On a fateful night in 1976, Newton Collier
was driving down the street in Boston when he noticed a
car following closely behind him. "The next thing
I knew they were beside me. I heard two
shots and felt something WHAM, hit me in my face." Two bullets had
been fired into the car, one ricocheting off the
headrest, entering his face and shattering his jaw. The tragedy
ended the career of one of the best R&B trumpet
players of his era.
Collier actually began his career as a child
the way most greats do. At ten years
old, he was taking piano lessons from Ms. Gladys
Williams in Macon, GA. One day when he
arrived for his lesson, he noticed a silver Rolls Royce
in Ms. Williams' driveway. When he walked
in, there was a skinny little man sitting at the table
with a patch over his eye. Thus, a lifetime
dream and a fascination with the horn began thanks to
Mr. Sammy Davis, Jr.
Young Newt worked his way onto the music
scene by doing whatever it took to be close to those
coming up in their careers. Harold Smith (aka
Shang-a-lang) took him under his wing and taught him the
complicated changes of the horn. Before long, he
had learned so much from emulating others that he could
play alongside anyone. He accompanied bands like
the Eldorados and the Bossa Nova Band, playing in
places like Club 15, the Elks Lodge, and the VFW.
It was a night such as this that he was approached by
Leroy Lloyd and the Swinging Dukes, an Augusta band who
needed a good horn player.
It was while playing with the Dukes that he
was noticed by Sam and Dave, part of Phil Walden's
roster, and was signed on as their second horn when he
was only seventeen years old. At the time, "You
Don't Know Like I Know" was their only hit, but after
hitting the road for awhile, the gang ended up in
Memphis, where a relationship with Isaac Hayes and David
Porter produced such well-known hits as "Soul Man" and
"Hold On, I'm Coming". Before long, Newt was
playing clubs like the Filmore in San Francisco and The
Uptown in Philadelphia. This success was followed
by appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, Merv Griffin and
even the famed Apollo Theater.
Sam and Dave broke up in 1970 and Newt moved
to Boston, married, and settled down. Before long
though, he was back on the scene, working with different
clubs and musicians, eventually forming a new band and
preparing to hit the road again. It was while
working with the famed Sugar Shack that the fateful
gunshots occurred, prematurely ending an awesome
career.
"I was devastated; I thought it was the worst
thing in the world at the time," remembers Newt.
He spent a month in the hospital and his shattered jaw
required removal of bone from his hip and leg to
reconstruct his face.
Collier remained in Boston until the late
'80s when he moved back to Macon to escape the cold
winters. With his record collection of more than
2000 albums, he opened Collier's Corner, a tiny store
specializing in used jazz, R&B and gospel
albums. Until the Georgia Music Hall of Fame
opened its doors in 1996, Collier's Corner was the
closest thing to a music museum in Macon. Collier
kept the store open for ten
years.
Since that time, Collier has been driving a
taxi for Radio Cab, but you can't keep a good man
down. He is currently working on a documentary
detailing Macon's contribution to soul music during the
1960-70 decade. The film highlights some 60 soul
musicians hailing from Macon, as well as others from
Memphis and Muscle Shoals, AL. The documentary is
entitled "Soulmakers presents: For Those That Played But
Didn't Get Paid." The fil's release date is
unknown at this time.
Newton Collier is a prime example of the
spirit within the man. Despite his
tragedy, he is determined to make his own contribution
to rebuilding the music scene in Macon. Expect to hear
more from this R&B great in the
future.
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