Don’t assume anything

Or, something I learned today.

Len Barry is white.

 We have to go all the way back to 1965 to understand why I thought Barry was a black singer. That year, Barry released “1-2-3.” The song sold more than 4 million copies. That is a lot of records.

I was in Korea in 1965. Armed Forces Radio network was a soldier’s most listened-to entertainment. Soul music was big then, especially the Detroit version, and had been for at least a year. The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder. Barry’s songs fit into the rhythm and music of Detroit Soul. Ergo, to my mind and ears, he was black.

This morning, placing the TV on the 1950s music channel, I see a picture of this white dude, identified as Len Barry, singing “1-2-3.”

“Well I’ll be dogged,” I said. “He’s not black.”

Fifty-five years of assumption. How about that.