Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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. Perfectionist Ella Fitzgt Musical V BY JAY ELGY Special Writer It has been brought to your writer's attention that there is some doubt as to the undisputed reign of Miss Ella -Fitzgerald over ,the songstresses of today. Actualy, the term "songstress" is one not good enough for the subject of today's column. She is something much more than a mere singer of popular ballads; she is a melody in herself, interwoven with cleverly arranged beat and harmony. First Hit Ella Fitzgerald first appeared on the American scene in 1935, via disks, shortly after her first ap pearance as. vocalist with Chick Webb's band. Thereafter, she ap peared on at least one side of al most every record Webb made until his death in 1939. Her output on disks was sup ported almost exclusively by the jazz cult until mid-1938 when she $ herself put together a swing ver sion of an old nursery jingle and up with a million dollar seller en titled, "A Tisket, A Tasket." To the dismay of the jazz peo ple, and perhaps to Ella also, this became her trademark. Her next sizeable seller didn't come until seven years later. It was her duet with Louis Jordan-the calypso comic bit, "Stone Cold Dead in the Market." Ella, with her marvelous ear, and equally marvelous timing, turned this into a dialectal de light. Ella's "Scat-Talk" Bop moved in a big way along about 1947 and Ella lost no time CAMPBELL PHAR Cornel DRUGS-SCH NOTIONS - S( New 1960] New, free-fl unlocks nati That's Why noM not to suit afilte 'a. mC n *ET Vn rnNie 0rald Has arsatility in developing her numerous talents in a direction of the same, and-out came the purest form of bop, what was known as scat-talk. She had invented her own seat language, and she reeled off chorus after chorus that put to shame many of the best improvising instrumenta lists. Many things have been left out of this brief biographical sketch, but only to move quickly into the present. In 1956, she changed her record affiliation and it took just one album to prove that there existed a larger audience for the things that Ella does best, and which she likes best to do . . . meaning, of course, the better songs. We're re ferring. to the monumental "Cole Porter- Song Book," which is one of the outstanding examples of popular vocal art. Perfectionist It's amazing, but Ella keeps on getting better and better. Ob viously she's a perfectionist. Her ear and taste muster out the dubi ous effefts and affirm the more valid. She is constantly maturing as evidenced by her increasingly pro found understanding and projec tion of lyrics. Tonally, she com mands greater variety-she can slip easily from an intimate huski ness to a clear bell tone and back. Ella is obviously a musician, with ear, i n s t.i n c t , and train ing yet she never actually has bec instructed in vocal technique. Much more can be said, extolling the vir tues of Ella Fitzgerald, but the best thing to do is stop talking about her and go listen to her. S CORNELL MACY I Arms OOL SUPPUES )DA FOUNTAIN [UM brings you tast 4ore taE )wing Miracle Tip< iral tobacco flavor! can blend fine tobaccos < r...but to suit your taste! More taste by far...yt soon. 4. Sp.Im ON CAMPUS Football player, during oklas, daintily plucking.petals from a rose. Professor complaining about having to run all ever oampus to meet each of his clase. Air Force ROTC cadet invit ing NROTC midshipman to be a member of their rifle tem. * 0 0 Professor stating he was seri ously thinking of converting hie 9:00 class into a coffee-:doughnut hour. Male student seen walking around campus with a girl's wool scarf wrapped around his head. Student vexed because he got a "B-+" instead of an "A" in French. S-. C Saying heard around campus: "Closed mouths gather no feet." * 0 0 Student trying to tune his voice by a typewriter's keys." Journalism professor sleeping through his 9:00 class. Member of male "non-choral" group singing Christmas songs on campus asking another mem ber to please sing the melody getting reply, "That's what I've been singing." 'Harper's" Studies Southern College On Race Issue Birmingham-Southern College is "torn between a stubborn regional loyalty and the lure of the sophis ticated North," says a 5,000 word study of the college in the Novem ber issue df "Harpers" Magazine. David Boroff, a Brooklyn Col lege English professor, writes that: "BSC students and faculty are largely gradualists, with a sprin kling qf integrationists,.and some old-fashioned fire-eating segrega tionists. . . . The prevailing attitude (on segregation) is one of uneasy stand-pattism." e...more taste... Ote by fa )w llai )nly the 1960 IIM * Fre ther filters squeeze in! = Chec 'hoking taste!.m Gives you the ft if the world's finest, naturally low In tar-.Anzd they aid "Ii 3 Poisonous Speces Live Sna BY BILL LUMPKIN Feature Editor "Baby," the coy young boa constrictor cozily coiled around a fragment of vine in her ex clusive suite on the second floor of LeConte in the picture on this page is the most amiable of five' reptilian guests of the Univer sity biology department. "Baby" is just that, having a present length of six feet com pared to a norm.al ddult length of 12 to 15 feet. She is the un usual pet of USC co-ed Judy Ayer, who boards her at Le Conte because of the rule against pets in the dormitories. Dr. Freeman of the biology de partment acts more or less as keeper of the snakes, which in clude a copperhead, cottonmouth moccasin, an eastern diamond back rattler, and just for the s a k e of variety, a perfectly harmless brown watersnake. Deadly Diamondback The most surly and dangerous of USC's reptilian guests is the diamondback, the largest of the poisonous snakes at LeConte, which never fails to greet anyone entering the room with an omi nous "whrrrrrrr" from his rat tles. Stretching five feet or more in length and about four inches through the thickest part of his body, he is almost constantly coiled up in a corner of his glass sided case poised to strike. Of course, the glass protects human beings from his wrath which is rather easily aroused by any sudden motion, a moving light, or by shaking his cage. Nonetheless it can be disconcert ing to a student to have him slam into the glass a foot from his face, mouth open and fangs extended in futile rage. Dr. Freeman is always care ful to handle this specimen from a discreet distance and with a es up flavor ks tars without II, exciting flavor mild tobaccos! lB LIegett a Myers Tobeoco Co. couldnt be done!" kes On D snake hook. When it's necessary to milk the snake of his venom, however, b I o 1 o g y department members have handled him with their hands--probably with some uneasiness. Case Designs Remarking that the diamond back is the deadliest snake found in South Carolina (about 88% of all persons bitten by one die), with the possible exception of the coral snake, Dr. Freeman said that one of the purposes of the exhibits was to allow visitors to see for themselves w h a t poisonous snakes look like. MEET "BABY" the six4oot boa the University biology departme floor of LeConte. The others ii rattlesnake, a cottonmouth, a c< brown water snake. "Baby," peel lated bamboo trunks in her glao coed Judy Ayer. All University stu and look at the snakes anytime c by Lumpkin.) Over on one side of the room is a large jar containing an even more immense rattler pre served in formaldehyde, six feet or more long. This prompted Dr. Freeman to observe that the bigger a snake is of particular poisonous species, the deadlier it is. This is because a larger snake has longer fangs which penetrate deeper and carry more poison. Therefore if a student should in sist on getting b i t t e n by a diamondback, he'd better choose a small one. Dr. Freeman also pointed out that each case for the snakes has been designed to resemble the natural habitat of the inhabitant as nearly as possible. Edmund Cuthbert, a graduate student, de signed and built them to repre sent variously, a South American jungle, a southern swamp, and a sand d u n e along the coast. "Baby," the boa constrictor, and the diamondback have private suites all to themselves while the other three snakes share the same case. *3.hed bo Ig Me MIS Techi 1isplay At Three Species Co-Exist The third case, shared by the copperhead, cottonmouth, a n d the brown watersqake, contains granular soil covered with de caying leaves, an old forked log, and a twisted tree limb hung with spanish moss. To add to all this scenic beauty the board ers have their own swimming pool (once a cooking tray) com plete with decaying leaves to duplicate the unique flavor of their native swamps. Despite the constant close as sociation of three widely differ ent species, the trio seem to co exist with relative amity. So constrietor, one of the snakes nt has boarding on the second iclude an eastern diamondback opperhead, and a non-venomous king out from behind the simu s-sided case, is the pet of USC dents are invited to visit LeConte tasses are not in session. (Photo far none of them have harmed each other. Although little more could be done to create a home like atmosphere short of-import ing the Everglades, all three have been on a hunger strike. They just sulk in their respective corners and ignore the live mice and chickens given them. The largest of these three is the cottonmouth, about three inches thick through the middle and over four feet long. He comes by his name logically as his mouth is white, like cotton, both inside and outside. Not the world's loveliest creature, he is a muddy, olive drab color with black zig-zag markings other wise. His head is triangular and flat, and the eyes have vertical slits as pupils. Innocent Look-Alike The innocuous brown water snake considerably resembles his more dangerous companion the cottonmouth, and often inhabits the same swampy areas. A close look shows that his head is less !=. BAND(anD a iM'es - of NEW FACES Al I 1TOYSS FAVOUR THEE LeConte flat, his pupils are round, his markings less distihet, and he has a yellowish tinge along the lower part of his sides and on his stomach. He resides at Le Conte chiefly for purposes of comparison wi t h his deadly neighbor. Of course, in their natural habitat, a brief glimpse Insuffi cient for identification is all a person is likely to get. There fore, persons traveling in "cot tonmouth country" would be well advised to wear thick boots and avoid any suspicious denizens of the murky swamp waters. The "innocent look-alike" might turn out to be a cottonmouth. At this point, Dr. Freeman ex plained that the three snak6s sharing the case can swim and like to live near water, although the copperhead prefers higher and drier ground than the others. The watersnake and cottonmouth dine mostly on fish and frogs. They bite u n d e r water, but usually come to the surface or dry land to eat. Complacent Copperhead The dapper copperhead is the smallest, most attractively marked, and most amiable of the snakes in the case. He and the cottonmouth are both less deadly than the diamondback, although neither gives any special warn ing before striking and both camouflage very easily. Of all the poisonous snakes of South Carolina, Dr. Freeman de -clared, the copperhead is the most complacent and the least likely to strike a human being. He is also the most colorfully marked of the poisonous snakes of the South except the coral snake. The copperhead is a sort of light tan in color with brown ish-red markings along the sides in the shape of an inverted "Y" and has a definitely triangular head with an up-turned nose. The head is a lighter, golden ochre color with the area around the mouth a tannish, off-white shade, and the eyes have the slit pupils typical of venomous -snakes. "Baby" the boa constric tor, however, has the most strik ing markings of all. "Baby" Makes the Papers "Baby" has the special status of being a pet and a celebrity of some note, thanks to her mis tress, Judy. Pictures of her and Judy have appeared in news papers all over the state and as far away as New York, along with a story by George Dreher rf USC News Service in the past six weeks. As the only "foreigner" among the biology department's guests, coming from South America to Judy through a Greenwich Vil lage pet shop, "Baby" has her own case, built to resemble a bamboo forest of her native land. IESALIVE r!) FUNN4IE8T RUEST SHOW ~RWHOMPED UP! C (ep FIGGERS! Lmie aam