manhattan, died November 19, 2009 in Tel Aviv. Musician extraordinaire-jazz clarinet/sax, composer, record producer, Columbia, RCA. Beloved husband of 41 years of the late Camilla Kemple. He is survived by siblings Ted Parkins, Rosemary Monroe; nephews Ted Parkins, Jr., Michael Monroe; nieces Jean Monroe, Jennifer McKinnon; beloved "honorary daughter" Joan Falk; and countless friends. Commemoration February 7, 2010.





CANGELOSI CARDS' JAM SESSION, "IT'S A SIN TO TELL A LIE," Feb. 2, 2009, Banjo Jim's

Joining Tamar Korn, Jake Sanders, Karl Meyer, Gordon Webster, Marcus Millius, and Cassidy Holden are trombonist Matt Musselman, clarinetist / mandolin whiz Dennis Lichtman,
 and the real guest star --  Sam Parkins on clarinet. 
 
Recorded by Michael Steinman.

See and hear more at http://www.jazzlives.wordpress.com.




Swing out! Sam Parkins and Dennis Lichtman (clarinets), Tamar Korn, Jake Sanders (g), Marcus Millius (harmonica), Karl Meyer (violin), Gordon Webster (piano), Cassidy Holden (bass) -- poor sweet Ida never got taken for a ride at this speed, but she loved every minute. Recorded by Michael Steinman. 

I know Sam had many friends in the Music World so if any of you stop by here please leave a note of your memories of Sam.  Sometime in the future someone will want to know more of the LIFE of  Leroy "Sam" Parkins.

Finding Forrest

Eight years ago this week I did my yearly search of the Social Security Death Index for my Great-Uncle, John Lewis Bartee. There on my computer screen I read his name and date of death along with a location of Gallup, New Mexico where his last benefits had been sent. Within hours after calls to the Gallup police department and other persons in New Mexico I was speaking with Sister Gonvague at Little Sisters of the Poor.

Now my search to find John Lewis Bartee was redirected and a new task was put in front of me. In the first moments of that phone conversation with Sister Gonvague I was informed that John had told them he had a son, John Forrest Bartee whom he had not seen since the boy was a small child.

John Forrest Bartee    abt.1945
Photo used by permission / All Rights Reserved - John Forrest Bartee

For the last eight years my family and friends have had to endure my endless stories of John Lewis Bartee and what I had found in my research of his life. Though in all my stories... those involving the underlying search for that missing young son I make no apology for boring others with. Many times in my research of John Lewis I had become discouraged myself with discovering the events of his Life, and the wide scope of deceit & lies (past & present) in the music industry. I think I was always drawn back to what I felt was a journey or task that was put before me when Sister Gonvague mentioned the boy. Was he alive?  Is he OK?   Does he have a family, and do they have information regarding John's life unknown to the other long estranged Southern Kin?

Was Sister Gonvague... John's messenger to find the son he hadn't seen in over fifty years, yet had never forgotten? I think it was this question that propelled my search for John Forrest Bartee.

When I did finally get a break in my search for Forrest, new discoveries regarding him came in short time. Back in the Spring 2010 that break came on Ancestry.com when I got a new hit on John Lewis, a marriage license in Vermont had become available. To date the family had known John had married but as to details like a name of the Bride or place of the event were unknown. In the previous years I had thought many times... even if I knew her name it was likely that when they had split up she probably went on to remarry and would have a new name. At the same time the young boy would have probably been adopted by a new father, or at least have another name.

I was right about all of those details but, the marriage license gave me something special... the names of the Bride's parents and residence. With that information I knew through my knowledge of Genealogy research; a hobby my grandmother Olga Kathleen Haynes had started me on in my teens, I might have a chance to find the woman John married, and had a child with.

I began a genealogy search that in itself was a novel of vivid images of some very interesting individuals and events in History. Pictures of  childhood Italian immigrants to the United States in the 1870's marrying and having children in NYC later becoming early residents of South Florida area of Cocoa.   Then another family side of native Scot / Floridians who date back and worked with Governor Andrew Jackson on the transition of the Spanish government to the United States Territory, and handled one of the first Real Estate transactions regarding 5 islands of the Middle Keys. One relative even being one of the first US Mayors of St. Augustine, Florida.  A place where as a child I had stuck my head in the old cannons at the Spanish Fort.

Once one does find a little out about their ancestors they will know the odds get better that with each generation back there is another person somewhere out there that has also done research on the same common ancestors. And, just as I had hoped there was a very helpful fellow researcher in the Mid-West whose husband was a relative of John's ex-wife. I sent her a note telling of my strange search and within twenty-four hours I had a phone number for a Sister of John's ex-wife.

I made the call, and again was rewarded not only with information about the ex-wife, but yes... John Forrest Bartee did exist. Also... as it has been many times in my research I met a very interesting individual herself, John Forrest's Aunt.  She let me know that John Forrest's mother had just died the previous year. That day we began a process which on Thursday, December 30 led to me finally shaking the hand of John Forrest Bartee.  John Forrest shared the New Year Holiday with his first cousin my mother, and some of our family here in Virginia.   As I have mention in previous posts John Forrest knew nothing of his father since he was 8 years old.  This past Summer I sent him a book with photos of his natural father, John Lewis Bartee along with other family photos and genealogies for both his mother & father to start introducing him to John Lewis. Of the memories John Forrest does have of his father, one is his last visit with John Lewis at age 8,  they went fishing at Port Washington, NY with cane poles.  If I was to have lost a parent in childhood I would hope my last memory with them was a good one.

John Forrest left this morning (Jan. 2, 2010)... we saw not only John Lewis Bartee's image in him but, traces of a couple of his Uncles.  As he nears age 71... I pray that John is safe, and joy finds him in life.

Finally today I can call out to John Lewis Bartee, and say, “I found John Forrest”.

Why is it with the peace of finding his Son, I feel as if the journey has many more miles and lessons ahead.

Now some time and energy can go to The Music of John Bartee  & The Georgia Music Hall of Fame Inductions 2012.


I've added the Video below of Enya's Music and Beautiful Images... Two things that bring Joy to John Forrest Bartee's Life.