In loving memory of Clarence Burke, Sr, 1929-2020. (Photo courtesy of Keni Burke)
Clarence Burke, Sr., the beloved patriarch of Chicago’s Five Stairsteps soul and rock group died on July 16, following a seizure in an Atlanta area hospital. He would have turned 91 on July 17.
I interviewed Mr. Burke in late June for a New City magazine article celebrating the 50th anniversary of the group’s biggest hit, “O-o-h Child.” A couple of days after our conversation he fell in his home and suffered a fractured hip. When I heard that news I recalled the satisfied, empathetic tones in Mr. Burke’s voice. He ended our [...]
The city’s soul is wounded. Crime is up, children are getting killed and the simple lights of summer are shadowed by orders of distancing. Some rules are too much to remember but this should never be forgotten:
The summer of 2020 is the 50th anniversary of the hit Chicago pop-soul ballad “O-o-h Child.”
It is a song of healing.
“O-o-h Child” was recorded by the Five Stairsteps, a south side precursor to the Jackson 5. The group consisted of five of the six children of Betty and Clarence Burke, Sr. Clarence, Sr. was a detective for the Chicago Police Department. He also played bass and later managed the Five Stairsteps. The young blood [...]
Chicago’s oldest camera store 5/30/20 (Andy Pierce photo)
I was at the historic Central Camera Co., store, 230 S. Wabash on Friday afternoon.
I waited outside the door to pick up some prints at Chicago’s oldest camera store. My friend and long time clerk Timothy Shaver came out. We did an elbow bump and I gave him condolences towards the recent passing of his mother at age 99. Third generation store owner Don Flesch arrived next. He offered me a piece of candy as he does with most of his customers. He pulled his face mask down a bit to reveal a smile that would never be denied.
We began [...]
ELDON, Mo.—During the 1960s and 70s, tiny Eldon, Mo. was known as “Gateway to the Lake of the Ozarks.” Old U.S. 54 curved through town like a rainbow. The Randles Court and Coffee Shop greeted tourists at the north end of a bend in the road. Clear sailing ahead, ten minutes to the lake.
Loyd A. Boots built what was originally called the Boots Cottage Court in the early 1930s in Eldon. He was from Bagnell, Mo. In 1931 the 2,500-foot long Bagnell Dam was constructed, which created the lake. Boots had a foot up on tourism. There were no motels at the Lake of the Ozarks. (In 1939 his brother Arthur opened his Boots Motel on old Route 66 in Carthage, [...]
