[Dixielandjazz] Dark to light, was Black and Blue

[Anton Crouch]

Hello all

Bill Haesler sums up the significance of "Black and Blue" well - it's about
colour differentiation among African-Americans. The perceived preference,
by men, for light coloured women is only part of the matter.

The extent of the documentation of the phenomenon on record is surprising.

For example

Bessie Smith, "Mama's got the blues", 28 April 1923
Billy and Mary Mack, "Black but sweet, oh god", 22 January 1925
Ida Cox, "Mister man" (part 1), April 1925
Ma Rainey, "Sweet rough man", c. Septenber 1928
Barbecue Bob, "Chocolate to the bone", 13 April 1928
Lillian Glinn, "Where have all the black men gone", 25 April 1928
Cab Calloway, "Yaller", 12 November 1930
Blind Boy Fuller, "My brownskin sugar plum", 26 July 1935
Tommy McClennan, "Brown skin gal", 22 November 1939
Washboard Sam, "Brown and yellow woman", 26 June 1941

Essential to the understanding of these records is an awareness of the dark
to light spectrum, usually given as black; brown/chocolate; yellow/beige.

All the best
Anton

PS: Do the Ellington scholars have any information on "Black and tan
fantasy" and "Black, brown and beige" ?