cabaret1

Artists, performers, entertainers, musicians, composers and singers of yesteryears and at the dawn of American music were so different from those who came to the scene and to the modern American music of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. The music was real musical composition, no Rap crap and heavy metal distorting noises. The lyrics were simple, evocative, poetic and polite and consequently, songs could be sung by all generations and audiences of all ages. The musical productions were either super extravaganzas or daringly intimate and sentimental. The outfits, suits, dresses and wardrobes were either outrageous in their couture and style or traditionally elegant with refined cuts and couture. The make-up was either extremely exaggerated, accentuated or theatrical. The audience was strictly divided into two classes; the titled and entitled as one group, and the “tiers d’etat” as a second group. Some female artists made it big time. Some earned a fortune while others despite their enormous success and superior artistic quality died in absolute poverty. Female artists did not know how to invest their money. In many instances, they have been used and misused, mistreated and taken advantage by greedy impresarios, managers and agents. Success was based upon artistic quality, not fame and shame. In brief, it was a different world.

Photo, up: The Great Julie Wilson, one of the original pioneers of American Cabaret.

Folks around the turn of the century were singing “I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now”, and others went for “When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobing Along”:

When the red red Robin comes bob-bob-bobbing along, along.
There'll be no more sobbing when he starts throbbing his old sweet song.

Wake up, wake up you sleepy head,
Get up, get up get out of bed,
Cheer up cheer up the sun is red,
Live, love, laugh and be happy.

What if I've been blue, now I'm walking though fields of flowers.
Rain may glisten but still I listen for hours and hours.

I'm just a kid again doing what I did again singing a song.
When the red red Robin comes bob-bob-bobbing along, along.”

It was a sweet and innocent time. The lyrics were simple and polite. The music was music and the song publishers on 28^th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway in New York City were busy. This was the beginning of the good times of American music and American singers. It was exciting for everybody; I can see Irving Berlin working on a new show, the extravagant Florenz Ziegfeld auditioning his female dancers and singers for his follies, ballroom dancing taking off, musicals on Broadway are in full gear, and cheap grotesque burlesques joints are steaming. Vaudeville is booming and zooming, motion pictures are rolling, gramophones soaring, and cartoons, the latest novelty of the day are amusing and confusing many. America is ready for big time music. Meanwhile abroad, the legendary Aristide Bruant reinvent Cabaret and Lucine Boyer takes Paris by storm. The world’s first Cabaret “Le Chat Noir “ which opened its doors for the first time in the Monmartre district of Paris in March 1881 gets a face lift. It becomes the perfect place for adventurers, hustlers, raconteurs, drunken philosophers, poets, artists, composers and celebrities of the day such as Guy de Maupassant, Satie and de Debussy.

The twentieth century is knocking at our doors, Broadway is in full swing with musicals and flashy dashy productions. Two big productions take New York city by storm; “The Wizard of Oz”. The original draft (below) of “Over the Rainbow” written before the story was even completed is re-written again for the second time. Considered cynical, the original draft will not see the light, and would be deleted from the original script, cut from the premiere and all the productions to follow.

“Somewhere down past the wheat field, way way back,
There’s some land that I heard of a miles past the railroad track
Somewhere down past the wheat field, skies are gray
And the people that trudge to work do it day by day
Someday I want to see this spot
Where troubles grow like mildew rot ...so true
And everything revolves around
The money that they all have found -destroying values
Somewhere down past the wheat field, way way back,
There’s a land that my curiosity wants a crack.
If happy little bluejays fly…beyond the wheat field, why oh why can’t I?”

The play which was making waves, was “Peter Pan”. The two big hits of the era were “Give My Regards to Broadway” and “Meet me in St. Louis.” African Americans begin to sing the Blues in the fields and many Blues songs are recorded by talent scouts. Bessie Smith becomes the greatest Blues Singers in the country. Harlem is still a white middle and upper-middle class community neighborhood of uptown Manhattan but, things are going to change now.

Philip Payton's Afro-Am Realty Company begins to lease and rent many of Harlem apartments and houses to black tenants around 135th Street East of Eighth Avenue and Harlem’s. Blues expands East-West from Park to Amsterdam Avenues and North-South from 155th Street to Central Park. The Blues is born. Soon, the Blues will invade the whole country and metamorphose into: Harlem Blues, Chicago Blues, California Blues, Country Blues, Louisiana Blues, Delta Blues, Bourbon Street Blues, Memphis Blues, Piedmont Blues, St. Louis Blues, Texas Blues, Urban Blues, you name it.

Photo, below: Jelly Roll Morton (Born Ferdinand Lamothe)

Simultaneously, Jazz begins to see the light, mainly in New Orleans. Jazz pioneers, such as Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and later Duke Ellington create new jazz tunes and compositions for big bands nightclubs and cabarets shows. Jazz becomes a dominant force in the mainstream of American nightlife music thanks to creative and passionate singers, composers and musicians such as, to name a few: Henry Allen, Lil Hardin-Armstrong, Albert Ammons, Eva Taylor, Mary Lou Williams, Nick LaRocca, Julia Lee, Billie Holiday, Lovie Austin, Mutt Carey, Elmer Snowden, Doc Cooke, Tiny Parham, Joseph Petit, Eddie Condon, Wrskine Tate, Lester Young, Clarence Williams, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ben Webster, Eddie Durham, aul Whiteman, Jimmy Lunceford, Johnny Dunn,Milt Hinton, Fats Walle, Buster Bailey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Carter, Perry Bradford, Buddy Bolden, Cab Calloway, Tommy Dorsey, Harland Leonard, Jimmy Blythe, Sidney Bechet, Count Bassie, Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, Ben Pollack, Alphonse Picou, Mamie Smith, Willie “The Lion” Smith, Frank Trumbauer, Jack Teagarden,