Really the Blues
Page 45
Something of the sort, in fact, has happened to the white devotees of New Orleans. They are today mortally offended by bop, whose essential grimness and blatancy have unmistakable social overtones, echoing the strife of the restless ghetto; they miss the apparently unembattled, pre-social “complacency” of levee music, imbued with the I-don’t-give-a-damn of the “serene” drifter on the fringe. And bop, as it expands its white audience, is progressively distorted by the squeamishness of many whites about “circumstantial” concerns. Originally an outcry against social circumstance, expressing the ghetto’s hunger for the “serious” culture of the orthodox white community, bop is “self-determined” ecstasy. From its increasingly “unserious” antics one would never guess that the whole driving force of bop is an overpowering lust for respectability.
The “irrelevant” fact remains that jazz, the altogether astonishing creation of the American pariah, has a massive cult built around it by the white elite. And the aesthetic of any jazz form, as of any dance generated by it, must remain an enormous question mark until within its “frame of styles” is seen the interplay of image, reflex and masquerade which goes on constantly within the caste structure of America.
But this is to say that the Negro is not capable of true aestheticism? Quite so—for just so long as he continues to be so circumstantially mauled and hobbled that the Self he tries to focus on and explore is uniquely, every waking, harried moment, jostled, often crowded offstage entirely, by the Other. The aesthetic, in any really subjective sense, flowers only among those who, having passed freely through the community and tasted of all its sober concerns, can afford to turn their backs on it and commune with themselves. Sartre argues, perhaps too categorically, that the Jew, so long as he is surrounded and defined by anti-Semites, is perforce a social creature, and that his anxieties are social rather than metaphysical in nature: he cannot contemplate his relation to the universe so long as he is haunted by his daily relations with other men. But if this is an oversimplification about the Jew, who after all has some alternative norms of his own to fall back on if he chooses to use them, it must apply with full force to the Negro, who after three hundred years of slavery and pariahdom has few norms except those handed down to him from above.
In the situation of daily terror created for him by American caste life the Negro must be a uniquely harried being. A socially produced anxiety spread-eagles over his entire existence, negating in advance every attempt at a genuine plunge into the subjective. And the Negro produces unique sounds and movements of anxiety, rituals of tension and malaise; but social reality is their springboard, and social reality their target. Negro song and dance are, in their innermost frames, laments for the smothered subjective.
Very possibly the Negro has a breathtaking bent for the truly aesthetic, all the more remarkable for enduring in an environment which has never favored “non-useful” pursuits. But like the proletarian—we recall the many dismal Stalinist efforts to precipitate a “proletarian culture”—he will never be allowed the luxury of aesthetic preoccupation until he has groped his way to the very center of the community, feasted liberally on all its prestigious orthodoxies—and then, of his own volition, departed or at least turned his back. The social fringe can become a bohemia only for those who gravitate there out of choice, surfeited with the sober life behind, never for those who are exiled there from birth because of alleged incapacities.
There is some stubborn blind spot in the American mind which makes it easy for us to confuse bohemia with the ghetto: our cultural Negrophilia would be impossible without that fallacy. But the fallacy is much more easily maintained by the weekend tourist to the ghetto, who never relinquishes his social mobility, than by the permanent resident there, who is rooted to the despised spot.
The ghetto is always being eyed and eavesdropped on here. No pariah drenched in such cultural limelight is simply “spontaneous,” just “being himself.” His dance is designed for the ring of eyes peering over the caste fences, and his music is very subtly molded at the source by the white ears into which it will be funneled. And whatever the Negro adds of his own to these “creations” is by way of spiteful comment on those eyes and ears, not a spurt of the self-centered subjective.
To talk about “spontaneity” under such circumstances is to miss the point. And the reality.
—BERNARD WOLFE
1946
For the right to reprint the lyrics of the copyrighted songs which appear in this book the authors and publishers make grateful acknowledgment to:
Perry Bradford, Perry Bradford Music Publishing Co., for “Keep A Knockin’ But You Can’t Come In.”
W. T. Ed Kirkeby, for “Reckless Blues.”
Fred Fisher Music Co., Inc., for “Chicago, That Toddlin’ Town.”
Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc., for “Hobo, You Can’t Ride This Train,” copyright, 1933, by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc. Used by Permission.
Leeds Music Corporation, for “Heebie Jeebies,” copyrighted, 1926, by Leeds Music Corporation, New York, NY, reprinted here by permission of the copyright owner; “If You’re a Viper,” copyrighted, 1938, by Leeds Music Corporation, New York, NY, reprinted here by permission of the copyright owner.
Leo Feist, Inc., for “The Curse of an Aching Heart,” copyright, 1913, Leo Feist, Inc., New York, NY. Copyright renewal 1941, Leo Feist, Inc., New York, NY, used by special permission of the copyright proprietor.
American Academy of Music, Inc., for “Big Apple,” by permission of the copyright proprietor, American Academy of Music, Inc.
Edwin H. Morris & Company, Inc., for “Basin Street Blues,” by Spencer Williams, copyright, 1933, by Mayfair Music Corporation, used by permission; “Hesitation Blues,” by J. Scott Middleton and Billy Smythe, copyright, 1915, by Billy Smythe Music Company. Copyright renewed in 1942 and assigned to Edwin H. Morris & Company, Inc.
Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc., for the verse by T. S. Eliot on page 219.
INDEX
The links below refer to the page references of the printed edition of this book. While the numbers do not correspond to the page numbers or locations on an electronic reading device, they are retained as they can convey useful information regarding the position and amount of space devoted to an indexed entry. Because the size of a page varies in reflowable documents such as this e-book, it may be necessary to scroll down to find the referenced entry after following a link.
A
Ace in the Hole, 64
Acoustical recording method, 163
Addison, Bernard, 302, 304
Adirondack Sketches, 133
Afternoon of a Faun, 133
After You’re Gone, 225
Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll, 46, 310, 388
Ain’t Misbehavin’, 214, 225, 247
Allen, Henry “Red,” 301
American Mercury, The (magazine), 111, 118
Amos-and-Andy, 267
Amsterdam News (newspaper), 235
Apex Club, 123
Apologies, 285
Appendicitis operation, 41–42
Apple Sass Rag, 31
Arkansas Blues, 160
Armendra, Dolly, 303, 304
Armstrong, Lil, 382. See Hardin, Lil
Armstrong, Louis, 49, 112, 117, 127, 148, 154, 206, 208, 214, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 249, 250, 251, 252, 254, 255, 256, 258, 263, 266, 267, 268, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 285, 286, 288, 289, 299, 300, 346, 350, 351, 359, 364, 365, 366, 369, 371, 387
Arrowhead Inn, 63–64
Ashworth (Riker’s Island warden), 327
Associated Musicians of Greater New York, 289
Aunt Hagar’s Blues, 375
Aurora Borealis, 179
Austin, Lovey, 310
Austin Blue Friars, 113–114
Austin High Gang, 111–112, 114, 117, 139, 168
B
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home, 167, 367–368
Bach, Vincent, 273
Back Home
Again in Indiana, 51
Bandbox, 222
Band House, The, 35–46
Band House song, 37
Barbeque, The, 222, 223, 277
Barris, Harry, 157
Barry, Sid, 22
Basin Street Blues, 297
Batie and Foster, 251
Bauduc, Ray, 200
Baxter, Pop, 325–326
Bechet, Sidney, 29, 30, 51, 53, 84, 148, 301, 309, 310, 320, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 350, 351, 371, 372, 387, 388
Beer spiking, 67–68
Beiderbecke, Leon “Bix,” 74, 83–89, 113, 117, 130, 131, 133, 134, 135–137, 152, 157, 160, 169, 360, 369
Bellychords, 281
Berlin, Irving, 280
Berry Brothers, 251
Bertrand, Jimmy, 51
Bessie Smith, 1
Beuren, John van, 349
Big Apple, 187
Big bands, 148–149
Big Buster (Bridewell Prison), 40, 48, 51
Big Izzy, 21, 34
Big John’s ginmill, 222
Big Six (Pontiac Reformatory), 16
Billboard (newspaper), 305
Billings, Josh, 126, 139–140, 144, 175, 176, 181, 183, 184, 185
Black, Frank, 115
Black and Blue, 225
Blackhawk Brewery, 67
Black Skin, White Masks (Fanon), 404
Black Snake Moon, 55–56
Bland, Jack, 160, 247
Bleedin’ Heart, 57, 268
Blue Blues, 160
Blue note, 365
Blues in Disguise, 301
Blues My Baby Gave to Me, 389
Blues of Bechet, The, 343
Blythe, Jimmy, Jr., 350
Bolden, Buddy, 351
Bon Bons, 21
Bootlegging, 245
Borneman, Ernest, 351
Brahmins, 411
Braud, Wellman, 29, 30, 301
Break, the, 363–364, 365, 368
Bregman, Jack, 326
Bregman, Vocco, and Conn, 326
Bridewell Prison, 35–46
Bronx Zoo, 199
Brown, Ada, 251
Brown, Ann, 72–73, 197
Brown, Pete, 389
Brown, Vernon, 304
Bruckner, D.J., 402
Bubbles, John W., 253, 387
Buck, Ford L., 252–253, 264, 269, 287, 315, 316
Buck and Bubbles, 221, 251
Bumble Bee Slim, 314
Bunk, The, 260
Bunn, Teddy, 381, 388, 389
Burbacher, Emil, 4, 7, 8, 10, 21, 197
Burley, Dan, 235, 237
Burnham, Indiana, 63, 70–71
Byas, Don, 247
C
Café de Paris, 154
Calloway, Cab, 222, 230, 251, 300
Cantor, Eddie, 29, 52, 157
Capone, Al, 5, 23, 25, 64, 67–69, 73, 196, 291
Capone, Mitzi, 68
Carter, Benny, 282, 284, 285, 286, 308, 309, 314
Car theft charges, 8–10
Casa Loma orchestra, 100
Casey, Albert, 301, 389
Casseras Brothers Trio, 303
Castilian Gardens, 190, 191, 384
Catlett, Big Sid, 350
Cauldwell, Happy, 302, 313
Cavalcade of Music, 300
Cedric, Eugene, 303
Céline, 353
Cemetery Blues, 57, 124
Cemetery squad, Hart’s Island, 334
Chester, Bob, 100
Chicago, 62
Chicagoans, 114, 115, 139, 150, 159, 190, 208, 212, 359–362, 370
Chicago Federation of Musicians, 59–60
Chicago Northwest Side, 5
Chicago Rhythm Kings, 167
Chicago School, 168
Chicago South Side race riots of 1919, 39–40
Chicago style, 164, 168, 255, 357–359
Chicago style elements, 362–364
Chicago Symphony, 123
Chicago Theater, 157
China Boy, 164
Christopher Columbus, 305
Cless, Rod, 168, 368
Clinton, Larry, 302
Club Alabam, 98–99
Club Stomp, 302
Codolban, Nitza, 205–206
Cohen, Sam, 21
Cole, Cozy, 389
Coll, Vincent, “Babyface,” 257, 291
Collins, Johnny, 288
Columbia, 162
Comin’ On with the Come On, 310, 381, 385
Commentary (magazine), 403
Commodore Record Shop, 168
Concealed weapons charges, 34–35
Condon, Eddie, 93, 113, 153, 157, 160, 162, 168, 172, 185, 189, 192, 212, 215, 247, 254, 256, 282, 283, 367, 368, 384
Condon, Pat, 93
Confessin’, 256
Confessions of an Opium Eater (De Quincy), 293
Connie’s Inn, 222, 250, 252
Conn Music Company, 58
Conrad, Earl, 236
Constantinoff (pianist), 205–206
Cook, Louise, 223, 251
Copenhagen, 85
Costello (Riker’s island band master), 325, 327
Count Basie, 222, 303, 326
Covington, Columbus, 214, 215, 216
Crawford, James, 302
Crawford, Jesse, 271
Crosby, Bing, 157–158, 225, 227
Cumberland Hotel, 185
Curse of an Aching Heart, The, 64, 96
Cuttin’ contests, 159, 246–248
D
Darktown Strutters Ball, 167
Davis, Benny, 29, 52
Davis, Dixie, 279
Davison, Bill, 113, 150
Dear Old Girl, 52
Deauville, 91
Debussey, Claude, 133
Delaunay, Charles, 208
De Luxe Café, 26, 29
De Paris, Sidney, 304, 381, 385, 386, 387
De Quincey, Thomas, 293, 294
Devore, Cy, 304
Dewey, Lawrence, 29, 49
Diamond, Jack “Legs,” 190, 196, 291
Dick Tracy (radio program), 296
Didn’t He Ramble, 341
Dinah, 116, 206
Dinky (valet), 94–95
Dipper Mouth, 206
Disciples of Swing, 305, 307
Dissonance, 284, 285, 300
Dixieland Five Pennies, 212
Dixieland style, 161
Dodds, Baby, 84, 148, 171, 363, 364
Dodds, Johnny, 49, 50, 53, 66, 112, 167, 360, 372
Dorsey, Jimmy, 100, 201, 264
Dorsey, Tommy, 98, 99, 100, 198, 302, 304, 307
Down Among the Sheltering Palms, 51
Down Beat, 369
Downhearted Blues, 57
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde (film), 270
Dreamland, The, 51
Drug conviction, 321
Drug dealing, 229–230, 244, 278–279, 287–288, 318, 320–321
Drug use. See Marihuana use; Opium use
Drumming techniques, 154–155
Dudley, Bessie, 251
Dukas, Paul, 133
Durso, Mike, 317
Dusty Rag, 341
Dutrey, Honoré, 49
E
Eastland, The, sinking of, 18
“Ecstatic in Blackface” (Wolfe), 404–418
Eddie Condon and His Foot Warmers, 200–201
Eisel, Ray, 65, 66, 115
Electrical recording system, 163
Eliot, T.S., 219, 239
Elite Number One, 51
Elite Number Two, 51
Ellington, Duke, 251, 300, 330
Empty Bed Blues, 206
Entertainers’ Café, 51
Ertegun, Nesuhi, 208
Esquires of Harlem, 226
Everybody Loves My Baby, 310, 388
Explosion, the, 362–363, 365, 366, 367
F
Faggin, Jay, 302, 303, 306, 307
Famous Door, 280
Fanon, Frantz, 404
Fats Waller and His Buddies, 256
&nb
sp; Feather, Leonard, 208
Firebird, 133
Fish Club, 310
Five Spirits of Rhythm, 279, 280
Flare-up, the, 362, 365, 366
Foley, Mitter, 4, 16
Foster, Gene, 154
Foster, George “Pops,” 285
Foster, Herman, 113, 153, 154, 165, 166, 364
Foster, Pops, 302, 310, 313, 350, 388
Four Deuces, 95
Frank, Bab, 29, 30
Frankie Newton and His Orchestra, 389
Frank Teschemacher’s Chicagoans, 167
Frederick Douglass Memorial Cemetery, 316
Fredricks, Johnny, 16
Free Love, 284
Freeman, Arnie, 140
Freeman, Lawrence “Bud,” 114, 116, 117, 139, 143, 158, 162, 212, 279, 282, 301, 363, 369, 371
Frénesie, 326
Friars Inn, 54, 160
Friars Point Shuffle, 167
Frisco, Jo, 29
Frosch, Fritz, 329
“Full orchestration,” 375
G
Gabler, Milt, 167
Garland, Ed, 49
Gautier, Madeleine, 311, 331, 348
Gay New Orleans, 317
Gem Music Publishing Company, 313
Georgia (Pontiac Reformatory), 16
Gerald X, 277–279, 284
Gettin’ Together, 310, 389
Gide, André, 353
Gistensohn, Bow, 4, 6, 7, 12, 16, 21, 22
Glick, Emil, 6, 21
Glick’s poolhall, 21, 47
Glossary, 392–401
Go Down Moses, 45
Goffin, Robert, 207
Gold Dust, 31
Goldkette, Gene, 96, 99, 149
Goldkette Orange Blossom Band, 100
Goldkette’s Greystone Dance Orchestra, 130, 138
Gone Away Blues, 320, 326, 327, 344, 347, 350
Goodman, Benny, 160, 200, 254, 304, 305, 307