YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!! Songwriters live off the income generated by a major hit song—sometimes enjoying a payoff for decades to come. Similarly, sometimes an old song will be a surprise hit decades later—bringing its writers an unexpected boost in revenue. This is what happened with Sissle and Blake’s song “I’m Just Wild About …
Author Archives: CharlesWHEAT901@#
Shuffle Along: Racism in the Press
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!! One of the most revealing experiences we had writing Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm, and Race, was in reading the contemporary reviews of Shuffle Along and the other musicals that Eubie scored. The (mostly white) reviewers in the mainstream press—whether intentionally or not—often revealed their own strong racial prejudices in their …
“Jazz” and “Blues”
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!! The terms “jazz” and “blues” came into widespread use in the late teens-early 1920s, but their meaning was not the same as they hold today. There’s been ample discussion of the original of the words themselves, but it’s interesting to note that–just as today when a new style hits the …
In Bamville: Following on the Success of Shuffle Along
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!! To follow up on the success of Shuffle Along, Sissle and Blake hoped to create a more “sophisticated” show that would feature even less of the comic stereotypes that had been a feature of their previous hit. The show began its life titled In Bamville, and opened in Rochester, New …
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Happy Birthday Eubie!!!
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!!! James Hubert Blake was born on February 7, 1887, in Baltimore, Maryland—not in 1883 as he would say through most of his life. Why Eubie added four years to his age is anyone’s guess, although his first wife, Avis, was older than him and he may wanted to make their …
Big Band Days and Singin’ the Blues
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!!!! The early ‘30s was also the beginning of the so-called “big band” era, and many black composers/performers were beginning to achieve success leading bands, including Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and Cab Calloway. From his work in Shuffle Along and subsequent productions, Blake had established himself as a Broadway conductor, and …
Celebrating 100 Years of Shuffle Along
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!!! May 23, 2021 will mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of Shuffle Along on Broadway, the groundbreaking musical scored by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake. We’re celebrating here at the Eubie Blog all this spring with a special emphasis on the show, newly found material, and we hope soon …
Charles Cochran and the Lost London Production of Shuffle Along
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!!!! After the New York run of Shuffle Along ended and the lead company took to the road, the plan originally was to go to London in April 1923 under the auspices of British producer Charles Cochran. Born in London, Cochran first established himself as an actor in American vaudeville in …
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Life on the Road
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!!! It wasn’t easy to tour an all-black show during the days of Jim Crow—even when the show was playing Northern towns. The company had to find restaurants and lodgings that would accommodate black patrons. Getting accurate accountings from each theater for box office receipts was often tough, too. Eubie explained …
TALKIN’ BROADWAY REVIEWS EUBIE BLAKE: RAGS, RHYTHM, AND RACE
Hey Folks: Here’s another great review of our book, Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm, and Race: https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2021/eubie.html Some of you have asked how to order the book. Here’s a link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Carlin/e/B001HO3A7S?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1611944681&sr=8-1 More cool posts coming next week!
