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The Memoir of a
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Member |
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 Jerome
Anthony Gourdine, better known as
“Little Anthony”
recently collaborated with author Arlene
Krieger to release a memoir book
entitled, “Little Anthony: My
Journey - My Destiny”. The book is
more - much more than a bio. It is a
story of how a kid from Ft. Greene,
Brooklyn went on to become not only an
inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame (along with Metallica, Jeff Beck and
Run DMC) but one of the vocal architects
to emerge in the era called the
“Golden Age of Rock and Roll”.
Anthony said, “Some of my greatest
acclaims came later in life and I'm glad
they did. When we were younger, The
Imperials and I squandered so much. We
made all the wrong moves, had the wrong
managers, listened to almost no one (at
first), were ripped off unknowingly and
got caught up in our own celebrity. When
we were inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 2009, we had come full
circle and are eternally thankful to be
honored by our peers. I said we stand on
the shoulders of giants and I meant every
word.” Little Anthony & The
Imperials were further honored when they
appeared on the 25th Anniversary of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert at
Madison Square Garden.
 When the book opportunity
presented itself, Anthony is quoted as
saying, “I did not want to write a
‘me book’ but my life has been
quite a journey, a people journey. People
say I am an icon and I thank them for
that but truth be told, the real Little
Anthony story is about the people I've
known and those who influenced me for the
better. I should have died three times
but now at age 74, I am one of the
pioneers of the early days of Rock and
R&B. I survived. I was there and now
60 years later - I had my first singing
gig at 14 years old - I am fortunate
enough to chronicle it all”.
The “Little Anthony story” is
about the people Anthony has known - his
boyhood friends, his family, his parents,
his aunts, his showbiz fathers: Redd Foxx
and Sammy Davis Jr., his
“brother” Smokey Robinson,
friendships with Paul Simon, the support
of Ed Sullivan, Dick Clark, Paul Shaffer,
Moms Mabley, Eartha Kitt, Frankie Lymon,
the Motown artists, Don Costa, Teddy
Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein, Bruce
Springsteen and The E Street Band and
many others. Anthony says, “Some of
them are not gone, but they are with me
every time I go on stage. Their influence
and teachings are in me and I carry on
everything they taught or instilled in
me”.
You could say it all started when at age
17, attending summer school - Boys High
in Brooklyn - when on a hot New York City
day, Anthony heard his “Tears On My
Pillow” via a smuggled transistor
radio. “I started to walk out of the
class when the teacher said, ‘Mister
Gourdine where do you think you are
going?’ I remember it like it was
yesterday - “My song is on the radio
- I’m out of here”. He did not
even realize he graduated high school.
Anthony chuckles and recalls, “I
finally received my diploma 50 years
later when someone found it in an old
desk at Boys High and sent on.”
More hits followed for Little Anthony
& The Imperials: “Hurt So
Bad”, “I’m On The Outside
Looking In”, “Shimmy Shimmy
Koko Pop”, “I'm Alright”
(co-written with Sam Cooke) and
“Just Two People In The World”.
In the book, Gourdine tells of how he was
tagged with the name “Little
Anthony” by radio legend Alan Freed,
watching Bob Marley record “No
Woman, No Cry”, touring with Dick
Clark, following the “Chitlin
Circuit”, Bruce Springsteen opening
for him at Jersey dates in the ‘70s,
sock hops, performing on the
“Tonight Show”, co-hosting for
a week on the “Mike Douglas
Show”, singing his hits on
“Hullabaloo”, “Soul
Train”, “American
Bandstand” and being inducted into
the Long Island-based Vocal Group Hall of
Fame by Billy Joel.
Billy also honored Anthony personally
last July, when he encouraged the
sold-out Madison Square Garden audience
to give his hero, Little Anthony, a
standing ovation right after singing a
stanza of “Tears On My Pillow”.
Anthony’s book pulls no punches and
offer little known facts, such as: Little
Anthony & The Imperials were the
first to record “You Only Live
Twice”, which became famous thanks
to Nancy Sinatra and its James Bond
legacy; or how Marvin Gaye was always the
big loser at the crap-games played
backstage at The Apollo Theater; or how
he and Marvin smoked pot in the catacombs
of the famed Harlem venue. There is
sadness as well in his life: his failed
first marriage, the death of his son
Casey, his best buddy Frankie Lyman
‘s overdose, Teddy Randazzo passing
and the break-up of The Imperials.
Little Anthony & The Imperials still
perform live today after regrouping in
1992, and a solo career for Little
Anthony is another example of the
renaissance he is experiencing. About a
year ago, Anthony initiated a one-man
show thanks to long-time friend Bruce
Morrow, recorded “A World Without
Love”, written by Sir Paul McCartney
(for a benefit EP - The Women And Cancer
Fund) and released a fully-orchestrated
version of “I'll Be Home For
Christmas” - all in association with
the New Jersey - Nashville-based Reviver
Records. Anthony is currently recording a
soon-to-be-released new single,
“Back To Brooklyn” produced by
Preston Glass.
Little Anthony & The Imperials have
sold over 22 million records (singles)
worldwide. Little Anthony continues to
add to his legacy and tending not to rest
on his laurels. This coming October, he
will be inducted into the R&B Hall of
Fame in Detroit and he devotes a great
amount of his time to charity and
veterans’ related events. He
recently attended a San Diego ceremony
involving the roving Vietnam Memorial
wall.
“Little Anthony: My Journey - My
Destiny” is published by Mascot
Books in association with Reviver
Records, who executive produced the book
in association with the Gourdine family.
It is available now on Amazon.com,
BarnesAndNoble.com and ReviverMusic.com. |
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