R & B-COUNTRY MUSIC-MARVIN GAYE & MICKEY GUYTON THE MESSAGE IS THE SAME-BLACK & PROUD

When I saw Country and Western vocalist Mickey Guyton singing the National Anthem to open the World Series in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she made my day.

She knocked her rendition of the National Anthem out of the park.  It reminded me of how my homeboy and friend Marvin Gaye when he blew the top off the arena at the NBA All-Star Game in Detroit in 1983.

I am a big Country Music fan, it ain’t nothing but the blues. My favorites, Charlie Pride, Garth brooks, KennyRogers, Dolly Parton, and Reba McIntosh. 

I added Country Music star and singer Mickey Guyton to my favorite’s list when she signed with Mercury Records in 2016.

She was a star right out of the box. In 2021, she made history by becoming the first Black woman to co-host the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards, this was just a year after performing on the telecast as the first Black solo female artist to do so.

In 2022, she became the first Black female artist to earn a Grammy nomination in a country category (Best Country Solo Performance). Mickey later earned three additional Grammy nominations including Best Country Album for Remember Her Name.

She completely won me over when she made history during the Grammy Nominations: Following the release of her classic, “Black Like Me,”

I grew up on Rhythm & Blues: My homeboy and friend Marvin Gaye is my favorite vocalist.  We were from the same cloth, we were a risk takers as youth growing up in DC, “We Never Played The Game.”

Marvin and Mickey Guyton are from the same musical cloth.  They have never shied away from being Black and Proud. 

They had no problem describing how they felt regarding the struggles in Black America in the songs they sung.

This was the response I received when I asked AI why Mickey Guyton was not allowed to perform her Grammy nominated Black Like Me, on the lawn of the U. S. Capitol in 20121-see their response;

“PBS’ A Capitol Fourth celebration on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in 2021. The exclusion of her Grammy-nominated song “Black Like Me” came down to the event’s traditional formatting, tone, and broadcast guidelines.” This was more BS!

“What’s Going On and Black Like Me”, are two of my favorite National Anthems.

Marvin, and I met in the early 50s in my Parkside housing project in NE DC.  He was a part of a street corner Do-Wop group that hung out under the light pole on my Kenilworth Terrace street corner.  Under that light pole: We shot Nickel and Dime dice/crap. Some nights we played “The Dozens”. The light pole was “First Come-First Serve”, it was a ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’.

The Do-Wop group often used the space to practice under the lights for the annual Spring Festival Talent Show. The talent show was held at the historic Spingarn High School located on Benning Road NE adjacent to the historic Langston Golf Course. The home of golfers Lee Elder, and Joe Louis.

Marvin did not live in the Parkside Housing projects.  He lived in NW DC and attended Cardozo High School.  Freddy Neal, a Parkside neighborhood Do-Woper and Marvin were good friends. Freddy was Marvin’s pass into “The Hood”.

Marvin was an introvert, he was there for the laughs and vocals.  The common denominator, he always wanted to be an athlete, and I wanted to sing Do-Wop. 

In the late 50s my mother would move my brothers, Earl, William and I to a notorious neighborhood called, “Simple City”, it lived up to its name.

I would later discover Marvin was living down the block from me on 58th and Blaine Streets.  He was living with Peasy Adams a friend of my mother’s. She was once a baby-sitter for me and my brothers in Parkside.

Marvin and Peasy became friends when he was in Parkside during his Do-Wop days.  When he had a falling out with his father, Peasy invited him to live with her.

I remember one morning in 1956, we were riding the bus to school and he said, “Man, I am going to join the Air Force, I cannot keep doing this.” 

He meant, he could not keep taking the bus ride from 58th Street NE to Cardozo High School every morning.  Cardozo was located at 13th and Clifton Streets, NW. I remember Marvin saying, “It felt like traveling cross country”.

Marvin Gaye enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1956 at the age of 17 after dropping out of high school.

He served briefly before receiving an honorable discharge in 1957 after struggling with authority and regimentation.

I was having the same problem with my coaches at Spingarn as student/athlete.  Coach Leo Hill kicked me off the baseball team for selfish behavior, and basketball Coach William Roundtree asked me to turn in my uniform for similar reasons.

Football coach Dave Brown was my savior (barely). He locked me on the school bus during half-time. He heard me raising hell with the QB for not throwing me the ball-he made his point, they won without me.  I had to apologize to my teammates to keep my uniform.

I transferred from Spingarn twice to two different schools before Coach Brown and Bighouse Gaines (Winston-Salem) rescued me from the poolroom across the street from Spingarn.

Marvin and I did not meet again until 1965 on the corner of 7th & T Streets, NW in front of the historic Howard Theater.

Petey Greene and I were hanging out with nothing better to do,  Suddenly, there was a reunion on the corner when Marvin joined us.

I met Petey at the Burning Tree Golf Course in a suburb of Bethesda, Maryland in 1957 about the same time I started to caddy for Vice-President Richard Nixon. 

THE REUNION: Petey and I worked as caddies on the weekends. Marvin and I went all the way back to my Parkside Housing project days.

Petey had just gotten out of jail, Marvin was honorable discharged out of the Air Force after one year (1957). He was still struggling to get along with his father. I had just dropped out of college-to chase my NFL dreams. I got cut the first week in camp in Charleston, West Virginia (Minor Leagues).

In 1965, we were three brothers standing on the corner without a clue of what the future held.

Marvin, made the first move and decision.  He said, “I don’t know where I am going but I am getting the hell out of DC.” The three of us hugged (without the kiss), and said goodbye- Marvin disappeared into the night.

Petey, helped me to get my first job out of college with the United Planning Organization as a Neighborhood Worker. 1965 was a good year, a new job and new friends.

In 1967, thanks to a UPO grant, I joined the DC Department of Recreation & Parks (Roving Leader Program-Youth Gang Task Force). Another new job and a new friend. I met Muhammad Ali on the campus of Howard University. The rest is American boxing and community history.

1968 the riots all most destroyed Washington, DC. I spend three days and three nights walking the streets with nothing but a DC Police Department Badge trying to save lives. The badge allowed me to cross police and military barricades. The third night, I met FBI undercover agent, Wayne Davis, he was a breath of fresh air.

Petey and I did not connect with Marvin again until 1972 .  The same year I found my pioneering Inside Sports talk radio show on W-O-O-K, a white owned station with a Black format. Thanks to the referral of my life-time friend DJ, John “Terrible Turk” Edwards (RIP).

DC’s first Black Mayor, Walter Washington, declared May 1, 1972 as “Marvin Gaye Day” in Washington, DC following his chart busting R & B release of “What’s Going On”, it was No. 1 on Bill Board Magazine for five straight weeks.

Rolling Stone Magazine Board of Directors revamped their “TOP 500 LIST” and named “What’s Going On” as The Greatest hit of All-Time, replacing the Beatles’ ‘Lonely Hearts Club Band’.

Petey and I would meet Marvin at the District Building in the Mayor’s office.  The three of us hugged, and I gave him my business card with my phone number.

He was excited to see that I had my own radio sports talk show.  He promised to be my guest on Inside Sports before he left town.

I was all pumped up, he released “What’s Going On” on my birthday May 21, 1971. I could could not wait to get Marvin on the show, and ask him if releasing his chart buster “What’s Going On” on my birthday was his way of honoring me?

As I imagined, things were so hectic he left town, and never got back to me. Marvin found my business card a week later, and called to apologize. There was nothing selfish about him when it came to his family and friends in DC-he was a giving brother.

Marvin, never forgot how he left me and Petey standing in front of the Howard theater that night in DC in 1965. He promised to stay in touch.

In 1973, Petey and I took our wives, Judy and Hattie T to the Super Bowl in Los Angeles to watch the Redskins play the undefeated Miami Dolphins. 

This was one year after Marvin was given the key to the city.  The Dolphins defeated the Redskins 14-7. The best team did not win that day.

The Redskin’s best player QB Sonny Jurgensen was on the bench with a torn achilles tendon. QB Billy Kilmer struggled to find the greatest trio of receivers in the 1972-73 NFL season. They were Charlie Taylor, Roy Jefferson and Jerry Smith.

Guess who was sitting in the stadium behind us-Marvin Gaye. I saw him on a television news show the next day. He was sitting about 10 rows behind us. We never knew he was in the stadium, it was no surprise. He was rooting for his hometown team.

The next time I would connect with Marvin would be August 2, 1980.

It was an easy date for me to remember, months earlier I had been honored as one of the 1980 Washingtonians of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine. The honor made me the first sports media personality ever honored.

On August 2, 1980, I was in Detroit to cover the WBA Welter Weight Championship fight between Pipino Cuevas and the Motor City’s Thomas “Hitman” Hearns. The fight was being held at the historic Joe Louis Arena.

I called Marvin to let him know I was going to be in town to cover the fight and I expected to see him.  His response, “Come on man, I am not going to miss ‘The Hit Man’ knocking Cuevas out or miss seeing you.” Famous last words.

I had great connections to the fight at the Kronk Gym, the brain trust of Emanuel Steward and Prentis Byrd.  They made sure I had press credentials and tickets for my guest.

Prentis, and I hung out and went to lunch.  I called Marvin after we sat down at the restaurant-no answer.  I tried a second number, no answer, I left messages.  Prentis, smiled and said, “Good luck catching up with Marvin”, we both laughed.

Marvin, was a frequent visitor at the Kronk Gym, sometimes lacing up the gloves to spar.  He would show up for Pistons’ basketball, Tigers’ baseball, and Lions’ football practices, and workout with the players. He still wanted to be an athlete.

I had other plans, like meeting with my walking partner during the 1968 riots in the mean streets of DC, FBI undercover agent, Wayne Davis. Wayne was the first FBI Black Agent in Charge of the Detroit Office.

I met up with Wayne, and we went to fight. Marvin was a no show, but we had a great time even though Hearns knocked Cuevas out in the second round.  The arena was electric much like the town that night. Wayne and I went out to dinner after the fight.

MY HERO: Wayne Davis FBI Director in-charge Detroit Office

The next day, he took me on a tour of FBI Headquarters.  After retirement, Wayne was a guest on Inside Sports during Black History Month. He was a class act and a great human being (RIP). We talk about someone going too soon-meet Wayne Davis.

You will not believe where I would meet Marvin next-Las Vegas.  He owned a stake in undefeated welterweight boxer Andy Price’s managerial contract. 

The evening before the fight, he was in attendance at the weight-in.  My role, I was the Checks & Balances for Sugar Ray Leonard early in his career-before fame and fortune. 

The fight was being held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in September 1979.  During the weight-in Marvin spotted me and came over to my side of the room.  His first words, “Harold Bell what in the hell are you doing here in Las Vegas?”

My response, “I could not catch up with you in DC or Detroit, I thought, let me try Las Vegas”.  We hugged and laughed. 

I told him I was hanging out with Sugar Ray.  His response, “After Andy knocks him out, you will be hanging out with me.”

He apologized for not following up with me, in DC and in Detroit.  He said, “In Detroit, I was completely out of it, but I did make the fight and tried to call you but I could not reach you-bad reception”.  Famous last words.

We made plans to have breakfast on Sunday morning and play tennis after the fight on Saturday night. Sugar Ray had other plans.

Marvin, was serious about Andy beating Ray.  I just laughed and said, “It should be a great fight with two undefeated boxers”.

On Saturday night September 28, 1979, Sugar Ray Leonard famously knocked Price out with a flurry of punches just 8 seconds before the end of the first round.

Marvin sang the national anthem before the main event.  He had hardly made it back to his ringside seat-and the fight was over.

I was blown away of how quickly Sugar Ray Leonard destroyed Andy Price in round-one. I looked at Marvin, he was in shock.

George Nock (NFL/Artist) and I had traveled to Las Vegas together and he said, “Do you think Marvin is going to meet you for breakfast in the morning”? My response, “Hell No”.

Surprise, Marvin woke me up around 7:30 am and his firs words, “Come on man let’s go eat, meet me at Caesar’s Palace in an hour.”

I woke George up and told him Marvin had just called.  It looked like we were going to have breakfast after all.

We spend a couple of hours at breakfast talking about our DC hometown and Inside Sports. He was not surprised that Ali called me for the first and last interview after The Rumble in the Jungle.  Ali tolerated major media-he did not trust them.

Marvin said, “That guy is one amazing human being. I cannot wait to see the interview with you and Ali on my next trip home.”

Marvin, wanted to know what were my plans for the future.  I told him, I was thinking about running for the DC City Council.  His response, “Let me know how I can help.” 

Diana Ross was appearing in the theater at Caesar’s that evening and he wanted to know whether I wanted to attend the show.  I said yes, “Tickets will be at the ‘Will Call Window’ for you and your guest”. That was my last conversation with him.

He never made it back to DC to watch my Muhammad Ali interview. He was shot and killed by his father, Marvin Gay Sr., on April 1, 1984 (just one day before his 45th birthday) inside his parents’ Los Angeles home.

The fatal shooting was the culmination of years of deep-seated tension, physical abuse, and a volatile environment, sparked by a history of abuse back to Marvin’s Do-Wop and high school days.

Washington Post columnist Dorothy Gilliam wrote a lionizing column of the trials and tribulations of a 14-year DC Police Department veteran, Sgt. Earl K. Bell. The column is dated April 2, 1984, one day after Marvin Gaye was shot and killed.

I know exactly where I was when I heard Marvin had been shot and killed by his father, Marvin Gaye, Sr. I was traveling on Southern Avenue SE DC on the way to see my brother, Sgt. Earl K. Bell aka “Bull Bell”, a patient in SE Community Hospital.

It was a beautiful bright sun shiny day and I was cruising along listening to WOL Radio-it was April 1, 1984-April Fools Day. Suddenly, the music stopped and the DJ broke in and said, “Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father in Los Angeles today”.

I pulled over to the side of the road and started to cuss the DJ out for making such an outlandish April Fool’s joke, only to discover it was no joke.

I was a couple of blocks from the hospital where my brother was in the ICU. He was involved in a head on collision with a sixteen wheeler on the same stretch of road of the hospital.

It was a cold March morning and he was on way to work at the Police & Fire Clinic. His car hit a patch of ice sending it head-on into a sixteen-wheeler truck. The emergency crew had to cut him out of the wreckage. I had to drive by the wreckage, I was told the emergency crew had to cut him out.

I have no clue how long I was parked on the side of the road crying, and trying to figure out how I was going to break the news to my brother Earl. He was a Viet Nam vet and “What’s Going On”, Marvin had dedicated to his brother Frankie a Viet Nam vet.

THE LYRICS: “Brother-brother-brother, there is far too many of you dying. You know we have got to find away to bring some loving here today, yeah”.

Marvin, dedicated the song to Frankie, but thousands of Viet Nam vets, black, brown, and white, including my brother adopted the song as their call to arms.

When I arrived at the SE Community Hospital’s ICU unit Earl was sleeping. I used that opportunity to sit quietly for about 30 minutes before slipping out of the unit.

When Marvin decided to move his family to the West Coast it was rumored, he did not want his father to be a part of the move. His mother would have none of it.

Marvin, like Ali was a flawed human being, despite their flaws they were Black and Proud, and proved it every day they lived.

My brother refused to do a third tour in the U. S. Army. He saw the handwriting on the wall, after the march on the downtown discotheque. He was a marked man.

“What’s Going On” was like a call to arms for my brother, and thousands of Black, Brown and White vets. He thought of the racism he and other Black enlisted men had to face in Manhiem, Germany during his second tour of duty for the U. S. Army.

He returned home to join the DC Police Department only to face the exact same racism, he thought he had left behind in Germany.

“The Code of silence and Thin Blue Line”, protected the corrupt and crooked cops on the department.

The Black brothers in white shirts resembled the lieutenants and captains in the U. S. Army, they were scared of their shadows when came to taking a stand against the systemic racism in the military.

Jet Magazine made history when they published back to back stories on two Washington, DC brothers, Harold and Earl Bell. The 1969 July and August issues covered two brothers in the civil rights struggle worlds apart. Harold was at the Richard Nixon White House after accepting a Presidential Appointment. He caddied on the weekends for Vice-President Nixon while in high school. In the meantime, his younger brother a Staff Sgt. and an MP was leading a group of Black enlisted men on a march in downtown Manhiem, Germany at a Discotheque. The establishment refused to admit Blacks. Earl was also a Heavyweight Boxing Champion-a KO specialist.

When Frankie Gaye, Marvin’s brother came back from his tour of duty in Vietnam, he shared heavy, eye-opening accounts of the horrors of the war, the harsh realities soldiers faced overseas, and the struggles of trying to reintegrate into a deeply fractured American society was difficult.

Earl served a tour of duty in Vietnam and shared some of those same horror stories. War was really hell.

Rolling Stone voted Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On (originally released in 1971) as the number one album of All-Time in 2020, When the Board of Directors completely revamped and updated their “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list. “Whats Going On” replaced the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band.

The fatal shooting was the culmination of years of deep-seated tension, physical abuse, and a volatile environment, sparked by a history of abuse dating back to Marvin’s Do-Wop and high school days.

When Marvin decided to move his family it was rumored, he did not want his father to be a part of the move to the West Coast. His mother would have none of it.

“What’s Going On” was like a call to arms for my brother, and thousands of Black, Brown and White vets. He thought of the racism he and other Black enlisted men had to face in Manhiem, Germany during his second tour of duty for the U. S. Army.

Marvin, like Ali was a flawed human being, despite their flaws they were Black and Proud and proved it every day they lived.

He refused to do a third tour. He saw the handwriting on the wall, after the march on the downtown discotheque. He was a marked man.

THREE DUDES ON A DC STREET CORNER IN 1965

Marvin Gaye-there is a playground and park named after him a few blocks from 58th & Blaine Streets NE where we once lived. Thanks to Geradine “Peasy” Adams who initiated the campaign to have those two milestones in honor of his legacy.

I was so proud in 2019 when the U. S. Post Office honored Marvin with a pictured postal stamp.

Petey Greene won two local Emmy Awards for his work on his groundbreaking Washington, D.C. television program, Petey Greene’s Washington. The movie of his life story produced by Dewey Hughes was by all accounts “The Dewey Hughes” movie. There were no DC ties to the movie. It was produced in Canada, Petey’s wife Judy and young living adult children, Petra and Pine did not participate.

Harold K. Bell-in 1972 he found the sports talk radio format that changed the way we talk and report sports in America-INSIDE SPORTS. His confidant and friend Muhammad Ali gave him the first and last interview of his pro boxing career. Ali stunned the world in 1974 with his 8th round knockout of George Foreman in Zaire, Africa. He is the most influential sports talk media personality in the 20th and 21st century.

NOTEWORTHY: MICKEY GUYTON THE LAST WORD. WORLD SERIES-THE BREWERS 4 AND THE RAYS I