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Working Chronology of Singer Lovelace Watkins
1933 Born Lovelace Allen Watkins in New Brunswick, NJ (Claims he was born in 1938)
1940s Lives on New Street down by river – uptown was for whites
Teased about name (which had been passed down for generations). Soft-spoken kid, shy. Neighborhood House was a place blacks & whites hung out in NB.
1957 Won the East Coast light-heavyweight division of the Amateur Golden Gloves
1958 Marries and has 4 children
1960 Drives a truck for Monmouth Paper Co. on Jersey Avenue
1960 Member and choir director of Tabernacle Baptist Church on George Street; deacon also
1960 Sings at Etz Ahaim Synagogue (NB) for annual cabaret
1960 Studies microbiology at Rutgers University
Is drafted into Army and stationed in Stuttgart, Germany; teaches physiology to officers at the Medical Academy; organizes shows/sings in Officer’s Club with German groups
1960 or 61 ALBUM: The Big, Big Voice of Lovelace Watkins, MGM Records in NY (Ray Ellis, arranger)
1961-66 Sings in clubs in New York’s Latin Quarter
Signs a contract to perform for the Americana Hotel Chain
Makes a guest appearance on the “Dean Martin Show”
Makes a guest appearance on the “Jack Spector Show” (Rhode Island, winter)
Sings in Puerto Rico; meets and marries Biene, a German born disc jockey for a San Juan radio station. Charles Mather discovers LW thanks to Peanuts Taylor.
1962-63 Meets Charles Mather? Signs 3 five year contracts which LW breaks after 12 years
1966 Sings at the Country Swim Club, East Brunswick, Labor Day weekend, SRO audience
1967 5-month tour of Australia
Fontana Records signs him up and releases the recording “I Apologize, Baby” (August)
1968 Performs in Las Vegas, Toronto, London, Paris, San Juan, Nassau
Performs on the “Ed Sullivan Show”
1969 (January) Returns to NB for a benefit performance at NB High School alma mater;
Benefits go to Tabernacle Baptist Church where LW had been a deacon in 1960
Performs at the Wooky Hollow Cabaret Club in Liverpool; becomes huge hit.
1970 Living mostly in London; marries English/Italian Anna Marie
Command performance for Queen Elizabeth
1971 ALBUM: Lovelace Watkins: Live at the Talk of the Town, York Records, London (Dbl)
ALBUM: Lovelace Watkins: Live in South Africa, York Records (Dist. By Gallo, both)
Appearing on a weekly British television show, “Stars on Sunday”
Appearing at London’s swank West End theater-restaurant, The Talk of the Town
Appearing in South Africa at Landmark Hotel
1972 ALBUM: Lovelace Watkins Sings of Love, York Records, London
ALBUM: Love Makes the World Go Round, York Records, London
Lovelace’s father (Lovelace Watkins, Sr.) dies in West Virginia (b.1897)
1973? ALBUM: Love Is: Lovelace Watkins, Uni Records, Chicago, Ill.
(Donny Hathaway arranges/writes some of the songs)
1970s Performances at the Palmer House in Chicago; Waldorf-Astoria and Rainbow Room, NY; Flamingo, LV; Hilton in Lake Tahoe.
1971-74?? Lives in England – Newsham Park, Liverpool.
Early 80s? Henry Rogers promises Lovelace that Daryl Zanuck will put him in two movies:
One about Shaka Zulu and the other based on the life of Paul Robeson. LW breaks his contract early with Mather and is consequently blackballed from performing in any major city again by Mather’s associates. Rogers drops LW.
1983 Performing at Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV (I have photos!)
Records A Gift of Love (Ellis says in the States) for Australian fans
1985-1995? Performs in Las Vegas. Marries Diane Atherly; they own a cleaning business.
1995 Lovelace dies of leukemia in Las Vegas, NV; no Vegas obit., but one in NY & one in UK
2002-03 Molly writes/performs “The Lovelace Watkins Show,” produced by Freehold Theater, Seattle, WA. Four sold out performances.
2003 Molly is chosen by New Voices to produce a documentary short for KCTS (PBS) Seattle
2004 MNC interviews four Lovelace fans for documentary; Las Vegas, NV (January)
2004 Documentary airs on PBS, KCTS Seattle, November 25 & 28 (About Us/“New Voices”)
© Molly Norris Curtis
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