Here’s a review of this week’s questions:
- A boulevard in Cincinnati’s West End neighborhood claims the name of a World Heavyweight Champion fighter who grew up in the Queen City. Who was he?
- This Cincinnati hotel closed after 85 years in existence but was reopened in 2011 as an office building. What’s the name of the hotel?
- After several unsuccessful businesses, a thirty-nine-year-old, 8th-grade dropout launched a legendary Cincinnati record label that music historians say helped create rock and roll. Who was he?
And here are the answers:
- Ezzard Charles, known as the Cincinnati Cobra, enjoys a place in the boxing hall of fame. He began boxing as a teenager and quickly rose up in the world of prizefighting, winning a heavyweight title against Jersey Joe Walcott in 1949, followed by an undisputed title over the legendary Joe Louis in 1950 in sold-out Yankee Stadium. His career spans 121 fights with 95 wins, 58 by knockout. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1970.
- Vernon Manor—Over the years of its operation, the hotel played host to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. It was seen in the 1989 Oscar winning Best Picture Rain Man. And the Beatles stayed in room 624 during a 1966 tour. In 2011, the building reopened as office space for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
- In 1943, Syd Nathan started King Records, which became the sixth-largest record company in America, the home of James Brown and what historians call “True American Music.” King’s doo-wop acts included Billy Ward & His Dominoes (where lead singers Clyde McPhatter and later Jackie Wilson began their recording careers), Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, The “5” Royales, Otis Williams & His Charms, the early Platters and, late in their career, The Five Keys. James Brown, Freddy King, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Lonnie Johnson, Bull Moose Jackson, Wynonie Harris, Roy Brown, Little Willie John, young La Vern Baker and Joe Tex were among the label’s R&B, jump blues and blues acts.
Thanks for playing!