[Dixielandjazz] "Black & Blue" - "Hot Chocolates"- redux.

[Stephen Barbone]

>From Fat's Biography:

Fats Waller - Thomas "Fats" Waller, was born in New York City, May
21,1904. A major jazz creator, he wrote complete scores for such
all-black shows as Keep Shufflin' (1928) and Hot Chocolates (1929) as
well as many single pieces, especially the now-classic "Honeysuckle
Rose," "Ain't Misbehavin'," and "Black and Blue."

The show Hot Chocolates, 1929, was cast all black. (No whites in the
show). It was shown in black theaters around the country. The verse
lyrics which Sheik so kindly posted explain the scene. A dark black
woman walking down the street alone. Passersby are black men with light
skinned black women on their arms.

That is when she sings the tune, lamenting that black men prefer light
skinned brown women, etc. The meaning is very clear.

I saw the show in Harlem in 1949 with some friends and while I don't
remember much, I do remember that scene and reference as being roughly
as described above.

Louis Armstrong when he sang it omitted the verse. Whether or not he had
a white lover at the time, I can't say but it is clear that he had many
lovers during his career. His own letter to Joe Glazer, August 2,1955
indicates that he had a child by a lover, conceived earlier in Las
Vegas. He asked Glazer to send $100 a week to the woman and "his
daughter", while he was away on tour. The letter also refers to
Lucille's knowing about it.

Interestingly enough, Lucille was dark black. One of the first dark
blacks hired by the Cotton Club, which was notorious for having only
light skinned blacks in the chorus line. Louis Armstrong is quoted as
saying more than once that he preferred darker skinned women. Especially
his article in Ebony Magazine circa 1954, "Why I Like Dark Women."  He
was in that article,  quoted thusly: "None of my four wives was a light
colored woman." He also was proud of the fact that "Lucille broke the
high yellow barrier at the Cotton Club."

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

PS. If you google search "Hot Chocolates, 1929" you will find more
information about the show.