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THIS PAGE WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED AS A TEMPORARY FILLER AT A TIME WHEN THE SITE HAD JUST BEEN STARTED AND THERE WAS VERY LITTLE ON IT. MY INTENTION WAS TO WITHDRAW THIS PAGE (DELETE IT) AS SOON AS WORK ON THE SITE HAD PROGRESSED TO A POINT WHERE THE SITE HAD SOME SUBSTANCE TO IT. YOU SEE, THIS SITE IS ABOUT AND IS DEDICATED TO ONE PERSON - HORTENSE HERSELF. SHE IS THE STAR. THEREFORE I HAD MY DOUBTS ABOUT THIS PAGE IN TERMS OF IT BEING APPROPRIATE AND RELEVANT. HOWEVER, FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES SUGGEST I SHOULD KEEP IT AND I HAVE DONE SO.   A PERSONAL MEMORY I am very fortunate in that Hortense accepted me as her personal friend since 1979. Whereas her relocation to North America caused a lengthy loss of contact, because I was on the move myself at that time; Hortense and I were together for the final time in New York in the summer of 1999. It was the last week of July 1999 and I was in my motel room in Scarborough (Canada) on the phone to Jamaica trying to reach Hortense. One of her family members told me she was visiting friends in Buffalo, NY and gave me the number in Buffalo to call her. As we talked, she told me that she had no valid Canada visa at that time to allow her to travel over the border, so we made an arrangement to meet at the Greyhound bus terminal in Buffalo as I came through from Toronto on the Greyhound. Around 9:30 AM on that hot summer Wednesday, my bus drew into Buffalo. I got off and headed into the terminal. Hortense had been looking out for me and she came running up to me, virtually jumping into my arms. We had always been strictly "good buddies" (close non-intimate friends) but it had been a long time. We bought her ticket for New York City and got back on the same bus I had come in on. As the bus sped towards Manhattan, Hortense sat sideways on the seat next to the window facing me with her legs draped across my lap as she listened to music on my Walkman. She was listening to a tape I had made of her own CD, "Hortense Ellis Sings Studio One". When I first told her about this CD on the phone the previous year, she was amazed, because not only did she not receive any royalties for her work; but nobody had had the courtesy to inform her that such a release was planned. I myself have no connection with the music business and therefore have no access to advance information. Hortense looked so happy as she listened to her old songs - mostly Bunny Lee productions - some of which she had not heard in years. Later in the journey, after a refreshment stop at Syracuse , she turned off the Walkman and began singing "Wooden Heart" to me as the Greyhound continued its journey along the highway. As she finished the song, the whole bus applauded, with very few of them (if any) realising who she was. The next day as we were window-shopping in Flatbush, so many people passing by knew who she was and warmly greeted her with genuine love and affection. What was to be our final meeting together lasted just over 28 hours - from 9:30 AM on the Wednesday when we hooked up at Buffalo until 2:00 PM on the Thursday when I saw her onto her Greyhound bus back to Buffalo at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. She had to go and pack her bags ready to return to Jamaica. As I listened to Hortense serenading me on the baking hot July day in 1999, I had no idea that I would lose her forever the following year. Not only was her death in October 2000 a severe blow to me; but I happened to be in a UK jail at the time - unable to receive any calls from Jamaica or anywhere else and totally unable to head straight for Jamaica as I wanted. I made what I thought was going to be an ordinary call to a close female friend of mine in Kingston. This lady lives in Arnett Garden which is a part of Trench Town, where Hortense was born. I had visited Arnett Garden three times, staying around 8-10 weeks each time, and I loved it immensely. However, this lady considered herself to be my wife, and she deeply resented my friendship with Hortense. After we had talked for a minute or so talking about general things , this lady presented the sad news to me in a harsh hostile tone in just three words "YOUR HORTENSE DEAD". I did not believe it could be true. Locked up inside a prison, I had no way of finding out for sure; but a few weeks later, Hortense's daughter, Sandy, confirmed it in a letter to me. She was in pain because she had just lost her beloved mom; and I was in pain because I had lost my very best "good buddy" (a Jamaican term for a very close non-intimate friend of the opposite sex). I was in a jail cell unable to even venture out onto the nearest street. I felt so helpless, unable to head for Jamaica to see Hortense's final resting place and to give Sandy the support she needed. I am sure that many of you know how it feels to suddenly lose somebody very precious. It was worse for me because of my personal situation at the time. I had nobody to share my sorrow with. Hortense died virtually penniless. The stories about Jamaican artists being cheated out of royalties in the early days are so common. In Hortense's case, there was something else causing her to be denied the money that was due to her for her hard work. I had suspected it for some time, but as Hortense and I sat down on the Greyhound in Buffalo waiting for it to pull out, my suspicions were confirmed. I showed her the CD "Hortense Ellis Sings Studio One". This was a CD that had been released in the UK without her knowledge and as she looked at it, tears began appearing in her eyes. A person very close to her; a person supposed to support her and watch out for her; a person that you would expect to offer her never-ending loyalty and respect had been cheating her for years - to a point where she sometimes didn't even have money to pay her phone bill. Her phone was so essential, because promoters would call her offering work. If those promoters could not reach her, they would simply call somebody else; and Hortense would lose the opportunity to make some much-needed money. In addition to being Jamaica's First Lady Of Songs, Hortense was a devoted mother to her nine children and she wanted the best for them. In the US and Europe. a celebrated recording star and live performer is virtually guaranteed a lifestyle that ordinary people can only dream of. In Jamaica, things work differently, and only international mainstream recognition can turn the hard struggling life of a Jamaican entertainer around. Hortense well deserved that recognition but never received it; and so life away from the adoring appreciative audiences at her live shows continued to be a hard struggling life. When somebody very close to you passes away unexpectedly, you begin pondering over all the things you had wanted to say to that person that never got said; and all the things you wanted to do for the person that never got done; and the realisation that they are gone and you will never ever see them again is a pain almost too much to bear. Hortense gave so much pleasure to millions around the world - Jamaica, USA, UK, Canada and even Japan - and I felt so happy to be a small small part of her life and she will always be a precious part of mine. ********************************************* Hortense Mahalia Ellis JAMAICA'S FIRST LADY OF SONGS (1941-2000) Rest In Peace (scene from Hortense's funeral (a more appropriate caption soon come) |
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