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Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame Grand Opening Adds Entertainment to The Banks

The Walk of Fame park will feature interactive entertainment and augmented reality simulations, all paying homage to Black music history in Cincinnati.

Jul 11, 2023 at 1:51 pm

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Photo: Emory Davis

Hamilton County Commission president and founder of the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame Alicia Reece announces the 2023 inductees.

Recent events at The Banks in Cincinnati – side-by-side sold-out concerts (Taylor Swift and Greensky Bluegrass) and packed Reds games – have proven that the city is an entertainment destination. It came as no surprise to Hamilton County Commission President Alicia Reece, who has been planning the debut of the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame since 2021.

“I really want to thank Taylor Swift. Because now we know that this idea I had was not a crazy idea,” Reece tells CityBeat. “Yeah, we got Taylor; let's go for Beyonce. Let's keep it going. Don't stop. Let's keep going. I think this can build momentum, not just for the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame, but I think momentum for our county at large. By having more concerts in our publicly funded venues, that can bring in more money to the county.”

Adding to that momentum is the grand opening of the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame outside of the Andrew J Brady Music Center on July 22. Reece says the idea has always been for the Walk of Fame to be an attraction that’s educational, interactive, free and innovative – much more than just stars on a sidewalk.

In addition to the grand opening celebration, 2023 Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame inductees will be honored. The ceremony begins at noon on Saturday, July 22. Reece encourages all attendees to wear white attire in honor of the celebration.

In 2021, the inaugural round of Walk of Fame members was announced, along with news that the organization would induct four artists annually. When the first four Walk of Fame members (Bootsy Collins, Otis Williams, the Isley Brothers and Charles Fold) were inducted, Reece shared plans of turning the then-gravel lot into an attraction unlike any other, one that honored Cincinnati’s rich music history and its talented, Black influencers.

“From the very beginning, my vision was an outdoor, interactive, state-of-the-art attraction that’s also a tourism attraction,” Reece says. “And I had this vision. We had a half an acre; how do we take this half an acre and make it a tourism attraction that's experiential? And so I thought of the outdoor experience. I wanted it to be free and welcoming. I call it an amusement park that provides what I call 'edutainment.' And this is a permanent park where people can visit and it bridges the gap of generations through technology.”

Entertainment will be available throughout the Black Music Walk of Fame, including an interactive beat maker narrated by Hi-Tek (2022 inductee, rapper and producer), Reece says. A water feature that includes a light show will correspond with the beats made by visitors. QR codes throughout the park will link information like stories, videos and photos to users’ smart devices while a 10-foot-tall gold star will mark the location. Reece says she’s excited about an “album cover kiosk” that archives Walk of Fame stars and other prominent artists affiliated with Black music history in Cincinnati.

Emphasis on technology as the main avenue for delivering entertainment and information means that the content can rotate seamlessly and create new experiences frequently. Reece says an “augmented reality” feature will allow guests to play music with Bootsy Collins and dance with Penny Ford through a unique simulation.

Each round of star-studded inductees highlights talent that was born in Cincinnati. A lot of that music went on to influence the entertainment industry globally, Reece says.

This year's inductees are: Felipe Wynn of the Spinners; Louise Shropshire, an artist from Cincinnati credited with creating “We Shall Overcome;” James Brown of King Records, who discovered Bootsy Collins; and The Deele, a musical group that included L.A. Reid and Babyface, and some of its founding members attended Hughes High School.

During the celebration, The Ohio Players will perform and Reece will bury a time capsule on site that includes “a letter to the future” and Black Music Walk of Fame memorabilia and photos.

Slideshow

Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame Honors James Brown, More Icons

Photos: Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame Announces 2023 Inductees

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“When you go through the Black Music Walk of Fame, it will give you a taste of the impact that Black artists and musicians had who are from Southwest Ohio,” Reece says. “I think the most important thing is that we created a lot of sounds, and we're in a lot of different genres of music; we're not just in one genre. And in doing the project, people have started to say, ‘Wow, I didn't know all this.’ When we open up, it's going to be a whole bunch of people who say, ‘I didn't know about all this [history].’”

Reece says she hopes the Black Music Walk of Fame’s location will act as a connector to surrounding entertainment options while also attracting visitors itself. The outdoor concept and walk-through design emphasizes that the park is for everybody, she says. The interactive and technological features were implemented to bridge gaps between generations as well.

“I want to be family friendly. And I wanted everyone to be welcome to participate,” Reece tells CityBeat. “The technology, the interactivity, will bridge the gap with the stories of legends to the stories of the future. It’s edutainment. So in other words, you're entertaining and educating at the same time. It’s something that’s never been done before and something that puts [Cincinnati] on the map.”

The Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame Grand Opening is Saturday, July 22 at noon next to the Andrew J Brady Music Center. For more information visit cincyblackmusicwalkoffame.org.

Slideshow

Meet All the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame Inductees So Far

Bootsy CollinsLegendary funkateer Bootsy Collins was one of the Black Music Walk of Fame’s inaugural inductees in 2021. Born in Cincinnati, Bootsy is one of the best representatives of the Queen City’s music scene, especially in the heyday of King Records. He’s largely heralded as the greatest bassist in the funk and R&B genres and is recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as the fourth-greatest bassist of all time.Throughout his 50-year career, Bootsy has played bass with James Brown, George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic and a host of other musical icons. His signature funky bass-driven songwriting style is the foundation of G-funk, an early ’90s subgenre of gangster rap perfected by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G.

Louise ShropshireShropshire composed “If My Jesus Wills,” sometime between 1932 and 1942 and had it copyrighted in Cincinnati in 1954. The lyrics – "I'll overcome, I'll overcome, I'll overcome someday. Oh yes, if my Jesus wills, I do believe I'll overcome someday." – played a critical part in the formation of “We Shall Overcome,” called “the most powerful song of the 20th Century” by the Library of Congress. However, the folk musicians, like Pete Seeger, who copyrighted “We Shall Overcome” copyrighted it as a derivative work and never named Shropshire as the original composer. It wouldn’t be until Shropshire’s grandson, Robert A. Goins Shropshire, asked his former bandmate and music producer Isaias Gamboa to help prove his grandmother’s claim. Gamboa said he was skeptical at first, but it became apparent that Louise Shropshire’s famous hymn was the origin of “We Shall Overcome.” “The melodies are different because her song was a choral arrangement. … The song ‘If My Jesus Wills’ was very popular and was sung all over the country at the time, and there were cities that had different iterations of the song,” Gamboa told UC Magazine. Gamboa also wrote a book called We Shall Overcome – Sacred Song on the Devil’s Tongue that traces the choral history of “If My Jesus Wills."Beyond her musical influence during the Civil Rights movement, Shropshire was also an activist during the era. Her husband, Robert Shropshire Sr., ran a successful bail bonds business, which Louise would use to help raise funds to bail out other activists. Her legacy for helping others now lives on in her grandchildren’s nonprofit, the Louise Shropshire Foundation, and Gamboa’s We Shall Overcome Foundation. A mural, called A Song of Freedom, dedicated to Shropshire and her work can be found at 3630 Reading Road in Avondale, and the University of Cincinnati’s Archives and Rare Books Library is home to a collection of documents from Shropshire’s life, including her original compositions.Information gathered from weshallovercomefoundation.org and aaregistery.org

Bootsy CollinsWhile Bootsy’s musical legacy is nationally renowned, he’s never forgotten his roots in Cincinnati. Considered one of the “Three Kings,” he’s been involved with efforts to preserve King Records’ legacy as an essential component in modern music history, and he’s performed half-time shows at Paycor Stadium during Bengals games, as well as released the song "Fear Da Tiger" ahead of the Bengals’ run at the Super Bowl in 2022.And the starry-eyed musician isn’t slowing down anytime soon. For his 71st birthday, Bootsy released his latest album, Funk Not Fight, an anti-violence and bullying message that encourages art instead of conflict. In conjunction, Collins also launched a new radio show through Apple Music, and he’ll forever be immortalized thanks to a new Bootsy Collins action figure.

Otis WilliamsLegendary doo-wop singer Otis Williams was part of the founding members and first class of inductees into the Black Music Walk of Fame in 2021. Williams was also crucial in maintaining the legacy of King Records.Williams was born in Cincinnati in 1936 and started his career in music while attending Withrow High School in the ‘50s when he joined a singing group, featuring tenors Bob Smith and Rolland Bradley, baritone/tenor Joe Penn and bass Richard Parker on campus as a fill-in. They later became known as The Charms.When Williams and the Charms were singing at a show in 1954, they caught the attention of Syd Nathan, the owner of King Records. Nathan only wanted to sign Williams at first, but Williams insisted the others be signed as well, leading them to be signed with King Records subsidiary Rockin’ Records in Florida.

Otis WilliamsThe Charms released their first record “Heaven Only Knows,” but didn’t see success until 1954 when they released “Heart of Stone” under the new King Records subsidiary, De Luxe Records. “Heart of Stone" topped the R&B charts, staying at No. 1 for nine weeks and selling over a million copies. It also made it to No. 15 on the pop charts.The group had other R&B charters throughout the ‘50s and toured with big names like The Clovers and Big Joe Turner. But the group split in 1955 when De Luxe owner Henry Stone convinced the other members of the Charms that they could succeed without Williams, joining Stone’s new label Chart.Williams continued singing with De Luxe, now credited as Otis Williams and His Charms, releasing another hit in 1956 called “Ivory Tower.” However, the group split up after Williams was drafted to the Army. Williams would record sporadically during leave. He retired from music in 1963, but returned two years later to record soul music for the label Okeh.After another break from music in which Williams became a barber and moved to Nashville, he met Pete Drake, a producer for Stop Records, who bet Williams he couldn’t make a country album that would sell, giving rise to the 1971 album Otis Williams and the Midnight Cowboys.In the ‘90s, Williams went back to his roots as a harmony singer and began touring with a new group of Charms. He was inducted to the United in Group Harmony Association Hall of Fame in 2001, and in 2018 received a Lifetime Achievement award at the 'Celebrate the King: The Gala' at Memorial Hall in Over-the-Rhine.Information gathered from uncamarvy.com and allmusic.com

The Isley BrothersOne of the founding members and first inductees into the Black Music Walk of Fame is the band The Isley Brothers. Cincinnati-born brothers O’Kelly, Rudolph, Ronald and Veron Isley first formed the band as a teenage gospel quartet in the mid-’50s but quit performing after Vernon, 13 at the time, was hit and killed by a car while riding his bike. But in 1957, the three remaining brothers moved to New York City at the encouragement of their parents and hit it big as a rock and roll group, with their 1959 single and album “Shout!” becoming a massive success.The Isley Brothers found success in rock and roll throughout the ‘60s and worked with and influenced some of music’s biggest names, like Jimi Hendrix, who toured with the Isley Brothers as a backing guitarist, and The Beatles (Paul McCartney once said, “If it were not for the Isley Brothers, the Beatles would still be in Liverpool.”). The group worked with Berry Gordy of Motown Records on two albums before forming their own label, T-Neck Records, and releasing their music independently, redefining the R&B genre forever.

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About The Author

Katie Griffith

Katie Griffith is CityBeat’s arts and culture reporter. She proudly hails from the West Side of Cincinnati and studied journalism at the University of Cincinnati. After freelancing for CityBeat for many years, she is happy to continue sharing arts and culture news and stories in novel ways as a staff writer.