[Dixielandjazz] Dark to light, was Black and Blue

[Don Kirkman]

On Wed, 29 Jan 2003 14:22:31 +1100, Anton Crouch wrote:

>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.

ISTM the issue even popped up in Gershwin (Porgy & Bess) in "Red Headed
Woman":

A red-headed woman makes a cho-choo jump its track.
A red-headed woman she can make it jump right back.
Oh, she's jus' nature's child,
She's got somethin' dat drives men wild.
A red-headed woman's gonna take you wedder you're
White, yellow or black.

>PS: Do the Ellington scholars have any information on "Black and tan
>fantasy" and "Black, brown and beige" ?
-- 
Don
donkirk at covad.net