Dark
Light

Suggestions

Scenes of Genius: Quincy Jones’ Hollywood

December 15, 2024
3 mins read

Scenes of Genius: Quincy Jones’ Hollywood

By Mark Anthony Neal | @NewBlackMan | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Monday, April 13, 2020.

Quincy Jones has been called many things, and perhaps it’s best to think of Mr Jones as Black Culture’s institutional memory; fitting for a career that has spanned almost 70 years. While many are aware of Jones’ musical accomplishments, including his iconic work with Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and of course Michael Jackson, it is perhaps easy to overlook Jones’ contribution to film and television.

Mr Jones’s relationship with Hollywood began with the request from Oscar nominated director Sidney Lumet to provide the score for his film The Pawnbroker (1965). Mr Jones’ work with Lumet coincided with his promotion to the role of Vice-President at Mercury Records, and marked the beginning of a prolific period in which Mr Jones composed, arranged and produced film scores and soundtracks for many films.

Among the most notable of those films are several that starred Sidney Poitier including For the Love of Ivy (1968), which co-starred Abbey Lincoln, The Lost Man (1969), They Call Me Mr. Tibbs! (1970), Brother John (1971), and most famously In the Heat of the Night (1967), which was awarded the Oscar for Best Film and earned an Oscar for Best Actor for Rod Steiger. The film’s theme song featured vocals from Mr Jones’ lifelong friend Ray Charles. In some ways Mr Poitier and Mr Jones’ working relationship anticipates the highly successful partnership between Spike Lee and jazz musician Terence Blanchard, who are both nominated for 2019 Academy Awards.

As the 1970s began, Mr Jones also wrote themes for television series including Ironside, The Bill Cosby Show (“Hikky Burr”) and the “Sanford & Son Theme”. Mr Jones’ most impactful work on the small screen was his composing of the score for the groundbreaking television mini-series Roots, based on the Alex Haley book of the same title. The score earned Jones a Primetime Emmy for Best Music Composition for a Series. The soundtrack to Roots allowed Mr Jones the chance to more fully explore some of the West African musical themes that were heard on earlier albums such as Gula Matari.

Mr Jones’ Hollywood career came full circle in 1978, when he was tapped as musical director for a film adaptation of The Wiz, which was a Tony Award winning stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, that featured an all-Black cast. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet, who had given Mr Jones his first opportunity to score films 17-years earlier. The Wiz also afforded him his first opportunity to work closely with Michael Jackson; a year after The Wiz was released, Mr Jones and Mr Jackson began the three-album collaboration that established Mr Jackson as a global superstar.

Mr Jones was functioning more as the “boss” that many have come to know him as when he became involved in the film adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Color Purple. While he was, of course, charged with composing the film’s score, Mr Jones was also one of the lead producers of The Color Purple. He was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Original Song (“Miss Celie’s Blues” written with Lionel Richie and longtime collaborator Rod Temperton) and Best Original Score. The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and quite famously, did not win a single award. The only major award winner from the film was Whoopi Goldberg, who won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama).

The fact that The Color Purple was overlooked by the Academy, was perhaps a rallying point for Black Hollywood, that came to a head in 1996 with 68th Academy Awards, which was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg and produced by Quincy Jones. Almost twenty years before #OscarsSoWhite, there was only one Black nominee among the 166 nominees that year. The infamous “Hollywood Blackout” of 1996, led to protest led by Rev. Jesse Jackson, in which Mr Jones was forced to be one of the public targets of. As has been a hallmark of his career Mr Jones took the heat while affirming the essence of the protest.

There’s little doubt that two decades after the Hollywood Blackout and almost sixty years after The Pawnbroker, Hollywood is more hospitable to Black talent — and Quincy Jones was part of that change.

+++

Mark Anthony Neal is James B. Duke Professor of African & African American Studies at Duke University and the author of several books including Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities. Follow him on Twitter: @NewBlackMan

Scenes of Genius: Quincy Jones’ Hollywood

Post Views: 892

SholaAdenekan

158 Comments

  14. Aw, this was an incredibly nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to make a very good articleÖ but what can I sayÖ I hesitate a lot and don’t manage to get nearly anything done.

    Reply

  15. I’ll right away take hold of your rss feed as I can’t find your e-mail subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me realize so that I may just subscribe. Thanks.

    Reply

  18. No matter if some one searches for his vital thing, therefore he/she desiresto be available that in detail, thus that thing is maintained overhere.

    Reply

  21. I’m now not sure the place you are getting your information, however good topic. I must spend a while learning more or figuring out more. Thanks for great info I was searching for this information for my mission.

    Reply

  23. What’s up, yeah this post is genuinely fastidious and I have learned lot of things from it about blogging.thanks.Feel free to visit my blog: Sleek Slim Keto Reviews (science-marketplace.org)

    Reply

  24. I’m still learning from you, but I’m making my way to the top as well. I certainly liked reading everything that is posted on your blog.Keep the posts coming. I loved it!

    Reply

  26. I do not even know how I finished up right here,but I assumed this publish was good. I do not realize who you might be but definitely youare going to a well-known blogger if you happen to are not already.Cheers!

    Reply

  29. What’s Taking place i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have discovered It positively useful and it has helped me out loads.I am hoping to give a contribution & assist othercustomers like its aided me. Great job.

    Reply

  32. Heya i?m for the first time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and aid others like you helped me.

    Reply

  55. 311537 221473This sort of considering develop change in an individuals llife, building our Chicago Pounds reduction going on a diet model are a wide actions toward creating the fact goal in mind. shed weight 513425

    Reply

  56. Your style is very unique in comparison to other peopleI’ve read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this blog.

    Reply

  61. Aw, this was an exceptionally nice post. Taking the time and actual effort to produce a great articleÖ but what can I sayÖ I procrastinate a whole lot and never manage to get anything done.

    Reply

  76. This is a very good tip especially to those new to the blogosphere. Short but very precise informationÖ Thank you for sharing this one. A must read post!

    Reply

  79. Hey there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a outstanding job!

    Reply

  87. I like the valuable information you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your blog and check again here regularly. I’m quite sure I’ll learn a lot of new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!

    Reply

  91. My developer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on several websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard fantastic things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be really appreciated!

    Reply

  98. Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! By the way, how can we communicate?

    Reply

  100. Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to say that I getin fact loved account your blog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing in yourfeeds or even I success you access persistently quickly.

    Reply

  101. Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading?I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or ifit’s the blog. Any responses would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

  117. A fascinating discussion is definitely worth comment. I do believe that you should publish more about this issue, it might not be a taboo matter but generally people don’t talk about these subjects. To the next! All the best!!

    Reply

  123. Wow that was strange. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up.Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say wonderful blog!

    Reply

  131. EVE ogniwa LiFePO4 to nowoczesne akumulatory litowo-żelazowo-fosforanowe, charakteryzujące się wysoką trwałością, bezpieczeństwem i stabilnością termiczną. Są szeroko stosowane w magazynach energii, pojazdach elektrycznych oraz systemach solarnych. Dzięki długiej żywotności i odporności na głębokie rozładowania stanowią doskonałą alternatywę dla tradycyjnych akumulatorów ołowiowo-kwasowych.

    Reply

  146. Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve been to your blog before but after looking at many of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely delighted I discovered it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back often!

    Reply

  149. Aw, this was a very good post. Spending some time and actual effort to make a top notch articleÖ but what can I sayÖ I put things off a lot and don’t manage to get nearly anything done.

    Reply

  155. An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I think that you ought to write more on this issue, it may not be a taboo subject but generally people don’t discuss these subjects. To the next! Best wishes!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to 爱思 Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Previous Story

“Truth is On It’s Way”: Nikki Giovanni Takes the Revolution to Church

Next Story

Kenny’s Diagnosis : A Review of KennihGee’s “The Real Donald Trump” Album

Latest from Blog