Staging the Blues

McGinley Paige A. McGinley

Description

Singing was just one element of blues performance in the early twentieth century. Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and other classic blues singers also tapped, joked, and flaunted extravagant costumes on tent show and black vaudeville stages. The press even described these women as "actresses" long before they achieved worldwide fame for their musical recordings. In Staging the Blues, Paige A. McGinley shows that even though folklorists, record producers, and festival promoters set the theatricality of early blues aside in favor of notions of authenticity, it remained creatively vibrant throughout the twentieth century. Highlighting performances by Rainey, Smith, Lead Belly, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee in small Mississippi towns, Harlem theaters, and the industrial British North, this pioneering study foregrounds virtuoso blues artists who used the conventions of the theater, including dance, comedy, and costume, to stage black mobility, to challenge narratives of racial authenticity, and to fight for racial and economic justice.

Sujets

• USA
• États-Unis
• Blues

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 10 septembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822376316
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

S T A G I N GT H E B L U E S

Duke University Press

D U R H A M A N D L O N D O N2 0 1 4

Paige A. McGinley

Staging the Blues

F R O M T E N T S H O W S T O T O U R I S M

All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ∞ Designed byNatalie F. Smith Typeset in Chaparral byGraphic Composition, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McGinley, Paige A. Staging the blues : from tent shows to tourism /Paige A. McGinley. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index.  ---- (cloth : alk. paper)  ---- (pbk : alk. paper) . Blues (Music) —History and criticism. . Performance practice (Music) —Southern States—History—th century. I. Title. .  .—dc 

This book was published with the assistance of The Frederick W. Hilles Publication Fund of Yale University.

Cover art: Sister Rosetta Tharpe (–) at the London © 2 Pa 0 lla 1 di 4 um D in U  K  E .P U ict N or I ia V l E Pre R ss S L I td T . / Y Ala P m R y. E S S

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F O U R

Acknowledgments, vii

Introduction Beale on Broadway, 

Real Personality The Blues Actress, 

Theater Folk Huddie Ledbetter On Stage, 

Southern Exposure Transatlantic Blues, 

Contents

Highway  Revisited Blues Tourism at Ground Zero, 

Notes,  Bibliography,  Index, 

My first debt of gratitude is to the performers, living and dead, whose works infuse these pages, and whose creativity, professionalism, and humor I hope to have at least partially captured. Likewise, this work would not be possible with- out some of the pioneering scholarship produced in the last ten years by scholars of black performance, popular music, and theater history, particularly Daphne A. Brooks, Jayna Brown, David Savran, and Gayle Wald. Most of this book was written during my time at Yale University, which generously supported my work with a Morse Fellowship in the year –. The Frederick W. Hilles Publication Fund of Yale University also aided in bringing this book to fruition. My colleagues and stu- dents, graduate and undergraduate alike, in theater studies, American studies, and African American studies challenged every bit of my thinking in the best possible way; I could not have asked for a better set of interlocutors at such a crucial time. Hazel Carby, Glenda Gilmore, Matthew Frye Jacobson, Steve Pitti, Marc Robinson, and Laura Wexler all read and commented on portions of the manuscript. Jona- than Holloway did, too; his suggestion that we team-teach a graduate seminar together allowed me to refine some of the book’s arguments in conversation with him and a fantas- tic group of students. Elizabeth Alexander, Toni Dorfman, Jackie Goldsby, Alicia Schmidt-Camacho, and Michele and Robert Stepto provided lively meals and warm mentorship just when I needed them most. Ryan Davis, Helen Jaksch, and Jamie Kallestad were cheerful and able research as- sistants, and May Brantley and Alexa Schlieker graciously stepped in to provide eleventh-hour assistance. I extend a heartfelt thanks to Joseph Roach. He has been a fierce and unwavering advocate for this work, and his scholarship on circum-Atlanticperformancehasprofoundlyinfluencedmy own. I also thank my colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis, particularly Iver Bernstein, Rob Henke, Bill Max-

Acknowledgments

viii

well, Jeffrey McCune, Mark Rollins, Henry Schvey, and Julia Walker. I’m so grateful for their support of my scholarship, for their warm welcome when I arrived in , and for their curation of lively intellectual communities in both Performing Arts and American Culture Studies. It feels impossible to adequately thank one’s teachers. Arthur Feinsod and Katharine Power whetted my appetite for theater and for scholarship; their example led me to contemplate a career in academia, something I never would have considered without their prompting. As with so many of the most important and rewarding pieces of my adult life, the seeds of this project were sown in Providence, Rhode Island. I hope that John Emigh, Spencer Golub, Don Wilmeth, and Patricia Ybarra, all of whom nur- tured my intellectual and professional development in the early days of this project, can see their profound influence at work in these pages. I express special thanks to Rebecca Schneider, my graduate advisor and friend, who brought me along, intellectually and institutionally. I am grateful to her for setting the bar so high and for the many hours she spent helping me expand my thinking and hone my writing. Scholars beyond my home institutions have also contributed to this book’s development in significant ways. Patrick Anderson, Robin Bern- stein, Daphne A. Brooks, E. Patrick Johnson, Ric Knowles, Josh Kun, Jill Lane, Eng-Beng Lim, Ana Puga, Ramón Rivera-Servera, Mariellen Sand- ford, Richard Schechner, and Harvey Young all read and commented on various portions of the manuscript. Kate Elswit invited me to present ma- terial onTe Blues and Gospel Trainat the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities at the University of Cambridge. I always look forward to thinking out loud and at length with Joel Anderson and Louise Owen. In the course of one conversation, Nick Ridout asked the key question that changed the trajectory of the book. I also thank Martyn Bone and Brian Ward, who hosted an extraordinarily productive meeting, “Creating and Consuming the South,” at the University of Copenhagen, for which I developed much of the material in chapter . An earlier version of part of chapter  appeared in “The Magic of Song!,” inPerformance in te Borderlands, edited byRamón Rivera-Serveraand Har- vey Young (Palgrave Macmillan, ), and portions of chapter  originally appeared in “Highway  Revisited,”, no. , . Many librarians, musicians, critics, and fans shared sources that I did not know existed, granted me interviews, and pointed me in new direc- tions. I am grateful to them all, particularly Todd Harvey and the staff of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress; Greg Johnson and the staff of the Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi; Louise

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Bernard, Nancy Kuhl, and the staff of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manu- script Library at Yale University; and the cheerful and helpful staffs of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas, and the Carnegie Public Library in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Conversations with Sam Carr, Johnnie Hamp, C. P. Lee, Matthew Norman, Kim Massie, George Messenger, Joe and Dorothy Middleton, Bill Talbot, Frank Ratliff, John Reynolds, and Roger Stolle were similarly invaluable. Working with Duke University Press has been a great pleasure. Ken Wis- soker’s enthusiasm for the project has been matched only by the wisdom of his editorial advice. Elizabeth Ault and Danielle Szulczewski shepherded the book through review and production and answered my many questions with alacrity and warmth. I am deeply beholden to the two anonymous readers whose detailed comments on and criticism of the manuscript en- couraged me to clarify and strengthen the book’s arguments at a critical point in its development. Many friends, among them Christian DuComb, Christine Evans, Jeff Foye, Jocelyn Foye, Elise Morrison, Caitlin Nye, and Ken Prestininzi, pa- tiently listened to my monologues about the book and provided joyous re- spite from its trials. John and Shannon Mackey have buoyed and nourished me over many evenings of food, wine, and conversation. Molly Brunson, Bella Grigoryan, Katie Lofton, and Sam See were, and remain, my New Ha- ven family. Matthew Glassman, Megan Shea, and I have been on this road together longer than seems possible. Words can do little to express my gratitude to my large and loving family of Camps, Tices, Stephenses, Kavanaghs, and McGinleys. My siblings and their spouses—Laura, Will, Paul, and Julia—have always offered uncon- ditional love and acceptance. My parents, Carol K. McGinley and Paul A. McGinley, lovingly encouraged me throughout my very long education, and never let me forget how much they prized curiosity, debate, and inquiry. Wayne T. Stephens and Shirley Coffey have both graced my life with their love and laughter. Melissa and Vicki Camp welcomed me with open arms into the warmth of their family. In the years that I have been writing this book, Pannill Camp and I have built a life together—a journey that has offered richer rewards than any book. Pannill’s intellectual companionship, reserves of patience, and capac- ity for laughter have immeasurably enriched my life. I dedicate this book to him.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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