This book of 8×10’s is crammed with pictures of Allee and the people she has met or worked with over the years. It was hard to pick out pics for this post as there are soooo many good ones here.
This is Allee and Oprah at the opening night of Chaka Kahn and Bebe Wynans in “The Color Purple” on Broadway.
Allee hanging with Sly Stone.
Allee and Patti LaBelle.
Here is Allee around the time she discovered the Del Rubio Triplets. I cannot recall who the gentleman in the pic is.
Allee and James (Woods). I think this is around the time Allee’s trademark hair-do came into existence?
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Allee Willis
I never used to be able to find any of my photos so as soon as scanners became easy and reliable enough to use after buying probably 10 of them which were a total pain in the butt I went scanner crazy and started scanning in every significant photo I had. I started printing out the ones with famous people and was absolutely astounded to see how many of them there were. This book is over 5 inches high. I just print the photos out, stick them in plastic sleeves and then put them into this notebook that I bought at Office Depot and glued a cover from a vintage 1930s wooden photo on the plastic.
The photo with Oprah was taken, as Denny says, when Chaka Kahn and Bebe Wynans opened as Sofia and Harpo on Broadway in my show, The Color Purple. I don’t know why I’m smiling so hard as it was our first night without Fantasia as Celie. She was so perfect in that part.
The Sly Stone photo was taken a couple of years ago when we were on the radio together for a civil rights broadcast during Black History Month.
Love the photo with Patti LaBelle. She gave me my big break in 1978 and that eventually led to Earth, Wind & Fire.
The gentleman in the photo with me and The Del Rubio Triplets is none other than Clive Davis, about the most powerful record company president who ever existed. He’s still going strong., Among his signings were Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, Laura Nyro, Santana, Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow and on and on and on. He was also my first boss when I graduated college and worked at Columbia and Epic Records, so we go way back. I told him I made my most significant talent find ever and brought him The Del Rubio Triplets who could barely carry a tune. This was a kitsch lover’s dream day for me, getting someone that huge to audition an act like that. He let me video the whole thing.
My hairdo had been in existence for a couple of years by the time this photo was taken with James Woods. This was when I first started seriously throwing parties and he was a party regular. 1986 I think.
denny
Your commentary here really made me smile almost as big as your smiling in the Oprah picture.
xx
denny
Did I mention that I love James Woods!