First Posted: 9/22/2014
HAMLET — Jazz lovers and novices alike know the name John Coltrane. What most people don’t know about “Trane” is that he was born in Richmond County.
Coltrane was born 88 years ago today — Sept. 23, 1926 — to parents John R. and Alice Blair Coltrane on the second floor of what used to be a two-story hotel on Hamlet Avenue. Although he and his family moved to High Point when Coltrane was only 6 months old, he remains a Richmond County native. And the site of his birth has taken on a new identity.
Richmond County NAACP President Dr. Fred McQueen and jazz pianist and Coltrane fan Allan Maske decided in the early 1980s to take a chance on the old building, which since has been downsized to one story and includes a hair salon, and make it the official headquarters for the local NAACP chapter.
“I bought the building as a monument,” said McQueen. “A lot of people don’t understand the magnitude of this man. He (Coltrane) accomplished so much in a short period of time. It was a two-story hotel when he was born in it, but the city of Hamlet wouldn’t let it go back to two stories without steel. This was a thriving little community in its day.”
McQueen said the civil rights group still holds meetings at the Coltrane site on the first Thursday of every month as a precursor for the president, vice president, treasurer and committee chairs to get together before their regular meetings which rotate among local churches.
The building in Hamlet, which still has the original floor plans of the hotel, also has a banquet room in the back that McQueen rents out for dances, wedding receptions and parties and holds up to 75 people. The room itself is appropriately decorated with Coltrane memorabilia and posters to go along with art of other famous jazz musicians including Cheraw, South Carolina native Dizzy Gillespie.
Coltrane, who died on July 17, 1967, made an indelible mark on the music world in his 40-year lifetime. In 1972, “A Love Supreme” was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for exceeding 500,000 units in Japan. This jazz classic and the classic album “My Favorite Things” were certified gold in the United States in 2001.
In 1982, the RIAA posthumously awarded Coltrane the Grammy for best jazz solo performance for the work on his album, “Bye Bye Blackbird.” In 1997, he received the organization’s highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. On June 18, 1993, his mother received an invitation to the White House from former President Bill Clinton in appreciation of Coltrane’s historical appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Coltrane was also honored by the United States Postal Service with a commemorative postage stamp, according to his official website. Issued as part of the musicians and composers series, this collectors’ item remains in circulation. In 1999, Universal Studios and its recording division MCA Records recognized Coltrane’s influence on cinema by naming a street on the Universal Studios lot in his honor. In 2001, The NEA and the RIAA released “360 songs of the Century.” Among them was Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things.”
When asked what McQueen would like to get out of owning the birthplace of such a famous person, he said, “To make more people in Richmond County aware of their heritage and have more to be proud of. I want people of Richmond County to recognize that Coltrane was born here. He was a legend in his own time.”
Reach reporter Matt Harrelson at 910-817-2674 or follow him on Twitter @mattyharrelson.