The monetary figure was estimated by Chuck Rubin, a former agent, who Paula Span described as a kind of musical bounty hunter. She also wrote that he established his Artists Rights Enforcement Corp. in 1981 to hound, bully, or sue record companies that he thought were depriving artists of their earnings, while taking a substantial cut for his efforts. With black rhythm and blues releases beginning to win white audiences, music had become a ticket to glory. He was told, after he raised the money, that she didnt want the headstone for the grave and that he wasnt authorized to put it on there.. When she left to tour Japan with the Platters in December 1965, she says, she left Frankie living in her hillside house with instructions to pay the bills out of an allowance forwarded by her attorney. The Happenings' 45. She had insisted that he check himself into a Manhattan hospital to cure his drug habit. Emira's attorneys have alleged that the other two widows "acted in concert" with Levy, and point to contracts that Zola and Elizabeth each signed with Levy's publishing business, Big Seven Music Corp. Each assigned the song's copyright to Big Seven in exchange for an advance ($10,000 in Elizabeth's case, $7,500 in Zola's) against her share of future royalties. The Lymon she knew was more of a homebody than a homeboy--someone so different than the man the other two women married that, as someone sarcastically comments, it seems like anything in a skirt was Frankies type.. The court found that "the decedent and Elizabeth {Waters} have satisfied the requirements of common law marriage in the State of Pennsylvania." All rights reserved. Instead of filling my house with old moldy magazines, I scanned them (in most cases, photographed them) and filled a storage area with moldy magazines. Waters Residence Hall is centrally located in the heart of campus along the shore of Lake Mendota. The resulting trial was fascinating look into Frankie Lymons post-stardom personal life, and it was covered in great detail by Washington Post reporter Paula Span. Zola Taylor Lymon, who was 50, had flown in from Los Angeles. Borstein also said that Lymon, who was always pestering Levy for money, sold Levy the copyright to all his songs and that Levy has a signed document to that effect. Lymon's managers tried packaging him as a solo crooner in a cravat. Elizabeth Waters claimed to have married Lymon in 1964 in Virginia. The origins of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" He followed it with Im Not a Juvenile Delinquent, I Want You to Be My Girl and other songs characterized by his trademark piercing high voice. But Elizabeth's attorneys argue that she and Frankie lived in Philadelphia and therefore established a common-law marriage under Pennsylvania law. She and Frankie were riding a tour bus together in 1956, doing 81 one-nighters with a rock 'n' roll cavalcade that included Chuck Berry, the Coasters, the Penguins and Bo Diddley, as well as the Platters and the Teenagers. It was also not uncommon for an agent, producer, or record label head to name himself co-writer of a groups songs, thereby entitling him to half of the authors publishing royalties. Next comes the feisty Elizabeth Waters (Vivica A. The following month, Zola testified that she and Frankie drove to Tijuana and got married in a tiny chapel. probe. By the time Waters connected with Lymon, he had become a junkie, and she ended up ruining herself trying to pay for his drugs. "He sort of changed my life for me," Elizabeth says. "I'm not going to wear mink coats with {you} in jeans," she announced. Believing that she had the stronger case, Big Seven agreed to pay Elizabeth an additional $5,000 if the federal lawsuit was dismissed because the plaintiff (Emira) was determined to not be the legal widow. He was inducted into the Army in December 1966, and sent to Fort Gordon, Ga. By the time Pvt. He didn't mind. Unfortunately, shes also involved in the films least convincing area, the jarring sections that deal with the troubles brought on by Lymons habit. It was modified to just Lymon and Goldner on subsquent recordings for the next decade before Goldner's name was replaced by Levy's. There was nothing in writing in regards to the fundraisers or purchasing the headstone, Olb said. If none of the women is Frankie's widow, the surviving members of his family stand to inherit. An act could rise and fall with astonishing swiftness then. Paula Span reported that, during the trial, the judge even raised the disquieting possibility that none of his three supposed marriages was legally contracted, that Lymon had no widow. Best Answer. "Frankly, we do not believe that the claims set forth in the federal court case have merit," says Terrance McKnight, one of Zola's attorneys. Copy. Ten years after his initial success, however, he was wearing an Army uniform as a private at Fort Gordon. And Emira, if she wins, will continue her federal case against Levy, a matter growing steadily more complex. "Emira's Frankie Lymon is not this drunken bum," Pomeroy says. Mays Mortuary, 1221 James Brown Blvd. Funeral services will be held Monday, February 27, 2023, at 3:00 PM from the chapel. Elizabeth Waters is currently single. Did Ukraine use innocent civilians as human shield against Russia in the name of evacuation? Lymon C. Reese Lymon Clifton Reese was born in Stanley, Pike County, Arkansas, on April 27, 1917, to Samuel Wesley Reese and Nancy Elizabeth (Betty) Daniel Reese. Parts of the above testimony and chronology of events were disputed in court. Rodgers, who had been Roulettes top-selling artist in the 50s and early 60s with his #1 hit Honeycomb and 26 other charting singles, suffered traumatic head injuries from a blunt instrument in the beating. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Elizabeths attorneys argued in response that she and Frankie lived in Philadelphia and therefore established a common-law marriage under Pennsylvania law. He told Zola that the new guest was a friend from New York, Zola recalled. Elizabeth Waters was a struggling part-time bill collector from Philadelphia. According to Paula Spans story, he was arrested a least three times in New York for grand larceny or heroin possession, and the Selective Service, hungry for recruits as the war in Vietnam escalated, was after him. Despite hearing that Emira had changed her mind, Ronnie maintained faith in their original agreement and ordered a headstone from a company in North Arlington, New Jersey. Production design Cary White. Both Elizabeth's and Zola's attorneys say Emira offered their clients 20 percent (for Elizabeth) and 5 percent (for Zola) of the estate. Her troubles with drugs and the law continued long after Frankie's death. I feel sorry for him, most of all," echoed Zola. He was clean for a time when she became pregnant in 1963, and he was deeply saddend by the death of their infant daughter. Elizabeth Waters may be entitled to an estate worth $750,000 in accumulated royalties from Lymon 1956 hit and it's more modern iterations, according to Surrogate Court Judge Marie Lambert's ruling. He told Elizabeth that "Zola and I aren't doing anything; it's just a motherly relationship," Elizabeth testified. He can't remember what Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers sounded like that day -- the girls' shrieks all but drowned them out -- but he recalls the excitement. Rubin gets his share, too: Emira testified in Surrogate Court that her arrangement called for any money recovered through her suit to be shared 50-50 with Rubin, after expenses and legal fees, which have already reached a substantial subtotal. The sum, he says, "might have been $1,500. Though other people testify in the trial, notably Little Richard playing himself and saying things like I am the originator, the emancipator, the motivator, most of Fools is told in flashback as each woman takes the stand and relates her portion of Lymons life. Borstein, Levy's attorney, says the agreements amount to standard industry contracts. Last in line is Emira Eagle (Lela Rochon), a demure, well-bred Southern educator. "She did not know the druggie described in this trial She knew a soldier.". "He had always regarded Zola as his stage mother," Elizabeth explained during the trial. Back in Los Angeles, the club where Zola was performing tossed a celebration, with a cake and champagne. Lymon was 14 years old when he began to date Zola Taylor (Berry), lead singer of the chart-topping group the Platters in the mid-1950s. Elizabeth 'Mickey' Waters : You see, y'all gotta understand. Like the jazz and blues artists before them, the rock 'n' rollers of the '50s and '60s were often ripe for rip-offs. Who wrote "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"? Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Legacy.com reports daily on death announcements in local communities nationwide. This trio first meets as a group in 1985 in the offices of Morris Levy (Paul Mazursky), the shrewd operator whose company released Lymons hits. "He was honest, completely honest," Elizabeth insists. The fact came to notice from a judge during a trial where three middle-aged women (Ash Taylor, Elizabeth Waters, and Amira Eagle) spoke about their miseries. He (Frankie) sort of changed my life, she told the judge. Frankie Lymon died in New York. Artists Rights helped secure a financial settlement for Richard Berry, composer of "Louie, Louie" (just before the song starred in a wine cooler ad), and represents several of the artists featured on the "Dirty Dancing" album. His in the end was a wasted life ruined by drugs. The Platters. The doo-wop classic (its earnings boosted by Diana Ross' 1981 version and by its use in a greeting card commercial) was recorded by Lymon's group the Teenagers. For part of Lymons appeal to women was how uncommonly young he was; the singers first hit came before he was 14, younger than most romantic leads can play. Frankie Lymon/Wife. He had the type of personality that would draw people, she said. He was staying in his grandmother's apartment on West 165th Street. We played down certain things and fudged others to make it work as a film," said director Gregory . Thats why were here today.. The trial of the three wives went forward, and final briefs were due in early 1988. They pointed to the contracts that Elizabeth and Zola signed with Levys publishing business, Big Seven Music Corp. Each assigned the songs copyright to Big Seven in exchange for an advance ($10,000 for Elizabeth and $7,500 for Zola) against her share of future royalties. She and Frankie became teenaged lovers in 1956 while they were on an Alan Freed bus tour of 81 one-nighters, each performing with their group along with an all-star cast. The opinion by Surrogate Court Judge Marie Lambert entitles Waters to an estate that may be worth $750,000 in accumulated royalties from Lymon's 1956 hit and its more recent incarnations. Span wrote that back in Los Angeles, the club where Zola was performing tossed a celebration with a cake and champagne. Waters, who on the witness stand acknowledged a long struggle with drugs and prostitution during her tempestuous relationship with the onetime star, got the news from her attorney Monday night. But Anne Pomeroy of the Artists Rights Enforcement Corp. (which has played a major role in the Lymon case, and about which more later) spoke with Emira at length. They point to the absence of documentation from Mexico as evidence that Zola and Frankie never married at all. Zola, in her low-cut gowns, was the dish. As a child star, however, I was subjected to discipline from agents, managers and lawyers, but it was a discipline that protected me from myself so to speak. When trading Miss Thing"-type insults doesnt clear the air, a lawsuit to determine the identity of the true widow and heir to Lymons royalties becomes inevitable. At her insistence he checked into a Manhattan hospital to cure his drug habit, and maybe he succeeded for a time. -- a classic bit of doo-wop doggerel with Lymon credited as coauthor -- are murky. By the time Frankie showed up, unannounced, in Los Angeles, Zola had done well for herself. Zola and Elizabeth declined, but said they were willing to accept an equal, three-way split. investigation of the infiltration of organized crime in the recording industry. When you made a deal with Ronnie, it was usually oral, a real old-school type of business person. The small wedding party celebrated by getting very drunk, not an uncommon state for Frankie at the time. Maybe it was the afterglow from her Tijuana marriage that induced Zola to trust a junkie like Frankie to take care of her financial affairs when she left to tour Japan with the Platters in December 1965. The Taylor sections are the most fun, largely because Taylor knew Lymon when he was at his performing peak and director Gregory Nava, whose last film was Selena, does an energetic job of re-creating the exuberant rock stage shows of the period. He once told a magazine interviewer that he'd been a pimp since he was 10. Why does the rain fall from up above? In lieu of sentencing, Frankie was allowed to undergo another rehab programAfter completing another rehab program and was inducted into the Army in December 1966. Levy declined direct comment of the Lymon matter. Army discipline, I think, teaches a man how to protect himself. Elizabeths claim to be Frankies wife and heir was weakened by the fact that she was still legally married when she wed Frankie in 1964. He was previously married to Emira Lymon, Zola Taylor and Elizabeth Waters. Emira Eagle Lymon Bryant, the legally declared widow of '50s teenage rock star Frankie Lymon, died Saturday at AU Medical Center. 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