ted ross played the mean old lion in the wiz.
ted ross played the mean old lion in the wiz.
who played the mean old lion in the wiz?
ted ross
"a brand new day", also known as "everybody rejoice", is a song from the 1975 broadway musical "the wiz" written by american r&b singer and songwriter luther vandross. (in 1976 vandross recorded a version of the song for his album "luther", on cotillion records.) in the play, the song is sung to celebrate after dorothy has killed evilene, the tyrannical wicked witch of the west. dorothy, the tin man, the cowardly lion, and the scarecrow sing the song with the newly freed winkies, who were ruled and enslaved by evilene. it was later featured in the 1978 film version, sung by cast members diana ross, michael jackson, nipsey russell, and ted ross (credited as the wiz stars). given the all-black cast of "the wiz", the song's many references to freedom and new possibilities (especially as sung by african american characters who had just been freed from enslavement) certainly invoked the struggles and history of blacks in america. in the onscreen version of the song, nipsey russell can even be heard exclaiming "free at last!"—a reference to civil rights activist martin luther king jr. (his impromptu addition to the song is not heard on the soundtrack album version, instead replaced by sung vocals by diana ross.) the song's opening line is sung by luther vandross, the song's composer.
a brand new day (the wiz song)
t-bone walker began performing "mean old world" when he was with les hite and his orchestra from 1939 to 1940. after leaving hite's band, walker continued to develop and refine his style on the los angeles club circuit. on july 20, 1942, he recorded "mean old world" for capitol records. the song was performed in the west coast blues style, with a small combo of pianist freddie slack, bassist jud denaut, and drummer dave coleman accompanying walker on vocal and guitar. "mean old world" "showcased t-bones's new, and already developed, style, in which he answered his smoky, soulful vocal phrases with deft, stinging, jazz-inflected lead lines on his electric guitar".
mean old world