March 20, 2007 NORFOLK MAYOR Paul Fraim is due to announce today five new members of the city's Legends of Music Walk of Fame.
The musicians - Clarence Clemons, General Norman Johnson, Pat Curtis, JoAnn Falletta and the late Phelps Brothers - will be honored with medallions embedded in the sidewalk in the 300 block of Granby Street.
The induction ceremony will be April 18, with a free concert afterward at the Roper Performing Arts Center at Tidewater Community College.
Honorees this year span a few different genres of music. Clemons' oeuvre includes pop, rock, blues and soul; he's perhaps best known as the charismatic, larger-than-life saxophone player in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Clemons was born in Norfolk.
Pianist and Norfolk native Pat Curtis taught Bruce Hornsby how to play. The 79-year-old is a songwriter and arranger who's worked with luminaries including Rosemary Clooney and Miles Davis. He's also known for his philanthropic efforts; in November he was awarded the first Legends of Music Walk of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award in part for donating time to charitable events and organizations.
General Norman Johnson, born in Norfolk's Huntersville, gained fame as the leader of the group The Showmen. He's considered a beach music icon; he's the bard behind "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" and the song "Patches," which became a hit for Clarence Carter.
JoAnn Falletta serves as music director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Music critics regard her as one of the finest conductors in the country, if not the world, and city officials said she is being inducted because of her effect on the appreciation of classical music in Hampton Roads and Virginia. Falletta is also a recording artist; her discography includes more than 40 titles. She was nominated for a Grammy in 2006.
"I can scarcely believe it," Falletta said Friday. "I'm kind of amazed. It's a great honor.
This is a city I have loved since the day that I moved here 16 years ago, so to have a little permanent piece like that is a thrill for me."
She said she'll likely celebrate the entire week of the induction ceremony and said she'll play some "interesting" and fun classical guitar selections at the April 18 concert.
The Phelp s Brothers - Norman, Willie and Earl - started singing in South Norfolk as teens.
They eventually landed in Hollywood, appearing in a series of films for Paramount Pictures as singing cowboys in the late 1930s. Norman Phelps wrote the song "Back in the Saddle Again," and although he did not receive royalties from the song, it became one of Gene Autry's biggest hits.
These musicians follow notables including Hornsby, Ella Fitzgerald and Pearl Bailey, who have had plaques installed on Granby Street since the Walk of Fame was created by the City Council in 2002 to honor musicians with local ties.
After the induction ceremony, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., Clemons, Johnson, Falletta and Curtis will perform at the free concert, which starts at 7 p.
m. Norman Phelps' daughter Bonnie and her husband, Ed, will represent the Phelps Brothers.
venable@pilotonline.com.
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