The Regal Theater and Black Culture

The Regal Theater and Black Culture

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The Regal Theater and Black Culture by

Dr. Clovis E. Semmes

THE REGAL THEATER AND BLACK CULTURE

© Dr. Clovis E. Semmes, 2006. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2006 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 1–4039–7171–4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Semmes, Clovis E. The Regal Theater and black culture / Clovis E. Semmes. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–4039–7171–4 (alk. paper) 1. Regal Theater (Chicago, Ill.) 2. African American theater—Illinois— Chicago—History—20th century. I. Title. PN2277.C42R44 2006 792.089⬘96073077311—dc22

2005054435

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: April 2006 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America.

Content s

Acknowledgments Introduction: The Regal Theater and Black Culture

vii 1

1 The Opening: Separate but Equal

15

2 The Depression Years: Privilege in the Marketplace and Black Stewardship

43

3 The End of Monopoly and the End of Swing

93

4 The Decline of Commercial Segregation and the Transition to Independence

135

5 Rebirth, Black Ownership, and the Closing of the Palace

171

6 Retrospect and Lessons Learned

215

Notes

227

Bibliography

263

Index

271

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Ac knowled gment s

Significant portions of the research for this book were supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and two research grants from Eastern Michigan University, a Spring–Summer Research Award and a Faculty Research Fellowship. It is not possible to thank all of the people who gave support to this project. However, I have attempted to identify some that made special contributions. Sincere thanks and appreciation to the following: Christopher Reed, Sterling Stuckey, Lucy Hayden, Barbara Scott, Floyd Hayes, Charles Stevens, James Pitts, Terry Monaghan, Nadine Graves-George, Angela Billingsley, Ida Brown, Kenyetta Jackson, and Cassandra Turner. I am grateful also for the assistance of Reverend William Vance, Emmanuel Semmes, and Clovis Semmes. To those who gave unconditional love and support to Jabulani K. Makalani, you have my deep appreciation. Many knowledgeable people shared information with me about the Regal and related issues. Most of these contributors are listed in the bibliographic portion of the book. However, I would like to extend a special thanks to Warner Saunders, Jerry Butler, Mary Lawrence, Louis “Scotty” Piper, Marjorie Stewart Joyner, Bob Starks, Judy Jenkins, and Severina Britto. I give special thanks for the love and caring of my wife Jean, who was a coresearcher on this project. She also read and edited numerous versions of the manuscript. Loving gratitude to my mother, who was an inspiration for this book. She made her transition years before I completed the project but remains forever in my heart. Thanks always to my children, Jelani, Maia, and Sala, who give purpose to everything that I do.

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Introduction: The Regal Theater and Blac k Culture

The Regal Theater was the greatest movie-stage-show venue in the United States ever constructed to specifically service a major African American community. Located in Chicago’s South Side, African American community that was known as “Bronzeville” or the “Black Belt,” the Regal was a neighborhood motion picture “palace” that was part of a state-of-the-art commercial and entertainment complex. This complex included the prominent Chicago Savoy Ballroom and South Center Department Store. The Regal Theater provided live entertainment and motion pictures from 1928 through 1968 but was most recognized for its live stage shows. The story of the Regal Theater reveals critical details regarding the chronology and context of African American innovation and participation in vaudeville, feature films, comedy, dance, European classical music, jazz as a dance music, bebop and progressive jazz, blues, jump blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, and so on. It is an important medium for understanding momentous shifts and developments in twentieth century African American popular and entertainment culture. There are several important dimensions to this inquiry. Using sociological and historical perspectives, this work probes crucial challenges to the Regal’s survival created by demographic transformations, technological innovation, and economic change. Furthermore, using the natural history of the Regal as an investigative lens, the study examines the collectivity of social forces that advance and constrain Black cultural and artistic production and the structures of inequality that circumscribe African American life. Finally, this work illuminates the various roles played by the Regal in the promotion and maintenance of community and in the maintenance of an authentic Black culture.1

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The Context and Life of the Regal The Great Migration, beginning around 1916, which brought millions of African Americans from the rural South to the expanding, urban, industrial centers of the North, resulted in the formation of dynamic and distinctive Black communities. These communities were typically overcrowded, racially homogeneous, and highly integrated with respect to the socioeconomic class of their residents. The reality of intense racial segregation supported by restrictive covenants, police brutality, residential bombings, and the like made Blacks a captive population and caused Black communities to emerge as cities within cities with unique cultural sensibilities. These communities had separate commercial, civic, religious, political, and cultural (entertainment) spheres of activity. High levels of political and economic dependency and powerlessness also characterized these Black communities, but in some respects a confined community life also became a buffer against a broader and harsher system of racial oppression. Furthermore, Whites dominated ownership of key businesses and real estate in Black communities. This domination was largely the result of the economic and political advantage they gained through an extant system of White supremacy. This system also restricted Black business activity, ownership, and development. However, in some instances White-owned businesses contributed beneficially and significantly to the development of Black localities and to stimulating a sense of community, especially when dominate White-owned businesses viewed such support as necessary to advance their own financial objectives. For most of the twentieth century, urbanization and ghettoization would become the most important socializing forces for Black Americans. Emerging, northern, urban Black communities became incubators for new cultural forms (style, speech, dress, music, dance, comedic forms, and the like) that would continually shape and reshape American popular culture. However, before these forms reached the stage of mass commercialization and expropriation by mainstream society, they initially reflected the day-to-day realities, deep human aspirations, creative spirit, and societal challenges facing Black Americans. It was through these circumstances that a sense of community emerged among Black city-dwellers, which would later fragment, and in some instances disintegrate, under the intensely disruptive forces of urban and posturban life and the persistent, but often submerged, onslaught of systemic inequality. In Chicago, it was by way of this incipient Black urban context that the Regal Theater remained for forty years the most prominent Black-oriented theater in

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Chicago and arguably, at various times, the most significant Blackoriented theater in the country. The Regal Theater had a unique beginning. A White business syndicate, which saw Chicago’s Black Belt as a lucrative and untapped market, built the Regal Theater at the fringe of an advancing Black population. They did so in a style that followed an acclaimed Chicago tradition wherein magnificent theater palaces were built in the neighborhoods. At the time of its completion, the Regal was one of the most impressive buildings in Chicago’s Black Belt. It was a palatial structure whose lobby rose 160 feet to reach a massive ornate cornice. Regal management claimed the lobby could accommodate 1,500 people at one time. A lavishly furnished balconade encircled the lobby, where one of Chicago’s foremost musical talents played a piano to entertain the crowds waiting for seats. The business syndicate constructed and furnished the Regal at a cost of 1.5 million dollars. Promoters boasted of marble floors from the Carrara quarries of Italy, silks from the Orient, ornate crystal chandeliers from Belgium, and mottled Moroccan leather-covered seats. The interior gave the appearance of a giant, striped, brilliantly colored tent under a North African sky. A delicate silhouette of Moorish castles under a blue sky with twinkling stars was visible through an aperture in the tent-like structure.2 The Regal offered high quality live entertainment to Black audiences years before Harlem’s famous Apollo Theater in New York City (1928 versus 1934). Also, unlike the Apollo, entrepreneurs constructed the Regal from the ground up as a first-class showplace to bring top performers and first-run films (silent and, later, talking) to a vibrant and expanding Black community. The Regal’s stage shows presented the best Black talent in America, gave employment and national visibility to Chicago talent, and brought many acclaimed White performers to Black audiences. In addition, the Regal’s architectural decorum was far superior to the Apollo, and at nearly 3,000 seats, the Regal’s audiences were almost twice those of the Apollo’s. In addition to bookings, the Regal maintained superb in-house talent and a first-class organization. Management imported Fess Williams, a prominent bandleader from New York’s famed Savoy Ballroom, to front the Regal’s twenty-two-piece jazz band and to serve as master of ceremonies. Corporate heads appointed Dave Peyton, a respected and highly skilled local musician, as music director. Peyton led the Regal’s symphonic orchestra. Management brought in Sammy Williams, a twenty-one-year-old musical genius who played for the exclusive Chicago Riding Club, to play the Regal’s

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exquisite $25,000 Barton organ. The Regal had its own choreographer and a chorus line equal to any in the country. It opened with a staff of sixty-five front-house personnel, who were instructed to give service with a smile. Regal management offered three to four stage shows daily, and a first-run movie accompanied each show. Performances were thirty cents and fifteen cents for matinees, fifty cents and twenty cents in the evenings, and sixty-five cents and twenty-five cents on Saturdays, Sundays, and other holidays. The lower prices were for children.3 The Regal opened its doors on February 4, 1928, at 4719 South Parkway (formerly Grand Boulevard and currently Martin Luther King Jr., Drive) and spanned five decades from when it began as the Lubliner and Trinz Regal Theater. By the time of the Regal opening, Lubliner and Trinz had become a subsidiary of the immensely powerful, Chicago-based theater chain, Balaban and Katz. Very shortly, the Lubliner and Trinz banner disappeared, and the Regal was under the ostensible control of Balaban and Katz. Also, Paramount Pictures, the giant of the motion picture industry at the time, controlled Balaban and Katz through Publix Theaters, its national chain of movie theaters. The physical structure of the Regal was part of a commercial complex that housed the South Center Department Store and the Savoy Ballroom. The Chicago Defender, at one point the most widely circulated, distinguished, and influential Black newspaper in America, reported that the South Center Department Store, the anchor for the Black Belt’s hugely successful Forty-Seventh Street business district, was the first major department store in the country to employ Blacks as sales personnel.4 The Regal provided other unique circumstances and a rich history of performers. Ken Blewett became the Regal’s first Black manager. He directed the Regal from 1939 to 1959, longer than any other manager did in the Regal’s history. Balaban and Katz did not renew its lease on the theater in 1959, and the Englestein brothers, who owned the entire complex, decided to operate the Regal themselves.5 Black business pioneer S. B. Fuller purchased the entire complex, which included the Regal, in 1963.6 However, changing social and economic conditions and racism created intense financial problems for Mr. Fuller, and he lost the Regal in 1968. This tragedy was compounded in 1973 when the subsequent owners tore down the Regal and built a parking lot in its place. The list is expansive, but a few of the talented artists who performed at the Regal were Lottie Gee, Noble Sissle, Paul Robeson, Revella Hughes, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters, the Whitman Sisters, Count Basie,

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the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Moms Mabley, the Mills Brothers, the Nicholas Brothers, Bill Robinson, the Ink Spots, Cab Calloway, Nat Cole, Chick Webb, Jimmie Lunceford, Josephine Baker, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Temptations, Miles Davis, Dinah Washington, Curtis Mayfield, the Dells, Ella Fitzgerald, Flip Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, B. B. King, and many, many more.

Bronzeville and the Regal: A Memoir By the time I discovered the Regal Theater while growing up at 5240 South Wabash in Bronzeville on Chicago’s South Side, it had been some years since the Regal had reached its zenith and was now in decline. However, for other young people and myself, who waited in long lines to see its magnificent stage shows, the Regal could not have been better. We only knew of the dynamic entertainment that was before us and were now without a sense of history or a basis of comparison. But this state of ignorance is normal for young people. Unless there is a teacher or mentor and the will to learn of one’s past, the young will carry their ignorance to adulthood, and important knowledge and traditions run the risk of being lost forever. There are numerous examples of the rich history that surrounded the Regal in Chicago’s Bronzeville or Black Belt, far more than I am able to present here. As a boy, I frequented the George Cleveland Hall Library at 4801 S. Michigan Avenue and its Vivian G. Harsh Collection. I didn’t know that the Harsh Collection was one of the most important collections of African American history, literature, and culture in the country and that Vivian G. Harsh was Chicago’s first African American librarian. George Cleveland Hall, the namesake of the library, was a prominent African American physician who, among other achievements, helped to organize Provident Hospital, an institution that was crucial to the health of the Black community. It was at Provident that a brilliant African American surgeon, Daniel Hale Williams, performed the first successful open-heart surgery. Hall also worked with Carter G. Woodson, known as the father of African American history, to found the Association for the Study of Negro (now African American) Life and History in 1915. Hall was the first African American to be appointed to Chicago’s library board.7 Also, I found that Charlemae Hill Rollins, head of the children’s department at Hall library, whose mere demeanor, I remember, commanded proper decorum from every young person who entered the library, was a pioneer in her field. Rollins, who trained in library

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science at Columbia University and the University of Chicago, became a recognized authority on children’s literature. She maintained a life-long commitment to elevate the image of African Americans in works for young people. One of her many publications was We Build Together: A Readers Guide to Negro Life and Literature for Elementary and High School Use. Rollins saw reading as a critical tool for personal and social development and in 1940 organized at Hall a reading guidance clinic for parents. In 1946 Roosevelt University (then a college) appointed Rollins to teach a course in children’s literature. Rollins was the first African American president of the Children’s Service Division of the American Library Association. She served Hall library from 1932 to 1963.8 Another indication of my youthful ignorance was the fact that on countless occasions, I visited the Overton Building at 5200 South Wabash, which was down the street from my home, but knew nothing of Anthony Overton, its original owner. Overton, in the early twentieth century, was the first African American to create a highly diverse business conglomerate. He developed Overton Hygienic Manufacturing Company, Chicago Bee newspaper, Half-Century magazine, Douglass National Bank, which was the first Black-owned bank to receive a national charter, and Victory Insurance Company, among other business ventures.9 African American achievements and firsts were always remarkable because they took place in a social climate that routinely advanced the myth of Black inferiority and one that normally restricted Black employment, residence, business development, education, and social and political participation through laws, convention, and violence. Four blocks to the north of the Regal on Forty-Third Street, a world renown physician serviced Bronzeville residents and attracted patients from all over the world. African American dermatologist Theodore K. Lawless maintained his practice in the commercial building he owned at 4321 South Parkway. Lawless was extraordinarily successful in the treatment of a variety of skin diseases. He also taught dermatology at Northwestern University medical college, the institution where Lawless earned his medical degree. Lawless maintained a top-notch dermatological clinic and research center, which he made available to other physicians. Even though Lawless was in the heart of the Black community, ninety percent of his patients were White, and many were from foreign countries. Lawless was a brilliant physician, an astute businessman, and a compassionate philanthropist. He lived a frugal lifestyle, invested

INTRODUCTION

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wisely, became a millionaire, never married, and used his fortune to help others. For example, Lawless built the $700,000 Gentilly Gardens apartments adjacent to Dillard University, established a research center at the Black Belt’s famous Provident Hospital, purchased a pipe organ and a piano for Talladega College, and helped to finance struggling medical students. Furthermore, Lawless was a large holder of Israeli bonds and was primarily responsible for the half-milliondollar T. K. Lawless dermatological department and wing at Beilinson hospital in Israel. Beilinson was the first hospital in Israel to have a dermatology department. The hospital was constructed in 1936 to service Jewish settlers in the region and later became Rabin Medical Center, Israel’s largest medical facility. Theodore K. Lawless was an important part of the commercial synergy surrounding the Regal. He treated people from all walks of life with high quality care, fairness, and respect.10 Across the street from my home was the church I attended as a child, Cosmopolitan Community Church, headed by a pioneering woman minister, Dr. Mary G. Evans.11 Under Dr. Evans’s leadership, Cosmopolitan provided strong support to the NAACP and the Civil Rights movement and established extensive services for young people and senior citizens in the community. Dr. Evans was a pillar of strength and an anomaly among Chicago’s Black ministerial leadership class, which was traditionally male. It was through Cosmopolitan’s annual garden parties that I first learned of the master musician and teacher Walter H. Dyett, whose orchestra played the event. In the early part of the twentieth century, Dyett gained an outstanding reputation as a musician through working in theater bands in Chicago. Over the course of his career, Dyett played with the Erskine Tate band and performed at the Regal Theater. Dyett was a highly trained musician who was comfortable with African American musical traditions and European classical music. He played piano and banjo and was an accomplished concert violinist. Dyett became the band director at Wendell Phillips High School and later held the same position at Du Sable High School, both public schools in Chicago’s Black Belt with rich traditions. Known as a disciplinarian and a superior teacher, Dyett mentored such great jazz musicians as pianists Dorothy Donegan and Nat “King” Cole; saxophonists Gene Ammons, Eddie Harris, Joseph Jarman, and Von Freeman; and vocalists Dinah Washington and Johnny Hartman.12 Cosmopolitan’s congregation included some of Black Chicago’s leading civic leaders and business and professional people, but one

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person who stands out in my mind is Madame Marjorie Stewart Joyner. Madame Joyner or Dr. Joyner, as she was called, became, early in the twentieth century, National Supervisor of the Madame C. J. Walker Beauty Colleges, the chain of beauty culture schools that embodied the popular style of beauty care associated with Madame C. J. Walker. A groundbreaking Black businesswoman, Walker overcame abject poverty, racism, and sexism to become a self-made millionaire. Walker’s business and philanthropic efforts contributed greatly to economic independence for Black women and Black economic, educational, and cultural development generally. Dr. Joyner trained and managed thousands of Walker agents and practitioners, and she opened the Madame C. J. Walker Beauty Salon and a Walker School of Beauty Culture in the South Center Department Store, which was part of the same complex that housed the Regal Theater. For years Dr. Joyner served as chair of the Chicago Defender Charities, coordinating its famous Bud Billiken Parade. Dr. Joyner worked closely with Robert S. Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender, and Abbott’s successor, his nephew, John Sengstacke.13 Dr. Joyner, who died in 1994 at the age of 98, was a caring and fearless individual. She attended the Regal when it first opened and thoroughly knew the history of Chicago’s Bronzeville or Black Belt, which my generation and subsequent ones have failed to comprehend.

The Regal, Black Culture, and Community The Regal Theater contributed to the maintenance of an authentic Black culture because performers, Black or non-Black, had to meet the aesthetic demands and norms of Black audiences. These audiences, at least initially, cut across class and age boundaries and constituted a diverse base of Black entertainment consumers. At the Regal, Black audiences effectively reinforced Black aesthetic norms through their attendance and spending patterns and audience-based expressions of approval and disapproval. In addition, the Regal’s primary market existed inside a distinctive Black community whose boundaries were reinforced by a system of racial segregation. Thus, there tended to be congruence between cultural production and cultural consumption. On the other hand, Black entertainers who performed for predominantly White markets had to meet a different set of aesthetic and

INTRODUCTION

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behavioral norms, even though they might utilize Black-oriented or Black inspired performance styles. Music and other forms of expressive culture distinguish and demarcate a community by making available to its members and others the visible presence of a commonly held experience. In fact, expressive culture is the essential feature that defines the ethos of a community. The Regal greatly contributed to this ethos and stood as a wellspring of community pride, in addition to its function as an important source of neighborhood employment. Also, when the Regal first opened, live music was the norm in Black communities. Cabarets, ballrooms, vaudeville and movie houses, and other forms of entertainment held at churches, schools, lodges, private homes, and the like required the physical presence of musicians and other sorts of performers. Thus, a theatrical workforce maintained an ever-present, discernible, and central role in Black community life, which the Regal helped to sustain. The Chicago Defender newspaper, one of the few visible and significant examples of Black business ownership in the Black Belt, had a close relationship with the Regal Theater for nearly two decades. For the Black community, the Chicago Defender stood as a beacon of hope, a champion of human rights, and a source of group acclaim. It was an institution that was respected by African Americans across the nation. For a number of years, the Chicago Defender utilized the Regal Theater to advance its charitable programs on behalf of children. In addition, when the Regal first opened, its musical director, Dave Peyton, was a columnist for the Chicago Defender. Through his column, “The Musical Bunch,” Peyton routinely offered advice to Black musicians, and he kept the community informed about events at various entertainment venues, including the Regal. Through the Chicago Defender, entertainers kept fans and colleagues informed about their status and even requested visits to their homes, hotels, and apartments. For example, one issue published the message that “Gussie Gold is still the singing marvel at the [Chicago] Apollo. She is having her meals at 4646 Prairie Ave., apartment 17.” Another message said, “Ethel Jackson says she would just love to hear from the gang some time. She can be found at times at 5200 Prairie Ave., apartment 3.”14 Thus, the Chicago Defender provided visibility and support for a Black theatrical workforce, which represented a significant economic and inspirational resource in the Black community. However, despite the Regal’s collaboration with the Chicago Defender and its role in enhancing community life, the Regal Theater also embodied the reality of a broader system of exploitation.

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The Regal, Internal Colonialism, and Cultural Hegemony Blacks who attended the Regal could readily perceive the splendor of its architecture, the warm and magnificent aura of its interior, and its stunning stage presentations, but not the underlying economics and politics surrounding its existence. For example, they could not easily comprehend the Regal as part of a system that functionally restricted the ownership of major theatrical outlets in African American communities by African Americans.15 The Regal benefited from connections to a monopolistic motion picture production, distribution, and exhibition conglomerate, to White organized crime, and to a system of racial oppression and segregation, which produced a captive Black market and which constrained Black business development. For much of the Regal’s existence, Paramount Pictures, the industry giant in motion picture production, distribution, and exhibition, was the parent owner of the Regal and paid large sums of money to the Chicago crime syndicate, as a normal business expense, to enhance its advantage in the market place.16 Furthermore, Chicago’s patronage-controlled city government maintained a working alliance with organized crime, which collectively advanced the interests of White ethnic groups, but which normally limited the political power and business activities of Black Americans. White power brokers often controlled where Blacks could open businesses in the Black Belt. Even Black organized crime in Chicago was circumscribed by racial oppression. For example, Blacks controlled policy, a form of lottery gambling, which became a significant employer in the Black Belt, an important source of capital for Black business development, and a crucial source of financial backing for independent Black political activity. With the blessings of city government, White organized crime took over this characteristically non violent enterprise. Also, through interlocking criminal and corporate relationships, powerful Whites maintained far-reaching control over a Black theatrical workforce.17 Some scholars have labeled the type of inequality that controlled Black communities in the early twentieth century as internal or domestic colonialism.18 Classic colonialism is when the vital institutions of a native people are controlled by another country.19 Internal or domestic colonialism, however, is when—though residents or citizens of the same country—one racial or ethnic group controls the vital institutions of another, and the groups are separated

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spatially. Domestic colonialism is systemic and qualitatively different from individual acts of prejudice or discrimination and, after achieving normative status, does not need conscious intent to persist.20 The concept of domestic colonialism, however, is limited conceptually and as an explanatory model of systemic racial oppression by its dependence on the requirement of spatial separation. Domestic colonialism is in fact a subcategory of a broader aspect of structured inequality called cultural hegemony. Cultural hegemony is the process by which the institutional and historical trajectory of one group calls into dissolution the institutional independence, coherence, and viability of another. The problem of cultural hegemony is most relevant to populations of African descent. This is because their more recent histories evolved from processes involving the systematic destruction and/or control of culture (language, religion, family, political and economic independence, institutions of ideation, and the like). Cultural control and/or negation were necessary to create a compliant slave population and later, a compliant peasant, servant, working, or petite bourgeois class. The effect was to develop a normative social system that tended to transform one racial-cultural group to serve the image and interest of another.21 Historically for African Americans, segregation and ghettoization emerged as spatial approaches to creating and maintaining group subordination, but spatial separation or confinement is but one tool of subordination. Segregation and ghettoization, characteristics of domestic colonialism, are not required in all historical periods to maintain group subordination. In fact, integration, acculturation, and assimilation are equally useful as tools to sustain subordination if used to destroy the aggregated capacity of the subordinated collective to elevate its group status.22 The experience of the population of African descent in America is that White elites made sustained, conscious, and systematic efforts to control and transform Black populations and their institutional structures to serve the institutional interests of White collectives. This also was the experience of populations of African descent, globally. The resulting historical relationships created structures of inequality that tended to distort, deform, and negate the cultural-institutional existence of Blacks and to efface their history and identity. With respect to our study, the Regal Theater existed in an economic and political colony that existed for the benefit of Whites, who lived elsewhere. However, it was not segregation per se that was a detriment to the Black community but the fact that the

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land, politics, and economics of the Black Belt were controlled from without and in the interest of others. Furthermore, the societal system of White supremacy created a restricted opportunity structure and prevented Blacks from developing their communities and creating a significant ownership class that could wield power in the broader society. Blacks, historically, therefore, were limited to the role of workers and consumers, and as a petite bourgeoisie, whose existence depended on their ability to make money for White property-owning classes. Most significantly, this form of inequality made it possible for Whites more than Blacks to control and benefit from the sale and distribution of Black cultural products.23 By the time the Regal came under Black ownership, the control of Black cultural products had shifted to new levels of exploitation, still beyond the reach of Black people as an ownership class. Moreover, it was impossible to sustain the Regal as a viable economic venture. Community-based Black ownership was not able to comprehend the degree to which successful White ownership of the Regal had been supported by advantages and privileges that no longer existed. Nonetheless, over its lifetime, the Regal Theater represented both positive and negative outcomes for Chicago’s Black Belt.

Organization of the Work This book consists of an introduction and six chapters. Chapters 1 through 5 address five critical historical phases in the life of the Regal Theater. Chapter 1, “The Opening: Separate but Equal,” examines the circumstances that motivated White investors to build a stateof-the-art commercial and entertainment complex in a racially segregated African American community. It describes the debut of the Regal in 1928 and the first two years (1928–1929) of its operation. Other topics include an examination of the Regal’s sister institution, the Savoy Ballroom; the in-house organization and entertainment format of the Regal; and the character of the Regal’s market and competitors in the context of changing technological and economic conditions. Chapter 2, “The Depression Years: Privilege in the Marketplace and Black Stewardship,” investigates the circumstances, which parallel the 1930s, the years of the Great Depression, that led to the Regal’s dominance in the marketplace. This probe encompasses an examination of the transition from White to Black management, the Regal’s

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entertainment policies, the connections to an industry-dominant motion picture company and theater chain, and its relationship to organized crime. Moreover, the chapter reviews examples of significant performers appearing on the Regal’s stage, and it chronicles the Regal’s charitable and civic role in Chicago’s Black Belt community. Chapter 3, “The End of Monopoly and the End of Swing,” scrutinizes major shifts in the market dominance of the Regal’s corporate owners. This shift paralleled the period of the 1940s. Important considerations are the changing circumstances of organized crime, the breakup of monopoly in the movie industry, the decline of big bands, the rise of Black-oriented radio, and the conditions for Black entrepreneurship. Moreover, the chapter chronicles important performers and performances at the Regal in the 1940s and related social issues. Chapter 4, “The Decline of Commercial Segregation and the Transition to Independence,” explores the decline of commercial segregation in the context of a growing Black consumer market and the maturing of Black-appeal radio. These phenomena paralleled the decade of the 1950s. Declines in commercial segregation tended to subvert the Regal’s market advantage and economic viability, and Black-appeal radio tended to reinvigorate the Regal’s market position and economic potential. Furthermore, during this period, the Regal ceased to be connected to an industry-dominant theater chain, became a solitary operation, and experienced new and formidable competitors in the Black Belt’s movie-stage-show market. Finally, the chapter provides a comprehensive look at performers and performances at the Regal during the 1950s. Chapter 5, “Rebirth, Black Ownership, and the Closing of the Palace,” investigates owner efforts to reinvigorate the Regal Theater and the transition to its first and only Black owner, Samuel B. Fuller. These events paralleled the years 1960 to 1968. Black ownership of the Regal symbolized new entrepreneurial opportunities that were emerging for African Americans in Black communities as Whites relinquished control of certain business activities. The chapter examines changing market conditions and how Regal ownership attempted to cope with these changes. Additional relevant issues in this exploration include the importance of the disc-jockey broker, the shift to more specialized stage shows, the rise of a teen-oriented market, and a glimpse at the internal organization of the Regal. The chapter provides a comprehensive record of performers and performances at the Regal.

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Chapter 6, “Retrospect and Lessons Learned,” provides an overview of the life of the Regal Theater. It identifies critical issues emerging from the study that offer a better understanding of the character of systemic racial inequality and of problems impacting the formation of Black popular culture.

CHAP TER

1

The Opening: Separate but Equal

This chapter explores the circumstances that led White investors to build a state-of-the-art entertainment complex in Chicago’s Bronzeville or Black Belt community. It also examines the early organization and talent of the Regal Theater and its integration into this historic, Black, South Side enclave. Finally, the chapter reveals rapidly changing economic and technological conditions that severely impacted the Regal’s entertainment policies. For Chicago’s Black Belt community the Regal was truly unique. It was without question the largest, the most technologically advanced, and the most architecturally ornate movie house in the Black Belt, and the only deluxe theater or motion picture palace ever built expressly for a Black American community. Edward E. Eichenbaum designed the Regal for Levy and Klein, an architectural firm. He also designed Chicago’s great Granada (3,444 seats) and Marbro (3,931 seats) theaters.1 Regal shows, at their inception, furnished stunning pageantry, and Regal management extended every consideration and courtesy to ensure the enjoyment and comfort of its patrons. However, the Regal was a latecomer to the movie-palace movement, especially the trend to build deluxe theaters in neighborhoods, and there were other motion picture palaces in Chicago that were larger and more lavish. Three of the movie palaces built by Balaban and Katz, the Uptown, the Chicago, and the Tivoli, which the company referred to as the big three, opened years earlier. The Tivoli at 6328 Cottage Grove had 3,420 seats and was originally built in a White neighborhood for a White market—the neighborhood would later change racially from White to Black—and, in 1921, was the first of the big three to open.2 The Chicago Theater, located downtown at 175 North State Street, opened later in that same year and had 3,852 seats. The Uptown at 4814 Broadway, which was also built for a White community and market, opened in 1925 and had 4,307 to

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4,325 seats, the largest seating capacity of any motion-picture theater in Chicago. Promotional materials and newspaper reports typically referred to the Regal as a 3,000-seat house, but the actual number of seats was 2,798.3 However, the practice of overstating the seating capacity of deluxe theaters was common in the industry, and fewer seats brought lower insurance rates.4

White Business and the Black Belt What was remarkable about the Regal was that for the first time White investors decided to construct, from the ground up, a high-quality, deluxe theater in the Black community, which was also part of a newly constructed, first-rate commercial complex. In addition, the entertainment, service, and accoutrements at the theater appeared to be comparable to similar endeavors provided for White communities. This commercial venture was in contrast to the fact that it was not uncommon for White-owned entertainment venues and other business establishments in Black communities to treat Blacks as secondclass citizens by maintaining Jim Crow policies or by providing them with inferior goods and services. For Blacks in America, separate usually meant unequal. The Regal seemed to have none of this. What was even more remarkable was that Blacks could work for the Regal in nearly every capacity. For example, Balaban and Katz expected its theaters to treat their customers like royalty, and the company carefully selected and trained ushers to carry out this policy. Thus, in the movie-palace hierarchy of Balaban and Katz, ushers held positions of prestige. However, Balaban and Katz had a policy not to hire Blacks as ushers.5 This was true for deluxe theaters in White markets but changed when Balaban and Katz decided to manage a deluxe theater, for the first time, in a Black community. Moreover, Blacks were hired by other White-owned businesses that occupied the commercial complex that housed the Regal Theater. Very shortly the promise of lucrative returns on their investments motivated other major White-owned businesses to move to the Black Belt and hire Black employees in other than menial positions. Traditionally, White businesses denied Blacks skilled, prestigious, and responsible positions when they existed outside of the Black Belt, but the idea that White-owned businesses in Black communities would hire Black employees for jobs that were not manual labor was no less novel. Such egalitarian practices inside the Black Belt were not the result of a new moral fervor by White businesses but were precipitated by the emergence of Blacks as an important consumer class,

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by an increasingly competitive business climate where White businesses had to compete (generally with each other) for Black patrons, and by activism on the part of Blacks who began to boycott White businesses in their communities when they were denied employment based on race. We also must understand that in the context of a White supremacy system that routinely denigrated Blacks, White approval in any form was very attractive to Black consumers and encouraged consumer loyalty, a behavior that did not go unnoticed by White corporations and chain stores. Sociologist Oliver Cromwell Cox was an observer of these changes that were taking place in Chicago’s Black Belt and revealed: “During the latter half of the [nineteen] twenties a few [White] merchants in Chicago, apparently without consultation, began to adopt the idea that business in the black belt conducted on a relatively high level can be made to pay.” Cox noted the radical element in this idea when he observed “the belief that business enterprises could be made profitable in this area, as elsewhere, by employment of local operators and supervisors.” This meant that White businesses in Black neighborhoods now would consider Blacks for meaningful employment. Cox was probably one of the first to discuss this change in White business practices in relationship to the Regal Theater. He observed: “The movement was initiated in grand style with announcements of plans for construction of a South Center Building at the corner of South Parkway and Forty-seventh Street. Early in 1927 Messers. H. M. and L. Engelstein [Englestein] began the project with the expressed purpose of housing one of the finest theatres and ballrooms in Chicago.”6 In 1926 reports began to emerge that a White business syndicate headed by two brothers, Harry M. and Louis Englestein, would build a large commercial complex that would house a deluxe theater (Regal), ballroom (Savoy), department store (South Center), and other businesses on South Parkway (now Martin Luther King Drive) at Forty-Seventh Street. The Chicago Tribune reported: “What easily stands out as the most ambitious building project so far contemplated for Chicago’s ever growing colored district is announced by a white syndicate for the southeast corner of South Park way (formerly Grand boulevard) and Forty-seventh Street. Harry M. and Louis Englestein head the syndicate. Louis Kahn, formerly of Becker Ryan & Co. [a department store chain], is part of it.” The work was to begin on December 1.7 The Englestein brothers were clearly active and well-connected businessmen in the all-White, South Side Englewood Community where they lived. City directories listed Louis Englestein as president

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of the Tulane Theater Company at 6108 Halsted Street, which was the address of the Tulane Theater built in 1913. City directories and census data showed that Louis and Harry resided with a cousin at 6523 South Peoria. They had previously lived at 6004 South Aberdeen. In 1930, Louis was forty-three and Harry was forty. Both men made a living from real estate. Louis Kahn, a partner with the Englesteins in the Black Belt-commercial-complex endeavor, had been an executive for Becker-Ryan Department Store at Sixty-Third and Halsted Street in the Englewood community. Becker-Ryan had been the leading department store on the South Side. One of the initial owners of the store was Morris Rosenwald, brother of Julius Rosenwald, the great philanthropist and chairman of retail giant Sears and Roebuck. In 1929, Sears and Roebuck purchased Becker-Ryan, demolished the building, and built a Sears’ store in its place.8 Thus, the Englesteins and Kahn had substantial experience in real estate, theater ownership, and department store development, and probably had powerful backers who recognized that the Black Belt was an untapped, prime market for a major department store and entertainment complex. One month after the Regal Theater opened on February 4, 1928, Walgreen Drug Company opened one of its stores at the corner of the building and, like other White-owned businesses in the complex, considered Blacks for nearly all categories of jobs. In the South Center complex the South Center Department Store opened in the same month, and management hired Blacks for 14 of the 220 jobs that were not manual labor. The store had fifty-four departments and occupied three floors and a basement, covering approximately 90,000 square feet of commercial space. Contiguous to South Center Department Store, Neisner Brothers opened one of its five-cent-to-a-dollar chain stores, and about forty percent of its employees were Black.9 On the Forty-Seventh Street side of the building, Golde Clothes Shop occupied a space and had five Black employees, which included jobs as clerks. Walk Over Shoe Company also had space and employed Blacks in the nontraditional jobs of sales persons and supervisors.10 Thus, some White-owned businesses in the Black Belt made the innovative move of hiring Black employees in other than menial positions. Nevertheless, White businesses in the Black Belt had substantial numbers of White employees, and these businesses overwhelmingly controlled the supply and sale of essential goods and services in the Black Belt. Even by 1938 when Black businesses had increased somewhat, Blacks gave over nine-tenths of the money they spent to White businesses.11 However, the greater visibility of Blacks in white-collar

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positions in White-owned businesses increased pride and consumer loyalty among Black residents. In 1928, South Center Department Store appointed Richard L. Jones, a Black man, as its general superintendent. Jones was the only Black person in the country who served in this type of a job. Born in Albany, Georgia, Jones was thirty-four when he accepted the position. He was educated at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Illinois and served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War I. From 1917 to 1919 Jones was a military police commander. Between 1922 and 1927 he worked as a road representative, circulation manager, advertising manager, and business manager for the Chicago Defender. Jones later reentered military service, rose to the rank of major during World War II, and retired a brigadier general. After the War, he continued in his position at South Center Department Store. Jones became a trustee of Provident Hospital and had membership in the Elks, Kappa Alpha Psi, NAACP, and Urban League. He resided at 4524 South Parkway. After moving on to other endeavors, Jones was appointed director of the U.S. Operations Mission in Liberia in 1954. Two years later he was named ambassador to Liberia and appointed alternate delegate on the U.S. Mission to the Eleventh General Assembly of the United Nations.12 Cox observed that the South Center commercial structure was only the nucleus around which other comparable projects were focused. Most notably there was the Rosenwald building, also called the Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments, on the north side of Forty-Seventh Street between Wabash and Michigan. Philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, who served as president and chairman of the board of Sears and Roebuck, underwrote this structure. Rosenwald was known for his extensive financial support of worthy causes in Black and Jewish communities and for other philanthropic activity. Cox also pointed out: “A Sears and Roebuck community store was appropriately located at the corner; and the whole, both apartments and store, was given over to the management of colored persons.”13 Previously, Blacks moved into homes and apartments relinquished by Whites, but the Rosenwald building was a new, modern dwelling that was intended for occupancy by Blacks. These apartments, which had reasonable rents, became some of the most desirable places to live in the Black Belt. The Rosenwald building was an extension of earlier private efforts to build affordable housing for low-income workers and reflected three important circumstances. First, private interests were not able to build housing cheaply enough in order to sell profitably to low-income

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earners, and government at this time would not commit to building affordable, low-income housing. Second, White investors had little interest in building any kind of housing for Blacks until the market for White buyers declined. Third, development took place inside the Black Belt in order to restrict the possible movement of Blacks into White enclaves. Moreover, the Rosenwald building was aimed at better-earning Blacks who were more likely to afford, and thus seek, better housing, which meant, of course, going to White neighborhoods.14 Rosenwald’s Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments opened in August 1929, approximately a year and a half following the opening of the Regal Theater.15 Rosenwald underwrote the project from his own personal funds and made it clear that this was a commercial venture and not a philanthropic one. He wanted to demonstrate the profitability of private housing developments in the Black Belt.16 No doubt Rosenwald was well aware of the commercial and entertainment center that was being erected less than a mile from his apartment complex. Also, quick inexpensive transportation was only a short walk away. Chicago’s light rail system, known as the El (elevated train system), stopped at FortySeventh Street, two blocks from the Rosenwald building, and passed through all major portions of the Black Belt. Automobiles were unnecessary to carry customers to and from the new, White-owned commercial complex that would house the Regal Theater. Rosenwald had to have known that Balaban and Katz would manage the Regal, which ensured its success. He had helped Samuel Katz of Balaban and Katz to secure financing for their first deluxe theater, and Rosenwald had been an investor in a subsequent Balaban and Katz project.17 Also, Rosenwald must have known the area well since he lived relatively nearby in a mansion at 4901 S. Ellis in the Kenwood-Hyde Park community. However, despite its proximity, the mansion was located in a neighborhood that excluded Blacks. Rosenwald probably felt that location was of supreme importance for the success of any effort to build quality, affordable housing in the Black Belt. Thus, Rosenwald’s choice of locations was near the outer limits of an advancing Black Belt, which contained its most economically prosperous residents. Unfortunately, Rosenwald was later criticized for supporting Jim Crow through his philanthropy, but in light of his extensive record of giving to important causes in Black communities, he was probably more concerned with issues of equality, opportunity, and quality of life than segregation.18 On the other hand, White business elites frequently used their power, money, and influence to contain Black communities while profiting from them. They wanted

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to limit the possibility of Blacks competing with Whites, which, given the times, almost always sparked violence or some form of boycott from Whites, a result that produced a threatening climate for business investment. Blacks, nevertheless, had to weigh their options, and segregation took on a different quality when residents of the Black Belt could gain access to better accommodations, goods, and services. The Regal and the Rosenwald building were sources of community pride, hope, and opportunity; buffers to the violence and discrimination that existed beyond the Black Belt; vehicles of territorial containment; and tools to extract the wealth of a circumscribed community.

The Savoy Opens The Savoy Ballroom, built as part of the South Center commercial complex, opened on November 23, 1927, several months before the Regal Theater began operation. Located at 4733 South Parkway (now Martin Luther King Drive), the entrance to the Savoy was directly to the south of the Regal. Newspaper accounts put the price of the dance entertainment structure at over a million dollars, and they reported the Savoy’s capacity at over 4,000 people. However, subsequent descriptions of Savoy events indicated the structure could accommodate crowds of 6,000. Like the Regal, the Savoy would be “artificially cooled in the summer.” At its inception the Savoy was more than a ballroom; it hosted regular programs nightly of vaudeville and special features. Over time the Savoy sponsored boxing, roller skating, and numerous community events.19 Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom in New York City directly influenced the Chicago Savoy and the Regal. Harlem’s Savoy opened on March 12, 1926, and proved to be a remarkably successful financial venture. Regal–Savoy–South Center investors wanted to bring the same kind of results to their endeavor to construct an elegant dance facility for the Chicago Black Belt market. They partnered with I. Jay Faggen, noted for his management of several prominent ballrooms in New York City, including Harlem’s Savoy, to direct the Chicago Savoy. Harlem’s Savoy opened with two bands, Duncan Mayer’s Savoy Bearcats and Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra. Williams and his group achieved national fame as a result of their work at the Harlem Savoy, and Balaban and Katz recruited Williams to emcee the shows and front the house band at the Regal. The Chicago Savoy, like the Harlem Savoy, opened with two house bands, a policy credited to Faggen. When one band took a break, the other continued, providing

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uninterrupted dancing. Newspaper reports listed I. Jay Faggen as president of the Savoy Ballroom Corporation. His private secretary was Eunice S. Smith, a Black woman; Ralph Chilton was business manager; Tom Cross was amusement manager; Isidore Snyder managed the checking system; and Lenore Hill serviced the box office.20 Like the Regal, the Chicago Savoy had great cultural, symbolic, and financial significance for the Black Belt community. Other major ballrooms such as the White City Ballroom, the Pershing Ballroom, the Coconut Grove Ballroom, and the Trianon Ballroom, all on the South Side, excluded Blacks until the 1940s or 1950s. Some felt the Savoy was the first important ballroom in Chicago’s Black community.21 Previously, Blacks held dances, of course, in smaller dancehalls, clubs, cabarets, church facilities, private homes, apartments, and the like. Most significantly, the Savoy, like other ballrooms, did not have the stigma of being connected to gambling, alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, and prostitution, which was often associated with clubs and cabarets. It presented a wholesome, family-like atmosphere and maintained an upper-class decorum. The Savoy, however, was part of a broader trend where better financed and politically connected White businesses, including organized crime, drove Blacks away from ownership of entertainment venues that sponsored their own music and dance traditions.22 As discussed previously, Black Belt dwellers were excited over the fact that White businessmen would build a first-class facility in their community, with no Jim Crow policy, and hire its inhabitants in diverse positions. In the beginning, the Savoy regularly employed 200 people from the local community.23 As a consequence, the Chicago Defender routinely expressed its gratitude and support for the Savoy: “We congratulate Mr. Fagin [or Faggen] and we must support him in the promotion of such a gigantic feature as the Savoy ballroom. The investment is enormous and Fagin had a lot of nerve and grit to enter into such an elaborate program in our community, so let’s put the Savoy over.”24 The Savoy presented Black Belt residents with service and an elegant decorum that was rare. Moreover, like the soon-to-open Regal, the Savoy reflected class and prestige but was available to people from all walks of life. A huge dance floor with three stages adorned the Savoy. Initially, Charles Elgar and Clarence Black, each occupying a stage, led the two Savoy bands. The third stage was available for outside entertainment. On opening night Sammy Stewart and his Plantation Orchestra occupied the third stage and helped supply the music for the evening. Tables with white tablecloths were all around.

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The Savoy had waitresses and served food. Men went upstairs to check their coats and women went downstairs. People dressed well and were greeted by a doorman who directed the flow of traffic as automobiles pulled up to the dance hall. The checkroom could accommodate 6,000 hats and coats without wrinkling or crushing them. There were mature women to chaperone unescorted ladies, and there were dance hostesses for young men who came alone. Copious amounts of flowers decorated the lobby and lounges. Plush lounges were available for those who wished to converse with friends or watch others dance. A physician and nurse were on duty for emergencies. In the men’s restroom there were male attendants to shine your shoes and dust you off, and in the women’s restroom there were female attendants to help patrons refresh themselves and apply makeup.25 The interior surroundings of the Chicago Savoy were stunning and compared favorably with other first-class ballrooms of the period. The Pittsburgh Courier proclaimed: “The Savoy in New York City cannot be compared with the Savoy in Chicago. . . . Even the famous Chicago ballrooms which cater to the whites do not offer two orchestras as a steady diet to their patrons, nor do they excel in [the] beauty, size or scope of the [Chicago] Savoy ballroom.”26 Most importantly, the community celebrated the Savoy as a classy and safe environment where everyone acted appropriately and had a good time. The Chicago Defender opined: “The Savoy ballroom is the meeting place of the good folks in Chi. The atmosphere is wonderful, the best deportment, the best of dance music and the most wonderful ballroom in the city.”27 The Savoy was not an immediate attraction, however, and Black Belt residents had to be enticed by innovative promotional efforts. Furthermore, it appeared that the Savoy was faced with economic uncertainty from the beginning and had to adjust its policies accordingly. The Depression, of course, added to this uncertainty, but after a brief period, the live shows at the Savoy were in obvious competition with Regal shows. Markets overlapped, and maintenance of large staffs, elaborate shows, ornate facilities, a thirty-four-page, inhouse weekly newspaper, the Savoyager, which reported on various events at the Savoy, and comprehensive personal services were expensive. Also, very early in its operation the Savoy was robbed of $5,000 by three White bandits who posed as telephone inspectors. Employees were forced to lie facedown on the floor while the thieves broke into the safe.28 This robbery was likely to have been a message from organized crime to alert ownership that they would need to pay a fee to remain free of harassment.

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Very early, management used basketball to drum up business at the Savoy. Abe Saperstein was coaching an all-Black basketball team owned by Walter Ball, a star pitcher with the Negro League’s Chicago American Giants. The team represented the American Legion’s Giles Post in Chicago. Dick Hudson, the business manager of the team, worked out a deal to play at the Savoy two nights a week. These games attracted large crowds, and Savoy management planned to hold dances after the games. The team was billed as the Savoy Big Five, and publicity was handled by a young freelance writer, Irv Kupcinet, who would become a big-name newspaper columnist in Chicago for the Chicago Sun-Times. Several players, Walter “Toots” Wright, Byron “Fats” Long, and William “Kid” Oliver, left the Savoy Big Five because of a salary dispute, and Abe Saperstein left with them to become their coach. Under Saperstein the resulting team became the Harlem Globetrotters.29 The Chicago Defender reported: “The Savoy ballroom, Chicago, has taken to basketball games. This may cause a big draw as the Chicago folks are wild about basketball and incidentally will endear themselves to the palace dance hall.”30 Over the next year business took off, and the Chicago Defender observed: “The Savoy ballroom seems to be the mecca for the dance lovers. Since its opening last November the place has been a huge success under the capable management of I. J. Fagan [Faggen], a popular New York ballroom promoter.”31

The Regal Opens After great anticipation and fanfare, the Regal, located at 4719 South Parkway, opened at twelve noon on February 4, 1928, with a firstclass motion picture and stage show. Among the thousands who would attend that day, Mrs. Birdie Williams of 421 E. Forty-Eighth Street was the first person to purchase a ticket.32 The Chicago Defender had already given the public much to look forward to when it published drawings of the palatial edifice prior to opening day. It explained: This new and magnificent structure will be open to the public in a few weeks. It has been built to serve citizens of all races and will be dedicated to the showing of the finest motion pictures and high-class stage productions. It is located on the southeastern corner of 47th St. and South parkway, and will be complete in every respect, having spacious lobbies, lounging and waiting rooms, modern fresh air plants, a huge stage with a hydraulic curtain, and a grand organ that will rise and be lowered by electricity. The refinement, charm and beauty of Moorish

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architecture will predominate throughout the theater. The huge auditorium will be topped with a grand canopy effect.33

The public was not disappointed, and one patron of the Regal in 1928 expressed that “the Regal had one of the most handsome facades of any theater, anywhere, at anytime.”34 Another observer who attended the Regal in 1928 stated that it was “the most majestic building [he] had ever seen.”35 There were other memorable visual effects and experiences that marked the occasion of opening day. Flags celebrating the opening flew throughout the neighborhood, south, from Forty-Third to Fifty-First Streets and, east, from Indiana to South Parkway. On top of the building, the word Regal formed a four-story, red neon sign that could be seen from great distances as people approached the theater from every direction. Management removed the sign in 1931.36 The signs that announced the Regal’s attractions were flush with the building because the theater was on a boulevard, and Chicago law prohibited marquees from protruding over sidewalks located on boulevards. One such sign over the central entrance was shaped like a crown and pulsated with brilliant colored lights; the remaining façade was covered with a frieze of white bulbs.37 On the South Center Department Store side, Forty-Seventh Street, a sign with the name Regal extended over the sidewalk.38 Patrons arrived dressed in their Sunday best, and a uniformed, male attendant assisted people in and out of their automobiles as they pulled up to the main entrance.39 Jimmy Luckett, a former musician and movie projectionist, remembered that women were dressed in long gowns like they were going to a formal, and men were in tuxedos. The attendant who greeted the people was called Little Jimmy. He had a booming voice that he used effectively to direct the crowds. Men, according to Luckett, tipped a quarter or fifty cents just to show off in front of the women. Admission was sixty-five cents and open to all, but the Regal experience was like opening night at a Hollywood theater.40 The debut of the Regal fulfilled for patrons prior promotional claims of stylistic splendor. Designed by the architectural firm of Levy and Klein and constructed at a cost of 1.5 million dollars, the Regal boasted of marble from the Carrara quarries of Italy, silks from the orient, plush red velvet seats, an ornate crystal chandelier from Belgium, and fine drapes and tapestries. The lobby, which could accommodate 1,500 people, contained at least a half-dozen large gilded columns, a wide ornate marble staircase leading to the mezzanine, and a magnificent, jewel-encrusted chandelier. Enriching the balcony

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was a piano played by a skilled artist to entertain the crowds while they waited for seats. A huge window opposite the staircase over the main entrance was draped with maroon velvet. From the lobby you passed through an entrance hung with red velvet into a smaller inner lobby. At this point there was a checkroom and, on opposite ends, ladies’ and men’s restrooms with full-time attendants. The men’s room also had attendants, men to shine shoes, and a smoking lounge. Patrons used the attractive inner lounge, with its plush seats, as a waiting room where they could view elegant sculptures and paintings or simply converse. The auditorium offered a breathtaking experience and through its awe-inspiring ceiling gave the sensation of entering another world. The ceiling—a semi-atmospheric, illuminated, domed structure— provided a soaring tent-like effect with a richly beautiful, multicolored, striped motif. Through apertures in the tent-like structure you could see the delicate silhouette of Moorish castles under a blue night sky with twinkling stars. The walls were painted in muted gold tones and accented throughout with bits of decoration. A spacious stage that could easily accommodate 400 people was embellished with flowing, layered draperies and a rhinestone-covered front curtain. An illuminated collet crown sat above the wide proscenium, and upon entering the entertainment sanctuary, on the auditorium floor, the nearly 3,000 plush seats created the appearance of a sea of red velvet. Surrounded by exquisite decoration, an exclusive, $25,000 Barton organ on a twist elevator flanked the stage.41

Management and In-House Talent From the beginning, the Regal’s management structure and entertainment policies were complex and frequently in flux. Harry and Louis Englestein obtained the B & K theater chain to operate the Regal. B & K initially directed the Regal through the Lubliner & Trinz theater chain, which they controlled. In fact, the opening-day display ad in the Chicago Tribune presented the Regal as “The Magnificent New Lubliner & Trinz Regal Theatre.”42 However, by June 1928, Lubliner & Trinz had disappeared from Regal promotional materials, and newspaper ads presented the Regal as part of the B & K chain.43 Paramount Pictures, of course, owned B & K. The Regal opened in February 1928 with Andrew Berry as manager.44 However, by May 1928 Charles H. Darrell had become manager.45 A year later in April 1929, Darrell resigned, reportedly because of illness, and I. Jay Faggen came over from the Savoy to replace him.46 In 1928 Dennis

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Jack Brooks was an assistant manager, and Harry Gourfain was production manager.47 Musicians Dave Peyton and Fess Williams and the Regal’s dancers were probably the most prominent in-house talent. Charles Davis was the ballet master at the Regal, and his six male dancers, The Six Red Hots, formerly with the Sidewalks of New York show, were slated as a permanent fixture at the Regal. The Regal’s chorus line became highly celebrated, and some observers considered it one of the best in show business. The Regal Steppers, who later were called the Regalettes, were groomed by Percy Venable. Later, Bamboo McCarver instructed the women for a brief time, and after this, Charles Davis took over the choreography duties, bringing many new ideas from his work on Broadway. The Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake show, Chocolate Dandies, was one of his credits. In 1928 some members of the Steppers were Carrie Swift, Love Murphy, Olive Blackwell, Frances Mason, Muriel Zollinger, Ida Vincent, Florence Hill, Nanneen Joyce, Evelyn Du Conge, and Georgia Watts. The Steppers were chaperoned by Miss Hilda Canady, who also managed their wardrobe.48 As was the convention that developed under White-dominated aesthetic norms, African American chorus girls had to be light skinned and as close to White as possible. The group’s performances were outstanding, however, and the Steppers were one of the Regal’s most important attractions. Other acts that contributed regularly to Regal shows during the Fess Williams and Dave Peyton era were the Right Quintet and Marshall Rodgers, the comedian known as Garbage.49 Dave Peyton was a leading figure in Chicago’s African American musical establishment. Jazz historian Thomas Hennessey characterized this establishment as consisting of ten to fifteen large bands that were led by men who valued the skill of reading music and who worked primarily in ballrooms and theaters. This was in contradistinction to a group of younger, better-known musicians who had migrated from the New Orleans scene and who were less likely to read music. However, they were skilled in improvisation and more likely to play in clubs and cabarets. Other leading establishment musicians were Erskine Tate, Charles Elgar, Charles “Doc” Cook, Jimmy Wade, and Sammy Stewart. Peyton was in his early forties when he became musical director at the Regal. He had led and played in large and small ensembles and was well versed in European symphonic music and the jazz idiom. Peyton also had played with many of the great jazz innovators of the period, including the jazz innovator Wilbur Sweatman.50 Peyton wrote a weekly column for the Chicago Defender called the “Musical Bunch” from October 1925 through June 1929.51

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Through his column, Peyton expressed his philosophy regarding musical standards and the proper conduct of the serious professional musician. Peyton gave advice to musicians on self-development, and he discussed past and current challenges to the music profession, with particular reference to the well-being and status of Black musicians. Peyton frequently praised musicians whom he believed exemplified his professional ideals. For example, Peyton called Reuben Reeves, who played with him at the Regal, a gifted musician and a master jazz cornetist who could hold first chair in any symphony. Peyton felt that unlike many jazz artists, Reeves had learned to play his instrument correctly.52 Talent, training, and versatility were some of the traits that Peyton lauded in musicians. In January 1928 Peyton observed: “The stage jazz band [had] become a popular factor in the up-to-date theater.” He explained that the jazz band had brought many a dying theater back to life and asserted: “The people like it, want it, and will have it if you want the patronage.” In his column Peyton carefully instructed that B & K had successfully utilized the ebullient, White bandleader Paul Ash to reverse declining tickets sales at the McVickers Theater in downtown Chicago. Installing the jazz stage band, with Ash leading it and acting as master of ceremonies, contributed, he said, to the theater surpassing the box office receipts of all other Loop (downtown) theaters in the first week the stage band was offered. As a consequence of his success, B & K literally built the larger and more extravagant Oriental Theater in downtown Chicago for Ash and his orchestra. Other theater interests, Peyton noted, followed the lead of B & K and hired jazz stage bands in order to lift their houses out of the red. The trend among presentation houses became to find a personable bandleader, like Ash, who could engage the audience. Also in his column, Peyton announced—speaking in the third person—that he had been appointed musical director of the new Regal Theater and that he would conduct its symphony orchestra, made up of the “Race’s finest musicians, singers and solo vocal artists.”53 Peyton seemed pleased that the Regal would emulate the combination of jazz stage band and symphony orchestra that B & K found so successful at its other deluxe presentation houses. B & K theaters embraced the idea of class entertainment, which in a Eurocentric context required the use of European symphonic music, including opera. Orchestras also provided mood music for silent films. Thus, Peyton held down the symphony orchestra at the Regal. But, in order to bring in the crowds, a stage band, led by an effervescent bandleader would provide the popular dance music of the period, which meant

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jazz. For this role, B & K selected Stanley “Fess” Williams (Fess was short for professor). Ironically, to stimulate attendance and revenues in their theaters, B & K utilized entertainment techniques that had been popularized previously in African American culture. Jazz, of course, with it various strains, was a creation of the Black experience and for nearly a decade had been watched and absorbed by White musicians and audiences. A critical component in the entertainment equation was the music’s connection to popular dance. Popular dance forms in this country, like jazz, flowed creatively from the Black community to the White community. Syncopation, polyrhythms, new expressions of timbre and tone, call and response, blues forms, and dancing that utilized the hips and angular movements of the lower body were novel, sexy, and titillating to a White consumer public.54 Black dance and music, therefore, became a form of desublimation for White America and was both daring and interesting. White expression of Black cultural forms to White audiences was always slightly distorted, watered down, and tailored to White cultural sensibilities, but the result for White performers and promoters was financially rewarding. White bandleader Paul Ash drew upon the emotion and animation of Black band presentation techniques. James Weldon Johnson reminded us that Forb Dabney and James Reese Europe came to New York and developed bands that became the basis of jazz bands. Also, Europe established the Clef Club, a booking agency for Black bands, which helped to organize and concentrate Black creativity in the new music and to market the music to White audiences, who were frequently social and economic elites. Johnson also observed that “the first modern jazz band ever heard on a New York stage, and probably on any other stage was organized at the Marshall [a Black establishment that had become a gathering place for Black musicians] and made its debut at Proctor’s Twenty-Third-Street Theatre in the early spring of 1905. It was a playing–singing–dancing orchestra . . . .”55 The group called itself the Memphis Students. These musicians were not really students or from Memphis, but they consisted of twenty of New York’s finest Black musicians. The Memphis students were a big success and subsequently landed engagements at choice venues in New York. They also performed in prominent theaters in Paris, London, Berlin, and other important European cities. The Memphis students introduced the dancing conductor, who could engage the audience; the trick trap-drummer, which included the use of juggling, acrobatic stunts, and noisemakers; and the singing band, which sang in four-part harmony and played at

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the same time. White bands everywhere began to emulate these techniques as best they could. Moreover, the Clef Club orchestra, which consisted of 125 performers, gave a historic concert at Carnegie Hall in May 1912, where they further introduced New York to the infectious rhythms of jazz, innovative instrumentation, and an inventive interplay between voice and instrument.56 White America and White musicians took great notice and were further moved to absorb this music as their own. Dave Peyton valued European symphonic music, the jazz idiom, and African American performance styles. He strongly supported the view that musicians should be well trained, versatile, capable of reading music, and guided by a code of professionalism. Peyton saw these qualities in Fess Williams and routinely lauded his abilities, even before Williams arrived in Chicago: Thousands of people know Fess Williams and many more thousands have seen and heard him in action in New York, where he started his great career in the famous Savoy ballroom. Standing in front of his celebrated jazz band, Fess Williams is considered the best in the East. Educated musically and literally, he is well equipped to master his undertaking. With a million dollar personality and other redeeming mannerisms, Fess Williams can easily be classed with such [White] stage personalities as Paul Ash, Ben Bernie, Benny Meroff, Mark Fisher, Paul Whiteman and others who have clicked as stage personalities in the revolution of the jazz band era. This writer thinks personally, that Fess Williams has a shade on the above named celebrities. He has so many attainments. He can play excellently several instruments; he can sing, dance and is gifted with a clever gift of gab and with his pleasing personality in band directing Fess Williams stands out far in front of many of the above named stars of the stage band realm.57

For both Dave Peyton and Stanley “Fess” Williams the Regal represented the apex of their careers. Peyton had free rein to hire those whom he thought were the best musicians available. At the Regal, Peyton’s musicians performed in the pit when they played as a symphonic orchestra, and they moved to the stage when they played in the jazz band fronted by Fess Williams. The stage jazz band became known as Fess Williams’s Jazz Joy Boys. Balaban and Katz representatives offered Williams the job of jazz bandleader and emcee in January 1928. He was reluctant at first because of the great success his group had had as a house band at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom and the close relationship he had with his

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band members. It was the Savoy engagement that gave Williams international fame. Here he had notable band battles with Fletcher Henderson, Paul Whiteman, Joe Oliver, Isham Jones, Duke Ellington, and others. An exceptionally popular event, city officials assigned extra police to these extravaganzas, and for better crowd control, they blocked off Lenox Avenue from 140th to 141st Streets. Williams, a crowd favorite, claimed to have never lost a battle. B & K offered Williams $350 a week and a six-month contract with a six-month option. This was an offer that Williams could not refuse. He explained: “For a performer or musician who appreciates class, this was what you would call a dream engagement. Everything was done in deluxe style. Dave Peyton, a very fine musician [,] was the contractor. This being by far the best paying job in Chicago, he was able to hire the cream of the crop for the orchestra.”58 Williams explained that B & K let him have the biggest names in show business on his bill. Examples were Amos ‘n’ Andy, who were the White radio personalities—Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll—that created comedic caricatures of Black life; tap dancers Bill Robinson and Buck and Bubbles; White cowboy film star Tom Mix; White singer Ruth Etting; singer, dancer, and bandleader Blanche Calloway; and singers Lottie Gee and George Dewey Washington. Williams noted that every bill featured performers who were unknown to the public. Among those in this category that Williams introduced to the Regal audience were bandleaders Cab Calloway and Lucky Millinder. Millinder was a dancer at the time and was inspired, after observing Williams’s performance style, to become an orchestra leader. Williams pointed out that White singer, bandleader Ina Ray Hutton and her younger half-sister June Hutton were two other performers who did well in show business after emerging from the Regal’s Future Stars (amateur) Night. He also gave special mention to comedian Marshall Rodgers, also known as “Garbage.”59 The Chicago Defender listed the musicians (not including vocalists) that Dave Peyton selected for his Regal orchestra. They were Clarence Lee, Robert Waugh, Joe McCutcheon, Arthur Scott, violins; Arthur Wright, bass and violin; Lawrence Dixon, cello; Ralph Brown, Angelo Fernandez, clarinets; Norvall Morton, flute; Charles Harris, oboe; M. Renau “Fat” Robbins, Reuben Reeves, Robert Turner, trumpets; James Thomas, Eddie Atkins, trombones; Jasper Taylor, drums and tympanis; Sammy Williams and Ulysses Chambers, organists; and Leornard Smith, pianist. A subsequent listing suggested there were some changes in personnel and some errors in the previous listing. It appeared that by May 1928 Jimmy Bell replaced Clarence Lee on

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violin; William Page replaced Angelo Fernandez on clarinet; and William Franklin replaced James Thomas on trombone. A month later drummer and xylophonist Jimmy Bertram (or Bertrand) replaced Jasper Taylor. Also, a Walter Wright rather than Arthur Wright was listed on bass, and Lawrence Dickerson rather than Lawrence Dixon was listed on cello.60 Celebrated pianist and organist Jerome Carrington joined Peyton’s orchestra later in 1928.61 Besides Fess Williams, Dave Peyton expressed special admiration for cornetist Reuben Reeves, flutist Norvall Morton, pianist and organist Jerome Carrington, and organists Sammy Williams and Ulysses Chambers.62 Peyton, for example, discussed the unique skills required by pipe organists who played in theaters. These musicians needed to have mastery over their instruments, great reading ability, musical versatility, and a keen sensitivity toward creating the appropriate mood for the movie on the screen. Peyton saw the Regal organists as among the very best: Sammy Williams, now playing at the Regal theater, Chicago, is one of the finest players of the organ in the country. He is in great demand among the wealthy element, having been employed at the Chicago Riding club, Chicago, patronized by the gold coast elite. Sammy knows the organ and can execute upon the four manual instrument with great precision[;] he is a creator of tricks and in tone coupling, he is an artist. Ulysses Chambers, a young gentleman from New York, is also associate organist at the Regal. He too is an accomplished theater organist with a library stored in his memory. It is a rare treat to hear him characterize musically a picture.63

The Show Following the formula established at other B & K, deluxe presentation houses, Regal shows were large, lavish productions organized around an artistic theme that changed from show to show. The pit orchestra, which would later accompany the motion picture, opened the show with an overture. They followed with additional European classical offerings, frequently operatic. Next were individual and group songs, dance numbers, comedy routines, blues and jazz performances, and other popular presentations built around the onstage band. The Regal became very popular, but business throughout the week did not always meet expectations. Empty seats were evident at some shows, and to partially address these slow periods, the Regal quickly implemented an amateur talent program, “Future Stars Night,” in May 1928 on Tuesday nights. Management also found that some

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patrons had trouble adapting to the classical presentations and some to the performance style of Fess Williams.64 The Chicago Defender observed that even though Chicago audiences had warmed to Fess Williams, “[a]t the beginning Fess was a little ahead of the farmers out here with the modern deluxe style of entertainment and his role as master of ceremonies.”65 During the first week of Regal shows, from the pit, Dave Peyton’s orchestra opened with the William Tell overture. On stage was a mountain scene, and tenor Clarence Tisdale performed dressed as a Swiss shepherd. Next, the stage band took over, and the Regal Steppers, a chorus line of twelve women, came in front of the band to dance and sing an introduction for Fess Williams. The bandleader entered the stage from behind a large picture of a saxophone. Williams and his jazz band, the Jazz Joy Boys, gave their version of the song, “Miss Anabelle Lee,” performing both instrumentally and vocally. Next, the dance team of Cole and Wayne gave a fast tap routine with audience-pleasing acrobatics. Tenor Clarence Tisdale and contralto Mamie Moon presented a popular tune, and the Regal Steppers closed the number. The vivacious Blanche Calloway sang a hot blues number as she flirted with Fess on stage. Williams delighted the crowd as he clowned in response to her cues. Calloway was a top performer at this time and would later help cultivate the talent of her little brother Cabell (Cab) Calloway. Later in May 1928, Blanche starred in a revue at the Central Park, another deluxe theater in the B & K chain. When deemed financially prudent, B & K circulated top Black performers to White audiences through its other deluxe presentation houses.66 As a break in the straight stage band presentation, Alex Lovejoy and Marshall Rodgers (“Garbage”) performed a comedic skit. Lovejoy played a politician and Rodgers a person just released from jail who was induced to take up bootlegging. A cop played by John Lowell harassed Rodgers. The premise provided many laugh-packed situations. Following the comedy, Fess Williams and the band returned with a crowd-pleasing rendition of “Varsity Stomp.” The Right Quintet sang two songs. This group consisted of four men who harmonized together and another who sang while playing the piano. The members of the Quintet were James E. Lightfoot, Clarence Tisdale, William Lougen, Jesse Wilson, and Russell Wooding. The Right Quintet was well known in New York and had been a feature of the Ziegfield Follies. The group was followed by the tap dancing and acrobatics of the Two Black Dots (Taylor and Johnson) dancing team, which closed the specialty portion of the program.

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The finale was “Shaking the Blues Away” and was given its start by Blanche Calloway, who came on in fringe, sang, and performed a grind in front of the hip-swinging Regal Steppers. The entire company joined them. A solo by organist Sammy Williams, the motion picture Valley of the Giants, and a newsreel completed the show.67 The shows at the Regal had specific titles that, although not always obvious, reflected certain artistic themes. Some of the titles were “Midnight Follies,” “Circus Days,” “Shanghai Jazz Tours,” “Palace of Jazz,” “Bag of Tricks,” “Sailing Sailing,” “Bubbling Over,” “Jazztown Caper,” “So this Is Venice,” “Nagasaki Way,” and others. Thus, shows were set in foreign countries, mimicked another performance venue like a circus, or utilized some distinctive activity such as sailing as a central organizing theme. Regal management also built shows around major entertainers. “Bubbling Over” featured vaudeville stars Buck and Bubbles.68 Examples of performers in 1928 were comedian Dink Stewart, singer Cab Calloway, acrobatic tap dancers the Three Eddies, comic husband and wife dance team Brown and McGraw, blues artist Sarah Martin, dance team Rutledge and Taylor, singer Albertina Pickens, dance team Cooper and Rector, soprano Minto Cato, acrobatic dancers Sibley and Epps, and the Mary Bruce Dancers, which included the Dancing Boys and children who performed for the Christmas show. Mary Bruce was a popular dance instructor in Chicago’s Black Belt community. The list of Regal performers continued with dancer Bamboo McCarver, soprano Julia Ray, comedy team and Broadway stars Miller and Lyles, versatile soprano and Broadway star Revella Hughes, and dance team Chilton and Thomas.69 On May 3, legendary tap dancer Bill (Bojangles) Robinson presented a memorial program he organized for the great Florence Mills, who died at the age of thirty-two while at the height of her career.70 The dance team of (Carol) Chilton and (Maceo) Thomas was an example of an African American act that Balaban and Katz contracted to perform in its circuit of theaters. The team was a hit when they performed at the Regal in September 1928. Although the Black community recognized Chilton and Thomas as Black, the couple had fair skin, and White audiences often assumed Chilton and Thomas were White. White audiences loved their performances, which included renditions of the Charleston and other popular dances, and no doubt were enthralled by the sight of talented dancers they believed were White, who danced like they were Black. In 1930 Chilton and Thomas gave a command performance before the King and Queen of England at the Palladium on May 22.71

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Class and the Regal The combination of European classical presentations and popular entertainment created an ideal that was difficult to sustain. Class entertainment was a corporate goal and was defined in three ways. First, the requirement of European classical music was supposed to lend value to the entertainment experience by its implied attachment and attractiveness to White elites. The cultural ideals of White elites were also embraced to some degree by Black elites or aspiring elites as a by-product of racial and cultural domination. However, African American–based popular entertainment was the bigger draw, and the application of pageantry, professionalism, and efficiency made the popular product “classy.” Second, management intended the stage show and the motion picture to be suitable for all ages, a policy that elevated the status of the product above that found in clubs and cabarets. Third, the entertainment product was packaged in architectural splendor and a code of service that communicated high status, but status that was available to every patron. Dave Peyton, because of his own class leanings and musical selfimage, praised the Regal audience for their ability to accommodate European classical presentations. He boasted that his symphony orchestra was the only Black orchestra that had successfully eliminated jazz from its repertoire “just like the real deluxe theater symphony orchestras.”72 He explained, “It was quite gratifying to the musicians who compose the most perfect group of musicians in the country to know and hear how the public has been educated to the higher class of music. Several years ago an orchestra had to ‘jazz ‘em up’ to get decent applause; not so at the Regal theater. The patrons come to the theater on time and on entering the house they earnestly inquire, ‘Is the overture on yet?’ ”73 Peyton boasted that, among those on seasonal contracts, Regal musicians were the highest paid in the country. He felt his musicians had received the opportunity from their corporate employer to learn the “modern way of orchestral presentation,” which included the appropriate techniques to play motion picture music.74 Peyton’s musical ideals were entwined with a concept of progress associated with the rationalism of modern business management and the underlying techniques of mastering European classical music. Nevertheless Peyton valued and embraced African American musical styles and recognized their significance in the broader culture. For example, in 1925 Peyton wrote passionately about jazz as an original creation of the African American experience. He most likely recognized

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the greater exposure, fame, and monetary reward given to White bands that attempted to play this new music, and he wanted to set the record straight. In his column Peyton traced the historical development of jazz. Although he displayed some of the ignorance about African culture that was common in his day, Peyton believed strongly that “the jazz that we rave about today had its birth in Africa, and our group are responsible for it.” The African American experience, he felt, combined African rhythms with new melodic concepts. Peyton observed that about forty years earlier ragtime was born, and from ragtime came jazz. Scott Joplin, in Peyton’s view, was the greatest ragtime composer. Peyton explained “that Joplin’s ‘Maple Leaf Rag’ was a masterpiece of technique and syncopation, and for originality his ‘Euphonic Sounds’ delivered to the music world a brand-new idea of syncopation.”75 Peyton instructed that the historical development of jazz proceeded to Marion Cook, whose “Clorindy” gave America “another new idea of syncopation.” J. Rosamond Johnson, Ernest Hogan, and Sam Lucas also composed important songs in this genre. Next, Peyton revealed, “Gradually we come up the line to Cecil Mack, Chris Smith, James Reese Europe and James Scott, and still a little farther comes C. Luckeyth Roberts, Maceo Pinkard, Clarence Williams, Joe Jordan, Willie Hayward and many others who helped put jazz on the map of the world.”76 Among instrumentalists, however, Peyton believed that Wilbur Sweatman was the first to play the musical tones associated with jazz. He explained: In 1906 Mr. Sweatman played in a little picture house on S. State St., in Chicago, called ‘The Little Grand Theater.’ In the orchestra were three players—piano, drums, and clarinet. Mr. Sweatman led the band with the clarinet and was a sensation. White players would come to this little house from all over the country to hear Sweatman moan on his clarinet, and many of them would engage him to teach them how to do it. . . . Little did we think that Mr. Sweatman’s original style of playing would be adopted by the great jazz artists of today; but it is, and Mr. Sweatman can claim the honor of being the first to establish it.77

Peyton spoke of other African American jazz musicians who taught White musicians and concluded that African Americans have a just “claim to be the originators and developers of jazz. Any other claim [he said] is erroneous.”78 For Peyton, the Regal offered the opportunity for his group of musicians to be at the cutting edge of orchestral development and to

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advance the race. The reading skills and techniques required to be a theater musician enhanced their employability and economic viability. In addition, as carriers of the new music, Black reading musicians were a fundamental part of a small but growing Black middle class, who were essentially independent contractors and entrepreneurs. They were music teachers, booking agents, music store-owners, and the like. With the strong demand for live music and no technological alternative, there was plenty of work available locally, which negated the need for constant travel, and which enhanced the economic base of a routinely economically exploited Black community. William Everett Samuels exemplified the Black reading musician as entrepreneur. He at one time played in the house band at the Regal and was a professional musician in Chicago for sixty years. Samuels was a member of Chicago’s Black musician’s union, Local 208, from 1918, and he became active in the leadership of the union from 1931.79 In 1921 Samuels worked as a meter reader for the gas company and as a musician. He explained, “Now I am playing music. . . . I am working every weekend making a hundred dollars, two hundred for three hours. I was making more money playing the music than I did with the gas company.”80 Therefore when Samuels got fired from the gas company, the transition to full-time music was not difficult. He ran Sunday evening dances for churches until the Savoy opened in 1927 and captured this market. Samuels formed his own band, the Society Syncopators, and worked the major hotel ballrooms. He played at weddings and sorority, fraternity, and private parties for rich Whites in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and he toured during the summers. Walter Barnes, the prominent musician and bandleader who succeeded Dave Peyton as the writer for the Chicago Defender’s “Musical Bunch” column, gave special mention to Samuels in 1929: “Everett Samuels and his orchestra, and also one of the biggest drawing cards at Warwick hall [543 East Forty-Seventh Street] for the last two years, have ventured out and are working in nothing but the most exclusive Gold Coast hotels and fraternity houses.”81 Like Peyton, Samuels recognized the importance of reading music and being capable of playing all kinds of music.82 Samuels elaborated, “Chicago was my place. . . . I never had to search hard for good musicians. . . . I was looking for musicians who could read and play anything I wanted them to play. . . . most of the musicians in my era could read music.”83 Before the Depression, theaters that required musicians to play the appropriate score behind silent films were in great supply. Samuels pointed out, “You had to be able to read the music to play those scores and things so everybody had to read. If you

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couldn’t read you didn’t join the union. . . .”84 Samuels reminisced, “All those musicians were good. I remember [Wilbur Sweatman], and he was good. . . . He could play two instruments at the same time. . . . He lived upstairs over me at Dearborn Street.”85 Revella Hughes was not part of the Chicago establishment, but she exemplified the Peyton-Samuels model of the ideal musician. Also, Hughes further challenged the misconception that Black musicians who excelled at European classical music rejected jazz and blues. Hughes was a formally trained musician with degrees from Oberlin, Howard, and Northwestern, but she embraced the music and social causes of the masses. Revella Hughes was one of the most talented and versatile performers of her time. However, according to historian Ted Vincent, Hughes passed up much greater fame because of her commitment to Garveyism and other social causes. Hughes was a popular soloist and pianist for Marcus Garvey’s UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) choir. She also performed various benefits to support the NAACP, the educational efforts of Mary McCleod Bethune, and other causes. Hughes sang classical music, show tunes, spirituals, blues, and jazz. On the concert stage she shared top billing with the likes of Paul Robeson, Roland Hayes, and Marian Anderson. Hughes starred in Broadway musicals (Shuffle Along, Running Wild, Boombolla, Hot Rhythm) and was a highly skilled pianist, choir director, and symphony leader. She was the first to record in 1921 for the historic Black record company, Black Swan, founded by Harry H. Pace and backed by the NAACP and W. E. B. DuBois. Hughes was celebrated for her work at the Regal with jazz musician Fess Williams, and she could swing with the best, vocally and on piano.86 Peyton saw the Regal and Forty-Seventh Street as a unique circumstance and opportunity for Black musicians. He observed that FortySeventh and South Parkway employed the largest number of first-rate musicians in the Black community. Many were college trained, and sixty-nine musicians on definite contracts worked among five orchestral units. The Regal employed twenty-two; the Metropolitan Theater across the street from the Regal employed fifteen; the Apollo and Owl Theaters in close proximity to the Regal each employed five; and the Savoy Ballroom had two orchestras with eleven musicians in each group.87 When the Regal opened in 1928, it was at the end of a tremendous building boom in Chicago of deluxe motion-picture houses. Live shows built around stage bands to supplement the film presentations were the trend in these theaters. In its first two years of operation, Regal management produced live shows on a very frequent basis, probably

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averaging two or more weeks of shows per month. Also, major films came to the Regal after completing their first run at the downtown (Loop) houses.88 However, in 1928 and 1929, social, economic, and technological forces were already at work that would permanently alter the Regal’s entertainment policies and the frequency, consistency, and makeup of its live shows and film presentations, but these forces first affected the smaller theaters that surrounded the Regal.

Competition, Technology, and Depression When the Regal opened in 1928, it soon began to take market share away from other movie and vaudeville houses in Chicago’s Black Belt. The effects, however, were mixed, depending upon the location. The Metropolitan Theater across the street from the Regal at 4644 South Parkway was able to benefit from the overflow crowds at the Regal. Patrons who could not get into the Regal could simply walk across the street for their entertainment. The Metropolitan also was positioned well in the dynamic and growing section of the Black Belt where commercial activity was exceptionally strong. Theaters to the north near Thirty-Fifth Street, in the older, declining section of the Black Belt were not as fortunate. However, economic conditions and the introduction of talking pictures probably stimulated much more change in the policies of surrounding theaters than the competition brought by the Regal. Talking films drastically shrank the demand for musicians and other kinds of performers. Economic conditions changed rapidly and caught most people off guard. In 1927 the rapid expansion of motion picture houses was exemplified by the opening of the 20th Century Theater at Forty-Seventh and Prairie, only a few blocks from the site of the Regal. Its policy was motion pictures and not live entertainment, but it did hire musicians to accompany silent films. In February 1928 the Chicago Defender declared that area theaters were booming. In the next month, however, the Defender reversed itself and declared that because of unemployment business was down at South Side houses. The Regal, it noticed, was getting most of the business.89 Shortly after the Regal opened, the Chicago Defender reported that the Metropolitan across from the Regal and the Vendome, located at 3145 South State Street, were doing excellent business. These theaters were under the same management and presented “first-class pictures and stage acts.” At least four other theaters in the Black Belt were under the same management as the Metropolitan and Vendome.90 Nevertheless, within a few weeks the Metropolitan and Vendome

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ceased vaudeville presentations and implemented a movies-only policy and musical programs, utilizing a small group of musicians.91 The situation for other theaters in the area was mixed. In March 1928 the Apollo Theater, a small house around the corner from the Regal on Forrestville and Forty-Seventh Street, was doing good business with first-class movies and musical stock. The Grand Theater at 3110 South State Street was operating with live shows and stock. However, the Willard Theater at Fifty-First and Calumet cut the size of its orchestra from twelve to six, and by May it eliminated its orchestra, substituting organ accompaniment. By April 1928 the Vendome also cut the size of its orchestra. Furthermore, the Chicago Defender reported that the Monogram Theater at 3435 South State Street in the older, declining portion of the Black Belt was the only theater on State Street that was making money.92 However, at this point, business in area theaters seemed to stabilize for some time. The Regal, of course, remained the main attraction. Technological change became more of an issue, and musicians were concerned about the efforts of small theaters to replace them with mechanical musical devices.93 The fact that the Willard, which eliminated its orchestra, was doing a good business did not bode well for musicians.94 As a consequence, the musicians’ union began to challenge the trend by theater owners to use canned (recorded) music and fewer musicians. Contract negotiations broke down between the Metropolitan and the Erskine Tate orchestra, for example, and the Metropolitan tried to go without music. Tate and the Metropolitan reached a settlement later, but 200 small theaters in outlying districts failed to sign contracts with their orchestras.95 By September 1928 the Owl Theater at Forty-Seventh and State, the Vendome at 3145 South State Street, and the 20th Century at Forty-Seventh and Prairie had eliminated all orchestral accompaniment of their films and depended on old pipe organs.96 The Vitaphone, a talking picture technology, came to the Metropolitan by October 1928 and was a big success. The technology spread quickly throughout the South Side, and the Regal acquired vitaphone and movietone technology for talking pictures by December 1928.97 After the introduction of talking pictures in 1928, there was no turning back the clock. Many theaters in the Black Belt that offered live shows shifted to showing only films, and theaters that showed silent films with orchestral or organ accompaniment no longer needed musicians. The Vendome, at one time one of the greatest theaters for movies and live shows in the Black Belt, struggled mightily in early 1929 and closed down for a brief period. In early February the

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Apollo maintained its stock musical comedy policy. However, by late February the Apollo had shifted to motion pictures and eliminated its orchestra. This was significant because the Apollo was Chicago’s only T.O.B.A. theater—this meant it was part of the Black-oriented vaudeville circuit owned by the Theater Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.). Early in 1929 the Chicago Defender declared that show business was at a low ebb in the Black Belt. Nevertheless, during this period the Regal announced a new entertainment policy of “big time” vaudeville with a complete change of show and new movies twice a week.98 Besides this new policy, significant alterations took place in the Regal’s persona because of changes in its masters of ceremonies and other modifications. Fess Williams’s contract expired, and he returned home to New York. Williams later brought an orchestra into the Chicago Savoy in March 1929. On December 1 in 1928 the Chicago Defender announced that “Uke” Bob Williams, “the greatest of diversified entertainers” would be a featured performer at the Regal that week. Bob Williams, known for his eccentric dancing, was a hit and stayed at the Regal for at least four consecutive shows. Williams caught the eye of management, and officials installed him as the new master of ceremonies the week before they instituted the new vaudeville and movie policy on February 10, 1929.99 The Chicago Defender later announced that vaudeville was a hit at the Regal, and the theater continued to bill itself as a top vaudeville house with new movies twice a week.100 There were other notable changes. Apparently the Regal had suspended its amateur night because it resumed its “Future Stars Night” at the end of March. Also, Dave Peyton’s orchestra now exclusively played in the pit.101 As mentioned previously, I. Jay Faggen left the Chicago Savoy to manage the Regal, replacing Charles H. Darrell. Louis Armstrong, who was playing with Carroll Dickerson’s house band at the Chicago Savoy, came into the Regal as a headliner in May. Significantly, in 1929, management yet again changed the Regal’s master of ceremonies. Hal Bakay became the MC and directed the jazz presentations. Writing in his newspaper column, Dave Peyton described this change: Hal Bakay opened triumphantly last Saturday, May 4, as the new jazz maestro at the Regal theater, Chicago, the only one of its kind in the world. Hal takes the place of Bob “Uke” Williams, who has finished a successful run at the wonder amusement temple. Hal hails from the sunny shores of California and is endowed with unlimited talent.

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His personality is magnetic and he seems to win with his audience on his first appearance. The management of the Regal has him billed as the personality conductor, and while he is directing Dave Peyton’s Syncopeyton Symphonists [the name now given to the musicians under the direction of Dave Peyton] he well lives up to the billing. Chicago has readily accepted Hal Bakay.102

However, by the end of December management had installed clarinetist George McClennon as master of ceremonies. Also during 1929 the Regal Steppers became the Regalettes.103 After a formulaic first year, the Regal searched for a new face as it entered the Depression years.

CHAP TER

2

The Depression Years: Privilege in the Marketplace and Black Stewardship

In this chapter we examine the circumstances that led to the Regal’s dominance in the marketplace and its adjustments to the economic challenges of the Great Depression. Monopolistic corporate controls, connections to organized crime, changes in entertainment policies, shifts in management, and community involvement were all significant in this regard. Access to talent, the selection of talent, prevailing entertainment traditions, and broader societal developments affecting Black popular culture were also important. A defining event of this period (1930s) in the Regal’s history was the shift to Black management.

The Regal’s Corporate Parents Famous Players-Lasky (whose trade name became Paramount) was the parent company of the firm that owned Chicago’s Balaban and Katz theater chain, which owned the Regal. Adolph Zukor, who headed the film production company of Famous Players-Lasky, Hollywood’s largest studio, seized control of Paramount—the company that distributed his firm’s films—in 1916.1 Famous PlayersLasky now held an imposing position in film production and distribution but wanted more. Paramount released 102 feature films a year and required theaters to show all of them in order to receive any. This practice, and subsequent variations that required exhibitors (movie theaters) to show a certain number of films in order to receive any, was called “block booking.” When exhibitors responded by moving into film production, Zukor, in 1919, embarked on a massive campaign to acquire movie theaters to show Paramount-distributed films. This practice began a trend toward the creation of national theater chains,

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which unified production, distribution, and exhibition among a few major companies in the film industry. This trend toward vertical integration and block booking would later come under scrutiny and sanction by the federal government for violation of antitrust laws.2 When Famous Players-Lasky merged with Chicago’s Balaban and Katz theater chain in 1925, it produced the first production-distributionexhibition firm with a truly national theater presence.3 Zukor named his theater circuit Publix Theaters, and in 1930 the controlling firm became Paramount-Publix. Sam Katz, one of the founders of Balaban and Katz, became president of the theater division. At the time, Balaban and Katz was the most profitable theater chain in America. It effectively dominated motion picture exhibition in Chicago and controlled many of the largest theaters in the Midwest. After the merger, Balaban and Katz controlled, at various times, thirty-eight to forty-nine theaters in Chicago and its suburbs and twenty-seven theaters in the other cities in Illinois. Even though in 1939 Balaban and Katz’s thirty-nine theaters represented only one-eighth of the theaters in Chicago, the chain controlled 27 percent of the movie seats in Chicago, which included a major control of first-run movie houses and houses with higher admission prices and larger seating capacities. The average seating capacity for Balaban and Katz theaters was 2,200. For all others it was 1,000.4 While the theater division, Paramount-Publix, grew to become the largest theater operator in the world and, before talking movies, the largest employer of musicians in the world, the film industry expanded rapidly from 1922 to 1930.5 Total investment in the film industry rose from $78 million to $850 million between 1922 and 1930, and the average weekly attendance at US theaters doubled from 40 million to 80 million between 1922 and 1928.6 By the early 1930s, ParamountPublix owned or controlled 1,210 theaters, and the number grew to nearly 2,000 before economic disaster hit.7 Famous Players-Lasky was forced into bankruptcy in 1933 as a result of losses from its theater division. Paramount-Publix went from a profit of $18,381,178 in 1930 to a deficit of $15,857,544 in 1932. Also, its 30-million-dollar debt grew into the hundreds of millions. When Paramount-Publix purchased theaters, it paid in stock that was redeemable at a fixed date and price, and redemption dates after the stock market crash meant lower stock values. Thus, the company had to pay too high a price for the devalued stock and eventually went under. In 1934 the film industry began to recover generally, and after reorganizing, Famous Players-Lasky emerged from bankruptcy in 1935 as Paramount Pictures, Inc., under the new leadership of Barney

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Balaban, one of the Balaban brothers who helped found Balaban and Katz. Adolph Zukor became chairman of the board.8 The Balaban and Katz-Paramount connection gave the Regal Theater a commanding access to talent and motion pictures and significant leverage in the entertainment industry. Top entertainers coming into the Regal moved through the Balaban and Katz-Paramount-Publix theater circuit. However, the Regal’s privileged position in the marketplace was further supported by connections to organized crime.

The Regal and Organized Crime Throughout the 1930s an ongoing business consideration involving the Regal and its corporate owners was their symbiotic relationship with organized crime. Sometime before 1916, Tom Maloy, a smalltime hood, took work as a projectionist in a Chicago movie theater. He maintained various illegal activities on his own and became an enforcer for the boss of Chicago’s Motion Picture Operators Union, Local 110, Jack Miller. Maloy became the head of Local 110 when Miller resigned. Extorting movie theaters was not new to gangconnected union leadership, but Maloy took the enterprise to new heights. After spraying Local 110’s union hall with machine-gun fire and becoming linked to nine unsolved murders, Maloy was able to freely assert his will over the rank and file. Through control of Local 110, Maloy extorted money from local theaters, including the Balaban and Katz Theater chain. He also extracted money from union membership. The Chicago crime syndicate under Al Capone and his successor, Frank Nitti, took control of Maloy’s operation. However, Capone already had established extensive links to the entertainment industry. For example, he had secured numerous silent partnerships with famous motion picture stars and entertainers. They relinquished portions of their earnings, often through syndicate-connected management, in return for protection and access to top bookings. One researcher pointed out that Capone was likely a silent partner with Dr. Jules Stein when he started the Music Corporation of America (MCA). Besides booking bands, Stein had been involved in bootlegging and had aligned himself with Capone to gain protection. Stein then used Capone’s influence to force theaters to book his acts. Moreover, Capone wanted the best jazz musicians and other top Black talent in the swank clubs and cafés where he sold his bootleg liquor and sponsored other illegal activities.9 Indigenous gangsters extorted local theaters across the country, but in 1934 the process became more centralized and efficient.

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Hollywood studios, which were connected to national theater chains, became the focus. The end of Prohibition in 1933 left organized crime segments looking for other revenue streams. Willie Bioff, whose résumé consisted of pimping and bootlegging, was friendly with George Brown, business manager of Chicago’s Stagehand Union, Local 2. Together, after learning of Maloy’s success, Bioff and Brown, concocted a scheme to extort money from the Balaban and Katz theater chain and other local theaters. Their success attracted the attention of the Chicago crime syndicate, which ultimately supported and took control of the enterprise. The Chicago crime syndicate then used its contacts in New York, New Jersey, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and St. Louis to frighten union locals to back George Brown in 1934 as head of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Union. This union controlled stagehands, projectionists, and other theatrical workers for nearly all of the country’s theaters. Subsequently, the Chicago syndicate felt that Tom Maloy was a possible weak link in their scheme, and he was assassinated. Maloy’s murder encouraged other locals to fall in line, and through the national union, the Chicago crime syndicate struck deals with Hollywood studios to hold down wages and to prevent strikes in return for annual payments. The syndicate also enlarged its coffers with contributions from the salaries of union membership. Chicago crime bosses provided some benefits for workers while saving Hollywood studios millions of dollars.10 Thus, through its parent company, organized crime connections helped to sustain the economic viability of the Regal, as it addressed the challenges of the Great Depression. In the Black Belt, organized-crime-connected nightclubs helped to maintain White economic dominance while creating a synergy that supported a viable but controlled Black theatrical workforce. The Regal benefited from the nightclubs’ talent pool, and nightclubs benefited from the Regal’s patronage and bookings. Besides exchanging talent, nightclubs were places where adult patrons could go after the Regal closed for the night. The importance of large nightclubs to sustain a theatrical workforce should not be underestimated, since the vaudeville circuit, which was part of the corporate structure that controlled the Regal, was disappearing. Ironically, these clubs—for example, the Grand Terrace, the Swingland, and the DeLisa—served as incubators for innovations in Black entertainment culture, and some clubs routinely donated to worthy causes in the Black community. They also exploited and extorted Black labor and served as fronts for illegal activities that included gambling, prostitution, dope peddling, and the like. It was Prohibition and the commanding attractiveness of

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Black entertainment culture that motivated organized crime to move into the Black Belt and to develop nightclubs as distribution centers for bootleg liquor and other vices, supplanting Black entrepreneurs. After Prohibition ended, however, organized crime began to lose its tight control over the nightclub business, and Black entrepreneurs reentered this activity after 1940. Nevertheless, prominent Whiteowned nightclubs in the Black Belt enjoyed a competitive advantage through their access to capital and coercive influence, achieved through prior and continuing organized crime connections. After Prohibition ended in 1933, racketeering among booking agents also became more prominent. Moreover, Chicago crime bosses, looking for new revenue streams when Prohibition ended, decided to take over the Black-controlled policy rackets, a type of lottery gambling. Previously, Capone’s crime syndicate had not touched this activity, and Blacks had stayed out of bootlegging.11 Besides its connections to organized crime and to the largest motion picture production, distribution, and exhibition company in the country, the Regal Theater also benefited from racial segregation, which also meant, among other things, residential segregation. Since Blacks were confined to specified geographical locations, White businesses that controlled enterprises in Black communities had captive markets. In the case of the Regal, Chicago’s Black Belt community maintained a large and growing Black population.

Demographics and the Regal’s Market The term “Black Belt” described the spatial configuration of Chicago’s most populous South Side Black community. Sociologist E. Franklin Frazier observed that African Americans who migrated to Chicago in the early years of the twentieth century first settled in the deteriorating sections of the city outside of the central business district. Here, where rents were cheap, migrants experienced the least resistance to their entrance into the city. Many new Black residents were impoverished migrants from the Deep South. They were fleeing abject poverty, a dying plantation system, a depressed southern economy, segregation, racial hatred, and a corrupt criminal justice system. Migrants were looking for jobs, economic opportunity, greater social freedoms, social justice, and a better way of life. Earlier migrations of Blacks were slower, smaller, from the Border States, and consisted of Blacks who were better off. As the influx of Black migrants increased, the resulting communities expanded along Lake Street to the west and along State Street to the south. Several older Black settlements

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were in the noncontiguous South Side communities of Morgan Park and Woodlawn. The small numbers of Blacks in these communities were more established and had purchased homes. Most migrants entering the city, however, moved to the South Side’s nascent Black Belt community. By 1920, 90 percent of Chicago’s Black population lived between Twelfth Street on the north and Thirty-Ninth Street on the south. Combined with these northern and southern boundaries, the western and eastern boundaries formed a narrow, belt-like strip of land between Wentworth Avenue on the west and Lake Michigan on the east.12 After the Black Belt extended beyond Thirty-Ninth Street to the south, Cottage Grove became the eastern boundary.13 From 1910 to 1930 Black population growth in the Black Belt was exceptionally rapid. Between 1910 and 1920 the Black population of Chicago more than doubled from 44,000 to 109,000. However, in 1920, only 15 percent of Chicago’s Black residents had been born in Illinois. Between 1920 and 1930 the Black population more than doubled again to 234,000. Migration accounted for 94 percent of this growth between 1910 and 1920 and 83 percent between 1920 and 1930. The Depression slowed Black migration, and Chicago’s Black population increased only marginally to 278,000 by 1940. For this period, 1930 to 1940, migration accounted for 85 percent of the growth.14 The expanding World War II economy again stimulated migration, and by 1944 Chicago’s Black population was 337,000. Despite the existence of other noncontiguous communities with concentrations of Black residents, over 90 percent of Chicago’s Black population lived in the South Side’s Black Belt, now a narrow stretch of land seven miles in length and one and one-half miles wide.15 The unique spatial configuration of the Black Belt and its high population density gave the Regal Theater a solid consumer market, but one that was rapidly changing from its inception. A growing Black population advanced with great difficulty; Whites used violence (e.g., residential bombings), restrictive covenants, and other tools of racial repression to limit the boundaries of Black communities as they grew. The Regal and its surrounding commercial complex were at the fringe of an advancing Black community when White entrepreneurs, seeking to capitalize on this captive Black market, constructed it. However, by 1939 the Forty-Seventh-Street commercial complex was at the center of the Black Belt community (now called Bronzeville by many). The emergence of Forty-Seventh Street and South Parkway as the Black Belt’s principal commercial strip superseded an earlier one known as the “Stroll” that existed between Thirty-First and Thirty-Ninth Streets, on and around State Street, where many key Black businesses

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were located. However, rapid population shifts and the dynamics of racial repression would break the hegemony of Forty-Seventh Street, just as they had functioned to create it.16 In subsequent decades commercial dominance would shift to Sixty-Third Street and beyond, but significant and subtle demographic changes already had begun by 1939 that would prove to be critical in later years. Inside the Black Belt, the Regal was located in a neighborhood called Grand Boulevard. This neighborhood extended from ThirtyNinth Street (Pershing Road) on the north to Fifty-First Street on the south and from the tracks of the Chicago Rock Island and Penn Central Railroad (near Wentworth) on the west to Cottage Grove Avenue on the east. In 1920, 32 percent of the population of Grand Boulevard was Black; in 1930 the area was 94.6 percent Black; and in 1940 it was 98.1 percent Black. By 1930, the few Whites who remained in Grand Boulevard were predominantly Irish, Italian, and Jewish (German and Russian). Whites in Grand Boulevard fled the advancing Black citizenry and moved to nearby Kenwood and Hyde Park communities. They used restrictive covenants (agreements not to sell or rent to Blacks) and other cooperative actions with the federal government and the University of Chicago to keep Blacks out. Among the foreign born in Grand Boulevard, German Jews and Irish Catholics predominated. These groups had moved into Grand Boulevard in large numbers beginning in the 1890s. Blacks, though in smaller numbers, also lived in the area during this time period. The Jewish residents maintained an important synagogue at Forty-Sixth and Grand Boulevard (South Parkway), and the Irish built Corpus Christi, a massive parish complex, in 1915, at Forty-Ninth and Grand Boulevard. Later, these religious structures shifted to use by Black residents as Irish Catholics and Jews fled.17 Jewish businesses did not flee, however, because in 1938 about three-fourths of all merchants in the Black Belt were Jewish.18 Also, the commercial complex that included the Regal and the Savoy Ballroom was a Jewish- owned and controlled venture. Imperceptibly, but from its inception as a Black community, Grand Boulevard was becoming older and younger, losing its middle-aged population. Similar forces operated in the contiguous communities of the Black Belt. Between 1930 and 1940, five to ninteen-year-olds increased from 17.8 percent to 20.6 percent, twenty to forty-four-year-olds decreased from 59.7 percent to 49.9 percent, forty-five to sixty-fouryear-olds increased from 14 percent to 19.1 percent, and those over sixty-five years of age increased from 2.1 percent to 4 percent.19 These trends would continue for the next several decades. Later, in the late 1950s, when the community would begin to lose population, the

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sociological import and economic ramifications of this more youthful and elderly resident population would become more pronounced and would radically alter the Regal’s market.20 There were also from the very beginning structural incentives that encouraged more financially stable Blacks to move further south, away from the Regal’s traditional Black Belt market. Apartment buildings, not single family dwellings, predominated in Grand Boulevard, thus contributing to greater residential change. Middle- and workingclass families who wanted and who could afford homes had to look further south when opportunities were available. Usually this meant moving into overpriced housing stock abandoned by fleeing Whites. More prosperous Black families had always moved south ahead of an expanding Black population, which consisted of poorer migrant elements. However, these families often remained in homes or apartment buildings that they had purchased, as migrant populations caught up to them. Restrictive covenants and other race-based residential restrictions slowed this trend, but movement southward was a firmly established tendency that would pick up speed in future years. The Supreme Court would not strike down restrictive covenants until 1948. In addition, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), because of its official underwriting policies, would not grant mortgages to Blacks in areas it designated as White or as “cushion” districts. Cushion districts were territories between those that the FHA designated as Black and those it designated as White. In some cases, Blacks were denied mortgages in areas that were as much as 30 percent Black. In addition, higher income Black families could not obtain FHA mortgages to build homes in Black areas unless the cost of the home was sufficiently low. Thus, with Grand Boulevard as an example, the conditions were in place from a very early period for the Regal to lose its connection to a stable middle- and working-class market.21 In the 1940s, these and other developments would continue to transform the market and business environment in which the Regal operated. The Great Depression presented major challenges to the Regal Theater and its corporate parents. The economic status of the Black Belt, the Regal’s primary market, was particularly important. Since the Regal Theater maintained a semi-monopoly over movie and stage-show entertainment in Chicago’s Black Belt, it did not fully experience the effects of the Depression until 1932. Stage shows at the Regal declined from a high of around twenty-five in 1928 to only a few in 1932.22 However, the Regal adjusted and remained viable throughout the 1930s, utilizing numerous strategies to sustain itself and remain a dominant entertainment institution in the Black Belt.

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The Depression and Chicago’s Black Belt No one knew what to expect when America entered the Depression years. One scholar of the period remarked: “America was totally unprepared philosophically, politically, financially, and administratively to cope with the massive unemployment, loss of incomes, and poverty that came with the great depression. There was no federal program to assist the unemployed. Not one state had an unemployment insurance system. . . .”23 However, before 1929 America went through a boom period; it was the richest nation in the world and arguably the richest in history.24 Drake and Cayton observed that the five years between 1924 and 1929 were the most prosperous ever experienced by Chicago’s Black population. At this time a solid Black professional and business class arose, supported by a broad base of wage-earning, working-class Blacks.25 These developments, no doubt, were essential to the Regal’s economic viability. Nationally, employment and the productive output of the country began to decline in the summer of 1929, but the recession accelerated after the stock market crash in late October. In 1929, 3.2 percent of the labor force was unemployed, but by 1930 joblessness expanded to 8.7 percent. The economic downturn reached it lowest point in March 1933, and unemployment ascended to a high of 24.9 percent. This figure would not drop below double digits until 1941, when unemployment declined to 9.9 percent. Over 5,000 banks failed between 1929 and 1932, more than one out of five, and the commercial banking system collapsed at the beginning of March 1933. After 1933 the economy began a slow and painful recovery, but only in 1939 and later did the real productive output of the country stay above 1929 levels. World War II proved to be the stimulus that would return the economy to full-employment levels.26 Across the country, unemployment and economic challenges for Blacks were far greater than they were for Whites, and, as one would expect, Blacks in Chicago were hard hit. In October 1931 in Chicago alone 624,000 (40 percent of its workforce) were unemployed but during the same period Blacks, though only 4 percent of the population, were 16 percent of the unemployed.27 As it had done to thousands of White-owned banks, the Depression quickly brought down two Black-owned banks in Chicago’s Black Belt. Jesse Binga’s State Bank, one of the most prominent symbols of prosperity and pride for Black Chicagoans, succumbed in July 1930. Similarly, Anthony Overton’s Douglass National Bank, the first Black-owned bank to receive a national charter, met its death in 1932.

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Also, in July 1930, two White-owned banks on Chicago’s South Side, in and around the Black Belt, closed their doors. They were the Bankers State Bank at Thirty-Seventh and South Parkway and the Citizens State Bank at Fifty-Fifth and State.28 Further, the jobs of Blacks, which disproportionately consisted of domestic positions and unskilled labor, were the first to go. Also, early in the Depression, the Black community was hit hard with evictions. Paralleling this economic decline, the struggle by Chicago Blacks to end racial discrimination in employment by White-owned businesses in the Black community intensified with a “Spend Your Money Where You Can Work” campaign that attracted national attention.29 The Regal Theater, no doubt, had to adjust to the vicissitudes of its corporate parent and the realities of the Depression by reducing the considerable overhead associated with deluxe theaters and lavish stage productions and find ways to increase revenues. Most theaters with stage shows turned to film only and trimmed their staff of ushers. This trend actually began in 1928, however, when theaters started to shift from silent to talking films. Also, during the Depression, movie theaters began to sell candy and then popcorn on a regular basis. Soft drinks (Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola) came last. Air-conditioning and the double feature became important enticements to attract audiences. In light of the Depression, only the top deluxe theaters in the largest cities maintained stage shows.30 The Regal still existed as a semi-monopoly in the Black Belt, supported by a captive Black consumer market, which was sustained by de facto segregation. As a consequence, the Regal survived elimination of its most unique feature, its live, family-oriented stage productions. Deep integration into the community life of the Black Belt helped to sustain the Regal’s economic viability throughout the Depression years. One critical way the Regal achieved this integration was through its partnership with Robert Abbott and the Chicago Defender newspaper.

The Regal Theater and Charitable Events By 1930, the Regal had become an important center for humanitarian work in the Black Belt. Robert Abbott, for example, founder and editor of the Chicago Defender, held the Defender’s second annual Thanksgiving “turkey party” at the Regal in 1930. For this event, the Defender reportedly transported 10,000 children to the Regal, entertaining them and distributing food.31 However, there was an earlier context for Abbott’s interest in children. In 1923 Abbott came up with an idea for a children’s column

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to enlist newsboys and to maintain the interest of young people in the paper. He called the column “Bud Billiken,” after a Chinese statuette on his desk called a Billiken, which, according to Chinese legend, was the guardian angel of little children. Lucius Harper, one of Abbott’s employees, suggested the name Bud. Through the Bud Billiken club, the Defender reached over a million children, engaging them in various educational and cultural activities. With the development of the Bud Billiken parade in 1929, the Defender institutionalized its charitable efforts on behalf of children in time for the tough years of the Great Depression.32 The Chicago Defender observed that in the Black Belt, “the backbone of all charity benefits is theatrical folk,” and Abbott, as did other prominent individuals, groups, and organizations, routinely supported charitable events at the Regal and its sister institution, the Savoy Ballroom. The Second Ward Republicans, for example, held their annual Christmas basket-fund party at the Savoy in December 1930. Many celebrities, most of whom were performers at the Regal, supported the event. From the Regal came bandleader and dancer Ralph Cooper, musical director Dave Peyton, the Regal’s entire orchestra, organist and pianist Sammy Williams, comedian Jackie Mabley, and bandleader Jimmy Bell and his Rhythm Aces. The noted Black clubowner and producer, Bill Bottoms, brought the entire floorshow from his Ritz Café, and vocalist and string quartet the Five Spirits of Rhythm also entertained the crowd.33 Outside of Regal- and Defender-sponsored charitable affairs, Black entertainers and celebrities who lived and worked in the Black Belt took an active role in events that aided the Black community. Jack L. Cooper, for example, Chicago’s only Black official radio announcer, entertained over 1,500 children in Washington Park under the sponsorship of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Fifth Ward West End Democratic Club. Cooper was from radio station WSBC.34 Earlier in the year—January 1930—legendary dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and White vaudevillian and comic actor Ted Healy organized and sponsored a benefit show at the Regal. Adult-oriented benefit shows typically started at midnight, and this one ended at 3:00 a.m. It reportedly attracted 4,000 people.35 There was no segregation, and White and Black entertainers normally appeared on the same show. These performers were prominent in current films, plays, musicals, local clubs, and the like. Undoubtedly, some White club owners and performers willingly participated in charitable shows at the Regal, but the conglomerate that owned Balaban and Katz was arguably the most powerful player in the entertainment industry and

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could make or break careers. Also, it was often through the medium of the Regal benefit shows that Chicago’s Black community first witnessed in person the White stars and celebrities they saw in the movies or had only heard and read about. Pragmatically speaking, however, benefit shows, besides their obviously charitable functions, helped the Regal to maintain a positive community presence, which helped to stimulate patronage. Ted Healy was an example of prominent White entertainers who participated in Regal benefit shows. Among other things, Ted Healy was recognized for creating the comic team known as the Three Stooges, originally called Ted Healy and His Three Stooges. Healy was currently starring in a White musical comedy revue, A Night in Venice. He brought with him two featured performers from the review, Beth and Betty Dodge, who sang a song in French. Another member of Healy’s company, Grace Bowman, sang a number, and so did the female star of Healy’s show, Ann Seymour. White film stars William Desmond and Bert Lytell made appearances. Lytell actually served as a master of ceremonies for the show, and Desmond told jokes and engaged in crowd-pleasing repartee with Bill Robinson. A bear act from Healy’s show was also added, and the bear danced and wrestled with several comedians, delighting the audience.36 In-house and prominent Black talent offered performances that were especially empathetic and endearing to the crowd. Dave Peyton and his orchestra provided the music. Worthy and Thompson, dancers from Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds, a perennially successful all-Black musical review, were well received. Protégés of Bill Robinson, they imitated the great dancer down to small details and excited the crowd. Three acrobatic dancers called the Three Midnight Steppers, from the hit show Hot Chocolates, gave a first-class performance. The two Berry Brothers, also of Blackbirds, stopped the show with their acrobatic flash-dance routine. Bill Robinson strolled on stage carrying the third and youngest Berry Brother in his arms. The youngest Berry seemed hardly big enough to walk but danced with his two older brothers with mature poise and skill. Aida Ward, featured singer for Blackbirds, sang to thunderous applause. “Snake Hips” Tucker, the incomparable eccentric dancer and featured Blackbird performer, thrilled the crowd with his famous hip twisting moves. Because the audience demanded it, Bill Robinson performed his famous stair dance. The stage crew brought out the stairs, and the audience became perfectly quiet while Robinson danced up and down the staircase, creating his magnificent rhythms. They listened intently to Robinson’s every tap. Robert S. Abbott chaired the committee that would dispense the funds collected that

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night to several charitable organizations. I. J. Faggen, manager of the Regal, donated use of the theater.37 Charitable events helped to integrate the Regal into the life of Bronzeville, but to effectively compete in the marketplace during the challenging period of the Great Depression, the Regal’s promotional strategies and bookings were crucial.

Promotional Strategies and Notable Performers at the Regal Throughout 1930 the Regal continued to present top entertainment. However, it struggled to find a presentation policy that—despite economic stagnation—would sustain audience interest and draw crowds. Regal management continued to look for dynamic personalities who could serve as master of ceremonies, front the house band, and become the focal point for stage shows. The tradition of featuring a dynamic bandleader as master of ceremonies was a proven draw for Balaban and Katz presentation houses and continued as a promotional strategy at the Regal. Gone, however, were the lavish, theme-based shows that were heavily in-house produced. Shows now featured variety (vaudevilletype) entertainment. Management, when possible, drew upon nationally recognized talent based in Chicago. There was also the strategy to bring in roadshows and top talent from T.O.B.A., which formed the Black-oriented vaudeville circuit, found largely in the South. Road shows were self-contained shows, eliminating much of the inhouse production requirements of the Regal’s previous entertainment policy. Changes in the masters of ceremonies were particularly notable. Clarinetist George McClennon had become master of ceremonies late in 1929 but left in January 1930 to tour on the RKO (Radio, Keith, Orpheum) theater circuit.38 Hal Bakay returned as emcee in February.39 Several other masters of ceremonies followed, including the great baritone, George Dewey Washington, but Regal management openly expressed their wish to find an emcee as popular as Hal Bakay.40 Bakay later became the featured performer in June in a show at the Alhambra Theater in Harlem.41 In July, Regal management brought in its own Publix circuit stars, the Three Gobs (Sonny, Eddie, and Eddie), as masters of ceremonies, who sang, danced, and directed the Dave Peyton orchestra in unison. On the same show with the Three Gobs was dance team Dave and Tressie (Stranton), billed as stars of the RKO circuit. The husband and wife team resided in Chicago at 3714 Indiana Avenue. Irene Scruggs from St. Louis sang

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the blues in what was described as “the old-standard contralto style.” Scruggs’s nine-year-old daughter, Baby Leazar, was a hit with her dance presentation. While in Chicago, Scruggs stayed at 3151 Indiana Avenue. Next, soprano Alice Harris, who was making her second appearance at the Regal, gave a memorable performance. Finally, the Five Spirits of Rhythm, a group of young string instrument players with fine voices, gave a novelty rendition of songs that was a hit with the audience.42 Of the masters of ceremonies that performed at the Regal in 1930, the most notable was Ralph Cooper. Cooper was formerly a member of the celebrated dance team of (Eddie) Rector and Cooper. Rector, of course, was a renowned dance stylist who strongly influenced the “class act” style of tap dancing.43 Cooper was a talented and worthy partner but would ultimately explore show-business options other than dance. For example, Twentieth Century Fox in Hollywood hired Cooper to choreograph child star Shirley Temple in the film, Poor Little Rich Girl. Cooper’s success brought him a five-year contract with Fox. However, Cooper did not accept the acting roles offered by Fox because they were the stereotypical and demeaning characterizations that Hollywood normally reserved for Blacks. Nevertheless, Cooper learned the technical skills of scriptwriting, directing, lighting, set-design, and the like while at Fox and became involved in independent film production. His most significant effort was the formation of Million Dollar Productions with White partner Harry M. Popkin. Through this company, Cooper wrote, directed, and starred in at least eight films. One film, Duke is Tops, initiated the movie career of the great Lena Horne. Later, after Horne had achieved success at a major studio, MGM, Duke is Tops was reissued as Bronze Venus, and Lena Horne received top billing. Cooper, later in his career, would also have success as a radio personality.44 In August 1930, Cooper served as master of ceremonies at the Regal. One of the highlights of the show was when Cooper danced atop a grand piano played by Fats Waller. When Thomas “Fats” Waller came to the Regal in 1930, he was twenty-six and a hot commodity. Waller had already established himself as a prolific and gifted composer, organist, and pianist in the stride tradition. His hit songs, “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue?” “I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling,” and “Rollin’ Down the River” were fresh in the minds of the public, and Waller had been recently featured over national radio.45 He was a great draw for the Regal at this time. In September 1930, the Chicago Defender reported that Regal management had selected Ralph Cooper as their permanent master of

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ceremonies and offered Cooper a long-term contract.46 Thus, the emcee issue at the Regal seemed to have been resolved. The Defender reported that with the Ralph Cooper hire, it was “the first time in several months that the theater had a regular m.c.”47 Cooper, nonetheless, would most distinguish himself as an emcee, not at the Regal, but at the Apollo Theater in New York City’s Harlem community. Cooper started the famous Wednesday-night amateur show in 1934, the year the Apollo opened as a Black-oriented entertainment center. He produced and emceed the amateur show, off and on, for over fifty years.48 The Regal was an important training ground for Cooper and, no doubt, influenced his work at the Apollo. However, before going to the Apollo, Cooper had other memorable learning experiences in Chicago. He produced shows for the original Grand Terrace, a grandiose, organized-crime-controlled club at 3955 South Parkway. Cooper also served as emcee at Chicago’s Sunset Café, located at Thirty-Fifth and Calumet. The Sunset, which at the time was owned by Joe Glaser and which also had ties with Chicago’s crime syndicate, was a lavish club, comparable to Harlem’s Cotton Club. The Sunset was where Ralph Cooper and Cab Calloway met and became close friends. Calloway, who fronted the house band at the Sunset, noted that Cooper introduced him to his first wife, Wenonah Conacher, whom they called Betty. However, Cooper provided additional details to the story and explained that Betty was his girl and Calloway was supposed to look after her while he was on a road trip. When Cooper returned, however, Calloway and Betty were married.49 Nonetheless, by the time Ralph Cooper came to New York’s Apollo Theater from Chicago’s Regal, he was an accomplished dancer, producer, bandleader, and emcee with influential connections in the entertainment industry. Another major move by Regal management—just prior to hiring Cooper—was to book the Whitman Sisters in late August 1930. At the time, the Whitman Sisters was a roadshow of nearly fifty performers, which had four sisters as its core, who were some of the greatest entertainers in America. The Whitman sisters were the top drawing entertainers over the T.O.B.A. circuit, a syndicate of Black-oriented vaudeville theaters. They had great success with several major White-oriented theater circuits as well. The Publix circuit booked the Whitman Sisters for a year in 1928, but it wasn’t until 1930 that management brought the show into the Regal. This decision was a significant departure from the Regal’s previous vaudeville policy. The Whitman Sisters was the first roadshow to play the Regal in its three-year existence. Reportedly, box-office receipts affirmed that Regal manager

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I. J. Faggen had made a good decision when he implemented the change.50 For the Whitman sisters, the Regal engagement was a prelude to their fall and winter season. They had a successful week at the Regal and were to begin touring at the end of September after a hiatus of several weeks. The tentative agreement was that the Whitman Sisters would play the Regal at the beginning and end of each theatrical season, and the Regal would become the home base for the company.51 The performance of the Whitman Sisters conformed to elements of a developing Regal tradition, and it also showcased the unique talents of the company. Mabel Whitman, the oldest of the four sisters and manager of the company, directed Dave Peyton’s orchestra on stage. The director role had become a tradition for those who served as master of ceremonies. Mabel was the first female emcee at the Regal, and we are told, she did a splendid job. She also managed the overall production of the show. The youngest sister, Alice, was a superb tap dancer and singer who had few peers. She performed with the next youngest sister, Alberta, or Bert, as she was called, who was one of show business’s best male impersonators. Essie, the next oldest, was a powerful contralto who earned grand applause with her soulful singing. Essie was also a talented comedian. Albert Whitman, Alice’s son, and Joseph Jones were child tap dancers extraordinaire and performed as a team. The Chicago Defender compared the two to the great Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Because of their dynamic performances at the Regal, the Balaban and Katz chain booked the youthful dancers into several of its other theaters in Chicago during the hiatus between the Regal appearance and the Whitman Sisters’ fall tour. Albert Whitman, whose nickname was “Pops,” became one of the great acrobatic tap dancers. There were other fine artists with the Whitman Sisters’ entourage, including a chorus. Princess Wee Wee, a talented midget entertainer, was one of the many performers from whom the audience demanded an encore.52 The Whitman sisters were remarkable entertainers with a distinctive family history. Born a slave and later freed, their father, the Reverend Albery Allson Whitman, became a Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and later Dean of Morris Brown College. He was reportedly a first cousin of poet Walt Whitman. The Whitman sisters became the highest paid act on the T.O.B.A. circuit and were known as the royalty of Black vaudeville. They owned their own company, toured the entire United States, and negotiated dangerously racist and sexist environments and unscrupulous theater owners. At the same time, they nurtured and spawned some of the

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best Black entertainment talent in America. The Whitman sisters first moved to Chicago in 1905, but it was in 1928 that they purchased an exceptionally large home that they used to accommodate traveling performers. The home was located at 425 East Forty-Eighth Street. The Whitman sisters—a thrilling entertainment family—were in show business for over forty years.53 The Whitman sisters could pass for White, which did not please some White club and theater owners and which confused some White audiences. Once, Alice Whitman was fired from the show, Hot Chocolates, at Connie’s Inn in New York City, despite a “brilliant opening.” Management felt that she was too light skinned for the show. However, the sisters had no problem identifying with Blacks. Later, the oldest sister, Mabel, spoke on the issue of color. I can truthfully say this much, we have helped many Race [African American] artists of all colors to reach their desired goal. The Whitmans could have denied the Race many, many years ago as quite a few have done, but they have been happy and contented to be just what they were, Negroes, and never denied it. . . . We have done more by helping others reach the top than to have denied our race and possibly acquired millions.54

The Whitman sisters maintained a strong commitment to helping Black performers and to bringing high quality, wholesome, family-oriented entertainment to Black audiences. Regal management strained to find the right promotional formula to keep theater seats filled. Concomitantly, Paramount-Publix, the parent company of Balaban and Katz, which operated the Regal, developed diverse strategies to benefit its circuit of motion picture theaters and presentation houses. In another new development, Paramount-Publix designated the Regal as the Chicago preview theater. Any acts that desired booking over the Publix circuit would preview at the Regal. In fact, after the Cooper opening on Saturday, five acts previewed at the Regal on Thursday evening, four of which consisted of White performers. The regular Regal audience and production executives of the corporation viewed the acts.55 This was not the first time that broader corporate goals affected booking practices at the Regal. In February, for example, Regal management attempted to book prominent baritone George Dewey Washington into the Regal for at least a week, following his successful European tour. However, Regal management could only secure Washington for two days because corporate superiors opted to book him for four solid weeks in Publix theaters downtown.56

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The Chicago Defender reported that American and European critics “hailed Washington as possessing one of the most splendid voices yet to be heard.” They said he was “endowed with a rich singing quality” and was “one of the most vibrant personalities of any of the present crop of stage stars.” The Defender further attributed Washington’s “unusual popularity in the larger picture houses all over the country” to his ability and willingness to sing all types of music. Washington gained prominence in Balaban and Katz theaters as a protégé of White conductor Paul Ash, who established the model for personalityconductor/emcees in Balaban and Katz presentation houses. This model, of course, was a huge stimulus to Balaban and Katz patronage. Ash liked Washington’s singing and used Washington’s talents to enhance his own shows downtown at Chicago’s Balaban and Katz Oriental Theater. At the Oriental, Washington’s planned one-week engagement expanded to eighteen weeks. Ash, no doubt, anticipated this kind of reception since, at an earlier period, Ash booked Washington on his show at the Granada Theater for a two-week engagement, which expanded to forty-two weeks. Washington was reportedly the first African American to entertain at the Oriental, and despite experiencing some racism, White audiences warmed to his singing. Even earlier, in 1925, it was Washington’s work with the exceptionally talented Florence Mills that provided the opportunity for his discovery and eventual access to Publix houses. Because of Washington’s superb singing abilities, personality, and rising popularity, at the time of his two-day booking into the Regal, MGM had enlisted Washington for nine short films and Paramount for one.57 In subsequent years it would not be uncommon for ParamountPublix officials to divert or limit top Black entertainment at the Regal in order to stimulate patronage at its other deluxe presentation houses. In February 1930, as a part of its promotional strategies to attract and sustain audiences, Regal management staged a triumphant homecoming for Louis Armstrong. Armstrong also made a special appearance at the Chicago Savoy, generating phenomenal excitement. Armstrong first arrived in Chicago in 1922 to play with (“King”) Joe Oliver at Lincoln (also Royal) Gardens on Thirty-First and Cottage Grove, and even then Armstrong’s reputation preceded him. Armstrong moved to the Dreamland Café at 3618–3620 South State Street in 1924. He later left for New York to play with Fletcher Henderson in the same year but returned to Chicago in about twelve months. Armstrong reportedly felt confined by Henderson’s orchestra and found greater creative freedom when he returned to play in his wife’s (Lil Hardin) orchestra, Lil’s Dreamland Syncopators.

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Armstrong also played with Erskine Tate’s Vendome Theater Orchestra, creating a sensation that overshadowed the theater’s film presentations. In 1926 Armstrong left the Dreamland to join the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra at the Sunset Café. Earl Hines was on the piano. When Dickerson left in 1927, Armstrong took over the band and developed other creative projects. However, Armstrong rejoined Dickerson after Dickerson took over in 1928 one of the house bands at Chicago’s Savoy Ballroom. In addition, Armstrong created his famous “Hot Five” and “Hot Seven” recordings for Okeh Records while in Chicago. The Savoy job came to an end in 1929, and Armstrong and most of his band members left for New York under his name. Black Chicagoans loved Armstrong and embraced him as a native son when he returned to the Regal and the Savoy in February 1930.58 The Defender reported capacity crowds at the Regal for the February show and observed: “Such ovation as was given [Armstrong] has not been seen in these parts for a long time. . . . Because of the enormous popularity [Armstrong] apparently enjoys here he is booked to remain at the Regal for the next two weeks. . . .”59 The normal booking was for one week. Later in the year in June, the Regal capitalized on the solid reputation and fan base established in Chicago by Fess Williams when he served as the Regal’s first personality-conductor/emcee. The Chicago Defender observed: “Other Chicago houses may be in the ‘red’ this week, but the Regal theater at 47th St. and South Pkwy. is packed for every appearance of Fess Williams and his Royal Flush orchestra from ole New York.” Williams played for a week at the Regal in a show that drew upon much of the proven talent associated with the Regal’s first shows. Virtuoso Sammy Williams played the Regal’s massive pipe organ and opened the show. He led the audience in community singing. The curtain rose revealing Dave Peyton and his orchestra, an all-male chorus from Fess William’s group, and the lovely Regalettes. The performers were elegantly dressed in formal attire, and the Regalettes were seated at tables in a nightclub setting. Two numbers by the chorus brought loud applause.60 A strong group of supporting entertainers were on the bill with Fess Williams. Tenor Alexander C. Parks, who the Defender reported was a third-place finisher in a recent, well-known amateur radio contest and the only male and African American to receive a prize, gave a strong performance. Georgia Kelly, billed as “the personality blues singer,” made her third appearance at the Regal and drew a positive response from the crowd. Three youngsters listed as John Freeman, Henry Perry, and Carlton, who were amateur contest

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winners and who had launched their show business careers nine months earlier, “stopped the show with their novelty dancing.” The Regal’s beloved comedian, Marshall Rodgers, known as “Sweet Papa Garbage,” brought, as usual, great laughter to the house, with humorous skits involving band members. White comedian, Bob “Yowse” Morris, who was no stranger to the Regal, was also a hit. The Defender observed: “He is the first white performer to win a place in the affections of Regal patrons.”61 In fact, Rodgers, who had been a regular at the Regal for two years, was playing his last engagement at the Regal before leaving for New York to appear in talking films, and, according to the Defender, Bob Morris was the most likely choice to succeed Rodgers. Because of his success at the Regal, Rodgers attracted the attention of influential people in the Paramount organization and was invited for a voice and screen test, which he passed. While at the Regal, Marshall Rodgers became a cherished entertainer and a hero for children. The Defender explained: Coming to the Regal in 1928 almost unknown, Mr. Rodgers from the start was recalled for engagements until he became a fixture at the theater. The favorite of thousands of theater goers has played many roles on the Regal stage, from assisting Bud Billiken to entertaining hundreds of Billikens at the matinee parties, to being master of ceremonies. “Garbage” has provoked laughter from the audiences by merely walking on stage and not saying a word. Few performers can boast of this feat. Every motion and gesture of Mr. Rodgers is a laugh getter.62

Finally, with their usual level of crowd-pleasing skill, Sammy Dyer’s Regalettes danced, and Dave Peyton and his orchestra played.63 In the next month, July, Regal management attempted to capitalize on the celebrity of vocalist Lois Deppe. A lyric baritone, Deppe had built a solid reputation and following. During his climb to fame, Deppe had appeared on stage with many fine artists, including Marian Anderson and Frances Cole Tolbert. For a time Deppe led his own orchestra, where he was the featured vocalist. At this time Deppe hired a young Earl Hines as his pianist. This was Hines’s first professional employment. In 1921 Earl Hines and Lois Deppe “were the first African Americans to perform on KDKA, Westinghouse’s pioneering [radio] station in Pittsburgh. . . .” This historic performance created great excitement and, no doubt, helped to broaden and firmly establish Deppe’s reputation. At the time of his Regal appearance, Deppe had been a featured performer in three Broadway productions, two White and one Black. The former productions were Great Day

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and Hello Paris, and the latter was Blackbirds. As a consequence of the acclaim achieved through his Broadway work, Deppe subsequently performed in top presentation houses with the Publix and RKO vaudeville circuits. He was scheduled for future work with the Shubert theaters. Deppe performed with a 14-voice male chorus and had recently completed a long engagement at a major White theater in Chicago’s central business district. Because of his physical appearance, it is possible that some audience members did not know Deppe was African American. The Deppe booking at the Regal appealed to patrons who were drawn to European symphonic music and operatic renderings, which included renditions of African Americans spirituals. Deppe understood the limits of his appeal among Black audiences and, with some elitism, asserted, “I find it very difficult to put over the same number before my people that I sing with marked success before white audiences. This is due to their lack of appreciation of the finer numbers, but we artists get the blame.”64 Regal shows, at this time, continued to cross class and age lines in the Black community, with presentations of diverse interest. During this period in 1930, it became clear that Regal management developed their shows around a house band, in-house dancers (chorus line), and semiregular comedians. Management also relied heavily on local and promising new talent, often from the top amateur ranks. To this mix they added an established headliner. The personality-conductor emcee was a constant, but shows had fewer acts. Productions were deemed appropriate for families and cut across socioeconomic lines. Management took every opportunity to capitalize on what was currently popular with Regal audiences, but the needs of Balaban and Katz’s White presentation houses could affect the bookings at the Regal. The Defender expected the Fess Williams show to break attendance records established by a recent showing of the film Hallelujah. Whether or not this occurred was not clear, but the drawing power of this film created other possibilities. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer(MGM)-produced Hallelujah was one of the first major talking motion pictures directed at a Black audience. The other one was Twentieth Century Fox’s Hearts in Dixie. Both debuted in 1929, and both featured all-Black casts. Each film contained weak or flawed plots and stereotypical imagery. It seemed that Hollywood was only interested in exploiting the singing, dancing, and comedic talents of Blacks, roles in which White Americans could accept Blacks. Nevertheless, African American audiences were starving to see themselves on the big screen, and in comparison to the normal racial stereotypes

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of Blacks, these films must have appeared mildly derogatory, with some redeeming qualities. Nina Mae McKinney, the star of Hallelujah, was immensely popular among African Americans, and the Chicago Defender frequently reported on the ups and downs of her career. Regal management, looking to capitalize on McKinney’s popularity, brought her into the Regal in November 1930. Crowds and profits were good, and, in fact, people had to be turned away toward the end of McKinney’s engagement.65 Nina Mae McKinney, born June 12, 1912, in Lancaster, South Carolina, was about sixteen years old when she began work on Hallelujah. She was Hollywood’s first Black leading lady. In Hallelujah, McKinney played a seductress. Film historians observed that in this role she created a flirtatious dance that later became traditional in roles played by Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge. The White director of Hallelujah, King Vidor, discovered McKinney in the chorus line of Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1928, a highly successful all-Black Broadway musical starring Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Adelaide Hall. Lew Leslie was a White producer of all-Black musicals, which he perennially promoted under the title, “Blackbirds.” McKinney proved to be a talented singer, dancer, and actress and received a five-year contract from MGM based upon her work in Hallelujah. No other starring roles emerged from this relationship, however. MGM and the rest of Hollywood, it seemed, had difficulty finding a place for African American actresses in roles other than happy and loyal mammies and maids. After the November engagement at the Regal, McKinney set sail in December for a European tour, first stopping in Paris. Her aunt, Mrs. Alice Clinton, accompanied her.66 The Regal developed other promotional events associated with its film presentations and its need to maintain market share and utility in the Black Belt. In October 1930 the Regal displayed seven works in its lobby by the celebrated sculptor Richmond (Richard) Barthé. This display was connected to a sculpture contest for young artists. The best sculpture by an amateur, received by October 8, would win ten dollars in gold. The event helped to promote the film, Common Clay, which was playing at the Regal the week of October 4.67 Barthé had emerged during the Black Renaissance of the 1920s as an abundantly talented and sensitive sculptor. Born on January 28, 1901, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, Barthé studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and established a strong base and presence in Chicago through his work. He became known for capturing peak movement and subtle emotion in his sculptures. Knowledgeable art critics observed that Barthé was “absorbed in how emotional and spiritual feelings express themselves

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in physiognomy, movement, stance, and gesture. . . .”68 Among his many fine works, Barthé’s bust of famed scientist George Washington Carver, performing work in his laboratory, was a masterpiece of human expression that portrayed the use of internal spiritual energy for scientific discovery.69 Another significant development that set the context for the Regal’s promotional efforts, community involvement, and struggle for economic viability in the context of an economic depression was the growing commercial significance of radio.

The Regal and The Rising Significance of Radio The growth of radio changed booking policies at the Regal and similar institutions because audiences wanted to see the musical stars and performers they heard performing on this new medium. In-house talent would become a thing of the past, as Regal management moved to satisfy audience demand fueled by radio programming. Also, the Regal and other entertainment outlets would begin to use this new medium to reach their markets. Throughout the 1920s radio became an important medium in Chicago, as it did in other parts of the country, and radio listening was a new and important recreational activity for an increasing number of people. In Chicago, the Westinghouse Corporation opened the first radio station, KYW, on December 10, 1921. The programming was primarily music, with a variety of sports, informational talk, and stories. In the spring of 1922, the Fair Store, a prominent department store in Chicago’s central business district, the “Loop,” opened a station, WBU. Later the station became affiliated with the Chicago Daily News and became WMAQ. WBU was essentially a promotional outlet for the Fair Store. There were other stations that emerged for a variety of reasons, but in general, individuals, hotels, publications, and retail establishments became interested in radio broadcasting for promotional, commercial, experimental, or recreational purposes.70 The Regal, like other entertainment establishments, periodically utilized the medium of radio. The details of the Regal’s use of radio are sketchy, but there was mention of a Regal Theater Studio Hour broadcast over WIBO on a Thursday in June 1930. In one newspaper report, a young teenage girl, Elizabeth Hemphill, from the Mary Bruce School of Dancing, drew praise for her singing over this broadcast.71

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Chicago was an important place for the development of commercial radio and the development of Black radio. The character of these developments helped both to institutionalize demeaning stereotypes of Blacks and to counteract them. The former was assisted by the emergence from Chicago of the most popular radio program in America and the first to firmly demonstrate that radio advertising could effectively and significantly elevate the national sales of a given product. The show, of course, was Amos ‘n’ Andy, a comedy serial based upon a caricature of Black life and culture created by two White men, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. Media historian William Barlow reported that, presumably, the men modeled their act after the Black comedy-team of Miller and Lyles. However, Gosden and Correll employed stereotypes inspired by blackface minstrelsy and contrived their own concept of speaking that portrayed a confused and poor application of the English language, a style that utilized stereotypical inflections and intonations that they passed off as distinctly Black. Amos ‘n’ Andy appealed to the fact that mainstream America wanted to imagine its Black citizens as inherently childlike and unintelligent. In the mid-1920s, Gosden and Correll began their blackfaceminstrel radio serial in Chicago under the name of Sam and Henry. They were first on WEBH and then WGN, which did not have network affiliation at the time. The team moved to WMAQ, which had become an NBC affiliated station, changed the name of the serial broadcast to Amos ‘n’ Andy, and became radio’s first nationally syndicated show. Beginning in 1929, NBC aired Amos ‘n’ Andy across the country, six nights a week for fifteen minutes. The show in 1930 reached nearly forty million people a night, 53 percent of the nationwide radio audience. The Amos ‘n’ Andy show stimulated a huge increase in the sale of radios and radio parts, and when in 1930 a million listeners responded to an offer of a free map from Gosden and Correll, the station and advertisers had concrete evidence of the show’s popularity and the power of commercial radio.72 Black radio pioneer, Jack L. Cooper, on the other hand, developed diverse programming for Black audiences that transcended White stereotypes of Blacks. Also, his trailblazing work as a radio announcer projected a dignified and well-favored image of African Americans. Cooper, like other African Americans who sought employment in radio as on-air talent, had previously been required to portray the stereotypical roles that Whites expected Blacks to play. However, Cooper, like many other Black entertainers, fought against racial stereotyping when he could. The opportunity for Cooper came after

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he left Washington, DC for Chicago in 1926. Subsequent to working in advertising and sales for the Chicago Defender, Cooper was able to obtain a radio program in 1929 with WSBC. Joseph Silverstein founded WSBC, which stood for “World Storage Battery Company,” in 1925, with a studio on the seventh floor of the New Southern Hotel at Thirteenth and Michigan. Through radio, he planned to market his World Battery Company. Among other things, the company manufactured storage batteries for radios. The radio station’s weak signal covered only part of the city, and Silverstein used the station to reach various “ethnic” markets. WSBC provided airtime slots for Greek, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, and German programming, and Silverstein hired Cooper, at a small salary, to market to the Black community. Initially, Cooper’s show was called the “All-Negro Hour” and aired from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. every Sunday. The Chicago Defender lauded Cooper’s achievement as the first Black radio announcer, but later reported that well-known comedian Eddie Green also put forth a program about the same time as Cooper over a shortwave station in New York. Also, Prince Rajah De Jovedo was “an announcer from a remote studio over station WWAE. . . . He was the first [Black] announcer in the Windy City [Chicago], but was acting in an unofficial capacity.”73 Jack Cooper was a pioneer of the radio-disk-jockey format, which interspersed music with talk. Again, radio exposure became increasingly important to the Regal Theater as a basis to book talent. Moreover this importance was enhanced by the demise of the Black vaudeville circuit controlled by the Theater Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.). This demise would eliminate a traditional incubator and promotional vehicle for Black talent and an important source of employment that helped to sustain a Black theatrical workforce.74

The Death of T.O.B.A. To some, in January 1930, T.O.B.A. appeared stable and financially sound. Milton Starr, the White vice-president of T.O.B.A., was the largest owner of Black-oriented theaters in the country and controlled the only formidable Black-oriented theater circuit. Starr continued to expand and had acquired three additional theaters in the last three months. His most recent jewel was the new Capitol Theater in Columbia, South Carolina. Among Starr’s other theaters were the Bijou in Nashville, Tennessee; the Lincoln, also in Nashville; the Royal in Atlanta, Georgia; the Lenox in Augusta, Georgia; the Lincoln in New Bern, North Carolina; the Royal in Raleigh, North Carolina;

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the Lincoln in Charleston, South Carolina; the Royal in Columbia, South Carolina; the Liberty in Greenville, South Carolina; and the Dunbar in Spartanburg, South Carolina. All of Starr’s theaters were equipped for talking films and for live shows booked over the T.O.B.A. circuit. Reportedly Starr expected to add additional theaters to his syndicate in the near future.75 In any event, T.O.B.A. showed increasing signs of poor health. In January 1930, Sam E. Reevin, the White treasurer of T.O.B.A., completed a study of several regions of the T.O.B.A. circuit. He found that poor patronage was the result of economic downturn and people placing necessity before luxury. It was not, Reevin said, the result of poor shows. Later, T.O.B.A. officials reversed this assessment and argued that audience apathy was the result of monotonous shows, which lacked creativity and which used canned (recorded) music. Their consensus was that a summer hiatus and better shows would solve the problem. Now, Black vaudeville’s owners rejected the observation that the people had no money; for them, a better product was the answer. Both reasons for slipping attendance were valid. Conditions on the T.O.B.A. circuit had always been poor for performers, but now, theaters were in disrepair, and things were getting worse. With a decline in the quality of the shows, a bad economy, the competition of talking pictures, and the reality of crumbling facilities, Black audiences stayed away. T.O.B.A. was on a downward slide from which it would not recover.76 Because of a declining White vaudeville, White performers had already begun to shift into the mediums of radio and film. These opportunities were less available for Black performers, however.77 An important irony was that the musical forms that Blacks had created were becoming essential elements of radio programming. Nevertheless, exposure to ratio was limited only to a select few among many talented Black musicians who were adept at playing these forms of music. Barlow observed, “Black dance music, known as jazz, was an early staple of local and eventually network radio programming in the twenties. But, invariably, it was the prominent white bands that received the lion’s share of prime-time airplay.”78 Also, Black musicians were excluded generally from musical work on radio. Walter Barnes, who held down the house band at Chicago’s Savoy Ballroom and who replaced Dave Peyton at the Chicago Defender as the writer for the influential musical column, “The Musical Bunch,” advocated collective resistance to this state of affairs: Years ago there was little or no dreams of radio broadcasting, but today broadcasting has reached the point where it is one of the most

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outstanding and far-reaching mediums of advertising in the employment of musicians. Broadcasting should be on the minds of all aspiring musicians. This field for the Race is very small. Few of our outstanding orchestras are broadcasting. What is the cause of this? The short time that our Colored orchestras have been broadcasting they have developed an extensive radio audience. Failure of our musicians to broadcast cannot be because of the lack of being capable to do first-class radio work, as we have great talent and ability among our musicians that will measure up to the standards established by some of the outstanding bands of the city, and yet they are not given a chance to broadcast. We buy radios and allied equipment from many of the places that have a broadcasting station. This fact is overlooked when it comes to placing an orchestra on the air. That we can play nothing but blues and cottonfield songs seems to be the belief among whites, but this is a grave mistake. We are born lovers of music and can appreciate and enjoy all types of music. Fellow musicians, if you have the goods why not fight for more representation in the broadcasting field? More representation in proportion to our buying power is what we need and want.79

The Regal and Industry Adjustments to the Depression In response to the economic challenges of the Depression and other changes in the entertainment industry, the Regal and its competitors cut salaries and in-house talent and made other adjustments that they hoped would secure for them a more competitive position in the marketplace. The growth of radio, for example, required an adjustment that made local employment for bands, including Regal and Chicago Savoy talent, less stable. Starting in 1931, Regal management wanted more variety. It did not want to become committed to one band. Management wanted more frequent talent changes in order to book whoever was hot, of which exposure to radio was a key factor. Prominent local musicians and bands had to tour and change jobs more frequently. Management also tended to cut salaries of in-house personnel. This was the case for Walter Barnes, who led the band at the Regal’s sister institution, the Chicago Savoy. Barnes refused to take a cut in salary and was forced to leave. He ultimately signed to tour under the Music Corporation of America. Feeling similar pressures, Dave Peyton, music director at the Regal, left the Regal in 1931 and, among other pursuits, signed to tour under the Amusement Service Corporation.80 Even Ralph Cooper, who was supposed to be the

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long-term emcee at the Regal, and who had other producing and entertainment responsibilities at another venue, decided to tour with his own band.81 Finally, typical of the times, Regal management dismissed its great organist, Sammy Williams, from his $150-a-week job.82 There would be no more organ solos at the Regal. Other surprising changes occurred. Beloved comedian Marshall “Garbage” Rodgers had set a record at the Regal for appearing in the same house for such a long run while changing his act every week. However, Regal management abruptly cut Rodger’s contract during an appearance in 1931 for presumably using an off-color gag. Whether or not this was the sole reason for Rodger’s release was not clear, but Regal management obviously found much less utility for Rodger’s services, despite a stellar record for attracting and pleasing large audiences.83 In addition, the Regal forced the great singer and Broadway star, Adelaide Hall, to reduce her salary demands after coming off of tour with the RKO circuit to appear at the Regal.84 Moreover, it was well known that the Regal and its neighborhood competitors, the Metropolitan and Michigan Theaters, were actively experimenting with different combinations of movies—including single and double features—orchestras, and live shows to attract business. In fact, for a few weeks in the fall, the Regal went to film only, using the double-feature format. The Metropolitan moved to acquire even an orchestra for its pit and considered building a stage for vaudeville shows.85 At the time of the Regal opening in 1928, the Michigan Theater was at the fringe of an expanding Black community and was just beginning to attract a Black clientele.86 It was located at Michigan Avenue at Fifty-Fifth Street (Garfield Boulevard). By 1930, the Michigan Theater was clearly a Black Belt movie house and in competition with the Regal—at least with regard to film presentations. To improve business, Michigan management signed former Regal emcee Ralph Cooper, who was then a producer and emcee for the Grand Terrace Café, to bring his band into the Michigan. Ralph Cooper followed a previous appearance by the Walter Barnes’s orchestra. The Chicago Defender interviewed theater managers who summed up this policy shift at the Michigan and similar ones at the Regal and Metropolitan Theaters: “ ‘We have attempted to keep pace with the changing wishes of our patrons by switching orchestras . . . .’ ‘What they want is a chance to sit through a movie some weeks without an accompanying orchestra and show on the bill.’ ” In the same article the Defender reported: “Another salvation for the local houses is the double-feature film program, but that is not lasting. One day you find

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your patrons in the mood for a single picture, and asked to sit through two films, they often become restless.”87 There were other signs of economic strife involving the Regal and its competitors. Specific circumstances were not clear, but sometime during the first part of 1931, the Balaban and Katz management replaced I. J. Faggen with Charles H. Cottle.88 At the Warner Brothers–owned Metropolitan Theater across the street, Black manager Ralph Chilton, who had just taken the post in 1930, refused to take a cut in salary and was forced to leave.89 Chilton had previously been a manager for the Chicago Savoy. He was the first Black theater manager hired by Warner Brothers, which had 1,200 theaters across the country.90 He was not, however, the first Black manager at the Metropolitan. The previous owners of the Metropolitan had hired Matthew Taylor, who was shot to death at the theater in January 1929 when he resisted an armed robber attempting to seize the day’s receipts. Taylor was thirty-five when he died, and he resided at 357 East Fifty-Third Street.91 Although the Metropolitan Theater across the street from the Regal did not offer stage shows, the theaters competed in other ways, but they also had cooperative arrangements. In 1931, the Regal became embroiled in a price war with the Metropolitan Theater, which had reduced its evening admission price to five cents below the Regal’s.92 However, the Metropolitan (which was connected to the huge Warner Brothers film company and chain of theaters) and Regal agreed not to compete for films. This type of collusion would pose antitrust issues in subsequent years. Nonetheless, the Regal maintained a competitive edge over the Metropolitan in terms of film because its connections allowed it to acquire films outside of the normal Balaban and Katz channels if those films carried Black performers in the cast.93 A rare benefit of this arrangement for Black entrepreneurs was that the famed Black, independent filmmaker, Oscar Micheaux, was able to have his film, The Exile, shown at the Regal.94 The Regal had to compete for top Black talent with White theaters in the Balaban and Katz-Paramount-Publix chain. This talent often toured White presentation houses in the chain before they came into the Regal. Lucius (Lucky) Millinder, for example, who was said to have the best band in Chicago’s Black musicians’ union, Local 208, toured White presentation houses on the Publix circuit before appearing at the Regal. Sometimes White theaters in the Publix chain used top Black talent to improve attendance. Duke Ellington, for example, had an eighteen-week contract with the Publix Theaters in 1931. After an engagement with the B & K–owned Oriental Theater downtown,

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Ellington came into the Regal. Subsequent to Ellington’s Oriental appearance, Balaban and Katz officials became worried because other bookings could not duplicate Duke Ellington’s drawing power, and attendance at the large house remained low. As a consequence, Duke Ellington came into the Oriental three times in two months during the first half of the year and returned for a fourth engagement in August.95 In the competition to fill seats, Regal management also relied upon proven entertainers of the past and local promotional strategies. The nationally prominent Fess Williams returned to the Regal in 1931 for a second time on July 4 and broke his own attendance record.96 Other Chicago musicians at this time struggled to find work, but the Regal, in a humanitarian and successful promotional move, gave the members of Local 208 a break and used fifty musicians in a special band for a one-week engagement. Noted Chicago violinist, orchestra leader, and music teacher Walter Dyett (see Introduction) led and rehearsed the band. On stage, Millinder and Dyett took turns in leading the band, which received rave reviews.97 Surprisingly, despite a continuous influx of top entertainment and periods of record-breaking patronage, rumors of the Regal’s imminent closure began to surface. In late November 1931, word came down from Balaban and Katz management that the Regal would close its doors that Friday. The claim was that because of a lack of patronage the Regal had consistently lost $2,000 to $5,000 a week over the three years of its existence. Balaban and Katz officials reasoned that Regal management had frequently changed the house policy but could find no answer to the financial bloodletting. One rumor suggested that Warner Brothers, who owned the Metropolitan Theater across the street, might takeover the Regal. Another had T.O.B.A. shows coming into the Regal. Still another was that the Englestein brothers, who owned the physical structure, would run the house. However, the Chicago Defender was skeptical and strongly questioned the alleged inability of the Regal to be profitable in a market of a quarter million people. It observed that the other two Black Belt houses (Metropolitan and Michigan Theaters) seemed to be doing adequate business.98 Less than a week after the announcement, officials reversed their decision. Balaban and Katz gave public demand as the official reason for the reversal, but the true events and details remained unknown. The Chicago Defender reported that a “committee” had approached the management urging them to find an alternative course of action to avoid throwing hundreds of people out of work.99 However, it was entirely possible that officials never really intended to close the Regal.

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Perhaps they wanted to pressure the Englestein brothers to lower the rent, or perhaps the fate of the Regal got caught up in a cost-cutting debate among upper-level management. After all, the Regal’s parent company was struggling at this time. Alternatively, the announced closing could have been a ploy to stimulate sagging attendance. Nevertheless, Regal manager Charles H. Cottle immediately proclaimed that Regal shows would be bigger and better. A week later, Cass Simpson and His Radio Orchestra came into the Regal from the Show Boat Café downtown. The Chicago Defender reported that “Simpson’s band is one of the best in the country and a nightly radio feature over station WCFL.”100 Before the year ended, the Regal hosted another great show built around a nationally prominent dance band, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers.101 Thus, despite some radical personnel changes, retrenchment, and frequent shifts in policy, the Regal and its sister institution, the Savoy, continued to bring in top entertainment throughout 1931. Dances at the Savoy were reduced to one night a week, but some of the talent that came into the ballroom were Ralph Cooper, Cab Calloway, Bennie Moten, Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy, and Duke Ellington, who broke all records at the Savoy with his appearance. Jimmy Bell and Tiny Parham held down the house band at various times.102 Other notable attractions at the Regal were “Sunshine” Sammy Morrison, the child film star from the Our Gang comedy film series, and the Latin big band of Don Azpiazu and His Havana Casino Orchestra, with dancer Alice Parla.103 Also, in an interesting development, under new Regal manager Charles H. Cottle, an African American artist, Vincent Saunders, created the signs used to advertise Regal films. These signs were then used by the Tower and Maryland Theaters, two Balaban and Katz houses that were located in White neighborhoods.104 The year 1931 was unsettling but hopeful for the Regal, but 1932 brought mostly silence to the Regal stage.

Changes in Management, Keeping Seats Filled, and the Continual Search for Talent The pressure to remain economically viable brought frequent changes in Regal management. Balaban and Katz appointed three new managers at the Regal during the first two years (1928–1929) of its existence. Corporate officials were always looking for the right presentation policy and talent to keep the Regal’s seats filled. The Depression years did not lessen the challenges of this job, and by 1931, the Regal had its fourth manager, Charles H. Cottle.

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Despite the promise of better things to come, manager Charles H. Cottle failed to consistently deliver stage shows at the Regal throughout 1932. The year opened impressively, however, when in January Regal management presented “Ebony Follies.” The Chicago Defender called this extravaganza “one of the smartest shows of its kind to hit the 47th St. house in some time.” The show was built around Ralph Cooper’s orchestra and was recruited from the floorshow at the Grand Terrace Café.105 Newspaper accounts provided only a rough indication of the frequency of stage shows at the Regal, but clearly there was a substantial decrease in live performances. News on the Regal was conspicuously absent for months until November when rumors emerged that manager Charles H. Cottle would soon make an announcement for which everyone was waiting.106 No announcement ever came from Cottle, however, and the end of the year brought surprising news that a new manager, Harry Ascher, would take his place. Cottle, nevertheless, remained in the employ of Balaban and Katz and became manager of the Oriental Theater in downtown Chicago. Ascher’s mission, it seemed, was to bring quality stage shows back to the Regal.107 The Chicago Defender explained: “The Regal Theater, closed to stage shows for many months, will go to legit attractions on the presentation idea beginning with Christmas week. . . . Just what attraction will pry the lid on the Balaban & Katz stage Mr. Ascher would not say but he did admit the bulk of the talent is coming from out of town with 20 or 30 additional stars and a band comprising local talent.”108 Ascher proclaimed, “We intend to make the Regal one of the outstanding amusement houses in the country . . . [it] can only do that by putting a series of first class floor shows therein.”109 Apparently, Balaban and Katz officials were deeply concerned about the status of their Bronzeville affiliate because Harry Ascher had exceptional experience and visibility in the theater business. He and his two brothers had previously operated a chain of theaters on Chicago’s South Side. In addition, Ascher was the first to open the Metropolitan Theater, across the street from the Regal.110 Before commercial productions resumed, however, the Chicago Defender held its midnight, benefit Christmas program at the Regal on December 17, featuring Fred Avendorph’s Roseland Orchestra.111 Subsequently, beginning in 1933, the frequency of stage shows at the Regal increased significantly over the next several years, achieving double-digit numbers until 1936. Like his predecessors, Harry Ascher, produced shows at the Regal around top, nationally known talent. For example, he booked the

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Mills Brothers, who over the course of their careers sold more than fifty million records. In 1929 and 1930 they captured the nation with the hit songs, “Good Bye Blues,” “Tiger Rag,” “You’re Nobody’s Sweetheart Now,” and “Ole Rockin’ Chair.” In 1931, the Mills Brothers had a hit with the song, “Lazy River,” and in 1932 it was “How’m I Doin’ ” and “Paradise.” From 1929 the group performed regularly on national radio (CBS). The Mills Brothers produced more than 2,000 recordings and achieved over thirty gold records.112 Ascher also developed shows around such greats as the incomparable song and dance team of Buck and Bubbles. Ford Lee “Buck” Washington and John W. “Bubbles” Sublett were featured performers on the White vaudeville circuit, and were also favorites of Black audiences. They toured nationally and internationally and appeared on Broadway and in films.113 Ascher produced other shows that featured the Whitman Sisters, singer Adelaide Hall, noted violinist and orchestra leader Eddie South, and many other great stars.114 Charity shows continued to be prominent at the Regal in 1933. For example, the Chicago Urban League staged a midnight charity show on August 19. The Chicago Defender had its November Thanksgiving party for children and its midnight benefit show for its Christmas basket fund in December. As in the past, prominent White entertainers from other venues participated in these charity affairs.115 Ironically, some of these venues discouraged or excluded Black audiences. The Regal ended the year with the famous Hot Chocolates Revue, the floorshow from Connie’s Inn in New York City. The Revue had seventy-five performers highlighted by LeRoy Smith’s band; the great one-legged tap dancer, Peg Leg Bates; singer Avis Andrews; torch singer and dancer Baby Cox; comic dancers, the Three Gobs; song and dance teams, the Lucky Seven Trio and Radcliffe and Rogers; and a fast-dancing chorus line of twelve beautiful women. The Chicago Defender called the show one of the Regal’s greatest.116 Throughout 1934, stage shows were back in full force at the Regal, which probably set several precedents and historic firsts. For example, the Regal helped to give Black women musicians a kind of prominence that they did not have before. Further, the booking of all-White shows became part of the house policy. Lastly, Sally Rand, the famous fan dancer who danced in the nude and who was also White, performed on the stage of the Regal for charity. As early as 1932 the prominent bandleader Walter Barnes observed that women musicians were getting more opportunities. He specifically identified the multitalented singer, dancer, and bandleader, Blanche Calloway; the sensational drummer, Alice Thompson; the superb

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cornetist, Dorothy Hutchinson; the talented pianist and organist, Selita Pettiford; and the great pianist, Lil Hardin Armstrong. Considered one of the best drummers around, Alice Thompson, was known about New York as the “Swinging Queen.”117 The incomparable singer and dancer Valaida Snow was a leading light among the current group of talented female bandleaders and musicians; she was one of the finest trumpet players around.118 In 1934 several Regal bookings reflected the demand for talented Black women musicians who could swing with the best. In May, Valaida Snow came into the Regal singing and playing her cornet. Fans called her the female Louis Armstrong. Other great performers with Snow were Earl Hines and his band, torch singer Alma Smith, dancer Ananias Berry (husband of Snow), Our Gang star “Sunshine” Sammy Morrison, and many others. The Chicago Defender called the show “the greatest stage attraction the theater has witnessed in years.” Blanche Calloway and her band opened at the Regal in August, and in September Lil Armstrong brought her all-woman orchestra into the Regal. One review of the Armstrong group said, “They offer plenty of jazz and swing and will entertain you with the late song hits, as capably as any of the masculine orchestras.” Blanche Calloway and her band returned to the Regal at the end of November after leaving the Oriental Theater downtown. At the Oriental, Blanche Calloway broke all attendance records for the weeks following Duke Ellington’s appearance.119 In October, Regal management brought in a White floorshow from New York City that drew well. The Chicago Defender reported, “The Regal theatre’s stage becomes a garden of beauties Sunday when Tex Guinan’s famous show, direct from New York’s café circles, makes its debut. ‘Tex,’ who died some time ago, was noted for her all-beauty shows and this one has been kept intact for big-time vaudeville bookings.” Reviews were good, and the Chicago Defender observed, “The Regal theatre did remarkably well at the box office last week when Texas Guinan’s Gang played there and there is a reason. You’ll always do business when lots of gals and little less clothing occupy your spot behind the footlights.” The Chicago Defender also explained, “The Regal’s inauguration of white stage shows on its stage is an experiment. Should the production draw, some of the finest talent and shows available will be shown at the theatre along with first-class Race [Black] shows and bands.” As a part of the policy of White stage shows, manager Harry Ascher brought Blackstone the magician into the Regal in November. A large cast supported the production. Blackstone came directly from his appearance at the Oriental downtown.120

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No doubt the use of all-White stage shows at the Regal raised some eyebrows, but White performers were never foreign to the Regal stage. However, most appeared during benefit performances. Ascher, one might surmise, thought the policy of White and Black stage shows would boost patronage and revenues. The idea may have been stimulated by the success of the Sally Rand appearance. In August the N.A.A.C.P. gave a midnight benefit show at the Regal that proved to be very successful. Claude Hopkins and his band, singer Orlando Roberson, popular emcee Leonard Reed, and floorshows from such nightclubs as Dave’s Café, the Morocco, the Sunset Café, the Grand Terrace Café, and others provided high-quality entertainment. The featured performance of the evening, however, was the famous fan dancer, Sally Rand. Sally Rand (born Helen Gould Beck) generally danced in the nude, using two large ostrich feathers to maintain her modesty. During her career Rand achieved fame as a vaudeville star and a film actor. In the light of the racial and sexual taboos of the time, it must have been a bold move for management to permit a prominent White woman to dance nude on the stage of a theater in a Black community. The Chicago Defender reported that “Miss Rand is enthusiastic about the work of the N.A.A.C.P., and says she welcomes an opportunity to aid so worthy a cause.”121 However, it was possible that what went on at the Regal often went unnoticed by audiences outside of Chicago’s Black community. This was probably most true for benefit shows and may have been the case for the Rand performance as well. At times the Regal did not appear in advertisements in White newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune, and when it did, the Regal was listed in such a way that it appeared to be unconnected to Balaban and Katz theaters. Nevertheless, major Black talent flowed into the Regal from other Balaban and Katz houses (for example, the Oriental and the Chicago Theaters) and from the Regal into diverse Balaban and Katz and Publix theaters. There were numerous, memorable star-studded shows at the Regal in 1934. In late March, the revue, Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1934, came into the Regal, after first appearing downtown at the Chicago Theater.122 Leonard Harper, producer at the Grand Terrace Café, brought his revue, The Pepper Pot, which included the McKinney’s Cotton Pickers orchestra and a wide variety of superb singers and dancers, into the Regal in April. The revue subsequently played in and around Chicago at other Balaban and Katz presentation houses.123 Fess Williams returned in early June to the Regal with a show that included dancer Ulysses “Slow Kid” Thompson (husband of the late Florence Mills), dancer Eunice Wilson, and singer Alma Smith.124

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The Chicago Defender sponsored another midnight benefit show in early July that drew top Black and White performers from venues around town.125 In late July, the Claude Hopkins band, with singer Orlando Roberson, came into the Regal. Hopkins was a regular on CBS radio, and there was much anticipation of his appearance.126 Tiny Bradshaw and his band, straight from a successful, two-week engagement at the Apollo Theater in New York City, came into the Regal in August. In October, management built the stage show around Jimmy Lunceford’s band, and in December the Cotton Club Revue and Baron Lee orchestra came into the Regal.127 Also, November and December were marked by two huge benefit shows for Thanksgiving and Christmas; these were sponsored by the Chicago Defender. The Defender billed the November affair as a birthday party for its editor and publisher, Robert S. Abbott. Reportedly, 6,000 children greeted Abbott at the birthday party.128 The December midnight show featured singers Ethel Waters, Mae Alix, and Herb Jeffries, and the Carroll Dickerson orchestra. In addition to being great vocalists, Waters and Jeffries became film stars, Jeffries for his work as a Black singing cowboy. Alix made her mark singing the blues. Prominent White performers included Jan Garber’s Trianon Ballroom orchestra.129 For the Regal, 1934 ended with a promising flurry of activity, and there were related events that caught the interest of Black entertainment consumers in the midst of the Depression. There were reports that Hollywood had hired record numbers of Black extras, singers, and dancers.130 In February the Chicago Defender reported the search by film director John M. Stahl for a light-complected African American woman, who looked White, to play a leading role in the upcoming film, Imitation of Life. One of the principal themes of the film involved an African American girl who attempts to pass as White. The talented African American actress, Fredi Washington, would play this role. Because Imitation of Life employed Black actors and had a controversial theme, it became one of the most talked about films of the year.131 Three former members of the chorus line at the Regal, Della Newsome, Nanine Joyce, and Florence Edmonson appeared in prominent Black musicals, Newsome and Joyce in Shuffle Along and Edmonson in Blackbirds.132 Sadly, the beloved comedian, Marshall “Garbage” Rodgers, died in 1934.133 Further, with Prohibition ending the previous year, cabarets were doing a brisk business in the Black Belt, and new establishments were opening up. This expansion created more opportunities for musicians, dancers, singers, and the like.134

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In 1935 the Regal continued its string of dynamic stage shows. These shows had nationally known bands at their core but always contained other talent that consisted of singers, dancers, and comedians. The year opened with Duke Ellington, who in January came into the Regal for a week after an initial engagement at the Oriental downtown. Although the numbers had been better for a single day, Ellington broke the attendance record at the Regal for a one-week engagement.135 Following Ellington, management brought in the floorshow from the Grand Terrace Café. This was followed by Jimmy Lunceford’s band, which broke the box-office record by selling out for all seven days of the performance. The Lunceford band was known for its singing and novelty arrangements. After this, the show went downtown to the Oriental Theater. Reportedly, this was the only production that played the Regal first and then gained a booking downtown.136 Several notable individuals proved to be great attractions in 1935. Riding on the prominence and fame of the film Imitation of Life, Regal management brought one of the stars of the film, Louise Beavers, to the Regal’s stage on Easter Sunday. Beavers came from a successful appearance at the State and Lake Theater downtown. Despite the fact that Beavers typically played stereotypical roles as maids and mammies, she was enormously talented, and Beavers’ ability came through in her work. Also Beavers had appeared in over a hundred films and was well known to the Black community, even before Imitation of Life. Next, talented singer and actress Ethel Waters came into the Regal after a favorable run at the Chicago Theater downtown. Before that she had appeared in the Broadway production, As Thousands Cheer.137 Finally, Paul Robeson, whom the Chicago Defender called “the world’s greatest singing star,” made an appearance at the Regal as part of a preview of his film, Sanders of the River, which was scheduled to open at the Regal on Sunday, November 3, for a full week. Robeson had been in town for a concert appearance at the Civic Opera House.138 In 1935 the Chicago Defender continued its charitable and civic connection to the Regal. The mythical guardian angel of children, Bud Billiken, created by the Chicago Defender, served as master of ceremonies for the “Future Stars” amateur night at the Regal. Beginning April 5, amateur night took place at 9:00 o’clock on Friday nights. Subsequently, auditions took place on Wednesday, and amateur performances were on Thursday night. To enter, children or adults filled out coupons published in the Bud Billiken section of the Chicago Defender or left their names at the Regal’s box office.139

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The Chicago Defender’s annual Christmas basket fund show at the Regal was spectacular. WGN radio, owned by the Chicago Tribune, and the Marbro and Chicago Theaters, both Balaban and Katz establishments, sent over seventy-five entertainers to the event. In addition, Dave’s Café, the Panama Café, DeLisa Gardens (later, Club DeLisa), and the Annex Café sent talent. Dancer Leonard Reed, for example, who produced the floorshows at Dave’s Café and who was a headliner for the benefit presentation, brought the entire floorshow, which had been donated by the management. Black vocalist and pianist Fred Skinner, who was a featured artist nightly at the Congress Hotel, performed. WGN donated the services of the White torch singer Sally Joe Nelson and the White trio, the Doring Sisters. Four bands came to the stage of the Regal for the event: Walter Barnes’s Royal Creolians, Francois’s Louisianians, Jack Ellis’s Wildcats, and Benny Goodman’s Victor Recording orchestra.140 Despite the Depression, the Regal found a way to fill its seats. The Defender observed: “The Regal is doing more business now than at any corresponding period since the theatre opened back in 1928.” Stage shows were consistent and attractive, and first-run films reached the Regal earlier. In addition, each Sunday, the Regal offered Bank Night, where $50 was awarded to the person who heard his or her name called, and there was Screeno on Fridays, a form of the game bingo.141 Between 1932 and 1936, the Chicago Savoy struggled periodically to keep up its patronage, but under the right conditions Blacks did turn out, sometimes in record numbers. Cornetist and bandleader Dolly Hutchinson drew acclaim. Earl Hines’s orchestra typically attracted large crowds. Jack Ellis and Erskine Tate could pack them in. Duke Ellington had sensational appeal, but Cab Calloway outdrew Ellington, breaking the record for paid attendance with 7,428 dancers. With a crowd this size, however, there was no room for dancing. A battle between Lucius “Lucky” Millinder’s Blue Rhythm Band and Fletcher Henderson’s group thrilled large crowds. The Defender reported, however, that the dancers preferred Millinder, and the musicians in attendance preferred Henderson. Claude Hopkins, Tiny Parham, and Andy Kirk all led groups that were great attractions. Louis Armstrong, a Chicago favorite, drew over 6,200 dancers at his 1936 appearance. Other events at the Savoy included weekly boxing matches; bathing beauty pageants, such as Miss Bronze Chicago and Miss Bronze America; and the election of the annual Mayor of Bronzeville. In October 1936, the Chicago Defender sponsored a benefit ball at the Savoy, which included the third annual election of

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the Mayor of Bronzeville. The Savoy also hosted events for professional and civic organizations, such as the Cook County Physicians Association dance. At another venue close to the Savoy, a young Nat Cole was making a name for himself as one of Chicago’s most popular bandleaders and jazz pianists. He played for dances at Warwick Hall—543 East Forty-Seventh Street—on Sunday nights. Later, Cole would become one of America’s most popular singers.142

Broader Issues Affecting Black Popular Culture The Chicago Defender had an intense concern for and a dialogue with the Black community regarding the social and economic conditions that encouraged some of its most accomplished musicians and arrangers to leave Black bands for White bands. The most prominent White band in the controversy was Benny Goodman, but examples of others were Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw. White bands, through their hiring practices, could literally expropriate the sound, style, and rhythmic concepts of prominent Black bands. A larger and more affluent White audience wanted to hear and dance to Black music but preferred that it come from White bands. In addition, a racially stratified society gave greater opportunity, radio exposure, and earnings to White bands relative to Black bands. As a consequence, White bands could simply pay more to the Black musicians they wanted. Thus, for some Black musicians, remaining a leader, an arranger, or a member of their current band became a severe disadvantage when a prominent White band offered employment. As talented Black arrangers moved to prominent White bands, it impaired the touring value of the band with which they previously played. One writer explained: A good example is that of Jimmy Munday who went to Benny Goodman as an arranger while working for Earl Hines. Munday is a fine musician but he had been in the employ of Hines for a long time and his style of music arrangement was the same as that used by Hines. Thus when Goodman played certain numbers on the air they were very similar to those Hines later played on a tour of the country. Today there are several men arranging music for White bands who formerly worked for Jimmy Lunceford, Hines, Count Basie, Don Redman, Benny Carter and others who took with them that style to the radio bands. . . . the Race [Black] bands are not given air commercials and they naturally suffer when they take a number into a community that has been worn out over the air and with identical arrangements.143

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Earlier, when Fletcher Henderson broke up his band and went to work arranging for Benny Goodman, he expressed that his principal concern was making a living with what he knew best, music. The Defender article explained: Henderson, who for years headed his own orchestra—one of the best in the game—is now working for Benny Goodman as an arranger. Friends talking to Henderson say the great leader became disgusted when he discovered that he was playing his heart out, making top arrangements and still could not get the top spots that bring in the big dough. He had watched Goodman, Dorsey, and others he had helped make, soar to the heights of financial success while he remained a struggler and could not stand it any longer.144

Other notable events, issues, and trends occurred between 1936 and 1939 that concerned the survival and commercial success of a Black theatrical workforce. The Chicago Defender’s interest in bringing back live performances to motion picture houses paralleled its interest in increasing employment opportunities for Blacks in the film industry. The newspaper looked into the amount of money paid to Blacks working as extras, subsequent to the advent of talking pictures. In early 1936 the Defender reported that from January 1, 1934, to January 1, 1935, 7,550 Black extras, who were paid by the day, received $56,966.50. It expressed that various other kinds of contracts with Black actors and actresses, which were not included in this figure, suggested that income from motion pictures constituted “a boon to a considerable portion of the race.”145 In February 1936 the Defender also reported, with some pride, that a Black man, Charles Butler, was in charge of casting Black talent for the film industry’s Central Casting Bureau. Unfortunately, in May 1938 the newspaper reported that Butler had been forced out of his position as casting head.146 The Defender also reported observations that were critical of the film industry—for failing to produce films of interest to Black audiences, for failing to utilize Black talent, and for failing to use the Black press to reach Black markets. One critic complained that mainstream movie studios were more interested in increasing foreign sales than in meeting the consumer demand represented by twelve million African Americans.147 The Regal addressed this demand in the context of the limited availability of Black-interest films. Former Regal emcee, Ralph Cooper was an example. In 1937, Cooper starred in the film, Black Manhattan, produced by his own production company. On April 25 the film

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opened for a full week’s engagement at the Regal. To promote the movie, Cooper made a personal appearance at the Regal, presumably to recruit leading ladies for his upcoming films. There was much fanfare around the event, and management required applicants to leave photographs and information on age, height, and training in dramatics at the theater, and to return on Friday, April 13. At this time, Cooper selected six women from the photographs, who were called on stage to receive screen tests. The Regal audience observed each of the six women perform with Cooper in front of a “regulation Hollywood cameraman.”148 Moviegoers at the Regal had favorite entertainers and actors. They were especially interested in footage of Joe Louis fights and of actor/comedian Eddie “Rochester” Anderson. By 1939, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson had become a hot radio and film star. “Rochester,” Anderson’s character, was a butler of White comedian Jack Benny’s character on the nationally broadcast and enormously popular radio comedy, The Jack Benny Show. Regal audiences loved Rochester, and in August 1939, the showing of the film, Man About Town, starring Benny and Anderson, was a much talked about event at the Regal. The Jack Benny Show with Benny and Anderson later became a hit television program in the 1950s.149 As the 1930s came to an end, women musicians remained prominent newsmakers, and there were both somber and hopeful reports regarding several notable jazz artists. Margaret Johnson, known as the “Countess,” substituted for Andy Kirk’s acclaimed pianist, Mary Lou Williams. Sadly, the talented Miss Johnson died from tuberculosis after touring with Kirk’s band for four months. She was twenty years old.150 White bandleader Artie Shaw brought his group into the Chicago Savoy in October 1938. At the time, his featured soloist, the great Billie Holiday, was the only African American woman singing with an all-White band.151 The Chicago Defender recognized drummer Ethel Rigsby, called the “female Chick Webb,” who led an allfemale group called the Modern Rhythm Makers.152 In 1939, an emerging interracial all-female big band, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, played a Chicago establishment. In the next decade, this group would make a stunning impression on Regal audiences.153 In 1938 the Chicago Defender reported that Duke Ellington compositions were heard as theme songs on thirty-seven radio stations, the highest for any composer at that time.154 In early 1937, Louis Armstrong successfully recovered from throat surgery, which was performed at the Black Belt’s famed Provident Hospital. However, Armstrong’s friend and mentor, celebrated trumpeter Joe “King” Oliver, succumbed in 1938 at the age of fifty-four.155

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The Depression created employment problems for the great mass of workers, but for musicians, it was technological innovation that proved to be a more formidable challenge. Talking pictures, records, and juke boxes were innovations that led to drastic reductions in the number of jobs available to musicians. Records actually increased the demand for bands, but the trend to use canned or recorded music on radio more than offset any employment gains and became a powerful obstacle to job opportunities for musicians.156 In 1937, Chicago Federation of Musicians’ head James C. Petrillo announced a ban on recordings in an effort to put an end to canned music and to give more employment to musicians. The effort was part of a protracted struggle that achieved national coverage. African American bandleader Jack Ellis felt the strategy to ban recordings was especially difficult for Black musicians. He wrote: “With the new edict in effect, the Race musician is sure to be hard hit, for it is mostly the music of outstanding Race orchestras that have scored with this ‘canned music,’ among them being Jimmy Lunceford, Duke Ellington, Andy Kirk, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines, Fats Waller, and Cab Calloway . . .”157 Employment opportunities in radio and in other venues were already more restricted for Black musicians than for White musicians, making earnings from recordings even more of a critical issue.158 Other developments were in television, a medium that would alter even more drastically the character of live entertainment in U.S. theaters, as well as the existing role that radio had carved out for itself in the 1930s American popular culture. In 1939 the internationally acclaimed comic song and dance team, Buck and Bubbles, became pioneers in American television. They appeared in the first ever “cabaret show” in America to be televised. The event took place at the studios of NBC (National Broadcasting Company). Buck and Bubbles had appeared on television in England several months earlier, but this was their first American experience. Other African American stars who were scheduled for future appearances on the show were Ethel Waters, Fredi Washington, and Willie Bryant.159 Another broader performance tradition in Black popular culture was dance. Stage shows at the Regal and at similar institutions in the 1930s typically showcased diverse forms of dance. Nonetheless, these diverse traditions in dance would disappear in subsequent decades from the stage of the Regal and from Black entertainment culture. Dancing and dancers were always central to social cohesion and live performances in the Black Belt. Dancing brought people together, and the popularity of the music was based upon its ability to propel the dance. Consequently, numerous young people aspired to become

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professional dancers of some type. Throughout the 1930s, the Regal stage showcased talented dancers who specialized in a variety of styles. Examples were the Three Browns, who were known for their acrobatic stunts. They were regulars on the Balaban and Katz circuit.160 There was the adagio dancing of Norton and Margot and the eccentric dancing of contortionist “Jigsaw” (Brady) Jackson. Called the “human corkscrew,” it was said that Jackson could place his face on the stage floor and move his feet around his body while tapping complex rhythms.161 Pauline Bryant was an oriental and rumba dancer, and the Rhythm Rockets were a “class act” known for their unison tap dancing.162 While at the Regal, the great Honi Coles was a member of the Three Giants of Rhythm, which included “Speedy” Weaver and Dick Saunders.163 The talented dance team of Mac (Harrell McDermond) and Duke (John Duke), who were known for their fast and comical dancing, were favorites at the Regal and were born and raised in Chicago’s Black Belt.164 Sadie Bruce, who may have had the most important dance school in the Black community, annually showcased her students in large production numbers on the stage of the Regal. Bruce resided at 5419 Calumet. Mary Bruce— Sadie’s sister and a previous contributor to Regal stage shows—had by this time established a successful dance school in New York.165 At a period when chorus lines tended to be absent from the big theaters in Chicago, choreographer Sammy Dyer constructed shows in this genre. Dyer produced for Bennie Skoller’s Swingland Café at 343 East Garfield (Fifty-Fifth Street) and later for the Club DeLisa, originally located at 5512 South State Street.166 A special and important category of dancer in the 1930s was the chorus girl. Many people viewed the job of chorus girl as glamorous and exciting, and the Regal had opened doors for several of its former dancers, but the profession was exceedingly tough. Several writers for the Chicago Defender spoke candidly about the challenges facing chorus-line dancers. In 1937, the average salary for a Black chorine was $12 a week and some women earned only $7. From this amount, dancers paid their cab fares to and from rehearsal and all other expenses related to work and their personal lives. Some were the sole support of their children. Most chorines in 1937 had studied dance for a minimum of five years, but job security was nonexistent. Whole groups of women could be fired without notice and replaced by others. Muriel Zollinger, for example, a former Regalette, achieved recognition dancing the Charleston. Despite her technical mastery of dance, Zollinger had no formal training. When the Regalettes went out of existence, Zollinger formed a dance team with Ida Mae Vincent,

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another former Regalette. This partnership ended when Vincent got married. Subsequently, Zollinger joined the dancers at the Grand Terrace Café. She observed that movies had reduced the demand for live performances and made more difficult an already treacherous profession. There was also the problem of sexual predators and women who got caught up in the pitfalls of nightlife. The plight of this class of workers remains an untold story.167

The Transition to Black Management: 1936–1939 The most significant response to the economic challenges facing the Regal was the appointment of its first Black manager. This appointment would prove to be a lucrative decision for the Balaban and Katz officials for many years to come. It would endear the Regal to the community, and it would insure talent selection that was attractive to Black audiences. The transition to Black management at the Regal began in 1936. The actual appointment was made in 1939, but the full benefits would not be felt until 1940. In 1936, stage shows in May and early June, organized around bands led by Fletcher Henderson and Tiny Parham, preceded another momentous change at the Regal. The Chicago Defender explained that Harry Ascher had a disagreement with Balaban and Katz officials and was out as the Regal’s manager. Corporate superiors then directed assistant managers Ken Blewett (also Blewitt or Bluitt) and Myron Wright, both African Americans, to carry on until a new manager was found. This was the first time the Regal had come under African American stewardship.168 The new house policy was not clear, but it appeared that stage shows mostly occurred on Sundays and were not six to seven days long, as they had been previously. Concomitantly, notice of extended Regal stage shows in the national edition of the Chicago Defender declined significantly. These trends continued for the remainder of the 1930s. However, the reduction and even elimination of live shows was a national phenomenon. Black performers faced a shrinking theater circuit and thus, fewer opportunities for sustained work. As a consequence, the Chicago Defender began a campaign to bring back live shows—its “flesh campaign”—in 1937. The newspaper encouraged its readers to write to the paper’s Amusement Department to show how many people were interested in live shows. It explained: We have a few theatres that are supporting shows; they are [in] New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D. C. This is only

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four weeks and with thousands of Race performers, four weeks don’t [sic] help at all; but there are theatres available in every key city that could support shows, so let us see how many would like to bring back the good old days, and with the proper support, the theatre[s] will be glad to put in shows if they do the business. Write now and tell if you want stage or screen, and see if something can’t be done in helping to bring back the real live entertainment.169

Balaban and Katz appointed Ken Blewett manager of the Regal in 1939. After this appointment, extended stage shows at the Regal began to increase. Blewett rose through the ranks to become the Regal’s first Black manager and the Regal’s longest serving manager. According to one account, Blewett was hired as an usher trainee on February 11, 1929. As an usher, Blewett became floor captain in eighteen months and treasurer in another twelve.170 Another account had Blewett quitting medical school to help support his mother, and then taking a job at night as an assistant chief of services and as a messenger at the Regal. Reportedly, Blewett also handled publicity for the theater.171 These accounts, though different, are not incompatible. Most significantly, Blewett developed a passion for his duties at the Regal, and theater management became his life’s work.172 During Ken Blewett’s watch in the late 1930s, amateur shows at the Regal achieved greater popularity and visibility. These shows became an important tool to stimulate attendance and provide low cost entertainment. In May 1938, WIND radio broadcast the South Center Amateur Hour every Wednesday night between 8:30 and 9:30. This time the Chicago Defender was not a sponsor of the endeavor but provided favorable publicity. The amateur broadcast was a joint venture between the South Center Department Store and the Regal Theater. Both structures occupied the same commercial complex. Potential participants applied for auditions at the “service bureau” of the department store or in the lobby of the Regal. Winners received cash and other valuable prizes and were determined by a device that measured the applause of the audience.173 Amateur shows were perennial tools of presentation houses to bring in patrons during lean periods, to find less costly talent, and to stimulate enthusiasm and interest in the establishment among potential patrons. Throughout the Depression, there was a proliferation of nationally and locally broadcast amateur shows. With the appearance of Major Bowe’s Original Amateur Hour on radio in 1934, a national mania for amateur shows emerged. In 1935, Major Bowe’s Original Amateur Hour became the nation’s most popular radio program.174

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After the Ken Blewett appointment, for the remaining years of the 1930s, Defender charitable shows at the Regal, which celebrated children, remained huge extravaganzas. The 1936 Thanksgiving party for children proved to be the largest. Over 6,000 children and their parents or guardians jammed the Regal. Adults and children began lining up outside of the Regal at 6:00 a.m., waiting for the theater doors to open at 9:30 a.m. Families brought picnic baskets of food in preparation for the all-day event, which ended at 5:00 p.m. Eddie Plicque, the fight promoter at the Savoy, served as emcee, and the Count Basie Orchestra (appearing at Ed Fox’s Grand Terrace Café), which donated its entire floorshow to the event, headlined the show. Prior to his appearance at the children’s party, Basie expressed excitement about participating. He explained, “ ‘I’ve read lots about the Billiken club . . . and you can’t imagine what a thrill it will be for the boys and me to play this Billiken party at the Regal . . .’ ” The great organist, Sammy Williams, also performed and was a hit with the crowd. The Defender awarded sixteen live turkeys to the winners of its amateur contest, and David Kellum, editor of the Defender’s Bud Billiken page, portrayed on stage the character of Bud Billiken.175 The children’s parties at the Regal were immense events that involved diverse segments of the community. For example, shows required a harmonious collaboration with the Black musicians’ union, Local 208. Further, the Defender boasted that no child was lost or hurt at its party but recognized that the unified efforts of many people were necessary to ensure the safety of the children. Security was a cooperative endeavor between Regal ushers, ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) cadets from Du Sable High School, and Chicago Park District police. A presentation of flowers at the Thanksgiving party illustrated the sense of community that pervaded the entire undertaking. The Chicago Defender reported: One of the highlights of the Bud Billiken party Saturday was the presentation of two baskets of lovely chrysanthemums and an assortment of fall flowers to Hon. Roberts S. Abbott, editor and publisher of The Chicago Defender, and to ol’ Bud Billiken himself. Earlier in the day, Mr. Brown, former Mayor of Bronzeville, had brought over two truckloads of Billikens from the north side. Two of his proteges, Vera Warren and John Garrett, captured turkeys in the amateur contest.176

The next three years (1937–1939) saw more of the same. The 1937 children’s party drew over 5,000 participants. Some contest winners,

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this year, received “brownskin” dolls, a product that spoke to the need for Black children to be able to play with dolls that resembled themselves. However, the prize of a live turkey remained a staple for the amateur competitions. The Grand Terrace Café continued to donate its floorshows over the next several years, and the Earl Hines band from the Café headlined these events. Organist Sammy Williams continued to participate, and the great comedian, “Dusty” Fletcher, appeared in 1938. White film star Dick Powell greeted 5,000 youngsters at the 1939 gathering. Powell was in Chicago to do promotional appearances at Balaban and Katz theaters and accepted an invitation to come to the Thanksgiving party at the Regal. Also, Regal management treated young partygoers to Mickey Mouse and Our Gang comedy films. Admission to the Thanksgiving celebrations was ten cents for children twelve and under and twenty-five cents for adults.177 The Chicago Defender midnight benefit Christmas show also continued with great success, but after 1936, the event seemed to have outgrown the Regal. In 1937, the Defender held the benefit show downtown at the Auditorium Theater. In 1938 it was at the Eighth Armory at Thirty-Fifth Street and Giles Avenue but returned to the Auditorium in 1939.178 Remarkably, the massive charitable and community service work carried out by the Chicago Defender in concert with the Regal and other institutions was at a time when editor and publisher Abbott was experiencing severe medical and financial problems. He died in 1940. Ken Blewett made an immediate impact on the bookings at the Regal and brought in prominent talent that was appealing to Bronzeville audiences, which filled seats. Louis Armstrong, Chick Webb, and Fats Waller headlined three of the more notable stage shows at the Regal that occurred between 1936 and 1939, after the appointment of Ken Blewett as manager. In May 1937, Armstrong, a perennial Chicago favorite, brought a diverse group of performers to the Regal’s stage, which promoters announced were direct from Harlem. The show was called “Ol Satchmo’s Harlemania Revue.” Besides Armstrong’s band, there were performances by novelty musicians, the Two Zephyrs. This duo consisted of Ernest Turner and William Washington, who played frying pans and a washboard. There was a female acrobatic team, Dorothy Mayes and Helen Morrison. Sonny Woods (male) and Bobbie Caston (female) were vocalists for the Armstrong group. Freddie Gordon and Timmie Rogers, who had been featured in the 1936 version of Blackbirds, performed comedy and eccentric dancing. The principal comic of the revue, however, was famous clarinetist and funnyman, George McClennon.179

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Chick Webb, the great drummer and bandleader brought his show into the Regal in June 1937. Webb was diminutive in size and had overcome deformities resulting from tuberculosis of the spine. He continued to battle health problems while achieving a superb reputation as a musician. By this time, Webb’s name had become synonymous with New York’s Savoy Ballroom. He was a regular there and led one of the best dance bands in the country. Webb brought with him to the Regal his sensational young vocalist, Ella Fitzgerald. Also with Webb’s band was saxophonist and vocalist, Louis Jordan. Jordan, whose first number had many in the audience on their feet, would later create a national sensation with his own group, the Tympani Five. Chuck (Charles Green) and Chuckles (James Walker), one of the greatest tap comedy teams of all time, stopped the show with their complex rhythms, splits, and other feats. Vocalist Charles Linton sang several beautiful numbers and was called for an encore. Lindy Hoppers from New York’s Savoy Ballroom gave a rousing performance. The Chicago Defender, however, labeled the show good but not terrific. Also, despite the notoriety and talent of Webb and Fitzgerald, the Defender claimed that it was female comedian Jackie (later, “Moms”) Mabley, a Chicago resident, who stole the show. Chick Webb and Ella Fitzgerald returned to the Regal for a second appearance in November 1938. A short time later Webb died after undergoing major surgery.180 Some attributed Webb with giving Ella Fitzgerald her first chance at stardom, but the Chicago Defender reported that it was emcee, dancer, and bandleader Willie Bryant who gave Ella her first major opportunity to perform. Bryant put Ella on stage at the Harlem Opera House, and he persuaded Chick Webb to take her in his band.181 Fats Waller came into the Regal in September 1939 with his orchestra. At the same time, White trumpet player Mugsy Spanier brought his orchestra into the Regal. Prior to the Regal engagement both groups appeared together at the (B & K) State and Lake Theater in downtown Chicago. The Regal booking was for a week and was billed as the “Battle of Swing.” Spanier was connected to the North Side’s prominent White jazz tradition and was well known to Black Belt residents. The Black community was especially sensitive to the expropriation of Black music by White musicians and, because of the system of racial stratification, their greater ability to benefit commercially from the music. Juxtaposing Spanier and Waller, no doubt, was intended to create community excitement and stimulate patronage.182 Ken Blewett left the Regal in 1959 to manage two other South Side theaters, the Maryland and the Tivoli. Later, he managed

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two downtown theaters, the Roosevelt and the Michael Todd, from which he retired in 1979. Throughout, Blewett remained with the Balaban and Katz chain and its subsequent owners. Blewett was a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and had arrived in Chicago with his mother in 1926 at the age of sixteen. They resided at 3555 South Indiana. Blewett died in July 1986 at the age of seventy-five.183 The Regal Theater achieved dominance in the marketplace through its connections to broader corporate entities, legal and illegal, and its use of a talented Black manager helped to enhance and preserve the popularity of this institution for many years to come. In the next chapter we will see some of the Regal’s privileged position come under attack.

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The End of Monopoly and the End of Swing

During the 1940s, the corporate entities that owned and controlled the Regal began to lose their privileged position in the marketplace. In addition, big band jazz or so-called swing music began to decline, and new instrumental styles and performance genres were emerging. There were also innovations in comedy and vocalization. World War II created greater opportunities and visibility for women musicians, and Black-appeal radio began to emerge as a commercial force in Chicago. African American manager Ken Blewett kept the Regal Theater at the cutting edge of developments in Black popular culture and more than satisfied Regal patrons. In 1940, he was securely entrenched as managing director of the Regal. Blewett’s comanager, Myron Wright, moved over to direct the Savoy, and in July, Blewett welcomed another African American, David Charlton, as his new assistant. Balaban and Katz officials took special notice of Ken Blewett’s success.1 Bronzeville was more populous and vibrant than ever and continued to be a dynamic market for the Regal. In most years during the 1940s, stage shows numbered in the double digits, reaching a high of seventeen in 1948. This chapter will address the above issues and other societal factors that affected the performance culture and economic viability of the Regal Theater.

The End of Monopoly Two landmark legal cases broke the monopoly of the Balaban and Katz theater chain in Chicago and of its corporate parent, Paramount Pictures, on a national level. They were the Paramount case and the Jackson Park case. The federal government filed suit under the

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Sherman Antitrust Act against Paramount Pictures in 1938. In 1940, a supplemental complaint included the four other motion picture and production firms in the country that controlled large theater chains. Thus, the five defendants were Paramount, Loews MGM, RKO, Warner Brothers, and Twentieth Century Fox. The government charged these firms with “combining and conspiring to restrain trade unreasonably and to monopolize the production, distribution, and exhibition of motion pictures.” It also charged three minor defendants, who did not control exhibition facilities, with combining with the five majors “to restrain trade unreasonably and to monopolize commerce in motion pictures.” The three minors were Columbia, Universal, and United Artists.2 After achieving unsatisfactory results from a 1940 consent decree, the government reactivated the case in 1944, which went to trial in 1945. In 1946, a three-judge court ruled that the film distribution system under use violated the Sherman Act. After further review by the Supreme Court, all decisions were finalized by the middle of 1949. Most significantly, the Court ordered the five major film companies to divorce their theater holdings. It took further steps to prevent the stockholder groups of the former integrated companies from controlling successor companies. In addition, the divorced theater circuits had to divest themselves of approximately one-half of the 3,137 theaters they owned in 1945.3 The successor firm for Paramount’s theater chain, which included the Balaban and Katz chain, was United Paramount Theaters. In an effort to meet significant declines in profits, United Paramount Theaters expanded into television and announced a merger with the American Broadcasting Company in 1951, completing the process in 1953.4 The second landmark legal action, the Jackson Park case, was a private damage suit against the five major motion picture firms and the subsidiaries of two of them under the Sherman Act. The case was filed in 1942. Through Balaban and Katz, Paramount Pictures dominated motion picture exhibition in Chicago. It leased or owned six downtown theaters and thirty of the largest neighborhood theaters (including the Regal). The five majors agreed to provide the first-run release of their films in the B & K downtown theaters and the RKO Palace, also downtown. In return, Paramount and RKO respected the first-run system in the cities with theaters controlled by the other majors. In Chicago, Balaban and Katz was able to bargain and control the first three runs or showings of all first-grade films. The result was an eleven run system, the Chicago system of release, that gave Balaban and Katz and Warner Brothers Circuit Management Corporation,

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which owned or leased a number of neighborhood theaters (e.g., the Metropolitan across the street from the Regal), the best films and the most lucrative runs. In addition, both chains would not compete against one another. The Metropolitan and the Regal for example, would not show the same films at the same time. Generally, first-run films were subject to clearances or time breaks before they could be shown again in another theater. The system of runs and clearances were also governed by zones, which provided spatial parameters for when a theater could show a film. Independent theaters could not compete for a better market position in terms of obtaining preferred films, showing these films in earlier or first runs, or setting admission prices, which were related to how soon the movie was shown. The Jackson Park case ended in 1947 the Chicago system of release and the practice of block booking, where independent theaters had to lease inferior or unwanted films, which were often unseen, in order to obtain first-grade movies.5 There were expected and unexpected results from the Jackson Park and Paramount cases. As one might anticipate, admissions and profits for Balaban and Katz dropped significantly. Independent theaters were no longer subject to the monopoly control of the majors and could secure better films and more favorable runs. However, the introduction of competitive bidding for film in place of block booking, the increased competition between neighborhood theaters, which suppressed admission prices, the rivalry of drive-in theaters, the competition of television, and the decreased public demand for movies led to the closing of many neighborhood theaters.6 Ultimately the system of neighborhood movie houses would pass out of existence and be replaced by multiscreen movie complexes that were regional in nature and located in or near large commercial centers. The Regal, as a multiuse movie house with unique market advantages, would be able to survive as a neighborhood theater for nearly two more decades.

Demographics and the Regal’s Market The decade of the 1940s brought demographic changes that helped to sustain a strong economic outlook for the Regal and the Forty-Seventh-Street commercial strip. By 1950, Chicago’s Black population had reached 492,000 or 13.6 percent of Chicago’s total population. In 1930, two years after the Regal opened, the Black population was 234,000. In 1940, it was 278,000 or 8.2 percent of Chicago’s population. In 1950 Chicago still had the second largest

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Black population in the United States. Only eighteen cities in the country had more people than Chicago’s Black community.7 Migration, mostly from the South, accounted for 72 percent of the growth of Chicago’s Black population between 1940 and 1950. In comparison, the White population grew more from natural increase than by migration.8 Additionally, in 1948, over 70 percent of Chicago’s Black population still lived in three contiguous areas that made up the historic Black Belt on Chicago’s South Side: Douglas, Grand Boulevard, and Washington Park. These were the communities that sustained the Regal’s market. However, there were several other demographic indicators that revealed future challenges to the Regal’s market. Blacks in search of better housing and less crowded conditions were moving south (and to the east and west) beyond the traditional Black Belt, and the removal of the restrictive covenant in 1948 as a legal racial barrier to better housing and home ownership facilitated this movement. Moreover, it was a Black middle class that increasingly looked south of Sixty-Third Street to find homes.9 Concomitantly, the proportion of the Black population that lived in the traditional Black Belt dropped from just over 72 percent in 1940 to 50 percent in 1950. However, this change in proportion reflected growth and expansion beyond the traditional Black Belt, but the Regal was not threatened by a loss of patrons who lived close by. The population of Grand Boulevard, the area that surrounded the Regal, had grown from 103,256 in 1940 to 114,557 by 1950.10 Nevertheless, the traditional demographic and business climate that supported the Regal was rapidly changing. For example, in the next decade, 1950 to 1960, the population of the Grand Boulevard area would decline to 80,036, a figure that was lower than the 87,005 people who lived there in 1930 and nearly 35,000 less than the 1950 figure.

Opening with a Punch The opening blockbuster event in 1940 at the Regal was not a stage show, but a film based on the life of prominent African American boxer Henry Armstrong. At the time, Armstrong rivaled the fame of heavyweight champion Joe Louis. Some believed that, pound for pound, Armstrong was the greatest fighter of all time. He was the first man in history to hold three world titles at the same time. Armstrong won world championships as a featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. When his film, Keep Punching, premiered, Armstrong still held the welterweight title.11 On opening night

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(Friday), an estimated crowd of over 3,000 gathered outside of the Regal and braved the near zero-degree weather to greet Armstrong and to see his film. The event attracted several prominent White film stars and various local dignitaries.12

Bands and Theater Circuits By 1940, Balaban and Katz management built Regal stage shows around a traditional list of leading jazz/dance bands and frequently booked these bands at one of B & K’s downtown theaters before bringing them into the Regal. For example, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, and Cab Calloway all played at the Balaban and Katz State-Lake Theater before their Regal bookings. At this venue, Ellington proved to be the greatest draw, breaking an attendance record at the downtown theater. Other groups, like Jimmy Lunceford’s band, moved directly from their engagements at the State-Lake into the Chicago Savoy. Additional bands that headlined the Regal in 1940 were led by Fats Waller, Erskine Hawkins, Lest Hite, and Andy Kirk. Many of the Regal headliners also played the Savoy. Other Savoy headliners in 1940 included Ella Fitzgerald and vocalist, trumpeter, bandleader Walter Fuller. Regal talent also came directly from other Paramount Picture–controlled theaters outside of Chicago, such as the Paramount in New York.13 However, the White-audienceoriented theatrical circuit, which utilized Black talent for its live shows, had become very limited, and movie houses in Black communities that utilized live shows were nearly nonexistent. In fact, New York’s Apollo Theater and Chicago’s Regal Theater had become in 1940 the only Black-oriented movie-stage-show venues that used name bands for their stage shows. The Regal and the Apollo represented two distinct circuits, however, but relied upon similar bookings since they both serviced African American markets. The Chicago Defender explained: Just now the only major theatres open for flesh stars [live performers] are the Apollo and Regal . . . . Time was when the Howard of Washington [D. C.] and theatres in Baltimore and Philly employed bands as part of the Apollo chain but this is not true today. Most of these theaters are closed to presentations and are merely using pictures. The Regal and Apollo are sticking to bands and acts, however.14

The problem of maintaining a theatrical circuit that could support live entertainment in motion picture houses—bands, singers, dancers,

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comedians, and the like—was an ongoing issue. The decline and eventual demise of White and Black vaudeville severely limited the availability of theaters that provided weeklong engagements for live shows. Theaters in a circuit also needed to be in proximity of one another to cut down on travel time and cost. The system had to be economical for theater owners and assure them of reliable talent with substantial drawing power. Without significant theater work, a Black theatrical workforce had to rely more on nightclubs and cabarets. However, these kinds of establishments were beginning to lose patrons to taverns and liquor stores, where alcoholic beverages were cheaper and customers could listen to jukeboxes. For example, fluctuations in the fortunes of Ed Fox’s Grand Terrace Café forced a temporary closing that threw seventy-five in-house personnel out of work and curtailed various local and national bookings. Other clubs that provided nationally recognized talent and elaborate floorshows involving scores of local talent, such as Bennie Skoller’s Swingland Café and the Club DeLisa, had to lower their liquor prices and develop special promotions to attract customers.15 There seemed to be a public fear that the Regal would go the way of so many other movie houses and resort to film only. The Chicago Defender reported the view that Hollywood motion picture companies preferred to end live shows in movie theaters and to rely only on film presentations. Consequently, the Defender regularly seized the opportunity to argue that Blacks wanted live shows and that live shows at the Regal and at other motion picture venues in Black communities were economically viable. Al Monroe, for example, a columnist for the Defender’s theatrical page, was a strong advocate of stage shows. He exhorted: “No there is no use trying to kid ourselves, Mr. Theatre Owner. The patrons at your theatre want flesh [live performances]. They’ll accept pictures alright [sic] as long as they are sandwiched between stage shows and bands. Ask the management at the Regal . . . .” Monroe further explained that lines of people blocks long came and packed the Regal to hear the wonderful voices of the Ink Spots or Duke Ellington’s great band, but only “a handful of customers attended the Regal weeks previous when two and sometimes three pictures made up the total entertainment.”16 Subsequently, in 1942, the Chicago Defender reported that the Regal had become involved in a viable circuit that would bring back live shows at certain venues and ensure their continuation at the Regal. It reported: The Palace in Cleveland, Paradise in Detroit and the Oriental and Regal in Chicago have launched an unofficial chain that may mean the weekly

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return of stage shows in sections that have previously majored in pictures. For many seasons now only the Howard in Washington and the Apollo in New York have used stage shows weekly. But the Palace in Cleveland with a combination of Count Basie and Ethel Waters and the Paradise in Detroit with the Ink Spots followed by Basie have been hot all week. And all these acts and bands, save Ethel Waters [,] have either played or will play the Regal in Chicago this month.17

Given these observations, the fact that the largest theater chain in America controlled the Regal seemed to escape comment by the Defender. Paramount Pictures, owner of Balaban and Katz, which governed the Regal, periodically adjusted its policies regarding the presentation of live shows in the movie houses it owned or controlled. Using these theaters and changing its policies, Paramount could alter existing circuits or create new ones, as it responded to shifting market considerations regarding the use of stage shows and the Black talent under its employ. As discussed earlier, Paramount’s flexibility and power were aided by the fact that it colluded to monopolize film distribution and exhibition with the four other major motion picture production and distribution firms that also owned and controlled substantial numbers of theaters. These majors were Loews (parent company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/MGM), RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum), Warner Brothers, and Twentieth Century Fox. The five majors operated 3,137 theaters across the country or 17 percent of the country’s total theaters and 25 percent of the total theater seats. The ramifications of this ownership and control were much greater, however, and translated into a command of 70 percent of the first run theaters in the ninety-two largest U.S. cities. Paramount owned 1,395 theaters nationwide in 1945. Balaban and Katz, a Paramount affiliate, effectively controlled motion-picture exhibition in Chicago during this period. Furthermore, B & K had made its reputation on the film–live-show format and obviously understood the continued attractiveness of this policy for Black communities. The Regal, of course, was B & K’s crown jewel in the African American market.18 Stage shows at the Regal continued to provide diverse entertainment to augment band presentations. However, European classical renditions were no longer common. In 1940, some of the prominent singers on the stage of the Regal were Helen Humes and blues great James Rushing, both of whom performed with Count Basie; Midge Williams, who performed with Louis Armstrong; and Ivy Anderson and Herb Jeffries, who performed with Duke Ellington. Actor and comedian Eddie “Rochester” Anderson appeared at the Regal in

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1940 and, as he had proven during previous appearances, was a popular attraction. By 1940, comedian Jackie Mabley’s popularity at the Regal was well established. Mabley first appeared at the Regal in 1930, and in 1940 shared the bill with Andy Kirk.19

Jackie Mabley and Innovations in Black Comedy A favorite on the Regal stage, Jackie Mabley created an innovative and appealing form of comedy. Jackie Mabley was one of the first Black comedians to adopt a monologue style of comedy. She was also a pioneer in bringing a woman-centered perspective to this solo form of comedic storytelling. Unlike other comedians who worked with partners or who utilized skits as their principle medium for humor, Mabley worked alone and spoke directly to the audience. She drew heavily from the Black oral traditions of signifying, playing the dozens, tall-tale exaggeration, and the use of double meaning. Mabley, whose given name was Loretta Mary Aiken, was born in Brevard, North Carolina, March 19, in either 1894 or 1897. She grew up in Cleveland and became a stage entertainer by the age of sixteen, utilizing storytelling, song, and dance. Early in her career, Mabley performed in blackface minstrel shows and throughout the Blackoriented vaudeville circuit controlled by the Theater Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.). However, the exceptionally popular comic husband and wife team of Butter Beans and Susie saw Mabley perform and helped her to get better bookings. Over time, Mabley, like other Black comics of her era, stopped blackening her face. She also began to adopt the image of a kindly, sagacious, and wisecracking grandmother—subsequently taking on the moniker, “Moms.” Traditionally the granny or grandmother held a cherished position in the Black community as a protector, nurturer, and repository of folk wisdom. Mabley took on this persona in her act and used it to impart her vision of truth, entertain, and lovingly connect with her audiences, whom she began to greet as her children. Offstage, Jackie Mabley became known for her willingness to help struggling entertainers and received the title “Moms” long before she used it as part of her stage name.20 In fact, in 1940, the Chicago Defender did not use the nickname when it referred to Jackie Mabley’s appearances at the Regal. Mabley’s grandmother persona combined anti-alluring dress and appearance with a stated attraction for young men, a repulsion for old men, and an active sex drive. The result was an iconoclastic and profoundly intelligent humor. Mabley appeared on stage without her

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teeth. She wore oversized, shapeless, housecoat-type, floral print dresses; a floppy knit hat; multicolored, knee-length, wool socks, and large brogan shoes.21 Mabley spoke in a gravelly voice and could provoke laughter with her parodies of popular songs, her famous shuffle; her witty, sarcastic, and satirical storytelling; or simply a look or a stance.22 Mabley’s image was comical, but it was also familiar, nostalgic, and endearing. Exaggerated, colorful costuming was typical of vaudeville, but bright colored dress was characteristic of Black stylistic expression. Further, the vast numbers of recent and former migrants from the rural South were accustomed to the image of elder Black women who, because of the requirements of the hard physical labor they performed on farms and plantations and as domestics, donned heavy work shoes (brogans) and oversized, mismatched clothing. These women typically, as did my own grandmother, tied their stockings at the knee or wore knee-length socks. They endeavored to accomplish their tasks practically and were not concerned with fashion. Furthermore, unhealthy conditions in childhood meant that large numbers of Black adults did not have their own teeth, and to see people—Black women—who had removed their false teeth was not uncommon. Mabley drew upon the pain of her life as a source of her comedy (she had been raped twice before the age of fourteen). She lamented the days when marriages were arranged and families forced young teenage daughters to marry older men they cared nothing about. Mabley’s rejection of this practice was reflected in her disdain for older men, which became a signature theme of her humor. Referencing her own life she quipped: My daddy liked him. I had to marry that old man. My daddy shoulda married ’im. He de one like ’im. The nearest thing to death you’ve ever seen in your life! His shadow weighed more ’n he did. He got outta breath threading a needle. And UG-G-G-GLY! He was so ugly he hurt my feelings. He was just so ugly he had to tip up on a glass to get a drink o’ water. He was so ugly he had to get a job at a doctor’s office standing beside the door makin’ people sick! One day I said to ’im, I said, “You get the number?” He say, “What number?” I say, “The number o’ the truck that run over your face!”23

Additionally, a famous Jackie Mabley line was, “The only thing an old man can do for me is bring me a nice message from a young man.”24 Regal audiences and African Americans in general fell in love with Jackie “Moms” Mabley decades before White America knew of her

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existence. It wasn’t until the early 1960s that mainstream America discovered Mabley. From this period she made numerous television appearances and gained bookings in top mainstream clubs. Although not her first work in film, Moms Mabley appeared in her first full-length motion picture, Amazing Grace, in 1974. She died May 23, 1975.25

Dance Traditions, Community Involvement, and Women Performers In 1940, the Regal continued to showcase dancers that represented diverse performance styles. Tap dancer Bill Bailey and rope dancers Danny and Edith were on the bill, each during one of two appearances that year by Duke Ellington. Comedic dancers Stump and Stumpy appeared with Louis Armstrong. Other dancers with Armstrong were Sonny Woods and Big Time Crip. The students of Sadie Bruce, the Black Belt’s most prominent dance teacher, performed in Bruce’s annual dance extravaganza at the Regal. These performances featured large production numbers. Also, in 1940, the exotic dance team of Tondelayo and Lopez performed with Andy Kirk.26 In short, diverse dance specialists remained a staple on the Regal’s stage. The Regal and its sister institution, the Savoy Ballroom, remained important hosts for community and special events. The Chicago Defender held its annual Bud Billiken, pre-Thanksgiving party for children. The 1940 affair occurred on November 16. At this time, the Chicago Defender entertained thousands of children at a stage show that featured the Duke Ellington band and dancer Bill Bailey. The youngsters received turkeys, candy, and other gifts. The all-day event began at 9:00 a.m., and admission was fifteen cents for children twelve and under; all others paid twenty-five cents. Duke Ellington also appeared at the Savoy in December for his coronation as the number one band in the country based on the Chicago Defender band poll. Ellington composed a special song for the occasion, “Coronation Stomp.” Earlier in the year, Count Basie played at the Savoy for the celebration surrounding the annual selection of the “Mayor of Bronzeville.” As a consequence of World War II, greater opportunities became available for female musicians and bands domestically, as male musicians were drafted. However, female musicians and bands already had established a significant fan base in the Black community prior to this period.27 The Chicago Defender, for example, acknowledged “Miss Satchmo,” Sadie Desmon Rankey. It reported, “They call her Miss Satchmo because her tunes on the trumpet are fashioned after

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Louis Armstrong. Miss Rankey is a member of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.”28 The Chicago Defender also took notice of Ann Cooper and explained, “Ann Cooper, famous trumpeter, formerly with Lil Armstrong’s Harlem Playgirls, boasts a unique honor as a member of Sir Oliver Bibb’s crack new orchestra, due to leave the Windy City for an extended tour.”29 The all-female International Sweethearts of Rhythm was rapidly gaining an enthusiastic following among African Americans, and another of its trumpeters, Nova Lee McGee, and its drummer, Pauline Braddy, gained notice by the Chicago Defender. It would be a few more months, however, before the Sweethearts of Rhythm would make it to the stage of the Regal. In 1940, bands led by Duke Ellington, Jimmy Lunceford, Count Basie, and Cab Calloway were the top four vote getters in the Chicago Defender’s band poll. However, the Sweethearts of Rhythm placed eleventh out of the thirty-seven bands in the poll that received over 50,000 votes. They attracted more votes than bands led by Earl Hines, Les Hite, Lionel Hampton, and other notables.30 Of special note among prominent African American female musicians during the war period was Valaida Snow. Snow was an outstanding trumpet player, but she was also an actress, singer, and dancer. Valaida Snow had given a stunning performance at the Regal in 1934. She traveled abroad and achieved remarkable success, but returned to this country after experiencing a tragic wartime ordeal. Snow escaped the Nazis while in Holland but was seized in Denmark while performing at a famous café. Snow’s captors confined her to a Nazi concentration camp for a year and eight months where she was brutally beaten and fed boiled potatoes, which barely kept Snow alive. Snow’s heath deteriorated and from her normal weight of 130 pounds plummeted to 68 pounds. The Nazis stripped Snow of all of her personal belongings, which included a gold-plated trumpet, $5,000 in American money, $2,000 in Danish currency, and other clothes and valuables. A US-German exchange of war prisoners brought Snow back to the United States in 1943. After six months of medical care, Snow nearly reached her normal state of health and decided to return to performing, regaining her previous prominence. Fans now recognized Snow not only for her great talent but also for her exceptional courage.31

Year of the Ink Spots The Regal’s May 1941 stage show presaged the future dominance of singing groups and the decline of jazz/dance bands, with the return

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of the enormously popular quartet, the Ink Spots. Late in 1940, the Ink Spots made their first appearance at the Regal and drew capacity crowds. Three of the seven days of this engagement, the Ink Spots attracted lines of people, city blocks long, who waited to gain entrance to the Theater. Informed observers of the entertainment scene expected a similar response to the Ink Spot’s return show in 1941, since “no aggregation, band or show [had] ever been able to play a demand performance (brought about through fans’ letters) in such a short time after a previous date.” The Ink Spots arguably had become the top singing group of the era; they had a reputation for traveling with an outstanding band and accompanying show.32 The reputation of the Ink Spots developed slowly, and they followed the phenomenal success of the Mills Brothers. The members of the Ink Spots were Jerry Daniels, Ivory “Deek” (Deacon) Watson, Charlie Fuqua, Orville “Hoppy” Jones, and Bill Kenny. Kenny was not with the group from its inception, but became its most famous member. Over the years nineteen others sang or played with the Ink Spots. In 1932 Charlie and Jerry toured with the Whitman Sisters. After other varied experiences as entertainers, Jerry, Deek, Hoppy, and Charlie formed the Ink Spots in 1933. Moe Gale of the New York Savoy eventually became their manager. At first the group was known for up-tempo novelty tunes and performances. They received their first recording contract with Victor Records in 1935. An example of the type of songs the group recorded was “Your Feet’s Too Big.” The Ink Spots gained in prominence but made little money. As a consequence, Jerry Daniels became disgruntled and left the group. Manager Moe Gale brought in Bill Kenny, a tenor from Baltimore, and an amateur contest winner at several venues, which included the Apollo Theater in New York’s Harlem.33 Success was not immediate, as public acceptance of Kenny was slow. In 1936 the Ink Spots signed with the fledgling Decca Records but would have more success on radio than records, becoming regulars on NBC. In 1939, after slow record sales, the group decided to record a B-side that was different from their usual novelty approach. The result was a ballad that combined Kenny’s falsetto and tenor interpretations in contradistinction to Jones’s bass vocalizations. In addition, the recording included a spoken part by the bass singer. The outcome was “If I Didn’t Care,” a song that would make the Ink Spots the hottest vocal group of the year. From that point on, the Ink Spots became known for their ballads, of which “If I Didn’t Care” became their signature recording. Numerous imitators emerged, and the Ink Spots became the stimulus and prototype for the rise of

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rhythm and blues vocal groups. Examples were the Ravens, Orioles, Clovers, Moonglows, Flamingos, Miracles, Temptations, Spinners, and so on. Groups like these would dominate Black popular culture and the Regal’s stage in later years, as the popularity and utility of jazz/dance bands waned after 1947.34 The Ink Spots reached the height of their popularity in 1946 when they obtained their biggest hit, “The Gypsy.” That year “The Gypsy” spent thirteen weeks as the number one most played jukebox record. It spent ten weeks as the number one best selling retail record and one week as the record most played on the air for a single week. In December 1946, industry magazine Cash Box proclaimed “The Gypsy” as the largest moneymaker of the year. In July, Billboard listed the song as the number one best selling retail record. After 1946 the Ink Spots maintained their popularity but failed to sustain significant record sales. They began to suffer from sameness and overcommercialization.35 However, the Ink Spots’ first appearance at the Regal in 1940 marked the early stages of their commercial success. After the Ink Spots’ successful encore appearance in May, the Regal, for the remainder of 1941, continued to bring in top entertainment. In early June, Ella Fitzgerald headed the stage show; with her was the great comedy and dance team of Chuck (Charles Green) and Chuckles (James Walker). The Stearns reported in their book, Jazz Dance, that Chuckles “played a ragged set of vibes and excelled at legomania, while Chuck . . . performed graceful and breathtaking rhythm tap . . . .”36 Fletcher Henderson’s band headlined the July 4 show, followed by Count Basie in August. The Defender reported that the Basie opening was the largest in the Regal’s history, and many people had to be turned away. Singer Jimmy Rushing and other outstanding talent supported Basie. There was the comedy and dance team of Timmie (Rogers) and Freddie (Gordon). Timmie Rogers later would have significant crossover success as a comedian, gaining substantial exposure to White audiences via television. Also on the bill were comedian Dusty Fletcher, singer Savannah Churchill, and dancer Baby Laurence.37 The Earl Hines band followed Basie in September, and Cab Calloway brought his aggregation into the Regal in mid-October. In early November, the Lionel Hampton orchestra packed the house. Other performers on the bill included the Three Bye Sisters, Big Time Crip, Joyner and Foster, and Sinclair and Leroy.38 November marked a gigantic, star-studded stage show for the boys and girls of the Bud Billiken club’s Chicago Defender annual pre-Thanksgiving party. Three great bandleaders came together for a

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magnificent jam session. Fats Waller performed on the Hammond organ; Lionel Hampton was on vibraphone, and Louis Armstrong was on trumpet. Entertainment for the Billikens included jitterbugging dancers from the floorshows at the Club DeLisa and the Grand Terrace Café, the male–female comedy team of Apus and Estrellita, the high-energy dancing of the Four Kit Kats, and singing star Myra Johnson. Later, there was the traditional amateur competition for the young attendees, where the Chicago Defender awarded fifteen live turkeys to the best performers. In addition, young people saw a firstclass feature film and over a dozen comic film shorts. Admission was seventeen cents for children twelve years of age and under and twentyeight cents for those over twelve. Proceeds from the event went towards the Chicago Defender’s Christmas basket fund. The Regal’s doors opened at 8:00 a.m., and the festivities for the all-day event got underway at 10:00 a.m. The Chicago Defender extended special thanks to the now prominent booking agent and manager, Joe Glaser, and to the president of Chicago’s Black musicians’ union, Local 208, Harry W. Gray, for helping to produce the charitable event.39

White Performers and Black Cultural Products In 1941, several other notable events and issues marked the entertainment world surrounding the Regal Theater. African Americans remained sensitive to the way White bands could expropriate popular Black music and culture and gain greater exposure and monetary reward. They were also sensitive to the inequality associated with the ability of White bands to attract talented musicians away from Black bands because they could afford to offer greater remuneration. Additionally, there was the hegemonic capacity of White consumers, critics, and controllers of the entertainment industry to define which of the bands that played the popular music of the day were the best, notwithstanding the fact that America’s popular music was based on African American cultural innovation and creativity. Blacks viewed the buying and legitimating power of White consumers as divergent from the critical issues of quality, innovation, creativity, and authenticity. African Americans observed these inequalities and routinely expressed their sensitivities regarding them. At the same time, Blacks saw that efforts by White bands to imitate their music (and other stylistic expressions) and to attract Black musicians and arrangers, in order to capture Black sounds and rhythmic innovations, as direct challenges to the societal myth that Blacks were inferior. Mainstream

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White America wanted to consume Black music and culture, of course, but it wanted to do so, whenever possible, through White performers. For Blacks, these ironies and inequalities also represented ideological and substantive cracks in the existing pattern of racial segregation, which proceeded from a normative system of White supremacy. The Chicago Defender was an important chronicler of these sentiments. In one issue, the Defender found it important to note that Bobby Burnett, a White musician, had organized an all-Black band. It speculated that this was a first.40 In another issue, the Defender openly lamented the loss, among other Black musicians, of Fletcher Henderson to Benny Goodman and of Roy Eldridge to Gene Krupa. Similarly, the Defender noted that Cootie Williams had left Duke Ellington for Goodman. A week later, though, the Defender reported that Henderson had left Goodman to lead his own band again.41 Also through the pages of the Chicago Defender, Blacks wrote letters critical of Duke Ellington for allegedly expressing that the second- and third-place finishes that he had won in a reader’s poll in a White magazine had been the “greatest honor” he had ever received. Black fans had previously supported Ellington enthusiastically, consistently, and uncompromisingly. They had awarded him a first-place finish in the Chicago Defender’s poll of top bands. Consequently, Black supporters understandably were miffed when Ellington failed to proclaim his first-place ranking in the Defender poll as his highest honor.42 The fact that Blacks considered themselves to be the most legitimate critics of musical traditions that came from their own experiences and creativity also fueled this rancor. These African Americans were responding to the fact that a normative White supremacy system routinely denied Blacks the ability to define artistic standards surrounding cultural products based on Black aesthetic norms.

Year of the Sweethearts Nineteen forty-two continued the tradition of dynamic stage shows at the Regal. New attendance records were broken, and community participation and support across all age groups continued. The quality of bookings remained high, and shows were built around the most prominent Black bands of the day. In January, pianist, vocalist, drummer Tiny Bradshaw headlined the opening show of the year. One of the groups that appeared with Bradshaw was the talented comedy dance team of Cook and Brown. Stearns and Stearns described

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(Charles) Cook and (Ernest) Brown as capable of combining nearly every form of vernacular dancing, “including tap, with first-rate acrobatics.” The Chicago Defender described the team as “sensational ‘mug’ dancers.” In this comedic dance tradition one partner literally beats up the other, with the molested partner proving himself undaunted and indestructible. In this case the four-foot-ten-inch Brown proved himself undismayed by the mugging of the six-foot Cook.43 February had two outstanding productions. The esteemed trumpet player Erskine Hawkins headlined the first show. Among the members of his contingent were blues singer Ida James and pianist-arranger Avery Parrish. The comedy dance team of Moke and Poke (Fletcher Moke and Leon Poke), who carried on a dialogue of entertaining rhymes while executing intricate rhythm tap, was one of several comedy acts. The Defender called the Hawkins’s show one of the best of the season and argued that even though Duke Ellington had won the latest Defender band poll, the response of the audiences at the Regal proved that “the band of bands [was] Erskine Hawkins.”44 The next week the fabulous Ink Spots returned to the Regal and continued to draw large crowds, despite their appearance at the Regal only a few weeks earlier. Drummer Floyd Campbell headed the orchestra that backed up the Ink Spots at the time. He recalled that there were six other acts on the bill, one of which was the Three Loose Nuts, a musical group lead by the elder brother of Nat “King” Cole, Eddie Cole. The Chicago Defender characterized the group, which was also starring at the Grand Terrace Café, as “sensational.”45 Stage shows at the Regal over the next several months continued to be energetic and well attended. In early March, Lucius “Lucky” Millinder’s band was the headliner on a bill that included gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Later in the month, pianist William “Count” Basie, the great Kansas City swing master, brought his band, which included blues singer Jimmy Rushing, into the Regal.46 In April, the prominent Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy headed the show. Floyd Smith was featured on guitar; Mary Lou Williams was featured on piano, and June Richmond was the group’s vocalist.47 In May, the superb song stylist Ella Fitzgerald graced the stage of the Regal. Saxophonist, clarinetist, and arranger Eddie Barefield directed Fitzgerald’s band, and pianist Erskine Butterfield was a featured artist.48 In July, Louis Armstrong came into the Regal, and the Fourth marked a gala birthday celebration for the great trumpeter. Armstrong’s appearance broke the previous second-day attendance record and generated the largest crowd for a single day. A standout crowd waited

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as much as eight hours to see Armstrong. Armstrong’s vocalists were Sonny Wood and Velma Middleton. Among the other acts appearing at the time were the dynamic dance teams of Cholly and Dolly and Pops and Louie.49 Making his first appearance at the Regal in September, pianist Jay McShann surpassed Armstrong’s opening day numbers. Also appearing on the bill were the Berry Brothers, one of the most sensational dance teams in America. Other acts included a beautiful dance chorus produced by Joe “Ziggy” Johnson and the comic team of Lee and (Jimmy) Bassett.50 Despite outstanding attendance thus far, the greatest attraction was yet to come, and 1942, for the Regal, was to be the year of the Sweethearts. In late October 1942, the all-female International Sweethearts of Rhythm came into the Regal and broke all attendance records. The band was lead by Anna Mae Winburn. The reputation and fame of the Sweethearts had been growing nationally since 1939, and Regal fans were eager to see and hear the group. The Chicago Defender expressed that the Sweethearts were not a great band, but one that was very capable. It observed that the Sweethearts did not try to overwhelm the crowd with volume, as other bands typically tried to do, but played strong melodies, maintained a solid and pleasing tempo, muted their instruments by choice, and put forth strong solos. Regardless of how one defines greatness, the Sweethearts of Rhythm were able to capture the attention and appreciation of their audiences. The group offered an alternative sound within the jazz/swing tradition that was danceable, soothing, and compelling. In the October engagement at the Regal, only two other acts appeared with the Sweethearts, comedian Jackie Mabley and eccentric dancer Jigsaw Jackson. This fact further validated the great interest audiences had in the Sweethearts. The band returned to the Regal in late November and had similar success. At this time, large crowds convinced Regal management to schedule extra shows on Wednesday and Thursday, the two closing nights, but, nonetheless, thousands of fans had to be turned away.51 The International Sweethearts of Rhythm had a distinctive genesis and rise to national prominence. Laurence Clifton Jones created the band as an emissary to raise money for the school he founded in Piney Woods, Mississippi, the Piney Woods Country Life School. Racial segregation, White supremacy, and racial oppression in Mississippi suppressed education for Blacks in the state. Jones, who was educated at the University of Iowa, came to Braxton, Mississippi, in 1909, at the age of twenty-six, to found a school that would help to elevate the

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dispossessed Black population of Mississippi. Mississippi’s governor had abolished teacher training for Blacks because it threatened White supremacy. The various other colleges and universities that educated Blacks were hardly better than elementary schools, and the state of Mississippi spent five times more money on educating White children than it did on educating Black children. Jones embraced the self-help, industrial educational philosophy of Booker T. Washington and the liberal arts educational philosophy of W. E. B. DuBois.52 In a relatively short time, the Sweethearts of Rhythm rose from obscure beginnings to national fame. Initially the group consisted of fourteen to seventeen young women, fourteen to nineteen years of age. Learning to play was often an on-the-job experience, but the school obtained the services of superb professional musicians and arrangers to instruct the novice music makers. Teachers and administration imposed intense discipline and a severe regimen of study and practice on the young musicians. A group of fifteen student musicians hit the road between 1938 and 1939. The school attached the word “International” to the name of the group because several members were of mixed racial and cultural backgrounds, which included Chinese, Hawaiian, and Mexican parentage. Through touring, the school attracted additional students who were musically gifted. As a consequence, the success of the Sweethearts increased, and the band achieved national recognition. Under the guidance of their chaperone, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm broke with the Piney Woods school after April 1941 and became independent. In subsequent years, several White members joined the group, but this was a year or more after the Regal engagement. The junior or backup group at Piney Woods school was called the Swinging Rays of Rhythm. This contingent remained connected to the school and also gained national recognition through touring. However, it was the International Sweethearts of Rhythm who became known as the best all-women swing band to ever perform. In 1942, the Sweethearts personnel consisted of Edna Williams, trumpet; Ina Belle Byrd, trombone; Anna Mae Winburn, leader and vocalist; Grace Bayron, saxophone; Willie Mae Wong, saxophone; Helen Jones, trombone; Evelyn McGee, vocalist; Helen Saine, saxophone; Marian Carter, trumpet; Margie Pettiford, saxophone; Pauline Braddy, drums; Johnnie Mae Stansbury, trumpet; Amy Garrison, saxophone; Judy Bayron, trombone; Lucille Dixon, bass; Roxanna Lucas, guitar; and Johnnie Mae Rice, piano.53 The International Sweethearts of Rhythm were highly disciplined, had a unique and beautiful sound, inspired audiences the world over,

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and challenged racism and sexism. When not performing, the Sweethearts practiced all day, and the young band members were always chaperoned. The band went to Europe by popular demand, just as the War ended, and played for Black soldiers. These soldiers had heard radio broadcasts of the Sweethearts and when given the opportunity to see and hear them in person, formed a line a mile long. In addition to the Regal, crowds at other great African American–oriented venues, such as the Paradise in Detroit, the Royal in Baltimore, the Howard in Washington, DC, and the Apollo in New York, went crazy over the Sweethearts. It was not uncommon for cheering fans to get out of their seats and dance in the aisles as soon as they heard the Sweethearts’ theme song. During their appearances, the Sweethearts often backed other acts. Some, like Ella Fitzgerald, initially had doubts about their ability. However, Fitzgerald quickly changed her mind when the Sweethearts backed her at the Paradise in Detroit. She became very good friends with band members. In addition, the Sweethearts met people like Billie Holiday, Joe Louis, Erskine Hawkins, and Louis Armstrong. Some, like Count Basie took a personal interest in them. Basie offered trumpeter Ernestine “Tiny” Davis a significant salary increase to join his band, but she refused. Jessie Stone, an arranger and teacher for the Sweethearts, explained that the band’s arrangements were all based on Black music and interpretation. Roz Cron, a White classically trained musician who joined the band after it had become established, expressed that she discovered a different approach to music through the Sweethearts that was different from the “more uptight White rhythms.”54 Before the Sweethearts’ return to the Regal in late November 1942, Duke Ellington headlined one stage show, and the next week, the Chicago Defender Bud Billiken club held its pre-Thanksgiving party. At this event the Regal featured Cab Calloway, numerous other artists, and fun happenings for the children. A promotional article described the affair as “Hi de ho music in typical Harlem ‘jump’ style, scat singing, gorgeous girls, catchy songs, glittering settings—a furious fast show!”55 The Calloway band featured song stylists the Caboliers, a male quartet. Also on the bill were dancers Dottie and Charlie, dynamic tap virtuoso Honi Coles, and comedy team, the Cab Jivers. Two feature films and shorter comic and educational films supplemented the attractions. Fifteen amateur contest winners received live turkeys and war savings stamps. Held on November 21, the gala event cost seventeen cents for children twelve and under; the cost for all others was forty cents. The Regal required children under twelve to

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be accompanied by an adult. Neisner Brothers, a five-cents-to-a-dollar store, which was housed in the same commercial complex as the Regal, distributed free candy to children who arrived early. Theater doors opened at 7:30 a.m.; the party began at 9:00 a.m. and lasted until the early evening.56 With the two appearances by the International Sweethearts and other great acts, 1942 proved to be a banner year for the Regal. Several stage shows broke attendance records, and this motivated management to offer a midnight program, where patrons could see a complete stage-and-screen show after midnight on Saturdays. Furthermore, the Regal underwent remodeling and maintained its reputation as the “showplace of the South Side.”57

Great Discoveries, Movie Openings, and the Drafting of Ken Blewett For the Regal, 1943 was a year of great discoveries and historic movie openings. Joe Williams, the accomplished jazz stylist, who became know for his work with Count Basie, got his first big break in 1943. Williams worked as a doorman at the Regal to supplement income from his budding singing career. Williams had had other professional singing experiences, but he was currently performing part-time at the Chicago Savoy. Then, roller-skating was a regular feature at the Savoy, and Williams sang with organist Tiny Parham during intermissions. At the Regal, Williams met bandleader Lionel Hampton and asked Hampton for an opportunity to perform with his band; this did not happen initially, but later in the year Hampton called Williams to join his group.58 Earlier in 1943, when Lionel Hampton was in town to perform at the Regal, Hampton and manager Joe Glaser went to hear a young singer at the Garrick Lounge by the name of Ruth Jones. At Hampton’s invitation, Jones sang with the Hampton band the next night at the Regal and wowed the crowd. Glaser decided to employ the young singer as a vocalist with the Hampton band, and Hampton convinced Jones to change her name to Dinah Washington. Washington constructed a legendary career as a vocalist and earned the title, “Queen of the Blues.”59 Additionally, two historically significant all-Black films premiered at the Regal in 1943, MGM’s Cabin in the Sky, starring Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, and Eddie Anderson, and Twentieth Century Fox’s Stormy Weather, starring Bill Robinson and Lena Horne. Neither film transcended the limited images and stereotypes reserved for Blacks,

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but they did provide needed outlets for an outstanding reservoir of Black theatrical and musical talent.60 In 1943, Ken Blewett continued to mount great stage shows, book top talent, and attract large crowds, despite a wartime draft that affected the ranks of male entertainers. In April Eddie Durham led into the Regal an all-female band that featured Jean Starr on trumpet. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm returned in July, this time featuring Ernestine “Tiny” Davis on trumpet. The celebrated jazz pianist Dorothy Donegan also joined this show.61 Pianist Earl Hines brought his band into the Regal in September. At this time, Hines had added a string section of seven women; the section consisted of three violins, a cello, a harp, an electric guitar, and a bass fiddle. Hines also brought with him an all-female quartet, the Four Blue Bonnets; prominent vocalist Warren Evans; and the extraordinary singing talents of Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine.62 Other artists on the Regal’s stage that year were Fats Waller; Charlie Barnett, a White saxophonist-bandleader who featured several excellent Black musicians in his group; comedian Pigmeat Markham; the Ink Spots; Sister Rosetta Tharpe; Lucky Millinder; Erskine Hawkins; vocalist Ida Wells; vocalist Jimmy Mitchell; the Sadie Bruce Dance Revue; Andy Kirk; vocalist June Richmond; comedian-actor Stepin Fetchit (Lincoln Perry); the Mills Brothers; Jimmy Lunceford; singer Savannah Churchill; Benny Carter; the Nicholas Brothers; and many more.63 The Chicago Defender held its charitable Bud Billiken Thanksgiving and Christmas parties for children at the Regal. Before the year ended, however, the Army drafted Regal manager Ken Blewett. In the late summer, Blewett left for the military.64

White Owners and Black Cultural Products In 1943, it came out that controversy surrounded the production of the film Stormy Weather. This controversy symbolized the continuing tension between Whites who controlled the production, marketing, and distribution of cultural products that utilized African American images and expressive forms and an African American creative and theatrical workforce. This workforce, in order to obtain employment, had to conform to how Whites wanted to perceive Blacks. The distinguished and gifted African American composer William Grant Still resigned as musical supervisor for the Twentieth Century Fox film Stormy Weather because studio heads refused to live up to a prior commitment to create a film that would break existing stereotypes of

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African American musical expression. Still explained: I did this officially for musical and personal reasons, and also because my conscience would not let me accept money to help carry on a tradition directly opposed to the welfare of thirteen million [Black] people. I have asked that my name be omitted on the screen credits when the film is released to the public. My comments, however, have nothing to do with the picture itself, the story, or the people who are taking part. I am concerned only with the music.65

Still accepted the supervisory position with the understanding that the film would be an “epoch-making” endeavor, which would include a broad and diverse range of African American musical achievements in theater and on the concert stage. However, studio heads argued that African American music must appear “crude” and African American dancing must appear “erotic.” Still complained that the studio’s director “has built up an idea of what he thinks Negroes ought to be and won’t give it up under any circumstances.”66 Still further observed that “[African American] actors very often have to clown instead of being allowed to display their really good talents in worthwhile dramatic parts.”67 Still had a distinguished and groundbreaking musical career. He became a musical director for the first Black-owned record company, Black Swan, headed by Harry Pace. In 1921, as an oboist, Still joined the orchestra for the celebrated musical Shuffle Along that marked the return of Black musicals to Broadway and the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance. In 1934, Still received a Guggenheim Fellowship to support his composing. The Rochester Philharmonic Symphony under Howard Hanson performed Still’s Afro-American Symphony. This was the first time a major symphony performed a symphonic work by an African American. Under the direction of Laszlo Halasz, the New York City Opera Company performed Still’s second opera, Troubled Island, in 1949, for which Langston Hughes wrote the libretto. Again, this was the first time a major opera company performed an opera written by a Black composer.68 Still’s career included work in radio, television, and film, and the commissioned works he produced. Still worked as a staff composer for WCBS and WNBC radio and had works commissioned by such prominent White performers as bandleaders Paul Whiteman and Artie Shaw and singer Sophie Tucker. He composed the score for the movie, Pennies from Heaven, and the background music for two television series, Perry Mason and Gunsmoke. Still won numerous awards

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for composing, and he wrote over one hundred concert works, which included thirty works for orchestras, seven operas, four ballets, and other works for ensembles, solo instruments, and choral presentations.69

The Regal Without Ken Blewett: 1944–1945 Throughout 1944 and 1945 Regal manager Ken Blewett served in the Army, and his assistant Dave Charlton served as managing director of the Theater. Nonetheless, there seemed to be business as usual. The frequency and quality of Regal stage shows remained high.70 In fact, newspaper accounts called the Regal the number one neighborhood theater in America.71 In 1944 the Regal opened the year with vocalist Savannah Churchill, Benny Carter’s band, and tap dancer Harold Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers.72 Over the course of the year, the list of entertainment stars included, but were not limited to, Earl Hines; Ella Fitzgerald; the Ink Spots; Cootie Williams; Moke and Poke; Cab Calloway; the Three Chocolateers, a dance and singing group with Calloway; and Calloway vocalist, Avis Andrews. Additional artists were Louis Jordan, Eddie Durham and his all-girl band, Rosetta Tharpe, Peck ‘n’ Peck, Dusty Fletcher, Andy Kirk, Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie. The list continued with Buddy Johnson and his band, Noble Sissle and his band (with Edna Williams as Sissle’s featured trumpet player), Peg Leg Bates, Billie Holiday, and Big Time Crip. Other performers were the Nat Cole Trio; the International Sweethearts of Rhythm; Jimmy Lunceford and Marva Louis (wife of Joe Louis), who performed for the Chicago Defender, Bud Billiken pre-Thanksgiving party; dancers, the Edward Sisters; Dorothy Donegan; William Bryant (who served as a popular emcee); and others.73 Some performers like Savannah Churchill and Benny Carter did return engagements.74 In 1944 Balaban and Katz also utilized top Black talent at its Chicago Theater downtown, and in that year Lena Horne drew large audiences and set an attendance mark at this venue.75 There were rumors that Balaban and Katz was going to shift its stage shows from the Regal to the Tivoli Theater.76 This did not occur, but it did suggest that corporate heads had begun to notice demographic changes in the Black Belt that could affect the Regal’s market. The Tivoli, which was southeast of the Regal at 6328 Cottage Grove, was built initially for a White audience in a White neighborhood, and was larger than the Regal by around 600 seats.77 The Black community was steadily advancing southward and eastward, however.

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Balaban and Katz eventually would move its stage shows from the Regal to the Tivoli, but not for well over a decade. In 1945, the list of Regal entertainers included, but was not limited to, the following: tap dancer Eddie Rector; pianist and vocalist Tiny Bradshaw; singing group, the Ink Spots; singer and bandleader Cab Calloway; trombonist, arranger Ernie Fields and his band, with vocalist Mel Moore; jazz pianist Dorothy Donegan; singer Marva Louis; singer Savannah Churchill; singing group, Deek Watson’s Four Brown Dots (Watson was formerly with the Ink Spots and formed a competing group; both were managed by Moe Gale); pianist Luis Russell and his band; pianist, bandleader, and rhythm and blues singer Buddy Johnson; trumpeter Cootie Williams; singer Ella Fitzgerald; trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie; tap dancers, the Nicholas Brothers; and others.78 In 1945, the Defender’s Bud Billiken charitable activity on behalf of children appeared to have been limited to August. It featured singer Ivie Anderson, singer Arthur Lee “Georgia Boy” Simpkins, the Mellotones, blues guitarist T-Bone Walker, rhythm and blues singer Little Miss Cornshucks, comedian Dusty Fletcher, singer Marie Bryant, emcees Eddie Plicque and Dr. Jive Cadillac, and more. Although the event was not held at the Regal, the South Center Department Store, which was the commercial anchor for the complex that housed the Regal, helped to support the affair. Other sponsoring businesses included Lorraine Bottling Works and Neisner Brothers. The charitable event was the sixteenth annual Bud Billiken picnic and parade.79

Inside the Regal with Ken Blewett In 1946 Ken Blewett returned from the military and resumed his duties as managing director of the Regal. He seemed to have not missed a step in administering the affairs of the entertainment house. Blewett was highly respected by his superiors and had achieved celebrity status in the community. In April, for example, Blewett hosted a well-publicized dinner for the Count Basie band.80 The public was often in awe of the man who regularly interacted with famous entertainers and movie stars. In addition, for young people, movie houses in general were attractive places of employment. These environments frequently fostered a family-like atmosphere among employees. As an institution—and this was particularly true for the Regal—movie theaters connected people informationally and visually to the current news and trends of the day. Consequently, young people who worked at the Regal and at similar venues became social insiders and trendsetters in popular culture.

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Movie projectionist Bill Jefferson began his career in movie theaters in 1946 as an usher for the Metropolitan Theater across the street from the Regal. Ushers at the Met, which was part of the Warner Brothers chain of theaters, were friends with ushers at the Regal. The two groups periodically exchanged passes, permitting Met ushers to see Regal movies and stage shows and Regal ushers to see Met movies. Both groups relished their status as ushers and enjoyed the associated perks.81 Bill Jefferson met Ken Blewett for the first time in 1938. Jefferson was about ten years old at the time. The events that led up to their meeting involved Jefferson’s desire to see a newly released movie. Jefferson lived in the area, and his family frequented the Regal when they could afford it. Jefferson had done everything in his power to scrape together the money to see the highly celebrated film, Gone With the Wind. He described the atmosphere at the Regal on the day he attended the film as “electric.” Jefferson was excited because the Regal was a class theater and that he would be able to see a movie for four hours. Jefferson compared the experience to being at Disneyland for a child today. He was charged with excitement. Jefferson explained that the Regal permitted patrons to be seated thirty to forty-five minutes prior to show time. It was, he explained, exhilarating to just sit there. It just so happened, however, that Bill Jefferson had taken a cap gun (a toy gun capable of making a loud noise) into the theater with him. When the film started and the titles began to roll, Jefferson was overwhelmed. Before he realized what he was doing, Jefferson stood up and began to shoot his toy gun in the theater. This was when he met Ken Blewett. Blewett ejected Jefferson from the Regal and ruined his dream day.82 Hence, as a child, Bill Jefferson did not have fond feelings for Ken Blewett for a while, but as fate would have it, this would change drastically in subsequent years. As Jefferson pursued his love of working in movie theaters, he would work with and for Ken Blewett in various capacities as a manager and motion picture operator. Blewett and Jefferson became good friends. Jefferson also explained that the Regal brought together so many people in close and cherished friendships that they formed the Old Timer’s Regal Club. It was difficult to describe, he said, the beauty of the relationships that developed among the ushers and other workers at the Regal. Additionally, people who had worked as ushers and in other capacities at the Regal could be found in all walks of life, including the entertainment field.83 Jefferson described the division of labor at the Regal and similar venues. There were doormen, ushers, candy girls, matrons, and maintenance

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men. The theater owned the concessions, and the management trained candy girls to audit, clean, and maintain the candy case and stack the merchandise. During the operation of the theater, matrons mopped, cleaned, and supplied the women’s washrooms, and they cleaned foyers and lobbies. Matrons also ran the cloakroom and checked coats for patrons. Similarly, maintenance men cleaned and supplied the men’s washrooms, swept lobbies, wiped down candy cases and front doors, and performed general maintenance throughout the theater while open to the public. Janitors came in at night to clean the theater when closed. The Regal employed at least twenty-five ushers, who worked different shifts.84 In addition, the theater utilized engineers, motion picture operators, stagehands, and backstage managers. There was one backstage manager and at least two stagehands at all times. For live shows, management brought in additional stagehands to handle props and to perform related duties. Jefferson indicated that backstage was large, complex, and literally another world. This area had to be maintained by people who knew what they were doing. Ken Blewett reported to a zone or district manager of the theater chain, who maintained direct contact with various booking agents for the live shows.85

Regal Performers and D EFENDER Band Polls: 1946 In 1946, Regal stage shows continued to be of high quality, but band polls sponsored by the Chicago Defender added additional excitement to the year. Well managed, the Regal continued its star-studded live attractions. Singer Billy Eckstine premièred in January 1946, and his appearance threatened to establish an all-time attendance record.86 In February Cab Calloway made his perennial appearance, but there were grumblings that Calloway’s talent and popularity were slipping.87 Pianist Dorothy Donegan was hot and she costarred with trumpeter Roy Eldridge in March.88 In April the pianist Buddy Johnson brought his popular band into the Regal playing what he called a “rhythm marathon,” where the band played continuously for thirty minutes.89 Marva Louis (wife of boxing champion Joe Louis) ended her singing career and now specialized in promoting lavish fashion shows. Her production at the Regal set an attendance record for one night.90 Favorites Dorothy Donegan and Roy Eldridge returned for a second engagement in late May to a nearly record-breaking crowd.91 Lionel Hampton came into the Regal in June under special and highly publicized circumstances. The Chicago Defender band poll

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voted Hampton’s group the number one band of the year, and the coronation took place during the Regal’s midnight show on Saturday night. The Chicago Defender proclaimed, “It was Hampton Day in Chicago. Not only did he attract the largest single day’s jam to the theatre but once the house settled the vibraharp star put on a show unequaled in Regal history.” Hampton arranged new songs especially for the occasion. The Defender described Hampton’s vocalists Winnie Brown (who haled from Chicago’s Englewood High School) and Madelyn Green as “terrific.” It also made a special mention of the sensational performance by the comedy dance team of Red and Curley, the superb tap dancing of the Rimmer Sisters, comparing them to the popular Edward Sisters, and of the virtuosity and rhythmic groove of tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb and pianist Milt Buckner. The crowd loved teenage sax sensation “Little” Johnny Griffin, who was a Hampton protégé and a former student at Chicago’s Du Sable High School, under the tutelage of master music teacher Walter Dyett. Chicago Defender City Editor David Kellum presented Hampton with an attractive trophy, and every person in the band received a gold pin in recognition of his or her contributions to the “number one” band.92 The Defender band poll provided some interesting results. Lionel Hampton won for large bands. Duke Ellington was a distant second, losing by over 37,000 votes. Count Basie and Cootie Williams were third and fourth respectively. Louis Jordan won the top honours for small bands, eclipsing the second place finisher by over 51,000 votes. Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday were a close first and second respectively for female vocalists, and Billy Eckstine and Al Hibbler occupied the same order for male vocalists. Hibbler, besides having a beautiful voice, was further distinguished by the fact that he was blind. The Nat Cole Trio won for specialty artists, totaling over 59,000 votes more than the runners up, the Ink Spots.93 Band polls, of course, were not exact indicators of popularity, but reports of Regal shows and other entertainment news seemed to support the above results, especially when artists won by overwhelming numbers. Lionel Hampton, Louis Jordan, and the Nat Cole Trio were clearly fan favorites when compared to their artistic peers.94

Bronzeville Entrepreneurs and the Regal Theater The Regal Theater, although Black managed, symbolized the fact that Whites overwhelmingly controlled major and essential businesses in

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Black communities, including all significant entertainment outlets. However, there were a few places where Bronzevilles’s Black entrepreneurs were able to establish a presence. Moreover, successful Black businesspersons were a source of community pride, and they generally contributed to the dynamic character of Bronzeville life. In 1946, unlike White business owners, Black entrepreneurs generally lived within the very community that hosted their enterprises. Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis and car salesman and gambler Charlie Glenn bought the Rhumboogie Café at 343 East Garfield (Fifty-Fifth Street) in 1940. In early 1946 the establishment was hit by fire, temporarily throwing seventy-five employees out of work. It reopened in early April.95 The club was formerly Bennie Skoller’s Swingland Café. Before changing its name in 1938, the Swingland was Dave’s Café. Dave’s Café had moved to the Garfield location from the northwest corner of Fifty-First and Michigan when White organized crime elements burned down the original establishment. They wanted the Michigan location for their business activities.96 By late 1949, the nightspot called the Rhumboogie had changed hands again to become Premier Studios.97 The Rhumboogie symbolized two significant phenomena. First, like the Club DeLisa down the street on State Street, the Rhumboogie functioned as an important incubator for African American entertainment talent and expressive forms. It preserved and cultivated an artistic and theatrical workforce that could service the talent needs of the Regal when necessary or contribute innovatively to the broader development of Black popular culture. Second, the Rhumboogie represented the brief emergence of opportunities for African Americans to own significant entertainment establishments in their own communities. Previously, White organized crime had seized control of entertainment venues in the Black community during Prohibition to provide outlets for bootlegging and other illegal activities. Moreover, in a society that already restricted economic and political opportunities for African Americans, White entrepreneurs were better able to leverage relationships with politicians, White organized crime, and mainstream financial institutions to create and/or control lucrative entertainment venues in Black communities and to control a Black artistic and theatrical workforce.98 Most significantly, 1946 marked the beginning of efforts by White organized crime to take over policy (also called numbers), a lucrative form of lottery gambling that flourished in the Black community and was controlled by Blacks. Previously, the Chicago mob under Al Capone had agreed not to touch this activity if Blacks stayed out of bootlegging.

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However, Prohibition had long ended, Capone was dead, and Chicago’s White organized crime elements were looking for new enterprises and markets. Indeed, by 1940, Jewish and Italian gangsters had taken over Black-controlled policy in Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Boston. In New York, by the early 1930s, the notorious Dutch Schultz (Arthur Flegenheimer) had seized numbers gambling in Harlem.99 In Chicago, White organized crime initiated the takeover of policy by kidnapping Edward P. Jones, who, with his other two brothers (George and McKissick), dominated policy on the South Side. Their headquarters was at 4724 Michigan Avenue, about a half mile from the Regal Theater. The mob held Jones for $100,000 ransom and persuaded him, as an added condition of his release, to dispose of his property and to leave the country with his family. The takeover was just beginning at this point, however, and a complete appropriation would not occur until the 1950s when Jones’s chief lieutenant, Theodore Roe, was murdered by the mob. Earlier, in 1946, Roe’s partner, Earl Wilcox, had been murdered mysteriously, and there had been an attempted kidnapping of Roe, who resided at 5239 Michigan Avenue.100 The Jones brothers were reportedly the first African Americans to obtain a choice business location on Forty-Seventh Street near the Regal Theater. This was significant because a White power structure often refused to lease ground-floor locations on the main commercial strip on Forty-Seventh Street to any Black-owned businesses other than a few beauty shops, barbershops, and taverns. One exception was the highly regarded Morris’s Eat Shop at 410 East Forty-Seventh Street, where Regal performers often ate. The Jones brothers opened a Ben Franklin variety store at 436–44 East Forty-Seventh Street in 1937 to great fanfare in the community. Large crowds and such prominent individuals as heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis and legendary dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson attended the event. Black Belt residents looked at this groundbreaking business venture as a source of pride. The Jones brothers, like other African American policy bosses, invested their money in legitimate businesses, contributed to charitable causes, provided needed employment, and leveraged political concessions from city government in return for assistance in securing Black voter support. Moreover, policy was generally devoid of the violence associated with other organized illegal activity.101 Warner Saunders, evening news anchorman for NBC Television in Chicago, was born January 30, 1935, and as a child lived with his family at 432 East Forty-Seventh Street. His family’s apartment was

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over a storefront across from the commercial complex that housed the Regal Theater. The family home was also next to the Jones brothers’ variety store. Saunders recalled that people in the community often referred to this establishment as the Jones Brothers’ Department Store. He also remembered that Edward and George Jones were quite erudite in their demeanor and dapper in their dress. Edward, for example, a graduate of Howard University, wore spats and walked with a pearl handle cane. Everyone in the community knew the Jones brothers. As a youth, Saunders routinely observed the policy business and many of its key characters. A woman who was Saunder’s next door neighbor, maintained a policy wheel in her home. Also, as a youth, Saunders ran errands for Ted Roe, the Jones brothers’ chief lieutenant. He recollected that Roe and his wife visited an astrologer who lived in his apartment building.102 Saunders remembered the Chicago crime syndicate kidnapping Eddie Jones, an idea that was initiated by mobster Momo Giancana. Consistent with other accounts of the event, Saunders explained that Ed Jones was serving time for income tax invasion and met Giancana while in prison. Giancana remarked that policy was small time and solicited Jones to engage in big-time gambling and prostitution. Jones recoiled at the idea of prostituting women and let it slip that policy was extremely lucrative. Giancana informed the Chicago mob, and they had hatched a plan to take over policy from the Jones brothers. The Chicago mob wanted 50 percent off the top and instructed the Joneses to use the other 50 percent to pay their expenses and take whatever was left as their profit. As indicated previously, the mob required the Jones brothers to leave town. Ted Roe, the Jones brothers’ chief lieutenant continued to manage the Jones’s policy operations and snubbed the takeover efforts by the Chicago mob. Roe killed the first henchman the mob sent to coerce him for a cut, but eventually the mob assassinated Roe (see Chapter 4).103 Because of the racial constraints on Black business development, gambling enterprises became, directly and indirectly, critical sources of capital for various Black business ventures. When John “Mushmouth” Johnson, one of Chicago’s most famous Black gamblers, died in 1907, his sister Eudora inherited over half of his estate. Subsequently, her marriage to Jesse Binga contributed to the development of the celebrated Binga Bank at 3637 State Street, then the only Black-owned bank in Chicago. Elijah Johnson, Mushmouth’s brother, used his portion of the estate to open the Dreamland Café, which later became an important outlet for the development of jazz in Chicago. Robert Mott learned the gambling business from Mushmouth and used his resources

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to open the first Black-owned legitimate theater in the country, the Pekin Theater, in 1904 at Twenty-Seventh and State Street, which became a significant incubator for Black artists and entertainers.104 The takeover of policy by White organized crime, no doubt, retarded Black business ownership and development in the Black Belt and increased the vulnerability of the Forty-Seventh-Street commercial strip to the whims of White absentee owners and investors. In addition to lottery gambling, one of the most significant business enterprises in the Black Belt was the women’s beauty or personal care industry. In fact, in 1938, the most numerous Black-owned businesses in Chicago were beauty parlors.105 This predominance of Black ownership partially occurred because a White business class did not fully understand the lucrative cultural-economic dynamics of this enterprise and generally left this activity to Blacks. In addition, traditional forms of White supremacy, that is, racial discrimination and segregation in the context of a capitalist system that was not yet overproduced, did not motivate a White capital-owning class to seize Black markets in this sphere of economic activity. Two giants in the beauty culture field were in notable proximity to the Regal. They were the business concerns of Madame C. J. Walker (Sarah Breedlove) and Annie Turnbo-Malone. Walker College of Beauty Culture was located in the Regal Theater commercial complex, also known as the South Center Building, at 4703 South Parkway. Marjorie Stewart Joyner, National Supervisor of Madame C. J. Walker Colleges, directed the school and was the principal spokesperson for the Walker method. Following World War II, Joyner, through frequent ads in the Chicago Defender, encouraged African American women to seek training at the Walker college as a way to gain economic independence and to address an expected decline in employment opportunities.106 Marjorie Joyner maintained a close relationship with the Regal directly and indirectly. For many years, the Walker school she directed occupied the corner, second-floor portion of South Center. Also, Joyner operated a beauty shop in the South Center Department Store, which anchored the commercial complex. Joyner held conventions for beauty culturalists at Chicago’s Savoy Ballroom, and she sponsored promotional fashion shows at the Regal Theater. Joyner’s husband, Dr. Robert E. Joyner, a chiropodist, also maintained an office in South Center. For decades, Marjorie Stewart Joyner worked with the Defender charities and the Bud Billiken parade, which involved producing charitable events at the Regal and promoting the appearances of established and emerging entertainers.107

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Annie Minerva Pope Turnbo-Malone developed her pioneering beauty culture business prior to Madame C. J. Walker. She perfected a preparation that improved the health of the hair and promoted its growth. Turnbo-Malone called the product “Wonderful Hair Grower” and cultivated her business in Lovejoy, Illinois, in 1900. Lovejoy was one of many towns Blacks created to insulate themselves from White racial violence and oppression. It was named after the abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy. The town is now called Brooklyn. Later, to improve her marketing and manufacturing base, Turnbo-Malone moved her business in 1902 to 2223 Market Street in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1906 Turnbo-Malone began to market her products under the trade name Poro in order to protect herself from fraudulent imitators. Because of increasing success, she moved to larger quarters at 3100 Pine Street. Demand for Poro products continued to grow, and Turnbo-Malone completed construction in St. Louis of a new and larger facility at Ferdinand and Pendleton Streets in 1918. The five-story structure was a combined manufacturing facility and a beauty training school that maintained guestrooms for travelers, a cafeteria and bakeshop (these were essential services since segregation denied Blacks access to White hotels and eating establishments), a roof garden, business offices, conference facilities, modern classrooms, and an auditorium.108 After an unpleasant divorce, Turnbo-Malone moved her business to Chicago in 1930. She purchased an entire city block on FortyForth and South Parkway, a few blocks from the Regal Theater. The block was known as the Poro block. The address of her beauty culture school was 4415 South Parkway. In 1946 the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. released a stamp bearing the picture of Annie Malone to honor her forty-six years of business and her outstanding service to the community. Proceeds from the sale of the stamp went to aid the organization’s efforts to obtain a clubhouse in New York. Turnbo-Malone purchased 50,000 stamps to support the endeavor. Throughout the company’s existence, Poro employed large numbers of African American women and probably created over 75,000 jobs through its domestic and international business activities. Turnbo-Malone was a tireless advocate for the rights and well-being of women and for the elevation of an oppressed African American community. She was one of Black America’s greatest philanthropists. Turnbo-Malone was born August 9, 1869, and died May 10, 1957, at the age of 87.109 There were other African American entrepreneurs that defined the Regal setting in the 1940s.

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By 1946, Louis “Scotty” Piper was well known on Forty-Seventh Street as a talented dancer, showman, and trendsetter. Through his artistic flair, penchant for fashion, and aptitude for the craft of tailoring, Scotty Piper influenced the sartorial tastes of many people in the community and, of course, at the Regal. He made clothing for some of the most prominent entertainers of the day and for other notables who would achieve leadership and celebrity status. He also serviced everyday folk who simply wanted to look their best on some special occasion. Scotty Piper had countless clients, and, for example, made clothing for singers Joe Williams and Sam Cooke. When singer, jazz pianist Nat “King” Cole was a youngster, Piper made his graduation suit. Scotty Piper made clothes for drummer, pianist, vocalist Tiny Bradshaw; pianist Father Earl Hines; multitalented entertainers Willie Bryant, Leonard Reed, and Ralph Cooper; jazz great Dorothy Donegan; clarinetist Jimmy Noone; actor “Sunshine” Sammy Morrison; singing sensations the Inks Spots and the Mills Brothers; and others. He also produced clothes for the legendary dance teams of Buck and Bubbles, the Chocolateers, and the Nicholas Brothers. Piper made clothes for the great Chicago basketball team, the Savoy Big Five, and he made graduation suits for NBC news anchorman Warner Saunders and for Chicago’s first African American mayor, Harold Washington, when both men were in their youth.110 Scotty Piper was active on Forty-Seventh Street before the Regal and Savoy opened and well after these institutions were closed and later torn down. Louis “Scotty” Piper was born May 18, 1904, in New Orleans, where, as a kid, he ran around the streets barefoot with Louis Armstrong. Piper came to Chicago in 1916. He achieved no more than an elementary education and was a graduate of Douglass School. While a student Piper shined shoes at Thirty-Fifth and Indiana. He frequented Forty-Seventh Street after Chicago’s infamous 1919 race riot, in which Piper claimed to have been a participant. Piper first worked on Forty-Seventh Street as a dishwasher at an “exclusive” Jewish restaurant. He began making suits around 1921. Piper was self-taught and learned the tailoring trade from working throughout the wholesale district at Franklin and Van Buren Streets. At some point, Piper worked from a store on Forty-Seventh Street next to Morris’s Eat Shop across from the Regal and the South Center complex. After 1972, Piper relinquished his store location on Forty-Seventh Street when he was robbed and shot, but Piper continued to service his clientele from his home at 6642 South Vernon. Piper lived at this location ever since he and his wife married in 1927.111

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In 1986 at the age of 82, Scotty Piper continued to work at his trade, support his family, and live a full and rich life. On a daily basis, Piper dressed in impeccable suits, always wore a fresh flower in his lapel, and was a walking model for his trade. In 1982, Piper won a best-dressed contest sponsored by the Chicago Defender. He was an expert on fabrics, could construct suits and ensembles for every occasion, and maintained hats, shoes, shirts, and ties to match his considerable collection of suits. His expertise serviced Regal performers and an entertainment workforce for decades. Scotty Piper also claimed to be the inventor of the Zoot suit, contrary to the assertion of Chicago clothier Harold Fox. Sadly, a hit-and-run driver killed Scotty Piper in 1987. Piper’s three daughters had already passed away, but his wife of sixty years, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and a host of nieces and nephews survived him.112

The End of Swing and the End of the Savoy By 1947, popular big (swing) bands found it necessary to reduce their personnel and to reduce the number of high-priced stars they carried. During the years of peak popularity, the typical size of these bands had risen from twelve to twenty-five or more. Expenses made the required number of ticket buyers to break even very high.113 Consequently, promoters began to prefer smaller musical ensembles, but in addition, the listening and dancing public was drawn to new and exciting musical forms emerging from the Black community: jump blues, rhythm and blues, and bebop. Jump blues, the transitional music to rhythm and blues, and rhythm and blues itself became the new dance music, replacing swing or big band jazz forms. Further, in some cases big bands no longer stimulated sufficient attendance at dance halls.114 Regal audiences embraced the old and the new and continued to find variety on the Regal stage. Live shows remained consistent and well attended despite a show business depression in New York. Defender reports in 1947 still talked about record-breaking crowds and packed houses.115 Among the major attractions headlining the Regal in 1947 were the Peters Sisters, who had recently completed a two-week engagement downtown at B & K’s Chicago Theater. The Defender commented that the three sisters were noted for their superb singing and their girth. They appeared in January on the bill with Cab Calloway. Notably, Balaban and Katz was willing to book acts into the Regal that had appeared at one of its downtown theaters, which was less than ten

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miles away, for two weeks prior to entering the Regal. Subsequent attractions at the Regal were singer Billy Eckstine, pianist and bandleader Luis Russell, singer Billie Holiday, trumpeter and bandleader Cootie Williams, tenor saxophone sensation Illinois Jacquet, vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, vocalist Helen Humes, and trumpeter Cat Anderson and orchestra, featuring tenor saxophone star Arnett Cobb. Previously Cobb had performed with Lionel Hampton, Anderson with Duke Ellington, and Humes with Count Basie.116 Subsequent shows included Buck and Bubbles, the Jay McShann orchestra, and Dinah Washington.117 Eight-year-old boogie-woogie star Frank “Sugar Chile” Robinson headlined one show.118 Later, Louis Jordan and Sarah Vaughan came to the Regal’s stage and were followed by actor-comedian Eddie “Rochester” Anderson. Afterwards, the Louis Russell band with vocalist Lee Richardson headlined a show, followed by the Andy Kirk band and Little Miss Cornshucks.119 Then came Illinois Jacquet in August. He was followed by Earl Hines and singer Pearl Bailey.120 Enjoying enormous popularity, Illinois Jacquet came to the Regal for a third time in 1947 and shared the stage with Ella Fitzgerald and Jimmy Lunceford.121 Lionel Hampton rounded out the year, and his show included dancers Red and Curley, singer Winnie Brown, dance trio the Chocolateers, and more.122 In 1948, Regal management continued to book diverse acts and to combine newer and more traditional entertainment trends. Varieties of tap dancing and comedic presentations, jump blues, rhythm and blues, singing groups with new and innovative harmonies, traditionalname big bands, smaller combos, and individual vocalists were the norm. Bebop, the new trend in jazz, was becoming increasingly popular, and many bands and smaller groups began to incorporate elements of this genre into their performances.123 In addition, beginning January 10, management scheduled the Hospitality Hour, a radio show hosted by popular emcee Willie Bryant, for broadcast on the stage of the Regal.124 Cab Calloway, the great dance team of the Berry Brothers, and singer Ethel Duncan (Duncan had won a contest to be Calloway’s singer) were on the bill.125 Count Basie and dancerchoreographer Ziggy Johnson followed.126 Next, Duke Ellington came to the Regal with a show that included comedian-mimic George Kirby. Kirby had developed his talent for imitating celebrity voices and his comedic repertoire at the Club DeLisa. Ellington also had with him vocalists Delores Parker, Kay Davis, and Al Hibbler, and the comedy team of Peck ‘n’ Peck.127 A subsequent show included bandleader Lucky Millinder and song stylist Sarah Vaughan.128

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As the year progressed, quality talent continued to grace the stage of the Regal. Alto saxophonist and vocalist Eddie “Clean Head” Vinson and his combo; the sensational vocal quartet, the Ravens; trumpeter George Hudson and his orchestra; song stylist Gwen Tynes; dancing comedian Derby Wilson; and comedy acrobat Chuck Brown headlined the Regal in April. This show was followed by the Nat Cole Trio, which was hugely popular nationwide. The Cole show also featured vocalist Ida James.129 In May, popular trio Johnny Moore’s Blazers appeared and shared the stage with White drummer and bandleader Buddy Rich.130 Given the continued flow of outstanding stage shows in 1948, the Chicago Defender called Ken Blewett the number one neighborhood manager in the Balaban and Katz chain.131 Savoy manager McKie Fitzhugh kept things jumping at the prominent Chicago ballroom, but this would change quickly. In early 1948, the remodeled Savoy had booked such notables as bandleader Stan Kenton (White); trumpeter and bebop innovator Dizzie Gillespie; saxophonists Charles Ventura (White), Gene Ammons, and Illinois Jacquet; singer Dinah Washington; the Nat Cole Trio; and Count Basie.132 However, the Chicago Savoy was never able to operate profitably purely as a ballroom. It functioned as a special events venue with weekly or monthly dances, weekly amateur fights and roller-skating, and various community events. By late July, the Savoy closed permanently. Owners decided to rent the space for social security offices and to professionals that were not in the entertainment field. Roller-skating shifted to the Park City Bowl on Sixty-Third and South Parkway, and the weekly amateur fights on Tuesdays under Eddie Plicque shifted to the Rose Bowl on Cottage Grove Avenue near Forty-Seventh Street. The demise of the Savoy also opened up opportunities for independent promoters to hold dances at places like the Parkway (4457 South Parkway) and Pershing (in the Pershing Hotel on Sixty-Fourth Street west of Cottage Grove) ballrooms.133 Stage shows continued at the Regal, but there appeared to be several abrupt and extended breaks before the year’s end. Crooner Billy Eckstine, blues singer Julia Lee, and the “Sabby” (William Sebastian) Lewis band appeared on the bill in June.134 The Charioteers, a popular quintet, and the Cootie Williams’s band came in July.135 After a hiatus covering the month of August, pianist-vocalist Ivory Joe Hunter and the crowd-pleasing Louis Jordan combo threatened to break attendance records at the Regal.136 After this, the Regal appeared to rely only on film for the remainder of the year, often featuring gangland and Tarzan movies.137

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Al Benson and the Rise of Black-Appeal Radio In mid-1948, Al Benson (the reverend Arthur B. Leaner) won a popularity poll as Chicago’s most acclaimed disc jockey.138 Benson’s rise to prominence was part of a broader trend that would have extraordinary implications for the Regal. Beginning in 1946, Blackoriented radio began to expand, becoming a dominant vehicle to reach a growing African American consumer class. For example, between 1946 and 1955, the number of radio stations in the country airing Black-oriented programming expanded from twenty-four to six hundred.139 Chicago, with the second largest Black consumer market in the country, was the leader in Black-oriented radio. This type of market segmentation had already been pioneered by Chicagoradio-personality Jack Cooper. However, after 1946, Al Benson was the rising star in Black radio in a new era of Black consumerism and cultural expression. According to scholar and jazz radio pioneer, Norm Spaulding, Benson made his first broadcast from his storefront church on Fortieth and State Street in 1945. The Sunday evening program was fifteen minutes long and aired over WGES.140 Benson, like Cooper before him, bought time from radio stations, developed his own programming, and sold advertising time to merchants who wanted to reach his listeners. Spaulding observed that by 1948 Benson was broadcasting over ten hours a day on three radio stations—WGES, which occupied the majority of his time, WAAF, and WJJD.141 Benson, who was born in Mississippi, came to Chicago in the 1930s. On his radio show Benson played blues and rhythm and blues and offered a style of delivery that appealed to Black southern migrants from the Deep South. Besides his radio appeal, Benson’s promotional appearances could attract thousands of fans. McKie Fitzhugh, the former manager of the Savoy, developed an association with Benson and became a disc jockey, dance promoter, and nightclub owner. Fitzhugh probably began as one of several radio announcers and sales persons Benson hired to help him meet his extensive broadcast schedule.142 Benson became the first of several popular radio personalities to produce shows at the Regal. The role of radio-based brokers became increasingly important as the Regal’s market shifted to more youthful consumers and less diverse bookings, which meant a narrower focus on singers and singing groups. Other critical changes that enhanced the role of the disc-jockey broker were the rise of television, which depressed the demand for film presentations in movie houses, and the

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elimination of monopolistic practices in film distribution and exhibition. Later, when the Regal ceased to be affiliated with a theater chain, the disc-jockey broker would become an integral part of stage-show production.

The Regal Shows Good Health Newspaper reports indicated that 1949 was a depressed period for show business, but stage shows at the Regal seemed not to reflect this malaise.143 Defender band poll winner, Lionel Hampton, came into the Regal in February. His show included dance stars Red and Curley. Based on popular demand, Billie Holiday returned to the Regal in March. Later in the month, Dizzie Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan were headliners. April bookings included the Nat Cole Trio and singer Mabel Scott. Illinois Jacquet; Savannah Churchill; rhythms and blues vocalists, the King Odum Quartet; and Red Saunders and his orchestra appeared in May. Red Saunders had been a regular at the Club DeLisa. As a promotional stunt for the show, Regal management sponsored a contest for the person with the wildest jacket, a pun on the name of the current, popular headliner, Illinois Jacquet. The winner was selected by audience applause and received a jacket from Harold Fox of Fox Brothers Tailors at 712 West Roosevelt Road.144 This was the same Harold Fox who claimed to have invented the Zoot suit, a claim also made by Louis “Scotty” Piper. The flow of outstanding talent continued. Management booked blues great Dinah Washington; the high energy tap-dance team, the Four Step Brothers; the captivating rhythm and blues harmonizers, the Ravens; and trumpeter George Hudson and his band.145 The perennially popular Louis Jordan; the multitalented Sammy Davis Jr., whose fame was on the rise; and singer Paula Watson, whose hit song was “A Little Bird Told Me,” came into the Regal in early June.146 Later in the month, blues singer and pianist Nellie Lutcher shared the stage with the Woody Herman (White) band.147 Duke Ellington made his traditional trek to the Regal in July. Later in the month, child singing sensation, eleven-year-old Toni Harper (known for “Candy Store Blues” and a number other hits), shared the bill with trumpeter Erskine Hawkins. Also on the bill were comedy team Joyner and Foster and the dancing Rimmer Sisters.148 Alto sax player and arranger Earl Bostic brought his contingent into the Regal in early August. In late August, Ella Fitzgerald and singer, tenor saxophonist Benjamin Clarence “Bull Moose” Jackson were the headliners.149 A September show featured the energetic dancing of Tip, Tap, and Toe and the Three Rockets.150

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As a change of pace, Regal management booked the highly successful Broadway play, Anna Lucasta, in October.151 The play was a result of the efforts of the American Negro Theater, directed by Abram Hill. The organization, which had been formed in the early 1940s to provide much needed opportunities for African American actors and actresses, decided to produce Anna Lucasta, a play written by White playwright Philip Yordan. Originally about an immigrant Polish family, the American Negro Theater adapted the play to reflect African American life. The production was extraordinarily successful in Harlem and made its way to Broadway in 1944. On Broadway, Anna Lucasta played for nearly three years, logging 957 performances. Later, the play would be made into two films, one with an all-White cast and the other with an all-Black cast. Paulette Goddard starred in the former and Eartha Kitt in the later. In the Chicago cast was Janice Kingslow, a Chicagoan, who played Anna; other cast members were Gladys Williams, Earle Hyman, Pauline Myers, Wesleen Foster, Kenneth Freeman, John Tate, Maxwell Granville, Al Harris, Claire Leyba, Alvin Childress, and Lawrence Criner.152 Two major stage shows ended the year at the Regal. In one production, the dynamic one-leg dancer, Peg Leg Bates, performed and served as emcee. Blues singer Wynonie Harris, pianist Errol Garner, and the Gene Ammons orchestra helped to round out the bill.153 At the end of December, Black producer Larry Steele brought his packaged show, Smart Affairs of 1949, into the Regal. His production included the Milt Buckner orchestra; the husband-and-wife comedy team of Butterbeans and Sussie; comedian George Kirby; singer Mabel Scott; singer Janet Sayer; the fabulous rhythm and blues quartet, the Orioles; dancers Aland and Angell; Steele’s famous showgirls and chorus line, the Beige Beauts; and more. The Regal was packed every night.154

The Regal and Changing Market Conditions By 1949 the Regal Theater was experiencing strong competition from other venues that showcased top African American talent. These venues were large and small establishments that attracted only adult patrons and larger arenas and entertainment houses that were appropriate for patrons of all ages. The Defender observed that excellent talent could be found performing in numerous taverns, cocktail lounges, and nightclubs. Big name African American entertainers also could be found performing for special events at the Civic Opera House, Orchestra Hall, and Wrigley Field (baseball stadium). Billie Holiday

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even played Corpus Christi Auditorium in July, a Catholic Church facility at 4600 South Parkway. Additionally, top Black performers continued to appear at the Chicago and Oriental Theaters.155 Also, in 1940, a new Black-owned establishment, the Parkway Ballroom, opened down the street from the Regal at 4457 South Parkway. This facility, which hosted private dances, provided another outlet for name bands in the community, and, no doubt, offered competition to the Regal and the Savoy. The Parkway Ballroom became an important facility for the special events of thousands of Chicago’s Black social and community organizations.156 Racial constraints and monopolistic practices helped to sustain the Regal’s market, but as noted previously, a host of factors were changing the character of that market, the competitive climate in which the Regal conducted business, and the methods by which the Regal could access that market. Again, there was the rise of radio as a critical conduit to Black consumers, and there was the emergence of the Black disc jockey as broker. Further, Black popular culture shifted from big band jazz to jump blues and rhythm and blues. This shift included a preference for smaller musical ensembles. Also, jazz, by way of bebop, was evolving into a listening music and was no longer the dance music. Racial segregation began to fragment in more and more key economic sectors. The post–World War II Supreme Court decision that struck down restrictive covenants was one example. On Chicago’s South Side, an advancing Black Belt population forced previously Whitesonly neighborhood entertainment venues to serve Blacks, as these establishments watched their White customers dwindle. Some Blacks were able to purchase the entertainment venues that Whites abandoned. Moreover, maturing capitalism, which brought increased competition for consumer dollars, created more access for Blacks to downtown entertainment venues. However, equally significant for the Regal was the intersection between the break-up of the monopoly over film distribution and exhibition held by the corporate entities that controlled the Regal and the rise of television as a mass medium. Even though the Regal was known for its first-class stage shows, it was still a movie house, whose economic well-being was closely tied to the exigencies of the movie production, distribution, and exhibition industry. Most of the 1940s were a boom period for movie attendance, but this began to change after 1946. Average weekly attendance was approximately 54.6 million in 1941, reaching a high of 79.4 million in 1946. Attendance declined every following year well into the 1950s, where average weekly attendance shrank to 37.7 million in 1957.157 Coincidentally, Paramount Pictures, the corporate parent of

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the Regal Theater, was the most profitable motion picture studio in Hollywood in 1946. Profits for the company were $39.2 million in 1946 but fell to $3.3 million in 1949.158 Several factors contributed to the decline in movie attendance; some people said they could not afford the movies, and others said they did not like the current crop of films. However, the reallocation of leisure time seemed to be the biggest factor in declining movie attendance. People started doing other things. Legitimate theater, opera, spectator sports, and other amusements cut into movie going. Large postwar sales of automobiles altered leisure time activities. Driving itself became a leisure activity, and it permitted access to other kinds of leisure pastimes. Also, the significant increase in the birthrate after the war curtailed movie attendance for young parents, who were a key part of the market among moviegoers. Young families did not have the time and the more economically challenged did not have the money. However, television would become the major cause for the decline in motion picture attendance.159 The Regal, of course, was not simply a movie house but a multiuse entertainment center. These developments and more would present new challenges for the Regal Theater in the next decade.

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CHAP TER

4

The Decline of Commercial Segregation and the Transition to Independence

This chapter explores the breakdown in the system of racial segregation that gave the Regal Theater a captive African American market. Paralleling this phenomenon, diverse cultural outlets for top Black talent emerged to challenge the Regal in the marketplace. In addition, this chapter chronicles the transition of the Regal Theater from being a dominant industry corporation and chain to a solitary, independent ownership. This process was mediated by the rise and maturing of Black-appeal radio and the independent, disc-jockey promoter. During the decade of the 1950s, the Regal operated under different corporate overseers and rapidly changing market conditions. The new parent company was ABC-Paramount, following the merger of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and United Paramount Theaters in 1953. As required by the court-ordered breakup of the film, production-distribution-exhibition combines, United Paramount Theaters continued to reduce its theater holdings. These holdings dropped from 1,424 theaters in 1949 to 526 theaters in 1957.1 Theater revenues for United Paramount Theaters improved, however, because the company sold off its least profitable properties. Thus, Balaban and Katz, now a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount, maintained a strong competitive position in Chicago, even though it lost its monopoly over first-run films and favorable runs. Relative to its rival independent movie houses, B & K was better positioned to address the intense competition between neighborhood theaters and the general decline in movie attendance.2 At first the Regal flourished under its new corporate management. It remained celebrated for its stage shows, an attraction that continued to distinguish the Regal from other neighborhood movie houses.

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In addition, in 1950, live shows at the Regal were frequent and of high quality. However, as the decade progressed, the frequency of stage shows dropped markedly. There were thirteen weeks of shows in 1950 and only two weeks of shows in 1958. After 1953, the year the merger between ABC and United Paramount Theaters became final, there was a very noticeable decline in the number of stage shows at the Regal between 1954 and 1958.3 During this period there were approximately two to seven weeks of shows a year. Thus, the period between 1950 and 1953 was substantially more active than the period between 1954 and 1958. After the ABC-Paramount merger in 1953, Balaban and Katz became ostensibly less committed to live entertainment at the Regal. In 1959 Balaban and Katz did not continue its lease, and the Regal passed to independent management. New management reinvested in the Regal, and 1959 brought a resurgence of stage shows that nearly equaled the earlier, more productive entertainment years of the decade.

Prosperity Early in the Decade The Regal opened with an impressive production in January 1950. Renowned song stylist Billie Holiday was the headliner with her revue. Among the featured performers were Jay Burkhardt (White) and his “All-Star Jay Birds Orchestra.” Prominent in his group were saxophonist Wardell (also Waddell) Gray, trumpeter Miles Davis, and vocalist Joe Williams. The Chicago Defender called Burkhardt’s assemblage, which he formed in 1946, Chicago-land’s “largest and foremost orchestra.” Among the other attractions were the comedy dance team of Stump and Stumpy, swing dancers Tops and Wilda, and acrobats, the Wong Sisters. Popular disc jockey Al Benson added to the lineup of star-studded performers.4 A subsequent stage show in February featured rhythm and slide tap dancers Tip, Tap, and Toe. They were known for their work on Broadway, in top clubs, and on film. Other star attractions were “Queen of the Blues” Dinah Washington; hot singing group, the Ravens; comedy tap trio, the Chocolateers; and the Joe Thomas orchestra.5 Strong stage shows continued. In a March show, Regal management booked Lucky Millinder and his band. Some of the featured artists with Millinder were vocalist Annisteen Allen and jump blues saxophonist and vocalist Big John Greer. Among other luminaries were vocalist, trumpeter Hot Lips Page and his sextet, the comedy team of Apus and Estrellita, and the Six Caulfields, a dance team of three girls and three boys. In April, trumpeter Cootie Williams, vocalist

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Ruth Brown, and folksinger Josh White (with children Josh Jr. and Beverly) were among the attractions for another show.6 In May, Regal headliners included Lionel Hampton and the Will Mastin Trio, which featured the dynamic Sammy Davis Jr. Trumpeter Duke Charles was a featured musician with Hampton. Also with Hampton were comedian Kitty Murray, blues singer Sonny Parker, and jazz vocalist Lorene “Betty Bebop” Carter (an earlier name used by legendary jazz vocalist Betty Carter, Nee Lillie Mae Jones).7 At the end of May, blind singer Al Hibbler, formerly with Duke Ellington, appeared with Louis Jordan. The bill also featured prominent tap dancer Bunny Briggs.8 The first half of the year ended with Nat “King” Cole and his revue, which came to the Regal in mid-June.9 Stage shows continued for the year with a variety of strong fan support. The combination of Ella Fitzgerald and Illinois Jacquet proved to be very popular and was the principle attraction for the July show. Top comedian Timmie Rogers was also on the bill. Jacquet appeared with his sextet and a new vocalist, Syd McKinney.10 Duke Ellington followed in August and, as usual, carried a fine array of talent. He featured alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, Ray Nance on violin, trumpet, and vocals, and Marion Brown and Chubby Kemp on vocals. Other featured acts were comedians Howell and Bowser; the Co-Ops, a modern jazz ballet group; and acrobat “Tables” Davis.11 Twelve-year-old Toni Harper was the big attraction in September. This was not her first appearance at the Regal, but Harper had continued to grow in celebrity. She was coming off of her first appearance at the Apollo in New York’s Harlem. Harper, though very young, had a rich, mature-sounding voice and a talent for blues phrasing. The Chicago Defender observed that the young Harper’s voice had “a sultry quality somewhere between the murmurings of Maxine Sullivan and the sexy moans of Billie Holiday.”12 Harper had already been a star for several years, recording multiple hits for Columbia and appearing on radio shows and in movies. Besides her signature “Candy Store Blues,” various other recordings for Columbia were “Tabby the Cat,” “You’re My Everything,” “Bippety Be Bop Pony,” and “Miss In Between Blues.” Also on the bill with Harper were prominent comedian Dusty Fletcher; female blues star Chubby Newsome, who was also known for the size of her hips and the way she shook them on stage; tap dancers Tommy and Margot Conine (White); young singing sensation Larry Darnell; and the Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams orchestra.13 The remaining stage shows for 1950 occurred in November and December. Billy Eckstine and his revue and the King Kolax band

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headlined the first week of November. Two weeks later, blind, British jazz pianist George Shearing (White) and his quintet; the mellifluent Orioles; blues singer Kitty de Chavis; vocal great Joe Williams; popular comedian “Moms” Mabley; and the Jay Burkhardt Orchestra were among the list of performers on the second November show.14 Disc jockey Al Benson, the hugely popular radio personality, produced the stage show at the Regal in December. The production featured the prominent tap dancer, impresario, and dance teacher Foster Johnson and a young and emerging ballet and interpretive dancer, Grace Nichols. Nichols would later marry Johnson for a brief period. Johnson was the father of Nichols’s only child, Kyle. Grace Nichols later changed her name to Nichelle Nichols and—besides a stellar career as a multitalented entertainer—became widely known for the role she played as lieutenant Uhuru on the hit television series, Star Trek. On the December Regal show, another Johnson protégé, ten-year-old Karla Jean Woolridge, also performed. Johnson was known for his work in a number of hit musicals. While performing at Chicago’s Shubert Theater downtown, Johnson opened a successful school of theatrical training in the South Side Community Art Center (3831 South Michigan Avenue). He trained a number of artists (Black and White) who later performed throughout the US and abroad.15 The December stage show with Foster Johnson may have been the beginning of Al Benson’s relationship with the Regal as an independent promoter.

The Decline of Big Bands: A Debate A continuing topic of debate and discussion in 1950 was the decline in large jazz/dance bands. The Regal booked various sized musical contingents, but the trend, based on the growing popularity of blues, jump blues, doo-wop, rhythm and blues, and bebop, was toward groups with smaller numbers of musicians. Moreover, Regal productions were variety shows that featured diverse kinds of singers, comedians, acrobats, musical ensembles, and dancers. However, the big band versus small band issue was most related to the nationwide decline in dancehall patronage. Observers of this decline speculated that it was the result of the war, the 20 percent amusement tax, or the peace.16 Prominent trumpeter Erksine Hawkins saw things differently. He blamed the decline in dancehall patronage on the musicians themselves. Hawkins argued that bandleaders deserted the field of dance music and changed to playing music for listeners. He explained

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that musicians often indulged in after-hours jam sessions to relax. During these sessions, musicians developed new and complex modes of playing that appealed primarily to other accomplished musicians. Hawkins believed they played too much of this new music for the public. He explained that the listener following for the new music was too small to sustain the economic needs of dance promoters. Hawkins argued that to be commercially viable, dancehalls must provide music that is danceable. Hawkins, of course, was addressing bebop and other new developments in jazz that were geared toward the listener. He surmised, “While progressive jazz is a wonderful form of music and should be developed for the good of music, it is not the music that should be played as a steady diet at the dancehalls throughout the country.”17 Another issue, which had achieved some degree of resolution by 1950, was the belief that big bands (twenty to twenty-five musicians) were necessary for large dancehalls and optimal for theater presentations. Chicago Defender columnist Rob Roy explained that this idea was based on union requirements that bands carry a certain number of musicians for a certain size house. Thus, for example, even when a dancehall hired a top small group, it would have to hire a large band to satisfy the union. The promoter did not hire the large band as an attraction, but as a standby group; however, the added cost was significant. Roy explained that the union wanted to keep its members working. Nonetheless, promoters at the Regal and elsewhere began to realize that smaller groups (eight to twelve musicians, for example) could generate sufficient volume in large establishments to stimulate crowd appeal. Roy concluded that union restrictions put too much of a financial burden on some bandleaders and entertainment houses, which ended up closing down. He noted that when the union eased the restrictions on band size, bandleaders and promoters did not return to large groups. Roy felt that the war period artificially supported the demand for large bands, which were no longer feasible in the postwar era.18

Musicians, Records, Radio, and the Regal Additionally, by 1950, the musicians’ union, in its continuing struggle to preserve the jobs of musicians, had essentially lost the battle to restrict the play of records on radio. Moreover, new postwar technology in recording quality would ultimately eliminate the need for musicians in dance halls, large or small. Columbia Records introduced the 3313-rpm, long-playing record in 1948. RCA Victor introduced the 45-rpm

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record in 1949. Both technologies greatly improved the sound quality of records. The former was best suited for longer compositions characteristic of symphonic music and progressive jazz. The latter was best suited for shorter compositions characteristic of popular trends in dance music (blues, jump blues, and rhythm and blues) and for exposure of this music through radio play. The industry competition over record speeds also stimulated production of new high-fidelity phonograph equipment. As a consequence, at some point in the 1950s, records and component phonograph systems with better sound made it possible to replace live bands with recorded music at large public dances. The rise in popularity of the radio–disk jockey—who became a critical entertainment broker—and the emergence of 45-rpm records, which was the new mass conduit for dance music, helped to enhance the functional role of the Regal as a showcase for the popular music heard most often on radio.19 The Regal as a venue for popular music trends had a growing number of competitors, but it maintained the added attractions of film, top-name acts, variety performances, lowcost admission, and accessibility to young people and families. Further, the Regal still had a convenient neighborhood presence. Nonetheless, the Regal would ultimately face transformative developments regarding competition for the Black consumer market.

The Black Consumer Market and the Decline of Commercial Segregation Nineteen fifty-one revealed the fact that, increasingly, major Whiteowned businesses were looking to exploit a growing Black consumer market. This trend extended beyond earlier efforts by White businesses to develop and control commercial activities in Black communities. Manufacturers and retailers generally wanted to stimulate consumption of their products by Blacks. Sociologist E. Franklin Frazier and others confirmed this move to attract the Black consumer in the early 1950s. Frazier explained: “White firms have found it extremely profitable to employ Negroes in advertising products for Negro consumers, in establishing public relations with the Negro community, and as salesmen. Negroes have been employed on a large scale by the distributors of liquor, beers and non-alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, gasoline, and automobiles.”20 In the Chicago Defender, there was a conspicuous use of Black celebrities to endorse products. Ads for Perma-Strate, a hair straightening concoction, featured endorsements by Nellie Lutcher, Illinois Jacquet, Louis Jordan, Dizzy Gillespie, and others. Lionel Hampton,

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Erskine Hawkins, the Ink Spots, and Billy Eckstine endorsed Manichewitz Wine. All of these performers had been regulars on the Regal’s stage.21 Chicagoan and former Olympic sprinter Ralph Metcalfe endorsed Schlitz Beer.22 Even civic leader Marjorie Joyner, who was prominent for her charitable work in Chicago’s Black community and her role as the national representative for Madame C. J. Walker beauty culture products and schools, appeared in a display ad for Carnation Milk.23 Again, 1951 was marked by greater acknowledgement of a lucrative Black consumer market. A broadly circulated survey, for example, identified Black consumers in New York City as a billion-dollar market.24 In March 1951 the Chicago Defender announced “That the buying power of Sepians [Black Americans] is finally being recognized, particularly by major television and radio executives. . . .” It observed that there were more than fifty White-owned radio stations in various cities that employed Black disk-jockeys and sportscasters and one Black-owned radio station, WERD, in Atlanta.25 The impetus for this growth in Black, on-air talent was to connect advertisers with Black consumers. Of course, there was also a significant and growing White audience that was attracted to Black music and culture, which enhanced the commercial use of Black cultural products. Indeed, White disk jockeys often played Black music to attract Black and White audiences. Al Benson, of course, was the star radio marketer to Blacks in Chicago; he also had a local TV dance program for teenagers. Further, by the early 1950s, numerous Blackoriented, local TV shows sprang up around the country, and Blacks could be seen regularly on national TV. Some programs portrayed Blacks in stereotypical roles (Beulah or Amos ‘n’ Andy), showed Blacks in athletic competitions (The Cavalcade of Sports, a boxing program), or showcased Black entertainers in variety shows (Toast of the Town, later called The Ed Sullivan Show). By the early 1950s, Black entertainers that many Chicagoans had only been able to see at the Regal and a few other venues were now visible on TV. Examples were Nat “King” Cole, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Peg Leg Bates, Bunny Briggs, Sammy Davis Jr., Arthur Lee Simpkins, and others.26 The Regal, in the early 1950s, continued to meet the competitive challenge of television, but it was in the midst of a critical transition period that was connected to the integration of Blacks into American life as consumers.27 The growing interest in marketing to Blacks was the result of an increasing need to eliminate impediments to the expansion of capital. For White capital-owning classes, the incorporation of

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Black entertainers and athletes into the media was necessary to market to Blacks and to take advantage of White interest in Black cultural products. Use of local or non-network radio and television, which permitted more precise market segmentation, was one method to access the Black community. Use of national or network broadcasting was another, but this option catered more to the sensibilities of a larger and more economically powerful White audience. In addition, expanded marketing to Blacks by dominant White-owned businesses tended to undermine the limited basis of Black business ownership. This was true because a White-supremacist society had restricted the growth, diversity, and competitive potential of Black business development. As a consequence, Black entrepreneurs had very little access to White markets and only limited access to Black markets.28 Commercial segregation—the practice by which Black access to White businesses was confined to Black neighborhoods, a practice which was at first an accommodation to residential segregation—was no longer the dominant trend. White businesses that had established outposts (such as the Regal) in the Black community in order to exploit Black consumer markets would eventually find it unnecessary and even unprofitable to do so. However, as commercial segregation began to die, Black entrepreneurs were free to purchase, if they could, the businesses and properties that Whites left behind. This would be the case for the Regal when it finally changed to Black ownership in the next decade. By this time, however, the underlying conditions that made these enterprises profitable had collapsed, and Black entrepreneurs often were left with stagnant or dying enterprises. However, the declining viability of commercial segregation was unforeseen in 1951, but had its roots in the social forces of the growing postwar Black consumer market. Contextually, competitive capitalism, guided by the need to find new markets and aided by technological innovations and transformations in the mass media, would no longer support commercial segregation. Thus, even though residential segregation remained, commercial segregation began to break apart. One result was that large, White-controlled commercial districts, which primarily sold to extralocal White markets, became more accessible to Black consumers. Nevertheless, for Black communities, new forms of White economic domination would follow the breakup of commercial segregation. Despite what was to come, in 1951, business at the Regal appeared to proceed as usual.

Continued Prosperity at the Regal In 1951, Regal stage shows continued to feature the top performers of the day, and bookings remained steady with thirteen weeks of shows.

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In addition, the first show did not occur until February when the season opened with the popular Louis Jordan. On stage, Jordan headed his smaller group, the Tympani Five, and a larger orchestra. With him were his beautiful and talented chorus line, the Dancing Jordanettes; Trinidadian born singer Peggy Hart Thomas; exciting rhythm tap and dance improvisationist Teddy Hale; and jazz organist Bill Davis. A second stage show in February featured the Nat “King” Cole trio, the comedy and acrobatic tap of the three Chocolateers, and former Count Basie vocalist Helen Humes. Pianist Zinky Cohn and his orchestra and the novelty skating team of Gaynor and Ross were also on the bill.29 A March stage show featured Tiny Bradshaw and his orchestra; dancers, the Edward Sisters; and the Ravens, among other acts. At this time the Chicago Defender called the Ravens the nation’s top harmony group.30 Ella Fitzgerald and pianist, composer Buddy Johnson and his orchestra followed in April. With Johnson were vocalists Arthur Prysock and Ella Johnson. Also on the bill were comedians Patterson and Jackson and trick skating star Jay Smythe.31 The second third of the season started in May when prominent dance instructor Sadie Bruce held her annual dance revue at the Regal, which showcased her students.32 In late May, trumpeter Erskine Hawkins and his “Tuxedo Junction Orchestra” were the main attractions. Vocalists Larry Darnell and Mabel Scott, the comedy team of John Mason and Company, and the novelty team of Ron and Mary Norman joined them.33 Count Basie brought his band into the Regal in late June through early July. Basie’s featured vocalist was Big Joe Turner. Joining Basie on the bill was pianist Herman Chittison and his trio. Singer Irene Williams was with Chittison, and Norma Miller brought her thirteen exotic dancers to the Regal’s stage. Comedian, impressionist George Kirby also performed, and tap dancer Bill Bailey was an extra added attraction.34 August stage show headliners were singing sensation Toni Harper, jazz pianist Errol Garner and his trio, saxophonist Stan Getz (White) and his orchestra, and comedians Howell and Bowser.35 The last third of the season opened in September with popular song stylist Billie Holiday, top song and dance comedy team Buck and Bubbles, the Herbie Fields orchestra, and others.36 In October Cab Calloway brought into the Regal his newly formed and highly celebrated orchestra. Some of the acclaimed musicians in Calloway’s group were Shad Collins, Jo Jones, Paul Webster, and Doc Cheatam on trumpets; Ike Quebec, Sam Taylor, Eddie Barefield, Hilton Jefferson and Jean Mickell on saxophones; Eddie Burke on trombone; Dave Rivera on piano; Milt Hinton on bass; and more.37 Perennially popular comedian “Moms” Mabley also headlined the show.38 Billed

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as a “Big Jazz Festival,” the Regal stage show in late October through early November featured blues vocalist Wynonie Harris, saxophonist Gene Ammons and his orchestra, and blues and rhythm and blues artist Mabel Scott.39 The November stage show included Eddie Haywood and his trio, soulful vocalist Savannah Churchill, clarinetist Buddy De Franco (White) and his orchestra, and the Pat Collins quintet. The stage-show season ended in December with song stylist Sarah Vaughan; rhythm and blues group, the Dominoes; the Jay Burkhardt orchestra; and others.40

The Rise of S. B. Fuller In addition to the prosperity of the Regal, 1951 also signaled the maturing of the Black entrepreneur who, in the next decade, would become the first and only Black owner of the Regal Theater. Fuller had been quietly building his business over the last fifteen years. Samuel B. Fuller, or S. B. Fuller as most called him, had turned a twenty-five dollar investment into a major enterprise that employed over 3,000 persons. These were primarily direct-sales agents who earned a commission for selling Fuller’s products. Fuller made a name for himself through door-to-door sales, a mode of selling common at the time. In 1935 Fuller invested his meager bankroll, as the Defender explained, “in a pitifully small, and relatively unknown stock of powders, face creams and lotions.” Fuller saved the profits from his door-to-door sales and within a year established the Fuller Products Company, locating his business in the Chicago Defender building at 3441 S. Indiana (the Defender later moved to 2400 S. Michigan Avenue). In 1951, Fuller operated his business from a seven-story 91,000-square-foot building that he had purchased at 2700 S. Wabash. Fuller’s product line expanded to “waxes, polishes, soapless detergents and other cleaning items.” The Defender noted that Fuller’s staff was interracial (40 percent White).41 Born in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1905, Fuller was one of seven children born to Ethel and William Fuller. Samuel moved with his parents to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was fifteen years old. Even during this period Fuller became a familiar figure in his neighborhood selling door-to-door goods that he had purchased. After migrating to Chicago in 1928, Fuller worked as a tender on a coal barge and as an insurance salesman before returning to direct sales of personal care and household products. From 1941 to 1946, Fuller served as president of the Negro Chamber of Commerce of Chicago. In 1951 Fuller had already won several awards celebrating his entrepreneurial

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accomplishments, and he was the first Black member of the National Association of Manufacturers. Fuller also had membership in the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Toilet Goods Association, and the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry. When S. B. Fuller started his business, he was married to Lestine Thornton. Born in Pittsburgh, Lestine Thornton moved to Chicago in 1932. She became the backbone of Fuller Products and worked in every conceivable position. Thornton was the first female salesperson for Fuller Products, outselling many of the men. Together Lestine and Samuel B. Fuller had five daughters. They were Mary, Jessie, Ethel, Luella, and Geraldine.42 S. B. Fuller died in 1988 at the age of 83, and Lestine Fuller died in 1999 at the age of 91. In 1951, however, S. B. Fuller continued to build and expand his business ventures. By 1955, Fuller had gained great stature and visibility. For example, he sponsored a successful gathering of over 1,000 of his branch managers, distributors, and salespersons at the Palmer House Hotel in downtown Chicago. At this convention, Fuller invited various dignitaries and experts in business and marketing to speak. He also presented an interracial group of his high-achieving sales persons with gifts of jewelry and housewares.43 We will examine Fuller’s ownership of the Regal, a challenging endeavour, in the next chapter.

Competition beyond the Black Belt Despite the apparent prosperity of the Regal, by 1951 large entertainment venues outside of the Black community—but those which were available to a Black market—consistently contracted with prominent African American entertainers and provided the Regal with serious competition. In February the Civic Opera House booked Duke Ellington. In March, for its jazz festival, the Civic Opera House featured singer Helen Humes, drummer Max Roach, trombonist Jay Jay Johnson, bassist Oscar Pettiford, trumpeter Miles Davis, and others. Ironically, the popular disk jockey Al Benson, who would later produce numerous shows at the Regal, emceed this show.44 Another large downtown venue, the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theater, booked the Ink Spots in January, Josephine Baker in April, the Mills Brothers in May, Nat “King” Cole in June, and Sammy Davis Jr. in December.45 However, as was the case previously, prominent Black entertainers at the Chicago Theater no longer came into the Regal after their downtown run. Another downtown competitor, Minsky’s Rialto Theater, a burlesque house located at State and Van Buren Streets, booked singer Savannah Churchill and the comedy team of Butterbeans and

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Susie for its Tan and White Revue, popular performers who previously played the Regal.46 In 1952 there was more of the same. The Regal continued to face serious competition from large entertainment venues that were located in non-neighborhood-based commercial districts. The Civic Opera House in downtown Chicago held its “Piano Parade,” which featured jazz pianists Errol Garner, Art Tatum, and others.47 Another show featured Stan Kenton, Nat “King” Cole, Sarah Vaughan, George Kirby, the Congaroos, Teddy Hale, and Stump and Stumpy. A subsequent event featured Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Gene Krupa, Lester Young, and more.48 These were the kinds of shows that had been available at the Regal. Again, appearance trends confirmed that stage shows at the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theater no longer had connections to the Regal, as they had previously. For example, the Ink Spots performed at the Chicago Theater in April, but an engagement at the Regal did not follow. Other examples indicated that Balaban and Katz no longer had a live-act theater circuit with a functional relationship to the Regal.49 A revealing circumstance was the announcement that the Regal would become part of a new circuit of theaters that presented film and live performances to Black audiences. This announcement further confirmed the break with B & K and made it clear that Regal management recognized that it would need to develop a relationship with some type of Black-oriented entertainment and film circuit in order to remain competitive. The new circuit was to be divided into eastern and western regions. The eastern region would consist of the Apollo Theater in New York, the Royal in Baltimore, the Howard in Washington, DC, and the Earle in Philadelphia. The west would consist of the Regal in Chicago, the Paradise in Detroit, and theaters in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and a few other places. The South and West Coast would be supplemental. For example, acts that traveled the major east–west circuit could spend time between visits playing several southern theaters. The Defender reported that the circuit would enhance employment for Black acts and musicians and increase the production of films with Black stars. The latter projection was based on the idea that since films routed through a Black-oriented circuit would be less subject to the censorship necessary to appease racist White audiences in the South, film companies would be more likely to include Blacks in their productions.50 Information regarding the implementation or success of this circuit was not forthcoming. However, what was most important was that

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the discussion pointed to a nascent but continuing concern: How will the Regal and similar institutions maintain their economic viability in the face of rapid changes in the marketplace? Also implicit in this issue was the threat of further erosion of opportunities for Black musicians, actors, and performers and the erosion of an infrastructure that could sustain a Black theatrical workforce. In addition, there was concern about the impact that White audience expectations might have on the character of Black images, the character of Black creative expression, and the Black presence in entertainment media, in the absence of consideration for Black audience sensibilities.

The Regal’s Prosperity Persists but is Waning In 1952, stage shows at the Regal declined to approximately nine weeks of productions. After a longer than usual hiatus, perennial favorite Duke Ellington opened the year in January. Nat “King” Cole followed in early February with his trio.51 Headlining with Cole was comedian Timmie Rogers. Peggy Hart Thomas, former singer with Louis Jordan; the Kit Kats, a coed specialty tap act; the Co-Ops, a modern jazz dance troupe; and the King Kolax orchestra rounded out the bill.52 Producer Larry Steele brought his famous long-running, traveling revue, Smart Affairs, into the Regal in late February. Two weeks later in March, Steele’s well-received production returned to the Regal. Among the performers were comedy and dance sensations, the Chocolateers; blues singer Dr. Jo Jo Adams; comedians Butterbeans and Susie; jazz harpist Olivette Miller; and the Jimmy Tyler orchestra. In addition, a chorus line of twelve beautiful women, which featured Flick Montgomery; choreographers and dancers Hortense Allen and Conrad Pringle; lindy hop specialists, the Four Congaroos (two women and two men); singing group, the Fontaine Brothers; singer Marion Bruce; and others added to the show’s appeal.53 The year continued with more excellent talent. In April the thirteen-year-old blues singer and pianist, Sugar “Chile” Robinson, played to a packed house. The diminutive ninth grader and Detroit native had recently completed a three-month tour of England, where he broke attendance records at several theaters, including London’s Palladium. Also with Robinson were bands led by tenor saxophonist Hal Singer and blues and rhythm and blues vocalist Lowell Fulson. Blues artist Lil Green and others were also part of the lineup.54 In May, Ella Fitzgerald and Erskine Hawkins were the headliners.55 The Count Basie orchestra and the Ravens followed in June with,

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according to the Chicago Defender, one of the year’s best shows. Bixie Crawford was the vocalist for Basie. The comedy team of Redd Foxx and Slappy White was a crowd favorite. Performances by the Dyerettes, five beautiful dancers produced by Sammy Dyer from the Club DeLisa, added to the attraction.56 It appeared that only two additional weeks of shows followed to complete the year. Details were sketchy, but mention of a stage show in November told of a performance by the comedy team of Butterbeans and Susie. This performance was most likely part of a return engagement by Larry Steele’s Smart Affairs of 1953. The final show in December was an extravaganza that featured Dinah Washington and her trio (Beryl Booker, piano; Jimmy Cobb, drums; and Keter Betts, bass). It also showcased the Swallows, the hot singing group of the day; crowd favorite, trumpeter Cootie Williams and his orchestra; and a return engagement by the popular comedy team of Redd Foxx and Slappy White. Eddie Mack was the featured singer with Cootie Williams. Others on the bill were singer Herb Lance, the comedy team of Strawberry and Julia, trick baton twirler Joe Chilsolm, and Harold “Rhythm” King, who performed a roller-skating, tap-dancing, daredevil routine.57

More Market Changes: The Final Takeover of Policy in Bronzeville As first discussed in chapter 3, an important contextual transformation in the Regal’s market was the takeover of Black-controlled policy (a form of lottery gambling), or numbers as it was called elsewhere in the country, by White organized crime. The removal of this Blackcontrolled economic base in Bronzeville, probably helped to retard economic development that could have helped stabilize this community. Moreover, the removal of this adult-controlled organized (though illegal) gambling in Bronzeville, probably led to the rise of more powerful youth gangs in the Black Belt. During the war, White organized crime became interested in Chicago’s South Side policy operations after mob bosses learned they were grossing $10,000,000 a year. Within three years, most of the big policy operations had been expropriated by the mob. White organized crime left the policy organizations and leadership intact but demanded between 25 and 75 percent of the take. Ed Jones, along with his brothers, controlled the South Side’s most lucrative policy operations, which were headquartered in the community that

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included the Regal. Ed Jones held out but, as mentioned previously, was kidnapped by the Chicago mob, held for $100,000 ransom, and forced (with his family) to flee to Mexico.58 However, the South Side takeover was not complete until the occurrence of certain events in 1951 and 1952. After leaving the country, Ed Jones left operation of his policy interests to his chief lieutenant, Theodore Roe. Jones continued to receive money from Roe, but Roe had moved in on Jones to control the operation. Roe refused to give the mob a cut, killing one of its henchmen, Fat Lenny Caifano, when the mob attempted to kidnap him like it did Ed Jones. Legal authorities eventually ruled that the slaying was justifiable homicide. Several mob leaders, Anthony Accardo and Jack Guzik, attempted to exert pressure on Roe by visiting Jones in Mexico and encouraging him to return to Chicago and talk Roe into submitting. At the same time, Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver (Democrat), chairman of the Senate Crime Investigating Committee, was in Chicago holding sessions of his widely publicized hearings on organized crime. The Kefauver Committee subpoenaed Ed Jones after he arrived in Chicago from Mexico City. Allegedly the mob wanted Jones to testify in front of the Kefauver Committee in such a way that Roe would be convicted of policy gambling and sent to jail for a year.59 These hearings on organized crime revealed a nationwide effort to take over policy or numbers and illustrated the mob’s ability to influence elections and public officials across the country. Furthermore, the Kefauver hearings brought greater scrutiny of Black-controlled gambling by law enforcement, which White organized crime exploited to its advantage. The Chicago Defender observed in 1951 that “The old Capone Gang, now headed by Anthony Accardo, Jack Guzik and Charles Fishchetti and operating on a scale that makes the late Scarface Al look like a piker, has muscled in on almost every numbers operation in the country. . . .”60 The final call for Roe came in 1952. After reviewing their testimony to the Kefauver Committee, the Cook County States Attorney arrested both Roe and Jones and charged them with conspiracy instead of policy gambling, which carried a harsher penalty. Another partner, Clifford Davis, was also arrested. Other policy operations around the city, which gave White organized crime a cut, continued to operate freely. The men posted bail, but by the time Roe got out of jail, Jones had returned to Mexico City. Also, news surfaced of a feud between Jones and Roe, where Roe accused Jones of informing the mob about his daily movements prior to the mob’s attempt to kidnap him. However, in 1952, the state was unable to make its case, and

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Jones, Roe, and Davis beat the conspiracy charges. Later in the year as Roe prepared to enter his bulletproof automobile, assassins blasted him with shotguns. Roe was pronounced dead at Provident hospital. Symbolic of Roe’s popularity and the significance of the institution of policy gambling to Bronzeville, over 5,000 people attended Roe’s funeral, and close to 20,000 viewed his body while it lay in state the week before. Thousands lined Michigan Avenue from Forty-Second Street to Roe’s home at 5239 Michigan to view the eighty-one-car procession that carried Roe’s body to Lincoln cemetery. Roe had given thousands to charity and aided countless individuals.61 The Reverend Clarence H. Cobb of First Deliverance Church, which hosted the funeral, proclaimed, “[Roe] didn’t go to heaven and he didn’t go to hell.”62 Cobb spoke of Roe’s charitable work and explained, “When I was building this church and didn’t know whether I was going to get it finished or not, Ted Roe gave me a check.”63 The demise of Black-controlled policy had notable implications for the community surrounding the Regal. Policy bosses like the Jones brothers and Ted Roe lived and invested in their communities. Their activities often supported essential, legitimate institutions in the community. Their enterprises, legal and illegal, contributed to the circulation of sorely needed financial resources in the Black community. Lottery gambling or policy was an important employer in the Black community. Policy bosses were often the only organized group in the community that had the clout to overcome racial barriers to build and own legitimate and competitive business ventures within the Black community. Also, they frequently provided financial backing to members of the community, in the form of loans or grants, when resources were not available from traditional financial institutions controlled by Whites. Most significantly, some policy bosses represented an organized element that discouraged other more violent and predatory types of criminal activity. The demise of the Jones brothers, for example, probably removed a countervailing force to the growth of youthcontrolled street gangs. In later years, these gangs would become a serious challenge to business development and community life in the Black Belt. Ultimately, of course, lottery gambling would be seized by the state. Unquestionably, the prior system of Black-controlled policy did have some negative outcomes, but the enterprise clearly had an economic role and social function that significantly contributed to the viability of the community that supported the Regal. In 1953 Ebony Magazine reported that ex–policy kings Edward and George Jones were prosperous and securely settled in Mexico.

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The Jones brothers had developed a leading textile enterprise in Mexico City, incorporated as LydMar, SA. They became major producers of hand-painted, Mexican-style shirts and blouses. The brothers also did a substantial business in hand-painted and silkscreenprinted silks and cottons. With several factories, the Jones brothers produced over 30,000 hand-painted skirts and blouses annually, which they sold in Mexico, the United States, and Central and South America. They also owned two retail outlets in Mexico City. Lydia Jones, Edward’s wife, after whom the textile business was named, started the first retail store. The Jones brothers emphasized that their business was not a mass production business, but an artistic enterprise. They employed over 100 Mexican artists and artisans, who developed distinctive designs and styles. Edward and Lydia Jones had three children, Harriet (named after her grandmother), George (named after his father’s brother) and McKissack (named after his father’s youngest brother who died in an automobile accident in 1944). Edward Jones also had an older son by a previous marriage, Edward “Pete” Jones Jr., who lived in Idlewild, Michigan, and who acted as an agent for LydMar textiles in the resort town.64

Regal Management Renews Commitment to Stage Shows In 1953 Defender entertainment columnist Rob Roy observed that more theaters were switching from stage shows to film because of the high cost of talent. He noted that live shows drew more people, but the cost was much higher. It was only theaters (like the Regal or the Chicago Theater downtown) with larger seating capacities that had the ability to make a profit from live shows.65 Thus, despite the challenge of increasing costs, Regal manager Ken Blewett reaffirmed his commitment in 1953 to offering more stage shows. As a consequence, the frequency of productions, which had declined slightly over the last year, increased to just over eleven weeks before declining again in subsequent years. The Regal in 1953 continued to utilize talent with established drawing power, which increased the probability of keeping its seats filled. Duke Ellington, a reliable attraction, opened the season in January, as he had the previous year. Also with Ellington were famed singer and comedian Pearl Bailey and tap star Bill Bailey (Pearl’s brother) and drummer Louis Bellson (Pearl’s husband).66 Saxophonist and bandleader Illinois Jacquet, comedian Dusty Fletcher, blues artist Willie Mabon, and rhythm and blues stylist Bette

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McLaurin followed in late January and early February. Another show in February featured the Earl Bostic (alto sax) orchestra and rhythm and blues artists Lloyd Price and Varetta Dillard. Louis Jordan headlined a show in April.67 A subsequent April production showcased jazz pianist Errol Garner; impressionist George Kirby; comedic dancers Stump and Stumpy; blues singer Big Maybelle; nine (Don) Fontaine Dancers, who performed “sexy choreography”; and the Alberto Socarras sextet. Socarras was a pioneer in the development of Afro-Cuban jazz and the use of the flute as a jazz instrument.68 Most artists were longtime Chicago favorites or were hot at the time with a hit record and radio/TV exposure. In late May saxophonist Arnett Cobb and his band led a stage show that included rhythm and blues artist Little Esther; rhythm and blues vocal group, the Five Royales; and others. An early June production included boxer Joe Louis and dancer Leonard Reed, singer Delores Parker (from Chicago’s Englewood High School), vocalist Hal Singer (who was known for the hit song “Corn Bread”) and orchestra, and sensational tap dancers, the Nicholas Brothers. A late June production included comedian Nipsey Russell, the comedy team of Howell and Radcliff, the Norma Miller dancers, a return engagement by Louis Jordan, and more. Margie Anderson was Jordan’s featured vocalist.69 The 1953 stage-show season ended with four great events. First, African American producer Larry Steele brought the seventh edition of his popular revue, Smart Affairs of 1954, into the Regal in October. Carrying over forty top performers, the show created grand excitement. Among the headliners were romantic crooner Arthur Prysock and blues singer Mabel Scott. Steele’s productions always provided an array of talent that covered diverse entertainment genres. Audiences could expect comedians, dancers, singers, novelty acts, beautiful showgirls (Steele’s “12 Beige Beauts”), and a swinging orchestra.70 In November, a second dazzling self-contained road show, the Tropicana Revue, produced by African American Clarence Robinson, came into the Regal. According to a Chicago Defender report, the revue had recently completed “a sensational run at the Band Box on New York’s Broadway.” Hyping an exotic jungle theme, the show featured La Bommie, billed as queen of the shake dancers. There was also Princess Du Paur, with Jose and Dana, and their Tahitian Thrill Dancers. Among the many other performers were comedians Pigmeat and George, jazz singer Betty Carter, acrobatic tap artist Janet Sayre, the Jimmie Taylor orchestra, and ten beautiful dancing girls called

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“Clarence Robinson’s 10 Zanzi Beauts.” Bob Bailey served as master of ceremonies.71 The last two stage shows consisted of a brilliant one-night affair and a return, weeklong engagement by a perennial Chicago favorite. The one-night affair, billed as “McKie’s Variety Show” (an independent production by popular disk jockey and club owner McKie Fitzhugh), was in late November and claimed to have more than 125 artists. For this event, Regal management scheduled two shows, one at 8:00 p.m. and one at midnight, to accommodate an expected overflow crowd. Although the production featured a diverse group of talent, it drew heavily on the popularity of blues and gospel in Chicago’s Black Belt. T. Bone Walker, noted blues singer and guitarist, was a major attraction. Other blues artists were Eddie Boyd and Little Willie. Popular gospel attractions were the Webb Singers, Alex Bradford, and Robert Anderson. Dance performers were the famous Edward Sisters and Dot and Dash. The gathering of talent was spectacular, and the Chicago Defender observed that “Not in many moons have so many artists appeared on a single bill. . . . It will be the most exciting program presented at the theatre since the days of ‘Fess’ Williams and the old Regal shows.”72 The stage-show season ended in December with a weeklong engagement by the Duke Ellington orchestra. Thus, Ellington opened and closed the year in 1953. Among the performers on the bill with Ellington was the hot new rhythm and blues singing group, the Five Flamingoes.73

Independent Record Companies and the Regal In 1953 the Chicago Defender celebrated the accomplishments of Black independent record producer Don Robie. Robie, who was based in Houston, Texas, had been successful in a number of business ventures. He had profitably promoted top bands like Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Louis Jordan, and others throughout the Southwest. Robie had also been involved in sports production, which included the Houston Open golf tournament. In 1949, Robie decided to go into the record business and established Peacock Records. In 1952 Robie bought Duke Records and merged it with Peacock. In 1953 Robie had thirty-three artists under contract. He also had his own processing plant, recording studio, administrative offices, and links to thirty-eight distributors across the country, with plans to increase to fifty. Robie’s artists spanned the genres of blues,

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rhythm and blues, and gospel. Examples of his blues and rhythm and blues artists were Lloyd Price, B. B. King, Johnny Ace, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton. Several of Robie’s gospel artists were the Dixie Hummingbirds and the Original Blind Boys.74 Many of Robie’s artists found their way to the Regal’s stage on a regular basis. The emergence of Don Robie as an independent record producer paralleled the ascent of numerous independent record companies across the country. The White-owned Chess Records and the Blackowned Vee Jay Records were two of the more prominent independents in Chicago. In fact, Chicago became an important center for record production and distribution in the 1950s and 1960s. This aspect of an entertainment infrastructure supported stage shows and the artistic workforce. Increasingly, outlets for this industry became located along what became known as Record Row, an area on south Michigan Avenue between Twelfth and Twenty-Fourth Streets.75 The Regal benefited from this concentration of record companies, and Chicago’s record companies benefited from the Regal. The key to the relationship, however, was the rise of Black-appeal radio and the disk jockeys that gained fame and prominence through this medium. The disk jockey became the broker between the record companies, radio exposure, the public, and various stage-show productions, for which the Regal was an important venue. Local radio play by a popular disk jockey could make a record and its artists. As a consequence, at a time when the cost of talent was increasing, popular disk jockeys could obtain the services of artists, whose records they played, at a lower cost. In turn, some disk jockeys contracted with various venues, or used venues they owned, and promoted live shows. For the Regal, which had to search for new ways to remain profitable, these kinds of brokered arrangements became more functional and frequent. The power of the disk jockey to make or break a record would become more evident when “Payola,” the payfor-play scandal, broke in 1960.

Reality is Evident and Prosperity Ends As 1953 came to an end, the Regal continued to be faced with substantial competition from venues inside and outside the traditional Black Belt—which were accessible to Blacks of diverse age groups— that showcased top Black talent at competitive prices. This state of affairs was now a consistent fact of life for the Regal. For example, at various times in 1953, Regal audiences, if they chose to do so, could

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see Louis Armstrong and boxer Sugar Ray Robinson (who had developed a dance act) at the Chicago Theater. They could see singer Al Hibbler at Cadillac Bob’s (6312 South Cottage Grove), saxophonist Lester “Prez” Young at the Bee Hive Lounge (1503 East Fifty-fifth Street), trumpeter Miles Davis at the Nob Hill Lounge (5228 Lake Park), or blues recording star Big Joe Turner at the 504 Club (504 East Sixty-third Street). Additionally, Regal fans could enjoy singers Sarah Vaughan and Nat “King” Cole at the Civic Opera House, or the rhythm and blues group, the Five Flamingoes, at the Park City Bowl (Sixty-Fourth and South Parkway).76 The Regal, with its size, variety shows, film offerings, and so forth, still had a strong niche in the marketplace, but commercial realities, which included diverse venues inside and outside the traditional Black Belt and the competition of radio and television, were becoming more complex. Ninety fifty-four saw the decline in the frequency of stage shows at the Regal discussed previously. There were only six weeks of shows, but productions still featured highly visible and popular performers. The stage-show season began in February with singing great Dinah Washington and trumpeter Cootie Williams and orchestra. Alto saxophonist and vocalist Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson was a featured performer with Williams’s orchestra. The dynamic one-legged dancer, Peg Leg Bates; vocal quartet, the Four Checkers; and the novelty act, Freddie and Flo, were also on the bill. An April stage show included performances by boxer-turneddancer Sugar Ray Robinson and vocalist Ruth Brown. Blanche Calloway, the former star entertainer who helped open the Regal in 1928, was on hand as Brown’s manager.77 Also on the April bill were comedians Butterbeans and Susie, the magnificent singing group of Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, and the Jay Burkhardt orchestra.78 Singer and comedian Pearl Bailey headlined a show during the first week of May. Among the performers with Bailey were the Louis Bellson quintet, the Don Redmond orchestra, and rhythm and blues singing groups, the Three Riffs and the Pearlettes. Jazz great, vibraphonist, and drummer Lionel Hampton and orchestra headlined a show the last week of May.79 The Will Mastin Trio with the multitalented Sammy Davis Jr. and popular dancers, the Dyerettes, led the stage show at the Regal in late October. Among other performers on the bill were dancer Leonard Reed and torch singer Barbara De Costa from Guatemala.80 Larry Steele’s road show, Smart Affairs, returned to the Regal in late November. Among the attractions with Steele’s show were

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popular rhythm and blues saxophonist and vocalist “Bull Moose” Jackson and orchestra.81 Again, competitive live entertainment at large and small venues, which were accessible to African Americans, was readily available. Notably, in August, independent promoters held a big rhythm and blues show at the air-conditioned Trianon Ballroom that included a quality lineup of soloists, singing groups, and popular bands. The list featured Roy Hamilton, the Drifters, Big Maybelle, LaVern Baker, the Counts, the Spaniels, Faye Adams, Rusty Bryant and orchestra, and Erskine Hawkins and orchestra.82 The Trianon, located at 6201 South Cottage Grove had dropped its “Whites-only” policy in 1950, as the neighborhood changed from White to Black. The Trianon ceased operating as a ballroom by May but was available for independent promotions, which included periodic rhythm and blues shows.83 Although the Trianon did not prove to be a longtime competitor of the Regal, it symbolized the southward movement of the Regal’s market, the growing popularity of rhythm and blues, the substantial power and influence of Black-appeal radio, the importance of disk jockeys as brokers, marketers, and producers, and the importance of independent record companies, which fueled the market for rhythm and blues. In addition, the rhythm and blues show began to limit the kinds of acts that characterized traditional stage shows. Most noteworthy was the elimination of diverse forms of dance and acrobatic, novelty, and comedy acts. A Nineteen fifty-five article in the Chicago Defender affirmed that stage shows at theaters, including the Regal, had done poorly in 1954. In contrast, concert halls and clubs had done very well. The Defender explained that “there were a few stage shows at the regular presentation theaters but they did not fare any too well.” Even the great Chicago Theater downtown struggled. However, the Defender observed that “the cafes playing the ‘name’ combos and individual stars were packing ‘em in. Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzie Gillespie, Count Basie, Billy Ward’s Dominoes, Lester Young, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and others were especially potent at the box office on club dates.” The newspaper also observed that “Another success story for Chicago was the concert halls. . . . most of them made money.” The Defender commented further on the tremendous success of the rhythm and blues show at the Trianon that starred Roy Hamilton. It claimed a crowd of 7,000 and noted that the former ballroom normally accommodated 4,500.84 Rhythm and blues shows were experiencing extraordinary popularity, and singer Roy Hamilton was at the pinnacle of his acclaim. Hamilton

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was riding high on the phenomenal success of his song, “I’ll Never Walk Alone,” which was released in January 1954. Reportedly when Hamilton sang before 82,000 people in a show at Chicago’s Soldiers Field, he was the only artist to be called back for an encore. Other prominent Black and White performers at the event were Perry Como, Patti Page, Nat “King” Cole, Julius LaRosa, Sarah Vaughan, the Orioles, and more. The first time Hamilton performed at the Apollo in New York, he received $250; the second time he received $1,500; and the third time Hamilton owned his own show, which grossed $32,000.85 In the light of the success of rhythm and blues shows at venues like the Trianon and the array of talent that was expected in 1955 at various clubs in the Black community, the Regal needed to respond meaningfully to its competition.86

Al Benson Brings Hope to the Regal and a Glimpse of Things to Come After going most of the year without a stage show, Regal management in 1955 finally answered its competitors with a package rhythm and blues show produced by popular disk jockey Al Benson. Occurring in early September, Benson’s show included piano player Buddy Johnson and his orchestra. Johnson’s musical contingent featured blues vocalist Ella Johnson, Buddy’s sister, and vocalist Floyd Ryland. Other acts were the renowned quartet from Gary, Indiana, the Spaniels; rhythm and blues sensation LaVern Baker, who hailed from Chicago’s Wendell Phillips High School; blues great J. B. Lenore; two other quartets that had great appeal, the Four Fellows and the Four Orchids; blues vocalist Al Savage; and a Chicago native making her debut at the Regal, Lou Mac. Recordings and radio play drove the prominence and drawing power of Benson’s performers. For example, Ella Johnson could be heard on King Records singing “Okay You Win.” Buddy Johnson had recorded “Hitting on Me” and “I’m Just Your Fool.” The Spaniels were hot with “Do-Wah” on Vee Jay Records. LaVern Baker had recorded for King and Columbia, and two of her popular songs were “Tweedle Dee” and “Good Daddy.” The Four Fellows produced a hit with “Soldier Boy,” and Al Savage was known for “Paradise Princess.” Also, many of the artists on the bill for the Regal’s rhythm and blues shows were local and came from the Chicago area’s rich pool of gospel, blues, and rhythm and blues talent.87 Al Benson’s revue in September 1955 packed the Regal for seven days and was reportedly close to breaking a record. Management

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brought Benson back to lead another successful production in November. This time rhythm and blues (rock ‘n’ roll) guitarist and vocalist Chuck Berry; blues great Big Maybelle; blues saxophonist Red Prysock and orchestra; singing groups, the Cardinals and the Nutmegs; blues vocalist Nappy Brown; and blues man Little Willie Foster, who was proficient on guitar, harmonica, and piano, were among the attractions.88 The popularity of blues, rhythm and blues, and so-called rock ‘n’ roll was at an all-time high. However, blues, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll were simply labels, and for African Americans, the music of Benson’s shows flowed as one seamless genre emanating from the Black experience. Benson’s productions became commonplace at the Regal, and they expanded from one-night affairs to the traditional seven-day stage show. There were only two weeklong stage shows at the Regal in 1955, and deejay Al Benson produced both of them.89

The Beneficiaries of Black Cultural Products: An Old Problem Resurfaces An old political-cultural-economic issue resurfaced in 1955, as the new music, rhythm and blues, gained ascendancy in the marketplace. African Americans expressed again their angst against the limited degree to which they benefited from their own cultural products. Writing in the Chicago Defender, Hilda See observed that logically Black songwriters should have been able to capitalize on the increasingly widespread acclaim of rhythm and blues. Traditionally, she explained, Black songwriters were handicapped because of limited outlets for their products. The big money came from Broadway and Hollywood, and with some exceptions, these outlets provided sparse opportunities for Black songwriters. Moreover, “few rhythm and blues tunes were used in either pictures or Broadway shows.” However, the writer opined that the trend toward rhythm and blues, which included use by Broadway and motion pictures, was creating a congestion of songwriters in the field. She lamented that “as you’d expect the ones getting the big gold are whites, who just recently invaded the rhythm and blues field.” Hilda See brought to light again the persistent problem that Blacks—in a society of systemic White privilege—benefited the least from their own cultural products. This situation was especially poignant to African Americans because they were an economically dislocated group whose cultural products had become the foundation for US and world popular culture and essential to the success of a

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national and international market system. Noting the past, the writer found that the subordination of the Black songwriter in rhythm and blues was an expected outcome. She lamented, “Swing, Bebop and jazz also originated with Sepians [African Americans] who stood by and watched the whites move in and take ‘em over. Thus one expects what has occurred in the blues and rhythm field to happen.”90 A related issue was the recognition and monetary rewards that Whites gave to White artists who expropriated popular African American expressive forms in music and dance, recognition and rewards that were superior to those that Whites gave to African American innovators and artists. White audiences consumed Black cultural products, but they preferred Black music and expressive forms to come through White imitators. More importantly, Whites typically established other Whites as icons and even as the creators of African American–based popular culture. Furthermore, Whites at times applied aesthetic judgements regarding the execution of African American expressive forms that often seemed ludicrous to Blacks, but Whites had the power to define, institutionalize, and reward that which suited their sensibilities. Whites accomplished these ends through their dominance as consumers and through their control of relevant institutions of ideation and cultural production. The rise of Elvis Presley as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” was one example. For Blacks, Elvis was an interesting but mediocre performer, whose appeal to Whites was based on his flawed execution of Black expressive traditions. Moreover, with respect to so-called rock ‘n’ roll, there was the question of who originated the style. Sensitivity to these issues ran through various segments of the Black community. Blues great Wynonie Harris, for example, claimed that he originated the style called rock ‘n’ roll ten years before Elvis Presley. Later, the Chicago Defender, concerned about giving recognition to the Black innovators of rock ‘n’ roll, reported that Elvis Presley admitted to copying B. B. King and expressive styles emanating from African American revival meetings.91

B & K and Ken Blewett Move On From 1956 through 1958, the Regal committed to fewer stage shows, although quality remained high. Management expressed that things would get better, but the end was near. Independent promotional activity by Al Benson continued to be a rejuvenating force, but this was not enough for the Regal’s current corporate owners. Despite the popularity of large rhythm and blues shows, the Regal in 1956 was not limited to this format. Instead, Balaban and

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Katz continued at the Regal its tradition of variety entertainment that cut across diverse interests and categories of age and class. However, the frequency of stage shows remained low, and there were only four weeklong shows during the entire year. The first show occurred in February and included singing sensation Roy Hamilton; the Erskine Hawkins orchestra with vocalist Dolly Lyons; singing group, the El Dorados; and comedians George Kirby and Clay Tyson.92 The second show in March headlined vocalists Al Hibbler and Della Reese; singing group, the Orioles, featuring Sonny Til; the comedy team of Flournoy Miller and Mantan Moreland; dancer Derby Wilson; and the Eddy Haywood orchestra.93 The third show in April showcased the Buddy Johnson orchestra with blues artist Ella Johnson; singing group, the Coasters; comedian Slappy White and the slapstick comedy of the Zephyrs; the comedy team of Apus and Estrellita; and trick skater Jay Smythe.94 The final stage show of the year was in late December and starred Pearl Bailey and her revue. Featured performers included drummer Louis Bellson (White), the Benny Carter band, dancer Bill Bailey, the Phillip Forte dancers, and specialty dancers Condos and Brandow (White). Duke Ellington’s band appeared on the midnight show.95 In addition to the four weeklong stage shows, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority held a benefit at the Regal in December that featured jazz musicians, pianist Ahmad Jamal and saxophonist Sonny Stitt.96 Stage shows at the Regal increased to seven weeklong engagements in 1957. Perhaps the increase occurred because, late in 1956, manager Ken Blewett made a public announcement that he would rejuvenate the tradition of live shows at the Regal and bring in only top talent.97 In the current climate, some considered such a recommitment to stage shows to be risky. Competition was intense. Bookings of individual stars had shifted to smaller clubs, which were in great abundance. Venues larger than the Regal competed for packaged shows, which used multiple stars and large numbers of acts to draw crowds and fill seats. Of these packaged shows, the rhythm-and-bluesrock-and-roll format was exceptionally popular.98 Productions by Al Benson and Larry Steele provided all of the stage shows for 1957. Benson’s business address was 1510 East FiftyFifth Street, and Steele’s permanent address was 8021 South Prairie. Benson’s revue in February 1957 opened the year with blues great Big Joe Turner, rhythm and blues sensation Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and popular crooner Arthur Prysock. Other performers were singer Billy Gale; doo-wop and rhythm and blues groups, the Spaniels and the Eldorados; vocal duo (Billy) Brooks and (Piney) Brown; dancers,

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the Three Rhythm Kings; blues singer Jimmy Reed; saxophonist Tab Smith and his band; and more.99 Larry Steele brought his Smart Affairs of 1957 into the Regal in mid-March. Carrying fifty entertainers, Steele’s show included recording star Dakota Staton; singing group, the Wanderers; calypso artists, the Fouchee Dancers; comedian Willie Lewis; tap dancers, the Leonard Brothers; Steele’s famous “Beige Beauties”; and others.100 Al Benson returned in May with a blues, doo-wop, and rhythm and blues lineup that included Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Big Maybelle, Bobby Blue Bland, Junior Parker, Solomon Burke, the Sensations, the Dells, the Spaniels, Little Esther, Nappy Brown, Annie Laurey, and bassist Al Smith and his orchestra.101 In early September pianist and song stylist Ivory Joe Hunter; singing group, the Spaniels; singer, saxophonist Sil Austin and orchestra; vocalists Joan Shaw, Arthur Prysock, Titus Turner, and Lillian Offitt; and more were part of the next Al Benson revue.102 Benson followed with another show in November that included the fabulous singing group, the Dells; Screamin’ Jay Hawkins; and Big Maybelle.103 Larry Steele followed with his Smart Affairs of 1958 in early December. In this show LaVern Baker led a lineup of fifty performers, and the immensely popular Red Saunders band provided musical background for the production.104 An Al Benson revue ended the year in late December with vocal artists and groups that included the Ravens, Jo-Ann Henderson, the Hollywood Flames, Valerie Carr, Percy Mayfield, Ted Taylor, Jackie Wilson, the Five Satins, and Billy “The Kid” Emerson. The Red Saunders band provided the music, and Red Saunder’s wife, contortionist Vi Kemp, also performed.105 The revues produced by Larry Steele and Al Benson drew heavily on the popularity of recording artists with current releases. However, Steele’s productions tended to showcase a variety of dancers, comedians, novelty acts, and the like. Benson, instead, relied heavily on solo and group vocalists, whose records he had promoted through radio play. The two weeks of stage shows in 1958 were crowd-pleasers. Jazz great Count Basie and his band headed the first show, which began at the end of February. Basie featured Joe Williams on vocals. Joining the Basie contingent were the marvelous tap dance team of (Honi) Coles and (Cholly) Atkins, the Phillip Forte Dancers, comedian Redd Foxx, and singer Jewel Rhynes from Broadway.106 The second and final stage show for the year occurred in late April and was another Al Benson production. This Benson creation had more of the flavor of a variety show. It included the Johnny Pate trio

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and orchestra; vocalist Ruth Brown; comedian Nipsey Russell; singer Arthur Prysock; jazz organist “Wild” Bill Davis; blues specialist “Sunny Boy” Williamson; popular vocal group, the Spaniels; and tap dance star Bunny Briggs.107 The increase in stage shows in 1957 was short-lived, and in 1958, stage shows at the Regal declined again to only two week-long shows. The reality was that Balaban and Katz saw a viable market for stage shows, but not at the Regal. The movie theater company was finished with live presentations at the Regal by the end of 1958 and did not renew its lease that lapsed in 1959. Instead, the theater chain moved its stage shows and manager Ken Blewett to its theater on Sixty-Third and Cottage Grove, the Tivoli, which was about two-and-one-half miles southeast of the Regal. As a relatively more affluent Black population moved further south beyond Sixty-Third Street, the Tivoli appeared to be in the midst of the type of market that initially made the Regal an attractive venture. In addition, the Tivoli had about 600 more seats than the Regal. Perhaps indicative of the southward expansion of Chicago’s Black population was the new importance of Sixty-Third Street as a commercial strip in the Black community.108 Symbolic of this shift, by August 1957, Walker Beauty College, headed by Marjorie Stewart Joyner, which had previously been housed in the Regal Theater commercial complex, had moved to 6352 Cottage Grove near the Tivoli.109

Getting Paid Not much is know about the contract arrangements at the Regal Theater, but there are some examples from the waning years of Balaban and Katz control of the Theater. For his 1957 and 1958 productions, Regal management typically paid Al Benson 50 percent of gross box-office receipts in excess of $2,500, exclusive of admission taxes. From this sum, Benson paid his performers. In addition, bands that backed Regal stage shows typically included ten to twelve musicians.110 ABC-Paramount, its Paramount Theater Services Corporation, and its various other corporations used for booking purposes, typically awarded a percentage of box-office receipts to compensate acts for the Regal. Regal management did business with major booking agencies like the Gale Agency and William Morris, as well as independents like Larry Steele’s Smart Affairs, Al Benson, and other representatives. A contract with the William Morris Agency in October 1954 awarded a 50 percent net split on box-office receipts, after a $2,500 deduction,

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exclusive of admission taxes, for the Will Mastin Trio, featuring Sammy Davis Jr. The act also received a minimum guarantee of $5,000 per week. In July 1955, a contract with the Gale Agency awarded $7,500, plus a 50 percent net split on gross box-office receipts over $19,000, exclusive of admission taxes, for an eight-toten-act rhythm and blues show than included disk jockey Al Benson. In September 1955 a contract with the Gale Agency awarded $7,500, plus a 50 percent net split on gross receipts over $19,000, exclusive of admission taxes, for a seven-or-eight-act rock ‘n’ roll show at the Regal, which consisted of one or two disk jockeys. In 1958, a contract with Larry Steele awarded a 50 percent net split on box-office receipts above $2,500, exclusive of admission taxes. As a final example, a contract with Count Basie in January 1958 awarded $10,000 and a 50 percent net split on box-office receipts over $22,500, exclusive of admission taxes. The Basie contract was for sixteen musicians and one vocalist and required thirty-one shows over seven days, plus rehearsal time.111 As usual 1957 and 1958 spanned a number of important events related to the entertainment life of the Regal. In early 1958, Louie DeLisa, one of the brothers that operated the Club DeLisa at 5521 South State Street, died suddenly of a heart attack. A short time later the club would close its doors.112 This left African American entrepreneur Herman Robert’s establishment (Roberts Show Club) at 6222 South Parkway as the most significant nightclub on the South Side.113

The Transition to Independence Nineteen fifty-nine opened with news that Balaban and Katz was in the process of reinstating stage shows at its Tivoli Theater to the south of the Regal on Sixty-Third and Cottage Grove. Other reports indicated that Ken Blewett would move to the Tivoli to oversee its live presentations. Moreover, the Regal’s market had begun to shift southward, making the commercial strip on Sixty-Third Street, which fed into the Tivoli, an attractive area. Swift, convenient, and cheap public transportation in the form of an elevated train serviced Forty-Seventh Street near the Regal. This same train serviced SixtyThird and Cottage Grove near the Tivoli. Robert Roy, entertainment journalist for the Chicago Defender, saw the shift as a logical one. He observed: “The Tivoli, one of the largest houses on the Southside, will be ideal for stage shows. . . . it is located in the center of the redistricting that has seen so many Regal customers of the past move farther south.”114

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However, the public did not know that Balaban and Katz intended to drop its management of the Regal. In fact, there was debate in late January over what seemed to be a discrepancy regarding the appearance of singer Dakota Staton. Based upon correspondence with her record label, Capitol Records, the Chicago Defender learned that Staton was to appear in a forthcoming stage show at the Regal. However, Balaban and Katz consistently reported to the Defender that it had no stage show with Staton planned for the Regal, but had booked Pearl Bailey for the Tivoli. The Defender was aware that the lease with Balaban and Katz was about to expire but could only speculate that B & K was going to drop its management of the Regal.115 However, when the official news of the break came, the Chicago Defender expressed general optimism that future stage shows could be successful at the Regal and the Tivoli. The newspaper observed a trend wherein stage shows at selected movie houses in key markets around the country were becoming standard. This trend provided multiple outlets for touring performers. These other markets enhanced the viability of stage shows at the Regal and Tivoli because collectively they formed a de facto theater circuit. This circuit structure created more stable work for performers and a more predictable market for promoters. In addition, in 1959, Chicago had a strong talent base supported by numerous entertainment outlets, making it less necessary for a theatrical workforce to travel in order to secure work. A critical factor was that these outlets utilized Black talent. The Chicago Defender observed: Several new outlets have opened to [top local talent] in [the] past few seasons. Most of the taverns on Chicago’s Southside now regularly employ musicians and singers. In addition to this outlet there are several places in the loop [downtown Chicago] and just north of the loop where live talent is employed regardless of color. With such places open to them the musicians and singers do not care to hit the road even though the money may flow more freely. At home the expense is less and the wear from travel is eliminated.116

When news of the break between the Regal and Balaban and Katz broke in early February, Harry Englestein was vice president of the South Parkway Building Corporation, the real estate holding company that owned the Regal and the entire South Center commercial complex. Englestein announced that the Regal would operate as a division of the Building Corporation. Regal owners hired George L. Brandt (White), a former district supervisor for Balaban and Katz and

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close friend of former manager Ken Blewett, to serve as managing director. Subsequently, Brandt selected Si Griever to take charge of film purchases and Charles Hogan to book live talent for the stage shows.117 Regal officials selected African American Roger Glover as its front-house manager. Glover, who was thirty years old, started as an usher with the Regal in 1944. He attended Willard Elementary School, Du Sable High School, and Wilson Junior College. Glover became chief of services at the Regal before Balaban and Katz transferred him to the Tivoli to become assistant manager in 1951. He was the first Black manager at the Tivoli. B & K subsequently promoted Glover to manage its Central Park Theater on the West Side, which was in an area that was becoming racially integrated. Glover was the first Black manager at Central Park. Since George Brandt had been a district manager for Balaban and Katz, he knew of Glover’s work and hired him to manage the front-house operations for the newly independent Regal. Glover lived with his wife of four years, Yvonne, and his sixteen-month-old daughter, Marsha, at 6536 South Parkway.118 The Chicago Defender cited Englestein as “a familiar figure in Chicago real estate” whose South Center Department Store, which opened in 1928, became the first major department store in the country to hire African Americans as clerks. The Defender explained that in 1928 Englestein appointed an African American, Dick Jones, to manage the department store. In praise of Englestein, the Defender reported that “a long list of successful political and business leaders . . . got their start at the South Center Department Store.” Jones, for example, who rose to become a vice president at the store, among other accomplishments, had recently become a U.S. ambassador to Liberia. Englestein made a strong commitment to compete with the Tivoli and the commercial district on Sixty-Third Street. He explained that for thirty-one years Balaban and Katz made no improvements or modernization of the Regal, but this would change under his new management group. Regal officials initiated a $250,000 remodeling plan. They installed “new upholstered body-form seats,” and modernized the front arcade, box office, lounges, and lobby. The work was completed without shutting down the theater, and some of the construction work was done after closing. Englestein pledged to upgrade the motion picture product and to continue high-quality stage shows. He also led a $1,500,000 improvement program for the Forty-Seventh and South Parkway business district.119

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Competing Palaces—Independent versus Corporate Competition between the independent Regal and the Balaban and Katz Tivoli was immediate and intense. In March, ads for the Regal Theater in the movie section of the Chicago Tribune no longer appeared with other Balaban and Katz neighborhood theaters and was, perhaps, the most graphic indication of the break between the two historic entities. The norm throughout the decade among neighborhood movie houses was to offer two films or double features. At times, the Regal offered a triple feature. However, the Regal reduced its film presentations to one when it booked live shows. Stage shows typically were for seven days. The Tivoli duplicated the film and stage-show policy of the Regal. Further, it was not uncommon for the Regal and the Tivoli to book copies of the same film. However, it was unlikely that both films of a double feature would be the same for these two theaters. Each theater resorted to large display ads to market their stage shows. The Tivoli’s display ad dwarfed that of the Regal’s for its opening stage show, but the Regal responded with larger ads at other times. Both theaters booked stage shows for March 27, which was Ken Blewett’s debut stage show at the Tivoli.120 Over the course of the year, however, Regal stage shows were more frequent. The Regal provided about eleven weeks of shows to the Tivoli’s seven weeks.121 The Regal and the Tivoli booked top talent with proven drawing power for their March and April shows. The Tivoli headliner in March was singer, comedian Pearl Bailey. With Bailey were drummer Louis Bellson and his seventeen-piece orchestra; the fourteen-voice Rhythm Choir; actress Helen Thigpen of Porgy and Bess (1959) fame; tap dancers (Honi) Coles and (Cholly) Atkins; singing groups, the Ambassadors, the Four Voices, the Flamingoettes; and other acts. The show claimed a contingent of fifty-five performers. The Regal show for March headlined vibraphonist, pianist, drummer Lionel Hampton and his band. Other attractions were singing sensation Dee Clark; popular singing group, the Flamingoes; comedian Slappy White; and comic juggler Ben Beri.122 The Regal’s April stage show featured jazz vocalist Sarah Vaughan, jazz flutist and saxophonist James Moody and orchestra, organist Dave “Baby” Cortez and combo, comedian Redd Foxx, and others.123 Later in April the Tivoli stage show presented singers Fats Domino, Big Maybelle, Priscilla Bowman, and Joe Medlin; singing group, the Cadillacs; and guitarist Lefty Bates and his Rhythm Band.124

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The Regal provided two weeklong stage shows in May, and the Tivoli furnished one. Regal management again partnered with popular disk jockey Al Benson for a production. The Benson revue featured hot recording star Jackie Wilson; saxophonist Sil Austin and his orchestra; singers Etta James, Eugene Church, and Lorez Alexandria; singing groups, the El Dorados and the Channels; “Six Benson Beauties”; and jazz organist Sarah McLawler.125 The second stage show presented singers Clyde McPhatter and Jerry Butler; singing groups, the Crests, the Impalas, and Little Anthony and the Imperials; and trumpeter Erskine Hawkins and his orchestra.126 Early in May, the Tivoli brought back the Pearl Bailey revue by popular demand.127 The Chicago Defender reported that both the Regal and the Tivoli were doing well and were successful additions to the informal theater circuit, which catered to an African American market, that included New York’s Apollo Theater and the Howard Theater in Washington DC. Attendance at the stage shows were more than adequate, and reportedly high profile performers like Pearl Bailey were able to make as much money at the Regal or Tivoli, through taking a percentage of the gate, as they could at top nightclubs around the country.128 In fact, by the middle of 1959, there was a noticeable trend toward resuming stage shows in, or increasing their frequency at, various movie houses across the country.129 In addition, the Chicago Defender reported that fashion shows, similar to those produced by Marva Louis, were on the decline at movie houses. These shows had been less costly but successful substitutes for a depressed stage-show market. However, in 1959, the fortunes of stage shows had turned around.130 The year continued with entertaining productions at the Regal and the Tivoli. In June, organist Dave “Baby” Cortez; guitarist and bassist Frank Virtue and his band, the Virtues; singing group, Harvey and the Moonglows; singers Sam Hawkins, Valerie Carr, Arnold Dover, and Lula Reed; and pianist, vocalist Sonny Thompson were on the bill at the Tivoli. In July, the Regal produced two stage shows. The first presented singers Tommy Edwards and Ernestine Anderson; vocal jazz group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross; jazz trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison and his quintet and orchestra; comedian Jackie “Moms” Mabley; and magic act, Dolinoff and the Raya Sisters. The second stage show was billed as a “Jazz Festival.” It featured singer Dakota Staton, trumpeter Miles Davis, organist Jimmy Smith and his trio, singer Leon Thomas, saxophonist Sonny Stitt and orchestra, and comedian Nipsey Russell.

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The Tivoli also hosted two shows in July. The first stage show presented popular vocalists LaVern Baker and Roy Hamilton; singing group Huey P. Smith and the Clowns; another singing group, the Skyliners; and saxophonist Red Prysock and his band. The second show featured saxophonist, vocalist Louis Jordan and his Tympani Five; vocalist Dottie Smith; the comedy dance team of Stump and Stumpy; the chorus line of the beautiful Dyerettes; singer Beverly Ann Gibson; sexy singing duo, the Spence Twins; and the swinging Red Saunders orchestra.131 Both the Regal and the Tivoli booked a weeklong stage show for August. However, only the Regal followed with bookings for the remainder of the year. The Regal’s August show presented singers Della Reese and Al Hibbler; saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and trio, saxophonist and flutist James Moody and orchestra, drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, tap dancer Bobby Ephram, and more. In August, the Tivoli booked singer Eartha Kitt and her revue, which included saxophonist Reuben Phillips and orchestra.132 In September, Al Benson produced another show for the Regal and concentrated as usual on blues and rhythm and blues performers. His revue included tenor saxophonist Big Jay McNeely and band, which featured blues harpist and vocalist Little Sonny. Other prominent vocal entertainers were James Brown and the Flames, Eugene Church, Etta James, and Justine “Baby” Washington. The major instrumental contingent was saxophonist Sil Austin and orchestra.133 Singer Ray Charles and the Raelets came into the Regal in October and were supported by jazz organist Sarah McLawler and trio and singer Gloria Lynne.134 The last two shows for the year at the Regal were in November and December. They had variety but maintained a strong emphasis on leading jazz talent. The November show included singer Dakota Staton, organist Jimmy Smith, saxophonist Johnny Griffin and orchestra, pianist Red Garland, vocalist Leon Thomas, and more.135 Trumpeter Miles Davis and his sextet, drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, singer Betty Carter, saxophonist Jesse Powell and orchestra, singer Bill Henderson, comedian Slappy White, and tap dance team, the Four Step Brothers, made up the bill in December.136 For the Regal, the 1950s ended on the upswing, despite intense competition from the Tivoli and other venues and the southward movement of its traditional market. The most notable event for the Theater was its change to independent management. The relationship between the Regal and disk jockey Al Benson was a useful one and most likely helped the Regal to remain competitive.137 Forty-Seventh

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Street had become more accessible to African American entrepreneurs and remained the strongest commercial district in the Black community. The district had experienced some decline and challenges, but the synergy of tradition, diverse retail outlets, a central location, convenient transportation, and the like helped to sustain the Regal into the next decade. The 1960s would bring even greater challenges to the Regal and its first and only Black owner.

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CHAP TER

5

Rebirth, Black Ownership, and the Closing of the Palace

The defining event of the 1960s for the Regal Theater was its shift to Black ownership. This shift symbolized the possibility that Bronzeville Blacks could retain and control desirable businesses in their own community. Ownership of the Regal Theater and the commercial complex of which it was a part did not represent a business opportunity that Whites had ignored. Ownership of the Regal had been a coveted and lucrative endeavor for thirty-five years. Blacks had always served as a theatrical workforce, whose cultural products formed the foundation of American popular culture. However, ownership of major institutions to exhibit and profit from those products was always elusive to African Americans. There were a few exceptions, of course, though small and short-lived. Moreover, S. B. Fuller, the Regal’s owner to be, was making a name for himself. He seemed to embody the idea that Blacks could become major players in the business world. Fuller’s achievements appeared even more significant in the midst of the Civil Rights, Black Power, and Black Consciousness movements. Acquiring ownership, which meant the possibility of self-determination, fit the aspirations of a Black community that was circumscribed by multiple and profound levels of inequality, some visible, some invisible. After all, much of Bronzeville was absentee owned and, most certainly, absentee controlled by White power-brokers. Blacks were powerless to develop Bronzeville or determine its destiny. Indeed, in an earlier period Blacks struggled against Whites who wanted to keep them out of this community. Blacks also confronted White business owners who would not hire them, even though these White-owned businesses existed in the Black Belt and depended on a Black clientele. The struggle for survival, acceptance, equality, ownership, and transcendence was the history of Chicago’s Bronzeville, as it was for similar Black communities across the country.

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Thus, Black entrepreneurs routinely looked for ways to gain significant ownership of their communities, but as long as large amounts of money were to be made, White power brokers would have none of this. The takeover of policy gambling in Bronzeville was, perhaps, the best example. S. B. Fuller, many thought, was on a different path. Unfortunately, Fuller had only caught a brief wave of prosperity and was sitting atop an ocean of social and economic forces that he and other Black entrepreneurs had not seen before. Fuller did not understand why White power-brokers were willing to give up control of the Regal Theater at this historical moment in time. This chapter examines the Regal’s transition to Black ownership and its closing, while chronicling the Regal’s continuing role as a remarkable outlet for Black popular culture.

The Pre-Fuller and Fuller Eras The life of the Regal in the 1960s is divided into two periods, before S. B. Fuller (1960–1963) and the Fuller era (1963–1968). From 1960 to 1963, the Regal Theater experienced a rebirth. Moreover, 1960 was the first full year after Regal owners had severed their ties with ABC-Paramount-Balaban and Katz and became guided by new, independent management. Regal owners invested in remodeling parts of the Theater and in improving the commercial district that surrounded the structure. Management expressed a strong commitment to the stage-show tradition and produced eighteen weeklong productions in 1960. This was one of the highest numbers of weeklong stage shows since the Regal opened in 1928. Subsequently, in 1961, stage presentations at the Regal declined to thirteen weeklong shows and one two-day show, but rose again to fifteen weeklong shows in 1962. Stage presentations declined again to eleven weeklong shows in 1963. Nonetheless, annual double-digit stage shows were impressive. Late in 1963, Samuel B. Fuller purchased the commercial complex that housed the Regal. During the next several years, 1964, 1965, and 1966, the Regal produced fifteen, fourteen, and fifteen shows respectively that were weeklong or longer. Nineteen sixty-seven was a down year with only five weeklong shows. Nineteen sixty-eight was the final year of operation at the Regal. There were fourteen stage-show productions, but collectively they only totaled about eight-and-one-half weeks of performances. Indicative of troubled times, stage-show presentations at the Regal in 1968 routinely deviated from the traditional seven-day format and Friday start date.

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Critical Demographic Shifts A significant decline in the Regal’s market position became evident in the 1960s, as Bronzeville began to feel the impact of key demographic changes. Between 1950 and 1960, the Black population of Chicago grew from 492,000 to 813,000, and by 1969, it numbered close to one million.1 However, between 1950 and 1960, the population of Grand Boulevard, the Black community that contained the Regal, declined from 114,557 to 80,076. Also, the area was getting younger and older, losing its population of working-age adults. In 1950, 25.1 percent of the population of Grand Boulevard was nineteen or younger. This age category increased to 33 percent and 45.8 percent for the years 1960 and 1970 respectively. The proportion of people twenty to sixty-four years of age dropped from 69.3 percent in 1950 to 57.6 percent in 1960 to 43.2 percent in 1970. In addition, between 1950 and 1970, the proportion of the Grand Boulevard population that was sixty-five and older rose from 5.6 percent to 11 percent.2 The Washington Park community, which was contiguous to, and to the south of, Grand Boulevard, showed similar trends. In 1950, 22.9 percent of the population was nineteen and younger, a proportion which increased to 27.8 percent by 1960 and 40.8 percent by 1970. The proportion of the Washington Park population that was between twenty and sixty-four years of age declined from 71.5 percent in 1950 to 62.5 percent by 1960 to 48.8 percent by 1970. Between 1950 and 1970 the proportion of the Washington Park population that was sixty-five and older increased from 5.6 percent to 10.4 percent.3 The Douglas community, which was to the north of, and contiguous to, the Regal’s Grand Boulevard community, showed comparable demographic changes. In 1950 there were 78,745 people in this community. This number dropped to 52,325 by 1960 and 41,276 by 1970. It too lost a significant number of working-age adults and became younger and older. In 1950, 32.7 percent of the Douglas community were nineteen or younger; 62 percent were between twenty and sixty-four years of age. In 1960, 45 percent were nineteen or younger, and 48.9 percent were between the ages of twenty and sixty-four. Stabilizing to some degree by 1970, 43.5 percent of the Douglas population were nineteen or younger and 48.8 percent were twenty to sixty-four. Between 1950 and 1970, the proportion of the Douglas community that was sixty-five and over grew from 5.3 percent to 7.7 percent.4 Thus, Douglas, Grand Boulevard, and Washington Park, which made up the traditional Black Belt (Bronzeville), were rapidly losing

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their prime working-age residents relative to younger and older segments of the population. In addition, renters largely occupied these three communities and not homeowners, which heightened the demographic instability of the Black Belt as the housing stock aged and little redevelopment took place. Between 1950 and 1970, the proportion of housing units in Douglas that were rental occupied ranged from 89.9 percent to 90.2 percent. For the same time period, the proportion of housing units that were renter occupied ranged from 90.9 percent to 85.4 percent in Grand Boulevard and 92.1 percent to 87.5 percent in Washington Park.5 Although Black Belt residents made economic gains, they encountered diverse, mitigating circumstances. Sociologists St. Clair Drake and Horace Cayton reported that the purchasing power of Black Belt residents had increased significantly during the 1950s, but Black unemployment remained three times that of Whites. Systemic racism in education and employment continued to create great disparities between Black and White income. In 1960, for example, the median family income for Chicago was $7,342; for Blacks it was $4,786.6 Racist rental and mortgage lending practices resulting in residential segregation forced Blacks to pay more for housing than Whites, and this housing was more likely to be substandard. Drake and Cayton observed that non-White renters were twice as likely as Whites to live in substandard housing, and non-White homeowners were six times as likely as Whites to live in substandard housing. They also observed that beginning in the 1950s, Whites in Chicago began to move in substantial numbers to suburbs that did not welcome Blacks. In 1950 there were 3,112,000 Whites in Chicago. By 1960 this number had declined to 2,713,000. Racially discriminatory practices by private lending institutions and government agencies stifled investment and redevelopment, destroyed the housing market, and uprooted businesses and residents in the Black Belt. Most importantly, in the 1960s, deindustrialization became a fact of life, and Chicago began to experience a significant loss of manufacturing jobs. Historic racism disproportionately located Black workers in the manufacturing-related, unskilled and semiskilled jobs that were disappearing. Consequently, during the 1960s, joblessness and population shifts eroded the commercial viability of the communities that supported the Regal.7 Also, even though Forty-Seventh Street, where the Regal was located, remained an active commercial district, sociologists St. Clair Drake and Horace Cayton observed in 1961 that the Black Belt’s business center had shifted two miles to the south to Sixty-Third Street.8

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The dependent and exploited character of the Black Belt eliminated the possibility for meaningful residential renewal and development, which could have stabilized the Regal’s market. When development did take place, it reflected enduring policies of racial discrimination and neglect. One example was the construction of Robert Taylor Homes, reportedly the largest public housing project in America, on the western boundary of the Grand Boulevard and Washington Park communities. This project extended along State Street from about Thirty-Eighth Street to Fifty-Fourth Street and several blocks to the west. It consisted of twenty-eight, sixteen-story buildings that accommodated over 27,000 people. The housing facility’s 4,500 units consisted of three-, four-, and five-bedroom apartments.9 On paper the project was supposed to aid employed people who could not find decent, affordable housing. Theoretically, families could live economically in public housing while they saved to secure a home. However, from its inception the endeavor was based on a policy of racial segregation and subordination and was characterized by neglect and indifference. Urban planners and government officials wanted to keep Blacks out of White neighborhoods. Funding for building maintenance and recreational facilities was inadequate. Segregation policies and indifference created overcrowded schools, and the structural arrangement of the buildings did not meet the needs of families with large numbers of children. Deteriorating economic conditions, in the context of a poorly planned and serviced public housing project, contributed to higher unemployment and poverty and heightened youth gang activity in the twenty-eight-building facility.10 Thus, it was not possible for the sprawling urban renewal project to stabilize the community surrounding the Regal Theater. There were some countervailing human elements, however. The hard work, character, and sense of community maintained by many of the residents of Robert Taylor Homes helped to mitigate and transcend some of the negative social outcomes precipitated by institutionalized racism and indifferent government officials.

Critical Market Changes As indicated previously, commercial segregation, which had been an accommodation to residential segregation, broke down as White businesses competed for Black consumer dollars. Residential segregation was slow to change, however. Nonetheless, Black residential expansion proliferated, as the Black population grew and Whites fled to the

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suburbs and other locations away from Blacks who sought better housing in the city. Historic forced underdevelopment and dependency made it impossible for Black Belt residents to renew and stabilize their communities. Thus, those who could flee from the deteriorating conditions did so. The obsolescence of commercial segregation also contributed to the flight of White businesses from the Black Belt. This flight briefly created space for some Black entrepreneurs as Whites relinquished their monopolies over various retail activities in the Black Belt. The prior economic success of the Regal was connected to the advantages White business had gained in the Black community through the existence of systemic White supremacy racism, which included commercial segregation. Moreover, the Regal had been able to gain additional advantage in the marketplace because of its connections to a corporate monopoly, which included assistance from organized crime. These advantages no longer existed. Movie palaces like the Regal had been losing their economic viability for over two decades. With the demise of vaudeville and powerful theater circuits, live shows at movie houses were rare. Only large palaces had the seating capacities to support increasingly expensive talent, but they also had their limits. By the 1960s the remaining theater palaces were aging structures that were too expensive to maintain. Nationally, weekly movie attendance—given the emergence of TV and the recreational mobility provided by the automobile—had dropped significantly by 1953. This attendance was typically in the eighty million range in the 1940s but declined to the forty million range in the 1950s and 1960s.11 Also, as discussed previously, the former operators of the Regal and other movie palaces in Chicago and elsewhere had forfeited their local and national monopolies over first-run film exhibition. The Regal’s market in 1960 reflected two opposing trends. The decline in commercial segregation tended to erode the Regal’s traditional market by giving larger and more cost-efficient venues outside the Black Belt access to Black consumers. However, Black-appeal radio helped to stimulate the Regal’s market by driving consumer demand for Black popular culture while profiting from the advertising dollars of businesses that wanted to reach a relatively untapped but growing Black consumer market. Record companies wanted access to Black-appeal radio because it sold records. Regal management found it profitable to book talent with record releases that had substantial radio play. Stage-show talent, which was increasingly confined to singers and singing groups, needed performance opportunities at

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major theaters like the Regal, and they needed radio play to enhance their marketability. Popular disc jockeys like Al Benson became rich brokers to these various constituencies. Al Benson could make money for radio stations and was allowed, at least for a while, to control access to radio play. He could get prominent talent (which he helped to promote) cheaply, and he could secure the support of record companies, (of which there were many in Chicago). As a consequence, Al Benson was in a position to produce stage shows in a cost-effective manner. He could also promote these shows through his radio programs. The demise of powerful theater circuits and the emergence of independent theaters, such as the Regal, which needed cost effective ways to produce their stage shows, spawned heavy reliance on independent producers like Benson. Other prominent disc jockeys would follow in his footsteps, but Al Benson was the pioneer, and perhaps, the most successful disc-jockey broker at the Regal and in Chicago’s Black community. The disc-jockey broker, however, was a national phenomenon, as the new music of rhythm and blues or rock ‘n’ roll became the dance music of the country. In 1960, the power and importance of the disc-jockey broker was illustrated in the national payola or pay-for-play scandal.

Payola and the Disc-Jockey Broker Payola was the practice by recording companies and record distributors of paying disc jockeys to get their records played on the radio. It took the form of cash payments or gifts of various kinds. In New York City a grand jury charged five disc jockeys with commercial bribery for accepting cash to play records. The most prominent disc jockey charged was Alan Freed, the White radio personality who some called the “father of rock ‘n’ roll.”12 Freed, while a disc jockey at Cleveland’s WJW radio station in the early 1950s, coined the term rock ‘n’ roll as a way to market to White audiences the popular musical styles created by African Americans. Although Freed borrowed the term, rock ‘n’ roll, which in Black vernacular meant to engage in sexual intercourse, the phrase tended to dull the racial-cultural origins of the music. It also played up a hedonistic, rebellious and sexualized lifestyle that proved attractive to a White teen culture. This commercial image ignored the full range and complexity of the African American experience and the broad spectrum and meaning of the popular musical forms that reflected that experience. Freed attempted to imitate the stylistic presentations of Black disc jockeys, which included adapting an on-air moniker; he called himself

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Moon Dog.13 In fact, the former emcee of the Regal and Apollo Theaters, Ralph Cooper, said that Freed, while in Cleveland, literally stole the format for his so-called rock ‘n’ roll, Moon Dog show from tapes of Cooper’s radio program. Cooper’s New York rhythm and blues/rock ‘n’ roll show was broadcast live from the Palm Café on 125th Street just off of Seventh Avenue on station WOV.14 Freed later moved to a station in New York. Here, Freed’s success with White audiences made him a powerful candidate for payola.15 Freed ultimately pled guilty in 1962 to two counts of commercial bribery. He was fined $300 and given a six-month suspended sentence. Although the sentence was not severe, Freed’s career in radio was over.16 The payola scandal in New York reverberated in Chicago. The City’s top-rated White disc jockey, Howard Miller, was released by NBC’s Chicago station, WMAQ, after being accused of accepting payola. Miller, however, was quickly hired by another Chicago radio station, WIND. There were reports that disc jockeys had constructed and circulated a payola guide that listed the prices required to obtain the services of those with the power to provide radio play. In the midst of a slew of accusations and investigations, Al Benson opened his records and revealed that he collected $855 a month from nine recording companies and distributors. The breakdown was $100 from Vee Jay Records; $100 from Chess Records; $200 from All State Record Distributing; $50 from Peacock Record Company in Houston, Texas; $100 from Garmise Distributing; $25 from King Records; $80 from Midwest Distributors; $100 from MS Distributing; and $100 from Apex Records. Benson denied that these sums were payola. Instead, he argued that they were payments for ads in his music magazine, Musically Speaking, and to defray the cost of a survey he conducted to rate records for distributors and record shops.17 Benson survived the payola frenzy and remained in radio. However, during the next year, 1961, promotional outlets that had done so previously did not list stage shows at the Regal as Al Benson productions. Nevertheless, Regal files indicated that Al Benson produced various stage shows at the Regal through early 1963.18 Perhaps Regal management thought it prudent not to advertise its association with the disc jockey after the payola issue. Nonetheless, Al Benson was integral to the success of the Regal up to the era of S. B. Fuller.

Regal Stage Shows Prior to S. B. Fuller In 1960, the eighteen weeks of stage shows at the Regal and the ten-weeks-plus-one-day of stage shows at the Tivoli greatly elevated

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entertainment life on Chicago’s South Side. The Chicago Defender boasted that no comparable combination of outlets for Black talent existed anywhere else in the country.19 In addition the pressure was on by promoters to connect with other live-show venues in the Midwest to ensure sustained bookings. If talent managers could acquire more bookings in Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, and so on, as their clients traveled from coast to coast, the process of acquiring good talent for Chicago venues could be made more cost efficient. Travel was expensive, and long gaps between bookings added to the expense. The Regal and the Tivoli needed the support of Chicago-based and regional venues to help sustain a talent pool and artistic workforce that fit their specific needs, and they also needed to remain competitive with these venues.20 The Regal and the Tivoli produced high-quality shows, but the Regal was clearly the leader in terms of the frequency of shows and cutting-edge entertainment. With a greater number of shows, the Regal was able to offer more variety in the acts that it presented on stage and to capture more of the most popular entertainment trends of the day. The Regal and the Tivoli were fierce competitors but rarely scheduled stage shows at the same time. Thus, stage-show enthusiasts usually did not have to choose between a Regal stage show and a Tivoli stage show during any given week. The rare situation of simultaneous stage shows happened only once in 1960 when the Regal booked a production for a two-week period rather than for the traditional one-week period. Tivoli stage shows competed with the Regal until the Sixty-Third-Street palace finally closed its doors for good on September 19, 1963.21 As indicated previously, Al Benson remained a critical factor in the Regal’s success. He produced at least nine of the Regal’s eighteen, weeklong stage shows in 1960. The stage-show season at the Regal in 1960 began with an Al Benson production in mid-January. Prominent performers were rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues guitarist and vocalist Bo Diddley; organist Bill Doggett and combo; blues vocalists Bobby “Blue” Bland and Little Junior Parker; rhythm and blues singing group and band, the Isley Brothers; jazz tap artist Will Gaines; singer Etta James; and Red Saunders and orchestra. Regal management scheduled two outstanding stage shows for February. The first, an Al Benson production, headlined vocalists Brook Benton and Ruth Brown. Also on stage were jazz flutist and reed man James Moody and his orchestra; blues guitarist and vocalist Gatemouth Brown; blues group, the Little Mac (Simmons) Quintet; blues and rhythm and blues singer Bobby Saxton; comedian Slappy White; and six beautiful dancing showgirls, the Bensonettes.22

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The second show in February was historic. The legendary performer, Josephine Baker, now fifty-four years old, made a rare American appearance. Beginning on the nineteenth at the Regal, Baker starred in her own revue for a two-week engagement. Miss Baker, a longtime resident of Paris and a star of the Parisian entertainment scene, was well received by the Regal crowd. Known for her elaborate and expensive wardrobe, which was created by top French designers, Baker reportedly presented a dazzling performance. In addition to her own featured artists, Red Saunders and his orchestra accompanied Baker.23 March and April stage shows at the Regal were solid productions and completed the first third of 1960. Dinah Washington came into the Regal in mid-March with singer Billy Williams and his Las Vegas revue. With Williams was the talented female trumpet player, Clora Bryant. Among the other performers were tap dancer Skip Cunningham; singing group, the Four Dukes; and the Horace Henderson orchestra.24 Al Benson produced the second Regal stage show in March, billed as the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Jamboree of 1960.” Benson’s array of talent included rhythm and blues groups, the Spaniels, Harvey and the Moonglows, and the Dells; blues specialist Big Maybelle; jazz vocalist Bill Henderson; versatile rhythm and blues stylists Jerry Butler, Wade Flemons, Hal Burrage, Etta James, and Lorez Alexandria; and the Morris Ellis Orchestra.25 The Regal stage show in April offered a thrilling array of thirty singers, dancers, and musicians that performed authentic, traditional African dances and special productions in remembrance of the slavery experience. The show, called “African Holiday,” came into the Regal after a successful run at the Apollo Theater in New York.26 In May, the Regal show, an Al Benson revue, featured comedian Redd Foxx and saxophonist Ernie Fields and orchestra. Popular singers included Major Lance, Irma Thomas, Billy Bland, Frankie Lymon, and the duos of Shirley (Goodman) and (Leonard) Lee and Robert (Carr) and Johnny (Mitchell). An extra added attraction was Bill Black and his “White Silver Sands” combo.27 Bassist Bill Black was a prominent, White rock ‘n’ roll musician who had backed up Elvis Presley. In June, the Regal brought in the dynamic Jackie Wilson and his revue. Rhythm and blues vocalists Ruth McFadden and King Coleman, blues vocalist and guitarist Elmo James, and popular vocal group, the Vibrations, added to the lineup. The bill included White doo-wop group Dion and the Belmonts as an extra added attraction.28 In July the Regal stage show featured rhythm and blues great Ray Charles and his newly organized orchestra. The Raelets, Charles’s

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female back-up group, was an additional attraction. Jazz vocalist Betty Carter; drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers; singing group, the Coasters; and more made for an energetic and enjoyable show.29 Tenor saxophonist Red Prysock (brother of Arthur) and his orchestra backed another Al Benson production, billed as “Al Benson’s All-Stars,” in late July. A Chicago Defender article claimed that “every artist on the bill can boast of one or more hit recordings over [the] past few seasons.” Renowned tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons was also on the bill. On stage were singers who spanned the genres of blues, jump blues, doo-wop, and rhythm and blues. They included Larry Darnell, Faye Adams, Miss LaVell, Ben E. King, the Five Satins, the Fiestas, Big Joe Turner, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Annie Laurie, and Nappy Brown.30 The two Regal shows in August 1960 were also Al Benson productions. The first show featured organist Bill Doggett and his band; blues harpist and vocalist Buster Brown; local rhythm and blues favorite Dee Clark; blues great Big Maybelle; doo-wop sextet, the Shepards (Sheppards); the increasingly popular Isley Brothers; jazz and rhythm and blues singer Little Jimmy Scott; and rhythm and blues vocalist and pianist Roscoe Gordon. Red Saunders and his orchestra backed the show.31 The second Benson production in August brought in the mellow-toned Brook Benton, jazz vocal group Andy (Bey) and the Bey Sisters, crooner Ben E. King, smooth rhythm and blues singer Sammy Turner, Norma’s Dance Sensation, and Red Saunders and orchestra. The bill listed Chicago’s own LaVern Baker as an extra added attraction.32 In September the Regal brought in Count Basie and orchestra, blues and jazz vocalist Lurlean Hunter, jazz organist “Wild” Bill Davis and trio, comedian and impressionist George Kirby, and the “Dancing Beauties,” produced by choreographer and dancer Julian Swain. The bill also listed Joe Williams—who had worked years earlier as a doorman at the Regal—as an extra added attraction and the “world’s number one jazz vocal star.”33 For the Regal’s first October show in 1960, Al Benson presented bluesman B. B. King and orchestra, the soulful Etta James, jazz vocalist Cora Lee Day, and rhythm and blues singers Joe Hinton and Bobby Marchand. Rhythm and blues groups were the Olympics, the Vibrations, and Harvey (Fuqua) and the Moonglows. The comedian was Pigmeat Markham. Markham carried an ensemble of comedic actors and specialized in humorous sketches.34 In 1960 and in subsequent years, Pigmeat Markham and company recorded a number of comedy albums, in part or in total, live at the Regal for Chess Records.

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His album, The Trial, was recorded at the Regal in 1960. Open the Door Richard was recorded at the Royal Theater in Baltimore and the Regal in 1963. If you Can’t Be Good, Be Careful was recorded at the Regal in 1965. The Hustlers was recorded at the Regal in 1968, and Tune Me In was recorded at Ter Mar Studios and the Regal in 1968. Trumpeter Miles Davis and his quintet were the top attractions for the second Regal production in October 1960. Saxophonist Jimmy Heath, pianist Wynton Kelly, drummer Jimmie Cobb, and bassist Paul Chambers supported Davis. The stage show also included the jazz vocal group of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross and the Modern Jazz Quartet, which featured vibraphonist Milt Jackson, pianist John Lewis, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Connie Kay. Additional acts were bassist Ike Isaacs and his trio, jazz vocalist Bill Henderson, and an unidentified troupe of modern jazz dancers.35 The Chicago Defender, however, indicated that rhythm and blues artists Ike and Tina Turner, saxophonist Sonny Stitt, and comedian Dick Gregory were also on the bill and commented on the odd combination of talent for this particular show.36 The final two Regal stage shows for 1960 were in November, and Al Benson produced both shows. The first show included rhythm and blues vocalists Joan Shaw, Little Willie John, Eugene Church, and Stuffy Bryant. Vocal groups, the Shepards (Sheppards) and the Four Sounds; jazz guitarist Johnny Smith and trio; rhythm and blues band, the Upsetters; bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson; and Red Saunders and orchestra rounded out the bill.37 The final Regal stage show for 1960 featured bassist Bill Black and combo; the dynamic husband and wife team of Ike and Tina Turner, with Ike on guitar and Tina on vocals; vocalist, dancer, comedian Sugar Pie DeSanto (whose real name was Umpeylia Marsema Balinton); former Ravens singer Jimmy Ricks; vocalist Dolores Coleman; doo-wop and rhythm and blues group, the Clovers; rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues singer Larry Williams; and more.38 In 1961 the first Regal stage show occurred in January and headlined singer Jerry Butler. Perennial favorite, singer Dee Clark; singing groups, the Miracles and the Shirelles; comedian Willie Lewis; pianist Bobby Peterson and orchestra; and extra-added-attraction LaVern Baker rounded out the bill.39 In February singer Roy Hamilton headlined the Regal stage show, which also featured pianist Buddy Johnson and vocalist Ella Johnson and orchestra; singers Etta James, Etta Jones, Arthur Prysock, and King Coleman; singing groups, the Vibrations, the Shells, and the Chimes; blues vocalist and pianist James Booker; and others.40

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Strong stage shows continued in subsequent months at the Regal. In one weeklong show in March, the Regal presented singers Chubby Checker, Maxine Brown, Jimmy Charles, and Chuck Jackson; singing groups, the Drifters and the Blue Notes; comedian Redd Foxx; and Joe Jones and orchestra.41 In late March and early April the Regal brought in singers Brook Benton and Ruth Brown; singing group Rochelle (also Rochell) and the Candles; the multitalented Leonard Reed, who served as master of ceremonies; tap dancer Bunny Briggs; jazz organist and pianist Milt Buckner; Red Saunders and orchestra; and others.42 An April show in 1961 featured singers Ernestine Anderson, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Hartman, Tiny Topsy, and Wade Flemons (also Flemmons) and singing groups, the Olympics, the Capris, the Dells, and the Flamingos. Jazz organist Sarah McLawler and trio and comedian Jackie “Moms” Mabley were also on the bill. Red Saunders and orchestra backed the show.43 In May the Regal brought in White rock ‘n’ roll star, vocalist and pianist Jerry Lee Lewis. Other top acts were blues vocalist Bobby “Blue” Bland; singing group, the Vibrations; singers Ben E. King and Mary Wells; the multi-talented Sugar Pie Desanto; falsetto vocalist Ted Taylor; bassist Hamp Simmons and orchestra with saxophonist Red Prysock and vocalist Arthur Prysock; doo-wop group, the Crests; and jazz vocalist Wini Brown.44 In early July 1961, the Regal brought in Ray Charles and orchestra; versatile vocalist Little Jimmy Scott; jazz stylist Betty Carter; comedian Willie Lewis; singing group, the Coasters; and the Jazztet, featuring trumpeter Art Farmer and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson.45 The second July production included singers Dee Clark and Baby Washington and singing groups, the Shirelles, the Miracles, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Shep and the Limelites. Also on the bill were comedian Allen Drew (also Alan or Allan) and Red Saunders and orchestra.46 The first of two August shows featured singers Roy Hamilton, Big Maybelle, Etta Jones, Wini Brown, Tiny Topsy, and Bobby Marchan (also Marchand); singing groups, the Edsels and the Isley Brothers; jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and orchestra; and more.47 The second production in August booked singers Sam Cooke, Ben E. King, Carla Thomas, Ernie K-Doe, and Lois Blaine; singing groups, the Drifters, the Shepards, and the Olympics; and blues guitarist and vocalist Slim Harpo. Red Saunders led the house band. Ernie K-Doe’s record, “Mother-in-Law,” hit the top of the R & B and pop charts in 1961.48

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After a quiet September, the Regal opened in October 1961 with singers Jerry Butler, Bobby Lewis, Maxine Brown, and Tommy Hunt and singing groups, the Wanderers, the Spinners, and the Blue Notes. Red Saunders and orchestra backed the show.49 A second Regal presentation in October featured singer LaVern Baker and singing groups, the Mar-Keys, the Halos, Little Caesar and the Romans, the Simms Twins, Johnny and Joe, and the Starlets, a female group that included Minnie Ripperton. Blues singer Ricky Allen and romantic singer Wade Flemons were also on the bill. Red Saunders directed the house band.50 In November the Regal brought in vocalists Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner, Little Anthony, David Ruffin, and Arthur Prysock and singing groups, the Vibrations, the Sensations, and the Clovers. Trumpeter and vocalist Gene “Bowlegs” Miller and pianist Jimmy Jones were also featured artists.51 The Regal stage show in December 1961was a two-day-only affair led by rhythm and blues singers Lloyd Price and his sixteen-man orchestra, Erma Franklin (older sister of Aretha), and Mittie Collier. Allen Drew was the comedian. Among other acts were singing groups, the Spaniels, the Sheppards, and the Dukays.52 In 1962 the Regal continued to have frequent stage shows. Most of the Regal shows, eight, occurred during the first four months of 1962. The Regal’s first of two stage shows in January headlined singer Brook Benton and his stage revue. On the bill were singing groups, the Coasters and Shep and the Limelites. Also featured were dance group, the Vashonettes; comedian Willie Lewis; rhythm and blues singer Marie Knight; and Red Saunders and orchestra.53 The second January 1962 production showcased comedian Jackie “Moms” Mabley. On this show, Mabley probably recorded a portion of her live album, Moms Mabley at Geneva Conference, for Chess Records. Another portion of the album was recorded live in 1961 at the Howard Theater in Washington DC. Also on the bill were singers Dee Clark and Odessa Harris and singing groups, the Miracles, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and the Impressions. Blues star B. B. King and his orchestra were extra added attractions.54 Because of its popularity, management held over this lineup for an additional week in February.55 Strong stage shows continued in February 1962. One production featured singing groups, the Shirelles, the Drifters, and the Miller Sisters; singers Gene McDaniels, Chuck Jackson, Barbara George, James Ray, and Lulu Reed; comedian Flip Wilson; and Red Saunders and orchestra.56

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Numerous entertainers who performed at the Regal in 1962 had hit records in one or more markets, but the singing group, the Shirelles, deserved special notice. By 1961, respected critics rated them as the top female quartet in the country. In 1961 the Shirelles reportedly earned $300,000, not counting record royalties. Their records, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” “Dedicated to the One I Love,” and “Mama Said” were among the most popular records of the early 1960s. The Shirelles consisted of Doris Kenner, Shirley Owens, Beverly Lee, and Micki Harris, who went to high school together in Passaic, New Jersey. The young group sold over nine million records between 1958 and 1962.57 In a second production in late February, the Regal presented its “Third Annual Jazz Festival.” Headlining was the Miles Davis Quintet, which featured Miles Davis on trumpet, J. J. Johnson on trombone, Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Wynton Kelly on piano, Jimmy Cobb on drums, and Paul Chambers on bass. Also on the bill were vocalist Gloria Lynne; bassist Earl May and trio; trumpeter Maynard Ferguson and orchestra; dancer Bobby Ephram; and comedian Leonard Reed (the former dancer).58 Duke Ellington and his orchestra headlined the Regal stage show in March 1962. Also featured were comedian Slappy White; the dancing Vashonettes; female doo-wop artists, the Chantels; jazz harpist Olivette Miller; dancer Johnny McAfee; and singer Gary U. S. Bonds.59 The Regal’s second March show featured singers Aretha Franklin, Lloyd Price (and orchestra), Solomon Burke, Jimmy McCracklin, Eddie Holland, and Irma Franklin. Singing groups were the Corsairs and the Crystals. Gene Chandler, billed as “Chicago’s new song star,” also appeared.60 It was at this time that former lead singer for the Dukays, Eugene Dixon, became Gene Chandler. Chandler was one of the Regal’s most popular performers. Vee Jay Records officials heard the Dukays perform a new song, “Duke of Earl,” and purchased the rights to the song. The company, which also owned the publishing for the Dukays’s hit song, “Night Owl,” gave Dixon the option of performing “Duke of Earl” as a solo artist or of staying with the Dukays and relinquishing the song to another artist. Dixon chose to leave, but he had to change his name since he was under contract as one of the Dukays. Dixon changed his first name from Eugene to Gene and took the last name of actor Jeff Chandler, whom he liked. Leaving the Dukays, which already had a hit song, was a risk, but “Duke of Earl” went to number one on the charts by February 1962.61 In 1965

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Chandler recorded a live album at the Regal Theater, Gene Chandler—Live on Stage in ’65, for Constellations Records. The Regal’s April production spotlighted vocalists Jerry Butler, Ben E. King, Betty Everett, and Maxine Brown and singing groups, the Miracles and the Marvelettes. Willie Bryant provided the comedy and served as master of ceremonies, and Red Saunders and orchestra backed the show.62 A Regal production in October 1962 included singers Brook Benton and Mary Wells; singing groups, the Vibrations and the Impressions; the Vashonettes, which consisted of twelve dancing girls produced by Shirley Hall; comedian Godfrey Cambridge; and Red Saunders and orchestra.63 The Regal’s stage show in November brought in singers Aretha Franklin, Gene Chandler, Al Braggs, and others; singing groups, the Tams, Yvonne Baker and the Sensations, the Dutones, and the Blandells (a Mexican American doo-wop group); the comedy dance team of Stump and Stumpy; and blues stylist Bobby Bland and orchestra.64 The final stage show of the year at the Regal opened on December 21 and featured singers Etta James, Irma Franklin, Little Esther Phillips, Ty Hunter, and singing groups, the Dells, the Blue Bells (Bluebelles), and the Radiants. Singer Lloyd Price and orchestra were also on the bill.65 In the next year, 1963, critical national and local events were connected to the ongoing problem of racial oppression directed at African Americans, which inevitably impacted the lives of Chicago Blacks and the life of the Regal Theater.66 The historic “March on Washington” took place in August 1963, bringing the Civil Rights movement in the South to a new level of national visibility. Motown Record Company recorded the speech Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made at a huge freedom rally in Detroit that preceded the Washington march. Berry Gordy, president of Motown, released the recording on Wednesday, August 28, to coincide with the “March on Washington.”67 In Chicago, the newly purchased home of African American Emily Brown was bombed in 1963 in an effort to discourage her from moving into a nearly all-White neighborhood. Mrs. Brown’s new home was located at 8947 South Parnell. Mrs. Brown was executive secretary to African American entrepreneur, and soon-to-be-owner of the Regal Theater, S. B. Fuller.68 In November 1963, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who had called for an end to racial segregation and oppression in the South, was assassinated. Moreover, 1963 saw the emergence of an extraordinary entertainment talent and future humanitarian, Stevland Morris, who became known

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as Little Stevie Wonder. The singing career of the thirteen-year-old Wonder exploded after his Motown recording, “Fingertips-Pt. 2,” became the number one record in the country in 1963. Wonder had signed with Tamla, a Motown label, when he was eleven. The blind entertainment artist was a superb multitalented musician and an energetic and soulful singer. He also quickly proved himself to be an exceptional songwriter. Wonder recorded “Fingertips” live at the Regal Theater in 1963, creating the first live-recorded single and album to reach number one on the charts. Ironically, Stevie Wonder’s stunning success occurred the same year as the “March on Washington” and the famous “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In subsequent years, as an adult, Stevie Wonder became a leader in the movement to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday. In 1963 the stage-show season at the Regal began in January with appearances by singers Jerry Butler and Dee Clark and singing groups, the Isley Brothers, the Crystals, and Gladys Knight and the Pips. Comedian Redd Foxx, jazz organist Jimmy McGriff and trio, and the Red Saunders Orchestra were also on hand.69 The second Regal production occurred in late February 1963 and included comedian Flip Wilson and singers LaVern Baker, Chuck Jackson, Tommy Hunt, and Dionne Warwick. Also on the bill were the male–female, singing duo of Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford and two other singing groups, the Drifters and the Shirelles. The Red Saunders Orchestra provided the music for the shows.70 The Regal stage production in March 1963 spotlighted singers Roy Hamilton, Ben E. King, Rufus Thomas, Solomon Burke, and Jimmy Witherspoon. Singing groups, the Orlons, the Du Tones, and the Four Dancing Ebonites, were also on the bill. Red Saunders and orchestra backed the performances.71 The fourth weeklong Regal show was in April 1963 and consisted primarily of Motown singers and singing groups. There were the Miracles, the Contours, the Marvelettes, and the Vandellas. Vocalists were Marvin Gaye, Marv Johnson, and Little Stevie Wonder (which included his live recording session). Bill Murray was the comedian, and Choker Campbell and orchestra provided the musical backing for the show.72 In July 1963, Ray Charles and his orchestra, the Raelets, the Flamingos, jazz pianist and organist Terrell Prude and trio, blues vocalist Percy Mayfield, singer Little Jimmy Scott, vocalist Lulu Reed, and comedian Bill Murray were on the bill.73 An August production featured singers Sam Cooke, Baby Washington, Johnny Thunder, and Patience Valentine. Singing groups were the Olympics and the Vibrations. The great conga player

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Mongo Santamaria and his orchestra and comedian Flip Wilson completed the bill.74 In a late August production singers Chuck Jackson, Gene Chandler, Tommy Hunt, Doris Troy, and B. B. King and orchestra; singing groups, the Drifters and Ruby and the Romantics; and comedian Redd Foxx were the featured artists.75 The next stage show in early October showcased singers Jerry Butler, Mary Wells, Dee Clark, and Major Lance. Also performing were the popular Shirelles and the group, Garnet Mims and the Enchanters. Flip Wilson was the comedian on the bill.76 In late October the Regal brought in singers Bobby Bland, Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Jimmy Witherspoon, McKinley Mitchell, and Al Braggs. Singing groups were the Five Du Tones (also Dutones) and the Radiants. The Joe Scott Orchestra and comedian Clay Tyson completed the production.77 November and December stage shows for 1963 continued to be solid events. The Regal billed the November stage show as a “Motown Revue,” which showcased Motown artists Marvin Gaye, Kim Weston, the Miracles, the Contours, the Marvelettes, and Martha and the Vandellas. Choker Campbell and orchestra backed the show, and Bill Murray was the comedian for the event.78 The final show in December included singers Roy Hamilton, Percy Mayfield, Betty Everett, Maxine Brown, and Bobby Miller. Other attractions were comedian Pigmeat Markham and singing groups, the Impressions and the Ideals. Red Saunders and orchestra provided music for the performances. Some featured songs on the show were Maxine Brown’s “Come Back to You,” the Impressions’ “It’s All Right,” Percy Mayfield’s “You Don’t Exist No More,” Betty Everett’s “You’re No Good,” and Bobby Miller’s “Uncle Willie Time,” a new dance craze in Chicago.79 In 1963, the Marvelettes also recorded their album, The Marvelettes on Stage, Recorded Live, at the Regal.80

Ushers at the Regal Descriptions of the internal workings of stage show venues like the Regal are rare, and policies changed over time. However, the role of the usher remained consistent and substantial throughout the Regal’s life. As a teenager, Professor Robert Starks, a political scientist at Northeastern Illinois University’s Center for Inner-City Studies, worked as an usher at the Regal Theater in 1961 and 1962. Starks recalled that ushers assisted patrons to their seats, helped to maintain order in the theater, assisted entertainers, and performed other duties

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as needed. If any patrons got out of line, ushers would escort them out of the theater. If necessary, ushers confiscated weapons and alcoholic beverages and requested that patrons lower their voices so as to not disturb others. My personal recollection is that no one was allowed to stand during performances, which could block the view of seated patrons. Ushers were attired in military-type, dress uniforms. They were green and white, resembled the uniform of a drum major, and were complemented with a circular, brimless hat with a flat top. Management trained ushers to perform their duties in a precise way. Ushers had to learn how to walk. They could not slouch. Ushers carried their flashlights down to the side, shining on the floor or shining straight up in the air. Management did not allow ushers to direct their flashlights forward or at some other angle that might disturb people watching the show. Primarily an usher kept his flashlight down by his side so that patrons could see where they were stepping. Ushers always spoke courteously, using titles of respect to address adult patrons. Management sometimes asked ushers to take tickets, assist performers, or stand guard at the stage-door exit to the alley. For the stage-door task, ushers made sure that the door was locked when performers came in and out. This was a preferred assignment because ushers got a chance to talk to the various celebrities. There were other relevant policies. Ushers had to be at least sixteen years of age. Usually four to five ushers worked at one time depending on the size of the crowd. Rank and file ushers could move up to become a lead usher or an assistant manager, and there were at least two assistant managers. Pay for ushers was minimum wage, with small hourly increases if you were promoted. In terms of the division of labor, women worked at the concession stand, but were not ushers.81 This excluded women from an important path to advancement in the theater. Not much is available on management at the Regal after the Theater became independent, but the Chicago Defender reported that by April 1961, Herb Hopkins had replaced Roger Glover as manager of the Regal.82 Singer Jerry Butler, a perennial favorite at the Regal, recalled that during his involvement with the Theater (1959–1966) parents periodically left their children at the Regal for a good portion of the day and utilized the ushers to keep an eye on them. When parents came to pick up their children, they asked ushers standing outside of the theater to go in and retrieve them. Ushers usually knew where the children were sitting, and parents tipped the ushers for this service.83 Butler also recalled an interesting method used by patrons to address parking problems around the Regal. Public transportation to

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the Regal usually was very good. During stage shows, city buses literally emptied in front of the Regal, and the rapid transit line was only a short walk away. However, by the 1960s, automobile use was up, and parking space for the Regal was inadequate, especially when the massive theater was sold out. The parking problem, however, was relieved by the presence of jitney cabs on South Parkway, where the Regal was located. South Parkway was a boulevard that had one additional lane of traffic going in either direction, where vehicles could park. Jitney cabs traveled up and down South Parkway in significant numbers. Regal patrons could easily park their vehicles anywhere on South Parkway and catch a jitney cab to the Theater for a small cost, which many did.84

Al Benson Retires, WVON is Born Nineteen sixty-three marked the official retirement of disc jockey Al Benson. He bid his listeners farewell via an article in the Chicago Defender. Benson was the first in Chicago to exploit a blues and rhythm and blues format to attract Black audiences and reach an overlooked Black consumer market. As the force behind Black-appeal radio in Chicago, Al Benson created space for independent record companies by providing outlets for their records and artists. In addition, because of his huge popularity and following in the second largest Black consumer market in America, Benson positioned himself to affect how Blacks purchased all kinds of products. Benson was the undisputed king in this brokering process. He did not work for a salary but bought time from radio stations, developed his own programming, trained and extended airtime to other disc jockeys who executed his programming format, and sold commercial space to advertisers who needed to gain access to his listening audience.85 At the height of his career, Benson, also known as “the Old Swingmaster,” had multiple lucrative business ventures. At one time he hosted five radio shows and offered twenty hours of programming a week. One report indicated that Benson made as much as $100,000 a year. However, Benson indicated that his earnings reached $300,000 to $400,000 a year. Besides radio, Benson’s business activities included a restaurant, a newsletter, a magazine, an advertising agency, a weekly television show, and numerous independent stage-show productions at diverse venues, which prominently included the Regal Theater. While in semiretirement, Benson owned a record store. Benson’s newsletter was called the Hit Sheet and listed the top twenty records that he picked to be emerging hits. Record companies, distributors, and other

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promoters advertised in the newsletter. One of Benson’s live radio shows was called “Battle of the Bands” and was broadcast from the Parkway Ballroom on Forty-Fifth and South Parkway and then from the Pershing Ballroom on Sixty-Fourth and Cottage Grove. Al Benson played whatever records he wanted on his radio shows. Benson also required the disc jockeys that brokered time from him to play the records that he designated, in the prescribed order.86 Benson’s announced retirement reflected changing conditions in the industry more than it did his complete absence from the industry. Al Benson could be found on the air well beyond 1963.87 After the payola scandal, a trend began where radio stations attempted to exert more control over the records their disc jockeys played. Also when radio stations affiliated with Benson began to realize how much money he was making, they wanted to pay Benson a salary and did not want him to broker time. In addition, the principal radio stations to which Benson was affiliated perceived the Black market as changing and began to recruit radio personalities that they felt were more contemporary. In the beginning, the White-owned stations that sold time to Benson did so because they had a lot of dead airtime, and Benson proved that he could capture the attention of a vast sector of Chicago’s Black community. These stations sold what they believed were the worst time slots to Benson. In reality these time slots were the periods when Chicago’s Black listeners were most amenable to the music that Benson played.88 The decline of Benson’s influence was marked by the debut in 1963 of Chicago’s first exclusively Black-oriented radio station, WVON (1450). In 1962 Leonard and Phil Chess who owned Chess Records in Chicago formed L & P Broadcasting, which purchased radio station WHFC. The brothers changed the call letters of the small 1,000-watt station (250 watts at night) to WVON (for “Voice of the Negro”), eliminated its other ethnic programming, and totally directed the station’s content toward Chicago’s Black community. By this time, Al Benson had already left WGES for WHFC. WGES had been sold and changed its name to WYN-R. Benson and Leonard Chess had worked closely together in the past. Benson had promoted Chess artists and recordings and brought talent to the recording company. The men were close, but the relationship went sour as the new station owners moved to curtail Benson’s earning power, influence, and airtime. Benson was only at WVON a short time before he announced his retirement. WVON nurtured a new group of on-air celebrities. Some of the featured personalities at WVON were Stan “Ric” Ricardo, Franklin

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McCarthy, and the Reverend Bud Riley. There was also Herb Kent the “Cool Gent,” Lucky Cordell, Wesley South (hosted the call-in, talk show called “Hot Line”), Isabel Joseph Johnson (public affairs), Bill “Doc” Lee (gospel), and Bernadine C. Washington (an advice and fashion spot for women called “On the Scene with Bernadine”). Washington had been a fashion coordinator for the South Center Department Store, located in the same structure that housed the Regal Theater. Finally, there were WVON disc jockeys Pervis Spann (“the blues man”) and E. Rodney Jones (program director), who partnered to become very active stage-show and nightclub promoters. After the Benson era ended in 1963, Spann and Jones promoted a number of stage shows at the Regal Theater from 1963 through 1968. Moreover, Leonard Chess, an owner of Chess Records and WVON radio often loaned money (as much as $10,000) to Spann to promote shows at the Regal. The debts were repaid immediately with profits from the productions.89 Ownership and upper management at WVON were all White, but the radio station presented the Black community with visible, all-Black, on-air personalities. WVON and its on-air talent were active in community affairs and for a time dominated radio marketing to Chicago’s Black community.90 Eventually the tiny station would become Black owned, but by this time it would lose its dominance in the marketplace. Music play would shift from AM to FM radio, and larger, more powerful radio stations would vie for the attention of Black consumers. Al Benson’s life took a number of twists and turns after his announced retirement. Benson was a minister before going into radio, and for a time, he returned to the ministry after leaving WVON. He pastored the Church of Divine Guidance, which he founded, at 3955 South Parkway. Al Benson eventually moved his family to a farm he owned in Three Oaks, Michigan. Al Benson commuted back and forth to Chicago to work with various radio stations. He dabbled in a number of ventures, which included producing records, selling farm products, and owning a record store in Michigan City, Indiana. Benson also continued to work closely with his nephews, Earnie and George Leaner, who were record distributors. Al Benson developed diabetes, which caused him to have a leg amputated. He had problems with the Internal Revenue Service. Al Benson developed brain cancer but died in 1978 from complications brought on by pneumonia. Al Benson’s sickness and tax problems with the government dissipated his fortune.91 The Chicago Sun-Times reported in 1974 that “Al Benson [was] regarded by his peers as one of the greatest disc

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jockeys who ever lived.” Benson was honored in 1974 over a three-day period for his contributions to radio and television and to civil and human rights.92

The Fuller Era By 1963 African American entrepreneur S. B. Fuller had experienced phenomenal success as a businessman. Fuller was in great demand, and the accolades for his accomplishments were plentiful. He was elected to the board of Guaranty Bank and Trust Company at 6760 Stony Island in Chicago. Fuller was president of both Fuller Products and Boyer International Laboratories. He published the Pittsburgh Courier (which had editions in a number of cities, including New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago). Fuller owned a real estate trust, which included mortgages worth several million dollars, interests in farming and beef cattle production, and several smaller businesses. He also held membership and positions in various business-related professional groups. In June 1963 the Pittsburgh Courier announced: South Center Department Store, for years a fixture in the 47th St. shopping area, has been purchased for an undisclosed sum by a group of Negroes headed by S. B. Fuller and John H. Sengstacke. Mr. Fuller is president of Fuller Products Company, publisher of The Pittsburgh Courier and chairman of the Courier’s board of directors. Mr. Sengstacke is editor of The Chicago Daily Defender and president of Defender Publications.93

The article went on to explain that the purchase also included “the nationally known Regal Theater.” What, perhaps, was most interesting was that John Sengstacke of the Chicago Defender and others were investors with Fuller. Most discussions of this period of the Regal’s history mentioned only Fuller. Moreover, several sources confirmed that another investor was Marva Louis Spaulding (then the former wife of boxer Joe Louis). Spaulding resided at 4320 S. Michigan.94 The historical import of buying the South Center Department Store did not escape the newspaper article or Fuller. The Pittsburgh Courier explained that South Center was the nation’s first department store to integrate its personnel and advance the position of African Americans in executive positions in retail and marketing. Initially the department store opened on March 17, 1928, with Louis Kahn as president, but Harry Englestein took over active operation of the store in 1930. Later, Morris Berman took over ownership and

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management. Fuller explained that purchase of the South Center complex was the first step in a complete rehabilitation of the FortySeventh-Street shopping district. He also used the occasion to advance his philosophy that Blacks must expand into the business field if they were to make real progress in racial integration. Fuller argued that instead of asking for job opportunities, Blacks must become employers. At the time of Fuller’s acquisition of South Center, the store had 110 employees and 76 departments.95 Through his success, S. B. Fuller provided many in the Black community with a sense of pride, but he also rubbed many Blacks, including prominent civil rights leaders, the wrong way. They were upset by his remarks before a New York meeting of the Sixty-Eighth Annual Congress of American Industry, sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers. Fuller reportedly asserted that the Black man “thinks that there is a racial barrier that keeps him from making progress. Therefore, he asks for legislation to remove the barrier which he automatically created himself, due to the lack of action on his own behalf.” At the height of the Civil Rights movement and the struggle against racial oppression, Fuller appeared to be blaming Blacks for their subordinate position in American society. In response to Fuller, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was quoted as saying, “It is most unfortunate that a man who has risen to such heights financially could reveal himself so insensitive to the plight of the very people who have helped make his success possible.” Whitney Young, executive director of the National Urban League, was quoted as saying, “Every group has its Benedict Arnolds.” James Farmer, executive director of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), reportedly stated that Fuller “reveals a shocking ignorance of the Negro position and problem in American life.” Some leaders in the Black community were so upset with Fuller that they talked of a boycott.96 There were some Blacks who declined to buy Fuller products, but their actions did not compare to the impact of a subsequent boycott by White southerners. Fuller’s financial success in the early 1960s had a lot to do with the opportunity to sell to a White or general market. In 1947, S. B. Fuller secretly purchased Boyer International Laboratories, a White-owned and White-oriented cosmetic company. Two of the firm’s major product lines were Jean Nadal cosmetics and H. A. Hair Arranger. The market for Boyer’s products were southern Whites. During the height of the intense struggle by Blacks to end racial segregation and oppression in the South, White southerners did not know that a Black man owned the company that produced some of their favorite consumer products. Fuller hired Blacks and Whites, and over time the southern

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market became aware that he owned Boyer International Laboratories. White supremacist organizations organized an effective boycott of Boyer products, which accounted for over 60 percent of Fuller’s annual sales. From his various businesses, Fuller reportedly was grossing $10,000,000 annually. Fuller was forced to sell Boyer, and he secured a letter of intent from a White-owned firm to purchase this portion of his business interests. In a slightly different version, Mary Casey, Fuller’s oldest daughter, reported that the sale was for Jean Nadal and not Boyer. Jean Nadal, she said, was not a part of Boyer per se. Many of the products Fuller sold to a Black consumer market under a different name were really the same products marketed to a White consumer market under Jean Nadal.97 Nonetheless, with a letter from a seemingly reputable company that promised to purchase one of Fuller’s businesses, Fuller borrowed $500,000 to buy the South Center-Regal Theater complex. The company reneged on its promise, and Fuller was forced to liquidate his real estate trust in order to meet his debts.98 Meanwhile, the new owner of South Center Department Store and the Regal Theater, S. B. Fuller, made plans to improve the visual appeal of South Center Department Store, and A. L. Foster, executive director of the Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce, observed, “Under the ownership and management of Morris Berman, South Center had been allowed to deteriorate until it was somewhat of an eyesore. It had lost considerable patronage. Now when one passes the place he is attracted by an entirely new look.”99 The appearances of other businesses in the South Center complex also brought favorable comment, but Fuller could do little to effect the appeal of other, nearby commercial establishments.100 There was also the problem of the aging infrastructure of the Regal. The former owners had made cosmetic enhancements, but expensive improvements to the roof and to the cooling and heating systems still needed to be done. Furthermore, Fuller retained the building manager and the managing director of the Regal, who controlled bookings and film acquisitions and had worked for the previous owners of the South-Center–Regal-Theater complex. Both men were White. Reportedly they had little loyalty to Fuller and took advantage of him. Consequently, Fuller probably paid too much money to operate the Regal.101 Finally, Fuller found himself in an extremely competitive environment as the Black community expanded and commercial segregation broke down. For example, while movie attendance was on the decline, downtown theaters increased their efforts to attract youthful Black

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moviegoers. Also, between 1960 and 1968 numerous venues existed that regularly booked the kind of talent traditionally found at the Regal. For example, on the South Side, Roberts Show Lounge at 6222 South Parkway; the Sutherland Lounge (in the Sutherland Hotel) at 4659 Drexel; the Club at 5521–23 South State Street, which subsequently became the Burning Spear; and McKies at 6325 Cottage Grove booked top talent on a weekly basis. In April 1968 the High Chaparral at 7740 Stony Island opened, where groups like the Jackson Five frequently performed. There also were major shows at El Sid’s Trianon Ballroom at 6201 Cottage Grove and the Pershing Ballroom at 6400 Cottage Grove.102 Wilbur Sidney had become owner of the Trianon Ballroom, refurbished it, and renamed the ballroom the El Sid Trianon Ballroom. Promoters brought Regal Theater–like shows into Chicago’s larger venues that existed in commercial areas outside of the Black community, and which were accessible and attractive to all communities. Examples were the Auditorium Theater; Orchestra Hall; the Coliseum; the International Amphitheater; the Arie Crown Theater, which was inside of Chicago’s huge exposition center, McCormick Place; and the large outdoor stadium, Soldier’s Field.103 Other smaller venues on the South Side that regularly booked Regal-quality, live entertainment, but on a much smaller scale, were the Algiers at 359 East Sixty-Ninth Street, the Robins Nest at 8557 South Cottage Grove, Mr. Lucky’s at 7418 South Stony Island, and Lake Meadows Restaurant at 3455 South Parkway. The list continued with the Spider Club at 3826 South Michigan, the Club Alhambra at 1321 Michigan, the Kitty Kat Club at 611 East Sixty-Third Street, C & C Lounge at 6513 Cottage Grove, the Archway Supper Club at 356 East Sixty-First Street, and so on.104 The Capitol Theater (with 2,502 seats) became a direct competitor to the Regal (with 2,798 seats) after the 3,420-seat Tivoli closed its doors.105 Most importantly, S. B. Fuller had to rely heavily on independent promoters, who had no allegiance to the Regal Theater. Independent promoters utilized any venue that provided them the opportunity to make a profit. Some owned their own entertainment outlets. The Regal, unlike in earlier years, had no control over markets or competitors. In addition, Fuller could not change the reality that venues with greater seating capacity could better sustain the rising cost of talent. The southern White boycott of Fuller’s most lucrative business, his subsequent problems managing debt, and the costliness of the Regal led to a series of poor decisions by Fuller. Reportedly Fuller lowered

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the quality of merchandise in South Center Department Store and tried to increase patronage at his store by attracting welfare clients. Fuller permitted customers on welfare to buy $100 worth of goods for only $30. Unfortunately, it was unlawful to extend credit for retail purchases to welfare recipients, and social service administrators advised their welfare clients not to honor their debts. As a consequence, Fuller was left with over one million dollars in unpaid bills.106 In 1965, S. B. Fuller took additional ill-advised steps to address his financial woes. To raise needed cash, Fuller sold promissory notes between 1965 and 1967 under his Fuller Products Company at Fifty East Twenty-Sixth Street. The notes had nine-month maturity dates at annual interest rates of 10 to 25 percent.107 Investors ranged from individuals who purchased a few hundred dollars worth of the notes to institutional investors like Chicago’s Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, which bought notes worth $100,000.108 S. B. Fuller failed to redeem the short-term notes that he had issued between 1965 and 1967. As a consequence, these short-term notes became long-term notes, which the Securities and Exchange Commission required to be registered. Fuller had not done this. Moreover, Fuller unlawfully failed to disclose the financial condition of his company.109 Economic disaster was imminent. S. B. Fuller could not hang on any longer. He went bankrupt in 1968. Also, Fuller defaulted on a court order to pay suppliers of his department store ten cents on the dollar. He lost ownership of South Center, which included the Regal, and Talman Federal Savings and Loan foreclosed on the property. All activity at the Regal ceased. Furthermore, in order to help address his cash flow problems, Fuller divested himself of his stake in the Pittsburgh Courier in 1968, selling it to Sengstacke Enterprises, which owned the Chicago Defender.110

Stage Shows During the Fuller Years In 1964 Regal stage shows remained frequent and of good quality, and S. B. Fuller’s financial struggles, though mounting, appeared not to be evident. Regal management produced fifteen weeklong stage shows in 1964; five occurred during the first third of the year. In January, singers Chuck Jackson, “Little” Esther Phillips, Brooks Odell, Freddie Scott and singing groups, the Vibrations, the Bluebelles, and Ruby and the Romantics were on the bill. Comedian Flip Wilson and Red Saunders and his orchestra rounded out the show. Some of the songs featured on the show were Chuck Jackson’s “Any Other Way,” the Vibrations’ “Dancing Danny,” Little Esther Phillips’s “God Bless

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the Child,” Ruby and the Romantics’ “Young Wings Can Fly,” the Bluebelles’s “Down the Aisle,” and Brooks Odell’s “Watch Your Step.”111 February 1964 brought singing groups, the Miracles and the Tymes to the stage. Other artists were singers Dee Clark, Solomon Burke, Dionne Warwick, and Freddie King, comedian Bill Murray, and Red Saunders and orchestra. Several featured songs were the Miracles’ “I Gotta Dance to Keep From Crying,” the Tymes’ “Somewhere,” Solomon Burke’s “You’re Good to Me,” and Dionne Warwick’s “Anyone Who Had a Heart.”112 March and April productions completed the first third of the year. The first of two shows in March 1964 featured singers Major Lance, Gene Chandler, Ted Taylor, “Little” Johnny Taylor and singing groups, the Tams, the Five Du-Tones, and the Drew-Vells. Clay Tyson was the comedian, and Red Saunders and orchestra played for the show. Some notable songs on the show were Major Lance’s “Sweet Music,” Gene Chandler’s “Think Nothing about It,” the Tams’ “What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am,” Ted Taylor’s “Need You Home,” the Five Du-Tones’ “Cool Bird,” Little Johnny Taylor’s “Part-Time Love,” and the Drew-Vells’ “Tell Him.”113 The second March production brought in singer Dakota Staton; jazz ensemble Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers; trumpeter Erskine Hawkins and his orchestra; singing groups, the Ink Spots and the Avalons; comedian Tom Patterson; and more.114 In April singers Mary Wells, Jerry Butler, and Tommy Hunt came to the stage. Blues great B. B. King and orchestra; gospel group, the Soul Stirrers; and popular singing group, Martha and the Vandellas added to the attraction.115 The next four months of 1964, May through August, featured four weeklong productions. May was quiet, but performing in June were rhythm and blues singer Dee Clark, rhythm and blues and gospel vocalist Irma Thomas, and blues specialist Muddy Waters. Popular singing groups, the Coasters, the Vibrations, and Gladys Knight and the Pips, were also on the bill. Red Saunders led the house band.116 During the first of two July productions Regal management brought in singers Brook Benton, Inez Foxx, and Tommy Hunt. Singing groups, the Drifters and Billy Butler (brother of Jerry) and the Enchanters; comedian Jimmy Pelham; the Red Saunders Orchestra; and others rounded out the bill.117 Several of the prominent songs on the show were Brook Benton’s “It’s Too Late to Turn Back,” the Drifters’ “Under the Boardwalk,” Inez Foxx’s “Hurt by Love,” and Billy Butler and the Enchanters’ “Gotta Get Away.”118

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The second July engagement featured singers Bobby Bland, Gene Chandler, Dionne Warwick, and Al Braggs. Singing groups, Henry Ford and the Gifts, the Temptations, and the Soul Sisters added to the attraction. Also on the bill were comedian Pigmeat Markham and musician Joe Scott and his orchestra.119 The August production brought in singers Chuck Jackson, Maxine Brown, Freddie King, and Johnny Thunder. Singing groups were the Shirelles and the Tams. Red Saunders led the house band. Several featured songs were Chuck Jackson’s “Beg Me,” Maxine Brown’s “I Cry Alone,” and the Tams’ “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me.”120 The last third of the year carried six weeklong stage shows. The September production was “The All-American Gospel Spectacular, 1964.” Featured artists were the Staple Singers, the Swan Silvertones, the Original Blind Boys of Alabama, the Loving Sisters, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, and the Swanee Quintet.121 The first of two shows in October brought in singers Baby Washington, Major Lance, Marvin Gaye, Albert King, and Mittie Collier. Popular vocal groups were the Temptations, the Vibrations, and the Spinners. Red Saunders and orchestra rounded out the show. Several prominent songs on the bill were the Temptations’ “Why You Wanna Make Me Blue?” and Baby Washington’s “The Clock.”122 The second October show featured singing groups, the Four Tops, the Bluebelles, and the Miracles. Popular vocalists were Bobby Freeman, Otis Redding, Jackie Ross, and Jimmy Witherspoon. Flip Wilson was the comedian, and the Red Saunders Orchestra backed the show. Two of the notable songs on the show were Bobby Freeman’s “C’mon and Swim” (another dance craze) and Jackie Ross’s “Selfish One.”123 In November 1964, the highlight of the engagement was B. B. King and his orchestra. It was at this stage show that B. B. King recorded his celebrated album, Live at the Regal. White critics raved about the album even though King felt that he had played numerous concerts that were better.124 Other top artists were comedian Clay Tyson, singer Mary Wells, blues and rhythm and blues specialist Junior Parker, gospel and rhythm and blues vocalist Joe Hinton, and singing groups, the Five Du-Tones, the Dells, and the Drew-Vells. Mary Wells’s “Ain’t It the Truth” and “Stop Taking Me for Granted” were two of the featured songs on the show.125 In December 1964 “The Pre-Christmas Gospel Spectacular” featured the Nightingales, James Cleveland, Jesse Dixon and the All-Stars, the Harmonizing Four, the Original Gospel Harmonettes, and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi. Prominent songs on the show

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were the Nightingales’ “Draw Me Nearer,” James Cleveland’s “Peace Be Still,” the Original Gospel Harmonettes’ “Come On In This House,” the Harmonizing Four’s “Amazing Grace,” Jesse Dixon and the All-Stars’ “Here Is One,” and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi’s “What a Fellowship.”126 The final show of 1964 was a special holiday production that featured Gene Chandler, Maxine Brown, Walter Jackson, the Soul Sisters, the Impressions, the Crawlers, and the Gems. Pigmeat Markham provided the comedy, and Red Saunders and orchestra backed the performances. As usual the Theater opened at 1:30 p.m., with continuous stage shows and film presentations. However, management added an extra late show on December thirty-first, and the holiday show went on for ten days instead of seven. Some of the featured songs for the show were Gene Chandler’s “What Now” and “Bless Our Love,” the Impressions’ “Amen,” Maxine Brown’s “Oh No, Not My Baby,” the Soul Sisters’ “I Can’t Stand It,” and Walter Jackson’s “It’s All Over.”127 The Civil Rights movement continued to dominate the broader social context in which the Regal operated. Chicago provided great support for the Civil Rights movement in the South and was the home of the largest NAACP branch in the country with 31,690 members.128 The multitalented entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. and comedian Dick Gregory, who was based in the Windy City, held a benefit in 1964 at Chicago’s Arie Crown Theater to raise money for the civil rights struggle in Mississippi. Civil rights workers were in Mississippi to register Blacks to vote and to challenge the system of racial oppression that attempted to intimidate Black citizens and keep them from participating in the political process. Three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi in 1964, and hundreds of others were jailed and beaten because of their efforts to bring citizenship rights to Black Mississippians. Earlier in the year the disc jockeys of radio station WVON conducted a marathon appeal to raise money for the civil rights workers in Mississippi.129 Prior to the WVON appeal, Chicago’s Black community had been energized by a massive civil rights rally at Chicago’s Soldiers Field, marked by the appearance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.130 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which became a powerful legal tool to attack racial discrimination nationwide. Stage shows at the Regal in 1965 were frequent and attractive. There were approximately fourteen productions that were at least a weeklong that year. The first production in January featured vocalists Jerry Butler, Betty Everett, Billy Butler, and Little Milton. Singing

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groups were the Drifters, Martha and the Vandellas, and the Radiants. Some of the prominent songs on the show were Jerry Butler and Betty Everett’s “Smile,” the Drifters’ “Saturday Night at the Movies,” Martha and the Vandellas’ “Wild One,” Betty Everett’s “Getting Mighty Crowded,” the Radiants’ “Voice Your Choice,” Billy Butler’s “Got to Get Away” and “Nevertheless,” and Little Milton’s “Blind Man.”131 In February 1965 Bobby Bland, Aretha Franklin, Tommy Hunt, McKinley Mitchell, and Al Braggs were the featured vocalists. Jazz organist Jimmy McGriff; singing groups, the Tams and the Temptations; and Joe Scott and his orchestra were also on the bill. Several of the top songs on the show were Bobby Bland’s “Black Knight,” the Temptations’ “My Girl,” Aretha Franklin’s “Running Out of Fools,” and the Tams’ “Why Did My Girl Cry?”132 The March 1965 production brought in the Vibrations, the Four Tops, and Junior Walker and the All-Stars. Other attractions were vocalists Major Lance, Dionne Warwick, Joe Tex, Ted Taylor, Baby Washington, and Otis LaVelle. The Red Saunders Orchestra completed the bill. Some of the popular songs on the show were Major Lance’s “Rhythm,” the Vibrations’ “Keep On Keepin’ On,” Dionne Warwick’s “Reach Out to Me,” Joe Tex’s “Hold On to What You’ve Got,” Ted Taylor’s “Be Ever Wonderful,” Baby Washington’s “Run My Heart,” the Four Tops’ “Ask the Lonely,” Otis Lavelle’s “Let Her Love Me,” and Junior Walker and the All-Stars’ “Shotgun.”133 The April 1965 stage show went ten days instead of the normal seven and headlined singers Chuck Jackson, Etta James, Jackie Ross, Dee Clark, and Lee Rogers. Groups were the Coasters, the Soul Sisters, and Alvin Cash and the Registers. Red Saunders directed the house band. Some of the featured songs were Etta James’s “Breaking Point,” Dee Clark’s “TCB,” Jackie Ross’s “Selfish One,” and Alvin Cash and the Registers’ “Twine Time,” a popular new dance.134 The June 1965 production included singers Marvin Gaye, Little Milton, L. C. Cooke (brother of Sam Cooke), Betty LaVette, James Phelps, and Little Johnny Taylor. Additional artists were vocal groups, the Velvelettes, the Drifters, and the Spinners. Red Saunders and orchestra backed the program. A few of the featured songs were Marvin Gaye’s “I’ll Be Dogone,” Little Milton’s “We’re Gonna Make It,” L. C. Cooke’s “That’s Where It’s At,” the Drifters’ “Come On Over To My Place,” James Phelps’s “Love Is a Five Letter Word,” and Little Johnny Taylor’s “Somebody’s Got to Pay.”135 Reportedly there was a second production in June that headlined Brook Benton, but no other information was available.136

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In July 1965 management brought in vocalists Jackie Wilson, Maxine Brown, Walter Jackson, and Tina Britt. Flip Wilson provided the comedy, and vocal groups were the Vibrations, the Four Tops, the Dells, and (heavy weight champion) Ernie Terrell and the Heavy Weights. Red Saunders directed the house band.137 A second production in July, which extended into August, included singers Gene Chandler, Albert King, Charlie and Inez Foxx (brother and sister duo), Fontella (Bass) and Bobby (McClure), Barbara Mason, the Temptations, and Little Anthony and the Imperials. Pigmeat Markham provided the comedy. Tom and Jerrio, a dance, comedy, and singing act that specialized in the new popular dance, the Boogaloo, were also on the bill.138 A production at the end of August headlined Gladys Knight and the Pips. Other featured artists were B. B. King and his orchestra, Major Lance, Joe Tex, Barbara Lewis, and Shep and the Limelites. Clay Tyson was the comedian for the show.139 The September production showcased the James Brown revue and his eighteen-piece orchestra. Brown’s supporting musicians, the Famous Flames, with vocalists Bobby Byrd, “Baby” Lloyd, and Bobby Bennett, drummer/songwriter James Crawford, and organist Fats Gonda, were featured on the bill. Singers Billy Stewart and TV Mama and dancers, the Parkettes (specializing in the Twist) were also featured. Some popular songs were James Brown’s “Pappa Got a Brand New Bag,” Billy Stewart’s “Sitting In the Park,” Bobby Byrd’s “We’re in Love,” and TV Mama’s “Take All of Me.”140 The October 1965 production included singers Jerry Butler, Fred Hughes, and Jackie Ross. Additional attractions were the Miracles, the Marvelettes, and the Contours. Featured songs were Jerry Butler’s “I Can’t Stand to See You” and “Nobody Needs Your Love,” the Miracles’ “Tracks of My Tears,” the Marvelettes’ “Danger, Heartbreak Ahead,” the Contours’ “First, I Look At the Purse,” Jackie Ross’s “Take Me for a Little While,” and Fred Hughes’s “You Can’t Take It Away.”141 The next stage show extended from the end of October into the first week of November and included singers Bobby Bland, Dee Dee Warwick (the younger sister of Dionne), Ted Taylor, Betty LaVette, James Phelps, and Al Braggs. The Radiants and the O’Jays also were featured vocal groups. Redd Foxx provided the comedy, and Joe Scott and his orchestra backed the show. Several top songs were the Radiants’ “Whole Lotta Woman,” Bobby Bland’s “These Hands” and “Small But Mighty,” and Ted Taylor’s “Days are Dark.”142 The Thanksgiving show in November 1965 headlined the Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Junior Walker and the All-Stars,

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and the Spinners. Vocalists Maxine Brown, Jimmy McCracklin, and O. V. Wright were also on the bill. Featured songs were the Temptations’ “Since I Lost My Baby,” Junior Walker and the All-Stars’ “Shake and Fingerpop,” Martha and the Vandellas’ “You’ve Been in Love Too Long,” Maxine Brown’s “One Step at a Time,” Jimmy McCracklin’s “Think,” O. V. Wright’s “You’re Gonna Make Me Cry,” and the Spinners’ “I’ll Always Love You.”143 The final stage show for 1965 was in December and was billed as a “Christmas Spectacular.” It included the Soul Sisters, the Staple Singers, and Alvin Cash and the Crawlers. Additional attractions were Gene Chandler, Major Lance, Tommy Hunt, Joanne Garrett (also Joan Garrett) and singing group, the Sharpees (also Sharpies). Red Saunders directed the house band, and Pigmeat Markham and company provided the comedy. Gene Chandler’s “Rainbow ’65” and “Everybody Loves a Good Time” were two of the featured songs on the program.144 In 1966, the Regal mounted fifteen productions that were a weeklong or more. The first weeklong stage show in January was a holdover from December and included Gene Chandler, Major Lance, Tommy Hunt, the Staple Singers, the Soul Sisters, Alvin Cash and the Crawlers, and more.145 The second January production, called “Big Beat ’66,” featured singing groups, the Manhattans, the Impressions, Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles, and the Artistics. Additional attractions were vocalists Fontella Bass and Fred Hughes. Soul singer Otis Redding appeared with his orchestra, and heavyweight boxer and singer Ernie Terrell performed with his group. One of many featured songs on the show was the Manhattans’ “Follow Your Heart.”146 The February 1966 stage show, called “Rockin’ the Rhythm,” headlined the Four Tops. Female vocal group, the Royalettes; male vocal group, the Vibrations; singers Solomon Burke, Walter Jackson, Kim Weston, and Carl Wright; and the Red Saunders Orchestra completed the bill. Prominent songs were the Four Tops’ “Something about You,” Solomon Burke’s “Baby Come on Home,” the Vibrations’ “Misty,” Walter Jackson’s “I’ll Keep on Trying,” Kim Weston’s “Take Me in Your Arms,” and the Royalettes’ “I Want to Meet Him.”147 The March 1966 production included singers Jackie Wilson, LaVern Baker, and Tammy Terrell. White soul singer Wayne Cochran and his C. C. Riders performed. Popular singing groups, the Marvelettes, the Contours, and the Dells were also on the bill. Jackie Wilson’s “I’ll Believe I’ll Love On” and “3 Days, 1 Hour, 30 Minutes” were top songs on the bill. 148

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The first of two shows in April 1966 featured the Temptations, Junior Walker and the All-Stars, Dee Dee Warwick, Edwin Starr, Deon Jackson, Sam and Dave, the Monitors, Jimmy Hughes, Slim Harpo, Arthur Conley, and the Redd Saunders Orchestra. Popular songs on the show were the Temptations’ “Get Ready,” Junior Walker and the All-Stars’ “Cleo’s Mood,” “Edwin Starr’s “Stop Her on Sight,” Deon Jackson’s “Love Makes the World Go Round,” Sam and Dave’s “You Don’t Know Like I Know,” the Monitors’ “Say You,” Jimmy Hughes’s “Midnight Affair,” and Slim Harpo’s “Baby Scratch My Back.”149 The second April show went for ten days and included the Miracles, the Radiants, Bobby Bland, Maxine Brown, Billy Stewart, and Jackie Ross. The new, Chicago-based, brother-and-sister, teenage vocal group, the Five Stair-Steps, performed. Blind, White country and rhythm and blues singer, Ronnie Milsap, was on the bill, and two singing duos, the Mad Lads and Sam and Billy, were also featured. Red Saunders led the house band.150 In May management brought in the popular traveling show of female impersonators, the Jewel Box Revue, for two weeks.151 In June, James Brown and his revue were the headliners, which featured his eighteen-piece orchestra, the Famous Flames, and vocalist Bobby Byrd. The featured James Brown songs were “Ain’t That a Groove,” “New Breed,” and “It’s a Man’s World.” Singer Vicki Anderson; female rhythm and blues group, the Jewels; gospel group, the Swanee Quintet; and dancers, the Go Go Girls were also on the bill.152 The first of two July productions in 1966 showcased vocalists Stevie Wonder, B. B. King, Joan Garrett, Lee Dorsey, Darrow Fletcher, Jimmy Ruffin (the older brother of David), and vocal groups, the Capitols, the Sharpees, the Elgins, and the Swan Silvertones. The Red Saunders Orchestra completed the bill. Prominent songs on the show were Stevie Wonder’s “Nothing’s Too Good for My Baby”; B. B. King’s “Five Long Years”; the Capitols’ “Cool Jerk,” a popular dance; Lee Dorsey’s “Confusion”; and Darrow Fletcher’s “My Young Misery.”153 The second July production, called “Big Beat, Summer Style,” headlined a diverse array of vocal artists and groups, which included Chuck Jackson, the Vibrations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Tammy Terrell, the Five Blind Boys of Alabama, the Manhattans, and White country and soul singer, Roy Head. Bassist Chuck Bernard was featured on the bill, and Red Saunders led the house band. There was also a special Saturday midnight show and a Wednesday talent show; both were regular events.154

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The first of two August productions in 1966 featured singers Jerry Butler, Wilson Pickett, Kim Weston, Deon Jackson, and Cash McCall. Vocal groups were the Spinners, the Monitors, and gospel favorites, the Mighty Clouds of Joy. Red Saunders led the house band. Several popular songs on the bill were the Spinners’ “Truly Yours,” and 1 Wilson Pickett’s “99 2 Won’t Do.”155 The second show in August headlined vocal groups, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, the Contours, and the Five Stair-Steps. Dancers, the Little Step Brothers, also performed. Featured singers were Edwin Starr, J. J. Barnes, Otis Redding and his orchestra, and Aretha Franklin. Some of the songs on the show were Otis Redding’s “My Lover’s Prayer,” the Five Stair-Steps’ “World of Fantasy,” J. J. Barnes’s “Day Tripper,” and the Contours’ “Just a Little Misunderstanding.”156 Performers for the September 1966 show were singers Joe Tex, Eddie Floyd, Bobby Marchand, and Judy Clay. Additional artists were singing groups, the Olympics, the Dells, and the Vontastics. Featured songs included Joe Tex’s “I Believe I’m Gonna Make It,” the Olympics’ “Philly Dog,” the Dells’ “Thinking about You,” Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” the Vontastics’ “Day Tripper,” Bobby Marchand’s “Money Maker,” and Judy Clay’s “Busted My Love.”157 The October 1966 production included vocal artists and groups, the Temptations, Billy Stewart, Dee Dee Warwick, Howard Tate, the Players, and Jimmy Hughes. The Red Saunders Orchestra rounded out the bill. Prominent songs on the bill were the Temptations’ “Beauty is Only Skin Deep,” Billy Stewart’s “Summer Time,” Dee Dee Warwick’s “I Want To Be with You,” Howard Tate’s “Ain’t Nobody Home,” the Players’ “He’ll Be Back,” and Jimmy Hughes’s “I Worship the Ground You Walk On.”158 The final production for the year was in November 1966 and headlined Bobby Bland and his revue, which included Bland’s own orchestra. The show also featured the Miracles, the Vibrations, the Elgins, James and Bobby Purify, and others. Popular songs on the show were James and Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet,” the Vibrations’ “And I Love Her,” Bobby Bland’s “Poverty,” and the Elgin’s “Heaven Sent You.”159 The reduced number of stage shows at the Regal in 1967 reflected S. B. Fuller’s worsening business and financial problems. There was evidence of only four weeklong stage shows that year, and one three-day show. A sixth production at the Regal was a revue that featured members of the Black Stone Rangers street gang. This endeavor was part of a program to reduce gang and youth violence.

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The first of five Regal stage shows in 1967 was in early May and starred James Brown and his revue. Perhaps indicative of the Regal’s struggles, the display ad in the Chicago Defender was uncharacteristically simple and offered very little information. There was no mention of a film.160 The second production in late May featured singing groups, the Impressions, the Five Stair-Steps, and the Spellbinders; and rhythm and blues and soul vocalists Tommy Hunt, Liz Lands, Howard Tate, and Eddie Purrell. Comedian Tommy Brown was also on the bill. Singer J. J. Jackson was an extra added attraction, and bluesman B. B. King appeared on the Saturday midnight show. The display ad did not mention a motion picture for this event.161 The third stage show in June included vocal groups and singers, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Dramatics, J. J. Barnes, Syl Johnson, Little Johnny Taylor, Brenton Wood, Joe Simon, and the Red Saunders Orchestra. Again, the display ad was basic. It offered no information about the performance except that the show was currently in progress and started at 1:30 p.m. with continuous performances.162 The fourth production was in October and headlined Aretha Franklin for three days only. The show started on a Thursday instead of the usual Friday. No other performers were listed, and there was no mention of a feature film.163 Aretha Franklin probably received special accolades at this concert. She appeared at the Regal many times throughout the 1960s. Consequently, Chicago fans knew her music well and appreciated her extraordinary talent. However, even though Franklin had substantial releases on Columbia Records, she did not achieve real commercial success until she switched to the Atlantic label in 1966. At some point in the 1960s, which most likely was her October 1967 appearance, Aretha Franklin acquired the title of “Queen of Soul” while performing at the Regal Theater. She explained: “It was in the sixties that a noted disc jockey, Pervis Spann, anointed me Queen of Soul in the city of Chicago on the stage of the Regal Theater. He placed a beautifully bejeweled crown on my head . . .”164 The fifth and final stage show production for 1967 was in December and began on Monday, which was Christmas day, and continued for a week. The featured performers were Gene Chandler, the Staple Singers, the Five Stair-Steps, the Artistics, the Spinners, and Willie Williams and Wright. The Soul Crusaders Orchestra backed the show.165 Notably, in 1967 the tradition of starting stage shows on Friday became sporadic. A sixth production occurred in October but was not a stage show. It was the Black Stone Ranger revue called Take A Look and was the

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successor to a highly regarded production, Opportunity Please Knock, by political activist, singer, songwriter, and producer Oscar Brown Jr. The earlier production by Brown had played at a different theater and not at the Regal. According to the Chicago Defender “The sequel is manned by the same young performers who made ‘Knock’ such a tremendous success, and again unites Rangers and their friends.” Oscar Brown’s Opportunity Please Knock was credited with helping to reduce gang and youth violence and with motivating many gang members to make positive contributions to their communities. Regal management scheduled Take A Look for a one-week engagement.166 Despite its abbreviated stage-show season in 1967, the Regal offered several talent shows. Promoters, frequently disc jockeys, used these shows to find artists who they could sign to record labels. One group that got a shot at a record deal was the Emeralds, a vocalinstrumental group. There were eight members, four vocalists and four instrumentalists. Eric Smith, who was sixteen at the time, played drums for the group. He explained that the Emeralds had auditioned at the Checkmate Lounge on Garfield Boulevard (Fifty-Fifth) near South Parkway to be in the talent show. His group won first place at the Regal and was offered a contract with Chess Records. They also appeared on a subsequent show at the Regal with Aretha Franklin. However, Chess wanted to sign the vocalists and not the entire group. With the guidance of their parents, the Emeralds turned down the contract because it would have tied the group up for a very long time and offered very little in the way of royalties.167 The Regal gathered itself in 1968 and made a better showing than in 1967, but the end was near. Management was able to mount a little more than ten-and-a-half weeks of productions or fourteen stage shows, which lasted from one to ten days, and included one three-day dramatic production. The Regal opened in mid-January with a three-day presentation of the James Baldwin play, Blues for Mr. Charlie.168 Later in the month, the first weeklong stage show of the year featured singers and singing groups, Chuck Jackson, Junior Walker and the All-Stars, Yvonne Fair, Jean Wells, and the Manhattans. Carl Wright was the master of ceremonies, and the Soul Crusaders Orchestra served as the house band.169 In February James Brown and his revue came into the Regal for four days only, beginning on a Monday.170 A March production was for seven days and headlined Jackie Wilson and his revue, B. B. King, Tommy Hunt, the Manhattans, and the Hesitations. Again, Carl Wright was master of ceremonies, and Pigmeat Markham provided the comedy.171

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The nation was shocked in April 1968 by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the next stage show at the Regal did not occur for two months. Stevie Wonder opened in June at a Regal Theater that was billed as newly remodeled and under new management. Prominent Stevie Wonder songs on the bill were “Shoo-Be-Doo-Da-Day” and “I Was Made to Love Her.” Also on stage were the Jive Five, Maurice and Mac, the Detroit Emeralds, Archie Bell and the Drells, Shelley Fisher, and Jean Wells. The engagement began on a Friday and was for five days.172 Smokey Robinson and the Miracles came into the Regal at the end of June on a Sunday for only one day.173 The July stage show was billed as “Battle of the Groups,” and featured the Vibrations, the Esquires, Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers, Dyke and the Blazers, Marshall and the Chi-Lites, the Jackson Five, and the Artistics. There was also a Wednesday-night talent show.174 There were three productions in August. The first was billed as a “Battle for King of the Blues” and included B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Junior Parker, Albert King, and Fenton Robinson. The show was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday only. Count Basie and his orchestra were an added attraction on Saturday night.175 The second show in August was billed as “Afro-American Nite.” The one-night presentation headlined South African singer Miriam Makeba, jazz organist Jack McDuff, and others.176 The third show in August was a six-day affair that headlined singer Joe Tex and his fourteen-piece orchestra, which featured drummer and vocalist Clyde Williams, the Texettes, and Little Miss Soul. Singing groups were the Five Stair-Steps and the Delfonics. Also on the bill were singers Paul Kelly, James Thomas, and Margaret Banks. Management scheduled talent shows for Wednesday and Friday nights, and in recognition of Joe Tex’s hit record, “Skinny Legs and All,” the Regal held a skinny-legs contest every night, with cash prizes for the woman with the skinniest legs.177 The September 1968 stage show featured singing groups and vocalists, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Chuck Jackson, the Intruders, Yvonne Fair, and Carl Wright. Former Temptations lead singer, David Ruffin, was an extra added attraction. Management also featured a talent show and a Saturday midnight performance.178 There were two shows in October 1968. The stage show in early October was two days and headlined singers Lou Rawls and his revue.179 In late October, Ray Charles came into the Regal with his revue on a Monday for seven days. There was a special midnight show on Saturday.180

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In the first week of November, for a one-day, two-performance event on Sunday, the Regal brought in B. B. King; Gene Chandler; Jackie Wilson; singing duo, William Bell and Judy Clay; the Fantastic Four; and the Dynamics.181 The following Sunday in November Regal management held another one-day affair, which was billed as the “Gospel Festival of 1968.” The show featured James Cleveland, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, the Soul Stirrers, the Caravans, and the O’Neil Twins.182 This event ended the Regal Theater’s reign as the premier, Black-oriented stage-show venue in America.

Management Changes In 1965 the name of African American Herman Williamson surfaced in the news media as manager of the Regal. It was not clear if Williamson had replaced Herb Hopkins or if they had served as comanagers. The Chicago Defender reported that Williamson would observe a double anniversary in August. It explained that Williamson would celebrate his eighth year as manager of the Regal, and the Regal would celebrate its eighth year of offering one or two stage shows per month. However, the Defender’s report did not explain these obviously conflicting facts. The Regal had offered stage shows at a frequency of one or more per month for many more than eight years. Also, if Williamson had been manager for eight years, his tenure would have paralleled or displaced that of Ken Blewett, Roger Glover, and Herb Hopkins. Nevertheless the 1965 Defender story listed Herman Williamson and not Herb Hopkins as manager of the Regal.183 Other data supported the possibility that Williamsons’ tenure as manager (perhaps as an assistant) at the Regal began long before 1965. Oral historical reports indicated that Williamson worked at the Regal in 1961 and 1962. It must be noted, however, that after Ken Blewett left the Regal in 1959, none of the subsequent Black managers had similar power and responsibility. They remained subordinate to White managing director George Brandt.

The Regal and the Teenage Market Even though the Regal Theater and the neighborhood system of motion picture houses that it symbolized were in decline, the Regal continued to have significant value as a conduit to a commercially important teenage market. By the mid-1960s, the Regal’s target market

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had shifted from adults and families to teenagers. This shift was not unique to the Regal Theater, however, and reflected broader cultural-economic changes in American society. Technological transformations, which permitted greater market segmentation and penetration based on age, and maturing capitalism, which looked to the youth market as a new source of growth, broadened distinctions between teen and adult markets. Teenagers had more disposable income and fewer inhibitions to spend, and marketers could easily bypass parental controls and affect the consumption patterns of teenagers. Renowned musician and music producer Quincy Jones spoke candidly about this state of affairs while he served as a vice-president at Mercury Records in 1965. Jones explained: Who’s got the money? The kids have it! Teenagers have taken over the entertainment business from television-radio, to songs and records— films are geared to them; new performers cater to them; books and games are written for them. Even in other industries such as novelty jewelry, cosmetics, clothing, you name it, the buying power of the teenager is given prime recognition by the manufacturers and their advertising agencies.184

Thus, because of the lucrative teenage market, other movie houses attempted to emulate the Regal’s stage-show policy. Frequently, independent promoters spearheaded these efforts; they were usually popular disc jockeys from Black-appeal radio, who most likely were inspired by Al Benson’s success. As a consequence, in 1965, promoters initiated stage shows at the Capitol Theater at 7941 South Halsted Street. The Capitol was another neighborhood palace that was built for a White community but now found itself in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Over several years there were other movie houses that attempted to emulate the Regal. Examples were the New Ritz Theater (formerly the Peerless) at Oakwood and South Parkway; the Central Park Theater, initially a Balaban and Katz house, at 3535 West Roosevelt; and the Metropolitan Theater across from the Regal at 4644 South Parkway.185 However, these live production efforts were short-lived, and these theaters never achieved the longevity, quality, and reputation of the Regal Theater. Beginning in 1966, to further appeal to a teenage market, WVON disc jockey Pervis Spann began to augment the shows he produced at the Regal with a group called the Bill Cody Dancers. Severina Britto was one of the original performers with the group and described how she became a member. In August 1966 the young Britto was on a

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float in the Chicago Defender’s annual Bud Billiken parade wearing the banner of Miss Teenage Chicagoland. Pervis Spann was in front of her on the float for radio station WVON. Spann kept looking back at Britto, and when the two floats reached the end of the parade route, he approached Britto and asked if she could dance. Britto replied in the affirmative, and Spann suggested that Britto ask permission from her mother to come to the Burning Spear, Spann’s nightclub (formerly the Club DeLisa) on State Street near Fifty-Fifth at 4:00 p.m. on a given day. Britto came to the club and met four other teenage dancers, who were from Hyde Park High School. The girls ranged from thirteen to sixteen in age. Britto was sixteen at the time and attended Du Sable High School. The group needed a fifth dancer and Britto joined. Pervis Spann and E. Rodney Jones became the group’s managers; Bill Cody was the choreographer. Thus, the five teenage girls became the Bill Cody Dancers.186 On stage the dancers executed set routines and performed freestyle. Dancers also took turns soloing. Spann planned a very strenuous schedule for the young ladies. The Cody Dancers practiced after school five days a week to prepare for the stage shows at the Regal. Between Regal engagements, the girls worked at the Burning Spear. They also worked at other nightclubs and shows promoted by Spann and took short trips to places like Milwaukee to perform. Frequently the girls rushed to perform at another club between shows at the Burning Spear, which closed at 5:00 a.m. Pervis Spann bought the costumes and paid each of the young dancers $125 a week for the Regal work and $35 a night for each nightclub engagement. Britto explained that Bill Cody was very strict when the dancers traveled, and homework had to be completed between shows. At the various clubs, the girls were visible to patrons only when they performed. The rest of the time the young dancers were secluded. At the Regal the girls performed at the beginning of the show, in the middle, and during the finale with the star. The work was challenging, but Severina Britto explained that she and the other girls were young and in high school and saw the experience as nothing but fun. The Bill Cody Dancers worked Regal shows promoted by Spann until the Theater closed in 1968.187 The Regal experience was quite meaningful for Severina Britto. She used to leave school to stand in long lines at the Regal with her mother to get tickets to see Mary Wells, whom her mother loved. When Severina Britto started dancing, her mother never had to stand in line again and was always on the front row. After the Regal ceased

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operating, Britto remained close friends with the other original Bill Cody Dancers. They were Caroline Morton (who took the name Kitty Neeley and became a disc jockey for radio station WVON), Bertha Lofton, Judy Henry, and Royce Ferguson.188 Stage shows at the Regal in 1966 remained popular, but the Regal’s teenage market was faced with heightened challenges. Street gangs were not new to Chicago in general or to the Black community in particular. However, 1966 marked an explosion of street-gang violence. Street gangs in Black communities went through a period of growth and consolidation during 1966. The dominant South Side gang, the Black Stone Rangers, which later called itself the Black P-Stone Nation, created a federation of gangs led by a group called the Main Twenty-One. Between April 1966 and the end of the year, membership in the Black Stone Rangers grew from 500 to 1,500. Growth and consolidation were not peaceful activities and involved extensive recruitment and youth violence. Public housing projects were often hotbeds of gang activity, but not exclusively so. For example, in the Woodlawn community just south of the University of Chicago, sixteen youths were shot in one week. The total number of teenagers that were shot that same week in various neighborhoods was thirty-three; two died. In some instances gang members came into high schools to carryout retribution against their rivals, which involved shootings and beatings. Sometimes teachers and administrators were threatened. Gunmen were generally very young. One sixteen-year-old was shot to death by a fourteen-year-old on a playground at Forty-Third and State Street. Over time street gangs challenged traditional organized crime for control of street protection rackets, which meant extorting businesses.189 There was no evidence that street gangs extorted the Regal Theater, but Regal management had to cope with gang elements that might want to establish the Regal as their turf or engage in fights at the Regal’s expense. The Regal hired uniformed Chicago police officers to be present in the lobby and to stand around the concessions. Usually these officers worked in the neighborhood and were known to gang members.190 Moreover, teenagers themselves had to develop strategies for traveling through various neighborhoods and negotiating gang elements. Street gangs did not cause the Regal’s demise or the decline of the Forty-Seventh Street business district, but they probably restricted markets in various ways and created additional costs that did not help the commercial well-being of the Regal or the historic, Black Belt business center.

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Beyond the Closing of the Regal Perhaps the most poignant indicator of the Regal’s demise was the change in the Chicago Defender ad for Gerri’s Palm Tavern at 446 East Forty-Seventh Street. This restaurant-tavern had become a favorite dining spot and hangout for entertainers who performed at the Regal, which was similar to the Palm Café in New York near the Apollo Theater. Also, Gerri’s usually offered name entertainment for its patrons. James Knight, who was the first person to be elected to the honorary position of Mayor of Bronzeville, opened the establishment in 1933. He acquired one of the first liquor licenses after the repeal of Prohibition. In 1956 the business transferred to Geraldine “Mama Gerri” Oliver when Knight retired. The Chicago Defender ad for Gerri’s Palm Tavern always read “Home of the Regal Stars.” In 1969, Gerri’s ad no longer carried this promotional phrase and was graphic evidence of the Regal’s permanent demise.191 In 1971, the Federal Government issued a six-count indictment charging Fuller with violating the Federal Securities Act from 1965 through 1967. He was convicted and faced up to $5,000 in fines and up to five years in prison for each count.192 In 1972 Fuller pleaded guilty before U. S. District Court Judge Alexander J. Napoli to one count of the six-count indictment. The remaining counts were dismissed.193 Assistant U. S. Attorney Howard M. Hoffman recommended that Judge Napoli grant probation to Fuller in order for him to carry out an agreement under a separate court action to reorganize his cosmetic company and pay creditors. Consequently, Napoli sentenced Fuller to five years probation. Under this prior agreement, the court required Fuller to pay note holders over a three-year period 10 percent a year of what they were owed. It then required Fuller to pay 20 percent of his debt the fourth year and the remaining 50 percent of his debt the fifth year. By 1970 Fuller Products had a net profit of $70,000 and by 1971 a net profit of $101,000. The projected profit for 1972 was $300,000.194 Fuller Products never regained its prior prominence and profitability, however, and barely survived in future years. The bankruptcy of S. B. Fuller marked the death of the Regal Theater, but much more caused the Regal’s death. The Regal Theater had already lived well beyond the life span of similar theater palaces, and the neighborhood movie-house with live performances was an anomaly. Fuller could not stop industry-wide trends that were antagonistic to the Regal’s profitability or change the social forces that were

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destroying the market in proximity to the Regal. Moreover, Fuller could not have been fully aware of these social forces. Remarkably, from the time S. B. Fuller began to sell his ill-advised promissory notes (1965), the Regal held on for nearly four more years (1965–1968), and Regal stage shows were magnificent until the very end.

CHAP TER

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Retrospect and Lessons Learned

The Regal Theater’s entertainment tradition and format spanned over forty years. From 1928 through 1968, the Regal offered motion pictures and live performances to people of all ages. There was never a year in the Regal’s existence that it did not produce at least one live show. Developers built the Regal as a palace or deluxe theater that was designed to promote a sense of awe in its patrons. It was part of an unprecedented but short-lived trend in the 1920s to build deluxe theaters in neighborhoods. Architecturally the Regal symbolized an upper-class experience, and management attempted to match the Regal’s architectural grandeur with the best in live entertainment. Moreover, motion pictures, which historically had lower-class and working-class connotations, were elevated socially by the splendor of palatial structures. Reports varied, but over the Regal’s lifetime, admission prices probably ranged from ten cents to no more than three dollars. In the context of the times, these admission prices were not cheap to everyone, but the Regal was clearly accessible to people from all walks of life. Additionally, the Regal was attached to Chicago’s magnificent Savoy ballroom. The Savoy was easily one of the most impressive public dance facilities in the country. The Regal and Savoy were connected to a shopping center and professional offices that, for the period, were first-rate. Thus, the Regal Theater opened in February 1928 as the centerpiece of a state-of-the-art, multipurpose entertainment and commercial complex. These factors made the Regal Theater for a time the most superbly unique popular culture center in Black America. The Regal Theater became an important asset to Chicago’s South Side, Black Belt or Bronzeville community, but it was also an accommodation to de facto racial segregation. Through diverse means, which included violence, governmental policies, lending practices, restrictive covenants, and the like, Whites discouraged

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African Americans from seeking housing and commercial services in White communities. In fact, construction of the Regal was most likely supported by some White elites who believed that investing in the Black Belt might prevent the further expansion of Blacks into adjacent, predominantly White neighborhoods. If the needs of a Black middle class could be met inside of the traditional Black Belt, this class, which was the most mobile segment of the Black community, would be less likely to seek residence and goods and services in White communities. Scores of major, White-owned businesses, which included the developers of the commercial complex that housed the South Center Department Store, the Savoy Ballroom, and the Regal Theater, came into the Black Belt and sought to capitalize on the captive condition and underserved character of its African American market. A continuous influx of African American southern migrants, who, because of racial segregation, could only gain access to housing in the previously overcrowded Black Belt community, constantly fueled an already lucrative, but circumscribed, consumer market. Remarkably, the developers of the Regal Theater felt compelled to transcend the norm of providing Blacks with second-rate facilities. The Regal Theater, the Savoy, and the South Center Department Store were part of a single commercial complex that was exemplary. The Regal Theater and attendant facilities may have been accommodations to racial segregation, but in terms of the caliber of their accommodations and services, these establishments conveyed racial equality. This fact did not go unnoticed by Black Belt residents and was a deep source of community pride. In addition, the Regal Theater complex and other major White-owned businesses in the Black Belt gave some African Americans the opportunity to acquire white-collar jobs that were unavailable to them in the broader society. It must be remembered, however, that African Americans in general and Blacks in Chicago’s Bronzeville in particular had to wage a battle to gain access to jobs controlled by White-owned businesses in their communities. On the other hand, racial segregation was a one-way enterprise in the North. Whites always had access to establishments in Black communities and were the predominant owners of essential businesses and real estate in these communities. Besides ownership, Whites always had access to the Regal as performers and patrons. Ignoring for a moment the broader levels of inequality, racial exploitation, and racial oppression that limited the economic development, business ownership, and life chances of Chicago’s Black-Belt residents, the Regal Theater functioned to preserve and promote an authentic Black expressive culture. Throughout the Regal’s existence,

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it was a Black audience whose cultural sensibilities predominated to lend legitimacy to the content and character of Regal stage shows. Black performers who came from Black cultural traditions did not need to adjust their expression to accommodate the cultural sensibilities of White audiences. White performers who came into the Regal had to please Black audiences, and White patrons who attended the Regal’s stage shows came with the idea of experiencing the unaltered cultural dialogue between Black performers and Black audiences. We also must understand that the Regal’s role in cultural innovation and preservation made it an important educational institution that linked past expressive traditions with new and emerging ones. Youthful performers routinely learned from established artists who were the very best at what they did. Variety entertainment at the Regal required artists who specialized in one genre to be exposed to others. For example, young, talented rhythm and blues artists got the opportunity to interact with great musicians from the big band era. Stage shows typically embraced comedy, dance, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel, and the like, and diverse expressions within these genres. There were modifications in this educational role, of course, as stage shows at the Regal became more segmented, specialized, and singularly youth oriented. The Regal Theater was also a remarkable center for charitable activity and community engagement. The close collaboration between the Regal Theater and the Chicago Defender newspaper to raise money for needy children and families in the Black Belt began almost from the opening of the Regal and extended to the end of World War II. During the years of the Great Depression, major nightclubs inside and outside of the Black community donated performers, and sometimes their entire floorshows, to charitable performances at the Regal Theater. Notably, some of these nightclubs discouraged Black patronage but, nonetheless, supported the charitable efforts of the Chicago Defender and Regal Theater. The NAACP was an example of another prominent group that utilized the Regal Theater. Talent shows, fashion shows, civic and professional engagements, and a synergistic relationship with a major department store and the Regal’s sister institution, the Savoy Ballroom, continually placed the Regal Theater at the center of community life in Chicago’s Black Belt community. Over several decades, however, the Regal’s multiple connections to community life declined. The Regal Theater went through several distinctive phases in terms of the content of its stage shows. At the beginning (1928–1929) the Regal relied upon lavish productions organized around an artistic

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theme. It maintained a symphonic orchestra and a jazz band, reflective of a conscious policy to combine popular culture expression and so-called high culture in the form of operatic renditions and European symphonic music. The musicians were the same, however, and moved from the orchestra pit to the stage as they shifted from the role of symphonic musician to the role of jazz musician. Jazz, of course, meant dance music. For the first several years of the Regal’s existence, management strongly embraced the policy of employing an energetic, highly popular master of ceremonies who could direct the on-stage jazz band. This person needed proficient singing, dancing, and comedic skills, musical acumen, and competent directing abilities. The Regal also maintained substantial in-house production capabilities with its own choreographers, musicians, dancers, and semiregular comedians. Management brought in additional talent as headliners to support the in-house stars. Productions were variety shows and were heavily singing, dancing, and comedy, but could include acrobatic and novelty acts of various kinds. The Regal Theater always offered a motion picture with each stage show. In the early years films changed twice a week but later were replaced weekly. A major transformation in late 1928 was the change from silent to talking films. This new technology eliminated the need for in-house musicians who accompanied the film presentations. In addition, the Great Depression stimulated cost cutting measures and various innovations that included double and triple features and expanded concessions. The 1930s to the end of World War II (1945) reflected the dominance of the jazz or dance band. In the 1930s operatic and European classical renderings declined and seemed to have disappeared by the 1940s. Radio as a mass medium began to showcase the music of top jazz bands. As a consequence, the listening public, including Regal patrons, wanted to hear the latest bands. This motivated bands to tour nationally. Regal management, rather than build stage shows around an in-house jazz band, brought in popular touring bands and built shows around them. Productions were still variety shows, but the touring dance or jazz band was the centerpiece. Top bands frequently traveled with their own singers, dancers, and comedians. Other acts during the 1930s supplemented the touring bands and their stable of performers. Dance acts at the Regal were extraordinarily important and varied. Diverse forms of tap dancing, ballroom dancing, exotic dancing, adagio dancing, eccentric dancing, and the like were the norm. Individual singers and singing groups, who performed a wide range of music, which included offerings of blues, gospel, spirituals, and jazz, were routine. Acrobatic and daredevil type acts, magic

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acts, and various novelty acts were regularly part of the mix. Comedy was essential and was expressed through sketches, monologues, and two-person teams, who routinely relied upon the use of repartee and novelty singing and dancing. Jazz or dance bands grew larger, became more commercial and stylized, and evolved into so-called swing bands. This commercial moniker was of no significance to Regal patrons, however. For them the key issues were whether or not the bands could generate exciting and interesting dance rhythms, appealing harmonies, and dynamic soloists. After World War II, the Regal’s stage presentations still embraced a variety format, but the content and character of jazz or swing bands began to change. By 1947, swing or big bands began to decline in size and change in function. Smaller combos became popular, and jazz bands and jazz as a genre became a listening music and not a dance music. Dance music continued in the form of jump blues, which emerged as a transitional music to rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues. Bebop, a new trend in jazz and a listening music, also gained a significant following. Bebop also became the foundation for other developments and trends in jazz as an aural music. All of these musical directions, including blues, gospel, harmony or doo-wop singing groups, regularly appeared on the stage of the Regal Theater. Productions continued to be eclectic and exhibited little specialization or market segmentation. In the 1950s the Regal continued its tradition of variety entertainment, but some modifications emerged. The emphasis on big bands or swing bands was gone. However, traditional big-band stars and their groups continued to be an integral part of variety shows on a periodic basis. Doo-wop harmonies, rock ‘n’ roll, and rhythm and blues matured as the new dance music. Blues music went through its own evolutionary process but remained a constant on the Regal’ s stage. However, the popularity of rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll shows encouraged Regal management to offer specialized shows that highlighted this music. In 1955, for example, the Regal presented its first rhythm and blues show, which was produced by the popular disk jockey, Al Benson. Over time, as stage shows gained a heavier focus on rhythm and blues, the scope and number of comedy, dance, and novelty acts tended to decline or disappear altogether. Nonetheless, throughout the 1950s, Regal management continued to support eclectic productions, but by 1955 it had begun a gradual shift away from variety shows to more homogeneous and specialized productions. In the 1960s the trend toward greater market segmentation continued, and Regal stage shows became heavily focused on solo vocalists and singing groups. Bookings were highly influenced by the

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popularity of the records of singers and singing groups played on Black-oriented radio, a phenomenon that matured in 1963 with the creation of Chicago’s first Black-appeal radio station, WVON. Rhythm and blues (which included the spectrums of rock ‘n’ roll and soul or gospel influenced music) became the dominant genre, even though stage shows routinely included blues and jazz vocalists, and less often, gospel artists. Variation occurred in how the context of stage shows emphasized blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, or gospel performers, but there was usually a mixture of two or more of these genres. When rhythm and blues predominated and there was an emphasis on vocal performance, it was not uncommon for stage shows to have six to ten singers and singing groups. These vocal acts usually had records that were popular in the Chicago market. As a consequence of the number of vocal acts on a stage show, singers and singing groups only had time to perform a few songs, usually the A- and B-sides of their popular recordings. Stage shows were rapid-fire affairs, each act quickly following the other. Comedians often doubled as emcees and provided comedy as a break and transition between acts. Disc jockeys from Black-appeal radio who had developed widespread celebrity also served as emcees. By 1963, rhythm and blues vocalists and singing groups at the Regal that appealed to a teenage market were overwhelmingly dominant. There was a marked absence of the variety offerings that had previously characterized stage shows at the Regal. The demise of tap dancing, acrobatic, and novelty acts were examples. The 1950s relative to the 1940s had already experienced a decline in the scope of dance offered on the Regal’s stage. However, the emphasis by 1963 on singers and singing groups, which reflected the radio play of popular dance music, only left room for stage productions (which often included background dancers) that supported trends in social dancing. The Regal, which had opened in 1928 with a holistic family orientation that integrated class and age, had evolved in the 1960s toward greater homogeneity, specialization, and market segmentation, and an overwhelming emphasis on youth, especially teenagers. Many young artists and patrons lost the opportunity to fully experience the range, continuity and interconnectedness of Black entertainment traditions. Also, stage shows in this late period tended to reinforce separation between the experiences of adults and young people. The Regal in the 1960s, however, stimulated by the fully developed synergy between a new dance music and Black-appeal radio, experienced a renaissance in the frequency of stage shows. The number of weeklong stage shows in 1960 was the highest since the Regal’s first

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two years of existence. Data reflecting the average number of weeklong stage shows a year per decade tended to support this observation. During the first two years of its active life, 1928 and 1929, the Regal averaged about twenty-one stage shows a year. During the 1930s, the Depression years, it averaged about six to seven shows per year. In the 1940s the average number of stage shows per year increased to a little over eleven but declined to slightly less than eight weeklong stage shows per year in the 1950s. The 1960s, despite challenging circumstances that eventually closed the Regal, saw the average number of weeklong stage shows increase to well over eleven. Of course, in later years, the number of stage shows that were actually less than seven days long distorted this average. Nevertheless, one might argue that the 1920s, the 1940s, and the 1960s were the greatest periods for Regal stage shows. The Regal went through several ownership and management phases over its lifetime. From its inception the Regal was Whiteowned until African American entrepreneur S. B. Fuller bought the entire South Center commercial complex, which included the Regal, late in 1963. However, Chicago-based Balaban and Katz, the most profitable and powerful theater chain in America, leased and operated the Regal until 1959. The theater chain of Lubliner and Trinz actually opened the Regal in 1928, but by this time Lubliner and Trinz had been taken over by Balaban and Katz. Balaban and Katz, on the other hand, was a subsidiary of Hollywood’s largest film production company, Famous Players-Lasky, whose trade name became Paramount Pictures as a result of a takeover of the company (Paramount) that distributed its films. The mergers between Famous Players-Lasky, Paramount, and Balaban and Katz created the first productiondistribution-exhibition firm with a national presence. This merger was part of a broader effort to acquire or build theater outlets, which ultimately made Famous Players-Lasky (Paramount Pictures) the largest theater operator in the world. The resulting theater circuit was called Publix Theaters, and the controlling firm was called ParamountPublix. The actions of Famous Players-Lasky stimulated other film production and distribution firms to create national theater chains, which consolidated control of motion picture production, distribution, and exhibition in the hands of only a few corporations. For decades the Regal Theater dominated the second largest Black entertainment market in America for Balaban and Katz and its parent company, Paramount. The Regal was an integral part of the largest and most powerful theater circuit in America, which involved live entertainment and motion pictures. For decades top entertainers

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found steady and lucrative employment as they moved through the Balaban and Katz-Paramount theater circuit, which included the Regal Theater. In addition, Balaban and Katz controlled first-run movies in Chicago. Thus, the Regal Theater benefited greatly from its relationship with Balaban and Katz and Paramount. The theater chain also thrived on the fact that racial segregation constrained a huge African American market to the geographical area surrounding the Regal. Moreover, Balaban and Katz and its parent company benefited from relationships with White organized crime that controlled relevant labor unions and that controlled significant members of a theatrical workforce through partnerships with booking agencies, nightclubs, and managers. For example, at one time all of the major nightclubs on the South Side that fed talent into the Regal had White organized crime connections. The federal government ultimately stepped in and broke up the monopolistic power concentrated in the hands of a few motionpicture-production-distribution-exhibition firms. Nationally these companies had to divest themselves of their theater holdings. Locally, Balaban and Katz lost control of its dominance over first-run films in Chicago. The relevant court rulings were solidified in the late 1940s. Balaban and Katz subsequently became part of a new company, United Paramount Theaters, which later merged with ABC (American Broadcasting Company) to become ABC-Paramount. By the mid-1950s Balaban and Katz appeared less interested in the Regal, and stage shows began to decline at the Theater. In addition, there were disagreements between Balaban and Katz and the owners of the Regal regarding who would make certain infrastructure repairs. In 1959 Balaban and Katz did not renew its contract with the Regal. The company subsequently moved its stage shows to another one of its deluxe theaters, the Tivoli, which was now in a Black neighborhood. The owners of the Regal, who previously managed the structure only as landlords, elected to run the Regal as an independent theater. They utilized former employees of Balaban and Katz to do so. Also, after the decline of the Balaban and Katz-Paramount theater circuit that supported live entertainment, the door was open for independent promoters of Regal stage shows, of which Al Benson was the most prominent. Benson’s promotions also helped to sustain the Regal after it became independent and was no longer connected to a theater chain. As indicated previously, Black ownership of the Regal came late in 1963 with S. B. Fuller, but Black management came much earlier. After a succession of at least five White managers, Balaban and Katz appointed its first African American to direct the Regal, Ken Blewett,

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in 1939. Blewett directed the Regal through 1959, longer than any other manager. Blewett left the Regal in 1959 with Balaban and Katz and moved over to the Tivoli Theater. Subsequently there were other Black managers at the Regal, but they never had authority and responsibilities similar to those of Ken Blewett. After becoming an independent theater, White and Black ownership at the Regal utilized the same White managing director, who was largely behind the scenes and who controlled the overall operations of the Regal. Black ownership of the Regal occurred at a time (1963) when nearly every economic advantage that had previously sustained the Regal had dissipated, most notably the end of its relationship to an industry-dominant, motion-picture-production-distribution-and-exhibition firm. Moreover, the economic viability of the Regal’s surrounding market was decreasing, which involved the decline of its working-age adult population. Increasing concentrations of poverty, urban blight, and street gangs also challenged the Regal’s consumer base. Also, by the 1960s the Regal had become an aging structure that routinely needed expensive maintenance and repair. Most significantly, however, the decline in commercial racial segregation no longer made Black Belt residents captive consumers, and comparable entertainment venues inside and outside of the Black community aggressively competed for Black entertainment dollars. However, the Regal’s appeal to a less mobile teenage market that was in proximity to the Regal probably helped to extend the Theater’s life. Moreover, racism greatly challenged the economic viability of Regal owner S. B. Fuller. The most lucrative portion of Fuller’s cosmetic business was directed at southern White consumers, who initiated an effective boycott of Fuller products when they learned that Fuller was a Black man. Subsequently, Fuller made a number of poor business decisions in order to save his business that ultimately overextended him financially. The result was bankruptcy, which forced Fuller to give up the Regal to foreclosure. Racial discrimination routinely made it difficult for Black-owned businesses to secure adequate financing, and Fuller, no doubt, had exhausted his options. It was likely that Fuller’s earlier business relationships with John Sengstacke of the Chicago Defender and with Marva Louis (at one time the wife of heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis) were to secure additional financial backing. Again, racial discrimination made it routinely difficult for Black businesses to secure adequate capitalization. As we examined in earlier chapters, Black-controlled lottery gambling had been a source of capital for some Black business development, but even this enterprise was eventually seized by White organized crime.

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The Regal story revealed the fragility of a community circumscribed by racial oppression and the resiliency and enterprising character of that community’s residents. It also revealed the economic and communal importance of a theatrical workforce in Chicago’s Black Belt. It brought to light the existence of highly developed formal and informal networks that trained a pivotal class of workers. Exceptionally skilled individuals like Dave Peyton, Walter Dyett, Sammy Dyer, and Mary and Sadie Bruce were examples of individuals who were behind these networks. The Regal story also showed how entire entertainment genres were lost to the stage. The disappearance of diverse entertainment traditions in dance and comedy were examples. Technological change also eroded the demand for and the presence of a theatrical workforce in the Black community. Innovations in film, recorded music, and television, for example, displaced the powerful presence and role of professional musicians and other kinds of skilled performers in the community. In addition, the availability of community-based, variety entertainment that cut across age and class was lost. This type of entertainment and attendant workforce was an unrecognized cohesive force in the relationships between adults and children in families and in the formation of a sense of community. Internal colonialism and cultural hegemony for African descent populations in America, as discussed previously, involved sustained, conscious, and systematic efforts to control and transform Black populations to serve the institutional interests of White collectives, usually elites. What was critical in the case of the Regal Theater was how processes that served to sustain racial domination, oppression, and exploitation operated at various levels of social organization that were interconnected. As a separate but equal institution, the Regal provided important employment and leadership opportunities and a family-like work environment. It also routinely contributed in various ways to the overall development and well-being of the Black Belt community it exploited as a consumer market. On the other hand, the Regal’s existence and profitability were based on broader societal factors that limited Black business ownership, restricted Black community control, and constrained access to numerous opportunities and resources available to White Americans. In fact, subsequent Black ownership of the Regal reflected a pattern whereby Blacks could only become owners of properties or enterprises that Whites viewed as no longer profitable or desirable and subsequently discarded. Also, the Regal Theater supported a gendered division of labor that restricted the advancement of women.

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If we are to understand the significance of the Regal story for generating African American cultural theory, we must understand the Regal in terms of the broader circumstances of systemic White privilege, which operated at various levels in the society. For example, Black entrepreneurs were restricted to Black markets or to brokered relationships that delivered Black consumers to White business. White entrepreneurs on the other hand had access to all markets. Contextually, there simply was no significant societal arrangement where the integrity of White cultural expression was dependent upon the market behavior of Black people. However, the market behavior of Whites normatively impinged upon the integrity of Black cultural expression. This state of affairs is endemic to the African American experience and persists as a fundamental challenge to cultural formation, which includes expressive culture, among African Americans. The Regal story reveals that Black institutional ownership and control at the community level are necessary to advance and preserve the integrity of Black cultural interests, but they are not enough. There must be influence and control at other, broader levels of social organization. Moreover, a Black entrepreneurial or property-owning class must be committed to ethical and progressive cultural production and Black community development (indeed it must be able to galvanize support and bring together the resources for such development). This kind of effort should be supported through not-for-profit institutions focused at the community level. With respect to for-profit business development, Black-owned and Black controlled businesses must seek market penetration beyond Black consumers. This requirement, however, creates a paradox with respect to the formation of Black cultural products. The economic power of a larger and richer White consumer market tends to distort the direction, meaning, and content of Black cultural products, as they are made to compete in the marketplace. This is a problem that can be mitigated by ethical and thoughtful not-for-profit activity at the community level and by continuing to garner and cultivate outlets to Black consumers, which can be used to provide broader representations and perspectives of Black life and culture. Nonetheless, a critical issue for equality and justice in American society is whether or not positive Black cultural production and Black community development are possible, even if they do not serve the market interests of White consumers or the institutional goals of White elites.

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Note s

Introduction: the Regal Theater and Black Culture 1. Dempsey Travis, one of Chicago’s most prominent African American businessmen, who achieved his success in the field of real estate, has also made important contributions as an independent scholar of Chicago’s Black political and cultural history. In his several works in the field, Travis provides important information and insight on the Regal Theater. See, for example, Dempsey J. Travis, An Autobiography of Black Chicago (Chicago: Urban Research Institute, 1981) and Autobiography of Black Jazz (Chicago: Urban Research Institute, 1983). 2. Chicago Defender, January 14, 1928, pt. 1, p. 8. 3. Ibid.; Chicago Defender, January 14, 1928, pt. 1, p.1. 4. Ibid., February 7, 1959, p. 18. 5. Ibid. 6. Chicago Tribune, September 6, 1973, sec. S4A, p. 2. 7. W. Augustus Low and Virgil A. Clifts, eds., Encyclopedia of Black America (New York: Da Capo Press, 1981), pp. 412, 421, 441. 8. Ibid. pp. 515, 735; Jessie Parkhurst Guzman, ed., Negro Year Book: A Review of Events Affecting Negro Life, 1941-1946 (Tuskegee, Alabama: Tuskegee Institute, 1947), p. 17. Also see “Chicago Renaissance 1932–1950: Images and Documents from the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection, Charlemae Hill Rollins,” accessed March 14, 2003, from Chicago Public Library Digital Collection: http://www.chipublib.org/digital/chiren/instrollins.html 9. See John N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman, African–American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994), p. 492. 10. See, for example, “Doctor with Big Heart,” Ebony Magazine, Janauary 1958, pp. 51–53, 56; Chicago Defender, December 28, 1957, p. 20; “Theodore K. Lawless,” accessed on-line May 3, 2003 from African American Biographical Data Base (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Chadwyck-Healy, ProQuest Information and Learning Company, 2003): http://80-aabd.chadwyck.com.ezproxy.emich.edu/. 11. Cosmopolitan Community Church provided a brief historical account of Dr. Mary G. Evans in its serial publication, The Flame vol. 23, no. 1 (Winter 1995), edited by a long-time church member, Bessie Chatman.

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12. Howard Reich, “The Drill Sergeant of Du Sable,” Chicago Tribune Magazine, September 6, 1998; Thomas Hennessey, From Jazz to Swing: African-American Jazz Musicians and Their Music, 1890–1935 (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1994), p. 70. 13. The Flame; Earl Calloway, “Dr. Joyner Dies at 98,” Chicago Defender, December 29, 1994, p. 1; Marjorie Stewart Joyner, interviewed by author, August 19, 1986, Chicago. Also see Ingham and Feldman, African American Business Leaders, pp. 634-640 for information on African American entrepreneur Annie Minerva Turnbo-Malone. Turnbo-Malone built a hair and personal care business prior to Walker’s that was equally as successful, if not more so. In fact, Walker may have worked for Turnbo-Malone before starting her own business. In 1930, Turnbo-Malone moved her business from St. Louis, Missouri to FortyFourth and South Parkway in Chicago, a few blocks from the Regal. Turnbo-Malone may have been the Black community’s greatest philanthropist, contributing to numerous causes to aid African Americans. 14. Chicago Defender, May 26, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; also see Roi Ottley, The Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S. Abbott (Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1955). Ottley’s biography of Robert S. Abbott describes Abbott’s intense commitment to elevating Black community life. 15. See, for example, Ted Vincent, Keep Cool: The Jazz Activists Who Built the Jazz Age (London: Pluto Press, 1995), p. 20. 16 See Albert Fried, The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980), pp. 170–171. 17. See, for example, Ralph Cooper, Amateur Night at the Apollo (New York: HarperCollins, 1990), pp. 41, 44, 63–64; Harold Cruse, Crisis of the Negro Intellectual (New York: William Morrow, 1960), pp. 20, 86; Travis, Autobiography of Black Jazz, pp. 39–49; William J. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine, 1931–1991 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), pp. 59, 82. 18. See Robert Staples, The Urban Plantation: Racism and Colonialism in the Post Civil-Rights Era (Oakland, California: Black Scholar Press, 1987), pp. 191–221. 19. Ibid., p. 10. 20. Ibid., p. 12. 21. See Clovis E. Semmes, Cultural Hegemony and African-American Development (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992), pp. 1–32. 22. Ibid., pp. 105–107. 23. Ibid., pp. 111–138.

Chapter 1 The Opening: Separate but Equal 1. Michael Conant, Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry: Economic and Legal Analysis (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960),

NOTES

2.

3. 4. 5.

6.

7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12.

13. 14.

15. 16. 17.

18.

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p. 157; also see Regal Theater folder, Theater Historical Society, Elmhurst, Illinois. See Carrie Balaban, “Opening Night at the Tivoli,” Marquee: The Journal of the Theatre Historical Society 17, no. 4 (1985): 10; Conant, Antitrust, p. 157. Conant, Antitrust, pp. 157, 159. Telephone interview with Bill Benedict of Theatre Historical Society of America, August 5, 1986. See Christine Basque, “Paradoxes of Paradise: Elements of Conflict in Balaban & Katz Movie Palaces,” Marquee: The Journal of the Theatre Historical Society 27, no. 2 (1995): 7. Oliver Cromwell Cox, “The Origin of Direct-Action Protest Among Negroes: The Chicago Experience,” n.d. TMs (microfiche), Kent State University Library. Kent, Ohio, p. 8. Chicago Tribune, August 19, 1926, pt. 3, p. 1. See data on “Louis Englestein” and “Harry Englestein,” accessed June 30, 2003, from AncestryPlus at Eastern Michigan University Library Databases Web site: http://gale.ancestry.com/ggmain.htm. Also see “Englewood Map During the 1920s–1930s,” accessed June 30, 2003, from Jazz Age Chicago Web site: http://www.suba.com/~scottn/ explore/district/southtwn/southtw2.htm; “South Center Department Store,” accessed June 30, 2003, from Jazz Age Chicago Web site: http://www.suba.com/~scottn/explore/sites/d_stores/socenter.htm; “BeckerRyan/Sears Roebuck,” accessed June 30, 2003 from Jazz Age Chicago Web site: http://www.suba.com/~scottn/explore/ sites/d_stores/becker. Cox, “Origin of Direct Action Protest,” p. 10. Ibid., pp. 10–11. See E. Franklin Frazier, Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of the New Middle Class (New York: The Free Press, 1957), pp. 55–56. Interview with Scotty Piper, August 26, 1986; W. Augustus Low and Virgil A. Clift, eds., Encyclopedia of Black America (New York: Da Capo Press, 1981), p. 478; Thomas Yenser, ed., Who’s Who in Colored American, 1941–1944, 6th ed. (New York: Thomas Yenser, 1942), p. 299; Roi Ottley, Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S. Abbott (Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1955), pp. 200, 315 . Cox, “Origin of Direct Action Protest,” p. 11. Ibid., pp. 228–229, 247–248, 250–251, 255–256; also see M. R. Werner, Julius Rosenwald: The Life of a Practical Humanitarian (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1939), p. 278. Ibid., p. 263. Werner, Julius Rosenwald, pp. 274–275. See Douglas Gomery, Shared Pleasures: A History of Movie Presentation in the United States (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992), pp. 41–44. See Werner, Julius Rosenwald; and Edwin R. Embree and Julia Waxman, Investment in People: The Story of the Julius Rosenwald Fund (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1949).

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19. Chicago Defender, December 24, 1927, pt. 1, p. 7; November 9, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7; Pittsburgh Courier, October 22, 1927, section 2, p. 3; Chicago Tribune, August 29, 1926, pt. 3, p. 1; Dempsey Travis, An Autobiography of Black Jazz (Chicago: Urban Research Institute, Inc.), pp. 98, 101. 20. Norma Miller with Evette Jensen, Swingin’ at the Savoy: The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), pp. 28, 31; e-mail correspondence with Terry Monaghan, Harlem Savoy historian, August 28, 2000; Chicago Defender, September 29, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; November 17, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; November 24, 1928, pt. 1, p. 4; Fess Williams as told to Harrison Smith, “The Fess Williams Story,” Record Research 3 (October/November 1957): 5. 21. Thomas J. Hennessey, From Jazz to Swing: African American Jazz Musicians and Their Music, 1890–1935 (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1994), p. 72; Travis, Autobiography of Black Jazz, pp. 84–86. 22. Ted Vincent, Keep Cool: The Black Activists Who Built the Jazz Age (London: Pluto Press, 1995), pp. 69–79. 23. Chicago Defender, September 29, pt. 1, p. 6. 24. Ibid., December 31, 1927, pt. 1, p. 6. 25. Interview with Jimmy Luckette, August 17, 1986; Travis, Autobiography of Black Jazz, pp. 79–80; Chicago Defender, December 24, 1927, pt. 1, p. 8. 26. Pittsburgh Courier, November 12, 1927, section 1, p. 6. 27. Chicago Defender, May 26, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 28. Ibid., November 24, 1928, pt. 1, p. 4; Travis, Autobiography of Black Jazz, p. 92. 29. Chuck Menville, The Harlem Globetrotters: An Illustrated History (New York: The Benjamin Company, Inc., 1978), pp. 9–10. 30. Chicago Defender, December 24, 1927, pt. 1, p. 7. 31. Ibid., September 29, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 32. Ibid., February 18, 1928, pt. 1, p. 4. 33. Ibid., December 24, 1927, pt. 1, p. 6. 34. Frederick L. Lights, “Memories: The Chicago Regal,” Marquee: Journal of the Theatre Historical Society 5, no. 4 (1973). 35. Dempsey Travis, “The Regal That I Remember,” Chicago Weekend 13, no. 3 (February 8, 2001): p. 30. 36. Lights, “Memories”; Travis, Autobiography of Black Jazz, pp. 144–155. 37. Lights, “Memories.” 38. Interview with Jimmy Luckette. 39. Lights, “Memories.” 40. Interview with Jimmy Luckette. 41. Chicago Defender, January 14, 1928, pt. 1, p. 8; Lights, “Memories”; Travis, “Regal That I Remember”; Travis, Autobiography of Black Jazz, p. 150.

NOTES

42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

51.

52. 53. 54.

55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67.

231

Chicago Tribune, February 4, 1928, p. 16. See Ibid., June 2, 1928, p. 16. Chicago Defender, Local, January 14, 1928, pt. 1, p. 8. Ibid., May 26, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. Ibid., April 27, 1929, pt. 1, p. 6. Ibid., November 3, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; July 21, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; August 11, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. Ibid., March 3, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; May 19, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; November 10, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. Ibid., Local, January 21, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. Thomas J. Hennessey, “Chicago’s Black Establishment,” Journal of Jazz Studies 2, no. 1 (December 1974): 15–38; Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1971), p. 355; John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz: Storyville to Swing (New York: Time-Life Record, 1978), p. 256. See Hennessey, “Black Establishment,” pp. 16–17. Hennessey established the end of Peyton’s tenure at the Defender as August 24, 1929, but no byline or picture of Peyton was connected to the column after June 22, 1929, and the byline of Walter Barnes, Peyton’s successor, appeared September 21, 1929. Chicago Defender, January 21, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; March 3, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. Ibid. January 7, 1928, pt. 1, p. 8. See for example, Marshall and Jean Stearns, Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968). James Weldon Johnson, Black Manhattan (New York: Atheneum, 1972), p. 120; also see Vincent, Keep Cool, p. 63. Ibid., pp. 122–124. Chicago Defender, January 21, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. Williams and Harrison, “Fess Williams Story,” p. 5. Williams and Harrison, Chicago Defender, November 24, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; December 22, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. Chicago Defender, February 11, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; May 26, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; June 23, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; also see John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz, p. 33. Chicago Defender, December 29, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. Ibid.; Chicago Defender, January 21, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. Ibid., February 18, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. See Dave Peyton’s comments when Fess Williams leaves the Regal; Chicago Defender, June 2, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. Chicago Defender, June 2, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. Ibid., May 26, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. Variety, Wednesday, February 15, 1928, p. 37; Chicago Defender, Local, January 21, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7.

232

NOTES

68. See for example, Chicago Defender, March 3, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; March 17, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; March 24, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; March 31, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; May 19, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; June 16, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 69. See the entertainment pages of the Chicago Defender throughout 1928. 70. Chicago Defender, April 28, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. 71. Travis, Autobiography of Black Jazz, pp. 256–257; Chicago Defender, September 15, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. 72. Chicago Defender, April 7, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. 73. Ibid., May 26, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 74. Ibid., April 21, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 75. Ibid., December 12, 1925, p. 7. 76. Ibid. 77. Ibid. 78. Ibid. 79. Donald Spivey, Union and the Black Musician: The Narrative of William Everette Samuels and Chicago Local 208 (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984), p. viii. 80. Ibid., p. 32. 81. Chicago Defender, November 23, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7. 82. Spivey, Union and the Black Musician, pp. 32–37. 83. Ibid., p. 37. 84. Ibid., p. 53. 85. Ibid. 86. Vincent, Keep Cool, pp. 92–93, 134–137; Chicago Defender, June 23, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 87. Chicago Defender, March 10, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 88. Ibid., February 25, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. 89. Ibid., September 3, 1927, pt. 1, p. 6. 90. Ibid., February 25, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. 91. Ibid., March 10, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. 92. Ibid., March 10, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; April 14, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; May 5, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; May 12, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. 93. Ibid., July 21, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; July 28, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 94. Ibid., August 18, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 95. Ibid., September 8, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; September 22, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6. 96. Ibid., September 1, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. 97. Ibid., October 13, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; October 27, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; November 24, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. 98. Ibid., February 9, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; December 22, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; February 16, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7; February 23, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7. 99. Ibid., December 1, 1928, pt. 1, p. 6; December 29, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; February 2, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7. 100. Ibid., February 16, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7; March 9, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7.

NOTES

233

101. Ibid., February 9, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7; March 30, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7; April 6, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7. 102. Ibid., May 11, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7. 103. Ibid., May 4, 1929, pt. 1, p. 6; October 26, 1929, pt. 1, p. 7; December 28, 1929, pt. 1, p. 6.

Chapter 2 The Depression Years: Privilege in the Marketplace and Black Stewardship 1. John Douglas Eames, The Paramount Story (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1985), p. 9; Douglas Gomery, Shared Pleasures: A History of Movie Presentation in the United States (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992), p. 34; Anthony Slide, The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1998), p. 155. 2. Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994), p. 70; Eames, Paramount Story, pp. 113–114; Neal Gabler, An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1988), pp. 41–43. 3. Thompson and Bordwell, Film History, pp. 70, 157; Exhibitors Herald, August 20, 1927, pp. 25–27. 4. Eames, Paramount Story, p. 36; Gomery, Shared Pleasures, p. 49; Michael Conant, Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry: Economic and Legal Analysis (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960), pp. 154–155; Thomas and Bordwell, Film History, pp. 157–158. 5. Gomery, Shared Pleasures, pp. 57, 60. 6. Thomas and Bordwell, Film History, p. 157. 7. Ibid., Eames, Paramount Story, p. 36. 8. Eames, Paramount Story, pp. 36–37; Gomery, Shared Pleasures, pp. 59, 61; Slide, American Film Industry, pp. 154–155. 9. See Gus Russo, The Outfit: The Role of Chicago’s Underworld in the Shaping of Modern America (New York: Bloomsbury, 2002), pp. 121–123, 125; Mike Nielsen and Gene Mailes, Hollywood’s Other Blacklist: Union Struggles in the Studio System (London: British Film Institute, 1995), pp. vii, 17; David W. Stowe, Swing Changes: Big Band Jazz in New Deal America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1944), p. 104. 10. See Russo, The Outfit, pp. 121–133, 135–138; Nielsen and Mailes, Hollywood’s Other Blacklist, pp. 16–21, 80–81; Robert J. Kelly, The Upperworld and the Underworld: Case Studies of Racketeering and Business Infiltration in the United States (New York: Kluwer

234

11.

12. 13.

14.

15. 16.

17.

18. 19.

20. 21. 22.

NOTES

Academic/Plenum Publishers, 1999), pp. 66–68; Albert Fried, The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980), pp. 169–171. See Earl Hines, “How Gangsters Ran the Band Business,” Ebony September 4, 1949, pp. 40–47; Dempsey J.Travis, An Autobiobraphy of Black Jazz (Chicago: Urban Research Institute, 1981), pp. 124–138, 472; Rufus Schatzberg and Robert J. Kelly, African-American Organized Crime: A Social History (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996), pp. 95, 102; Brenda Dixon Gottschild, Waltzing in the Dark: African American Vaudeville and Race Politics in the Swing Era (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000), pp. 87–91; Chicago Defender, August 26, 1939, p. 21; Ted Vincent, Keep Cool: The Black Activists Who Built the Jazz Age (London: Pluto Press, 1995), pp. 77–79, 174, 182. E. Franklin Frazier, The Negro Family in Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1932), pp. 91, 93–95, 101. St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton, Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City, revised and enlarged ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), pp. 62–63. Otis Dudley Duncan and Beverly Duncan, The Negro Population of Chicago: A Study of Residential Succession (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), pp. 21–23, 34–35. Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, p. 12. See Ibid., pp. 62–65; Dempsey J. Travis, An Autobiography of Black Chicago (Chicago: Urban Research Institute, 1981), pp. 37–40; William J. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine, 1931–1991 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), pp. 96–97. See Irving Cutler, The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996), pp. 199, 204–205; Glen E. Holt and Dominic A. Pacyga, Chicago: A Historical Guide to the Neighborhoods, the Loop and South Side (Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 1979), pp. 87–88; Dominic A. Pacyga and Ellen Skerrett, Chicago: City of Neighborhoods (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1986), pp. 338–341. Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, p. 432. Chicago Fact Book Consortium, editors, Local Community Fact Book: Chicago Metropolitan Area, 1980 (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1984), p. 104. Ibid.; Holt and Pacyga, Chicago, pp. 88–91. Ibid. Also see Chicago Defender, December 31, 1938, pp. 1, 2; Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit, pp. 50–61, 96–97. I reviewed the entertainment section of every issue of the national edition of the Chicago Defender printed during the life of the Regal Theater. From this procedure I noted the mention of stage shows and developed a rough count of the number of shows offered each month. Various articles offered information that helped to confirm the conclusion that a live show had or had not been presented that week.

NOTES

23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37.

38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43.

44.

45. 46. 47. 48. 49.

50.

235

This process provided an ordinal sense of the up-and-down years regarding the presentation of live shows at the Regal. Lester V. Chandler, America’s Greatest Depression, 1929–1941 (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1970), p. 31. Ibid., p. 1. Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, p. 78. Chandler, America’s Greatest Depression, pp. 1–10. Ibid., pp. 40–41, 45. Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, p. 84; John N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994), pp. 492, 495–496; Chicago Defender, August 9, 1930, p. 3. Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, pp. 84–85. Gomery, Shared Pleasures, pp. 70, 73, 80–81. Chicago Defender, December 13, 1930, p. 20. Roi Ottley, The Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Roberts S. Abbott (Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1955), pp. 351–354. Chicago Defender, December 20, 1930, p. 5. Ibid., September 13, 1930, p. 5. Ibid., January 11, 1930, p. 7. Ibid. Ibid. In a subsequent year, 1935, Bill Robinson and Earl Hines organized a benefit at the Regal to raise money for blind boxer Walcott Langford. The money was for an operation to restore Langford’s vision. See Chicago Defender, August 10, 1935, p. 7. Ibid., February 1, 1930, p. 7. McClennon was also a comedian. Like most comedians of this period, he performed in blackface. Ibid., February 8, 1930, p. 7. Ibid., May 24, 1930, p. 10. Ibid., June 21, 1930, p. 5. Ibid., July, 5, 1930, p. 5; August 2, 1930, p. 5; August 9, 1930, p. 5. Marshall Stearns and Jean Stearns, Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968), pp. 290–291. Ralph Cooper, Amateur Night at the Apollo (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1990), pp. 121–130, 146–147, 158–159; Florence Murray, The Negro Handbook (New York: Wendell Malliett and Company, 1942), p. 228. Chicago Defender, August 23, 1930, p. 5; August 16, 1930, p. 5. Ibid., September 6, 1930, p. 5. Ibid., September 13, 1930, p. 5. Cooper, Amateur Night, pp. 44, 70–71, 81–82. Travis, Black Jazz, pp. 43–44; Cab Calloway and Bryant Rollins, Of Minnie the Moocher and Me (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976), pp. 58–60; Cooper, Amateur Night, pp. 145–146. Chicago Defender, May 3, 1930, pt. 2, p. 9; August 30, 1930, p. 5; Nadine Graves-George, The Royalty of Negro Vaudeville: The

236

51. 52. 53.

54. 55. 56. 57.

58.

59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65.

66.

67. 68.

69. 70.

71.

NOTES

Whitman Sisters and the Negotiation of Race, Gender and Class in American Theater, 1900–1940 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000), p. 122. Chicago Defender, September 13, 1930, p. 5. Ibid., September 6, 1930, p. 5; September 13, 1930, p. 5; September 20, 1930, p. 5; Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, pp. 88–89. Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, pp. 85–89; George-Graves, Negro Vaudeville, pp. 44–45, 89–93, 96–98, 111; Chicago Defender, September 6, 1930, p. 5. Chicago Defender, May 11, 1935, p. 6; January 4, 1936, p. 9. Ibid., September 13, 1930, p. 5. Ibid., February 15, 1930, p. 7. Ibid. During his vaudeville performances, Washington “usually appeared as a well-dressed gentleman tramp.” See Anthony Slide, The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994), p. 535. William Russell, “Louis Armstrong,” in Jazzmen, ed. Frederick Ramsey Jr. and Charles Edward Smith (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1967), pp. 124–138; also see Thomas J. Hennessey, From Jazz to Swing: African American Jazz Musicians and Their Music, 1890–1935 (Detroit: Wayne State Press, 1994), pp. 76–81; Chicago Defender, February 15, 1930, p. 7; August 2, 1930, p. 5. Chicago Defender, February 15, 1930, p. 7. Ibid., June 14, 1930, p. 7. Ibid. Ibid., June 14, 1930, p. 7. Ibid. Ibid., July 5, 1930, p. 5. Gary Null, Black Hollywood: The Black Performer in Motion Pictures (New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1990), pp. 27–36; Chicago Defender, November 22, 1930, p. 5. Jesse Carney Smith, Notable Black American Women (Detroit: Gale Research, 1992), pp. 707–708; Stephen Bourne, “Nina Mae McKinney,” Films in Review 42 (January/February 1991): 24–28; Chicago Defender, December 13, 1930; August 9, 1930, p. 5. Chicago Defender, October 11, 1930, p. 5. Romare Bearden and Henry Henderson, A History of AfricanAmerican Artists: From 1792 to the Present (New York: Pantheon Books, 1993), pp. 136–139, 142. Ibid., p. 137. Bruce A. Linton, “A History of Chicago Radio Station Programming, 1921–1931, with Emphasis on Stations WMAQ and WGN” (Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University, 1953), pp. 29–35. Chicago Defender, June 21, 1930, p. 15. Station WIBO began broadcasting in Chicago in 1926 and was owned and operated by the Nelson Brothers Bond and Mortgage Company. Unable to survive the Depression, the station shut down in 1933. See C. George

NOTES

72.

73.

74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80.

81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95.

237

Ericson, “Swedish Radio Services in Chicago,” Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly 24, no. 3 (1973): 157. J. Fred MacDonald, Don’t Touch That Dial: Radio Programming in American Life, 1920–1960 (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979), pp. 26–29, 33; Joseph Boskin, Sambo: The Rise and Demise of An American Jester (Oxford University Press: New York, 1986), pp. 166–175; William Barlow, “Commercial and Noncommercial Radio,” in Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media, ed. Jannette L. Dates and William Barlow (Washington DC: Howard University Press, 1990), pp. 177–180. Chicago Defender, August 2, 1930, p. 5; January 25, 1950, p. 6; Mark Newman, Entrepreneurs of Profit and Pride: From Black-Appeal to Radio Soul (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1988), pp. 59, 62, 66, 69–71; Barlow, “Commercial and Noncommercial Radio,” pp. 182, 185–186. Barlow, “Commercial and Noncommercial Radio,” p. 185; Newman, Entrepreneurs of Profit, p. 66. Chicago Defender, January 11, 1930, p. 6. Ibid., January 25, 1930, p. 7; June 21, 1930, p. 5; Chris Albertson, Bessie (New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1974), pp. 164, 168, 176. Albertson, Bessie, pp. 166–167; Barlow, “Commercial and Noncommercial Radio,” p. 176. Barlow, “Commercial and Noncommercial Radio,” p. 177; Hennessey, Jazz to Swing, pp. 131–132. Chicago Defender, January 25, 1930, p. 6. Ibid., January 10, 1931, p. 5; January 31, 1931, p. 5; March 21, 1931, p. 5; In September, Peyton’s 12-piece orchestra opened to a packed house at the Club Congo located in the Binga Building on 35th Street; he was managing director of the club. However, by December Peyton had resigned from this post and left the establishment. See Chicago Defender, September 19, 1931, p. 5; December 5, 1931, p. 5. Chicago Defender, April 11, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., May 16, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., January 17, 1931, p. 5; March 7, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., August 1, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., September 5, 1931, p. 5; November 7, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., May 19, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7; October 6, 1928, pt. 1, p. 7. Ibid., November 7, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., May 23, 1931, p. 5; June 13, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., May 16, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., August 16, 1930, p. 5. Ibid., January 5, 1929, pt. 1, p. 1. Ibid., April 25, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., March 28, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., July 4, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., February 14, 1931, p. 5; February 21, 1931, p. 5; March 7, 1931, p. 5; March 14, 1931, p. 5; April 11, 1931, p. 5; May 23, 1931, p. 5; August 15, 1931, p. 10.

238 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102.

103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112.

113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118.

119.

120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126.

NOTES

Ibid., July 18, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., August 8, 1931, p. 5; August 29, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., November 28, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., December 5, 1931, p. 5 Ibid., December 12, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., December 26, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., April 11, 1931, p. 5; August 8, 1931, p. 5; September 26, 1931, p. 5; October 24, 1931, p. 5; December 12, 1931, p. 5; June 13, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., May 16, 1931, p. 5; July 4, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., June 27, 1931, p. 5. Ibid., January 30, 1932, p. 5. Ibid., November 12, 1932, p. 5. Ibid., December 17, 1932, p. 5; January 5, 1935, p. 8. Ibid., December 24, 1932, p. 5. Ibid. Ibid., January 13, 1936, p. 7. Ibid., December 17, 1932, p. 5. See “Donald Mills, Last Member of the Mills Brothers, Succumbs,” Jet November 29, 1999, pp. 57–58; Louis Robinson, “The Eternal Mills Brothers,” Ebony, September, 1970, pp. 62, 64–65; Chicago Defender, April 8, 1933, p. 5; November 4, 1933, p. 5. Chicago Defender, July 15, 1933, p. 5. Ibid., July 29, 1933, p. 5; August 5, 1933, p. 5. Ibid., August 19, 1933, p. 5; November 11, 1933, p. 15; December 23, 1933, p. 5. Ibid., December 30, 1933, p. 5. Ibid., February 27, 1932, p. 5; January 7, 1933, p. 5. See Rosetta Reitz, “Hot Snow: Valaida Snow (Queen of the Trumpet Sings & Swings),” Black American Literature Forum 16 (Winter 1982): 158–160. Chicago Defender, May 12, 1934, p. 8; August 25, 1934, p. 8; September 29, 1934, p. 8; December 1, 1934, p. 8; January 7, 1937, p. 21. Black female band and orchestra leaders and Black, all-female bands and orchestras were prominent throughout the 1930s. See D. Antoinette Handy, Black Women in American Bands and Orchestras, 2nd ed. (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998), pp. 43–46; Chicago Defender, July 30, 1932, p. 5; September 5, 1936, p. 18. Chicago Defender, October 27, 1934, p. 8; November 10, 1934, p. 8. Chicago Defender, August 4, 1934, p. 8; August 11, 1934, p. 8; Slide, The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, pp. 411–412. Chicago Defender, March 31, 1934, p. 5; April 7, 1934, p. 8. Ibid., April 14, 1934, p. 9. Ibid., June 2, 1934, p. 6. Ibid., July 7, 1934, p. 6; July 14, 1934, p. 8. Ibid., June 30, 1934, pp. 8, 9; August 11, 1934, p. 8.

NOTES

127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 139.

140. 141. 142.

143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148.

239

Ibid., October 13, 1934, p. 8; December 8, 1934, p. 8. Ibid., December 1, 1934, p. 3. Ibid., December 22, 1934, p. 9; December 29, 1939, pp. 9, 10. Ibid., June 23, 1934, p. 9. Ibid., February 3, 1934, p. 5; September 15, 1934, p. 9. Ibid., January 6, 1934; p. 5; January 27, 1934, p. 5; February 10, 1934, p. 5. Ibid., December 15, 1934, p. 9. Ibid., July 7, 1934, p. 6; October 27, 1934, p. 9; November 3, 1934, p. 8; January 5, 1935, p. 8. Ibid., January 5, 1935, p. 8; January 26, 1935, p. 9; February 16, 1935, p. 9. Ibid., April 6, 1935, p. 11. Ibid., May 25, 1935, p. 6; June 8, 1935, p. 6; June 15, 1935, pp. 6, 7; June 22, 1935, p. 6. Ibid., November 2, 1935, p. 9. Ibid., March 30, 1935, p. 8; July 6, 1935, p. 8. At some point the Grand Terrace Café also held a “Future Stars” night. See Ibid., November 23, 1935, p. 9. Ibid., December 7, 1935, p. 9; December 14, 1935, pp. 8, 9; December 21, 1935, pp. 8. 9; December 28, 1935, p. 9. Ibid., September 7, 1935, p. 8. Ibid., January 2, 1932, p. 5; July 30, 1932, p. 5; September 3, 1932, p. 5; October 8, 1932, p. 5; April 1, 1933, p. 5; August 12, 1933, p. 5; September 2, 1933, p. 5; September 9, 1933, p. 5; October 7, 1933, p. 5; April 14, 1934, p. 8; October 20, 1934, p. 8; January 19, 1935, p. 8; August 10, 1935, p. 7; August 24, 1935, p. 7; September 14, 1935, p. 8; June 6, 1936, p. 11; August 1, 1936, p. 11; September 5, 1936, p. 18; October 10, 1936, p. 20; November 21, 1936, p. 20. Eddie Plicque promoted fights at the Savoy for 15 years, 1931–1946. Also, see Travis, Black Jazz, p. 98. Drake and Cayton reported that the use of the term Bronzeville, which became an alternative name for the Black Belt or Chicago’s South-Side Black community, originally came from an editor of the Chicago Bee newspaper, which promoted a contest in 1930 for the Mayor of Bronzeville. When the editor joined the Chicago Defender a few years later, he brought the idea with him. Subsequently, “the ‘Mayor of Bronzeville’ grew into a community event with a significance far beyond that of a circulation stunt.” See Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, p. 383. Chicago Defender, August 26, 1939, p. 21. Ibid., July 22, 1939, p. 21. Ibid., February 1, 1936, p. 8. Ibid., February 1, 1936, p. 9; May 23, 1938, p. 11. Ibid., August 29, 1936, p. 19. Ibid., April 24, 1937, p. 21.

240

NOTES

149. Ibid., September 5, 1936, p. 18; August 26, 1939, p. 20; also see, Boskin, Sambo, pp. 175–197; J. Fred MacDonald, Blacks and White TV: Afro-Americans in Television Since 1948 (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1983), p. 23. 150. Chicago Defender, August 19, 1939, pp. 20–21. 151. Ibid., October 8, 1938, p. 19; October 15, 1938, p. 18. 152. Ibid., May 20, 1939, p. 20. 153. Ibid., October 14, 1939, p. 20. 154. Ibid., July 9, 1938, p. 19. 155. Ibid., April 16, 1938, p. 19. 156. See Robert D. Leiter, The Musicians and Petrillo (New York: Bookman Associates, 1953), pp. 54–55. 157. Chicago Defender, February 6, 1937, p. 21. 158. See for example, Stowe, Swing Changes, pp. 115–116, 122–123. 159. Chicago Defender, June 17, 1939, p. 22. “Television in the United States made its formal debut on Sunday, April 30, 1939, with the telecasting of a speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the opening of the World’s Fair in New York City. The images were sent to receivers placed at strategic locations. It was claimed that the pictures were clear and steady.” See Albert Abramson, The History of Television, 1880–1941 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 1987), p. 252. 160. Chicago Defender, March 17, 1934, p. 5; Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, p. 271. 161. Ibid., May 12, 1934, p. 8; March 30, 1935, p. 8; Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, p. 231. 162. Chicago Defender, April 14, 1934, p. 8; Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, p. 301. 163. Ibid., October 5, 1935, p. 8; Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, pp. 305–307. 164. Ibid., January 16, 1937, p. 24. 165. Chicago Defender, May 30, 1936, p. 11; September 17, 1938, p. 19; May 13, 1939, p. 20; May 27, 1939, p. 20. 166. Ibid., September 12, 1936, p. 20; July 17, 1937, p. 11; September 11, 1937, p. 10; Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, p. 194. 167. Ibid., February 6, 1937, p. 20; May 8, 1937, p. 21; July 24, 1937, p. 11. 168. Ibid., May 30, 1936, p. 11; June 6, 1936, p. 11; June13, 1936, p. 7. 169. Ibid., April 10, 1937, p. 11; also see, September 12, 1936, p. 20; May 8, 1937, p. 20. 170. Travis, Black Jazz, pp. 158–161. Travis also reported that when Blewett became manager of the Regal, Myron Wright, formerly the coassistant manager with Blewett, became manager of the Savoy. 171. Chicago Tribune, February 27, 1955; July 16, 1986. 172. Ibid., Chicago Sun-Times, July 15, 1986; Travis, Black Jazz, pp. 157–158. 173. Chicago Defender, May 28, 1938, p. 19; July 9, 1938, p. 18. 174. MacDonald, Don’t Touch That Dial, pp. 47–48.

NOTES

241

175. Chicago Defender, November 21, 1936, p. 21. 176. Ibid.; Chicago Defender, November 28, 1936, p. 17; November 19, 1938, p. 12. 177. Ibid., November 27, 1937, p. 12; November 19, 1938, p. 12; December 2, 1939, p. 21. 178. Ibid., December 12, 1936, p. 21; December 19, 1936, pp. 20, 21; December 26, 1936, pp. 20, 21; December 18, 1937, pp. 18, 19; December 17, 1938, pp. 12, 18; December 1939, p. 20. 179. Ibid., May 15, 1937, p. 20. 180. Ibid., June 26, 1937, p. 11; November 19, 1938, p. 19. Also see John Chilton, Who’s Who in Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street (New York: Time-Life Records Special Edition, 1978), pp. 178–179, 344–345; Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, pp. 245–246; and Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm and Blues (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1988; Obelisk, 1989), pp. 19–20. 181. Ibid., November 11, 1939, p. 21. 182. Ibid., September 30, 1939, p. 20. 183. Ibid.; Chicago Sun-Times, July 15, 1986; Travis, Black Jazz, pp. 157–158.

Chapter 3 The End of Monopoly and the End of Swing 1. For a discussion of the decline of swing music see David W. Stowe, Swing Changes: Big Band Jazz in New Deal America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), pp. 180–220. For information on management at the Regal see Chicago Defender, February 3, 1940, p. 20; July 6, 1940, p. 20; January 31, 1942, p. 21; and Dempsey J. Travis, An Autobiography of Black Jazz (Chicago: Urban Research Institute, 1983), p. 161. 2. Travis, Black Jazz, p. 94. 3. Ibid., pp. 94–106. 4. Ibid., p. 143; Bernard F. Dick, Engulfed: The Death of Paramount Pictures and the Birth of Corporate Hollywood (Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2001), p. 38. 5. Michael Conant, Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960), pp. 58, 77–78, 154, 161, 166–167. 6. Ibid., pp. 172, 177. 7. Otis Dudley Duncan and Beverly Duncan, The Negro Population of Chicago: A Study of Residential Succession (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), pp. 6, 21–23; William J. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine, 1931–1991 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), p. 97. 8. Duncan, The Negro Population of Chicago, pp. 34, 41; Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit, p. 96.

242

NOTES

9. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit, p. 97. 10. Ibid., Chicago Fact Book Consortium, editors, Local Community Fact Book: Chicago Metropolitan Area, 1980 (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1984), pp. 103–104. 11. Arthur R. Ashe Jr., A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the AfricanAmerican Athlete, 1919–1945 (New York: Warner Books, 1988), pp. 18, 20, 328. 12. Chicago Defender, February 3, 1940, p. 20. 13. Ibid., February 10, 1940, p. 20; April 6, 1940, p. 21; May 18, 1940, p. 20; June 15, 1940, p. 21; July 13, 1940, p. 20; July 20, 1940, p. 20; July 27, 1940, p. 20; August 10, 1940, p. 21; August 17, 1940, p. 17; August 24, 1940, p. 20; September 7, 1940, p. 16; December 14, 1940, p. 21. 14. Ibid., November 23, 1940, p. 21. Also see Brenda Dixon Gottschild, Waltzing in the Dark: African American Vaudeville and Race Politics in the Swing Era (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000), p. 24; and Jack Schiffman, Harlem Heyday (New York: Prometheus Books, 1984), p. 13. 15. Ibid., January 20, 1940, p. 21; April 13, 1940, p. 21. 16. Ibid., November 30, 1940, p. 21. 17. Ibid., March 21, 1942, p. 22. 18. The three smaller motion picture distribution firms, which did not own theaters, were Columbia Pictures Corporation, Universal Pictures Company, and United Artists Corporation. See Conant, Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry, pp. 34–35, 49–50, 94, 106, 154. 19. Chicago Defender, December 13, 1930, p. 6; July 6, 1940, p. 20; August 17, 1940, p. 17; November 16, 1940, p. 20; December 14, 1940, p. 21; April 27, 1940, p. 20. 20. Mel Watkins, On the Real Side (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994; Touchstone Edition, 1995), pp. 154, 390; Elsie A. Williams, “Moms Mabley and the Afro-American Comic Performance,” in Women’s Comic Visions, ed. June Sochen (Detroit: Wayne State Press, 1991), pp. 158, 162, 164; Trudier Harris, “Moms Mabley: A Study in Humor, Role Playing, and the Violation of Taboo,” Southern Review 24, no. 4 (1988): 766, 767, 771, 772, 774. 21. Harris, “Study in Humor,” pp. 765–766; Williams, “Afro-American Comic Performance,” pp. 166–167. 22. Watkins, On the Real Side, p. 391. 23. Mabley Moms, “The Good Ole Days,” in Honey, Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women’s Humor, ed. Daryl Cumber Dance (New York: W. W. Norton, 1998), p. 334. 24. Harris, “Study in Humor,” p. 768. 25. Ibid., p. 767; Williams, “Afro-American Comic Performance,” p. 160. 26. Chicago Defender, February 24, 1940, p. 17; May 25, 1940, p. 20; August 17, 1940, p. 17; September 7, 1940, p. 17; November 16, 1940, p. 20; December 14, 1940, p. 21.

NOTES

27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

32. 33. 34. 35. 36.

37. 38. 39. 40. 41.

42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51.

52. 53.

243

Additional examples were discussed in Chapter 2. Chicago Defender, January 27, 1940, p. 21. Ibid., February 17, 1940, p. 20. Ibid., February 24, 1940, pp. 20–21; April 20, 1940, p. 21; December 7, 1940, p. 20. Ibid., April 24, 1943, pp. 18–19; December 16, 1944, p. 7; April 7, 1945, p. 17; also see Rosetta Reitz, “Hot Snow: Valaida Snow (Queen of Trumpet Sings & Swings),” Black American Literature Forum 16, no. 4 (Winter 1982): 158–160. Ibid., November 30, 1940, p. 21; May 10, 1941, p. 20. Marv Goldberg, More Than Words Can Say: The Ink Spots and Their Music (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998), pp. viii, ix, xiii, xv, 7, 12. Ibid., pp. 31, 43, 46, 50–52, 54, 59. Ibid., pp. 157–159, 169, 183, 215. Marshall and Jean Stearns, Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968), pp. 245–246; Chicago Defender, June 14, 1941, p. 21. Chicago Defender, August 23, 1941, p. 21. Ibid., August 30, 1941, p. 20; September 27, 1941, p. 21; November 8, 1941, p. 20. Ibid., November 15, 1941, p. 19. Ibid., March 15, 1941, p. 20. Ibid., May 10, 1941, p. 20; May 17, 1941, p. 21; John Chilton, Who’s Who in Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street (New York: Time-Life Records Special Edition, 1978), p. 354. Ibid., January 25, 1941, p. 21. Ibid., January 10, 1942, p. 21; January 17, 1942, p. 20; Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, p. 245. Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, p. 245; Chicago Defender, February 21, 1942, p. 20. Chicago Defender, January 17, 1942, p. 20; February 7, 1942, p. 21; February 21, 1942, pp. 20, 21; Travis, Black Jazz, p. 245. Chicago Defender, March 21, 1942, pp. 22, 23. Ibid., April 4, 1942, p. 23. Ibid., May 2, 1942, p. 23. Ibid., July 11, 1942, pp. 22, 23. Ibid., September 5, 1942, p. 20; September 12, 1942, p. 20. Antoinette D. Handy, The International Sweethearts of Rhythm (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1983), p. 70; Chicago Defender, October 24, 1942, p. 21; November 28, 1942, p. 22. Handy, International Sweethearts of Rhythm, pp. vii, 37, 43. Ibid., pp. viii, 6, 70, 103, 108, 114, 137–138, 157, 167. For information on the emergence of the Swinging Rays of Rhythm see Chicago Defender, June 21, 1941, p. 20. For photos of the Sweethearts of Rhythm see Chicago Defender, October 31, 1942, p. 21; November 7, 1942, p. 21.

244

NOTES

54. See International Sweethearts of Rhythm, prod. and dir. Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss, 30 min., Cinema Guild, 1986, videocassette; also see Handy, International Sweethearts of Rhythm. 55. Chicago Defender, November 14, 1942, p. 19. 56. Ibid. 57. Ibid., December 12, 1942, p. 13; December 26, 1942, p. 9; January 2, 1943, p. 9; January 9, 1943, p. 9; January 16, 1943, p. 18. 58. Ann Arbor News, March 30, 1999; April 1, 1999, p. D7; Travis, Black Jazz, pp. 169, 470. 59. Charles L. Sanders, “Requiem for Queen Dinah,” Ebony Magazine March 19, 1964, p. 148; Jerry Butler, Only the Strong Survive (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2000), p. 202; Ted Fox, Showtime at the Apollo (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983), p. 150. 60. Donald Bogle, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Film, 3d ed. (New York: Continuum Publishing Company, 1995), pp. 128–132; Chicago Defender, May 8, 1943, p. 18; August 14, 1943, p. 18. 61. Chicago Defender, April 24, 1943, p. 19; June 19, 1943, p. 10; June 26, 1943, p. 10; July 17, 1943, p. 10; also see Antoinette D. Handy, Black Women in American Bands and Orchestras, 2nd ed. (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998), p. 168. 62. Chicago Defender, September 4, 1943, p. 10. 63. Ibid., January 9, 1943, p. 11; January 16, 1943, p. 19; January 23, 1943, p. 19; February 20, 1943, p. 18; March 30, 1943, p. 18; May 22, 1943, p. 18; July 10, 1943, p. 10; January 1, 1944, p. 12. 64. Ibid., August 21, 1943, p. 18; November 20, 1943, p. 18; December 4, 1943, p. 18. 65. Chicago Defender, February 13, 1943, p. 18. 66. Ibid. 67. Ibid., p. 19. 68. Ibid., pp. 455–460. 69. Ibid. 70. This was most apparent in 1944. Based on Chicago Defender reports, there seemed to be some reduction in the frequency of Regal stage shows in 1945. However, some ads in the Chicago Tribune suggest that the Defender was not always consistent in its reports regarding Regal stage shows, at least with regard to its national edition. I believe it is safe to conclude, however, that there was some decline in 1945. 71. Chicago Defender, May 13, 1944, p. 8. 72. Ibid., January 1, 1944, p. 12. 73. Ibid., January 15, 1944, p. 10; February 5, 1944, p. 8; March 4, 1944, p. 8; March 25, 1944, p. 8; April 29, 1944, p. 8; May 6, 1944, p. 8; July 8, 1944, p. 8; July 15, 1944, p. 6; July 29, 1944, p. 6; August 5, 1944, p. 6; September 9, 1944, p. 6; September 23, 2944, p. 7;

NOTES

74. 75. 76. 77. 78.

79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94.

95. 96. 97. 98.

99.

245

September 30, 1944, p. 8; October 21, 1944, p. 7; November 4, 1944, p. 16; November 18, 1944, p. 9; December 9, 1944, p. 7; December 30, 1944, p. 13. Ibid., September 9, 1944, p. 6. Ibid., October 14, 1944, p. 7; October 21, 1944, p. 7. Ibid., October 7, 1944, p. 7. Conant, Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry, p. 157. Chicago Defender, January 27, 1945, p. 13; February 3, 1945, p. 13; February 10, 1945, p. 17; March 17, 1945, p. 13; May 26, 1945, p. 17; July 21, 1945, p. 14; August 11, 1945, p. 14; September 22, 1945, p. 14. Ibid., July 14, 1945, p. 15. Ibid., April 20, 1946, p. 16. Bill Jefferson, interviewed by the author, August 19, 1986, Chicago. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Chicago Defender, January 19, 1946, p. 14. Ibid., January 26, 1946, p. 16; April 1, 1944, p. 8; July 13, 1946, p. 16. Ibid., February 9, 1946, p. 16. Ibid., March 9, 1946, p. 16; April 6, 1946, p. 14. Ibid., April 13, 1946, p. 16. Ibid., June 1, 1946, p. 10. Ibid., June 8, 1946, p. 10; June 15, 1946, p. 10. Ibid., April 20, 1946, p. 16. Ibid., July 6, 1946, p. 16; July 13, 1946, p. 17; July 26, 1946, p. 16; September 7, 1946, p. 10; September 14, 1946, p. 10; October 5, 1946, p. 10; October 19, 1946, p. 10; October 26, 1946, p. 10; November 2, 1946, p. 10; December 28, 1946, p. 10. Chicago Defender, January 12, 1946, p. 14; March 16, 1946, p. 16. Travis, Black Jazz, pp. 113–114. Chicago Defender, December 24, 2949, p. 26. See, for example, Earl Hines, “How Gangsters Ran the Band Business,” Ebony September 4, 1949, pp. 40–47; Travis, Black Jazz, pp. 39–49; Ted Vincent, Keep Cool: The Black Activists Who Built the Jazz Age (London: Pluto Press, 1995), pp. 77–85. Chicago Defender, October 12, 1946, p. 2; August 30, 1952, p. 2; Rufus Schatzberg and Robert J. Kelly, African-American Organized Crime: A Social History (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996), pp. 86, 95–96, 102; Albert Fried, The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980), pp. 183–185; St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton, Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City (Chicago: University of

246

100.

101.

102. 103. 104.

105. 106. 107. 108.

109. 110. 111. 112.

NOTES

Chicago Press, 1993), p. 485; Gus Russo, The Outfit: The Role of Chicago’s Underworld in the Shaping of Modern America (New York: Bloomsbury, 2002), p. 184. Chicago Defender, October 12, 1946, p. 2; also see Dempsey Travis, An Autobiography of Black Chicago (Chicago: Urban Research Institute, 1981), pp. 36–37. Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, pp. 484–490; Schatzberg and Kelly, African-American Organized Crime, p. 102; Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit, pp. 82–83; Travis, An Autobiography of Black Chicago, pp. 36–37. The Ben Franklin Store was a franchise developed by Chicago general merchandise wholesalers, Butler Brothers, in 1927. The chain was competitive with F. W. Woolworths and S. S. Kresge. In 1950, there were 1,590 Ben Franklin Stores throughout the United States. See Sandra S. Vance and Roy V. Scott, “Sam Walton and Wal-Mart Stores, IN: A Study in Modern Southern Entrepreneurship,” Journal of Southern History 58, no. 2 (May 1992): 233. Ibid. Ibid. Compare Quincy Jones, The Autobiography of Quincy Jones (New York: Doubleday, 2001). Mark H. Haller, “Policy Gambling, Entertainment, and the Emergence of Black Politics: Chicago from 1900–1940,” Journal of Social History 24, no. 4 (1991): 722–723; Henry T. Sampson, Blacks in Blackface: A Source Book on Early Black Musical Shows (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1980, p. 115. Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, p. 438. Chicago Defender, May 4, 1946, p. 16. Marjorie Stewart Joyner, interviewed by the author, August 19, 1986, Chicago. See John N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994), pp. 634–638; L. Harper, “Mrs. Annie M. Pope Turnbo-Malone Founder and Owner Poro College,” n.d., Promised Land, Business Box 26, Document Number 4 (photocopy), Vivian G. Harsh Collection, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago, from Works Project Administration, Illinois Writers’ Project. Ibid., Chicago Defender, May 4, 1946, p. 16. Louis “Scotty” Piper, interviewed by the author, August 26, 1986, Chicago. Ibid. Louis “Scotty” Piper, interviewed by the author, August 26, 1986, Chicago. The Zoot suit of the early 1940s had a long jacket that extended halfway down the thigh. The jacket had broad padded shoulders and was flared at the bottom. The pants were pleated at the waist, cut very wide over the hips, and tapered to a narrow bottom. At times, the colors and designs were dramatic, and the

NOTES

113. 114. 115.

116.

117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. 133.

134. 135. 136. 137.

247

accessories often included two-tone pointed shoes, a wide-brim hat, large cuff links, and a long watch or key chain connected to the belt loop and placed into the pant pocket. Also see Robert McG. Thomas Jr., “Harold Fox, Who Took Credit for the Zoot Suit Dies at 86,” New York Times, August 1, 1996, p. D23. Also see Chicago Defender, October 16, 1982, p. 8; May 23, 1987, p. 4. Chicago Defender, January 18, 1947, p. 10. Ibid., July 5, 1947, p. 10; also see Stowe, Swing Changes, pp. 192–193. Chicago Defender, May 17, 1947, p. 18; September 20, 1947, p. 18; October 11, 1947, p. 19; October 25, 1947, p. 18; December 13, 1947, p. 19. Ibid., January 18, 1947, p. 10; April 19, 1947, p. 18; May 17, 1947, p. 18; May 24, 1947, p. 18; also see Charlene B. Regester, Black Entertainers in African American Newspapers, vol. 1: An Annotated Bibliography of the Chicago Defender, the Afro-American (Baltimore), the Los Angeles Sentinel and the New York Amsterdam News, 1910–1950 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002), no. 9811. Chicago Defender, June 7, 1947, p. 19. Regester, Black Entertainers, no. 9964. Chicago Defender, June 28, 1947, p. 18; August 23, 1947, p. 10. Ibid., August 23, 1947, p. 10; September 6, 1947, p. 10; October 11, 1947, p. 19. Ibid., November 29, 1947, p. 14; December 13, 1947, p. 19. Ibid., December 27, 1947, pp. 8, 9. See Ibid., July 17, 1948, p. 8. Ibid., December 27, 1947, p. 8. Ibid., January 24, 1948, p. 8. Ibid., January 24, 1948, pp. 8, 9; February 7, 1948, p. 9. Ibid., February 21, 1948, p. 9. Ibid., March 6, 1948, p. 8; March 13, 1948, p. 8. Ibid., April 10, 1948, p. 9. Ibid., May 15, 1948, p. 8; May 22, 1948, p. 8. Ibid., March 20, 1948, p. 9. Ibid., April 17, 1948, p. 9; May 15, 1948, p. 8; June 19, 1948, p. 9. Ibid., July 24, 1948, p. 9; Chicago Defender, August 21, 1948, p. 8. Dempsey Travis gives July 6, 1948 as the day the Savoy closed. See Travis, Black Jazz, p. 109. Also, there is some argument that a wartime tax of 30%, later reduced to 20%, on establishments that permitted public dancing was a reason for a nationwide reduction in dance participation. However, there is no evidence to suggest that this tax reduced dance participation in the Black Belt or contributed to the demise of the Savoy. See Stowe, Swing Changes, p. 190. Chicago Defender, June 19, 1948, p. 8. Ibid., July 17, 1948, p. 9; July 24, 1948, p. 8. Ibid., September 4, 1948, p. 9; September 18, 1948, p. 8. Ibid., October 9, 1948, p. 22.

248

NOTES

138. Ibid., July 3, 1948, p. 8. 139. See Mark Newman, Entrepreneurs of Profit and Pride: From Black-Appeal to Radio Soul (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1988), p. 87. 140. Norman Spaulding, “History of Black Oriented Radio in Chicago: 1929–1963” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1981), p. 78. 141. Ibid., p. 79 142. Ibid., pp. 81–82, 92–93; Chicago Defender, May 22, 1948, p. 8. 143. Chicago Defender, February 19, 1949, p. 25; December 31, 1949, p. 26; January 7, 1950, p. 21. 144. Ibid., February 19, 1949, pp. 16, 25; March 26, 1949, p. 17; April 16, 1949, p. 16; May 7, 1949, p. 25. 145. Ibid., May 28, 1949, p. 25. 146. Ibid., June 11, 1949, p. 25. 147. Ibid., June 18, 1949, p. 25. 148. Ibid., July 2, 1949, p. 26; July 16, 1949, p. 25. 149. Ibid., August 13, 1949, p. 25; August 20, 1949, p. 25; August 27, 1949, p. 26. 150. Ibid., September 17, 1949, p. 25. 151. Ibid., September 24, 1949, p. 25. 152. Ibid., October 8, 1949, p. 25. Also see Langston Hughes and Milton Meltzer, Black Magic: A Pictorial History of the African-American in the Performing Arts (New York: De Capo, 1967), p. 125; Loften Mitchell, Black Drama: The Story of the American Negro in the Theatre (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1967), pp. 122–123. 153. Chicago Defender, December 3, 1949, p. 26. 154. Ibid., October 8, 1949, p. 25; January 7, 1950, p. 21. 155. Ibid., March 26, 1949, p. 17; August 6, 1949, p. 26; August 20, 1949, p. 26; August 27, 1949, p. 25; November 5, 1949, p. 25; December 3, 1949, p. 26. An example of the regular appearance of top Black talent at a large venue was the 5th Annual Cavalcade of Jazz at Wrigley Field; see Chicago Defender, July 23, 1949, p. 25. 156. Ibid., August 17, 1940, p. 21; November 2, 1940, p. 19; November 16, 1940, p. 19; December 21, 1940, p. 20; December 28, 1940, p. 20. Also see Travis, Black Jazz, pp. 90, 245. 157. Conant, Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry, pp. 4–5. 158. Dick, Engulfed, pp. 33, 36. 159. Conant, Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry, p. 12.

Chapter 4 The Decline of Commercial Segregation and the Transition to Independence 1. Michael Conant, Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry: Economic and Legal Analysis (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960), p. 138.

NOTES

249

2. Ibid., pp. 138–153. 3. Stage shows increased from nine in 1952 to twelve in 1953. The latter number included eleven shows that lasted for one week each and one show that lasted for one night. My discussion of the number of stage shows during the decade of the 1950s is based on reports in the entertainment pages of the national edition of the Chicago Defender and the movie section of the Chicago Tribune. 4. Chicago Defender, January 14, 1950, p. 21. 5. Ibid., January 21, 1950, p. 21; February 11, 1950, p. 20; also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 2, 1950. 6. Chicago Defender, May 6, 1950, p. 21; also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, April 21, 1950. 7. Chicago Defender, May 13, 1950, p. 21; see movie section, Chicago Tribune, May 18, 1950. 8. Chicago Defender, May 27, 1950, p. 20; also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1950. 9. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, June 15, 1950. 10. Chicago Defender, July 8, 1950, p. 21. 11. Ibid., August 19, 1950, p. 20. 12. Ibid., September 2, 1950, p. 20. 13. Ibid.; also see Chicago Defender, July 1, 1950, p. 20. 14. Chicago Defender, November 4, 1950, p. 21; November 25, 1950, p. 20; also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, November 16, 1950. 15. Chicago Defender, December 23, 1950, p. 21. Also see Nichelle Nichols, Beyond Uhuru (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1994), pp. 49–57. 16. Chicago Defender, June 24, 1950, p. 21. 17. Ibid. 18. Ibid., June 24, 1950, p. 21. 19. See New York Times, June 21, 1948, p. 29; January 11, 1949, p. 29; Oliver Read and Walter L. Welch, From Tin Foil to Stereo: Evolution of the Phonograph, 2nd ed. (Indianapolis: Howard W. Sams, 1976), pp. 350–352. 20. E. Franklin Frazier, Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of a New Middle Class (New York: The Free Press, 1957), p. 171. Also, see Robert E. Weems Jr., Desegregating the Dollar: African American Consumerism in the Twentieth Century (New York: New York University Press, 1998), p. 51. 21. See for example, Chicago Defender, February 11, 1950, p. 12; February 18, 1950, p. 21; April 1, 1950, p. 21; October 21, 1950, p. 21; December 16, 1950, p. 20. 22. See Ibid., October 13, 1951, p. 17. 23. Ibid., February 3, 1951, p. 28. 24. See J. Fred MacDonald, Blacks and White TV: Afro-Americans in Television Since 1948 (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1983). 25. Chicago Defender, March 3, 1951, p. 21. 26. See MacDonald, Blacks and White TV, pp. 10–29. 27. Frazier, Black Bourgeoisie, p. 172.

250

NOTES

28. Ibid., pp. 53–59. 29. Chicago Defender, February 3, 1951, pp. 32, 33, 34; February 10, 1951, p. 32; February 17, 1951, pp. 14, 15. 30. Ibid., March 24, 1951, pp. 32, 33. 31. Ibid., April 21, 1951, p. 32. 32. Ibid., May 5, 1951, p. 32. 33. Ibid., May 26, 1945, p. 14. 34. Ibid., June 23, 1951, p. 14; June 30, 1951, pp. 32, 33. 35. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, August 9, 1951. 36. Chicago Defender, September 1, 1951, p. 23. 37. Ibid., October 6, 1951, p. 23. 38. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, October 18, 1951. 39. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, November 1, 1951. 40. Chicago Defender, November 17, 1951, p. 22; see movie section, Chicago Tribune, November 22, 1951. 41. Chicago Defender, May 26, 1951, p. 13. 42. Jet Magazine, November 8, 1999, p. 51; Chicago Defender, May 26, 1951, p. 13; phone interview with Jessie Spraggins, granddaughter of S. B. Fuller, July 22, 2003. 43. Chicago Defender, August 27, 1955, p. 4. 44. Ibid., January 20, 1951, p. 20; March 17, 1951, p. 15; March 31, 1951, p. 1; September 29, 1951, p. 22. 45. Ibid., January 27, 1951, p. 33; April 7, 1951, p. 32; May 5, 1951, p. 32; June 16, 1951, p. 32; December 1, 1951, p. 23. 46. Chicago Defender, June 2, 1951, p. 15. 47. Ibid., April 19, 1952, p. 22. 48. Ibid., October 11, 1952, pp. 22, 23. 49. Ibid., April 19, 1952, p. 22; June 21, 1952, p. 23. 50. Ibid., August 2, 1952, p. 23. 51. Ibid., January 26, 1952, p. 22. 52. Ibid., February 9, 1952, p. 22. 53. Ibid., March 22, 1952, p. 23. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 27, 1952. 54. Chicago Defender, May 10, 1952, p. 23. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, April 17, 1952. 55. Ibid., April 19, 1952, p. 22. 56. Ibid., June 21, 1952, p. 23; June 28, 1952, p. 22. 57. Ibid., November 15, 1952, p. 23; January 3, 1953, p. 23. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, November 27, 1952; January 1, 1953. 58. Ibid., January 6, 1951, pp. 1, 2. 59. Ibid., p. 2; Chicago Defender, July 7, 1951, pp. 1, 2. 60. Ibid., January 6, 1951, pp. 1, 2. 61. Ibid. Also see Chicago Defender, February 2, 1952, p. 3; August 16, 1952, pp. 1, 2, 4. 62. Ibid., August 16, 1952, p. 2. 63. Ibid., p. 4.

NOTES

251

64. See “What Happened to the Jones Brothers,” Ebony Magazine, July 1953, pp. 63–70. 65. Chicago Defender, January 17, 1953, p. 23. 66. Ibid., January 17, 1953, p. 22. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, January 15, 1953. 67. Chicago Defender, February 7, 1953, p. 18. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 5, 1953. 68. Ibid.; Chicago Defender, April 11, 1953, p. 18. 69. Chicago Defender, June 13, 1953, p. 19; June 20, 1953, p. 18; July 4, 1953, p. 18. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, April 30, 1953; June 4, 1953. 70. Chicago Defender, October 24, 1953, p. 18. 71. Ibid., November 21, 1953, p. 19; November 28, 1953, p. 19. 72. Ibid., November 28, 1953, p. 19. 73. Ibid., December 26, 1953, p. 18. 74. Ibid., February 28, 1953, p. 19. Music critic Nelson George reported that Robie also owned a taxi cab company, the Bronze Peacock Club, which had one of the largest showrooms in the Southwest, and was suspected of engaging in various illegal enterprises. Robie had a gangster persona and maintained gun-toting bodyguards. See Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm and Blues (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1988; Obelisk, 1989), p. 32. 75. See Robert Pruter, Chicago Soul (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1991, p. 3. 76. Chicago Defender, February 21, 1953, p. 18; February 28, 1953, 19; September 5, 1953, p. 18; October 24, 1953, p. 19; October 31, 1953, p. 18; November 7, 1953, p. 18. 77. Ibid., March 6, 1954, p. 18; May 1, 1954, p. 19. 78. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, April 22, 1954. 79. Chicago Defender, May 1, 1954, p. 19; also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, May 13, 1954. 80. Chicago Defender, October 30, 1954, p. 6; also movie section, Chicago Tribune, October 21, 1954. 81. A possible appearance by the Ernie Fields orchestra can’t be verified. See Chicago Defender, June 5, 1954, p. 19; see movie section, Chicago Tribune, November 25, 1954. 82. Chicago Defender, August 7, 1954, p. 18; August 28, 1954, p. 6. 83. See Travis, Autobiography of Black Jazz, p. 84; Scott A Newman, “Jazz Age Chicago: Trianon Ballroom,” accessed March 23, 2003, from Jazz Age Chicago Bookstore Web site: http://www.suba.com/~scottn/ explore/sites/ballroom/trianon.htm. 84. Chicago Defender, January 8, 1955, p. 6. 85. Ibid. 86. Ibid., February 5, 1955, p. 6. 87. Ibid., August 6, 1955, p. 18; September 10, 1955, p. 7; September 17, 1955, p. 6.

252

NOTES

88. Ibid., November 5, 1955, p. 7; November 26, 1955, p. 6; December 3, 1955, p. 6. 89. See Ibid., September 10, 1955, p. 7; September 17, 1955, p. 7; November 26, 1955, p. 6; movie section, Chicago Tribune, September 8, 1955; December 1, 1955. 90. Chicago Defender, March 12, 1955, p. 7. 91. Ibid., February 2, 1957, p. 14; also see Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm and Blues, pp. 62–63. 92. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1956. 93. Chicago Defender, March 24, 1956, p. 15; also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 29, 1956. 94. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, April 19, 1956; also see Mel Watkins, On the Real Side (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994; Touchstone Edition, 1995), p. 490. 95. Chicago Defender, January 5, 1957, p. 15; movie section, Chicago Tribune, January 3, 1957. 96. Chicago Defender, December 1, 1956, p. 14. 97. Ibid., December 8, 1956, p. 15. 98. Ibid., February 25, 1956, p. 14; July 28, 1956, p. 14; August 28, 1956, p. 15; April 28, 1956, p. 17; September 8, 1956, p. 14. 99. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 28, 1957; Chicago Defender, March 2, 1957, p. 14; Regal Theater folder, Theater Historical Society, Elmhurst, Illinois. 100. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 21, 1957; Chicago Defender, March 16, 1957, p. 8. 101. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, May 23, 1957; Regal Theater folder, Theater Historical Society, Elmhurst, Illinois. 102. Chicago Defender, August 31, 1957, p. 19. Also see Regal Theater folder, Theater Historical Society, Elmhurst, Illinois. 103. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, November 14, 1957. 104. Chicago Defender, November 23, 1957, p. 19; December 7, 1957, pp. 18, 19. 105. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, January 2, 1958. Also see Regal Theater folder, Theater Historical Society, Elmhurst, Illinois. 106. Chicago Defender, March 1, 1958, p. 18; March 8, 1958, p. 18; see movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 6, 1958. 107. Chicago Defender, May 3, 1958, p. 18; see movie section, Chicago Tribune, May 1, 1958. 108. St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton, Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), p. 794. 109. See Chicago Defender, August 3, 1957, p. 12. 110. See Regal Theater folder, Theater Historical Society, Elmhurst, Illinois. 111. Ibid.

NOTES

112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121.

122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128.

129. 130.

253

Chicago Defender, January 11, 1958, p. 19; February 8, 1958, p. 18. See Ibid., February 8, 1958, p. 18; March 22, 1958, p. 18. Ibid., January 24, 1959, p. 19. Ibid., January 31, 1959, p. 18. Ibid. Ibid., February 7, 1959, p. 18; February 21, 1959, p. 12. Ibid., February 21, 1959, p. 12. Ibid., February 7, 1959, p. 18; February 21, 1959, p. 12. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 5, 1959; March 19, 1959; March 27, 1959. There may have been as many as thirteen weeks of stage shows at the Regal. The Chicago Defender indicated that Jackie Wilson would appear on September eighteenth and Count Basie with Toni Harper, Redd Foxx, and the Hines Kids (tap dancers, Maurice and Gregory Hines) would appear on November thirteenth. However, I found no other mention of these bookings, and I could not verify the dates by cross-referencing them with the Chicago Tribune. See Chicago Defender, August 22, 1959, p. 18; November 7, 1959, p. 19. Chicago Defender, March 7, 1959, p. 12; March 21, 1959, p. 18; March 28, 1959, pp. 12, 18. Ibid., April 18, 1959, p. 18; see movie section, Chicago Tribune, April 10, 1959. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, April 24, 1959. Chicago Defender, May 9, 1959, p. 19; May 16, 1959, p. 18. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, May 8, 1959. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, May 29, 1959. See movie section, Ibid., May 1, 1959. Chicago Defender, July 11, 1959, p. 18; August 22, 1959, p. 19. The prominent group of theaters that informally became the country’s premier, Black-oriented movie-stage-show circuit was called the “ ‘Round the World” circuit and included the Apollo in New York, the Royal in Baltimore, the Earle and the Uptown in Philadelphia, the Regal in Chicago, and the Howard in Washington DC. Also, before the Apollo gained prominence as a Black entertainment outlet, New York’s Lafayette Theater occupied the Apollo’s position on the circuit. See for example, Ralph Cooper, Amateur Night at the Apollo (New York: HarperCollins, 1990), pp. 44, 61–62, 104; Tex Fox, Showtime at the Apollo, new revised edition (Rhinebeck, New York: Mill Road Enterprises, 2003), pp. 53, 98; Marc Taylor, The Original Marvelettes: Motown’s Mystery Girl Group (Jamaica, New York: Aloiv Publishing, 2004), pp. 44, 78, 79; Aretha Franklin and David Ritz, Aretha: From These Roots (New York: Villard, 1999), p. 114; B. B. King and David Ritz, Blues All Around Me (New York: Avon Books, 1996), p. 148. Chicago Defender, August 29, 1959, p. 19. See Ibid., August 29, 1959, p. 18.

254

NOTES

131. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, June 12, 1959; July 3, 1959; July 17, 1959; July 24, 1959. Also see Chicago Defender, July 18, 1959, p. 18; July 25, 1959, p. 18; August 1, 1959, p. 18. 132. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, August 7, 1959. 133. See movie section, Ibid., September 25, 1959; Chicago Defender, October 3, 1959, p. 18. 134. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, October 30, 1959. 135. See movie section, Ibid., November 2, 1959. 136. See movie section, Ibid., December 25, 1959; Chicago Defender, January 2, 1960, p. 18. 137. The Chicago Defender listed Al Benson’s address as 5638 Maryland. See Chicago Defender, January 24, 1959, p. 2.

Chapter 5 Rebirth, Black Ownership, and the Closing of the Palace 1. St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton, Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), pp. 808, 826. 2. See William J. Wilson, When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996), p. 45. 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid. 5. See Chicago Fact Book Consortium, ed., Local Community Fact Book: Chicago Metropolitan Area, 1980 (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1984), pp. 97, 104, 110. 6. See Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, pp. 807, 815. 7. Ibid., pp. 809, 815–816; and Wilson, When Work Disappears, pp. 26, 44–50. 8. Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis, p. 794. 9. See for example, Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh, American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000), pp. 13–15, 18–25, 41–42. 10. Ibid., pp. 19–25. 11. See U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, Part 1 (Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975), p. 400. 12. See Chicago Defender, May 28, 1960, p. 2; New York Times, May 20, 1960, p. 1. 13. Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm and Blues (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1988; Obelisk, 1989), pp. 66–68. 14. See Ralph Cooper, Amateur Night at the Apollo (New York: HarperCollins, 1990), pp. 186–192. 15. See New York Times, May 20, 1960, p. 62. 16. George, Death of Rhythm and Blues, p. 91.

NOTES

255

17. See “Shakeup Reaches Chicago,” Down Beat, February 4, 1960, pp. 5–6; “Payola Pot Boils Merrily in Chi: Accusations Soar,” The Billboard, January 11, 1960, pp. 2, 52; Jack Pitman, “The Chicago Payola Story,” Variety, January 13, 1960, pp. 43, 48. 18. See Regal Theater folder, Theater Historical Society, Elmhurst, Illinois. 19. Chicago Defender, January 23, 1960, p. 19. 20. See Chicago Defender, January 30, 1960, p. 18; August 20, 1960, p. 18; August 27, 1960, p. 18; September 10, 1960, p. 18; November 12–18, 1960, p. 18. 21. The frequencies of stage shows were approximate since data sources were not always reliable. The Chicago Defender provided information about most stage shows from 1960 to 1963, but not all. The Chicago Tribune consistently carried ads for Regal stage shows during this period. However, after the Regal became Black owned in late 1963, Regal ads disappeared from the Chicago Tribune in 1964 and in subsequent years. Nevertheless, display ads for the Regal in the Chicago Defender became more consistent and a more accurate chronicle of Regal stage shows. At all points in time, the Chicago Defender was the best source for extended articles on Regal stage shows and the best source for details on special stage shows that might not have had a commercial purpose or that were shorter or longer than the usual seven days. 22. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 12, 1960. Also see Chicago Defender, February 13, 1960, p. 18. 23. Chicago Defender, February 20, 1960, p. 19; February 27, 1960, p. 18. 24. Ibid., March 19, 1960, p. 18. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1960. 25. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 25, 1960. Also see Chicago Defender, April 2, 1960, p. 18. 26. Chicago Defender, April 9, 1960, p. 18. 27. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, May 13, 1960. Also see Chicago Defender, May 7, 1960, p. 44. 28. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, June 24, 1960. 29. See Chicago Defender, July 9, 1960, p. 19. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, July 8, 1960. 30. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, July 22, 1960. Also see Chicago Defender, July 23, 1960, p. 19. 31. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, August 5, 1960. 32. See movie section, Ibid., August 19, 1960. Also see Chicago Defender, August 20, 1960, p. 18. 33. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, September 30, 1960. Also see Chicago Defender, October 1, 1960, p. 18; October 15, 1960, p. 18. 34. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, October 14, 1960. Also see Chicago Defender, October 15, 1960, p. 19.

256 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51.

52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61.

NOTES

See movie section, Chicago Tribune, October 21, 1960. See Chicago Defender, October 22, 1960, p. 19. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, November 11, 1960. See movie section, Ibid., November 25, 1960. See movie section, Ibid., January 30, 1961; Chicago Defender, January 21–27, 1961, p. 18. See Chicago Defender, February 18–24, 1961, p. 19; movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 24, 1961. See Chicago Defender, March 11–17, 1961, p. 18; movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 17, 1961. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 31, 1961. See Chicago Defender, April 15–21, 1961, p. 19; movie section, Chicago Tribune, April 21, 1961. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1961; Chicago Defender, May 13–19, 1961, p. 10. See Chicago Defender, June 24–30, 1961, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, July 7, 1961. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1961. See movie section, Ibid., August 11, 1961. See movie section, Ibid., August 25, 1961. Also see Chicago Defender, July 29–August 4, 1961, p. 10; August 26-September 1, 1961, p. 10. See Chicago Defender, September 30–October 6, 1961, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, October 6, 1961. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, October 20, 1961; Chicago Defender, October 21–27, 1961, p. 10. See Chicago Defender, October 28–November 3, 1961, p. 10; November 11–17, 1961, p. 10. Also see movie section, Chicago Tribune, November 10, 1961. See Chicago Defender, December 23–29, 1961, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, December 22, 1961. See Chicago Defender, January 6–12, 1962, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, January 12, 1962. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, January 26, 1962; Chicago Defender, January 6–12, 1962, p. 10. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 2, 1962. See Chicago Defender, January 6–12, 1962, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 9, 1962. Chicago Defender, January 27–February 2, 1962, p. 10; March 2–8, 1963, p. 10. See Ibid., January 6–12, 1962, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1962. See Chicago Defender, March 10–16, 1962, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 9, 1962. See Chicago Defender, March 17–23, 1962, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 23, 1962. Phone interview with Gene Chandler, June 23, 2003.

NOTES

257

62. See Chicago Defender, April 7–13, 1962, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, April 20, 1962. 63. See Chicago Defender, September 29–October 5, 1962, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, October 19, 1962. 64. See Chicago Defender, October 27–November 2, 1962, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, November 9, 1962. 65. See Chicago Defender, December 8–14, 1962, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1962. 66. Chicago’s Black citizens were already talking about the fact that in 1962 the Illinois State Employment Service was found to be using a coded system that allowed White employers to indicate whether or not they would hire Black workers. See Chicago Defender, August 25–31, 1962, p. 1. 67. Chicago Defender, August 31–September 6, 1963, p. 10. 68. Ibid., October 26-November 1, 1963, p. 1. 69. See Ibid., January 5–11, 1963, p. 10; movie section, Chicago Tribune, January 18, 1963. 70. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, February 15, 1963; Chicago Defender, February 22, 1962, p. 10. 71. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, March 22, 1963. 72. See movie section, Ibid., April 19, 1963; Chicago Defender, March 30–April 5, 1963, p. 10. 73. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1963. 74. See movie section, Ibid., August 2, 1963; Chicago Defender, July 27–August 2, 1963, p. 10. 75. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, August 23, 1963; Chicago Defender, August 24–30, 1963, p. 10. 76. See movie section, Chicago Tribune, October 4, 1963. 77. See movie section, Ibid., October 25, 1963. 78. See movie section, Ibid., November 8, 1963. 79. See movie section, Ibid., December 27, 1963; Chicago Defender, December 14–20, 1963, p. 10. 80. Marc Taylor, The Original Marvelettes: Motown’s Mystery Girl Group (Jamaica, NY: Aloiv Publishing, 2004), p. 78. 81. Phone interviews with Robert Starks, July 15, 2003 and July 18, 2003. 82. See Chicago Defender, April 15–21, 1961, p. 19; July 22–28, 1961, p. 10. 83. Phone interview with Jerry Butler, July 25, 2003. 84. Ibid. 85. Charles Walton, “Al Benson—the Godfather of Black Radio in Chicago,” accessed March 7, 2003, from Jazz Institute of Chicago Web site: http://jazzinstituteofchicago.org/index.asp? target⫽/jazzgram/ bronzeville/cytouff.asp. This document can also be found in the Vivian G. Harsh Collection of the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago, IL. See the Charles Walton Papers, Box 1, Folders 2 and 3. Also see, Chicago Defender, April 27–May 3, 1963, p. 1;

258

NOTES

86. 87. 88. 89.

90. 91. 92. 93. 94.

95. 96. 97. 98.

99. 100. 101. 102.

103.

Norman Spaulding, “History of Black Oriented Radio in Chicago: 1929–1963” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1981), pp. 128–131. Walton, “Al Benson.” See for example, Chicago Defender, March 8–14, 1969, p. 39. Ibid. Also see Chicago Defender, April 27–May 3, 1963, p. 1; Spaulding, “History of Black Oriented Radio in Chicago,” p. 67. Chicago Defender, March 30–April 5, 1963, p. 10; September 21, 1963, p. 10. Also see Nadine Cohadas, Spinning Blues into Gold: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000), pp. 50, 212–224; Robert Pruter, Chicago Soul (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1991), p. 15; Pervis Spann with Linda C. Walker, The 40 Year Spann of WVON (Chicago: National Academy of the Blues, 2003), pp. 52, 120. See Cohadas, Spinning Blues into Gold, pp. 222–224. Walton, “Al Benson.” Also see Chicago Defender, April 27–May 3, 1963, p. 1; Pruter, Chicago Soul, p. 173. See Chicago Sun-Times, June 6, 1974. Pittsburgh Courier, June 29, 1963, pp. 1, 2. Mary Lawrence, interviewed by the author, June 7, 1999, Chicago; also see Chicago Defender, November 26, 1949, p. 27; Joe Louis Barrow Jr., e-mail correspondence, February 7, 2005; Joe Louis Barrow Jr., phone interview by the author, February 8, 2005. Pittsburgh Courier, June 29, 1963, pp. 1, 2; Chicago Defender, May 2–8, 1964, p. 7. Chicago Defender, December 21–27, 1963, p. 5. Phone interview with Mary Casey, July 22, 2003. See John N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994), pp. 245–246. Chicago Defender, May 2–8, 1964. Ibid. Bill Jefferson, interviewed by the author, August 19, 1986, Chicago. See for example, Chicago Defender, March 12, 1960, pp. 18, 19; October 1, 1960, p. 8; October 14–20, 1961, p. 10; December 9–15, 1961, p. 10; April 7–13, 1962, p. 10; April 28–May 4, 1962, p. 10; March 16–22, 1963, p. 10; September 11–17, p. 15; December 18–24, 1965, p. 16; November 26–December 2, 1966, p. 15; January 28–February 3, 1967, p. 12; April 13–19, 1968, p. 12. See for example, Ibid., March 16, 1960, pp. 18, 19; April 8–14, 1961, p. 18; September 16–22, 1961, p. 10; May 19–25, 1962, p. 10; November 2–8, 1963, p. 10; October 31–November 6, 1964, p. 10; July 31–August 6, 1965, p. 15; March 5–11, 1966, p. 15; September 3–9, 1966, p. 5; March 25–31, 1967, p. 13; February 10–16, 1968, p. 13; March 16–22, 1968, p. 13; May 25–31, 1968, p. 16.

NOTES

259

104. See for example, Ibid., June 10–16, 1961, p. 10; July 1–7, 1961, p. 10; December 9–15, 1961, p. 10; April 7–13, 1962, p. 10; October 26-November 1, 1963, p. 10; February 15–21, 1964, p. 10. 105. Michael Conant, Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry: Economic and Legal Analysis (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960), p. 157. 106. Ingham and Feldman, African-American Business Leaders, pp. 246–247. Mary Lawrence, interviewed by the author, June 7, 1999, Chicago. 107. Chicago Sun Times, May 20, 1972. 108. Chicago Tribune, October 1, 1971. 109. Ibid. 110. Ingham and Feldman, African-American Business Leaders, p. 247. Also see Chicago Tribune, September 6, 1973. 111. See Chicago Defender, January 4–10, 1964, p. 10. 112. See Ibid., February 1–7, 1964, p. 10. 113. See Ibid., March 7–13, 1964, p. 10. 114. See Ibid., March 21–27, 1964, p. 10. 115. See Ibid., April 18–24, 1964, p. 10. 116. See Ibid., May 30-June 5, 1964, p. 10. 117. See Chicago Defender, July 4–10, 1964, p. 10. 118. See Ibid., July 11–17, 1964, p. 10. 119. See Ibid., July 18–24, 1964, p. 10. 120. See Ibid., August 8–14, 1964, p. 10; August 15–21, 1964, p. 10. 121. See Ibid., August 29-September 4, 1964, p. 10. 122. See Ibid., October 10–16, 1964, p. 10. 123. See Ibid., October 17–23, 1964, p. 10. 124. B. B. King with David Ritz, Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B. B. King (New York: Avon Books, 1996), pp. 221–222. 125. See Chicago Defender, November 14–20, 1964, p. 10. 126. See Ibid., December 5–11, 1964, p. 10. 127. See Ibid., December 12–18, 1964, p. 10. 128. See Chicago Defender, January 11–17, 1964, p. 1. 129. See Ibid., July 11–17, 1964, p. 10. 130. See Ibid., June 27-July 3, 1964, p. 1. 131. See Ibid., January 9–15, 1965, p. 10; January 16–22, 1965, p. 10. 132. See Ibid., January 30-February 5, 1965, p. 10; February 6–12, 1965, p. 10; February 13–19, 1965, p. 10. 133. See Ibid., February 20–26, 1965, p. 10; March 6–12, 1965, p. 10. 134. See Ibid., April 24–30, 1965. 135. See Ibid., June 5–11, 1965, p. 24. 136. See Ibid., June 19–25, 1965, p. 16. 137. See Ibid., July 10–16, 1965, p. 15. 138. See Ibid., July 31-August 6, 1965, p. 15. 139. See Ibid., August 21–27, 1965, p. 15.

260

NOTES

140. See Ibid., September 11–17, 1965, p. 15; September 18–24, 1965, p. 15. 141. See Ibid., October 2–8, 1965, p. 15. 142. See Ibid., October 23–29, 1965, pp. 14, 15. 143. See Ibid., November 6–12, 1965, p. 15; November 13–19, 1965, p. 15. 144. See Ibid., December 4–10, p. 14; December 11–17, 1965, p. 12; December 25–31, 1965, p. 21. 145. See Ibid., January 1–7, 1966, p. 21. 146. See Ibid., January 8–14, 1966, p. 15; January 15–21, 1966, p. 15. 147. See Ibid., February 5–11, 1966, p. 15; February 19–25, 1966, p. 13. 148. See Ibid., March 5–11, 1966, pp. 15. 149. See Ibid., March 26–April 1, 1966, p. 15; April 2–9, 1966, p. 13. 150. See Ibid., April 23–29, 1966, pp. 14, 15. 151. See Ibid., May 7, 1966, p. 15. 152. See Ibid., May 28–June 3, 1966, p. 15. 153. See Ibid., July 2–8, 1966, p. 14; July 9–15, 1966, p. 15; July 16–22, 1966, p. 13. 154. Ibid., July 16–22, 1966, p. 13; July 23–29, 1966, p. 13. 155. Ibid., July 30-August 5, 1966, p. 12; August 6–12, 1966, p. 13. 156. See Chicago Defender, August 20–26, 1966, pp. 13, 15; August 27–September 2, 1966, p. 15. 157. See Ibid., September 10–16, 1966, p. 13. 158. See Ibid., October 1–7, 1966, pp. 12, 13. 159. See Ibid., October 29–November 4, 1966, p. 13. 160. See Ibid., April 29–May 5, 1967, p. 23. 161. See Ibid., May 27–June 2, 1967, p. 15. 162. See Ibid., June 24–30, 1967, p. 13. 163. See Ibid., September 30–October 6, 1967, p. 13. 164. Aretha Franklin with David Ritz, Aretha From the Roots (New York: Villard, 1999), p. 118. In 1967 Franklin had been with Atlantic Records long enough to gain the notoriety associated with the commercial success that she achieved with this label. Also, Franklin was clearly the headliner for the 1967 appearance. At her prior appearance at the Regal in 1966, Franklin was not the top featured vocalist. In addition, noted Chicago musician Phil Cohran played in the band at the Regal in 1966 when Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding were on the same stage. He did not recall Aretha receiving the “Queen of Soul” title at this time and suggested that the Regal audience did not warm to Aretha until she changed her choice of songs at the recommendation of Otis Redding. Phone conversation with Phil Cohran, May 19, 2004. Finally, records indicate that, after the 1967 stage show, Aretha did not appear at the Regal again. 165. See Chicago Defender, December 16–22, 1967, p. 25. 166. See Ibid., October 15–20, 1967, p. 13.

NOTES

261

167. See Ibid., May 6–12, 1967, p. 13; phone interview with Eric Smith, January 6, 2003. 168. See Chicago Defender, January 6–12, 1968, p. 13. 169. See Ibid., January 27–February 2, 1968, p. 13. 170. See Ibid., February 24–March 1, 1968, p. 12. 171. See Ibid., March 2–8, 1968, p. 13. 172. See Ibid., June 15–21, 1968, p. 15. 173. See Ibid., June 29–July 5, 1968, p. 15. 174. See Ibid., July 13–19, 1968, p. 15. 175. See Ibid., July 27–August 2, 1968, p. 15; August 4–9, 1968, p. 13. 176. See Ibid., August 10–16, 1968, p. 15. 177. See Ibid., August 17–23, 1968, p. 15. 178. See Ibid., September 14–20, 1968, p. 35. An earlier article in the Chicago Defender stated that Chuck Jackson’s appearance at the Regal was part of the promotion for his first album, Chuck Jackson Arrives, on the Motown label. Other appearances pointed to one of several informal circuits that existed for African American entertainers. Jackson was to appear at the Regal in Chicago, the Apollo in New York, Leo’s Casino in Cleveland, and the Twenty Grand in Detroit. See Chicago Defender, July 6–12, 1968, p. 15 179. See Chicago Defender, October 5–11, 1968, p. 15. 180. See Ibid., October 19–25, 1968, p. 17. 181. See Ibid., November 9–15, 1968, p. 15. 182. See Ibid., November 16–22, 1968, p. 15. 183. See Ibid., August 28-September, 1965, p. 15. 184. See Ibid., September 11–17, 1965, 15. 185. See for example, Chicago Defender, July 17–23, 1965, p. 15; May 27–June 2, 1967, p. 15; April 19–25, 1969, p. 17. 186. Phone interview with Severina Britto, June 24, 2003. 187. Ibid. E-mail correspondence with Severina Britto, June 28, 2003. 188. Ibid. 189. See Chicago Defender, January 22–28, 1966, pp. 1, 2; January 9–15, 1966, p. 1; January 16–22, 1966, p. 1. Also see John R. Fry, Locked Out. Americans: A Memoir (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1973), pp. 15, 20–21; and Rufus Schatzberg and Robert J. Kelly, African-American Organized Crime: A Social History (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996), pp. 200, 202. 190. Bill Jefferson, interviewed by the author, August 19, 1986, Chicago. 191. See Chicago Defender, May 27–June 2, 1967, p. 15; April 5–11, 1969, p. 18. Phone interview with Jerry Butler, July 24, 2003. Also see “Palm Tavern,” accessed March 7, 2003, from Palm Tavern Web site: http://palmtavern.bizland.com/palmtavern/. 192. Chicago Tribune, October 1, 1971. 193. Chicago Sun-Times, May 20, 1972. 194. Ibid.

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Biblio graphy

Books Abramson, Albert. The History of Television, 1880–1941. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1987. Albertson, Chris. Bessie. New York: Stein and Day, 1972; paperback edition, 1974. Ashe, Arthur Jr. A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete, 1919–1945. New York: Warner Books, 1988. Barlow, William. “Commercial and Noncommercial Radio.” In Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media, ed. Jannette L. Dates and William Barlow, 175–250. Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1990. Bearden, Romare and Harry Henderson. A History of African-American Artists: From 1792 to the Present. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993. Bennett, Lerone Jr. Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America, 6th edition, New York: Penguin Books, 1988. Bogle, Donald. Tom, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films, 3rd edition, New York: Continuum Publishing Company, 1995. Boskin, Joseph. Sambo: The Rise and Demise of an American Jester. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Chandler, Lester V. America’s Greatest Depression, 1929–1944. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1970. Chicago Fact Book Consortium, ed. Local Community Fact Book: Chicago Metropolitan Area. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1984. Chilton, John. Who’s Who of Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street, special edition. New York: Time-Life Records, 1978. Cohodas, Nadine. Spinning Blues into Gold: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. Conant, Michael. Antitrust in the Motion Picture Industry: Economic and Legal Analysis. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1960. Cooper, Ralph. Amateur Night at the Apollo. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1990. Cruse, Harold. The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual. New York: William Morrow, 1967. Cutler, Irving. The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb. Chicago and Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.

264

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Dick, Bernard F. Engulfed: The Death of Paramount Pictures and the Birth of Corporate Hollywood. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2001. Drake, St. Clair and Horace Cayton. Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City, revised and enlarged edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. Duncan, Otis Dudley and Beverly Duncan. The Negro Population of Chicago: A Study of Residential Succession. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957. Eames, John Douglas. The Paramount Story. New York: Crown Publishers, 1985. Embree, Edwin R. and Julia Waxman. Investment in People: The Story of the Julius Rosenwald Fund. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949. Fox, Ted. Showtime at the Apollo. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983. Franklin, Aretha and David Ritz. Aretha: From These Roots. New York: Villard, 1999. Frazier, E. Franklin. Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of the New Middle Class. New York: The Free Press, 1957. ———. The Negro Family in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1932. Fried, Albert. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980. Fry, John R. Locked-Out Americans: A Memoir. New York: Harper and Row, 1973. Gabler, Neal. An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood. New York: Crown Publishers, 1988. George, Nelson. The Death of Rhythm and Blues. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1988; Obelisk, 1989. George-Graves, Nadine. The Royalty of Negro Vaudeville: The Whitman Sisters and the Negotiation of Race, Gender and Class in American Theater, 1900–1940. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. Goldberg, Marv. More Than Words Can Say: The Ink Spots and Their Music. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1998. Gomery, Douglas. Shared Pleasures: A History of Movie Presentation in the United States. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992. Gottschild, Brenda Dixon. Waltzing in the Dark: African American Vaudeville and Race Politics in the Swing Era. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. Grimshaw, William J. Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine, 1931–1991. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. Guzman, Jessie Parkhurst, ed. Negro Year Book: A Review of Events Affecting Negro Life, 1941–1946. Tuskegee, Alabama: Tuskegee Institute, 1947. Handy, D. Antoinette. Black Women in American Bands and Orchestras, 2nd edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1998.

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———. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1983. Hennessey, Thomas J. From Jazz to Swing: African American Jazz Musicians and Their Music, 1890–1935. Detroit: Wayne State Press, 1994. Holt, Glen E. and Dominic A. Pacyga. Chicago: A Historical Guide to the Neighborhoods, the Loop and South Side. Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 1979. Hughes, Langston and Milton Meltzer. Black Magic: A Pictorial History of the African American in the Performing Arts. New York: Da Capo Press, 1967. Ingham, John N. and Lynne B. Feldman. African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994. Johnson, James Weldon. Black Manhattan. New York: Atheneum, 1972. Jones, Quincy. The Autobiography of Quincy Jones. New York: Doubleday, 2001. Kelly, Robert J. The Upperworld and the Underworld: Case Studies of Racketeering and Business Infiltration in the United States. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 1999. King, B. B. with David Ritz. Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B. B. King. New York: Avon Books, 1996. Leiter, Robert D. The Musicians and Petrillo. New York: Bookman Associates, 1953. Low, W. Augustus and Virgil A. Clift, ed. Encyclopedia of Black America. New York: Da Capo Press, 1981. Mabley, Jackie (“Moms”). “The Good Ole Days.” In Honey, Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women’s Humor, ed. Daryl Dance, 334. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998. MacDonald, J. Fred. Blacks and White TV: Afro-Americans in Television Since 1948. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1983. ———. Don’t Touch That Dial: Radio Programming in American Life, 1920–1960. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979. Menville, Chuck. The Harlem Globetrotters: An Illustrated History. New York: The Benjamin Company, 1978. Miller, Norma with Evette Jensen. Swingin’ at the Savoy: The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996. Mitchell, Loften. Black Drama: The Story of the American Negro Theatre. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1967. Murray, Florence. The Negro Handbook. New York: Wendell Malliett and Company, 1942. Naylor, David. American Picture Palaces: The Architecture of Fantasy. New York: Vannostrand Reinhold, 1981. Newman, Mark. Entrepreneurs of Profit and Pride: From Black-Appeal to Radio Soul. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1988. Nichols, Nichelle. Beyond Uhuru: Star Trek and Other Memories. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1994.

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Nielsen, Mike and Gene Mailes. Hollywood’s Other Blacklist: Union Struggles in the Studio System. London: British Film Institute, 1995. Null, Gary. Black Hollywood: The Black Performer in Motion Pictures. New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1990. Ottley, Roi. The Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S. Abbott. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1955. Pacyga, Dominic A. and Ellen Skerrett. Chicago: City of Neighborhoods. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1986. Philpott, Thomas Lee. The Slum and the Ghetto: Neighborhood Deterioration and Middle-Class Reform, Chicago, 1880–1930. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. Price, Joe. Redd Foxx, B. S. (Before Sanford). Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1979. Pruter, Robert. Chicago Soul. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1991. Read, Oliver and Walter L. Welch. From Tin Foil to Stereo: Evolution of the Phonograph, 2nd edition. Indianapolis: Howard W. Sams, 1976. Regester, Charlene B. Black Entertainers in African American Newspaper Articles, Volume 1: An Annotated Bibliography of the Chicago Defender, the Afro-American (Baltimore), the Los Angeles Sentinel and the New York Amsterdam News, 1910–1950. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2002. Russell, William. “Louis Armstrong.” In Jazzmen, ed. Frederick Ramsey, Jr. and Charles Edward Smith, 119–142. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1967, reprint of 1959 edition. Russo, Gus. The Outfit: The Role of Chicago’s Underworld in the Shaping of Modern America. New York: Bloomsbury, 2002. Ryan, John. The Production of Culture in the Music Industry: The ASCAP-BMI Controversy. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1985. Sampson, Henry T. Blacks in Blackface: A Source Book on Early Black Musical Shows. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1980. Schatzberg, Rufus and Robert J. Kelly. African-American Organized Crime: A Social History. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996. Schiffman, Jack. Harlem Heyday. New York: Prometheus Books, 1984. Segrave, Kerry. Payola in the Music Industry: A History, 1880–1991. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1994. Semmes, Clovis E. Cultural Hegemony and African American Development. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1992. Slide, Anthony. The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1998. ———. The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994. Smith, Jesse Carney. Notable Black American Women. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1971.

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Spann, Pervis with Linda C. Walker. The 40-Year Spann of WVON. Chicago: National Academy of Blues, 2003. Spivey, Donald. Union and the Black Musician: The Narrative of William Everett Samuels and Chicago Local 208. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1984. Staples, Robert. The Urban Plantation: Racism and Colonialism in the Post Civil Rights Era. Oakland, California: The Black Scholar Press, 1987. Stearns, Marshall and Jean Stearns. Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968. Stowé, David W. Swing Changes: Big Band Jazz in New Deal America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1994. Stuckey, Sterling. Slave Culture: Nationalist Theory and the Foundations of Black America. New York: Oxford, 1987. Thompson, Kristin and David Bordwell. Film History: An Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. Travis, Dempsey J. The Life and Times of Redd Foxx. Chicago: Urban Research Press, 1999. ———. An Autobiography of Black Jazz. Chicago: Urban Research Institute, 1983. ———. An Autobiography of Black Chicago. Chicago: Urban Research Institute, 1981. US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, Part 1. Washington, D. C.: US Government Printing Office, 1975. Venkatesh, Sudhir Alladi. American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2000. Vincent, Ted. Keep Cool: The Back Activists Who Built the Jazz Age. London: Pluto Press, 1995. Watkins, Mel. On the Real Side. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994; Touchstone edition, 1995. Weems, Robert E. Desegregating the Dollar: African American Consumerism in the Twentieth Century. New York: New York University Press, 1998. Werner, M. R. Julius Rosenwald: The Life of a Practical Humanitarian. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1939. Williams, Elsie. “Moms Mabley and the Afro-American Comic Performance.” In Women’s Comic Visions, ed. June Sochen, 158–178. Detroit: Wayne State Press, 1991. Yenser, Thomas, ed. Who’s Who in Colored America, 1941–1944. New York: Thomas Yenser, 1942.

Articles Barlow, William. “Black Music and Radio During the Jazz Age.” African American Review 29, no. 2 (Summer 1995): 325–328.

268

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Ericson, George C. “Swedish Radio Services in Chicago.” Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly 24, no. 3 (1973): 157–162. Haller, Mark H. “Policy Gambling, Entertainment, and the Emergence of Black Politics: Chicago From 1900–1940.” Journal of Social History 24, no. 4 (1991): 719–739. Harris, Trudier. “Moms Mabley: A Study in Humor, Role Playing, and the Violations of Taboo.” Southern Review 24, no. 4 (1988): 765–776. Hennessey, Thomas J. “Chicago’s Black Establishment.” Journal of Jazz Studies 2, no. 1 (December 1974): 15–45. Hines, Earl. “How Gangsters Ran the Band Business.” Ebony, September 4, 1949, 40. Lights, Frederick L. “Memories: The Chicago Regal.” Marquee: Journal of the Theatre Historical Society 5, no. 4, 1973. “Payola Pot Boils Merrily in Chicago; Accusations Soar.” The Billboard. January 11, 1960, 2, 52. Pitman, Jack. “The Chicago Payola Story.” Variety, January 13, 1960, 43, 48. Reitz, Rosetta. “Hot Snow: Valaida Snow (Queen of the Trumpet Sings and Swings).” Black American Literature Forum 16, no. 4 (1982): 158–160. Sanders, Charles L. “Requiem for Queen Dinah.” Ebony, March 1964, 146–154. “Shakeup Reaches Chicago,” Down Beat, February 4, 1960, 5–6. Travis, Dempsey J. “The Regal That I Remember.” Chicago Weekend, August 2, 2001, 30. Vance, Sandra S. and Roy V. Scott. “Sam Walton and Wal-Mart Stores.: A Study in Modern Southern Entrepreneurship.” Journal of Southern History 58, no. 2 (May 1992): 231–252. Williams, Fess as told to Harrison Smith. “The Fess Williams Story.” Record Research 3, no. 3 (October/November 1957): 3–6.

Unpublished Manuscripts Cox, Oliver. “The Origins of Direct-Action Protest Among Negroes: The Chicago Experience,” n.d. Kent State University Library, Kent, Ohio. Linton, Bruce A. “A History of Chicago Radio Station Programming, 1921–1931, with Emphasis on Stations WMAQ and WGN.” Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1953. Spaulding, Norman. “History of Black Oriented Radio in Chicago: 1929–1963.” Ph.D. diss., University of Illinois, 1981.

Personal Interviews Barrow, Joe Louis Jr. Benedict, Bill Britto, Severina Brown, Oscar Jr.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

269

Butler, Jerry Casey, Mary Chandler, Gene Chess, Marshall Cohran, Phil DeWiggins, Jack Grossman, Joseph Jefferson, Bill Jenkins, Judy Joyner, Marjorie Stewart Lawrence, Mary Logon, Jeni Lubliner, Robert Lucas, Ernestine G. Luckett, Jimmy Miller, Peter Piper, Louis “Scotty” Saunders, Warner Smith, Eric Spraggins, Janice Starks, Robert

Periodicals Chicago Defender, 1925, 1927–1969, and selected issues thereafter. Chicago Sun-Times, selected issues. Chicago Tribune, 1928–1964 and selected issues thereafter. Ebony Magazine, selected issues. Jet Magazine, selected issues. Exhibitors Herald, 1925–1928. Pittsburgh Courier, 1927 and selected issues thereafter.

Research Centers, Special Collections, and Data Bases AMG All Music Guide, online. AncestryPlus, online. Charles Walton Papers, Vivian G. Harsh Collection, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Chicago Public Library Digital Collections, online. Chicago Title Insurance Company. Jazz Age Chicago, City of Chicago, online. Jazz Institute of Chicago, online. Library of Congress, online.

270

BIBLIOGRAPHY

New York Public Library, Digital Collection, online. Rosenwald Papers, University of Chicago Library, Special Collections. Theater Historical Society of America, Elmhurst, Illinois. Works Project Administration (Illinois), Illinois Writers’ Project, Vivian G. Harsh Collection, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago.

Video Recording International Sweethearts of Rhythm. Produced and Directed by Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss. 30 min. Cinema Guild, 1986. Videocassette.

Index

Abbott, Robert S. 8, 52–3, 54–5, 78, 88, 89, 228 n14 ABC see American Broadcasting Company ABC-Paramount 135–6, 162, 222 Accardo, Anthony 149 Ace, Johnny 154 Adams, Faye 156, 181 Adams, Jo Jo 147 “African Holiday” 180 Afro-American Symphony 114 Aiken, Loretta Mary see Mabley, Jackie “Moms” Aland and Angell 131 Alexandria, Lorez 167, 180 Algiers Lounge 196 Alhambra Theater 55 Alix, Mae 78 Allen, Annisteen 136 Allen, Hortense 147 Allen, Ricky 184 “All-Negro Hour” 67 All State Record Distributing 178 Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority 160 Amazing Grace 102 see also Mabley, Jackie “Moms” Ambassadors 166 American Broadcasting Company (ABC), 94, 222 American Negro Theater 131 Ammons, Gene 7, 128, 131, 144, 181 Amos “n” Andy 31, 66 Amusement Service Corporation 69 Anderson, Cat 127

Anderson, Eddie “Rochester” 83, 99–100, 112, 127 Anderson, Ernestine 167, 183 Anderson, Ivy (Ivie), 99, 116 Anderson, Margie 152 Anderson, Marian 38, 62 Anderson, Robert 153 Andrews, Avis 75, 115 A Night in Venice 54 Anna Lucasta 131 Annex Café 80 Antioch Missionary Baptist Church 197 Apex Records 178 Apollo Theater (Chicago) 38, 40–1 Apollo Theater (New York) 3, 57, 78, 97, 99, 104, 111, 137, 146, 157, 167, 178, 180, 213, 253n128 Apus and Estrellita 106, 136, 160 Archway Supper Club 196 Arie Crown Theater 196, 200 Armstrong, Henry 96–7 Armstrong, Lil see Hardin, Lil Armstrong, Louis 4, 41, 60–1, 76, 80, 83, 89, 97, 99, 102–3, 106, 108–9, 111, 115, 125, 141, 155 Art Institute of Chicago 64 Artistics 203, 206, 208 Ascher, Harry 74–5, 76, 77, 86 Ash, Paul 28, 29, 30, 60 Association for the Study of Negro Life and History 5

272

INDEX

As Thousands Cheer 79 Atkins, Cholly 161, 166 Atkins, Eddie 31 Atlantic Records 206 Auditorium Theater 89, 196 Austin, Sil 161, 167, 168 Avalons 198 Avendorph, Fred, and his Roseland Orchestra 74 Azpiazu, Don and his Havana Casino Orchestra 73 Baby Lawrence (Laurence), 105 Baby Leazar 56 Baby Lloyd 202 Bailey, Bill 102, 143, 151, 160 Bailey, Pearl 127, 151, 155, 160, 164, 166, 167 Bakay, Hal 41–2, 55 Baker, Josephine 5, 145, 180 Baker, LaVern 156, 157, 161, 168, 181, 182, 184, 187, 203 Baker, Yvonne and the Sensations 186 Balaban and Katz (B & K) 4, 15, 16, 20, 21, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 43–5, 53, 55, 58, 59, 60, 71–3, 74, 77, 80, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 97, 99, 115–16, 126, 128, 135, 145, 146, 159–60, 162, 163, 164–5, 166, 172, 221, 222, 223 Balaban, Barney 44–5 Baldwin, James 207 Ball, Walter 24 band polls 103, 107, 108, 118–19 Bankers State Bank 52 Bank Night, at Regal 80 Banks, Margaret 208 Barefield, Eddie 108, 143 Barlow, William 66, 68 Barnes, J. J., 205, 206 Barnes, Walter 37, 68–9, 70, 75–6, 80, 231n51 Barnett, Charlie 113

Barthé, Richmond (Richard) 64–5 Basie, Count 4, 81, 88, 97, 99, 102, 103, 105, 108, 111, 112, 115, 116, 119, 127, 128, 143, 147–8, 153, 156, 161, 163, 181, 208, 253n121 Bass, Fontella 202, 203 Bassett, Jimmy see Lee and Bassett Bates, Lefty 166 Bates, Peg Leg 75, 115, 131, 141, 155 Bayron, Grace 110 Bayron, Judy 110 Beavers, Louise 79 bebop 127 Beck, Helen Gould see Rand, Sally Becker Ryan Department Store 17–18 Bee Hive Lounge 155 Beige Beauts (Beauties), 131, 152, 161 see also Smart Affairs Bell, Archie and the Drells 208 Bell, Jimmy 31, 53, 73 Bell, William 209 Bellson, Louis 151, 155, 160, 166 Ben Franklin Variety Store 121–2, 246n101 Bennett, Bobby 202 Benny, Jack 83 Benson, Al 129, 136, 138, 141, 157–8, 159, 160, 161–3, 167, 168, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 190–3, 210, 219 Benson Beauties 167 Bensonettes 179 Benton, Brook 179, 181, 183, 184, 186, 198 Beri, Ben 166 Berman, Morris 193–4, 195 Bernard, Chuck 204 Bernie, Ben 30 Berry, Ananias 76 Berry, Andrew 26

INDEX

Berry Brothers 54, 109, 127 Berry, Chuck 158 Bertram (Bertrand), Jimmy 32 Bethune, Mary McCleod 38 Betts, Keter 148 Bey, Andy 181 Bey Sisters 181 Bibb, Sir Oliver 103 big band era, end of 126, 132, 138–9 Big Maybelle 152, 156, 158, 161, 166, 180, 181, 183 Big Time Crip 102, 105, 115 Billboard 105 Bill Cody Dancers 210–11 Binga, Jesse 51, 122 Binga State Bank 51, 122 Bioff, Willie 46 Black-appeal radio 129–30, 154, 176, 190, 191–2, 220 see also Benson, Al Black Belt 1 as a spatial configuration 47–8 see also Bronzeville, defined Black, Bill 180, 182 Blackbirds, Lew Leslie’s 54, 62–3, 64, 77, 78, 89 Black business development and the Black Belt 119–26, 144–5, 171–2, 225 see also policy and Fuller, Samuel B. Black, Clarence 22 Black consumer market, growth of 140–2, 156, 174, 190, 191, 223 Black Manhattan 82 Blackstone the Magician 76 Black Stone Rangers 205, 206–7, 212 Black Swan Record Company 38, 114 Blackwell, Olive 27 Blaine, Lois 183 Blake Eubie 27 Blakey, Art and Jazz Messengers 168, 181, 198

273

Bland, Billy 180 Bland Bobby “Blue” 161, 179, 183, 186, 188, 199, 201, 202, 204, 205, 208 Blandells 186 Blewett, Ken 4, 86, 87–8, 89, 90–1, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, 128, 151, 160, 162, 163, 165, 166, 209, 222–3, 240n170 block booking 43 Blue Bells (Bluebelles) 186, 197–8, 199 Blue Notes 183, 184 Blue Rhythm Band see Millinder, Lucius Blues for Mr. Charlie 207 Bo Diddley 179 Bonds, Gary U. S. 185 Booker, Beryl 148 Booker, James 182 Boombolla 38 Bostic, Earl 130, 152 Bottoms, Bill 53 Bowman, Grace 54 Bowman, Priscilla 166 boxing, at Savoy 80 Boyd, Eddie 153 Boyer International Laboratories 193, 194, 195 see also Fuller, Samuel B. Braddy, Pauline 103, 110 Bradford, Alex 153 Bradshaw, Tiny 78, 107, 116, 125, 143 Braggs, Al 186, 188, 199, 201, 202 Brandt, George L., 164–5 Breedlove, Sarah see Walker, Madame C. J. Briggs, Bunny 137, 141, 162, 183 Britto, Severina 210, 211–12 Britt, Tina 202 Bronze Venus 56 Bronzeville, defined 239n142 see also Black Belt Brooks, Billy see Brooks and Brown

274

INDEX

Brooks and Brown 160 Brooks, Dennis Jack 26–7 Brown, Buster 181 Brown, Chuck 128 Brown, Clarence “Gatemouth,” 154, 179 Brown, Emily 186 Brown, Ernest see Cook and Brown Brown, George 46 Brown, James 168, 202, 204, 206, 207 Brown, Marion 137 Brown, Maxine 183, 184, 186, 199, 200, 202, 203, 204 Brown and McGraw 34 Brown, Nappy 158, 161, 181 Brown, Oscar, Jr., 207 Brown, Piney see Brooks and Brown Brown, Ralph 31 Brown, Ruth 137, 155, 162, 179, 183, 184 Brown, Tommy 206 Brown, Winnie (Wini), 119, 127, 183 Bruce, Marion 147 Bruce, Mary 34, 85, 224 see also Mary Bruce Dancers Bruce, Sadie 85, 102, 113, 143, 224 Bryant, Clora 180 Bryant, Marie 116 Bryant, Pauline 85 Bryant, Rusty 156 Bryant, Stuffy 182 Bryant, Willie 84, 90, 115, 125, 127, 186 Buck (Ford Lee Washington) and Bubbles (John W. Sublett), 31, 125, 127, 143 Buckner, Milt 119, 131, 183 Bud Billiken club 53, 79, 88, 102, 105–6, 111, 115, 116, 123 Bud Billiken parade 8, 53, 116, 123, 211

Burke, Eddie 143 Burke, Solomon 161, 185, 187, 198, 203 Burkhardt, Jay 136, 138, 144, 155 Burnett, Bobby 107 Burning Spear nightclub 196, 211 see also Club DeLisa; The Club Burrage, Hal 180 Butler, Billy and the Enchanters 198, 200 Butler, Charles 82 Butler, Jerry 167, 180, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188, 189, 198, 200, 202, 205 Butter Beans and Susie 100, 131, 145–6, 147, 148, 155 Butterfield, Erskine 108 Byrd, Bobby 202, 204 Byrd, Ina Bell 110 Cabin in the Sky 112 Cab Jivers 111 Caboliers 111 Cadillac Bob’s 155 Cadillac, Dr. Jive 116 Cadillacs 166 Caifano, Fat Lenny 149 Calloway, Blanche 31, 33, 34, 75, 76, 155 Calloway, Cab 5, 31, 33, 34, 57, 73, 80, 84, 97, 103, 105, 111, 115, 116, 118, 126, 127, 143 Cambridge, Godfrey 186 Campbell, Choker 187, 188 Campbell, Floyd 108 Canady, Hilda 27 C & C Lounge 196 Capitol Records 164 Capitols 204 Capitol Theater 196, 210 Capone, Al 45, 47, 120, 149 Capris 183 Caravans 209 Cardinals 158 Carlton 61

INDEX

Carrington, Jerome 32 Carr, Robert see Robert and Johnny Carr, Valerie 161, 167 Carter, Benny 81, 113, 115, 160 Carter, Betty (Lorene “Betty Bebop”) 137, 152, 168, 181, 183 Carter, Marian 110 Carver, George Washington 65 Casey, Mary see Fuller, Mary Cash, Alvin and the Crawlers 203 Cash, Alvin and the Registers 201 Caston, Bobbie 89 Cato, Minto 34 CBS (WCBS) radio 75, 114 Central Casting Bureau and Blacks 82 Central Park Theater 33, 165, 210 Chambers, Paul 182, 185 Chambers, Ulysses 31, 32 Chandler, Gene 185–6, 188, 199, 200, 202, 203, 206, 209 Channels 167 Chantels 185 Charioteers 128 Charles, Duke 137 Charles, Jimmy 183 Charles, Ray 168, 180–1, 183, 187, 208 Charlton, David 93, 115 Cheatam, Doc 143 Checker, Chubby 183 Checkmate Lounge 207 Chess, Leornard 191, 192 Chess, Phil 191 Chess Records 154, 178, 181, 184, 192, 207 Chicago’s African–American musical establishment (1928), 27 Chicago American Giants 24 Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry 145 Chicago Daily News 65

275

Chicago Defender, support of Regal, community, and performing artists 9, 52–3, 74, 75, 78, 79, 80, 82, 86, 87, 88–9, 98, 102, 105–6, 111, 113, 115, 116, 118, 119, 123, 217 Chicago Federation of Musicians 84 Chicago Theater 15, 77, 79, 80, 115, 126, 132, 145, 146, 151, 156 Chicago Tribune 26, 77, 166 Chicago Urban League 75 Childress, Alvin 131 Chilsolm, Joe 148 Chilton and Thomas 34 Chilton, Carol 34 Chilton, Ralph 22, 71 Chimes 182 Chittison, Herman 143 Chocolate Dandies 27 Chocolateers 115, 125, 127, 136, 143, 147 Cholly and Dolly 109 chorus girls 85–6 Chuck and Chuckles 90, 105 Church of Divine Guidance 192 Church, Eugene 167, 168, 182 Churchill, Savannah 105, 113, 115, 116, 130, 144, 145 Citizens State Bank 52 Civic Opera House 79, 131, 145, 146, 155 Clark, Dee 166, 181, 182, 183, 184, 187, 188, 198, 201 Clay, Judy 205, 209 Clef Club 29 Clef Club Orchestra 30 Cleveland, James 200, 209 Clinton, Alice 64 Clovers 105, 182, 184 Club Alhambra 196 Club DeLisa (also DeLisa Gardens), 46, 80, 85, 98, 106, 120, 127, 130, 148, 163, 211

276

INDEX

Coasters 160, 181, 183, 184, 198, 201 Cobb, Arnett 119, 127, 152 Cobb, Clarence H., 150 Cobb, Jimmy 148, 182, 185 Cochran, Wayne and his C. C. Riders 203 Coconut Grove Ballroom 22 Cody, Bill see Bill Cody Dancers Cohn, Zinky 143 Cohran, Phil 260n164 Cole, Eddie see Three Loose Nuts Coleman, Dolores 182 Coleman, King 180, 182 Cole, Nat “King” 5, 81, 108, 115, 119, 125, 128, 130, 137, 141, 143, 145, 146, 147, 155, 157 Coles, Honi 85, 111 Cole and Wayne 33 Coliseum 196 Collier, Mittie 184, 199 Collins, Pat 144 Collins, Shad 143 Columbia Pictures 94, 242n18 Columbia Records 157, 206 Common Clay 64 Como, Perry 157 Conacher, Wenonah, (Betty), 57 Condos and Brandow 160 Congaroos see Four Congaroos Congress Hotel 80 Conine, Margot 137 Conine, Tommy 137 Conley, Arthur 204 Connie’s Inn 59, 75 Contours 187, 188, 202, 205 Contracts, with Regal 162–3 Cook and Brown 108 Cook, Charles see Cook and Brown Cook, Charles “Doc” 27 Cooke, L. C. 201 Cooke, Sam 125, 183, 187, 201 Cook, Marion 36 Cooper, Ann 103 Cooper, Jack L. 53, 66–7, 129

Cooper, Ralph 53, 56–7, 59, 69–70, 73, 82–3, 125, 178 Co-Ops 137, 147 Cordell, Lucky 192 Corpus Christi Auditorium 132 Correll, Charles 31, 66 Corsairs 185 Cortez, Dave “Baby” 166, 167 Cosmopolitan Community Church 7–8 Cottle, Charles H. 71, 73, 74 Cotton Club 57 Cotton Club Revue 78 Counts 156 Cox, Baby 75 Cox, Oliver Cromwell 17, 19 Crawford, Bixie 148 Crawford, James 202 Crawlers 200 Crests 167, 183 Criner, Lawrence 131 Cron, Roz 111 Cross, Tom 22 Crystals 185, 187 cultural hegemony see Regal Theater, and inequality Cunningham, Skip 180 Dabney, Ford 29 dance traditions, at Regal 84–5, 102 Dancing Boys see Mary Bruce Dancers Dancing Jordanettes 143 Dandridge, Dorothy 64 Daniels, Jerry 104 Danny and Edith 102 Darnell, Larry 137, 143, 181 Darrell, Charles H. 26, 41 Dave’s Café 77, 80, 120 Dave and Tressie 55 Davis, Charles 27 Davis, Clifford 149 Davis, Eddie “Lockjaw” 168 Davis, Ernestine “Tiny” 111, 113 Davis, Kay 127

INDEX

Davis, Miles 5, 136, 145, 155, 167, 168, 182, 185 Davis, Sammy, Jr. 130, 137, 141, 145, 155, 163, 200 Davis, “Tables” 137 Davis, “Wild” Bill 143, 162, 181 Day, Cora Lee 181 Decca Records 104 de Chavis, Kitty 138 De Costa, Barbara 155 De Franco, Buddy 144 De Jovedo, Prince Rajah 67 DeLisa, Louie 163 see also Club DeLisa Dells 5, 161, 180, 183, 186, 199, 202, 205 Deppe, Lois 62–3 De Santo, Sugar Pie 182, 183 Desmond, William 54 Detroit Emeralds 208 Dickerson, Carroll 41, 61, 78 Dickerson, Lawrence 32 Dillard, Varetta 152 Dion and the Belmonts 180 disc-jockey broker 177–8 Dixie Hummingbids 154 Dixon, Eugene see Chandler, Gene Dixon, Jesse and the All-Stars 199 Dixon, Lawrence 31, 32 Dixon, Lucille 110 Dodge, Beth and Betty 54 Doggett, Bill 179, 181 Dolinoff and the Raya Sisters 167 Dominoes 144, 156 Domino, Fats 166 Donegan, Dorothy 7, 113, 115, 116, 118, 125 Doring Sisters 80 Dorsey, Lee 204 Dorsey, Thomas 82 Dot and Dash 153 Dotie and Charlie 111 Douglas community 96, 173–4 Douglass National Bank 51 Dover, Arnold 167

277

Drake, St. Clair and Horace Cayton 51, 174 Dramatics 206 Dreamland Café 60–1, 122 Dreamland Syncopators see Hardin, Lil Drew, Allen (Alan or Allan), 183, 184 Drew-Vells 198, 199 Drifters 156, 183, 184, 187, 188, 198, 201 Du Bois, W. E. B. 38, 110 Du Conge, Evelyn 27 Dukays 184, 185 see also Chandler, Gene Duke, John see Mac and Duke Duke Records 153 Duke is Tops 56 Duncan, Ethel 127 Durham, Eddie 113, 115 Du Sable High School 7, 88, 119, 211 Dutones 186, 187, 188, 198, 199 Dyer, Sammy 85, 148, 224 Dyerettes 148, 155, 168 Dyette, Walter H. 7, 72, 119, 224 Dyke and the Blazers 208 Dynamics 209 Earle Theater 146, 253n128 Ebony Magazine 150 Eckstine, Billy 113, 118, 119, 127, 128, 137, 141 Edison, Harry “Sweets” 167 Edmondson, Florence 78 Edsels 183 Edward Sisters 115, 119, 143, 153 Edwards, Tommy 167 Eichenbaum, Edward E. 15 Eighth Armory 89 El Dorados (Eldorados) 160, 167 Eldridge, Roy 107, 118 Elgar, Charles 22, 27 Elgins 204, 205

278

INDEX

Ellington, Duke 4, 31, 71–2, 73, 76, 79, 80, 83, 84, 97, 98, 99, 102, 103, 107, 108, 119, 127, 130, 137, 141, 145, 147, 151, 153, 156, 160, 185 Ellis, Jack and his Wildcats 80, 84 Ellis, Morris 180 El Sid’s Trianon Ballroom 196 see also Trianon Ballroom Emeralds 207 Emerson, Billy “The Kid” 161 Englestein, Harry M. and Louis (Englestein brothers), 4, 17–18, 26, 72, 73, 164, 165, 193 Ephram, Bobby 168, 185 Esquires 208 Etting, Ruth 31 Europe, James Reese 29, 36 Evans, Mary G. 7 Evans, Warren 113 Everett, Betty 186, 188, 200 Faggen, I. Jay 21, 22, 24, 26, 41 Fair Store 65 Fair, Yvonne 207, 208 Famous Flames see Flames Famous Players Laskey 43–4, 221 Fantastic Four 209 Farmer, Art 183 Farmer, James 194 Ferguson, Maynard 185 Ferguson, Royce 212 Fernandez, Angelo 31 Fields, Ernie 116, 180 Fields, Herbie 143 Fiestas 181 First Deliverance Church 150 Fishchetti, Charles 149 Fisher, Mark 30 Fisher, Shelley 208 Fitzgerald, Ella 5, 90, 97, 105, 108, 111, 115, 116, 119, 127, 130, 137, 141, 143, 146, 147, 156 Fitzhugh, McKie 128, 129, 153

Five Blind Boys of Alabama 204 see also Original Blind Boys of Alabama Five Blind Boys of Mississippi 199–200 Five DuTones see Dutones Five Flamingoes see Flamingos (Flamingoes) 504 Club 155 Five Royales 152 Five Satins 161, 181 Five Spirits of Rhythm 53, 56 Five Stair-Steps 204, 205, 206, 208 Flames 168, 202, 204 see also Brown, James Flamingoettes 166 Flamingos (Flamingoes) 105, 153, 155, 166, 183, 187 Flegenheimer, Arthur see Schultz, Dutch Flemons, Wade 180, 183, 184 “flesh campaign,” Chicago Defender 86–7 Fletcher, Darrow 204 Fletcher, Dusty 89, 105, 115, 116, 137, 151 Floyd, Eddie 205 Fontaine Brothers 147 Fontaine Dancers 152 Ford, Dee Dee 187 Ford, Henry and the Gifts 199 Foster, A. L. 195 Foster, Little Willie 158 Foster, Wesleen 131 Fouchee Dancers 161 Four Blue Bonnets 113 Four Brown Dots 116 see also Watson, Ivory “Deek” Four Checkers 155 Four Congaroos 146, 147 Four Dancing Ebonites 187 Four Dukes 180 Four Fellows 157 Four Kit Kats 106, 147 Four Orchids 157

INDEX

Four Sounds 182 Four Step Brothers 130, 168 Four Tops 199, 201, 202 Four Voices 166 Fox, Ed. 88, 98 see also Grand Terrace Café Fox, Harold 126, 130 Foxx, Charlie 202 Foxx, Inez 198, 202 Foxx, Redd 148, 161, 166, 180, 183, 187, 202, 253n121 Francois’s Louisianians 80 Franklin, Aretha 5, 183, 185, 186, 188, 201, 205, 206, 207, 260n164 Franklin, Erma (Irma), 184, 185, 186 Franklin, William 32 Frazier, E. Franklin 47, 140 Freddie and Flo 155 Freed, Alan 177–8 Freeman, Bobby 199 Freeman, John 61–2 Freeman, Kenneth 131 Freeman, Von 7 Fuller, Ethel 145 Fuller, Geraldine 145 Fuller, Jessie 145 Fuller, Lestine 145 Fuller, Luella 145 Fuller, Mary 145, 195 Fuller Products Company see Fuller, Samuel B. Fuller, Samuel B. 4, 144–5, 171, 172, 178, 186, 193–7, 205, 213–14, 221, 223 Fuller, Walter 97 Fulson, Lowell 147 Fuqua, Charlie 104 Fuqua, Harvey see Harvey and the Moonglows Future Star’s Night 31, 32, 79 Gaines, Will 179 Gale Agency 162 Gale, Billy 160

279

Gale, Moe 104, 116 Garbage see Rodgers, Marshall Garber, Jan 78 Gardner, Don 187 Garland, Red 168 Garmise Distributing 178 Garner, Errol 131, 143, 146, 152 Garrett, Joan (Joanne) 203, 204 Garrett, John 88 Garrick Lounge 112 Garrison, Amy 110 Garvey, Marcus 38 Gaye, Marvin 187, 188, 199, 201 Gaynor and Ross 143 Gee, Lottie 4, 31 Gems 200 George, Barbara 184 George Cleveland Hall Library 5 Gerri’s Palm Tavern 213 Getz, Stan 143 Giancana, Momo 122 Gibson, Beverly Ann 168 Gillespie, Dizzy 116, 128, 130, 140, 156, 183 Glaser, Joe 57, 106, 112 Glen, Charlie 120 Glover, Roger 165, 189, 209 Goddard, Paulette 131 Golde Clothes Shop 18 Golson, Benny 183 Gonda, Fats 202 Gone With the Wind 117 Goodman, Benny 80, 81, 82, 107 Goodman, Shirley see Shirley and Lee Gordon, Freddie 89, 105 Gordon, Roscoe 181 Gordy, Berry 186 Gosden, Freeman 31, 66 Gourfain, Harry 27 Granada Theater 15, 60 Grand Boulevard community 49–50, 96, 173–4, 175 Grand Terrace Café 46, 57, 70, 74, 77, 79, 86, 88, 89, 98, 106, 108

280

INDEX

Grand Theater 40 Granville, Maxwell 131 Gray, Harry W. 106 Gray, Wardell (Waddell) 136 Great Day 62–3 Great Migration 2 Green, Charles see Chuck and Chuckles Green, Eddie 67 Green, Lil 147 Green, Madelyn 119 Greer, Big John 136 Gregory, Dick 182, 200 Griever, Si 165 Griffin, Johnny 168 Griffin, “Little,” Johnny 119 see also Johnny Griffin Guaranty Bank and Trust 193 Guinan, Tex 76 Gunsmoke 114 Guzik, Jack 149 Halasz, Laszlo 114 Hale, Teddy 143, 146 Hall, Adelaide 64, 70, 75 Hallelujah 63–4 Hall, George Cleveland 5 Hall, Shirley 186 see also Vashonettes Halos 184 Hamilton, Roy 156–7, 160, 168, 182, 183, 187, 188 Hampton, Lionel 103, 105, 106, 112, 115, 118–19, 127, 130, 137, 140, 141, 153, 155, 166 Hanson, Howard 114 Hardin, Lil 60, 76 Harlem Globetrotters 24 Harlem Opera House 90 Harlem Playgirls, Lil Armstrong’s 103 Harmonizing Four 199 Harper, Leonard 77 Harper, Lucius 53 Harper, Toni 130, 137, 143, 253n121

Harpo, Slim 183, 204 Harris, Al 131 Harris, Alice 56 Harris, Eddie 7 Harris, Charles 31 Harris, Micki 185 Harris, Odessa 184 Harris, Wynonie 131, 144, 159 Harsh, Vivian G. 5 Hartman, Johnny 7, 183 Harvey and the Moonglows 167, 180, 181 Hawkins, Coleman 156 Hawkins, Erskine 97, 108, 111, 113, 130, 138–9, 141, 143, 147, 156, 160, 167, 198 Hawkins, Sam 167 Hawkins, Screamin” Jay 160, 161, 181 Hayes, Roland 38 Hayward, Willie 36 Haywood, Eddie 144, 160 Head, Roy 204 Healy, Ted 54 Hearts of Dixie 63–4 Heath, Jimmy 182 Heath, Percy 182 Hello Paris 63 Hemphill, Elizabeth 65 Henderson, Bill 168, 180, 182 Henderson, Fletcher 31, 60, 80, 82, 84, 86, 105, 107 Henderson, Horace 180 Henderson, Jo-Ann 161 Hennessey, Thomas 27 Henry, Judy 212 Herman, Woody 130 Hesitations 207 Hibbler, Al 119, 127, 137, 155, 160, 168 High Chaparral 196 Hill, Abram 131 Hill, Florence 27 Hill, Lenore 22

INDEX

Hines, Earl 62–3, 76, 80, 81, 84, 89, 103, 105, 113, 115, 125, 127, 235n37 Hines Kids (Maurice and Gregory), 253n121 Hinton, Joe 181, 199 Hinton, Milt 143 Hite, Les 97, 103 Hit Sheet 190 Hodges, Johnny 137 Hogan, Charles 165 Hogan, Ernest 36 Holiday, Billie 83, 111, 115, 119, 127, 130, 131–2, 136, 137, 143, 156 Holland, Eddie 185 Hollywood Flames 161 Hopkins, Claude 77, 78, 80 Hopkins, Herb 189, 209 Horne, Lena 56, 64, 112, 115 Hospitality Hour 127 Hot Chocolates Revue 54, 59, 75 Hot Rhythm 38 Howard Theater 97, 99, 111, 146, 167, 184 Howell and Bowser 137, 143 Howell and Radcliff 152 Hudson, Dick 24 Hudson, George 128, 130 Hughes, Fred 202, 203 Hughes, Jimmy 204, 205 Hughes, Langston 114 Hughes, Revella 4, 34, 38 Humes, Helen 143, 145 Hunt, Tommy 184, 187, 188, 198, 201, 203, 206, 207 Hunter, Ivory Joe 128, 161 Hunter, Lurlean 181 Hunter, Ty 186 Hutchinson, Dorothy (Dolly), 76, 80 Hutton, Ina Ray 31 Hutton, June 31 Hyde Park High School 211 Hyman, Earle 131

281

Ideals 188 Illinois Chamber of Commerce 145 Imitation of Life 78, 79 Impalas 167 Impressions 184, 186, 188, 200, 203, 206 Ink Spots 5, 98, 99, 104–5, 108, 113, 115, 116, 119, 125, 141, 145, 146, 198 International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Union 46 International Amphitheater 196 International Sweethearts of Rhythm 5, 83, 102–3, 109–12, 113, 115 Intruders 208 Isaacs, Ike 182 Isley Brothers 179, 181, 183, 187 Jack Benny Show 83 Jackson, Benjamin Clarence “Bull Moose” 130, 156 Jackson, Chuck 183, 184, 187, 188, 197, 199, 201, 204, 207, 208, 261n178 Jackson, Deon 204, 205 Jackson Five 196, 208 Jackson, J. J. 206 Jackson, “Jigsaw” Brady 85, 109 Jackson, Milt 182 Jackson Park case 93–5 Jackson, Walter 200, 202, 203 Jacquet, Illinois 127, 128, 130, 137, 140, 151 Jamal, Ahmad 160 James, Elmo 180 James, Etta 167, 168, 179, 180, 181, 182, 186, 201 James, Ida 108, 128 jazz, early development of 29–30, 35–6 Jazz Joy Boys 30, 33 see also Williams, Stanley “Fess” Jazztet 183

282

INDEX

Jefferson, Bill 117–18 Jefferson, Hilton 143 Jeffries, Herb 78, 99 Jewel Box Revue 204 Jitney Cabs 190 Jive Five 208 John, Little Willie 182 Johnny and Joe 184 Johnny Moore’s Blazers 128 Johnson, Buddy 115, 116, 118, 143, 157, 160, 182 Johnson, Elijah 122 Johnson, Ella 143, 157, 160, 182 Johnson, Eudora 122 Johnson, Foster 138 Johnson, Isabel Joseph 192 Johnson, James Weldon 29–30 Johnson, Jay Jay (J. J.) 145, 185 Johnson, Joe “Ziggy” 109, 127 Johnson, John “Mushmouth” 122 Johnson, J. Rosamond 36 Johnson, Margaret “Countess” 83 Johnson, Marv 187 Johnson, Myra 106 Johnson, Syl 206 Jones Brothers 121–2, 150–1 see also policy Jones, Edward P. 121–2, 148–51 Jones, E. Rodney 192, 211 Jones, Etta 183 Jones, George 121–2, 150–1 Jones, Helen 110 Jones, Isham 31 Jones, Jimmy 184 Jones, Jo (Joe) 143, 183 Jones, Joseph 58 Jones, Laurence Clifton 109–10 Jones, Lydia 151 Jones, McKissick 121 Jones, Orville “Hoppy” 104 Jones, Richard (Dick) L. 19, 165 Jones, Ruth see Washington, Dinah Joplin, Scott 36 Jordan, Joe 36

Jordan, Louis 90, 115, 119, 127, 128, 130, 137, 140, 143, 147, 152, 153, 168 Jose and Dana 152 Joyce, Nanneen (Nanine) 27, 78 Joyner and Foster 105, 130 Joyner, Marjorie Stewart 8, 123, 141, 162 Joyner, Robert E. 123 Kahn, Louis 17–18, 193 Katz, Samuel (Sam) 20, 44 Kay, Connie 182 KDKA radio 62 K-Doe, Ernie 183 Keep Punching 96–7 Kefauver, Estes 149 Kellum David 88, 119 Kelly, Georgia 61 Kelly, Paul 208 Kelly, Wynton 182, 185 Kemp, Chubby 137 Kemp, Vi 161 Kennedy, John Fitzgerald 186 Kenner, Doris 185 Kenny, Bill 104 Kent (“Cool Gent”), Herb 192 Kenton, Stan 128, 146 King, Albert 199, 202, 208 King, B. B. 5, 154, 159, 181, 184, 188, 198, 199, 202, 204, 206, 207, 208, 209 King, Ben E. 181, 183, 186, 187, 188 King, Freddie 198 King, Harold “Rhythm” 148 King, Martin Luther, Jr. 186, 187, 194, 200, 208 King Odum Quartet 130 King Records 157, 178 Kingslow, Janice 131 Kirby, George 127, 131, 143, 146, 152, 181 Kirk, Andy 73, 80, 83, 84, 97, 100, 102, 108, 113, 115, 127

INDEX

Kit Kats see Four Kit Kats Kitt, Eartha 131, 168 Kitty Kat Club 196 Knight, Gladys and the Pips 183, 184, 187, 198, 202, 204, 208 Knight, James 213 Knight, Marie 184 Kolax, King 137–8, 147 Krupa, Gene 81, 107, 146 Kupcinet, Irv 24 KYW radio 65 Labelle, Patti and the Bluebells 203, 205 see also Bluebells La Bommie 152 Lafayette Theater 253n128 Lake Meadows Restaurant 196 Lambert, Hendricks and Ross 167, 182 Lance, Herb 148 Lance, Major 180, 188, 198, 199, 201, 202, 203 L & P Broadcasting 191 Lands, Liz 206 Langford, Walcott 235n37 LaRosa, Julius 157 Laurey (Laurie), Annie 161, 181 LaVell, Miss 181 LaVelle, Otis 201 LaVette, Betty 201, 202 Lawless, Theodore K. 6, 7 Leaner, Arthur B. see Benson, Al Leaner, Earnie 192 Leaner, George 192 Lee and Bassett 109 Lee, Beverly 185 Lee, Bill “Doc” 192 Lee, Clarence 31 Lee, Julia 128 Lee, Leonard see Shirley and Lee Lenore, J. B. 157 Leonard Brothers 161 Leslie, Lew see Blackbirds Levy and Klein Architectural Firm 15, 25

283

Lewis, Barbara 202 Lewis, Bobby 184 Lewis, Jerry Lee 183 Lewis, John 182 Lewis, William “Sabby” (Sebastian), 128 Lewis, Willie 161, 182, 183, 184 Leyba, Clair 131 Lightfoot, James E. 33 Lincoln Cemetery 150 Lincoln (Royal) Gardens 60 Lindy Hoppers 90 Linton, Charles 90 Little Anthony and the Imperials 167, 184, 202 Little Caesar and the Romans 184 Little Esther 152, 161 see also Phillips, Little Esther Little Grand Theater 36 Little Jimmy 25 Little Milton 200, 201, 208 Little Miss Cornshucks 116, 127 Little Miss Soul 208 Little Sonny 168 Little Step Brothers 205 Little Willie 153 Loews 94, 99 see also Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Lofton, Bertha 212 Long, Byron “Fats” 24 Lorraine Bottling Works 116 Lougen, William 33 Louis, Joe 83, 96, 111, 115, 118, 120, 121, 152, 193, 223 Louis, Marva 115, 116, 118, 167, 193, 223 Lovejoy, Alex 33 Loving Sisters 199 Lowell, John 33 Lubliner, and Trinz 4, 26, 221 Lucas, Roxanna 110 Lucas, Sam 36 Luckett, Jimmy 25 Lucky Seven Trio 75 Lunceford Jimmy 5, 78, 79, 81, 84, 97, 103, 113, 115, 127

284

INDEX

Lutcher, Nellie 130, 140 Lynne, Gloria 168, 185 Lymon, Frankie 180 Lyons, Dolly 160 Lytell, Bert 54 Mabley, Jackie “Moms,” 5, 53, 90, 100–2, 109, 138, 143, 167, 183, 184 Mabon, Willie 151 Mac and Duke 85 Mack, Cecil 36 Mack, Eddie 148 Mac, Lou 157 Mad Lads 204 Major Bowe’s Original Amateur Hour 87 Makeba, Miriam 208 Maloy, Tom 45–6 Man About Town 83 Manhattans 203, 204, 207 Marbro Theater 15, 80 Marchand (Marchan), Bobby 181, 183, 205 March on Washington 186, 187 Mar-Keys 184 Markham, Pigmeat 113, 181, 188, 199, 200, 202, 207 Marshall and the Chi-Lites 208 Marshall Hotel 29 Martha and the Vandellas see Vandellas Martin, Sarah 34 Marvelettes 186, 187, 188, 202 Mary Bruce Dancers 34 Maryland Theater 73, 90 Mason, Barbara 202 Mason, Frances 27 Mason, John 143 Maurice and Mac 208 Mayer, Duncan see Savoy Bearcats Mayes, Dorothy 89 Mayfield, Curtis 5 see also Impressions Mayfield, Percy 161, 187, 188

Mayor of Bronzeville 80, 88, 102, 213, 239n142 McAfee, Johnny 185 McCall, Cash 205 McCarthy, Franklin 191–2 McCarver, Bamboo 27, 34 McClennon, George 42, 55, 89, 235n38 McClure, Bobby 202 McCormick Place 196 McCracklin, Jimmy 185, 203 McCutcheon, Joe 31 McDaniels, Gene 184 McDermon, Harrell see Mac and Duke McDuff, Jack 208 McFadden, Ruth 180 McGee, Evelyn 110 McGee, Nova Lee 103 McGriff, Jimmy 187, 201 McKies 196 McKinley, Mitchell 188 McKinney, Nina Mae 64 McKinney’s Cotton Pickers 73, 77 McKinney, Syd 137 McLaurin, Bette 151–2 McLawler, Sarah 167, 168, 183 McNeeley, Big Jay 168 McPhatter, Clyde 155, 167 McShann, Jay 109, 127 McVickers Theater 28 Medlin, Joe 166 Mellotones 116 Memphis Students 29 Mercury Records 210 Meroff, Benny 30 Metcalfe, Ralph 141 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 56, 60, 63, 64, 99, 112 Metropolitan Theater 38, 39, 40, 70, 71, 72, 74, 95, 117, 210 MGM see Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Michael Todd Theater 91 Micheaux, Oscar 71 Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments 19–20

INDEX

Michigan Theater 70, 72 Mickell, Jean 143 Mickey Mouse 89 Middleton, Velma 109 Midwest Distributors 178 Mighty Clouds of Joy 199, 205, 209 Miller, Bobby 188 Miller, Flournoy 160 Miller, Gene “Bowlegs” 184 Miller, Howard 178 Miller, Jack 45 Miller and Lyles 34, 66 Miller, Norma 143, 152 Miller, Olivett 147, 185 Miller Sisters 184 Millinder, Lucius (“Lucky”) 31, 71, 72, 80, 108, 113, 127, 136 Million Dollar Productions 56 Mills Brothers 5, 75, 104, 113, 125, 145 Mills, Florence 34, 60, 77 Milsap, Ronnie 204 Mims, Garnet and the Enchanters 188 Minsky’s Rialto Theater 145 Miracles 5, 182, 183, 186, 187, 188, 198, 199, 202, 204, 205, 206, 208 Miss Bronze America 80 Miss Bronze Chicago 80 Mitchell, Jimmy 113 Mitchell, Johnny see Robert and Johnny Mitchell, McKinley 201 Mix, Tom 31 Mobley, Hank 185 Modern Jazz Quartet 182 Moke and Poke 108, 115 Moke, Fletcher see Moke and Poke Monitors 204, 205 Monogram Theater 40 Monroe, Al 98 Montgomery, Flick 147 Moody, James 166, 168, 179 Moon Dog see Freed, Alan

285

Moon, Mamie 33 Moore, Mel 116 Moreland, Mantan 160 Morocco Café 77 Morris, Bob “Yowse” 62 Morris’s Eat Shop 121, 125 Morrison, Helen 89 Morrison, “Sunshine” Sammy 73, 76, 125 Morris, Stevland see Wonder, Stevie Morton, Caroline 212 Morton, Norvall 31, 32 Moten, Bennie 73 Motion Pictures Operators Union, Local 110 45 Motown Records 186, 187, 188 Mott, Robert 122–3 movie attendance 132–3, 176 movie run system 94–5 Mr. Lucky’s 196 MS Distributing 178 Munday, Jimmy 81 Murphy, Love 27 Murray, Bill 187, 188, 198 Murray, Kitty 137 Musically Speaking 178 Music Corporation of America (MCA) 45, 69 Musicians Union, Local 208 37, 71, 72, 88, 106 Myers, Pauline 131 Nance, Ray 137 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) 19, 38, 200, 217 National Association of Manufacturers 145, 194 National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. 124 NBC (WNBC) radio 104, 114 Neeley, Kitty see Morton, Caroline Negro Chamber of Commerce of Chicago 144

286

INDEX

Neisner Brothers 18, 112, 116 Nelson, Sally Joe 80 New Ritz Theater 210 Newsome, Chubby 137 Newsome, Della 78 New Southern Hotel 67 New York City Opera Company 114 Nicholas Brothers 5, 113, 115, 116, 125, 152 Nicholas, Harold 115 see also Nicholas Brothers Nichols, Grace 138 Nichols, Nichelle see Nichols, Grace Nightingales 199 Nitti, Frank 45 Nob Hill Lounge 155 Noone, Jimmy 125 Norma’s Dance Sensation 181 Norman, Mary 143 Norman, Ron 143 Norton and Margot 85 Nutmegs 158 Odell, Brooks 197 Offitt, Lillian 161 O’Jays 202 Okeh Records 61 Old Timer’s Regal Club 117 Oliver, Geraldine, “Mama Gerri” 213 see also Gerri’s Palm Tavern Oliver, “King” Joe 31, 60, 83 Oliver, William “Kid” 24 Olympics 181, 183, 187, 205 O’Neil Twins 209 Opportunity Please Knock 207 Orchestra Hall 131, 196 organized crime 10, 45–7, 57, 120–3, 148–51, 222, 223 Oriental Theater 28, 60, 71–2, 76, 77, 79, 98, 132 Original Blind Boys 154 Original Blind Boys of Alabama 199 see also Five Blind Boys of Alabama

Original Gospel Harmonettes 199 Orioles 105, 131, 138, 157, 160, Orlons 187 Our Gang 73, 76, 89 Overton, Anthony 6, 51 Owens, Shirley 185 Owl Theater 38, 40 Pace, Harry H. 38, 114 Page, “Hot Lips” 136 Page, Patti 157 Page, William 32 Palace Theater 98 Palladium 147 Palm Café 178, 213 Panama Café 80 Paradise Theater 98, 111, 146 Paramount case 93–4, 95 Paramount Pictures 4, 10, 26, 43–5, 93–4, 97, 99, 132–3, 221–2 see also Publix Theaters Paramount-Publix 44–5, 59, 60, 71–2, 99, 221–2 see also Paramount Pictures; Publix Theaters; United Paramount Theaters Paramount Theater 97 Paramount Theater Services Corporation 162 Parham, Tiny 73, 80, 86, 112 Park City Bowl 128, 155 Parker, Dolores 127, 152 Parker, (Little) Junior 161, 179, 199, 208 Parker, Sonny 137 Parkettes 202 Parks, Alexander C. 61 Parkway Ballroom 128, 132, 191 Parla, Alice 73 Parrish, Avery 108 Pate, Johnny 161 Patterson and Jackson 143 Patterson, Tom 198 Payola 154, 177–8, 191 Peacock Records 153, 178

INDEX

Pearlettes 155 Peck “n” Peck 115, 127 Pekin Theater 123 Pelham, Jimmy 198 Pennies from Heaven 114 Pepper Pot Revue 77 Perry, Henry 61 Perry, Lincoln see Stepin Fetchit Pershing Ballroom 22, 128, 191, 196 Peterson, Bobby 182 Peterson, Oscar 146 Peters Sisters 126 Petrillo, James C. 84 Pettiford, Margie 110 Pettiford, Oscar 145 Pettiford, Selita 76 Perry Mason 114 Peyton, Dave 3, 9, 27–9, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35–7, 38, 41, 53, 54, 55, 58, 61, 68–9, 224, 231n51, 237n80 Phelps, James 201, 202 Phillip Forte Dancers 160, 161 Phillips, Little Esther 186, 197–8 see also Little Esther Phillips, Reuben 168 Pickens, Albertina 34 Pickett, Wilson 205 Pigmeat and George 152 Piney Woods Country Life School 109–10 Pinkard, Maceo 36 Piper, Louis “Scotty” 125–6, 130 Pittsburgh Courier 23, 193, 197 Players 205 Plicque, Eddie 88, 116, 128 Poke, Leon see Moke and Poke policy 47, 120–1, 148–51 Poor Little Rich Girl 56 Popkin, Harry M. 56 Pops and Louie 109 see also Whitman, Albert Porgy and Bess 166 Poro see Turnbo-Malone, Annie Minerva Pope

287

Powell, Dick 89 Powell, Jessie 168 Premier Studios 120 Presley, Elvis 159, 180 Price, Lloyd 152, 154, 184, 185, 186 Princess DuPaur 152 Princess Wee Wee 58 Pringle, Conrad 147 Proctor’s Twenty-Third-Street Theater 29 Prohibition 46–7, 78, 120–1, 213 Provident Hospital 5, 7, 19, 83, 150 Prude, Terrell 187 Prysock, Arthur 143, 152, 160, 161, 162, 181, 182, 183, 184 Prysock, Red 158, 168, 181, 183 Publix Theaters 4, 44, 45, 55, 57–8, 59, 60, 63, 77, 221 Purify, James and Bobby 205 Purrell, Eddie 206 Quebec, Ike

143

racial segregation 47–9, 50, 52, 96, 132, 140–2, 174–7, 215–16, 222, 223, 257n66 Radcliffe and Rogers 75 Radiants 186, 188, 201, 202, 204 radio, impact on the Regal 65–7 Radio, Keith, Orpheum (RKO) 55, 63, 70, 94, 99 Raelets 168, 180–1, 187 see also Charles, Ray Rand, Sally (Helen Gould Beck), 75, 77 Rankey, Sadie Daemon, “Miss Satchmo” 102–3 Ravens 105, 128, 130, 136, 143, 147, 161, 182 Rawls, Lou 208 Ray, James 184 Ray, Julia 34 Record Row 154 Rector and Cooper 34, 56

288

INDEX

Rector, Eddie 56, 116 Red and Curley 119, 127, 130 Redding, Otis 199, 203, 205, 260n164 Redman, Don 81, 155 Reed, Jimmy 161 Reed, Leonard 77, 80, 125, 152, 155, 183, 185 Reed, Lulu 167, 184, 187 Reese, Della 160, 168 Reeves, Reuben 28, 31, 32 Reevin, Sam E. 68 Regalettes 42, 61 see also Regal Steppers Regal orchestra (1928) 31 Regal Steppers 27, 33, 34, 42 Regal Theater and authentic Black culture 8–9, 216–17 and charitable events 8, 9, 52–5, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80–1, 88–9, 102, 105–6, 111, 113, 115, 116, 123, 217 demise of 196–7, 209, 213–14 and Depression 50, 51–2 historical phases 12–14, 217–23 and inequality 10–12, 47, 215–16, 223–5 and market conditions 47–50, 93–4, 95–6, 115, 131–3, 140–2, 145–7, 155–7, 160, 162, 163, 166, 168, 173–8, 195–6, 209–12, 223–5 opening of 24–6 and organized crime 45–7 rumors of closing 72–3 significance of 1–5, 15–16, 215, 216–17, 224–5 structure and internal organization 15, 26–8, 30–1, 32–5, 38–9, 41–2, 55–65, 69–76, 78, 86–8, 89, 90–1, 97, 99, 115–16, 117–18, 135–6, 138, 142, 151, 162–5, 188–90, 209, 210–12, 221–3

surrounding history 5–8, 15, 18, 19–24, 39–41, 80 see also Blewett, Ken; Balaban and Katz (B & K); Chicago Defender, support of Regal, community and performing artists; Englestein, Harry M. and Louis (Englestein brothers); Fuller, Samuel B.; Lubliner and Trinz Regal Theater Studio Hour 65 Rhumboogie Café 120 Rhynes, Jewel 161 Rhythm Aces see Bell, Jimmy Rhythm Choir 166 Rhythm Rockets 85 Ricardo, Stan (“Ric”) 191 Rice, Johnnie Mae 110 Richardson, Lee 127 Rich, Buddy 128 Richmond, June 108, 113 Ricks, Jimmy 182 Right, Quintet 27, 49 Rigsby, Ethel 83 Riley, Bud 192 Rimmer Sisters 119, 130 Ripperton, Minnie 184 Ritz Café see Bottoms, Bill Rivera, Dave 143 RKO see Radio, Keith, Orpheum RKO Palace 94 Roach, Max 145 Robbins, M. Renau (“Fat”) 31 Roberson, Orlando 77 Robert and Johnny 180 Roberts, C. Luckeyth 36 Roberts, Herman 163 Roberts Show Club (Lounge) 163, 196 Robert Taylor Homes 175 Robie, Don 153–4, 251n74 Robins Nest 196 Robinson, Bill “Bojangles” 5, 31, 34, 53, 54, 58, 64, 112, 121, 235n37 Robinson, Clarence 152

INDEX

Robinson, Fenton 208 Robinson, Frank “Sugar Chile,” 127, 147 Robinson, Smokey see Miracles Robinson, “Sugar” Ray 155 Rochelle and the Candles 183 Rochester Philharmonic Symphony 114 Rodgers, Marshall 27, 31, 33, 62, 70, 78 Roe, Theodore 121–2, 149–50 Rogers, Lee 201 Rogers, Timmie 89, 105, 137, 147 Rollins, Charlemae Hill 5–6 Roosevelt Theater 91 Rose Bowl 128 Rosenwald Building 19–21 see also Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments Rosenwald, Julius 18, 19–21 Rosenwald, Morris 18 Ross, Jackie 199, 201, 202, 204 Royal Creolians 80 Royalettes 203 Royal Flush Orchestra 61 Royal Theater 111, 146, 253n128 Roy, Rob (Robert), 139, 151, 163 Ruby and the Romantics 188, 197 Ruffin, David 208 Ruffin, Jimmy 204 Running Wild 38 Rushing, James (Jimmy) 99, 105, 108 Russell, Luis 116, 127 Russell, Nipsey 152, 162, 167 Rutledge and Taylor 34 Ryland, Floyd 157 Saine, Helen 110 Sam and Billy 204 Sam and Dave 204 Sam and Henry 66 Samuels, William Everett Sanders of the River 79

37–8

289

Santamaria, Mongo 187–8 Saperstein, Abe 24 Saunders, Dick 85 Saunders, Red 130, 161, 168, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 188, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206 Saunders, Vincent 73 Saunders, Warner 121–2, 125 Savage, Al 157 Savoyager 23 Savoy Ballroom (Chicago) 1, 4, 17, 21–4, 38, 41, 49, 53, 60, 61, 68, 69, 71, 73, 80–1, 83, 88, 93, 97, 102, 112, 123, 125, 128, 216, 217, 247n133 Savoy Ballroom Corporation 22 Savoy Ballroom (Harlem) 21, 30–1, 90, 104 Savoy Bearcats 21 Savoy Big Five 24 Saxton, Bobby 179 Sayer, Janet 131 Sayre, Janet 152 Schultz, Dutch 121 Scott, Arthur 31 Scott, Fredie 197 Scott, James 36 Scott, Joe 188, 199, 201, 202 Scott, Little Jimmy 181, 183, 187 Scott, Mabel 130, 131, 143, 144, 152 Screeno, at Regal 80 Scruggs, Irene 55–6 Sears and Roebuck 18, 19 See, Hilda 158–9 Sengstacke Enterprises 197 Sengstacke, John H. 8, 193, 223 Sensations 161, 184 Seymour, Ann 54 Sharpees (Sharpies) 203, 204 Shaw, Artie 81, 83, 114 Shaw, Joan 161, 182 Shearing, George 138 Shells 182

290

INDEX

Shep and the Limelites 183, 184, 202 Sheppards (Shepards) 181, 182, 183, 184 Sherman Antitrust Act 93–5 Shirelles 182, 183, 184, 185, 188, 199 Shirley and Lee 180 Show Boat Café 73 Shubert Theaters 63, 138 Shuffle Along 38, 78, 114 Sibley and Epps 34 Sidewalks of New York 27 Sidney, Wilbur see El Sid’s Trianon Ballroom Silverstein, Joseph 67 Simmons, Hamp 183 Simmons, Little Mac 179 Simms Twins 184 Simon, Joe 206 Simpkins, Arthur Lee “Georgia Boy” 116, 141 Simpson, Cass 73 Sinclair and Leroy 105 Singer, Hal 147, 152 Sissle, Noble 115 Six Caulfields 136 Six Red Hots 27 Skinner, Fred 80 Skoller, Bennie see Swingland Café Skyliners 168 Smart Affairs 131, 147, 148, 152, 155–6, 161 Smith, Al 161 Smith, Alma 76, 77 Smith, Chris 36 Smith, Dottie 168 Smith, Eric 207 Smith, Eunice S. 22 Smith, Floyd 108 Smith, Huey P. and the Clowns 168 Smith, Jimmy 167, 168 Smith, Johnny 182 Smith Leonard 31 Smith, LeRoy 75 Smith, Tab 161

Smythe, Jay 143, 160 Snow, Valaida 76, 103 Snyder, Isidore 22 Socarras, Alberto 152 social class and entertainment 35–8 Soldiers Field 157, 196, 200 Soul Crusaders 206, 207 Soul Sisters 199, 200, 201, 203 Soul Stirrers 198, 209 South Center Amateur Hour 87 South Center Department Store and Commercial Complex 1, 4, 8, 17–19, 25, 87, 116, 123, 164, 165, 192, 193, 194, 195, 197, 216, 221 South, Eddie 75 South Parkway Building Corporation 164 South Side Community Art Center 138 South, Wesley 192 Spaniels 156, 157, 160, 161, 162, 180, 184 Spanier, Mugsy 90 Spann, Pervis 192, 206, 210, 211 Spaulding, Marvis Louis see Louis, Marva Spaulding, Norm 129 Spellbinders 206 Spence Twins 168 “Spend Your Money Where You Can Work” campaign 52 Spider Club 196 Spinners 105, 184, 199, 201, 203, 205, 206 Stagehand Union, Local 2 46 Stahl, John M. 78 Stansbury, Johnnie Mae 110 Staple Singers 199, 203, 206 Starks, Robert 188–9 Starlets 184 Starr, Edwin 204, 205 Starr, Jean 113 Starr, Milton 67–8 State and Lake Theater 79, 97

INDEX

Staton, Dakota 161, 164, 167, 168, 198 Steele, Larry 131, 147, 148, 152, 155–6, 160, 161, 162 Stein, Jules 45 Stepin Fetchit 113 Stewart, Billy 202, 204, 205 Stewart, Dink 34 Stewart, Sammy 22, 27 Still, William Grant 113–15 Stitt, Sonny 160, 167, 182 Stone, Jessie 111 Stormy Weather 112, 113–14 Strawberry and Julia 148 street gangs and the Regal 212 see also Black Stone Rangers Stroll 48–9 Stump and Stumpy 102, 136, 146, 152, 168, 186 Sullivan, Maxine 137 Sunset Café 57, 61 Sutherland Lounge (Hotel) 196 Swain, Julian 181 Swallows 148 Swanee Quintet 199, 204 Swan Silvertones 199, 204 Sweetman, Wilbur 27, 36, 38 “Sweet Papa Garbage” 62 see also Rodgers, Marshall Swift, Carrie 27 Swinging Rays of Rhythm 110 Swingland Café 46, 85, 98, 120 Syncopeyton Symphonist 42 see also Peyton, Dave Tahitian Thrill Dancers see Jose and Dana Take a Look 206–7 Talman Federal Savings and Loan 197 Tamla Records 187 see also Motown Records Tams 186, 198, 199, 201 Tate, Erskine 7, 27, 40, 61, 80 Tate, Howard 205, 206 Tate, John 131

291

Tatum, Art 146 Taylor, Bobby and the Vancouvers 208 Taylor, Jasper 31 Taylor, Jimmie 152 Taylor, Little Johnny 198, 201, 206 Taylor, Matthew 71 Taylor, Sam 143 Taylor, Ted 161, 183, 198, 201, 202 technological change and popular entertainment 39–40, 84, 139–40, 141–2, 210, 224 teenage market and the Regal 209–10, 223 Temptations 5, 105, 199, 201, 202, 204, 205 Terrell, Ernie and the Heavy Weights 202, 203 Terrell, Tammie 203, 204 Texettes 208 Tex, Joe 201, 202, 205, 208 Tharpe, “Sister” Rosetta 108, 113, 115 theater circuits 97–9, 146–7, 164, 167, 176, 177, 178–9, 221–2, 253n128, 261n178 Theater Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) 41, 55, 57, 58, 67–8, 72, 100 theatrical workforce, factors affecting 46–7, 67, 82, 97–8, 120, 146–7, 164, 224 The Club 196 The Exile 71 Thigpen, Helen 166 Thomas, Carla 183 Thomas, Irma 180, 198 Thomas, James (musician) 32 Thomas, James (singer) 208 Thomas, Joe 136 Thomas, Leon 167, 168 Thomas, Maceo 34 Thomas, Peggy Hart 143, 147 Thomas, Rufus 187 Thompson, Alice 75

292

INDEX

Thompson, Sonny 167 Thompson, Ulysses S. “Slow Kid” 77 Thornton, Lestine see Fuller, Lestine Thornton, Willie Mae “Big Mama” 154 Three Browns 85 Three Bye Sisters 105 Three Chocolateers see Chocolateers Three Eddies 34 Three Giants of Rhythm 85 Three Gobs 55, 75 Three Loose Nuts 108 Three Midnight Steppers 54 Three Rhythm Kings 161 Three Riffs 155 Three Rockets 130 Three Stooges see Healy, Ted Thunder, Johnny 187, 199 Til, Sonny 160 Tip, Tap, and Toe 130, 136 Tisdale, Clarence 33 Tivoli Theater 15, 90, 115–16, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 178–9, 196, 222, 223 Toilet Goods Association 145 Tolbert, Frances Cole 62 Tom and Jerrio 202 Tondelayo and Lopez 102 Tops and Wilda 136 Topsy, Tiny 183 Tower Theater 73 Travis, Dempsey 227n1 Trianon Ballroom 22, 78, 156, 157, 196, see also El Sid’s Trianon Ballroom Tropicana Revue 152 Troubled Island 114 Troy, Doris 188 Tucker, “Snake Hips” 54 Tucker, Sophie 114 Tulane Theater Company 18 Turnbo-Malone, Annie Minerva Pope 123, 124, 228n13 Turner, “Big Joe” 143, 155, 160, 181, 184

Turner, Ernest see Two Zephyrs Turner, Ike and Tina 182 Turner, Robert 31 Turner, Sammy 181 Turner, Titus 161 TV Mama 202 TV shows, Black oriented 141 Twentieth Century Fox 56, 63, 94, 99, 112 20th Century Theater 39, 40 Two Black Dots (Taylor and Johnson) 33 Two Zephyrs 89, 160 Tyler, Jimmy 147 Tymes 198 Tympani Five 90, 143, 168 see also Jordan, Louis Tynes, Gwen 128 Tyson, Clay 160, 188, 198, 199, 202 United Artists 94, 242n18 United Paramount Theaters 94, 135, 222 Universal Pictures 94, 242n18 Upsetters 182 Uptown Theater 15–16 ushers at Regal Theater 88, 117, 188–9 Valentine, Patience 187 Vandellas 187, 188, 198, 201, 202 Vashonettes 184, 185, 186 vaudeville 40–1, 55, 57, 63, 68, 75, 98, 100 see also Theater Owners Booking Association Vaughan, Sarah 113, 127, 130, 141, 144, 155, 156, 157, 166 Vee Jay Records 154, 178 Velvelettes 201 Vendome Theater 39, 40 Vendome Theater Orchestra 61 Venerable, Percy 27 Ventura, Charles 128 vertical integration in the movie industry 43–4

INDEX

Vibrations 180, 181, 184, 186, 187, 197, 198, 199, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 208 Victor Records 104 Vidor, King 64 Vincent, Ida Mae 27, 85–6 Vincent, Ted 38 Vinson, Eddie “Clean Head” 128, 155 Virtue, Frank 167 Vivian G. Harsh Collection 5 Vontastics 205 WAAF radio 129 Wade, Jimmy 27 Walgreen Drug Company 18 Walker College of Beauty Culture 123, 162 Walker, James see Chuck and Chuckles Walker, Junior and the All-Stars 201, 202, 203, 204, 207 Walker, Madame C. J. 8, 123–4, 141, 228n13 Walker, T-Bone 116, 153 Walk Over Shoe Company 18 Waller, Fats 56, 84, 89, 90, 97, 106, 113 Wanderers 161, 184 Ward, Aida 54 Warner Brothers 71, 72, 94, 99, 117 Warner Brothers Circuit Management Corporation 94–5, 117 Warren, Vera 88 Warwick, Dee Dee 202, 204, 205 Warwick, Dionne 187, 198, 199, 201 Warwick Hall 37, 81 Washington, Booker T. 110 Washington, Baby see Washington, Justine “Baby” Washington, Bernadine C. 192 Washington, Dinah 5, 7, 112, 127, 128, 130, 136, 148, 155, 180 Washington, Fredi 78, 84

293

Washington, George Dewey 31, 55, 59–60, 236n57 Washington, Harold 125 Washington, Justine “Baby” 168, 183, 187, 199, 201 Washington Park community 95–6, 173–4, 175 Washington, William see Two Zephyrs Waters, Ethel 4, 78, 79, 84, 99, 112 Waters, Muddy 198 Watson, Ivory “Deek” (Deacon) 104, 116 Watson, Paula 130 Watts, Georgia 27 Waugh, Robert 31 WBU radio 65 WCFL radio 73 Weaver, “Speedy” 85 Webb, Chick 5, 83, 89, 90 Webb Singers 153 WEBH radio 66 Webster, Paul 143 Wells, Ida 113 Wells, Jean 207, 208 Wells, Mary 183, 186, 188, 198, 199, 211 Wendell Phillips High School 7 WERD radio 141 Westinghouse Corporation 65 Weston, Kim 188, 203, 205 WGES radio 129, 191 WGN radio 66, 80 WHFC radio 191 White, Beverly 137 White City Ballroom 22 White expropriation and control of Black cultural forms 29, 68–9, 81–2, 106–7, 113–14, 225 White, Josh 137 White, Josh, Jr. 137 Whiteman, Paul 30, 31, 114 White, Slappy 148, 160, 166, 168, 179, 185 Whitman, Alberta (Bert), 58 Whitman, Albert (“Pops”) 58 Whitman, Albery Allson 58

294

INDEX

Whitman, Alice 58, 59 Whitman, Essie 58 Whitman, Mabel 58, 59 Whitman Sisters 4, 57–9, 75, 104 Whitman, Walt 58 WIBO radio 65, 236n71 Wilcox, Earl 121 Willard Theater 40 William Morris Agency 162 Williams, Billy 180 Williams, Birdie 24 Williams, Clarence 36 Williams, Clyde 208 Williams, Cootie 107, 115, 116, 119, 127, 128, 136, 148, 155 Williams, Daniel Hale 5 Williams, Edna 110, 115 Williams, Gladys 131 Williams, Irene 143 Williams, Joe 112, 125, 136, 138, 161, 181 Williams, Larry 182 Williams, Mary Lou 83, 108 Williams, Midge 99 Williamson, Herman 209 Williamson, “Sonny Boy” 162, 182 Williams, Paul “Hucklebuck” 137 Williams, Sammy 3–4, 31, 32, 34, 53, 61, 70, 88, 89 Williams, Stanley “Fess” 21, 27, 30–1, 32, 33, 38, 41, 61, 63, 72, 77, 153 Williams, “Uke” Bob 41 Williams, Willie, and Wright 206 Will Mastin Trio 137, 155, 163 see also Davis, Sammy, Jr. Wilson, Derby 128, 160 Wilson, Eunice 77 Wilson, Flip 5, 184, 187, 188, 197, 199, 202 Wilson, Jackie 161, 167, 180, 202, 203, 207, 209, 253n121 Wilson, Jesse 33 Winburn, Anna Mae 109, 110

WIND radio 87, 178 Witherspoon, Jimmy 187, 188, 199 WJJD radio 129 WJW radio 177 WMAQ radio 65, 66, 178 women musicians and jazz bands 75–6, 83, 102–3, 113, 115, 238n119 see also International Sweethearts of Rhythm Wonder, Stevie 5, 186–7, 204, 208 Wong Sisters 136 Wong, Willie Mae 110 Wood, Brenton 206 Wooding, Russell 33 Woodson, Carter G. 5 Woods (Wood), Sonny 89, 102, 109 Woolridge, Karla Jean 138 World Storage Battery Company 67 Worthy and Thompson 54 Wright, Arthur 31, 32 Wright, Carl 203, 207, 208 Wright, Myron 86, 93, 240n170 Wright, O. V. 203 Wright, Walter 32 Wright, Walter “Toots” 24 Wrigley Field 131 WSBC radio 67 WVON radio 191–3, 200, 210, 212, 220 WYN-R radio 191 Yordan, Philip 131 Young, Lester (“Prez”) 155, 156 Young, Whitney 194

146,

Zanzi Beauts 153 Zephyrs see Two Zephyrs Ziegfield Follies 33 Zollinger, Muriel 27, 85–6 Zoot Suit 126, 130, 246n112 Zukor, Adolph 43–4