When word of V-E Day reached Burma: “V-E News Brings No Rejoicing,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 19, 1945, p. 1.
“So you have come all the way”: “ ‘Nehru Finds India’s Problems Akin to U.S. Negroes’—Bolden,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 11, 1945, p. 1.
Jinnah took a very different tone: “Jinnah Explains Stand of India’s Moslems to Frank Bolden,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 18, 1945, p. 18.
When Gandhi invited Bolden: “ ‘British Must Go if India Is to Have Unity’—Gandhi,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 18, 1945, p. 23.
When the Japanese finally surrendered: “Tan Yanks Invade Japan,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 1, 1945, p. 1.
“Peace Means These GIs Can Leave Jungle Hell”: Pittsburgh Courier, Sept. 1, p. 9.
Winston Churchill’s prediction: “Burma’s Stilwell Road: A Backbreaking World War II Project Is Revived,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 30, 2008, latimes.com.
“600,000 Negroes Face Job Loss in Cutbacks”: Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 1, 1945, p. 1.
7. THE COMPLEX MR. B
Teenie Harris joined the Courier: Laurence Glasco, “An American Life, an American Story: Charles ‘Teenie’ Harris and Images of Black Pittsburgh,” in Cheryl Finley, Laurence Glasco, and Joe W. Trotter, Teenie Harris Photographer: Image, Memory History (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), p. 13.
He photographed Johnny Woodruff: Teenie Harris archive, Carnegie Museum of Art, teenie.cmoa.org. no. 2001.35.27670.
Harris recorded the hero’s welcome: Ibid., no. 2001.35.38374.
they trooped to Teenie’s private studio: Ibid., no. 2001.35.38624.
“It’s Eckstine Now!”: Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 19, 1944, p. 13.
a shot that would prove historic: Harris archive, no. 2001.35.3088.
it was a national sensation: “Billy Eckstine’s Ork Wows Swing World,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 14, 1944, p. 13.
a blur in Teenie’s photos: Harris archive, no. 2001.35.11516.
Billy Eckstine was as big an attraction: Ibid., no. 2001.35.3033.
When a cake was brought out: Ibid., no. 2001.35.7176.
Eckstine was placed at the head table: Ibid.
recorded a new song: “Eckstine Waxes New Vocadiscs,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 9, 1944, p. 13.
“press agented into a sepia Sinatra”: “Hill’s Side,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 17, 1945, p. 13.
His name, William Clarence Eckstein: Cary Ginell, Mr. B: The Music and Life of Billy Eckstine (Milwaukee, Wisc.: Hal Leonard Books, 2013), pp. 1–5.
his first taste of entertaining: “ ‘Hep-Cat’ Billy Eckstine Credits Mother for Fabulous Career,” Pittsburgh Press, Dec. 21, 1952, p. 55.
Mary Ann Smith was an “Old Pittsburgher”: “Pioneer North Side Woman Succumbs,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 27, 1931, p. 8.
his first introduction to business: “Scores of Hustling Lads Get Splendid Training in Thrift and Salesmanship,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 15, 1930, p. 19.
a radio column called “Wave Lengths”: Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 2, 1932, p. 9.
By his senior year: Ginell, Mr. B, pp. 7–14.
Eckstine moved to Chicago: Ibid., pp. 15–19.
Eckstine lent a needed dash of youth: Ibid., pp. 21–27.
On the train ride back north to Chicago: Stanley Dance, The World of Earl Hines (New York: Da Capo,1983), pp. 238–39.
Worried that he would never perform again: Ginell, Mr. B, p. 27.
The session took place: Ibid., pp 29–35.
the orgasmic finale left no doubt: “1941 Hits Archive: Jelly, Jelly—Earl Hines (Billy Eckstine vocal),” uploaded by MusicProf18 to youtube.com.
a “triumphant homecoming”: “Matthews Secures Earl Hines for Tri-State Tour During Christmas Holidays in Big Deal,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 16, 1940, p. 20.
it was an instant craze: Ginell, Mr. B, pp. 33–34.
they went after two up-and-coming musicians: Ibid., pp. 43–47.
“Diz had his head on straight, man”: Eckstine interview in Dizzy Gillespie, To Be or Not to Bop (New York: Doubleday, 1979, Da Capo paperback edition), pp. 174–75.
“These greasy muthafuckas cruised me”: Gillespie, To Be or Not to Bop, p. 174.
Dizzy Gillespie was fifteen years old: Ibid., pp. 32–33.
Born on the North Side: John Chilton, Roy Eldridge: Little Jazz Giant (New York: Continuum, 2002), pp. 1–23.
he teamed up with his brother Joe: “Brothers’ Rhythm Kings Ready to Serve Public,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 13, 1933.
When Dizzy Gillespie moved to Philadelphia: Gillespie, To Be or Not to Bop, p. 58.
Teddy Hill was so taken: Ibid., p. 65.
Kenneth Spearman Clarke had grown up: Phillip Daquila, “Keeping Time: Klook Remembers Jazz Drummer’s Place in History,” Pittsburgh History, Spring 1995, pp 46–48.
“the beginnings of modern drumming”: Gunther Schuller, The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930–1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, p. 421.
he and Dizzy Gillespie clicked immediately: Gillespie, To Be or Not to Bop, pp. 9–100.
“It wasn’t only”: To Be or Not to Bop, p 99.
managing a small nightclub: Rudi Blesh, “Flying Home,” in Robert Gottlieb, ed., Reading Jazz: A Gathering of Autobiography, Reportage and Criticism, from 1919 to Now (New York: Vintage, 1999 paperback edition), pp. 529–34.
Minton’s became a nightly musical laboratory: Gillespie, To Be or Not to Bop, pp. 134–51.
another Pittsburgher became a nightly presence: Ibid., pp. 148–51; Linda Dahl, Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), pp. 182–83.
When the band reached Hartford: Gillespie, To Be or Not to Bop, pp. 128–33.
playing in the Hines band gave them the chance: Ibid., pp. 176–77.
another raw but extraordinary young talent: Ginell, Mr. B, pp. 49–53.
the bandleader suggested another title: Dance, The World of Earl Hines, p. 90.
“the incubator of bop”: Richard Harrington, “Earl Hines: Piano Man,” Washington Post, April 15, 1983, washingtonpost.com.
In early August of 1943: Ginell, Mr. B, pp. 52–53.
So Billy began reassembling the old Hines bandstand: Ibid., pp. 55–62.
a skinny dark-hued teenager: Ibid., pp. 60–61.
“B didn’t take no shit off nobody”: Ibid., p. xviii.
For the other members in the orchestra: Ibid., pp. 61–62.
In his first year as a bandleader: Ibid., pp. 63–71.
Eckstine was ready for a change as well: Ibid., pp. 85–90.
he privately resented singing the blues: Ibid., p. 34.
“nothing approaching the blues about it”: Ibid., p. 82.
In Boston, a drunken woman: Ibid., p. 93.
an admiring telegram from Frank Sinatra: “After the Thin Man,” The Billboard, Jan. 11, 1947, p. 15.
he was striking out on his own: Ginell, Mr. B, pp. 95–98.
one of Eckstine’s first trips: “Frogs’ ‘Night of Stars’ Set for Mosque, August 7,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 13, 1946, p. 21; “ ‘Night of Stars’ Greatest Show in Frogs’ History,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 16, 1947, p. 16.
the hottest American male vocalist of the late 1940s: Ginell, Mr. B, pp. 99–102.
almost as famous for his look and his lifestyle: Ibid., pp. 103–6.
Walter Winchell reported: Cincinnati Enquirer, April 29, 1947, p. 7.
Thousands of fans on Easter break: Ginell, Mr. B, pp. 108–10.
By the time Eckstine returned to the Paramount: “He’s Idol of the Bobby-Sox Brigade,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 17, 1950, p. 42.
At the end of his act: Ginell, Mr. B, p. 109.
Life magazine commissioned a profile: “Mr. B: Bobby Soxers Become Billy Soxers to Boost Baritone Billy Eckstine,” Life, April 24, 1950, pp. 101–4.
a new club called Bop City: “Broadway, by Mark Barron,” syndicated in Fitchburgh Sentinel, May 12, 1949, p. 6.
Holmes snapped a photo: “Mr. B,” Life, p. 101.
Holmes later said the photograph was her favorite: David Hajdu, Heroes and Villains: Essays on Music, Movies, Comics, and Culture (New York: Da Capo, 2009), p. 13.
Life readers leapt to their own: Ginell, Mr. B, p. 115.
“It changed everything”: Hajdu, Heroes and Villains, pp. 13–14.
In fact, the fallout: Ginell, Mr. B, pp. 119–26.
the role of Joe in Carmen Jones: Ibid., pp. 131–32.
But Eckstine also couldn’t win for trying: Ibid., pp. 127–31.
In 1954, the bottom started to fall out: Ibid., pp. 133–37.
“Is Billy Eckstine Through?”: Jet, Jan. 20, 1955.
Billy returned to Pittsburgh: Ginell, Mr. B., pp. 139–43.
He signed a new deal with Roulette Records: Ibid., pp. 147–50.
Levy pulled a pistol from his desk: Ibid., p. 148.
To celebrate the poll’s fourth anniversary: “Courier’s Carnegie Music Hall Concert Smash Hit,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 22, 1947, p. 16.
Like so many other kids from black Pittsburgh: Transcript of 1996 Ray Brown interview with WKCR disk jockey Ted Panken, posted on tedpanken.wordpress.com, Oct. 13, 2011.
the remarkable versatility for which he would become known: “Ray Brown, Master Jazz Bassist, Dies at 75,” New York Times, July 4, 2002, p. B6.
By the time he was an upperclassman at Schenley High School: Brown interview, tedpanken.workpress.com.
Ray and Ella fell in love: “Ella Fitzgerald, the Voice of Jazz, Dies at 79,” New York Times, June 16, 1996, p. 1.
For Ray, one of those projects: “Ray Brown, Master Jazz Bassist,” New York Times.
In 1949, a young Canadian pianist named Oscar Peterson: “Ray Brown: Jazz Master,” Pittsburgh Music History, sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory.com.
Jones hailed him: Matthew Rybicki, Ray Brown: Legendary Jazz Bassist (Hal Leonard Corp. e-book), 2013.
Christian McBride, was even more specific: Brown interview, tedpanken.wordpress.com.
He remembered one peer in particular: Ibid.
There was one place Erroll Garner couldn’t play: “Erroll Garner: Jazz Piano Giant,” Pittsburgh Music History, sites.google.com/pittsburghmusichistory.
he set out for New York City: “Erroll Garner: Jazz Piano Giant,” Pittsburgh Music History.
Martha Glaser also hailed from the Pittsburgh area: “Martha Glaser 1921–2014,” Jazz Promo Services, Dec. 3, 2014, jazznewsyoucanuse.com.
Martha lit up in Erroll’s presence: “Erroll & Martha” Exhibit, University of Pittsburgh Library, online at pitt.libguides.com.
It was an appeal summed up: Billy Rowe’s Notebook,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 16, 1950, p. 14.
Arriving minutes after his sidemen: “The Day Mr. Piano Amazed Broadway,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 29, 1954, p. 23.
Erroll was flying from San Francisco to Chicago: Whitney Balliett, “Being a Genius,” The New Yorker, Feb. 22, 1982, pp. 69–70.
To earn a little extra cash: Thomas Cunniffe, “Erroll Garner: The Complete ‘Concert by the Sea,’ ” JazzHistoryOnline, 2007.
One buyer was a gentleman: Ruth Garner Moore interview in Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read, a film by Atticus Brady, First Run Features, 2012.
During one Tonight Show appearance: Tonight Show clip in ibid.
he collapsed onstage: “Erroll Garner, Jazz Pianist; Composed ‘Misty,’ ‘That’s My Kick,’ ” New York Times, Jan. 3, 1977, p. 24.
Jamal had an answer for the critics: Ahmad Jamal interview in No One Can Hear You Read.
8. “JACKIE’S BOSWELL”
On a hot Florida afternoon: Chris Lamb, Blackout: The Untold Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Spring Training (Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, 2004), pp. 5–19; Wendell Smith, “Robinson Arrives in Fla. Camp,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 9, 1946, p. 17.
referred to himself as “Jackie’s Boswell”: Citation for “1993 J. G. Taylor Spink Award Winner Wendell Smith,” National Baseball Hall of Fame, baseballhall.org.
Smith grew up around white people: Wendell Smith interview in Jerome Holtzman, No Cheering in the Press Box (New York: Henry Holt, 1973, paperback edition), pp. 323–24.
a soapbox on the subject of race: “Smitty’s Sport Spurts,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 14, 1938, p. 17, Jan. 14, 1939, p. 14.
Wendell proposed a new one: Holtzman, No Cheering, p. 314.
Smith’s investigation was a big hit: Pittsburgh Courier sports pages, July 15, 22, 29, Aug. 5, 19, 1939.
“I’ve seen a million”: Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 5, 1939, p. 16.
an open letter to Kenesaw Mountain Landis: “Ches Sez,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 30, 1942, p. 17.
White sportswriters picked up on the theme: “ ‘If Negro’s Good Enough for Navy, He’s Good Enough for Majors’—Parker,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 25, 1942, p. 17.
shamed Landis into taking a position: “Commissioner Landis’ Emancipation Proclamation,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 25, 1942, p. 17.
the commissioner finally consented: Wendell Smith, “Publishers Place Case of Negro Players Before Big League Owners,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 11, 1943, p. 1.
the morning’s most memorable remarks: “Ira F. Lewis’ Factual Speech to Judge Landis and Major League Owners,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 11, 1943, p. 14.
When Smith chased him down for comment: Wendell Smith, “Frick Says Owners Were Impressed by Publishers,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 11, 1943, p. 14.
“a subtle ‘fence game’ on this question”: “ ‘Smitty’s’ Sports Spurts,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 2, 1944, p. 12.
Benswanger had backed out of a promise: Jules Tygiel, Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983, 2008 paperback edition), p. 39.
four black men walked into the Dodger spring training camp: “McDuffie, Thomas First Negroes in Big League Uniforms,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 14, 1945, p. 12.
McDuffie and Thomas were too old: “ ‘Smitty’s’ Sports Spurts,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 14, 1945, p. 12.
The Courier had first written about him in 1940: “Jackie Robertson [sic] Stars on Diamond,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 16, 1940.
Now Smith was working at lining up a pro tryout: Holtzman, No Cheering, pp. 318–20.
Jackie was accustomed to being around white people: Arnold Rampersad, Jackie Robinson: A Biography (New York: Ballantine, 1997), pp. 62–112.
witness his short temper for the first time: Howard Bryant, Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston (New York: Routledge, 2002), p. 31.
The previous year, Gus Greenlee: “ ‘Smitty’s’ Sports Spurts,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 28, 1945, p. 12.
Smith called Rickey to check out the story: Holtzman, No Cheering, pp. 313–14, 320–21.
Robinson was playing for the Monarchs: Jackie Robinson and Wendell Smith, Jackie Robinson: My Own Story (New York: Greenburg Publishers, 1948), pp. 14–23.
“it would have killed it”: Holtzman, No Cheering, p. 321.
When that day arrived two months later: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 28–30.
many didn’t give Robinson much of a chance: “What ‘Name’ Writers Wrote About Signing of Jackie Robinson,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 3, 1945, p. 12.
One was a first-person account: “ ‘Glad of Opportunity and Will Try to Make Good’—Robinson,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 3, 1945, p. 1.
The other was a two-hour interview: “Branch Rickey Tells Courier Why He Signed Jackie Robinson to Play with Montreal Club,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 3, 1945, p. 1.
“We’re not here to give anything away”: “Posey Skeptical About Tryouts for Sepia Stars in Big Leagues,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 29, 1942, p. 16.
For a brief time after the Royals announcement: Tygiel, Baseball’s Great Experiment, pp. 86–89.
In the days after Cum Posey succumbed: “Sports World Pays Final
Tribute to Cum Posey,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 6, 1946, p. 17.
It was the most important social night of the year: Arthur Daley, “At the Baseball Writers Show,” New York Times, Feb. 4, 1946, p. 23.
Wendell Smith denounced the white baseball writers: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 1946, p. 12.
Jackie sent him a grateful letter: Robinson letter to Smith, dated Oct. 31, 1945, Wendell Smith archive, National Baseball Hall of Fame (NBHF), baseballhall.org.
Jackie wrote again from Venezuela: Robinson letter to Smith, undated, NBHF archive.
the example of “good conduct”: Smith letter to Robinson, dated Dec. 4, 1945, NBHF archive.
plans for Robinson’s first spring training: Holtzman, No Cheering, pp. 321–22.
Rickey proposed that Smith serve as Robinson’s chaperone: Rickey letter to Smith, dated Jan. 8, 1946, NBHF archive.
far loftier motivations than money: Smith letter to Rickey, dated Jan. 14, 1946, NBHF archive.
They owned one of the finest houses: Francis Coleman Oliver, “The Brock House,” Goldsboromuseum.com.
Rickey showed his gratitude: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 9, 1946, p. 16.
The day after Jackie and Rachel Robinson’s arrival: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 66–70.
they received a very different reception: Holtzman, No Cheering, p. 322; Lamb, Blackout, p. 88, based on interview with Billy Rowe (see p 196, note 33).
when the two players returned to the Brock home: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 70–73.
In Daytona Beach: Lamb, Blackout, pp. 92–93; Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 75–77.
their best to buoy Jackie’s spirits: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 74–75.
but he left encouraged: Ibid., pp. 78–79.
he gave Smith a vote of confidence: Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, pp. 146–47.
When Montreal went to Deland: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 80, 97–98.
Smith added up the toll that racism: “Cancels 9 Games When Towns Bar Negro Players,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 13, 1946, p. 14.
he had felt the strain of expectation: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 20, 1946, p. 16.
savored the moment: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 27, 1946, p. 16.
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