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jobeterob

12-04-2012, 06:44 PM

ENTERTAINMENT: Temptations singer's final fight
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» Damon Harris

The great Temptations Singer in fight of life

2012-12-02T08:30:00Z 2012-12-04T11:51:53Z ENTERTAINMENT: Temptations singer's final fightBy Stacy Brown The Sentinel The Sentinel - cumberlink.com
December 02, 2012 8:30 am • By Stacy Brown The Sentinel[[0) Comments“Prostate cancer is to men what breast cancer is to women.”

-Damon Harris

I remember first meeting Damon Harris, the falsetto you hear on the great Temptations 1972 song, Papa Was A Rolling Stone.

See video of Harris, Otis Williams and The Temptations performing that Grammy winning hit, here.

Harris, Ollie Woodson, Richard Street and the group were in Rosarito Beach, Mexico in the fall of 1999. I was there having traveled with Michael Jackson's sister, Rebbie, as she was pegged to open the show for the group.

As we sat in a hotel between shows, Harris called myself and Rebbie Jackson's husband, Nathaniel, to another room. He said it was urgent that he speak with us.

Harris's message was an urgent one. For, the singer had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and he was urging Nathaniel and I to "get checked and do it regularly. It's no joke," he said.

It was that kind of concern that had endeared me to Harris and that kind of true love for fellow man that was the foundation of a lasting friendship.

Damon Harris might be known as one of the last of the great Temptations lead singers to many, but to those who really know him, Harris is a heart of gold and much more authentic than the glistening Grammy Award statute he displays at home.

Now, Damon Harris spends most of his days surrounded by a team of doctors.

Chemo sessions are seemingly as frequent as the ring of the cell phone that sits on a night stand next to his bed inside the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore where the former Temptations great mostly calls home.

"People call, but I'm not always able to answer and it's my hope that they understand that it's not because I don't want to talk, it's mostly because I can't," Harris told The Sentinel this week.

Harris, the man Michael Jackson nicknamed "The Voice," admits that he's nearing his end and a curtain call may not be in store.

"Look, cancer is what it is. I know my time is now very short and I'm just thankful to have God and to be able to somehow have the care that I have," said Harris, now sporting a head of solid gray hair.

Harris said he's leaned heavily on God because he really doesn't know any other reason why the hospital and its famed team of physicians still take good care of him because he, and they alike, have no idea how Harris will pay his bills.

Cancer has ripped apart what was left of his bank account and, he said, the Grammy Foundation has helped pay the rent on his modest condo in Baltimore.

According to the website, businessgrouphealth.org, In the United States, the direct costs for prostate cancer care were $11.85 billion.

A study found that the average total five-year cost of prostate cancer treatment was $42,570, and that was in 2007. Harris was diagnosed nearly a decade before then and, he said, the bills have mounted significantly.

Still, he's reluctant to be a burden on friends and family and has reluctantly agreed to allow some to seek donations on his behalf through one of his booking agencies so that the vital expenses can no longer be as big a worry to Harris.

"People think because you've been associated with the whole Motown and Temptations thing, you're wealthy," Harris said. "I've got cancer and that's something even wealth can't cure and I don't have wealth."

He hasn't reached out to any of his past either, because times have changed. It's not an indictment against Stevie Wonder, Otis Williams, Berry Gordy or anyone else, and it's not about pride either, Harris said.

"I'm realistic. You can say you hope to see me here in five years but I'm telling you I don't expect that," he said. "I'm preparing as best as I can."

Two weeks ago, one of Harris's Motown brother, the great Smokey Robinson performed a concert in York.

Although Robinson was only a car ride away, the famous crooner had no idea Harris lay deathly ill not far away.

But, Harris didn't fret about it.

"Listen, that life is over. I love Smokey and I know he feels the same about me, but that would have been too much to ask to have him come over," Harris, 62, said.

"I've giving up that pop star life now. That isn't a thought for me anymore, things have changed so much," he said.

See video of Damon Harris singing lead on "I Wish It Would Rain" here.

Harris said he is often reminded about the cruel nature of the music business.

He signed a contract for he and his group to appear this past October at the Hotel Carlisle and Embers Convention Center.

Harris's most recent group showed, but Harris would be admitted to the hospital again just before the scheduled Oct. 27 show.

Joe Phillips, who has played with Harris for decades, filled in admirably for the ailing Harris but Phillips said the Hotel refused to pay the group even after they put on a two hour show that saw about 200 people stomping their feet, clapping their hands and having the time of their lives singing along with Temptation favorites like "Papa Was A Rolling Stone," "Just My Imagination," and "My Girl."

"I even saw the owner dancing and taking pictures. Everybody had a great time," Phillips said.

"They could have canceled the show once they were told of Damon's horrible condition, but they took all the people's hard earned money, sold dinners, sold drinks, partied and then they placed a stop payment on the check. Who does that? It's what you get when you deal with people like that who don't know the business. We hired sound people from the area and the musicians came in and did everything asked of them and yet the hotel didn't honor their agreement," he said.

Hotel owner Farouk Hegazi said he had received just one complaint about Harris's absence but stopped payment because he worried that people would ask for refunds.

However, when that didn't occur, Hegazi still refused to pay the group who claim they gave the hotel a "greatly reduced rate."

A formal complaint against the hotel has been filed with the state's Attorney General office. Hegazi declined further comment, but oddly referred to a Drifters concert in Carlisle that took place last month.

It wasn't immediately clear if the hotel also had an interest in that show, in which Carlisle resident Jackie Barrick produced and promoted for the Jolee Boarder Foundation, which helps families of children with cancer.

The Sentinel tracked down some who attended the Hotel Carlisle show and each said it was simply nice to get back to the Embers again and see professional musicians.

"I don't see why there's any controversy. I thought the Embers wanted to try and get the respect back it used to have. They announced before the show that [[Harris) was sick with cancer and it was a cancer awareness event, so the Ember's position makes them look shady," Ellen McCollough, of Chambersburg said.

"It seems they were seeking an excuse to make money without paying," McCollough's friend, Jeannette Harig said. "So, if they didn't pay, did they at least give money to cancer?"

Harig and McCollough recently attended a Sinbad concert in Shippensburg and each said attending both shows has been one of the highlights of their year. The duo said McCollough's husband purchased 4 tickets to the Hotel Carlisle show at $35 each. He repeated the favor for the Sinbad show, they said.

"Sinbad was hilarious and even though they didn't have the lead singer at Embers, we all had a ball. It was delightful," McCollough said.

Still, the pettiness and controversy part of the entertainment world is the part that Harris said he doesn't miss at all.

His relationship with Jackson, whose "Thriller" album was celebrated this week, is one of his keepsakes.

But, the Temptation great is reminded daily that he is in the fight of his life and it is a battle that gets more challenging as each second ticks off the clock.

Harris is open about his illness, which he was diagnosed with in 1999, and blunt about his prospects.

"I'm here by the grace of God only," he said. "My worse fears are dying as a broke and alone musician."

It wasn't as though Harris mismanaged his earnings with The Temptations. Prostate cancer, like any other cancer, is expensive to fight.

The Baltimore native said he goes month-to-month often not knowing how he will meet his bills. Rent on his condo near Baltimore is paid, "whenever I can make the payment," he said.

"I live a very simple life, but I'm sick and there isn't much I can do. I've been offered gigs, some I haven't been able to do because, since October, I haven't been able to walk much," he said.

In fact, one of his band mates had prematurely announced his death.

"I'm still here," he said. "Cancer has been trying to shut my system down and the doctors here have been trying to put it off as best they can."

During Harris’s tenure with The Temptations, the group recorded nine gold records and won three Grammy Awards and two American Music Awards. See Damon performing lead on "Get Ready, Here I Come" here.

Shortly after Harris parted ways with The Temptations , his father, Otis Robert Harris Sr., died from prostate cancer.

At 38, Harris started to feel immense pains in his legs, pelvis and hip, according to a blog he contributed to at Stand up to Cancer.

He was without medical insurance, and was reluctant to go to a doctor and treated the pain with an ice pack.

Harris later moved to Reno.

jobeterob

12-04-2012, 06:45 PM

According to the blog, after dabbling in music management, he landed a job as a teaching assistant at Earl Wooster High School while studying for a degree in Music Education at the University of Nevada.

Testing revealed advanced prostate cancer, which would eventually spread into his bones.

At first, Harris refused to share his diagnosis with friends and family, not wanting to “burden” them with the news.

At a friend’s urging, he took up the American Cancer Society’s invitation to speak at a prostate cancer retreat in Georgia’s Emory University. Invigorated by his support group experience and unsure how much time he had left, he shared the messages that he’d grown to learn: that life is full of obstacles and impasses; that life is not guaranteed to anyone; that “what becomes important is how we deal with that.”

Harris’ biggest mission is to take prostate cancer out of the dark, and not just in support groups. He wants to make it as much of an open topic among men of all ages – not just elderly men – as breast cancer is with women.

“This is not a matter for a particular age or demographic. It’s a matter for people. Period.”

You can download the single he recorded with the help of his Hopkins friends at www.cdbaby.com/CD/damonharris1 or damonharrissings.com, his website in progress.

Of course, there’s the possibility that nobody wants to think about. The one where Harris’s body finally rejects yet another round of treatments and gives up.

Though Harris himself seems strangely open to it, jokingly telling Stand up to Cancer that he’d like to save up a bit before then for funeral expenses.

Naturally, we're hoping to have Harris around for a lot longer.

Harris's friends and booking company have established a fundraiser to help the great singer pay for his expenses.

Contributions can be made out to RTJP Company, LTD., c/o the Damon Harris Fund, 717 Market St., Box 411, Lemoyne, PA 17043.

For entertainment happenings in Central PA and beyond, keep checking with That's Entertainment!, The Sentinel and www.cumberlink.com. Also, check out our friends at abc27.com. Email us at sbrown@cumberlink.com.