[Dixielandjazz] Arthur Pryor (was Kid Ory's Muscrat Ramble)

[David Richoux]

These are the two quotes that got me questioning:

>  Arthur Pryor, an African American alumnus of the Sousa band,
> formed a group of his own that featured, as part of its repertoire,  
> ragtime
> works...(Page 137) (Steppin' on the Blues: The Visible Rhythms
> of African American Dance By Jacqui Malone Published by University of
> Illinois Press, 1996 ISBN 0252065085, 9780252065088)


and

> [Sousa] gave "black music" a national platform and included African  
> Americans such as Arthur Pryor, in his band. By using unconventional  
> orchestral instruments, such as the banjo, Sousa lent legitimacy to  
> the smaller ethnic groups that gained popularity from 1890 to 1900.   
> (American Popular Culture Through History, The 1910's -  by David  
> Blanke The 1910s Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002 ISBN  
> 0313312516, 9780313312519)

I  contacted a woman tho has been doing genealogy on all of the Pryors  
of Tennessee and Missouri and an Archivist from the Sousa Archives and  
Center for American Music with those quotes - this was his reply:

> Thank you for your very interesting question.  According to a copy  
> of Pryor's death certificate found in the Paul Bierley Papers  
> (Series 4, Box 120, folder 25) he was identified as being, male,  
> *white* and married.  This should put your question about him being  
> African American to rest. You also have to realize that Sousa was a  
> product of his generation and as such would not have been likely to  
> hire African American musicians at the turn of the 20th century to  
> perform with his all male band made up of musicians with western  
> European descents (i.e., German, Portuguese, British, Irish, etc.).   
> I would like to think that Sousa was so cosmopolitan that he would  
> have done this intentionally, but if he had there would have been  
> something written in one of the many news paper articles that his  
> clipping service maintained.  I hope this helps answer your question.

The genealogist is still working on the research from her own  
direction (she had wondered about this before) no 100% conclusive  
evidence yet...

Dave RIchoux


On Nov 17, 2008, at 1:07 PM, Bill Haesler wrote:

> tubaman at tubatoast.com asked:
>> One thing I have been trying to find out about Pryor: several books  
>> I have read say emphatically that he was African-American, but  
>> there is not much supporting evidence of that from other sources.  
>> He certainly wrote a lot of Ragtime songs (and a few "Coon Songs")  
>> but that does not prove anything...
>> Anybody have any info either way?
>
> Dear Dave,
> That fine ragtime authority David A Jasen, in his excellent book  
> 'Recorded Ragtime 1897-1958' (1973. Archon Books by Shoe String  
> Press), differentiates between the ragtime composers in the book's  
> biographical section using (n) and (w).
> Arthur Pryor  [70-9-22 - 42.6.18] is a definite (w) as the article  
> in the link you gave
>   http://www.paragonragtime.com/pryor.html
> implies.
> As the several photographs in books and on the web indicate.
> Now to dig out my Arthur Pryor records and re-listen to his trombone  
> playing.
> Kind regards,
> Bill.