[video=youtube;gt9EIgVPqvc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gt9EIgVPqvc[/video]
King Kahn sier:
REMEMBERING THE MIGHTY HANNIBAL
By Arish Ahmad Khan
The Mighty Hannibal was a true revolutionary and will always be one of the the greatest. The first time I met Hannibal he told me that he was going blind. He told me that when the doctors told him that he would lose his sight if he didn't take his medication, he simply replied "I've seen enough." When he would talk to me about his recent blindness he would tell me how it was such a blessing, how it was the best thing ever because you can't judge a person by what they look like. I'd never heard someone give such a powerful sermon celebrating his recent loss of sight.
The first time I went to get him from his apartment I offered him my arm to hold on to to walk down the 4 flights of stairs. He refused my arm the first time and said "I gotta learn how to do this." So I let him go down the stairs first which I quickly realized was a very foolish move because if he fell I would have to leap and try and catch him. I followed him down the stairs and it might have taken us 20 minutes, every step he took I watched and prayed that he wouldn't fall. It might have been the longest 20 minutes of my life but when he made it to the door he extended his arm and said "I'm ready for ya."
I leapt up like a panther and walked arm in arm with him thru the streets of the Bronx where he lived until his last day. That walking arm in arm became a little ritual which I would be so lucky to perform whenever he needed me to walk him on and off the stage.
That was the day I met my mentor. I had never had a mentor before. I didn't know what that even was or meant but as Hannibal and I became closer he practically adopted me as a son. He called my children his grandchildren, and he would talk to them on the phone. He was so excited when I told him that my daughters listen to his music when they did math homework because his music made them better at math. He would call me every week some months and get mad at me if I wouldn't return his calls fast enough.
It seems that Hannibal had a list of folks that he would call regularly and check in with. Jared Swilley and I were high up on that list, and that meant very much to both of us. We were his proteges, he was proud of us.
When I had my major nervous breakdown a few years back which sent me to seek emergency psychiatric help who was it that called me every week and told me that i would be alright? Who called me and assured me that I should just relax, take a break and enjoy time with my family because that was the most important thing in life? It was the Mighty Hannibal.
When I was asked by Hal Willner to take part in his "Freedom Rides" performance which was a celebration of the civil rights movement, he was thrilled when I told him I wanted to perform Hannibal's "Hymn No.5". I got to sing one of the greatest anti-war protest songs ever written in the Royal Festival Hall in London with a twenty piece band. I remember Hannibal calling me after he heard the performance and telling me how proud he was of me.
Hannibal was like a father to me and I will always treasure every moment that I got to spend with him. His life is what I would call "The American Dream". His tales could make you fall on the floor laughing hysterically or make you cry the greatest cry. He was one of the pilgrims of R&B and truly put the message right back into the music where it belongs. I will proudly carry on his torch and continue to bring light to the darkest places in this world.
Long live the Mighty Hannibal!