The five Great Lakes comprise the world’s largest reservoir of fresh water. As a result, the Great Lakes maritime industry here is a thriving multi-state ecosystem of international importance. 38 deep-water ports. 87 recreational harbors. Thousands of boats daily. Yes, boating is big business here in Michigan. This area is drenched in dazzling maritime history and one of the premier companies of historical importance in this realm is JW Westcott.
June 7th, 2024 was the 150th anniversary of the JW Westcott Company, which is now Detroit’s oldest continuously family-run business. Little did founder John Ward Westcott know back in 1874 that 150 years later his descendants would still be running the same great business on the same great river.
2024 was also the 50-year milestone of current owner Cpn. James M. Hogan Wescott working at his company. Jim is the 4th generation president and great grandson of the founder.
I’m sitting with Jim at Westcott headquarters at the foot of 24th Street next to the Ambassador Bridge. We’re discussing his family, his company, the past, the future, the recent spiral bound oral history book, and the fact that my own grandpa was a “tender” on this boat back in the early fifties.
It’s not always smooth sailing for Westcott. Sometimes they can face challenges as daunting as the freighters they snug up to. It’s not always rough seas either, there’s frequent fun to be had.
Here’s a fascinating true story about a nautical family dynasty who’ve spent over fifteen decades delivering mail to moving vessels on one of the world’s most vital waterways.
And don’t forget to check out the evolving timeline at the end of this article.
Let’s hear it from the man himself, Jim Hogan:
Jim Hogan, owner of JW Westcott Company, celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
“JW Westcott is a 24 hours per day, 7 days per week year-round operation. We’re a 45 foot long contract mail boat with USPS and the world’s first non-military floating zipcode (48222).”
“Every year in late December, we go down to 3 days per week to handle forwarding. Early April we re-open. This year we had a boat in the water March 23rd, which was the earliest ever. It was a foreign ship and they needed our help via the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority.”
“We became an official USPS mailboat in 1948. We deliver mail to passing freighters, facilitate crew/captain transfers, nautical charts, groceries, pizza from Amicci’s, we fish people out of the water, you name it.”
Ride the Mailboat! The JW Westcott Detroit
“Right now, we have 15 employees. Cpn. Sam Buchanan is our general manager and director of marine operations. He’s been here since he was a spry lad of 18. We also have my son Jimmy Hogan Westcott (5th generation), along with The Birdman (Cpn. Bill Redding), and a newer group of deckhands like Walt Cochenour and Al Holland, among others.”
“Ride the Mailboat is a new program we have for the general public. You and your friends and family can tour the Detroit River on one of our boats, which is a very fun and unique experience. $150 per hour for up to six people. We do them Monday-Sunday. Call here to schedule (313-496-0555). Deposit is half. We take credit card over the phone.”
“The oral history book, ‘As Long As There Are Ships Sailing the Great Lakes: An Oral History of the JW Westcott Company’ started about two years ago when a man named Jim Cameron came to see me. He was representing the Michigan Oral History Associationand wanted to cover the Westcott. We had multiple on-site conversations and he spoke with several people. There are only 75 copies available for purchase. You can buy them here at our headquarters or email us.”
Biography
Jim Hogan circa 1974 working onboard the JW Westcott II (courtesy of the JW Archives)
“I grew up on Union Lake, went to Walled Lake Central High School in Commerce Twsp, and currently live in Highland.”
“My mother June, Mildred June Westcott (1910-2010) was the granddaughter of the founder. She married my dad Joseph J. Hogan and I was born in 1956. My mom was also a teacher for Walled Lake schools.”
“I grew up on the Westcott boat, but I officially started working on the boat as a deckhand in July 1974. My dad needed me to take over for an employee one day. It was my graduation year from high school. I was also running the zamboni over at the original Novi ice arena, working an inventory job at the Hudson’s in Pontiac, and I was playing lots of hockey. That winter, I had my first taste of working the Detroit River in December on the ice. The boat would be bumping into 3-4-inch-thick ice floes.”
“Back in ’74, our night man was Frank Zuzak. He was known as ‘The Evening Voice of the Great Lakes’. A real storyteller. He told me early on in my first year that he was hired by ‘the old man’ back in 1921. He went on to say the old man would give him a try and since he hadn’t heard anything by 1974, he thought he was okay. Then he took a moment to lean over and spit in his spittoon. He always had a chew going. He answered the phone with a distinct line ‘Errrr Westcott’. He was a legend here and all around the Great Lakes! When the Renaissance Center was being construct he found some very dry humor in sharing with a few of us that it ‘looks like a new grain dock going in downtown, look at those silos’! And then he would once again lean over and relieve himself of some of his chew in the spittoon. I remember back in 1963 when I was a kid, he called the house the night the SS Montrose sank under the Ambassador Bridge. I answered the phone, he said for me to tell my dad that a ship sunk under the bridge. I said I will get him right away!”
“After attending Oakland Community College (the Orchard Ridge campus in Farmington Hills) for a bit, I decided to go full-time at JW Westcott in the Summer 1975. Later that Fall, I was on the last afternoon shift that serviced the Edmund Fitzgerald. Massive 729-foot-long ship. My captain was Dick Eathorne (Richard Eathorne, a former USCG senior chief quartermaster). Dick and I made the service call upbound. The Fitz was light, they were going to load up in Duluth. A few days later, they left Duluth and sank in 30–35-foot waves in Lake Superior. On that Monday, November 10th, 1975, I was in a bowling league in Commerce, it was unusually warm and raining that day, then later I looked out the door and it was snowing. I walked into the grill and up on the TV screen was famous WXYZ anchorman Bill Bonds saying that a freighter had potentially been lost in Lake Superior. 29 crew members died. It shocked and deeply saddened the world. The wreck lies in 545 feet of water just northwest of Whitefish Bay.”
“There’s been several paranormal experiences here at Westcott HQ over the years. Sometimes doors shut and open by themselves. You sense something, the feeling of being watched, but no one’s there. Human form shaped vapors glimpsed for the briefest of seconds then gone. One prime example stands out clearly in my mind. It was one of those classic dark gloomy rainy nights near Halloween 1975. I was in my second season working with retired Captain Dick Eathorne. About 8:30pm-ish, we made a delivery to an upbound ship. Coming back mid-stream, we saw what we thought was a figure standing under the dock light. It appeared like someone at the dock waiting for us, long hair, shapely, appeared to be female. We looked back literally a second later and she was gone. We were only 100ft off the dock. Then years later, I heard that this property used to be an old ribbon farm, and a young girl had been slain here. Was it her ghost? Who knows but it still creeps me out thinking about it.”
“Then in Fall 1980, Jacques Cousteau and his son Jean-Michel Cousteau and their crew of about 20-30 came by their oceanographic research vessel, The Calypso. They were going up to Lake Superior to dive the Edmund Fitzgerald. Seeing him outside JW Westcott on the Detroit River was a remarkable sight.”
Cpn. Jacques Cousteau circa 1980 after taking the Calypso by JW Westcott (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Some Family History
June and Jim Hogan, former owners of JW Westcott (courtesy of the JW Archives)
“There are two families, the Westcott family and the Hogan family. My mom graduated Hillsdale College and did a genealogy while she was there and found the Wescott’s are related to the Archbishop of Canterbury, which blew my mind.”
“In the early 1990’s, the Society of Stukely Westcott Descendants visited me to confirm that the Wescott’s were apart of this lineage also. Stukely was one of the founding settlers of Rhode Island and is also related to famous mariners Oliver Hazard Perry and his brother Commodore Matthew C. Perry.”
“On my mother’s side, the Hogan family used to own a tavern. It was called Hogan’s Tavern & Livery and was located on Michigan Avenue and 8th Street, across from where Nemo’s is now. It lasted until about 1917 Prohibition.”
JW Westcott Company’s History
JW Westcott in action (courtesy of the JW Archives)
“The JW Wescott Co. was officially founded 1874. The owner John Ward Wescott was a marine reporter for the Detroit Daily Post and had lots of connections in the Detroit marine industry. He leveraged those connections into creating a unique nautical mail delivery business. He also had two range lights (navigation beacons) on Belle Isle. His first phone number was 55. Our numbers have always had two fives in them as a tribute.”
“John Ward Westcott was born on Lime Island in the St. Mary’s River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on December 19, 1848. Prior to that, his dad David Westcott left New York in 1842 and came to Michigan. He met a lighthouse keeper named Mary and they got married on a steamboat at Mackinac Island in 1844. Westcott used to run the Lime Kiln range lights in Lime Kiln Crossing near Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada.”
“JW worked as a cabin boy on a passenger streamer. He lived in Marine City until moving to Detroit about 1873-ish. He was an agent for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. and an alderman of the 4th ward.”
“When he started the company in 1874, he had a little rowboat that he kept on Belle Isle and he would deliver mail from ship captains to the mainland. About 1877 he moved the office to the foot of Woodward. In 1895, the United Stated Postal Service placed a boat on the river establishing a mail service. The Florence B boat would tow a man in a rowboat until they eventually upgraded to motorboats.”
JW Westcott postcard (courtesy of the JW Archives)
“Prior to the advent of radios in boats, Westcott was one of the main relayer’s of information between ships and shore.”
“Cpn. JW Westcott died 1913. He was living at 142 W. Hancock st at Cass ave at the time. He’s buried at Woodlawn Cemetery (Woodward, just south of 8 Mile) in Section 14, Lot 4.”
“JW Westcott Co. started using motorboats in 1918.”
“We’ve delivered lots of interesting things over the years: massive 1,000 pound crates, captain’s dogs, live goats. We used to be a consignee for Mobil oil. They would mail us 55-gallon drums of marine engine lubricant and we would deliver them dockside with our van. Ships would use a giant ‘grocery crane’ and hoist them onto their decks.”
Cpn. JW Westcott is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
“From 1937-64, JW Westcott actually had a satellite ‘spotters’ office in Port Huron, north of Pine Grove Park. It was run by Harold Simpson, my grandmother’s brother, who was also a WWI vet.”
“During World War II, my dad Joseph J. Hogan, was a US Army staff sergeant with the counter-intelligence corps (CIC) in the Pacific Theater. He trained at Fort Riley, Kansas, then they sent him to the South Pacific. Not one of his pleasant memories. He suffered many island diseases and horrendous memories of prison camp activity. He rarely ever brought those experiences to conversation. He was a true member of the Greatest Generation.”
“By 1948, the second generation of JW Westcott Company decided to bid on a USPS mail contract. Prior to that there had been six different on-the-water contractors. We won and commissioned Paasch Marine Shipping Services (Erie, PA) to build our mailboat. The JW Second is the original boat and it’s still apart of our fleet today.”
“Our location has changed several times throughout the years. This current headquarters was established back in 1953. Prior to that we went from Woodward to 1st to 12th to 24th. We spent two years operating out of the firehouse next-door, which had two fire boats (Battle and Kendall). By Spring 1955, we were fully running this spot with a brand new 3,000sq ft building.”
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
“In 1959, the Queen of England herself, Queen Elizabeth, came sailing down the Detroit River in her 412-foot-long royal yacht Brittania. They were heading to the Mackinac Bridge. This is about when the St. Lawrence Seaway opened, and foreign cargo ships started coming into the Great Lakes. By 1961, JW Westcott was doing pilotage transfers. We’re a mandatory change-point for pilotage here on the great lakes. Canadian pilotage firms are run by their government, while USA pilotage firms are private concerns.”
“In 1966, the FBI pulled a stowaway from Chicago off a passing freighter. They took him back to shore onboard the Westcott.”
“My dad started a tradition in 1971 to take the crew to Carl’s Chophouse (3020 Grand River Ave). We never missed out on the annual holiday dinner until it closed in 2008. It was across from Motor City Casino.”
“October 2001 was our greatest tragedy. Captain Catherine Nasiatka and Deckhand Dave Lewis perished as a result of the sinking of the M/V J.W. Westcott II. A very sad and tragic accident.”
“Over the years, we’ve rescued many from the river. I can’t tell you how many people we’ve helped out of the river. Last year (July 12, 2023) we saved an Ambassador Bridge employee, a 27-year-old Canadian man named Spencer Baker, who was working on top of his truck on the bridge and accidentally fell off into the water. Now that’s a 156 foot drop. People in the park screamed to us and Cpn. Sam Buchanan raced out there and got him three minutes after he hit the water. Sam’s alacrity probably saved his life.”
Jim Hogan: Hockey Fan
JW Westcott owner Jim Hogan hockey player (photo courtesy of JW Westcott archives)
“I am a lifelong ice hockey fanatic. It’s been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember.”
“Growing up on Union Lake, I was only forty steps away from the greatest ice rink every winter. My dad built some nets out of 2×5 and chain-link fence for us. From the day the ice was two inches thick, I’d be out there for hours.”
“My dad would get up on Saturday mornings to go to Winter Wonderland ice arena (16611 Schoolcraft, Detroit) for 5am, 6am, and 7am practices, then I’d skate on the lake all day, and have games at night. I don’t know how he did it.”
JW Westcott owner Jim Hogan hockey player (photo courtesy of JW Westcott archives)
“I was 11 years old when he would bring me down to JW Westcott on Sunday mornings. I would meet another hockey player’s family and we’d drive over to Tilbury, Ontario to play hockey.”
“Marty Pavelich (who passed away recently in June 2024) was the first Red Wing I ever met. In November 1972, the Waterford Lakers junior B team hosted the Detroit Red Wings old timers. In that lineup was Marty Pavelich, Ted Lindsay, etc. That game I hooked Terrible Ted Lindsay, got two minutes for tripping, and had my photo in the Pontiac Press (now Oakland Press).”
“I was 17yrs old and practicing at a rink in Waterford when I got a call from a hockey coach up in North Bay, Ontario. They got wind of me, had a need, I was caught off guard, plus dad wanted me to stay committed to local team. I turned the offer down and have always regretted not exploring the possibilities of turning down that avenue. One of life’s many lessons.”
“My two sons, Jimmy and Bryan, both played hockey, Bryan for the University of Michigan. They grew up in the Lakeland Hockey Association, Michigan’s largest hockey association. There were 10-12 teams in every age group and a travel group for each of those back in those days. They spent lots of time at Lakeland Arena (Waterford) and formed friendships for a lifetime.”
“To round it all out, I spent years coaching high school hockey and loved it.”
JW Westcott’s Jim Hogan hooking Ted Lindsay in hockey game circa 1962 (photo courtesy of JW Westcott archives)
Assorted Bits n’ Barnacles
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
“I love boating. It’s in my DNA. The best inland boating for me is the Indian River, which connects Burt Lake and Mullett Lake, and the Cheboygan River, to Lake Huron. I have a 24 ft Bayliner deck boat. On my other favorite lake, Duck Lake, is where my home is today. I also love hydroplane racing. I miss Quake on the Lake (Pontiac) and I’m really looking forward to the Detroit Hydroplane Races in 2025. The roostertail turn down by Waterworks Park is a great one.”
“In 1981, I joined the International Shipmasters Association Detroit Lodge # 7. They used to meet at the Barlum (now Cadillac Tower) but they don’t have a permanent brick and mortar facility. The membership consists of a large group of captains, mates, chief engineers, and others from all different sectors of the maritime industry.”
“Also in 1981, we took a trip on the Charles M. Beeghly (freighter). We got on at Detroit and headed to Lackawanna, New York on the east end of Lake Erie near Buffalo. They took us around, through the Straits of Mackinac, to load pellets in Escanaba and take them down to Indiana Harbor near Gary. We walked a 250-foot bow out over the boat as it was loading.”
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
“We sailed on the Paul R. Tregurtha, largest ship on the Great Lakes, 1,013ft long, in 2016. Our 5-day trip became 9 days due to weather. We boarded in St. Clair, they were offloading coal and going down to Monroe, then we went back up to Duluth, loaded up more coal and took it to St. Clair. Amazing experience. It was a gratuity trip via Interlake Steamship Co. (Cleveland HQ), the largest privately held fleet on the Great Lakes. Interlake also introduced the new Mark W. Barker freighter in Fall 2022. It’s 26,000 tons.”
“I remember a woman named Arlene Earl (1938-2016). She was famously known as The Flower Lady to all the passing boats. She lived on Harsen’s Island and would frequently wave to the freighters, who would reply by blowing her salutes on their whistles. She was very friendly and very concerned for the sailors, especially during the holidays. She would drop off 30-40 flowers and plants to be placed board her many favorite ships, one per vessel.”
JW Westcott’s old summer house at 553 N. Riverside ave, St. Clair, Michigan (courtesy of the JW Archives)
“The Detroit Harbormaster is a unit of the Detroit Police Department’s waterborne division. They do river rescues. The DPD dive team practices near here.”
“Soo Marine Supply(owned by the McCoy’s) is located at the Soo Locks. They were developed to support US Steel back in the day. They take food, supplies, parts, etc, to ships also.”
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
“JW Westcott was recently featured in a 4-part series in Telescope Magazine, the flagship publication of the Great Lakes Maritime Institute.”
“People often wonder and yes, JW Westcott has a great relationship with Canada and the crews of Canadian vessels. JW Westcott is only 1,800 feet across from Canada (1,000ft on the water).”
“MarineTrafficis a great ship tracking app. It shows you the real-time locations of ships and yachts worldwide.”
“The Port of Detroit is Michigan’s largest inland port. They handle steel, ore, stone, coal, cement, et. General cargo passes through Nicholson Terminal via stevedores (dock workers). Although large, this port used to be much larger when Great Lakes Steel was operating at Zug Island. You also had McClouth Steel Plant in Trenton and Detroit Edison. Rouge Steel is still around although its now called Dearborn Works and is run by Cleveland Cliffs.”
“Detroit’s Diamond Jack Riverboat Tourscompany was formed out of Gaelic Tugboat Co, which was owned by Cpn. Bill Hoey. They used to have 15 tugboats back in the 70’s. My parents were shipmaster-owners of Diamond Jack cruises.”
Final Thoughts
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
“As you can see, the maritime industry is vast and complex, and JW Westcott continues evolving in response to new technology and customer’s needs.”
“Recently, there has been a generational change in the industry among both sailors and managers. As the old regime retires, the young newcomers don’t know who we are. We are in the process of reestablishing our notability with the new generation.”
“It’s also challenging at times to run a 24-hour operation for only five hours of business. We have a Hi-Lo driver and boat crew here 24 hours a day every single day. And as vessels age, maintenance cost increases.”
“In early 2020, we lost our biggest customer, the American Steamship Company (ASC). GATX sold ASC to Rand Logistics for $260 million dollars cash in a leveraged buyout. ASC is the biggest steamship company on the Great Lakes. They specialize in dry bulk transport of things like limestone, coal, iron, ore.”
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
“No business is immune to stresses and pressures. Fortunately, I’ve been surrounded by really good people. Their support network is key to our success.”
“My son Jimmy is 5th generation. He’s the next in line after me. He has tons of great ideas on how to enhance our bottom line, such as hosting events. JW Westcott is also a unique venue that is great for gatherings, weddings, business luncheons, you name it. And we have a food truck coming soon.”
“I love the waterfront. It’s also full of memories of boarding the SS Columbia or St. Clair for Boblo Island, seeing the old Robin Hood flour plant, delivering mail in the Westcott with my dad. You never step in the same river twice, that’s for sure.”
JW Westcott rowboat illustration (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Timeline
1848-John Ward Westcott is born on Lime Island. He is the third of eight children.
1874-JW Westcott Company founded
1883-John Ward Westcott Jr born
1910-69-JW Westcott grandson; lived at 7252 Colony Dr, Walled Lake; buried in Commerce
1917-Mildred Simpson Westcott married John Ward Westcott II. They lived on West Grand Blvd, Detroit. Mildred Simpson lived 1897-1989. She’s buried in Oak Grove Cemetery (Hillsdale)
2024-JW Westcott Company celebrates 150th anniversary
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Company celebrating 150 years in June 2024 (photo by Ryan M. Place)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Company Detroit timeline
Cpn. JW Westcott buried at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
Cpn. JW Westcott buried at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
Cpn. JW Westcott buried at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Robin Hood Flour Plant Detroit (courtesy DHS archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Jim Hogan hockey player Waterford Lakers, now owner JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Cousteau diver Remy Galliano killed 1980 on Lake Ontario (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
JW Westcott Detroit (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Other Detroit River Mailboats
CF Becker: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
CF Becker: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
CF Becker: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
CF Becker: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
CF Bielman: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
George Rigg: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
CF Bielman: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
CF Bielman: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
GF Becker: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
CF Becker: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
CF Bielman: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
CF Bielman: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Oliver Mook: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Oliver Mook: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Oliver Mook: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Oliver Mook: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Oliver Mook: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Oliver Mook: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Oliver Mook: other Detroit River mailboats from the past (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Steamship on the Detroit River (courtesy of the JW Archives)
Lex and Jazz of Char’latte Coffee Company Detroit (photo by Char’latte)
* The sisters will be located inside Eastern Market’s Shed 5 during Detroit Bookfest. Come check out their amazing coffee! Please bring small bills, especially $1’s and $5’s.
I love coffee. The aroma, flavor tones, nuances, trimethylxanthine, and accelerated association of ideas that results after gulping down a cup or pot of it. So, when I heard that Char’latte Coffee Company is bringing some liquid deliciousness to Detroit Bookfest, I was ecstatic.
Officially opened in February 2022, Char’latte Coffee Company is run by two Metro Detroit sisters and former baristas who saw a need in the market and decided to fill it.
Alexis Hallam (aka: Lex) and Jazzmyne Cansler (aka: Jazz) are very close siblings. Lex is four years older, likes photography, plays the drums, and started working at a coffeehouse. She got her sister, Jazz, who plays the strings, a job at the coffeehouse and they both “fell in love with the Art of Coffee,” says Jazz.
Alexis Hallam (aka: Lex) and Jazzmyne Cansler (aka: Jazz) of Char’latte Coffee Company Detroit (photo by Ryan M. Place)
“After working in different coffeehouses, we decided to pool our talents, love of coffee, and entrepreneurial spirits,” says Lex. “We created our brand and started our own operation. The coffee is sourced from Stumptown Coffee Roasters and all flavored syrups are created in-house.”
Currently, the sisters offer specialty pop-ups, and their operation consists of an 8-foot-long mobile coffee cart.
“We offer drip, pour over, iced, cold brew, espresso, teas, hot chocolate, and lemonade,” says Lex. “We are hoping to add some pastries in the future.”
Some top sellers right now are:
Brown Sugar Lavender Oat Milk Latte
Hot chocolate with whipped cream
And the Madagascar vanilla bean
Char’latte Coffee Company Detroit
“We love the freedom of mobility,” says Jazz. “In the future, we’d like to add a large trailer and our ultimate goal is to eventually open a brick-and-mortar coffeehouse, most likely in the heart of Detroit.”
This is a true family operation. “Our Uncle Shane built the cart for us, outfitted it and he even helps transport it to events in his truck. His wife and kids all help contribute greatly to our success and we are very thankful for their love and support,” says Lex. “And the name Char’latte is in honor of my two-year-old daughter, Charlotte.”
The sister’s coffee cart can be booked for events. “We politely request a minimum of 50 people,” says Jazz. “There is no maximum. We do weddings, office parties, house parties, graduations, corporate events, community events, all sorts of different things.”
The sisters are trying to make this gig full-time. Help them out by booking them for your next event!
Aerial photo of Mettetal Airport Canton (photo courtesy of Mettetal)
Mettetal Airport is a non-towered airport (ie: no control tower) that was founded in 1939 on 63 acres in Canton, Michigan. One of the hangars contains a rare resource in the form of Paulson Aviation Library.
John Maxfield, VP of EAA Chapter 113, graciously answered questions and provided a fascinating tour.
“We have about 3,500 volumes. The library was started in 2002 and is hyper-focused on all things aviation. Our main librarian is Barb Cook but she’s on vacation right now. And yes, this is a functional library, Dewey catalogued and everything.”
Paulson Aviation Library @ Canton’s Mettetal Airport (photo by Ryan M. Place)
“The library features mostly books. Non-fiction, biographical, military, reference & technical manuals. We also have vintage journals, flight manuals, various ephemera, photos, DVDs and VHS tapes.”
“Some classic standard books we have are Stick and Rudder (1944), We (1927) Lindbergh, and Carrying the Fire (1974). I’m currently looking for a decent copy of Sled Driver (1991) by Brian Schul.”
“The founder of our library, Robert Paulson, was a Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol. He was a CAP Chaplain, lived in Dearborn, and was parish priest at Church of the Holy Cross in Novi. He was also a book enthusiast and initially started this library by donating his own personal collection. He didn’t own an airplane, so this was his main project. And it’s grown over the years mostly via donations.”
“Mettetal Airport was started by Bob Mettetal. He was a bomber pilot in WWII. His brother Marv (Marvin) was also a pilot. The Mettetal family owned the land since 1920 when it was purchased by Bob’s dad Raphael (Ray) Mettetal. They had a greenhouse and decided to build an airport. Currently, Mettetal is mostly a recreation airport for enthusiasts, and it’s also used by corporations and air ambulances. It’s owned by MDOT Office of Aeronautics.”
Robert Mettetal @ Mettetal Airport Canton (photo courtesy of Google Archives)
“The State of Michigan has made a couple of incredible historic contributions to the field of aviation. In the 1920’s-30’s, Ford Motor Company invented commercial airline travel with the Ford-Trimotor Airplane. What is now Ford Proving Ground (Oakwood Blvd, Dearborn) used to be the Ford Airport, which had one of the world’s first paved runways. The Dearborn Inn across the street was one of the first air travel hotels. And the other contribution was of course the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Ypsilanti during World War Two.”
“Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is the world’s largest recreation sport aviation association. EAA Chapter 113 was founded here at Mettetal in 1961. Our nickname is the Backyard Eagles. Anyone from the general public can join. Legally, the chapter cannot own an airworthy airplane but flying clubs can form within. Our chapter has 4 flying clubs with 7 airplanes, mostly single-engine Cessnas.”
“We host interesting speakers monthly every 3rd Thursday. We’ve had authors, parachute riggers, aviation medics, astronauts, military personnel, etc. And our Young Eagles program offers free airplane rides for those aged 8-17. We do this four times per year.”
Paulson Aviation Library @ Canton’s Mettetal Airport (photo by Ryan M. Place)
Donate your aviation books (they may possibly purchase exceptionally rare items)
Paulson Aviation Library is available by appointment and also during regular gatherings (3rd Thurs of the month, 7:30pm) and events (see calendar on their website).
Snoop Dogg and Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
*special thank you to Dominic Riggio (Mess Bucket Comics) for introducing me to Tony Green*
Detroit, Michigan! A surfeit of wonderful characters and talented musicians regularly emanate from this city like mystical vapors, spreading transformable currents of raw talent, tendrils of undulating electricity, that levitate the membrane with a new form of sentience.
Also known as Tony Green, T-Money Green, TMoneyG, T-Green, T. Green, etc. Born and raised and holding it down for the city, Tony has been playing the bass with his distinct tone and timbre for over five decades. His style is immediately recognizable and has been influential on a global scale.
Detroit’s Tony Green of The Dramatics (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
An oft unacknowledged musical prodigy, Tony toured with soul R&B group The Dramatics for two decades, then worked with Pfunk’s George Clinton, then shot out to the West Coast to help create the G-Funk sound by working with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Death Row Records in the early to mid 90’s.
Tony is a producer and ASCAP award-winning composer. In addition to playing with countless fellow high-level musicians over the years, he has created community by introducing many musicians to each other. The scope and depth of his true-life story has been largely unacknowledged until recently when Detroit author Jackie Wallace wrote a book about his life called Behind The Wall.
At this exact moment, I’m sitting inside Tony’s living room at 7 Mile and Livernois on Detroit’s Upper Westside. Present are Dr. Gail Soo Hoo (the Flute Doctor), Tony’s brother Will, and Zeus, the popcorn-eating Presa Canario puppy.
Tony has a gold record on the wall, an upside-down bass in his hand, and that exciting glint one gets when pulling out the treasure map to a constellation of thoroughly fascinating life stories.
Alright, all you boppers out there in the big city with an ear for the action. Sit back, relax, and listen to these tales true and gems uncut from Detroit’s own Tony Green.
Tony Green gold record for The Dramatics ‘Do What You Want to Do’ (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
Dialogue from Tony:
Tony Green: The Early Years
Detroit bass legend Tony Green thinking hmmm…… I will become a bass prodigy! (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“Jackie is a great friend, and we covered a lot in the book but there are still so many aspects to my hustle.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green’s book Behind the Wall by Jackie Wallace (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“You know how many great musicians and performers have been in this house (Monica Street, Detroit), man? Ron Banks, the lead singer of The Dramatics, sat right there about 50 years ago, and asked my mama if I could go on the road with them. And before that we had tons of great jazz players over here. A lot of me has never been publicly explained but that’s about to change right now. Let’s get into it.”
“I was born September 22nd, 1956, at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, Michigan. My grandparents were from Calhoun, Mississippi. My biological parents were Rene Shaw and Roy Edward Green. My dad Roy was in the US Air Force in Vietnam (1965-75) and received two Bronze Stars for bravery.”
“Growing up, all my toys were tents, canteens, all army-type stuff. He lived in Roseville but also stayed in Los Angeles and San Antonio when he was home on leave, so when I spent time with him in the summers, we were in all those cities. He unfortunately died at the young age of 42 from the lingering effects of Agent Orange. His wife, my stepmom Ruth, used to torture me emotionally & physically.”
“My biological mom Rene was a pro bowler. She had over 100 trophies. She bowled at the Bowl-O-Drome (Dexter ave, Detroit), W-Y 7 bowling alley (Wyoming ave, Detroit), Thunderbowl (Allen Park; world’s largest bowling alley), Garden Bowl (Woodward ave, Detroit; world’s oldest bowling alley), all over the place, even out of state. I remember as a kid we sometimes used to take the little guy off the top of the trophies and put him on a necklace chain. I love bowling, my mom and I used to play on leagues together.”
Detroit jazz bassist William Austin
“I lived with my mom Rene and my stepdad William Austin. We originally lived at Elmhurst St and Dexter Ave in Detroit. Then in 1964, we moved here to 7 Mile and Livernois, which was a predominantly Jewish neighborhood at the time. Growing up, all my friends were Jewish. I went to Pasteur Elementary (19811 Stoepel St), Hampton Junior High (3900 Pickford st) and Mumford High School (17525 Wyoming ave).”
“But it was here in this house, man, that my love for music happened. I grew up hearing so much great jazz music live at the house and down the street at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge (Detroit; world’s oldest jazz club) that I almost feel guilty that other people didn’t get to experience that growing up.”
Detroit jazz bassist William Austin playing with Lionel Hampton (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“It was an amazing group of jazz musicians here at our house. Sonny Stitt, Lionel Hampton, Esther Philips, Gloria Lynn, Jack McDuff, Earl Klugh, Yusef Lateef, Spanky Wilson, the female pianist Terry Pollard, Marcus Belgrave, Wendell Harrison, etc, all used to play downstairs jam sessions here in the basement. It was typically before a set they would be playing at Baker’s or they’d be in town for the weekend and drop by. We used to have BBQ cookouts eating my stepdad’s BBQ and my mom’s famous mac and cheese. Had the hi-fi going in the living room. Used to have a piano in the basement (my 5yr old brother Ricky would play; also my other brother Will Austin III plays guitar). Nobody was drinking alcohol, just playing jazz music. Man, those were the days.”
“My stepdad Will was a phenomenal jazz bassist. William Austin was originally from St. Louis and was self-taught on the bass. He toured with Barry Harris, Sonny Stitt, played a residency with Yusef Lateef at Klein’s Showbar (8540 12th st, Detroit). Eventually, most of the Detroit guys left for New York to work, so my stepdad, who was in the military, played bass in the US Air Force Band.”
“William Austin (February 22, 1932 – April 28, 2020). RIP. Until we meet again.”
“Other than the music, the family, and the great food, we didn’t have shit growing up. My Grandma would put a quilt around a rock and we’d play catch with it. That’s the kind of toys we had. Poverty in one regard, but rich in another. Rich in spirit and laughter and the memories.”
“My mom and her six sisters raised us. A lot of my influences came from home, my aunts, and my first cousin Felix Washington who later played in the band Bostonian with me. But lemme tell you. Growing up in Detroit in the 1960’s and 70’s was the bomb! I love music. We grew up listening to the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Motown. It was a great city to grow up in, safe to walk around, no cellphones.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“Marvin Gaye lived on our corner (3067 W. Outer Drive, Detroit) and he used to throw the football to us. Real cool dude. Originally, Berry Gordy the guy who ran Motown Records, had bought the house for his sister Anna Gordy who was married to Marvin. They did the photos for the What’s Going On Album (1971) in the backyard. One of Marvin’s good friends, Lem Barney, the Detroit Lions football player, used to be over there at his house all the time hanging out.”
“Marvin lived next door to The Temptations road manager (19371 Monica St, Detroit) he’d let us sneak downstairs to look at the famous 5-mike microphone stand and the Temptations uniforms.”
Marvin Gaye in Detroit (photo courtesy of Azalia Hackley)
Tony Green becomes a Bass Prodigy
Detroit bass legend Tony Green with The Dramatics (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“It all started when I went to a talent show at Mumford High School in 1969-70. The very talented Reggie McBride played there, he went on to play with Elton John and a bunch of people. Gene Dunlap was on drums. Amazing the amount of talent from Detroit. The Clark Sisters. James Jamerson Jr was at Mumford but barely showed up. Anyway, when I saw Reggie kick out the jams on the bass, I knew I wanted to be a bass player.”
“My first bass was a Fender, like Jimi Hendrix. I got another Teisco bass from Federals department store (8 Mile and Dequindre, Detroit) when I was 14 years old. I play the bass upside down. My E string is at the bottom. And those old Fender basses are heavy. Later, my bass was a Spector and much lighter.”
“I don’t have any particular brand affinity. I’ll play any bass. I’ve always taken whatever bass I have to Tim Flaharty who used to run Music Castle (Woodward and 13 Mile, Royal Oak), now I take it to his house.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green’s early band Roadwork (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“In 1971, I started playing in bands at 15 years old. My first band was Funk Enterprise, which was a mix of black and white guys, we would play hall parties.”
“Then I played in Eternity. My friend Greg Phillinganes played the keyboards and the moog in Eternity. He later worked with Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritche, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, he was Michael Jackson’s musical director. Eternity also featured Kerry Campbell (sax), Sidney Chaney (drums), Greg King (trumpet) and Larry King (sax).”
“I kept getting kicked out of bands because I didn’t have equipment. My uncle eventually co-signed for me to get an amp for my bass.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green circa 1969-70 (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“Then I started a band called Roadwork, which exists to this day. Our original lineup was Corey Heath (Drums), Dwayne Nunn (organ), Roc Williams (guitar), Robin Harriston and Brenda Joy (singers), Farley on trumpet, Lenny on sax, and yours truly on bass. The promoter Greg Willingham helped us book shows. He ran a company called Showbiz Kids, they booked teen gigs.”
“Back then, my bands played at The Sentinel (2211 E. Jefferson, Detroit), the Latin Quarter, upstairs at Chin Tiki’s (2121 Cass ave, Detroit), Ethel’s Lounge (7341 Mack ave, Detroit), various VFW halls and high schools, etc.”
17-year-old Tony Green joins The Dramatics
Detroit bass legend Tony Green with The Dramatics (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“In 1974, my band Roadwork was playing Club Ocies (Fenkell and Cherrylawn, Detroit) when I got discovered by The Dramatics lead singers LJ Reynolds and Ron Banks. The club was a gangster-style club owned by a guy named Flukey Stokes, who also owned a poolhall down the street. I used to sell Ron weed and eventually he found out my bass abilities and they hired me on the spot.”
“When I first met him, Ron Banks lived at Plainview and McNichols. Later he moved to a house by the Detroit Zoo. He went to Northern High School and originally wanted to be a baseball player.”
“When I first joined, we used to play the 20 Grand Club (5020 14th st, Detroit) a lot. My first out of state show was the Circle Star Theatre in San Carlos, California, near San Francisco.”
“We had a 50-seat Trailways bus and would play for thousands of people nightly. Man, it was wild.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green with The Dramatics (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“In 1978, I helped The Dramatics write their only gold record, Do What You Want To Do. I wrote four songs on there.”
“Then Ron Banks and George Clinton (Parliament Funkadelic) and I co-wrote ‘One of Those Funk Thangs’, which was featured on Parliament’s Motor Booty Affair album. It went on to become one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop history.”
“A guy named Armen Boladian (Bridgeport Music) the so-called “sample troll” supposedly owns most of the copyrights to George Clinton’s songs, including that one.”
“The story is that George later signed the rights away to most of his catalog in 1983 to Bridgeport but who knows what happened.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green with The Dramatics gold record (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“From 1980-81, I was also doing stuff with a soul R&B group called Five Special. Me, Ron Banks, Darnell Kimbrough and Baby Ray Johnson put the whole process together.”
“The band was Bryan Banks (Ron’s brother), Steve Boyd, Greg Finley, Steve Harris, and Mike Petillo. These guys could sing. Me, Ron and Baby Ray Johnson (who went to Mumford with me) wrote Why Leave Us Alone. Together we three had a great chemistry for writing. I played bass, Ron sang, and Ray played the piano.”
“In 1980, I had formed a group that featured me, my first cousin Felix Washington (piano), and our friend Doug Poisson (drums and financier). We recorded a song called Keep the Groove. I named our group Bostonian. The band name came after the track was laid down.”
“We recorded that bad boy at United Sound Studios (5840 2nd Ave, Detroit), then made 600 records of it at Archer Recording Pressing Plant (7401 E. Davison, Detroit). A few decades later, that track became a major collector’s item and the centerpiece of Clap City Records (Clapton, East London, England).”
“1983, I recorded a track called When the Cat’s Away with a group called Five O’Clock. My cousin Felix had a groove, I wrote the words.”
“We went to a club called the Blue Chip Lounge (13301 W. McNichols, Detroit) and a group was singing there. They were good but had never recorded anything. So we did and A & B side single and before that we did Watch for the Morning.”
“In the 1980’s, I married Simone English (Bowden), a Detroit photographer. We moved out to Hollywood Hills, California. She was originally Ron Banks’ girl, but she liked me more.”
“That same year, 1985, Ron Banks and I were freebasing (smoking cocaine) at my apartment Vista del Mar (2071 Vista Del Mar st, Unit # 6, Los Angeles, CA). Suddenly, he started acting real weird. I opened a bottle of water for him and he looked at it and muttered ‘I can’t let you kill me like that’. I said ‘What are you talking bout Ron? You just saw me open a brand new bottle’. He got all weirded out and just walked out of the apartment. Bout 15 minutes later he comes back all bloodied. The front of him was shredded, there was blood everywhere, all over my gray carpet, it looked like a murder scene.”
“Apparently, he had scaled a barbed wire fence. He had to get 182 stitches. He almost died in my kitchen. I remember the ambulance tech said five minutes more, he would of bled out because he had severed a major artery.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green and Dramatics lead singer Ron Banks freebasing cocaine in Los Angeles (photo courtesy of Google Archives)
“Not long after that, I had a heart attack. I was 29 years old. My enzyme levels were through the roof, they said I needed a triple bypass. While I was in the hospital, Ben Crosby, our manager and the owner of Ben’s Hi Chapparal Club (6683 Gratiot, Detroit), flew out to LA and unexpectedly visited me. He was like an angel at the hospital. You never know who your angels are gonna be.”
“While at the hospital, I wrote a song called I Love The Lord. I taught it to The Dramatics band, and we played it the week after in Toronto and got a standing ovation for it. I eventually recorded it with Huriah Boynton. Later, LJ Reynolds covered it on his gospel album.”
“So, yeah, eventually, I had to quit The Dramatics, man. All the cocaine flowing around everywhere all the time just got to be too crazy. Sugar Bear (Willie Ford) and everyone just getting too tore up and not playing enough music. So, in 1988 I moved back to Detroit for a couple years.”
Tony Green links up with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Death Row Records
Dr. Dre and Detroit bass legend Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“In 1993, I was managing David Ruffin Jr. (D-Ruff). David is the son of The Temptations singer David Ruffin, who had recently passed away inside a West Philly crackhouse. I wanted to help out my man, so I hooked him up with opening for The Dramatics.”
“So, we’re out in California doing a show and a female fan sees us perform and invites us to come back out to LA soon. She lived in Los Angeles and claimed to know where all the new rappers hung out, some guys named Dr. Dre. Snoop Dogg and Warren G. She said we should drive out and she’d take us there.”
“So, in February 1993, D-Ruff (David Ruffin Jr.) and I drove out there. Our bright green beater ’72 Impala broke down in Arizona. On the way driving out to California, we listened to a cassette tape of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic for about 17 hours straight, kept flipping sides in the tape deck over and over.”
Dr. Dre’s tape The Chronic
“True to her word, the female fan took us to Glam Slam West (333 S. Boylston St, Los Angeles), a nightclub owned by Prince. While we’re in there, sure enough, D-Ruff notices all the rappers.”
“David goes over and introduces himself, then me, and we meet Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and The D.O. C. All the guys were real cool and they told me that Dr. Dre was looking for a bassist.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green with Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“About a week later, Dr. Dre and I connected and met in the studio. Fortunately, when we met Dre, we took our lady’s brand new ’93 Benz to the meeting. Turned out that Dre had the exact same one but a convertible. Had we taken our beater, we wouldn’t have gotten the gig.”
“We met atThe Village recording studio (1616 Butler ave, Los Angeles, CA) where Dre had recorded The Chronic in April 1992.”
“He wanted to know how I good I was, so I played about 20 different bass lines in two minutes to his song ‘Nuthin’ but a G Thang’ and he just went wild and offered to hire me at $700/wk to play bass and D-ruff at $250/wk to sing. Every Friday I would get a check from him.”
“Dre would be drumming, he’d give me his drumbeats and I had to layer them with my bass lines. We did this at The Village recording studio.”
Snoop Dogg and Detroit bass legend Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“I became the band director and bass player for Death Row Records. I did the bass on Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle album and tons of songs.”
“I created the ‘Gin and Juice’ bassline for Snoop right on the spot.”
“The Doggystyle album was recorded at multiple studios: Larrabee West (8811 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood), Larrabee North (4162 Lankershim blvd, North Hollywood), The Enterprise studio (4620 W. Magnolia, Burbank), and the Village and possibly others.”
“To finish the album, we all stayed in the Larrabee North studio the last 48 hours straight for a marathon session. We ate good, laughed a lot and pushed through. When that album came out, it was the first debut release to enter the Billboard charts at # 1. The album release party was in November ’93 on a 165-foot yacht in Marina del Ray. I decided not to go, which turned out to be a good idea, because it got chaotic.”
“I also played bass on some tracks for DJ Quik. We recorded those at Skip Saylor’s Studio in Los Angeles.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green and Dr. Dre (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“At one point, Dre had on ankle tether and couldn’t leave his house, so we partied over there a lot. His house was in a beautiful gated sub called Mountain View Estates in Calabasas, California.”
“We recorded there too, he had an SSL 24-track mixing board and full in-house studio. Wild parties nonstop, lots of weed smoking, I’d be cooking shrimp on the grill. Warren G and his uncle Wron G were also real cool and would be hanging around but Warren, although he was Dre’s stepbrother, was signed with Def Jam not Death Row.”
“I hooked Death Row up with a lot of talented people. My wife Simone became the official Death Row photographer.”
“Dre needed a guitarist, so I introduced him to Detroit guitarist, Ricky Rouse. Back in the 60’s, a young 7-year-old Ricky played guitar while 11-year-old Stevie Wonder played piano, the guy is an incredibly talented guitarist. He had also done some disco songs with Bohannon. Ricky went to Norhern High School in Detroit but dropped out in ’72 to tour with Undisputed Truth.”
“Eventually, Snoop found out I had been in The Dramatics and wanted to meet them, so I made it happen, which helped reignite the career of The Dramatics.”
“On the spot, I called LJ Reynolds for Snoop. LJ answers saying ‘Mr. Green, I heard you hit the big time’ and I handed Snoop the phone, Snoop says ‘Is this really LJ Reynolds? Can you sing Key to the World?’ so LJ busted it out and Snoop went wild.”
“This led to them collaborating on the song Doggy Dogg World on Snoop’s album Doggystyle. The music video for that was fun as hell, too. We had all the Blaxploitation stars there: Pam Grier, Rudy Ray Moore, Ron O’Neal, Fred Williamson, and Huggy Bear and Rerun (Fred Berry) from Soul Train.”
LG Reynolds, Huggy Bear, Pam Grier, and Detroit bass legend Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“And here’s a fun fact for you: Snoop Dogg’s dad, Vernell Varnado, was my mailman in Detroit! For years, he used to bring me my ASCAP royalty checks.”
“In 1985, Snoop lived here in Detroit with his dad (11398 Whitehill St, Detroit) and Snoop worked at the McDonald’s on Greenfield and 8 Mile.”
“Dr. Dre had never met George Clinton. So one day, George was in Studio B at The Village, and Dre wanted to meet him. I told him I knew George like a father and Dre seemed skeptical, so I walked down there and peeked in the room. As soon as he sees me, George says ‘I knew somebody had permission to be funkin’ like that!’. I tell him about Dre, George asked me “they got anything down there?” (drugs). I say no. George had mostly been living at his farm in the Irish Hills (Brooklyn, Michigan) smoking crack in a house owned by Armen the sample troll. So, I walked George down the hallway and hooked up Mr. Parliament Funkadelic himself with Dr. Dre and the rest is history.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green and Pfunk’s own George Clinton (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“In 1994, I produced two songs on the Above the Rim soundtrack. It was the track CPO’s Just So Ya No. The co-producer on it was Carl “Butch” Small. The other one was Mi Monie Rite by Lord G. Butch’s son DJ Los did the beat for Lord G. Butch was another Detroit guy I brought to Death Row. Butch was a master percussionist with The Dramatics.”
“Overall, I mean Dr. Dre is a genius. You have got to give the dude credit for that. Because of him, I played bass on the Arsenio Hall Show, MTV, Saturday Night Live, the Magic Johnson Show, etc. Also, every single record that Dre has done has gone either gold or platinum. Eminem, who Dre sponsored and nurtured, has gone Diamond six times, making Eminem the number one most awarded musician for singles in RIAA history.”
“My bass is on Gin and Juice, the Regulate G-Funk Mix, California Love, Murder Was the Case, the Dogg Pound, Lady of Rage’s Afro Puff, and a lot more man.”
“I also played the bass for Shaquille O’Neal’s single Biological Didn’t Bother (Remix) that was produced by Warren G.”
Shaquille O’Neal & Detroit bass legend Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“In 1995, I played the bass on Coolio’s song Rollin with the Homies. It was featured on the soundtrack to Clueless.”
“Coolio was a cool dude. RIP. Another one gone too soon.”
“We did Da Five Footaz-Walk Away. It was on the Jason’s Lyric soundtrack.”
“As for 2Pac, I never actually met 2Pac but my basslines are on California Love.”
“However, I did meet Biggie Smalls (the Notorious BIG) once. It was about 1995, I met Biggie at DTW (the Detroit Airport). He was a big and tall dude. Real cool guy, we talked about the music industry and Detroit. Biggie loved Detroit (‘my Detroit players’).”
The infamous Death Row chair from Suge Knight’s office at Can-Am
“At one point, I was in Kingston, Jamaica helping the billionaire Josef Bogdanovich produce reggae artists like Lady Saw. Joe is a reggae fanatic who runs a company called DownSound Entertainment. His grandparents were Croatian immigrants who founded StarKist Tuna.”
“Joe is also an executive producer who also helped save Reggae Sumfest, the largest reggae event in the Caribbean.”
“After Death Row, I went on tour with my man Warren G from 1996-98. Warren is another great guy. He and Snoop and Nate Dogg are from Long Beach. We used to record at Warren’s house sometimes in Lakewood, just outside Long Beach. He started his own label, G-Funk Records, that was distributed by Def Jam.”
“When I went on tour with him, we did the Spring Break parties in Lake Havasu, then went on an overseas tour. Germany, Switzerland, France, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. My favorite was Japan. I had gone there twice with The Dramatics, then came back with Warren G. He was huge in London, and we did the MTV ‘Live in London’ show.”
“At the Billboard Music Awards, me, Warren G and Nate Dogg had “Big Mike” as a security guard. He later became an actor. His real name was Michael Clarke Duncan. He was in the Green Mile, Slammin Salmon, Armageddon, etc.”
“Big Mike had been working for Vassal Benford, a Detroit keyboard player who moved to LA in the late 80’s. Unfortunately, Big Mike is gone now. RIP.”
Michael Clarke Duncan, aka bodyguard Big Mike (photo courtesy of Google Archives)
“Warren’s manager was his uncle, Wrong G (Ron Griffin). Wron G was 6’4” tall former special ops US Marine Corps soldier and the real deal. He never took off his sunglasses and he wore a long coat like Shaft.”
“Couple years ago, in 2020, Snoop Dogg came to Detroit. Where T Green at? We went and hung out with him at the Fillmore (2115 Woodward Ave, Detroit) for a few hours after the show. We all smoked blunts and talked about the good old days. A video of him and I singing there went viral on Instagram.”
“Yep, our music has rattled a lot of trunks over the years, man. Rattled a lot of skulls and bank accounts, too.”
The Detroit Legacy
Detroit bass legend Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“I came back to Detroit. Started laying down some tracks at a favorite studio of mine, Sound Suite Studios (14750 Puritan ave) which had been open since 1975. It closed around 2000. We had also recorded the Five Special album here. I did a lot of recording here over the years.”
“I signed a deal with Bellmark Records to produce my album Organized Kaos Hour 1. It’s a series that I’m still working on.”
“I played bass for two tracks on Robbie Robertson’s album Music for the Native Americans.”
“Around about 1995 or so, I let Sick Notes (Dewitt and Pep) record at Sound Suite. They ended up writing two songs for Eminem.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“In 2001, we did an album with Westbound Records called Hyped Up Westbound Soljaz. It was for Pfunk and George Clinton. The Westbound label was started in 1968 by Armen Boladian. There was another album called The Streetz are Paved with Green that I cut for Westbound but it was never released.”
“Also in 2001-2002, I was in the Eminem movie 8 Mile but unfortunately my scene got cut.”
“I played bass for Detroit rapper Big Herk’s Rock Bottom crew.”
“The Detroit rapper Mersiless Amir is featured on my new album along with several other amazing artists.”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“Then in 2010, I met the yin to my yang. Dr. Gail Soo Hoo, aka: the Flute Doctor. She had been first chair at Northwestern High School, which is saying something because several phenomenal musicians came outta there, including Ray Parker Jr. (1971 grad; he did the Ghostbusters theme song).”
“2016, we did Slight Return (Mark Kassa’s band) with George Clinton.”
“I used to record at Studio A (5619 N. Beech Daly, Dearborn Heights) when my engineer Steve Capp was there. Now he’s over at 54 Soundrecording studio (Ferndale) so I’m over there now. 54 Sound is owned by a great guy named Joel Martin. Eminem and The Bass Brothers also record there.”
Dr. Gail Soo Hoo aka: the Flute Doctor (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
Tony Green The Man
Detroit bass legend Tony Green (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“Some bands and musicians I’m a fan of are Jimi Hendrix (purple haze, changes), Chick Corea, Elton John, Grand Funk Railroad, Graham Central Station, WDRQ radio, etc. I love Anita Baker’s album Rapture. I love Chris Squire’s bass talents on Roundabout by Yes.”
“Some of my personal favorite bass players are Larry Graham, Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten, and the Detroit bassists James Jamerson (my all-time fav), “Fast Eddie” Watkins Jr (he got started on The Temptations 1973 album Masterpiece), Ralphe Armstrong, and Lamont Johnson.”
“My partner McKayla Prew (talented new singer) and I run Hyped Up Live Sessions, which is a monthly livestream music jam that we record live at my studio inside the Russell Industrial Center (1600 Clay St, Detroit).”
Detroit bass legend Tony Green and Snoop Dogg hanging out in Detroit (photo courtesy of Tony Green)
“The Dramatics singer LJ Reynolds is still alive. We still talk and collaborate regularly. LJ rehearses every Wednesday in my studio at the Russell.”
“Right now, I have what I call The Vault, which is a collection of over 2,000 songs (including 200 reel-to-reel masters) that I’ve created in my lifetime. Some of these are on my new album Organized Kaos Hour 3, check it out.”
“I’m actively working on a follow-up book about my life, which is being written by Detroit author Jenn Goeddeke.”
“As for the bass? Why is the bass important? Well, many great groups are driven by the bass and drums. A good bass player will let the song breathe and flex. And you got to have stage presence, meaning make your lives performances interesting, don’t just sit there staring down at your shoes.”
“My advice to young aspiring musicians is to keep in mind that most of the music industry is about who you know. So get out there, network, make connections, and always try to help other people. But just remember to give proper credit where credit is due. And don’t listen to your friends, just keep playing the music you like and honing your talent every single day. And above all, never wish you were somebody else. Always stay true to you internally eternally.”
Detroit artist Bill Morrison at his home studio (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Bill Morrison is a tremendously talented artist and writer.
A child prodigy in art and drawing, he could draw better at age three than I can at age thirty-six. His competency across a broad range of specialties and his career trajectory are jaw-droppingly impressive as he continues upping the ante by challenging himself with new and different projects.
He lives in a lovely stately historic home in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, which backs up to the vast and beautiful Lake St. Clair.
Bill lives with his wife Kayre (pronounced ‘Care’), two dogs Gidget and Ripley, two cats Ziggy and Freddie, and a world-class collection of comics, collectibles, and artwork. His home studio is a delightful wonderland of creativity, pop culture inspirations, and gobs upon gobs of wickedly good Bill Morrison original art.
Detroit artist Bill Morrison at his home studio (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
I’m here chatting with Bill. He was both brave enough to let me into his home and kind enough to answer my 10,000 rambling questions.
As a lifelong fan of The Simpsons and Bill’s work, I’ve owned several of his comics, watched several of his shows, and for years had the amazing full cast of The Simpsons poster on my wall that Mr. Morrison did.
Meeting him was an honor and I can tell you that he is a thoroughly cool dude.
The Simpsons kitchen sink poster art by Bill Morrison
Published by Hero Collector, it’s a treasure trove of trivia masked as intentional continuity errors that are artfully designed to test your mental abilities of recognition and recall.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Bill Morrison!
Bill on The Beatles
Nerd Search: All You Nerd is Love: A Yellow Submarine Puzzle Book by Bill Morrison
“I’m a huge Beatles fan. My involvement with creating The Beatles books goes back to 1998 when Dark Horse Comics asked me to do a graphic novel for the 30th anniversary of Yellow Submarine. The deal unfortunately fell through midway. However, in 2018, I ended up doing a 112-page graphic novel adaptation of The Beatles Yellow Submarine for Titan Comics.”
“Titan Comics is based in London. They published our Simpsons stuff for Bongo in the UK. Initially, the licensing agent for The Beatles merchandise was interested in having me link up with Titan for the graphic novel. Then they came to me with a second project because they needed a pre-approved artist and put me in touch with Hero Collector, which is owned by Eaglemoss.”
“Hero said they have a series of books called Nerd Search where each scene has purposely incorrect information & items that the reader has to find, clues to solve, and at the end you get all the answers and rate yourself. I had a great time doing the book and I’m looking forward to seeing what the fan reaction is.”
“I’ve been a lifelong Beatles fan. Favorite song is Hey Bulldog. Favorite album is Rubber Soul. And I listen to The Beatles Channel on SiriusXM all the time.”
“I saw ‘A Hard Days Night’ (1964) at the drive-in when I was five, sitting in the back of the station wagon. Back then everyone was playing Beatles records.”
“The first album I had was Alvin and the Chipmunks Sing the Beatles Hits, then I got into the Saturday morning cartoon (1965-67), and saw Yellow Submarine (68) the first time it aired on TV in 1970.”
Beatles Yellow Submarine graphic novel by Bill Morrison
“I remember in high school there was a Broadway show called Beatlemania (1977-79) which was really popular and created a resurgence of interest in The Beatles. By that time, I was doing artwork and t-shirts.”
“At high school, my friend Steve Colwell and I started a small t-shirt business selling shirts of rock stars. We passed an order sheet around to everyone at school and they would place orders for our shirts.”
“My sister actually got to see The Beatles live in 1966 at Olympia Stadium in Detroit. My dad drove them and sat in the parking lot. The Beatles only played for a half hour, but they had several other opening bands, which was common at the time. Dad was smoking a cigarette outside the car when the big garage door on the side of the stadium rolled up. A big black limo pulls out as he hears the kids leaving. Suddenly the crowd spots the limo, and this horde of Beatles-crazed fans starts running towards him. My dad is between The Beatles and the kids. He says he had to jump onto a lamp post to avoid being trampled!”
The Early Years (or who is Bill Morrison and why am I in his house?)
Bill Morrison as Batman (photo courtesy of Bill Morrison)
“I’m an artist, writer, collector. I like working at my home studio where I use mostly traditional tools of the trade, some digital. I sketch with a blue pencil, use graphite and ink for comics, acrylic for painting, brush painting or airbrush, depending on the texture I’m trying to achieve. As for writing, I frequently jot down random notes in a book, otherwise I type in Microsoft Word.”
“My passion, thankfully, is my career and I don’t really have any other hobbies or interests beyond it. I love collecting toys, comics, art, but that all pretty much relates to my job. My wife and I like Art Deco, NY World’s Fair memorabilia, books (especially books on comics, comic collecting, illustrating, graphic novels).”
“My most marketable ability as a commercial artist is I can pick up other artist’s styles very quickly, which is very helpful in animation. I need a few practice sketches to find the rhythm, then I have it.”
Bill Morrison with Casper doll (photo courtesy of Bill Morrison)
“I was born January 15, 1959, and grew up in Lincoln Park, Michigan, about ten minutes south of Detroit. My dad is from the Hocking Hills, Ohio area and my mom is from Wyandotte, Michigan. Her father was Judge Arthur Decker, who as a young man, was a prize fighter nicknamed Kid Decker. My parents have always been very supportive of my artistic ambitions.”
“I have four living siblings: Alice, Donna, Sue, and Janice. My brother Don just passed away recently. Two of my sisters live here in Michigan, and two live elsewhere. My wife Kayre is also from Lincoln Park. Yes, we started dating in high school, and we recently moved back to Michigan to be closer to our families. This fulfills the mission of my youngest sister Alice, who lives in Novi, and has been trying to re-gather all of us for years.”
“Growing up, my older sister Sue was artistic, and she taught me how to draw at age three. She sat me down at the kitchen table and taught me how to draw a stickman. She drew a figure and told me to copy it. Then she left, came back in ten minutes, and says I had “vastly improved” on the drawing. She got real excited, thought I was a natural talent. She was always keyed into what I was into. Early on I would emulate her character drawings of Snoopy, the Wolfman, etc, whatever my mania was at the time”
Detroit artist Bill Morrison at his home studio (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
“In 1977, I graduated Lincoln Park High School and immediately enrolled in Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. I started off wanting to be a comic book artist but learned I’d have to go to NYC to establish myself. I love New York now, but back then the idea of living there sort of terrified me. I had a teacher Gary Ciccarelli for airbrush class. He was really into the whole West Coast airbrush scene, which was highly glamorized, stylized, lot of palm trees and neon. And he turned us onto stuff I hadn’t been exposed to.”
“I graduated CCS in 1981 and got a job at Artech, Inc. in Livonia doing technical drawings for the automotive industry. I would be in a big room with 15 artists. The guys in the other room would look at a blueprint and sketch it out in 3D, then they would send it to us and we would refine and perfect it. We did mostly engine stuff, mechanics manuals & parts catalogs, cut-away paintings of diesel fuel pumps, etc.”
“In 1982, I married Karen “Kayre” DeLosier, the love of my life, and we lived in Plymouth, Michigan for a bit near Plymouth Road and Haggerty, before moving to the West Coast. Moved to Beverly Hills briefly, then Sepulveda (which became North Hills), then Simi Valley.”
L.A. in the ‘80s: a town awash in neon and perms and mohawks, oh my!
Bill Morrison with Roger Rabbit (photo courtesy of Bill Morrison)
Bill was employed as a professional illustrator at B.D. Fox and Friends Advertising from 1982-86, which is where he first met legendary cartoonist, Matt Groening, who was just an unknown scribbler at the time. After that, Bill was at Willardson & Associates. During this time, he also worked on iconic movie posters like the famous Little Mermaid (1989), The Land Before Time (1988), Oliver and Company (1988), all sorts of Disney movies, of which he said his favorite poster is The Prince and The Pauper (1990).
“My first job in Hollywood was doing movie posters at B.D. Fox and Matt (Groening) was a freelance writer there. B.D. Fox was a boutique ad agency for the entertainment industry. A co-worker, Mili Smythe was an art director there and she was friends with Matt, they’re both from Portland, and she introduced us. Mili told me about Matt’s comic strip, Life in Hell.”
“Occasionally she would ask us for input on things like childhood songs to give to Matt, who would then put the song references in the comic strip. At work, Matt would pitch tag lines for posters, but we didn’t really become good friends until The Simpsons.”
The Prince and the Pauper (1990) poster art by Bill Morrison
“I designed the posters for horror movies House (85), Blood Diner (87), and I was the in-house illustrator doing rough sketches and comps for films like The Return of the Living Dead (1985). Art directors would come to see me with ideas they needed me to draw up. For the Return of the Living Dead poster, I don’t know who did the final painting but I remember being surprised that Bill Stout didn’t do it. He was a well-known poster artist, and he designed the zombies for the film”
“In 1986, I was invited to work at an illustration studio owned by David Willardson, the California airbrush artist, called Willardson & Associates. We did all sorts of advertising for all different products, mostly photo realistic work but glorified, Nestles Quick, Maxell Tape, etc, and one of the jobs was for Disney. It was a re-release of Cinderella, they wanted a one-sheet poster. I did a teaser they liked, then another one, and another one, then anytime Disney released an animated film into theaters. I did Little Mermaid, Oliver and Co, Rescuers Down Under, Roller Coaster Rabbit, Prince and the Pauper (a Mickey Mouse featurette), Peter Pan, Jungle Book, Bambi, Lady and Tramp, Fox and Hound, etc.”
“I did The Land Before Time movie poster for Amblin Entertainment. I only did the characters, not the background. This was in the pre-photoshop days and I’m at the studio and I get this big painting delivered. They said we need you to re-draw the dinosaur characters and paste them over the existing ones. I did it on one-ply Strathmore paper, which was tricky to paint on because it’s so thin. Then cut out the outline perfectly with an x-acto knife then painted the edges with a brush. It’s very hard to match outline colors perfectly. Then I took spray mount and permanently sprayed them onto this guy’s painting, which seemed kind of unethical but I had to do it.”
The Simpsons & Matt Groening
First signing with Matt: from L to R are Matt Groening, Steve Vance, Bill Morrison (photo courtesy of Bill Morrison)
Bill joined The Simpsons crew in 1990 and played a seminal role in the global expansion of the franchise. He was doing illustrations for 20th Century Fox and creating all sorts of art for merchandise, sketches, t-shirts, posters, etc, while simultaneously art-directing other merchandise artists at Klasky Csupo Animation Studio.
“In 1987, The Simpsons made their global debut on the Tracey Ullman Show. It was one of the animated bumpers they did. Then it morphed into the December 1989 Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire holiday special episode, then the show officially premiered February 1990. It was an immediate blockbuster hit.”
Simpsons Yellow Album art by Bill Morrison (image courtesy of Bill Morrison)
“I knew Matt (Groening) from our time working together at the ad agency a few years prior. He brought me into The Simpsons creative family, and I started doing character drawings for merchandise. I created the merch style guide, which is for companies who license the brand. If a licensee takes out a license, they get a style guide of images they can use. Some licensees pay extra for custom artwork. I also did almost all of the video game packaging in the early days, along with calendars, books, and more.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with the characters beyond what they looked like until we did the comic books. Sometimes the stories in Simpsons Comics necessitated creating new characters. For Radioactive Man we got to create a broader cast of characters because they didn’t exist on the show. Radioactive Man’s origins are similar to the Hulk. Fallout Boy’s origins are similar to Spider Man. It’s mostly parody and satire. At one time there was talk of doing a Radioactive Man cartoon show but the idea was shelved when Futurama came out. I would love to see the idea get revived and think it could be a big hit.”
Simpsons Comics & Stories # 1 art by Bill Morrison
“In April 1991, Simpsons Illustrated launched and the series ran for ten issues. It had a comic section, and at the end of the second year, Groening and Editor Steve Vance wanted a gimmicky annual issue, so we decided let’s do a comic book. We named it Simpsons Comics and Stories and it came out in February 1993.”
“It was such a big hit that it gave Matt the confidence to start Bongo Comics, so we did. Starting a comic was a dream come true. We started it in November 1993. I served as Art Director, Steve Vance was the editor and his wife Cindy was colorist and letterer. After the first year the Vances left, and I became the Creative Director (Editor and Art Director.) I was directly involved in some way with every issue (writing, penciling, inking, supervising, art direction, etc). My favorite character to draw is probably Radioactive Man.”
“Matt and I are still good friends to this day.”
The Simpsons episode: A Serious Flanders (November 2021) poster art by Bill Morrison
“In terms of The Simpsons tv show, my favorite episodes are Radioactive Man, Black Widower (great art direction), and many of the episodes from the Conan O’Brien era (1991-93). Also, I love the recent two-part episode “A Serious Flanders” for which I created an advertising poster.”
Bill also did the cover artwork for The Simpsons DVD’s.
And Bill won several Eisner Awards for Simpsons Comics (2000), The Amazing Colossal Homer (1994), and Radioactive Man.
Roswell Little Green Man, Futurama, and more!
Roswell Little Green Man art by Bill Morrison (image courtesy of Bill Morrison)
“In 1996, I produced my own comic series for Bongo called Roswell, Little Green Man. Although Roswell loosely takes place in the late 1940’s, it was my love of 50’s sci-fi films that inspired it. The first story deals with giant ants, harkening back to Them! (1954 sci-fi movie). The series was nominated in four different categories for the highly coveted Eisner Award. We ended it because we started a little show called Futurama and I didn’t have time to work on the show, along with my Bongo duties, and also my own comic.”
“I was the Art Director on Futurama from 1998-2003. I assisted in the creation of the cast of characters with Matt Groening. Matt was the creator of the show and Futurama was done by The Curiosity Company, Matt’s own production company.”
“We did four seasons, 140 episodes. It was on Tuesday nights when it first premiered, and Matt didn’t like that. He told Fox execs to put it on Sunday nights 8:30 p.m. right after The Simpsons. They wouldn’t do it. Finally, they put it on Sunday’s but at 7:00 p.m., which was too early. Futurama is a workplace adult comedy, it’s about adults, romances, and it was inappropriate to put on then. Plus, at that time slot, if sports games ran longer than anticipated, which they frequently do, they had to cut portions of the episodes or not even air the episodes.”
Futurama art by Bill Morrison (image courtesy of Bill Morrison)
“I loved Futurama, especially Leela, and I helped design many of the weirder characters before Matt pitched the show. Matt would always do a final cut and tweak it. We’d be at his studio, he would give me a paragraph on a character, I would do drawings, then show him, it sparked him visually, then he would do a drawing, I would refine it, etc, it was a collaboration. I always felt my biggest contribution to the show was sometimes showing Matt what he didn’t want because it would help him decide which way to go with a character. It’s very difficult to create unique and original characters. Having some input from friends is valuable, the visceral reaction is valuable.”
“In 2000, I did a six-issue mini-series for Bongo called Heroes Anonymous. My editorial assistant at the time was Scott Gimple and I invited him to work on it with me. It’s about a support group for superheroes. We had it in development at the SyFy Channel for a while. Scott had moved on to Disney where he was working on a show called Fillmore, which was a safety patrol played as a 70’s cop show. He had an agent at this point who wanted him to go out and pitch ideas for shows that he owned. Since we co-created Heroes Anonymous he called me and we started pitching it to networks and the SyFy channel took an option. Scott and I worked together on the story for the pilot and Scott wrote the script. I was going to be on board as a producer. The network would give us notes on the script, and at first they were good notes. But eventually the notes got silly and were making the script worse. Finally, it got to the point that their suggested improvement notes were too embarrassing to seriously consider. We chose not to renew the option when it came up. Scott did okay though, he’s now the showrunner on The Walking Dead.”
“After that, I was lucky enough to be able to do my first book, which was a career retrospective on Dan DeCarlo, one of my favorite comic book artists. Dan is best known for drawing Archie comics and creating Josie and the Pussycats and co-creating Sabrina the Teen-age Witch. The book is called Innocence and Seduction: The Art of Dan DeCarlo. I knew Dan personally. We were friends until he passed away in 2001. I was also a fan and there were no good books on Dan’s art. I wanted to create something that didn’t exist yet.”
The Art of Dan DeCarlo book by Bill Morrison
“A few years later, I collaborated with Jane Wiedlin, co-founder of The Go-Go’s. In 2010, we did a comic book called Lady Robotika which was published by Image. The concept is based on Jane as a cyborg space hero.”
“In 2015, I wrote and illustrated Dead Vengeance for Dark Horse Comics. It’s a tribute to the gritty 1940’s pulp era and takes place in Detroit.”
Dead Vengeance by Bill Morrison
“Near my end at Bongo, Matt was working on a new show (what later became the show Disenchantment) and I was talking to the businesspeople telling them I’m looking for something creatively challenging. They said Matt wants to do a new company, comic, show, etc, but he’s not quite there yet. But we do want to develop a comic reader app for mobile phones and iPads, so I did that.”
“I designed comic reader apps. Here I am, devoted to printed comics, and I had to develop and promote comics on electronic devices. Had to learn the guided view mechanics of reading a comic online, panel to panel scrolling, etc. To do this I had to download digital comics and study them. I started taking them on trips with me and realized that you can still have your physical collection at home but also embrace digital comics as a convenience. I started promoting the app, called The Simpsons Store, then the Futuramaland comic reader.”
The National Cartoonists Society
Bill Morrison (National Cartoonists Society)
Founded in 1946, the prestigious National Cartoonists Society is the world’s main professional organization for people working in cartoons and comics. To be admitted membership, published cartoonists must send in samples of their work. Once vetted, they can become Artist members. Bill joined NCS in the mid-90’s and served as President from 2015-2019.
“I was a casual member for years. Then served on the board for Jeff Keane (Family Circus), then continued as VP on the board of Tom Richmond (Mad Magazine cartoonist). Then I became president.”
National Cartoonists Society 27 Club
“It was a lot of work but very rewarding. It’s mind boggling to think I’m part of that lineage, a fraternity of my heroes. It’s very difficult to get people to join clubs nowadays as regular dues-paying members. I’m glad that I was able to help come up with some good ideas to move NCS forward.”
“Sergio Aragonés, Steve McGarry, and I were discussing effective strategies for reaching out to cartoonists and making it easy for them to join NCS. We came up with The 27 Club, where they don’t pay the $180 annual fee, and any cartoonist under 27 years old can join for only $27/yr. Jason Chatfield, who served as my VP and is now the president, continues taking it on. I love the NCS. We have the Reuben Awards every year for the Outstanding Cartoonist of the year. And last year we had our first annual online convention, which was great and well-received.”
MAD Magazine
MAD Magazine has been around since the Atomic Fifties, 1952 to be exact. This legacy institution had the foresight to hire Bill Morrison as Executive Editor in 2017.
“When DC Comics moved from New York City to Burbank, California, the MAD guys didn’t want to go. Finally, the publisher at DC worked out something with Warner Bros where the MAD Magazine offices could stay in NYC, but it was agreed that once they found someone to take over MAD, it would move to Burbank.”
“Then they hired me, and I had to hire a full staff, except for one guy who did decide to move from NY. I had done some freelance jobs for MAD in the past and now here I was overseeing all creative aspects of the magazine. We had good people, especially the art director, Suzy Hutchinson. I’d look at everything, make notes, some minor changes, etc. I loved working there.”
Bill Morrison with Alfred E. Neuman (art by Tom Richmond)
“We were given a really tough assignment, which was to take a magazine read by mostly white males (ages 11-16 and 45-60), most of whom subscribed and they wanted us to expand the readership to women, other ethnicities, and other age-ranges, while not losing our current subscribers. We succeeded in getting subscription numbers up, had expansion ideas that were ambitious but doable, talked about the possibility of live comedy shows at the Hollywood American Legion Post 43, simulcasting, taking it on tour, new merchandise, etc.”
“We were getting great positive feedback. I’m connected with hardcore (and therefore critical) MAD fans who told us we had struck a great balance. But corporate decisions beyond my control caused MAD to go to a reprint format.”
Bill’s Influences & Collections
Detroit artist Bill Morrison at his home studio (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
“I’m real big on Batman art and toys, non-superhero stuff like horror (especially Universal Monsters) and sci-fi, teen humor (any era but mostly 50’s 60’s). I typically go for eras and artists over genres. My favorite eras are 50’s-60’s.”
“Some favorite artists are Dick Sprang, Bob Oksner, Sergio Aragones, Dan DeCarlo. Growing up, some favorites were Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, Jim Steranko.”
It Rhymes with Lust (1950) cover art by Matt Baker
“Another favorite artist is Matt Baker, but his art is so expensive. He did the great cover for It Rhymes with Lust (1950) which many people consider to be the first-ever graphic novel.”
“Fine art, I like Salvador Dali, John Singer Sargent, M.C. Escher, Alphonse Mucha…though some might consider him more of an illustrator. Comedically, I’ve been influenced by Jerry Lewis, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Mel Brooks, and more recently by Melissa McCarthy and Tina Fey.”
“To this day, I’m constantly discovering new influences. I also like the painter Norm Saunders, illustrator Wally Wood, Will Eisner, Robert Crumb, etc, too many to list!”
Mars Attacks art (card 32) by Norman Saunders (1962)
Upcoming Projects
Bill Morrison holding a giant eyeball bowling ball (photo courtesy of Bill Morrison)
“I’ve been doing stuff for the fine art print market. And I’m doing some animation development projects and helping producers visualize their concepts.”
Final Thoughts
Bill at the drawing board, Bongo Comics (photo courtesy of Bill Morrison)
“At Comic Con (SDCC) one year, maybe ‘94-95, right after a speculator boom, when the industry took a turn downturn and was downsizing and consolidating, some publishers were shutting down, things at the time were looking down not up. The great Will Eisner walked by the Bongo Comics booth and I asked him his thoughts about the doom and gloom end-of-the-industry rumors. He said ‘I’ve seen this happen five or six times since the 1930’s. Comics is a language and a medium that people love. It might change shape, but graphic storytelling is an artform and is always going to exist’ and I thought that was tremendously uplifting and insightful and I try to always keep that in mind.”
“My advice to aspiring creatives is to always be open to opportunities you didn’t necessarily anticipate. For example, I never thought I’d be a writer, art director, editor. But I said yes, I was open to it and ended up discovering that I love those roles. Talented young people tend to focus on one single thing only and might invariably miss out on other areas of rich potential. Sometimes you just gotta say yes and then figure it out. If you don’t like it, you can always stop doing it and do something else until you find the things you’re great at and love doing.”
Atomic Battery Studios (Bill’s official Facebook page)
Dedicated and driven, Rochelle Riley is a talented author and advocate for creatives. She works on behalf of the arts and culture community in Detroit.
She also did an amazing job creating the Covid Memorial on Belle Isle, Detroit’s urban island park, to honor those lost during the pandemic. Fifteen funeral processions circled the island past more than 900 large portrait billboards of Detroiters.
Ms. Riley has a B.A. in Journalism from the UNC School of Media & Journalism, and she was a Knight Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan.
Rochelle Riley (photo courtesy of Rochelle Riley)
Locally here in Detroit, she is known for being a columnist at the Detroit Free Press from 2000-2019. Her first day in Detroit was 9-11-2000.
Prior to that she worked for a variety of newspapers, including The Washington Post, The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, The Dallas Morning News and the Greensboro Daily News. Due to her achievements, she has been inducted into the Michigan and North Carolina journalism Halls of Fame.
Published by Wayne State University Press in February 2021, this book is the result of Ms. Riley criss-crossing the country in a multi-year journey to put the project together.
Genesis of the Idea for ‘That They Lived’
That They Lived by Rochelle Riley (WSU Press)
Ms. Riley wrote the biographical essays based on photos that Cristi Smith-Jones, a mom and amateur photographer in Kent, Washington, posted on social in 2017. Mrs. Smith-Jones wanted to teach her daughter, Lola, about African-American history, so she posted the photos of then 5-year-old Lola dressed as iconic African-American women. Ms. Riley saw the photos and asked to write the stories of the women as well as others featuring Ms. Riley’s grandson, Caleb, dressed as iconic African American men. Mrs. Smith Jones said yes.
“In February 2017, I was working on my previous book, ‘The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery,” and scrolling through Twitter, when I saw an amazing series of photos during Black History Month,” Ms. Riley said. “Then the same thing happened again in February 2018. I’m scrolling through and these lovely photos pop up featuring a little African-American girl named Lola dressed in meticulously researched attire. She was highlighting the accomplishments of historical African American women, and I thought I need to find the person doing this. And it led me to Lola’s mom, Cristi.”
“Cristi said she was teaching Lola about Black History. So, I explained to Cristi that I was a writer and that pictures are worth a thousand words and I had a thousand words for each of their photos. She was very shy and stunned. I flew to Seattle to meet with her personally, and she agreed to do the project. I wanted to represent the men too, so I flew to Dallas, got my 8-year-old grandson Caleb, and we flew back to Seattle.”
“Yes, some bribery was involved. We would do a 30 -minutes photo shoot, then fifteen minutes of Fortnite and cupcakes. Afterwards , when the project was done, would take him to the movies. He wanted to stay dressed as Frederick Douglass. I convinced him to go as Thurgood Marshall.”
The Burden by Rochelle Riley (WSU Press)
Although geared towards young readers, ‘That They Lived’ is a book that can be enjoyed by anyone of every age.
“This is a book for young readers, for all readers,” Ms. Riley said. “I want them to understand that every great person was once a child. The book highlights 21 African Americans, but there are hundreds of African Americans who have invented and achieved, so it was definitely hard to choose. I tried selecting those who helped changed the views of other people about all African Americans, people who paved the way for others.”
“Previously, I had joined forces with WSU Press on The Burden. So I did it again.
Rochelle Riley on Her Love of Books & Writing
Rochelle Riley (photo courtesy of Rochelle Riley)
“I became a writer when I was 8 years old. I had no math skills, and I had learned a love of words from my mother, an English teacher. I was hooked.”
“When I was a columnist, I wrote constantly. Currently, I’m working on a novel and a sequel to The Burden. When I’m writing a book, I’m finally happy with it by about the 11th or 20th draft.”
“I write everywhere! Sitting on the couch, lying in bed, or sitting at my sturdy copper dining room table. I also work at my writing table, a glass desk where I’ve been writing for 20 years. But I can write anywhere. One time I was in the emergency room and had a column due. I snuck out to the waiting room and finished the column in my hospital gown.”
“Some of my favorite personal favorites books are: ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ (1943) Betty Smith and ‘The Color Purple’ (1982) Alice Walker. I like thrillers and mysteries. And I celebrate the brilliance of James Baldwin and Toni Morrison every year.”
Biography
Rochelle Riley grew up in Tarboro, North Carolina.
“My parents lived with their three kids in New York. My mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 27 years old, and my parents split up. We went to live with my mother’s parents in Tarboro, and I’ve forever grateful to them for making us into a new family.”
“Even as her MS progressed and she was confined to a wheelchair, my mother was an incredible inspiration to me. She taught English to my friends and me in the living room.”
Rochelle Riley (photo courtesy of Rochelle Riley)
“The town, like most towns back then, was segregated based on race. The Mason-Dixon line that split the nation also existed in our town. And I crossed that line every day to go work at the public library.”
“In Tarboro, the norm was what is was. Beyond the expected segregated norm I didn’t experience much racism there. When I got to high school, everybody got along. But I was always aware of it.”
“My great, great, great grandfather Bailum Pitt was enslaved in North Carolina. I was able to find and confirm this in the tax records and will of a white attorney whose papers I found at the North Carolina State Archives.”
Personal interests
Rochelle Riley (photo courtesy of Rochelle Riley)
“As for hobbies, I live to write. But I do occasionally make time for movies, television, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, reading and traveling. They aren’t hobbies like some people would consider hobbies. My only constant task is reading. It is a duty and a joy.”
“I don’t have any specific favorite local eateries, but I love pasta and Asian food. And I love Belle Isle on a sunny day and Comerica Park in a close ninth inning.”
Detroit’s ACE Office
City of Detroit’s ACE Office (Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship)
“I had decided to leave the newspaper (Detroit Free Press) to help keep others from being laid off, and the mayor needed an arts and culture director, so I was hired for the new role.”
“One thing we are going to be doing is a city-wide creative workforce census (which was launched in June). This project will measure the depth and breadth of Detroit’s creative workforce.”
Some parting thoughts for now
Rochelle Riley (photo courtesy of WDIV)
“Slavery didn’t end. It just moved from plantations to the board rooms, court rooms, newsrooms and classrooms of America. This country has spent centuries trying to hide a crime committed in plain sight. That is no longer possible.”
“The greatest honor any African American can achieve is the acknowledgement that he or she has been blocked from achieving great life, liberty and happiness, that America is sorry and that the achievements, inventions and genius of African Americans will be added to all textbooks forthwith.”
Keep your eye on Rochelle Riley and stay tuned for her upcoming books, articles, and ACE projects!
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