Nichelle Nichols - Down to Earth - 1967 (2004)

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Nichelle Nichols - Down to Earth - 1967 (2004)

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Product Description: Down to Earth, the 1967 release from Nichelle Nichols, famous for her role as Lieutenant Uhura in STAR TREK, returns in this rerelease. 1st CD Release: Epic/1997 (Just 10 Tracks)
Okay, so the recording efforts of the 'Star Trek' crew have not been, if you'll pardon the expression, stellar; from William Shatner's 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' to Leonard Nimoy's 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Earth' to Grace Lee Whitney a.k.a Yeoman Janice Rand's 'Disco Trekkin'', the results have been hilarious or horrifying depending on your point of view. But there was one person on the bridge blessed with a 3 1/2 octave range, and we'll give a hint as to whom: her 'communication' skills were excellent! Yes, there was a lot more to Nichelle Nichols than Lt. Uhura, as this quite engaging 1967 album–here garnished with four bonus sides from her first, 1966 Epic recording session–demonstrates with flair and finesse. Accompanied by legendary arranger Gerald Wilson, Nichelle sings 'Feelin' Good; Tenderly; Sunday Kind of Love; One Life to Live; The Lady Is a Tramp; That's Life; Home Lovin' Man; If He Walked into My Life; You'd Better Love Me; The More I See You'! , and the bonus sides 'Know What I Mean' (single version); 'Why Don't You Do Right?' (single version); 'Hey, Boy (Hey, Girl)', and 'It's Impossible' with the same skill and sensitivity that brought her to Duke Ellington's attention back in the '50s, when Nichelle toured with his Orchestra. An out-of-this-world 'Collectors' Choice Music' exclusive!

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Nichelle Nichols - Down to Earth - 1967 (2004)

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Review: Although arguably best-known for her portrayal of communications officer, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura on the original sci-fi television program Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols (vocals) is likewise a formidable vocalist. Her abilities actually predate her acting prowess, as she was performing in nightclubs and had garnered a solo spot during a brief stint with Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, all of which she accomplished before 1960. Following a bit (and uncredited) part in Otto Preminger's silver screen adaptation of Porgy and Bess (1959), Nichols turned her attentions to the small screen when cast in an episode of the short-lived Lieutenant (1963). This took on further significance once she was allied with the show's writer/producer Gene Roddenberry, who developed Star Trek several years later. Concurrent with her work on that series, Nichols was recording for Epic Records, releasing a 45 rpm featuring "Know What I Mean" b/w "Why Don't You Do Right" in 1967. She then teamed up with jazz arranger Gerald Wilson to create Down to Earth (1968). Her tremendous talents stylistically run the gamut from the up-tempo and soulful "Feelin' Good" to the torch balladry of "Tenderly" and the touching "The More I See of You." She effortlessly takes on "The Lady Is a Tramp," adding a few hip and timely humorous asides. The lesser-known title "You'd Better Love Me" and the cover of Georgia Gibbs' "Home Lovin' Man" are brought to life with equal aplomb. To modern ears, Wilson's scores come off a bit dated, perhaps skewed to attract a younger audience. Nichols occasionally revisits her musical skills on-stage as well as in the studio, releasing Uhura Sings (1986) and Nichelle: Out of This World (1995). [Down to Earth has been issued on CD in several incarnations. The 2004 Collectors' Choice Music pressing not only includes the aforementioned 1967 single, but the previously unavailable "Hey Boy (Hey Girl)" and "It's Impossible" from the sessions the yielded the 7" platter. There is also a bonus track edition exclusive to China.]

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Nichelle Nichols - Down to Earth - 1967 (2004)

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Biography

AKA Grace Nichols - Born: 28-Dec-1932 - Birthplace: Robbins, IL

Grace Nichols (Nichelle Nichols) began taking ballet lessons at the age of seven, and was considered something of a dance prodigy, earning the nickname "Nichelle" for her graceful pirouettes. As a teen, she worked as a dancer, and sang and toured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. She later toured with Lionel Hampton, and made her film debut with a tiny part in the 1959 film of Porgy & Bess with Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge. Nichols had a role in a racially-charged episode of Gene Roddenberry's early-1960s series The Lieutenant. In her biography, Beyond Uhura, she revealed a romantic involvement with Roddenberry during that time. The affair was over long before Star Trek, but Roddenberry remembered her when he wanted a multi-racial cast for his science fiction series.

As Lt. Uhura, communications officer for the Enterprise, Nichols is often credited as the first African-American actress in an American TV series whose character wasn't stereotypically black – a housekeeper or nanny. Actually, the first was Cicely Tyson's character (the secretary, Jane Foster) in the 1963-64 series East Side/West Side, but Nichols' show had a bigger audience and, obviously, a much bigger impact. The network, however, was very jittery about having a black woman in a relatively important role. They reportedly kept fan mail from reaching her, and nagged Roddenberry to keep her role in the background. Nichols was reportedly the only performer in the cast who wasn't originally offered a contract, but instead worked on a week-to-week basis.

She considered quitting Star Trek midway through its first season, when her character had been given little to do beyond perpetually opening hailing frequencies. In one interview, she famously described Uhura as "a glorified telephone operator in space". Then, at a civil rights protest, she met Martin Luther King Jr. – who told her that he was a big fan of Star Trek. According to Nichols, when she told King she was thinking of quitting the show, he was shocked. "Don't you know you have the first non-stereotypical role in television?" she recalls King saying. "For the first time the world will see us as we should be seen – people of quality in the future. You created a role with dignity and beauty and grace and intelligence. You're not just a role model for our children, but for people who don't look like us to see us for the first time as equals."

Nichols is also credited with TV's first interracial kiss, a smooch with William Shatner's Captain Kirk, in the 1968 episode "Plato's Stepchildren". Many stations in America's south refused to broadcast the episode, and it was banned in England for almost 25 years. But it wasn't even a romantic moment – space aliens were using mind control to force the characters to kiss, against their will. The network was so nervous that two versions of the scene were filmed: one with the kiss, and one without it, where Kirk instead dramatically fought off the impulse. "When the camera zoomed in", says Nichols, "Bill crossed his eyes and the director didn't notice it until the next day in dailies. Of course the last scene was unusable and they had to go with the kiss scene, which became history as the first interracial kiss on TV."

Lt. Uhura's name was inspired by uhuru, the Swahili word for freedom. By the first Star Trek film, Uhura had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and in the second and subsequent films she was Commander Uhura – but on the big or small screen, the character never had a first name. In a 1970s fan-fiction short story, her first name was cited as Upenda, and Nichols liked the story enough that she said at several Trek conventions that Upenda was indeed Uhura's first name. Then, in the late 1980s, as an official history of Star Trek was being compiled, a researcher suggested nyota – Swahili for star. Nichols now says that Uhura's full name is Nyota Upenda Uhura.

Her non-Trek roles include the classic blaxploitation film Truck Turner with Isaac Hayes, wherein Nichols played the vicious, wicked, and incredibly sexy Dorinda. She also had a recurring albeit minor part in the Ron Ely Tarzan movies and TV series. Her other films include the super-silly Supernaturals with Maxwell Caulfield and LeVar Burton, Snow Dogs with Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Are We There Yet? with Ice Cube. She has written two science fiction novels, Saturn's Child and its sequel, Saturna's Quest, about a tough black woman in space. Nichols has hinted that in a third novel, her heroine may be revealed as a distant relative of Uhura.

In the shadow of her Star Trek fame, Nichols recorded an album in 1968, called Down to Earth, which included 10 smoothly-performed standards and drew good reviews (unlike Shatner and Leonard Nimoy's clumsy musical efforts). When Roddenberry's health was fading before his death, Nichols co-wrote and performed a song for him, titled "Gene". She sang it again at his funeral, and it is included on her 1991 album Out of This World.

In the late 1990s and early 00s, Nichols served as spokeswoman for The Kwanzaa Foundation. She has also written and performed a one-woman show called Reflections, a musical tribute to twelve women who inspired Nichols, including Pearl Bailey, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Mahalia Jackson, and Sarah Vaughan.

Nichols has been cited as a childhood inspiration by comedian Whoopi Goldberg and astronaut Mae Jemison. In the late 1970s and early '80s, Nichols worked for NASA, recruiting women and minorities for the space program. Sally Ride (the first American female astronaut) and Guion Bluford (the first African-American astronaut) were among those who signed up at Nichols' NASA appearances.

Father: Samuel Nicholas ('founding father' of Robbins, Ill.)
Brother: Thomas (b. 1938, d. Mar-1997, Heaven's Gate mass suicide)
Husband: Foster Johnson (m. 1951, div. 1951, 1 son)
Son: Kyle Johnson (actor, The Learning Tree, b. 14-Aug-1951, with Johnson)
Boyfriend: Gene Roddenberry (affair while he was married, early 1960s)
Husband: (m. 1968, div.)

National Space Society Board of Governors
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Board of Advisors
Asteroid Namesake 68410 Nichols
Hollywood Walk of Fame 1992

TELEVISION
Star Trek Uhura (1966-69)

FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Are We There Yet? (21-Jan-2005)
Surge of Power (14-Aug-2004)
Snow Dogs (18-Jan-2002)
Trekkies (18-Oct-1997) Herself
The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space (1-Dec-1995)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (6-Dec-1991)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (9-Jun-1989)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (26-Nov-1986)
The Supernaturals (1986)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1-Jun-1984)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (4-Jun-1982)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (7-Dec-1979)
Truck Turner (19-Apr-1974)
Mister Buddwing (15-Jul-1966)

Official Website

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Nichelle Nichols - Down to Earth - 1967 (2004)

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Nichelle Nichols - Down to Earth - 1967 (2004)

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