Atlanta, c. 1972

Songwriter Bettye Crutcher, singer Billy Eckstine, Novella, and Lydia Isbell, wife of Al Bell (co-owner of Stax from 1970-1975). Photo taken around 1972.

Corrected: It turns out the photo was taken not in Houston's Shamrock Hilton, but in Atlanta, on Lydia's birthday. But that's Billy Eckstine for sure, and I'll keep the 1985 New York Times story below about the hotel's demise.

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