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The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll
The first history of the network of black juke joints that spawned rock 'n' roll through an unholy alliance between vice and entertainment.
A definitive account of the birth of rock 'n' roll in black America, this book establishes the Chitlin' Circuit as a major force in American musical history. Combining terrific firsthand reporting with deep historical research, Preston Lauterbach uncovers characters like Chicago Defender columnist Walter Barnes, who pioneered the circuit in the 1930s, and larger-than-life promoters such as Denver Ferguson, the Indianapolis gambling chieftain who consolidated it in the 1940s. Charging from Memphis to Houston and now-obscure points in between, The Chitlin' Circuit brings us into the sweaty back rooms where such stars as James Brown, B. B. King, and Little Richard got their start. With his unforgettable portraits of unsung heroes including King Kolax, Sax Kari, and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Lauterbach writes of a world of clubs and con men that has managed to avoid much examination despite its wealth of brash characters, intriguing plotlines, and vulgar glory, and gives us an excavation of an underground musical America.
A definitive account of the birth of rock 'n' roll in black America, this book establishes the Chitlin' Circuit as a major force in American musical history. Combining terrific firsthand reporting with deep historical research, Preston Lauterbach uncovers characters like Chicago Defender columnist Walter Barnes, who pioneered the circuit in the 1930s, and larger-than-life promoters such as Denver Ferguson, the Indianapolis gambling chieftain who consolidated it in the 1940s. Charging from Memphis to Houston and now-obscure points in between, The Chitlin' Circuit brings us into the sweaty back rooms where such stars as James Brown, B. B. King, and Little Richard got their start. With his unforgettable portraits of unsung heroes including King Kolax, Sax Kari, and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Lauterbach writes of a world of clubs and con men that has managed to avoid much examination despite its wealth of brash characters, intriguing plotlines, and vulgar glory, and gives us an excavation of an underground musical America.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published July 18, 2011
69 people are currently reading
1218 people want to read
About the author
Preston Lauterbach
10 books54 followersPreston Lauterbach is author of The Chitlin' Circuit (2011), Beale Street Dynasty (2015), and Bluff City (2019) and is co-author of Brother Robert (2020) and Timekeeper (2021).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
August 17, 2025
Revisiting The Blues Experience
Almost twenty years ago, I listened every Sunday night to a program on local public radio called "The Blues Experience" hosted by Steve Hoffman. The program, in Steve's words, went "back into the alley, down into the roots, deep into the heart of the blues." Steve's blues experience opened up this music to me before, alas, the show and the station which presented it went the way of much public radio.
I was reminded of this old local blues program upon reading a new book by Preston Lauterbach, "The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock'N'Roll"(2011). The focus of the book is on the small blues combos including Louis Jordan, Roy Brown, Amos Milburn, and Wynonie Harris that played small one-night stands across the South in ragged dance halls and bars in the 1940's and 1950s. In his radio show, Steve showed an evident liking for this period of the blues, and he featured it often. The book gave me a the opportunity to become reacquainted with this music after several years away.
The book considers singers and musicians as well as the black entrepreneurs involved in the production of the music. Lauterbach offers a look at African American community life during the 1930's -- 1950's before the Civil Rights Revolution. The settings and the characters vary. Much of Lauterbach's story takes place in three cities: Indianapolis, Houston, and Memphis. Indianapolis was the home of Denver Ferguson, who ran a policy scheme in the city, owned a nightclub, and organized a touring circuit throughout the South in which musicians played their gigs. In Houston, Don Robey became affiliated with Ferguson and soon became the most powerful figure in the blues in his own right with his clubs, recording studios and contacts. Robey had a strong presence in Memphis, as did two local entrepreneurs, Robert Henry and Andrew "Sunbeam" Mitchell. Engaged in a mixture of legal and illegal activities, these individuals, and their cities, played a large role on the Chitlin Circuit.
Lauterbach shows the nature of African American life in these cities and their entertainment strips. He also captures the many small towns and small out- of- the- way establishments, many without indoor plumbing or other basic amenities, in which African American musicians performed, generally only for a day at a time. Early in the book, Lauterbach discusses and rejects the prevalent notion that performers viewed the Chitlin Circuit as a chore, or a grind, or a drudge. Lauterbach agrees instead with one of his sources, an aged musician named Sax Kari, that the Chitlin Circuit "revealed people of vision and an industry of intricate, far reaching design that struck me as anything but shameful." (p. 9) While there is a great deal of grit, crime, and greed in Lauterbach's book. the overall tone is joyful and nostalgic.
Lauterbach discusses the lives of many of the bluesmen who performed on the Chitlin Circuit. Some of the names will be familiar, while others will be known to blues lovers, and others will be obscure. The well-known performers include James Brown, B.B. King, Little Richard, and Johnny Ace. The bluesmen include Louis Jordan, Joe Turner, Wynonie Harris, Amos Milburn, Roy Brown, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, T-Bone Walker, and others. Unfamiliar names to many readers will include Walter Barnes, who lead a pioneering band through the South in the 1930's and died in a tragic fire while performing in Natchez, Mississippi in 1940.
With the ease of accessing music on the Internet, I was able to listen to several songs Lauterbach discusses as I read. These include "Chicken Shack Boogie" by Amos Milburn, "Good Rockin' Tonight" in the original version by Roy Brown, in the follow-up version by Wynonie Harris, and in the cover by Elvis Presly, B.B. King's recording of "Three O'Clock Blues" and "My Song" by Johnny Ace. (Ace is remembered today because he foolishly killed himself while playing Russian Roulette. He was very popular in his day and his songs continue to be covered.) It will be hard to resist listening while reading this book, and I was thankful, for once, to the Internet.
Lauterbach argues that the Chitlin Circuit played a pivotal role in making rock and roll and that Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" has a strong claim to be the first rock record. There are many contenders for the perhaps dubious distinction of founding rock. The better course, to me, is to enjoy these bluesmen for what they are while noting their impact on the latter style. Lauterbach does well in tying changes in the Chitlin Circuit and in African American music to larger social changes. The Depression, WW II, the shift from live performance to recording as the chief source of musical revenue, urban renewal, and the Civil Rights Movement all receive attention in this book for their impact on the blues.
The book is well and colloquially written as Lauterbach writes with relish and a love of his subject. I found the organization of the book confusing in places. It is easy to lose the thread of the story and the connection among the various participants. This book will appeal to lovers of the blues and to readers interested in African American history and in the South.
Robin Friedman
Almost twenty years ago, I listened every Sunday night to a program on local public radio called "The Blues Experience" hosted by Steve Hoffman. The program, in Steve's words, went "back into the alley, down into the roots, deep into the heart of the blues." Steve's blues experience opened up this music to me before, alas, the show and the station which presented it went the way of much public radio.
I was reminded of this old local blues program upon reading a new book by Preston Lauterbach, "The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock'N'Roll"(2011). The focus of the book is on the small blues combos including Louis Jordan, Roy Brown, Amos Milburn, and Wynonie Harris that played small one-night stands across the South in ragged dance halls and bars in the 1940's and 1950s. In his radio show, Steve showed an evident liking for this period of the blues, and he featured it often. The book gave me a the opportunity to become reacquainted with this music after several years away.
The book considers singers and musicians as well as the black entrepreneurs involved in the production of the music. Lauterbach offers a look at African American community life during the 1930's -- 1950's before the Civil Rights Revolution. The settings and the characters vary. Much of Lauterbach's story takes place in three cities: Indianapolis, Houston, and Memphis. Indianapolis was the home of Denver Ferguson, who ran a policy scheme in the city, owned a nightclub, and organized a touring circuit throughout the South in which musicians played their gigs. In Houston, Don Robey became affiliated with Ferguson and soon became the most powerful figure in the blues in his own right with his clubs, recording studios and contacts. Robey had a strong presence in Memphis, as did two local entrepreneurs, Robert Henry and Andrew "Sunbeam" Mitchell. Engaged in a mixture of legal and illegal activities, these individuals, and their cities, played a large role on the Chitlin Circuit.
Lauterbach shows the nature of African American life in these cities and their entertainment strips. He also captures the many small towns and small out- of- the- way establishments, many without indoor plumbing or other basic amenities, in which African American musicians performed, generally only for a day at a time. Early in the book, Lauterbach discusses and rejects the prevalent notion that performers viewed the Chitlin Circuit as a chore, or a grind, or a drudge. Lauterbach agrees instead with one of his sources, an aged musician named Sax Kari, that the Chitlin Circuit "revealed people of vision and an industry of intricate, far reaching design that struck me as anything but shameful." (p. 9) While there is a great deal of grit, crime, and greed in Lauterbach's book. the overall tone is joyful and nostalgic.
Lauterbach discusses the lives of many of the bluesmen who performed on the Chitlin Circuit. Some of the names will be familiar, while others will be known to blues lovers, and others will be obscure. The well-known performers include James Brown, B.B. King, Little Richard, and Johnny Ace. The bluesmen include Louis Jordan, Joe Turner, Wynonie Harris, Amos Milburn, Roy Brown, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, T-Bone Walker, and others. Unfamiliar names to many readers will include Walter Barnes, who lead a pioneering band through the South in the 1930's and died in a tragic fire while performing in Natchez, Mississippi in 1940.
With the ease of accessing music on the Internet, I was able to listen to several songs Lauterbach discusses as I read. These include "Chicken Shack Boogie" by Amos Milburn, "Good Rockin' Tonight" in the original version by Roy Brown, in the follow-up version by Wynonie Harris, and in the cover by Elvis Presly, B.B. King's recording of "Three O'Clock Blues" and "My Song" by Johnny Ace. (Ace is remembered today because he foolishly killed himself while playing Russian Roulette. He was very popular in his day and his songs continue to be covered.) It will be hard to resist listening while reading this book, and I was thankful, for once, to the Internet.
Lauterbach argues that the Chitlin Circuit played a pivotal role in making rock and roll and that Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" has a strong claim to be the first rock record. There are many contenders for the perhaps dubious distinction of founding rock. The better course, to me, is to enjoy these bluesmen for what they are while noting their impact on the latter style. Lauterbach does well in tying changes in the Chitlin Circuit and in African American music to larger social changes. The Depression, WW II, the shift from live performance to recording as the chief source of musical revenue, urban renewal, and the Civil Rights Movement all receive attention in this book for their impact on the blues.
The book is well and colloquially written as Lauterbach writes with relish and a love of his subject. I found the organization of the book confusing in places. It is easy to lose the thread of the story and the connection among the various participants. This book will appeal to lovers of the blues and to readers interested in African American history and in the South.
Robin Friedman
August 5, 2014
A very excellent history of early rock n roll and early music in general. This will probably only interest the hard core fan of old swing, blues and rock n roll. There is also a lot of history about famous historical black sections of town (pre-desegregation and public housing act) that had a thriving culture and successful businesses like Beale Street and how they contributed to the history of rock n roll and music in general.
It mentions such greats as Little Richard and B.B. King and many other people who got their start on what was then known as the Chitlin'Circuit. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in old music. A great read of what could have been a very boring subject but Lauterbach keeps it interesting with personal tidbits about the history of the songs including some of the early song lyrics that were later changed for public and white consumption and the personal histories of the people themselves (musicians, club owners and promoters that made up this interesting time in music history and history in general. I put it on my best reads pile.
It mentions such greats as Little Richard and B.B. King and many other people who got their start on what was then known as the Chitlin'Circuit. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in old music. A great read of what could have been a very boring subject but Lauterbach keeps it interesting with personal tidbits about the history of the songs including some of the early song lyrics that were later changed for public and white consumption and the personal histories of the people themselves (musicians, club owners and promoters that made up this interesting time in music history and history in general. I put it on my best reads pile.
April 13, 2012
I grew up in Athens and Atlanta, Georgia, and spent a good amount of time in Macon, so the Chitlin' Circuit is a part of my heritage. As a child, I delighted in the sounds of Little Richard and James Brown and the Famous Flames. They played the Peacock Club on Auburn Avenue, and were guest DJs on WIGO- The Black Spot on your Dial. I went to sleep every night to the sound of WIGO, transistor radio pressed to my ear.
I came to the The Chitlin' Circuit expecting to enjoy it, and I did. An impressive amount of research went into this book, along with many interviews of surviving members of the circuit. It is chock full of stories, some of which I had heard before, but most of which were new. The story of the fire in the Rhythm Club in Natchez, Mississippi, where the promoters decorated with Spanish moss, and then sprayed the moss with gasoline to kill the chiggers, ended just where one would expect: in a tragic fire that took the life of Walter Barnes and his Kings of Swing. That was in November of 1939, just before the big band era began its decline, to be replaced with smaller groups.
During the big band era, the bandleader was the star of the show, and the singer was just another member of the group. With the trend to smaller combos, though, the singer took center stage. In many instances, a top artist would cycle through a series of small towns, with a pick-up band of local musicians as back-up. All through the Chitlin' Circuit era, every town of a decent size would have a "stroll," the Main Street of the African-American community. Restaurants, barber shops and dance halls would stand cheek by jowl with churches, insurance companies, and printing houses. In some instances, money from gambling was used as start up capital to fund music promotion and the setting up of recording labels.
The Chitlin' Circuit ground to a halt for the most part in the 1950's when urban renewal - or, as James Baldwin called it, Negro removal- came in, razing local strolls in the name of progress. Perhaps the most dramatic example was Beale Street in Memphis, where only one in seven structures remained standing. Hundreds of people lost their homes, which were to be replaced by public housing that was never built. This proved to be the exception, rather than the rule.
I found this to be an engaging book, and particularly appreciated the fact that Lauterbach included stories of many of the lesser known musicians. It is well worth a read.
I came to the The Chitlin' Circuit expecting to enjoy it, and I did. An impressive amount of research went into this book, along with many interviews of surviving members of the circuit. It is chock full of stories, some of which I had heard before, but most of which were new. The story of the fire in the Rhythm Club in Natchez, Mississippi, where the promoters decorated with Spanish moss, and then sprayed the moss with gasoline to kill the chiggers, ended just where one would expect: in a tragic fire that took the life of Walter Barnes and his Kings of Swing. That was in November of 1939, just before the big band era began its decline, to be replaced with smaller groups.
During the big band era, the bandleader was the star of the show, and the singer was just another member of the group. With the trend to smaller combos, though, the singer took center stage. In many instances, a top artist would cycle through a series of small towns, with a pick-up band of local musicians as back-up. All through the Chitlin' Circuit era, every town of a decent size would have a "stroll," the Main Street of the African-American community. Restaurants, barber shops and dance halls would stand cheek by jowl with churches, insurance companies, and printing houses. In some instances, money from gambling was used as start up capital to fund music promotion and the setting up of recording labels.
The Chitlin' Circuit ground to a halt for the most part in the 1950's when urban renewal - or, as James Baldwin called it, Negro removal- came in, razing local strolls in the name of progress. Perhaps the most dramatic example was Beale Street in Memphis, where only one in seven structures remained standing. Hundreds of people lost their homes, which were to be replaced by public housing that was never built. This proved to be the exception, rather than the rule.
I found this to be an engaging book, and particularly appreciated the fact that Lauterbach included stories of many of the lesser known musicians. It is well worth a read.
September 3, 2011
I'm always leery when fresh-cut, middle-class white guys try to inform me about the blues, and Preston Lauterbach's The Chitlin' Circuit is a good example of why that is. Within the first 30 pages I found myself cringing so often that I had to stop and decide if I was going to continue reading. Which is a shame because this book actually has some very good things going for it. First and foremost is the subject matter. Documenting the Chitlin Circuit that was such a huge part of the early 20th century American's culture is a fascinating idea and has a wealth of untapped possibilities. Also, Lautherbach has certainly done some detailed research here and some revealing legwork. Plus Lautherbach obviously has great enthusiasm for the subject, which is important. After all if the writer isnt excited about what he is writing about, then why should the reader be?
"
I really wanted to enjoy this book, but early on, too many throwaway/irrelevent sentences like these kept distracting me:
"As former [Denver] Ferguson employee Jimmy Coe recalled, Denver would rather make a hundred dollars crooked than a thousand dollars straight.' Very well, Mr. Coe, but in Indianapolis, crooked was straight."
"A visual would be lovely, but while memories of Denver's baseball ticket game are legion, most players waddled their tickets in disgust and tossed them in the gutter."
"They [Denver Ferguson and his brother] gave generously to charitable causes, functioning as a de facto community foundation. Today we might look cynically upon a reputed gambler who puts uniforms on little leaguers, or chalk in schoolteachers hands..."
Countless examples like these where Lauterbach inserts these distractive and irrelevent opinions ("Today we might look cynically..." and "A visual would be lovely"... lovely??) or when he constantly tries to posture himself as more of an authority than the people who actually experienced the scenes and times he is describing ("Very well, Mr. Coe, but..."), makes it overwhelmingly dificult to actually enjoy the narrative - which is a shame because it is a narrative that I am very interested in hearing.
Not to make excuses for Lauterbach, but to offer hope, I should point out that The Chitlin' Circuit is his first book. The editors/proof readers Lauterbach used must have been reading his drafts with one finger up their ass because the failures in his narrative are brutally obvious. There IS a good book hiding within this chop-shop wreck, it just needs a really sharp editor to pull it out and help re-assemble it.
For these reason and more, I give The Chitlin' Circuit Two out of Five Wagemanheads.
"I really wanted to enjoy this book, but early on, too many throwaway/irrelevent sentences like these kept distracting me:
"As former [Denver] Ferguson employee Jimmy Coe recalled, Denver would rather make a hundred dollars crooked than a thousand dollars straight.' Very well, Mr. Coe, but in Indianapolis, crooked was straight."
"A visual would be lovely, but while memories of Denver's baseball ticket game are legion, most players waddled their tickets in disgust and tossed them in the gutter."
"They [Denver Ferguson and his brother] gave generously to charitable causes, functioning as a de facto community foundation. Today we might look cynically upon a reputed gambler who puts uniforms on little leaguers, or chalk in schoolteachers hands..."
Countless examples like these where Lauterbach inserts these distractive and irrelevent opinions ("Today we might look cynically..." and "A visual would be lovely"... lovely??) or when he constantly tries to posture himself as more of an authority than the people who actually experienced the scenes and times he is describing ("Very well, Mr. Coe, but..."), makes it overwhelmingly dificult to actually enjoy the narrative - which is a shame because it is a narrative that I am very interested in hearing.
Not to make excuses for Lauterbach, but to offer hope, I should point out that The Chitlin' Circuit is his first book. The editors/proof readers Lauterbach used must have been reading his drafts with one finger up their ass because the failures in his narrative are brutally obvious. There IS a good book hiding within this chop-shop wreck, it just needs a really sharp editor to pull it out and help re-assemble it.
For these reason and more, I give The Chitlin' Circuit Two out of Five Wagemanheads.
July 9, 2016
If you have heard of Roy Brown, "Gatemouth" Brown, or Wynonie Harris, then this is the book for you. If you haven't but are interested in the beginnings of rock and roll, this is also the book for you.
The author has written an in-depth history of what was called the "chitlin' circuit", which was a vehicle for black bands and singers to find an audience and get their music out to the southern black population. These were the days of the Jim Crow mentality and these musicians had no public outlet for their talent. The circuit was set up by some pretty shady characters, both black and white, and consisted of clubs, auditoriums, union halls, or chicken shacks.......anyplace that a crowd could be gathered and blacks were allowed. The organizers of the circuit, mostly gamblers and men involved in illegal activities, had the money to hire musicians and send them below the Mason-Dixon Line to perform. The circuit grew and with it, came black radio and recordings. Soon the realization that the rest of the population was missing something special led to the creation of the "rhythm and blues" record charts and black performers began "crossing over" to the white only Top 20 charts. And the rest is history.
It is still a topic of discussion if "Good Rockin' Tonight" by Wynonie Harris or Roy Brown is the first rock and roll record. The author says it is and I will take his word for it.
The author has written an in-depth history of what was called the "chitlin' circuit", which was a vehicle for black bands and singers to find an audience and get their music out to the southern black population. These were the days of the Jim Crow mentality and these musicians had no public outlet for their talent. The circuit was set up by some pretty shady characters, both black and white, and consisted of clubs, auditoriums, union halls, or chicken shacks.......anyplace that a crowd could be gathered and blacks were allowed. The organizers of the circuit, mostly gamblers and men involved in illegal activities, had the money to hire musicians and send them below the Mason-Dixon Line to perform. The circuit grew and with it, came black radio and recordings. Soon the realization that the rest of the population was missing something special led to the creation of the "rhythm and blues" record charts and black performers began "crossing over" to the white only Top 20 charts. And the rest is history.
It is still a topic of discussion if "Good Rockin' Tonight" by Wynonie Harris or Roy Brown is the first rock and roll record. The author says it is and I will take his word for it.
July 31, 2018
I was hesitant at first about this book, worried that it might be a case of a white author benefiting from and profiting off of the stories and culture of black Americans. However, what became clear over time was a deep affection and respect for the musicians and movers and shakers featured in the book. I learned much about music that preceded my time right up to music I remember well from my childhood. This is a book I think I will revisit and reference in the coming years. As a native New Orlinean it was also a surprising pleasure to journey back through small towns and back roads of the South, with names coming back to me from bygone family road trips that I had since forgotten. When was the last time you read a book where you learned so much and enjoyed it all the way?
October 14, 2011
I give The Chitlin' Circuit one star more than I might for the sheer in-depth detail and amazing scope of the undertaking. And I also do it because I'm an optimist, and want to encourage Lauterbach to keep writing and work more closely with a sharp editor next time.
But a fantastic result regardless. I grew up in the geographic midst of the circuit, but well after its prime; I also heard its echoes and saw where it still ran strong, and knew there was something more there. Since then I've met a few of the folks mentioned here, and, again, knew there was more there, but didn't know enough at the time to even ask the right questions.
Lauterbach asked the questions and did the work, and while I quibble with a fact here and a conclusion there, this fills an important hole in the history of American Music. Read also the works from Robert Palmer, Nick Tosches, and Greil Marcus and start seeing the story.
But a fantastic result regardless. I grew up in the geographic midst of the circuit, but well after its prime; I also heard its echoes and saw where it still ran strong, and knew there was something more there. Since then I've met a few of the folks mentioned here, and, again, knew there was more there, but didn't know enough at the time to even ask the right questions.
Lauterbach asked the questions and did the work, and while I quibble with a fact here and a conclusion there, this fills an important hole in the history of American Music. Read also the works from Robert Palmer, Nick Tosches, and Greil Marcus and start seeing the story.
July 20, 2013
An excellent book. Really wonderful on several levels. As music history, there is just tons of stuff here. Among many other things, Lauterbach provides a through line from Jimmie Lunceford to Al Green (I had no idea). Great portraits of important spots on the circuit. Having grown up in Houston, I especially enjoyed the houston section about Don Robey. Really if you are interested in 20th century pop music, this book is worth a look--as far as I know, there aren't any other books that focus on the chitlin circuit and the circuit was the crucible for what has become the popular music of our time.
The focus of the book is on music, but it is also a cultural, racial, and urban history. There is a lot about the history of american citiesin the 20th century and economics under segregation. Non-music geeks who are
interested in 20th century american history might find this worth checking out.
The focus of the book is on music, but it is also a cultural, racial, and urban history. There is a lot about the history of american citiesin the 20th century and economics under segregation. Non-music geeks who are
interested in 20th century american history might find this worth checking out.
May 19, 2018
Really good insight into the birth of rock n roll and the impact the Chitlin circuit on in.
I have always wondered how the Beatles and Rolling Stones got inspiration for their music from black musicians from the early days of rock n roll. Now I know. Fascinating history and I am learning more and more how southern black culture has heavily influence American culture.
I have always wondered how the Beatles and Rolling Stones got inspiration for their music from black musicians from the early days of rock n roll. Now I know. Fascinating history and I am learning more and more how southern black culture has heavily influence American culture.
March 31, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyable history of the black juke joint circuit that started out during the depression, came of age during and after WWII and gave birth to rock and roll in the 50s. Great to see Louis Jordan and the others who midwifed the birth of the popular music we still listen to get their due.
Read
June 30, 2021Preston Lauterbach has written here a perfect companion to Robert Palmer's magisterial blues history, Deep Blues. While the chitlin' circuit lives on in truncated form--and Mr. Lauterbach explains how aptly--this is a book written in the past tense, and therefore serves as an elegy to a colorful but bygone era. That rock and roll would not exist without pioneering performers like Louis Jordan, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Big Maybelle, Walter Barnes and Big Mama Thornton goes without saying, but it is the African-American entrepreneurs, booking agents, promoters, nightclub owners, record label impresarios and the like that were for me the most fascinating dimension of this story. These were men and women operating against almost impossible odds--racist municipal administrations, corrupt cops, the KKK, a largely indifferent culture, etc--who nonetheless abetted the creation of what is arguably one of the few original aspects of American culture: the Blues in all its permutations.
Most of this information wasn't new to me; I knew well that the early rock and roll records (by white artists) were ripoffs of African-American artists. Big Mama Thornton had a hit on the Billboard "race records" chart with "Hound Dog" (and Rufus Thomas answered back with "Bear Cat") years before Elvis Presley recorded the song; and let's not forget that the first song Elvis cut at Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service (which later became the legendary Sun Records) was Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's blues number "That's All Right." When Phillips understood what he had in Elvis Presley, he produced Elvis's version of Roy Brown's huge hit "Good Rockin' Tonight."
In any case, I rate this at three stars both because it told me very little new, but also because at times Mr. Lauterbach's narrative, historically valuable though it clearly is, bogs down in the minutiae of booking practices, pay scales, and, particularly tediously, tour dates. Nonetheless, this is a particularly valuable book in that it assigns credit for the birth of rock and roll where it firmly belongs, to the hearts, minds and souls of the African-American artists who rode the chitlin' circuit.
Most of this information wasn't new to me; I knew well that the early rock and roll records (by white artists) were ripoffs of African-American artists. Big Mama Thornton had a hit on the Billboard "race records" chart with "Hound Dog" (and Rufus Thomas answered back with "Bear Cat") years before Elvis Presley recorded the song; and let's not forget that the first song Elvis cut at Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service (which later became the legendary Sun Records) was Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's blues number "That's All Right." When Phillips understood what he had in Elvis Presley, he produced Elvis's version of Roy Brown's huge hit "Good Rockin' Tonight."
In any case, I rate this at three stars both because it told me very little new, but also because at times Mr. Lauterbach's narrative, historically valuable though it clearly is, bogs down in the minutiae of booking practices, pay scales, and, particularly tediously, tour dates. Nonetheless, this is a particularly valuable book in that it assigns credit for the birth of rock and roll where it firmly belongs, to the hearts, minds and souls of the African-American artists who rode the chitlin' circuit.
March 21, 2013
The book definitely started off a bit slowly for me. Lots of names and details are thrown at you and despite my love of blues and soul, some of the references did not compute. Once things got going with Denver, Robey and Sunbeam the book really picked up. The story of Johnny Ace, Don Brown and some of the early rock and rollers were great. And once we meet up with Bee Bee, Richard Penninan, James Brown and the Hi records crew things start to rock - but then they end! I know things changed dramatically in the early sixties especially with the "renewal" of Beale street but give me some stories about a young Jimmy Hendrix backing the Isleys or Little Richard! Certainly the circuit didn't collapse completely so quickly and some of the later circuiters brought what they learned directly into main steam rock - it would have been interesting to get some more details about those events.
Anyway I enjoyed the book immensely once it got going and would recommend it to folks interested in r&b, early soul and the birth of rock and roll.
Anyway I enjoyed the book immensely once it got going and would recommend it to folks interested in r&b, early soul and the birth of rock and roll.
September 5, 2012
Good book on a fascinating part of history. I didn't care for the flowery writing, but I loved the stories, and appreciated the painstaking research.
I'll get my dad a copy; I think he'll appreciate the stories and the writing a lot.
I wish there were an accompanying DVD, or at least a CD. The history is so alive in these stories, I wanted a more visceral relationship with it. And for music-lovers, reading about music can sometimes be a pretty poor substitute for hearing it.
I'm really glad this book was researched and written.
(I won this this in a goodreads "first reads" giveaway.)
I'll get my dad a copy; I think he'll appreciate the stories and the writing a lot.
I wish there were an accompanying DVD, or at least a CD. The history is so alive in these stories, I wanted a more visceral relationship with it. And for music-lovers, reading about music can sometimes be a pretty poor substitute for hearing it.
I'm really glad this book was researched and written.
(I won this this in a goodreads "first reads" giveaway.)
August 20, 2015
A most excellent work: well-researched, well-written, thoughtful, lively, interesting, and provides an excellent overview of the period while serving up a few delicious tidbits. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
November 18, 2017
This is an in-depth view of the early blues circuit through to the beginnings of rock and roll. It's not the easiest read and is really meant for the true aficionados .
August 15, 2012
Given to me out of the blue by a wonderful old friend (this is using both senses of the word, now) who is Southern by birth and upbringing and who recommended it to me because she knows I like the blues and pocket histories of underworld U.S.A.
It's good so far- some excerpts and music clips to follow when I have the time and inclination.
***
Pleased to say that like a good concert or a fine story, Lauterbach's book finished very strongly. I think I'll just forego the usual dissection and just give you (whoever is reading this, bless ye, bless ye) some excerpts by way of exhibition.
One of the absolutely wonderful things about books like this if they are done correctly- and Lauterbach does this exceedingly well especially in the last few chapters- they are positively boiling with hilarious, poignant, true-to-life anecdotes.
The early blues, R&B and nascent Rock n' Roll is, as a historical phenomenon, absolutely symbiotic with its capacity to create myth and legend. It describes itself in the stories that come out of it as much as it does in the rythmns and melodies that come simmering to life.
Here's a couple good ones:
"At 11:30 that night, Barnes called 'Clarinet Lullaby.' Money-waster Walter Audrey, working the bar, heard scuffling near the house door as the tune began, but thought nothing amiss; he had wondered what took the obligatory fight so long to break out. The orchestra swung through the number until the drummer broke rhythm and tailed off. Barnes, incensed, glared at his band and saw their eyes widen. They lowered the horns from their lips as Barnes turned around and watched fire dance up the wall around the door.
Barnes had played a thousand woodsheds and seen plenty of flames, spilling from kicked-over potbelly stoves or flashing from a tossed match. Fire was a constant worry to people who lived in tinderboxes with open heat, and they learned to react quickly and coolly, to snuff it or step out. He'd seen jitterbugs douse flames with their steups without missing the beat. But this fire raced through the kerosene-laced Spanish moss, following a hundred fuses in all directions. The club's walls, sheets of tin nailed either either side of the wooden building frame, shielded the fire fromwater and radiated heat like an oven.
Barnes didn't move. "You all can get out if you keep calm," he called.
Perhaps he underestimated the blaze's severity. Or perhaps he recognized that he and the band were last in line to reach the door and had no choice. In any case, he had learned to play through chaos at Capone's Cotton Club- music soothed the savage beast. his breath quickened. He faced his band and directed them to start 'Marie,' a lilting Irving Berlin tune.
Drummer Oscar Brown wasn't going along. He stood from behind his kit, picked his hammer up, walked toward a boarded window behind the stage and smashed his way out. The other musicians played as flames scampered across the ceiling, tickling up the volume of the crowd's scream. "I was standing by the door," recalled Julius Hawkins, "and it just spread over everything."
Dancers ran shrieking toward the only exit. They pushed, trampled, dove, struggled through the door, and sealed it shut, while exhaust fans fed the flames. The Rhythm Club cooked. A woman tore off her clothing and hid in a refrigerator. A brawny man elbow-punched through a boarded window and hurled his date through the shards out onto St. Catherine Street. Reverend Edward Doherty, a Triangle resident and assistant pastor of the Catholic church across the street, awoke to cries but rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. "Negro women having a good time in the club frequently screamed like that," he would say.
Barnes exhorted his troupe through the thickening smoke, "Play, play!"
Eye-witness Frank Christmas would say, "The only calm person in the building was Mr. Barnes...I think that (he) knew the danger he was in, but believed that if he could prevent the crowd from piling up around the door...he could fix it so most of the people could get out. But that crowd was beyond human control."
A doctor's report read, "As reckless fear and mounting excitement kept pace with the racing flames, and when it became clear that there was little escape through the door, chairs and other objects were used to smash the few windows in means of escape. In desperation bare hands and fists broke out panes under the fierce drive of consuming heat and strangling smoke."
The band kept playing.
With the final breath of his life, trumpeter Paul Scott blasted anote, just as the inferno gulped the remaining oxygen, collapsing the tin roof and walls, and crushing every still-heaving lung. The building's support beams snapped, and the flaming ceiling slumped over the stage, like a fiery curtain descending on Walter Barnes and his Kings of Swing.
Two hundred and nine souls left this world through the Rhythm Club, hearing Stott's note blend into Gabriel's on the other side. The flames never touched most of them. They succumbed to smoke inhalation, fell under trampling feet, and were smothered. Firefighters and police smashed into the smoldering remains of the Rhythm Club and found young bodies "stacked like cord wood" against the walls where death captured them- young ladies clad in bobby socks, pedal pushers, baby doll dresses, pastel skirts, and pink scarves; men in boleros, red bow ties, and white bucks. Plus, the band- Stott, James Coles, John Henderson, Clarence Porter, John Reed, Calvin Roberts, Harry Walker, and Jesse Washington- and the vocalist, a beautiful, still-baby-fat nineteen year old named Juanita Avery. Alan Barnes had been guarding the band bus and helplessly took in the nightmare- the sights and sounds and smells- from the curb across the street. As the police and coroner's office counted the bodies, Alan identified the man in the white tails. Someone had already plucked the maestro's gold watch and about five hundred dollars, the night's gate, from the body. Walter Barnes was thirty-four."
You can hop on over to the website (http://prestonlauterbach.com/book/) for a glance at a photo of our unfortunate maestro "as he would want you to remember him." Ralph Ellison wrote a fictionalized version of this story, as did others.
Here's a little something of the life story of the man who provides the backbone and the flavour of Lauteebach's narrative arc, the Scorsese-esque paterfamilias Denver Ferguson:
"At this point, though, Denver concerned himself less with his swarthy opponents and more with a surplus-cash dilemma. The stuff piled up faster the he could bribe everyone off and safely spend it- beyond his fancy cars and fine food, Denver never flaunted; he smoked cheap, drank moderately, and lived decently. Denver sent for his brother, Sea, a freshly minted Lincoln University graduate. Denver was a better big-time strategist than front man, so affable Sea became the Ferguson operation's public face. He was short like Denver- though not so plump- light-skinned, trim-mustached, and memorably attired. Although Denver reached Indianapolis first, Sea eventually overshadowed his older brother...When he died in 1974, Sea was buried wearing his favorite gumball-red blazer. 'He was flashy,' Finnell recalled. 'I thought that just suited him so well.'
The struggle between two sets of brothers, Kentuckians and Russians, would shape underworld politics in Indianapolis for years to come.
Sea opened a real estate brokerage, and he and Denver became community developers. The Fergusons extended loans and credit for their constituents to rent or buy property and launch legitimate concerns. They gave generously to charitable causes, functioning as a de facto community foundation. Today we might look cynically upon a reputed gambler who puts uniforms on little leaguers, or chalk in schoolteacher's hands, but in those days no one else offered the Avenue and were applauded as race men, whose wealth, power, and openhandedness lifted all Negroes. The term race men applied to legitimate black buisness people and men like Denver and Sea alike, as a guiding ethical principle that outweighed the legality of one's activity...
The Madam C.J. Walker Building opened the day after Christmas 1927. Its four stories housed the expanded cosmetics factory and company offices, with a telephone center to field orders, a beauty parlor, and Walker Academy, plus a modern drug store, coffee shop, and plenty of office space to rent to Indianapolis's black attorneys, dentists, and physicians. An ornate African-motif theater filled most of the ground floor. Designed to showcase opera and ballet, its decor melded ancient Egyptian and West African imagery, celebrating black ancestry at its most regal and robust. The low arts were practiced high on the fourth floor in the Grand Casino Ballroom, where the decor honored Denver and Sea's profession. The orchestra performed on a giant roulette wheel, flanked by a set of seven-foot-tall dice. Giant cards, racing forms, and policy wheels adorned the walls.
Wonder where a fella can find a baseball ticket?"
The baseball tickets were pretty much the main source of illegal gambling and off-the-books racketeering back then, on "the stroll." Intricate systems of numbers correlated to differnt positions in baseball, terms used as a code to keep the necessary information out of the reach of the strolling, imposing police officers.
Here's a smattering of the musicians we meet in these pages.
All of them are worth checking out, if only for historical influence and sheer joy they take in their own mastery of the form.
This was the music of the people, sitting or standing in throbbing, swinging groups, drinking and flirting and gambling and fighting and eating chitlins and fried fish till the sun came up:
Louis Jordan-
"Caledonia"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCH_n9...
"Junco Partner"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40e5nc...
"Blue Lite Boogie"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKDE8T...
"Is You Or Is You Ain't My Baby"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=439lJ6...
T-Bone Walker:
"Cold, Cold Feeling"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVaOPa...
"Don't Leave Me Baby"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzT_Ig...
Great Live Stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2T42S...
"Mean Old World"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSOYOF...
Here's a bit on Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, who got his start opening for Walker:
"Young Clarence Brown, just twenty-two, idolized T-Bone, whose effects on an audience bewildered and inspired him. 'T-Bone Walker,' he would say, 'had the people just screaming and hollering, women falling out, knocking down the walls, tearing down chandeliers, and I said 'God Almighty, what is this guy doing to these people?'"
It seemed to Clarence the right sort of life. So he followed T-Bone, asking for pointers andn begging to sit in. "I was trying to figure out what could make one do that," he explained. t-Bone tolerated the young man and reluctantly shared an occasional tip while offering little on the art of inciting property destruction...
Thursday night, March 13, 1947, marked T-Bone Walker's ninth straight at the Peacock, and another mighty hometown throng awaited. T-Bone suffered with chronic ulcers thanks to youthful binge drinking and Texas homebrew, and the successive late nights had worn him down. Clarence saw T-Bone take the stage and heard the shrieks building behind him. But before the first note, T-Bone set his big Gibson down and hurried back to the dressing room. Robey had a sellout crowd, already seated, and no act. In a panic Robey grabbed Clarence: "Boy, go up there."
"I picked up his guitar," he said, "and for no reason on earth I started in E-natural, that's the only key I knew, and I invented a tune right on the spot."
My name is Gatemouth Brown and I just got in your town
The repeated first line of a blues gives the performer a moment to plan ahead, which can come in handy when you're making up a song on the spot in front of five hundred people as if your career depends on it.
My name is Gatemouth Brown and I just got in your town
If you don't like my style I will not hang around
The women went for thier purses, the men reached in their pockets, and the crowd responded in Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's spontaneous composition with an impromptu storm of cash and coin. He riffed and Robey stared. "I was broke," Gatemouth recalled, "and I made $600 in 15 minutes."
T-Bone, however, was not amused. As Gatemouth finished his boogie, T-Bone, restored by the sounds of his Gibson and feminine screams, marched on stage and seized the guitar from Gatemouth. "Look," T-Bone barked, "as long as you live and breathe, don't you ever pick on my guitar again."
Gatemouth, stuffing his pockets, looked up. "I'm sorry, Mr. Bone. I don't know what made me do it."
At least that's how Gatemouth told it. Other accounts differ from him on certain points, but they lack his flair."
Here's some of what that might have sounded like:
"Gatemouth Boogie"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r4-Vb...
"Okie Dokie Stomp"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79N007...
"She Walk Right In"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBrE50...
Then there's Johnny Alexander, known to all and sundry as "Johnny Ace":
"No Money"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMb_wr...
"Pledging My Love"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT_eOi...
"Cross My Heart"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM7tWp...
Johnny Ace went out a bad way, incidentally, accidentally, the spontaneous victim of a rather risque pre-show ritual that...er...backfired on him one fateful night.
You gotta check out the book to get this story, I was going to include it here but if you've made this far you better just put a couple dimes in Lauterbach's pocket and read it for yourself.
Oh, and don't forget B.B. King, in this case explaining his guitar's onomastic origins and giving his first-person narration of an event recounted in the book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y8QxO...
Or Richard Penniman, soon to be known to the world as LITTLE FUCKING RICHARD. (His autobiography, by the way, is admiringly name-checked by Lauterbach and, I can attest, absolutely awesome to read in every possible way. Oft-overlooked gem.) Here's a little example of the 'quazar of rock' doing his thing:
If you don't love this song you are officially dead inside, I'm sorry for you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFq5O2...
More live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFL047...
And how wonderful it was to find out that the introduction to this perennial favorite of mine is pretty much exactly what you might have heard to hype up the crowd at a Memphis juke joint, and by the same man, at that (!)
Brings the chitlin' circuit to life and shows the profound evolution from sleeping under tents and in Cadillacs to the warmth and appreciation of Harlem's Apollo Theatre at Star Time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMizXt...
And here's Lauterbach again:
"As Johnny Ace sunk below the Memphis soil, Little Richard returned home to Macon a new man. He'd fought with Don Robey and steeped in the Memphis sound at Sunbeam Mitchell's, while Macon's chitlin' circuit status had grown from port to hub...Brantley owned a couple such venues and controlled action at the rest. His entourage had grown with his holdings. 'The niggers I had with me were big and strapping sons of bitches.' The cops? 'I never did have no trouble with them. They always respected me." Once Brantley began promoting big concerts at the auditorium, he learned the value of police protection, and hired at least a dozen plainclothesman to work his shows. 'I have seen it up there when the floor was so bloody you couldn't walk on it.'"
There's so much more but I've been typing for about two hours now and I'm going to hope that this leaves you with enough to want to check out the book- and the music- for yourself.
Lauterbach leaves the chronology with the ebuillient Willie Mitchell, who produced so many amazing songs for the lubricious Al Green. Here's how Lauterbach describes the recording of Green's (and Mitchell's, too!) slow-burning gem "Love and Happiness":
"Not long after that night, Bulldog and members of the HiRhythm assembled at Royal Studio to record Al Green. Willie called over the intercom, "Count us off, Mr.Dog." That crunchy tapping you hear at the beginning of "Love and Happiness" is guitarist Teenie Hodges kicking a Coca-Cola crate. Bulldog clamped down on that beat as if Mr. Able, Comedy Britt, and Willie all had their ears on him. The band slid into the groove behind him and stayed. Willie danced from the control room into the studio, and proceeded to get down."
Amen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOimd...
dnf
March 21, 2019quit - wanted to read about musicians not clubs
March 16, 2017
Louis Jordan died on February 4, 1975, not long after telling writer Arnold Shaw that “as a black artist, I’d like to say one thing…. Rock-n-roll was not a marriage of rhythm and blues [to] country and western. That’s white publicity. Rock-n-roll was just a white imitation, a white adaptation of Negro rhythm and blues.” As a music enthusiast, I am fascinated by considering the roots of rock 'n' roll. When I consider the Sun Records influential musicians such as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash I see a line of country performers streaming into those legendary studios and rock 'n' roll coming out. Indeed, the Country -> Rockabilly -> Rock 'n' Roll transformation explains more the rock combo instrumentation and verse-chorus-verse structure than a derivation from blues and jazz. Still, Jordan strikes at the heart of the incestuous nature of evolution in popular music.
This excellent history explores the decline of touring big bands where the black-operated "Chitlin' Circuit" kept alive the shrinking ensembles to server their burgeoning audiences and forming a late 40s to early 50s laboratory for performers like Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris, and Little Richard to formulate the rhythms and styles of rock 'n' roll from the pieces left over.
While this book makes a strong case for the birth of rock 'n' roll in the post-Big Band R&B movement and its touring journeymen, there is an important final act here. The book marks the rise of the vinyl era and AM radio with a jukebox mafia and payola DJs as a transformation that changed the economics of the tour-dependent Chitlin' Circuit stars and marked an end to the period. It seems to me with the Internet and digital technologies, the role of the recorded artifact is also sunsetting and we are returning to an era where the live performance is more central to fiscal realities of being a career musician. Pushing the artists back to an ad hoc venue reality... Could it lead to the birth of something as brave as rock 'n' roll, and if so, who will be the pioneers this time?
This excellent history explores the decline of touring big bands where the black-operated "Chitlin' Circuit" kept alive the shrinking ensembles to server their burgeoning audiences and forming a late 40s to early 50s laboratory for performers like Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris, and Little Richard to formulate the rhythms and styles of rock 'n' roll from the pieces left over.
While this book makes a strong case for the birth of rock 'n' roll in the post-Big Band R&B movement and its touring journeymen, there is an important final act here. The book marks the rise of the vinyl era and AM radio with a jukebox mafia and payola DJs as a transformation that changed the economics of the tour-dependent Chitlin' Circuit stars and marked an end to the period. It seems to me with the Internet and digital technologies, the role of the recorded artifact is also sunsetting and we are returning to an era where the live performance is more central to fiscal realities of being a career musician. Pushing the artists back to an ad hoc venue reality... Could it lead to the birth of something as brave as rock 'n' roll, and if so, who will be the pioneers this time?
August 19, 2011
This is a fun and informative read about the beginnings of "chitlin' circuit" tour routes and the birth of rock 'n' roll. It's extremely well-researched and includes all the big names (B.B. King, James Brown, Johnny Ace) as well as some fascinating characters that I'd never heard of before, and though it's meticulously detailed it's also peppered with enough salacious facts (strange love affairs, murders and tragic accidents) to keep it from getting boring. It also touches on many subjects that I found to be politically and personally interesting; for example, details about the incredibly enthusiastic reception of an even more flamboyant Little Richard accompanied by a drag show in Oklahoma (the state in which I live today, and which seems like a radically conservative disaster area to me) in 1954 prompted the sad and sobering thought that perhaps we as a state were more accepting decades ago than we are now. A previous reviewer thought the perspective on race was "patronizing and objectifying" and while I wouldn't go that far, I would say that the impersonal and clinical tone of the book made the racial themes problematic. There are certainly times when the facts themselves were fantastic enough that the presentation of them could have been a little more engaging and a little less like reading an essay for school. Overall, though, I was both entertained and educated, which is really all I could ask for.
January 31, 2013
This book wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting a book about music. Content-wise, this book focuses a lot more on the bookers and the producers than on the musicians. I didn't get a very good sense of the musical history, partly because it seemed like Lauterbach is writing for an audience who is already familiar with the music. That's reasonable for the breakout stars (Little Richard, for example), but there were a lot of influential acts who never recorded -- in fact, the main point of the book is that early jazz/blues/rock artists made a living on the circuit rather than in the studio -- and it would have been nice to get a more concrete understanding of what their contributions were.
The book is an organizational mess, too. Most chapters are loosely organized around some theme, but not consistently so. Some follow an artist from city to city, others provide a historical overview of a single city, others return to an artist or a place that was discussed in a previous chapter. This ruins any sense of chronology. I also didn't find the writing to be particularly good; the prose is full of metaphors that I had to struggle to understand, misplaced colloquialisms, and general anachronisms.
The book is an organizational mess, too. Most chapters are loosely organized around some theme, but not consistently so. Some follow an artist from city to city, others provide a historical overview of a single city, others return to an artist or a place that was discussed in a previous chapter. This ruins any sense of chronology. I also didn't find the writing to be particularly good; the prose is full of metaphors that I had to struggle to understand, misplaced colloquialisms, and general anachronisms.
November 20, 2017
There is no doubt that Preston Lauterbach is one of the finest music historians I've ever had the pleasure to read. In this book, he looks at the rise of black music from Reconstruction up into the early 1970s.
Some of the book is very heavy indeed; we see some of the politics of the so-called Bronzevilles and how they affected music promotion. In the days before radio, the only way to promote a record was touring .. and local politics determined who ran music promotion and thus put acts into houses that the promoters themselves owned.
Segregation led to two different performing circuits: one for white audiences and one for blacks (the so-called chitlin' circuit). Some rare performers were able to cross over and perform for white audiences, but those instances were rife with their own challenges.
I found the book interesting, and it was definitely well-researched (extensive bibliography and end-notes) via both interviews and documentation. Highly recommended for fans of roots rock, blues, and early r & b.
Some of the book is very heavy indeed; we see some of the politics of the so-called Bronzevilles and how they affected music promotion. In the days before radio, the only way to promote a record was touring .. and local politics determined who ran music promotion and thus put acts into houses that the promoters themselves owned.
Segregation led to two different performing circuits: one for white audiences and one for blacks (the so-called chitlin' circuit). Some rare performers were able to cross over and perform for white audiences, but those instances were rife with their own challenges.
I found the book interesting, and it was definitely well-researched (extensive bibliography and end-notes) via both interviews and documentation. Highly recommended for fans of roots rock, blues, and early r & b.
October 10, 2012
Owing largely to white tastes, most blues books focus on prewar Delta styles, and/or the postwar Chicago boom. But rock and roll was truly born on the Chitlin' Circuit, and this interesting - although at times somewhat unfocused - exploration of the rise of this corner of the music industry fills in some gaps that many blues fans lack familiarity with. Starting in the Depression and moving up to the early sixties, the book traces the development of the scene and the music via several key promoters, and such luminaries as Louis Jordan, Big Mama Thornton, Little Richard, and three unrelated guys with the surname "Brown" (Roy, Clarence "Gatemouth," and James). It runs from the tail end of the Big Band era to the rise of the Memphis sound encapsulated by Stax and Hi records.
The text jumps around a bit, and things move too quickly at times, but this is still a valuable addition to jazz, blues, and R&B history that music junkies will want to read.
The text jumps around a bit, and things move too quickly at times, but this is still a valuable addition to jazz, blues, and R&B history that music junkies will want to read.
September 2, 2015
It's a good start to recording the history of black music in America, but there is a lot more to cover. The characters and the history related in this book are fascinating, but the author's approach was superficial in many ways, ways that often avoided uncomfortable topics in American socio-cultural history. On some level, Lauterbach's perspective is of a white hipster slumming it in the world of black music. He plays up the scene's excitement, its energy, its eccentricity, and it's artistic achievements, but never delves very far into the issues of racism, segregation, and cultural appropriation that had a hand in creating the dynamics of mid-century black main streets. Oh yeah, and rather than explore the roles of cross-dressers and female impersonators in black culture, he refers to them as "freaks." Nor does he show much interest in the experiences of gays & lesbians, or women.
March 1, 2019
This is where rock 'n' roll really began, in the hundreds of little shacks all around the South, where music, drink and food - and sex - flowed with equal abandon. The Chitlin' Circuit.
This book traces the black successor of the old vaudeville circuit, where entertainers honed their craft after the '40s.
All the big stars began in this Deep South circuit, from James Brown to B.B. King to Little Richard, and dozens of artists you've never heard of but who influenced everybody that came after them.
This is a great read for any music fan and for those interested in the history of cultures hidden just beyond the eyes of most. Well worth it.
More reviews at my WordPress site, Ralphsbooks.
This book traces the black successor of the old vaudeville circuit, where entertainers honed their craft after the '40s.
All the big stars began in this Deep South circuit, from James Brown to B.B. King to Little Richard, and dozens of artists you've never heard of but who influenced everybody that came after them.
This is a great read for any music fan and for those interested in the history of cultures hidden just beyond the eyes of most. Well worth it.
More reviews at my WordPress site, Ralphsbooks.
July 29, 2012
Following the creation and expansion of the black music circuit from the 1920s through the 1960s, the book brings alive the black parts of towns and how their cohesion brought musicians to prominence. It also doesn't stint on describing the "cuttin' and all that shit" attitudes of life along those streets, some of which still resonate (such as Beale Street). I was amazed to learn how close I was to a lot of that life myself, as it was only 10 years later that I was living in Houston and hanging out in juke joints and black clubs, listening to Jimmy Reed, Little Etta, and others. A good read.
February 28, 2015
I enjoyed this book, which explored an essential and under-reported aspect of the birth of rock 'n' roll. The black artists, promoters, and club owners that are the focus of this book really laid the foundation for so much of what to follow in the 1960's and later. While few of the artists crossed over to mainstream popularity, the musical styles that they created were the foundation of rock 'n' roll. I knew some of the people profiled, but most were new to me. Definitely recommended for anyone with an interest in the history of American music and popular culture.
March 9, 2012
This is a book for hard-core music history afficionados, although some of the personal life stories of the major players in the Chitlin' Circuit are touching and seem bigger than life. Amazing research and detail tie together 40 years of music evolution. Serious reading for anyone that desires to know how such well-known artists arrived on the scene. Just be prepared for lots of names, dates, and places!
March 13, 2017
Covers the period from the 1920s to the 1950s when new forms of music were innovated in the cauldrons of "bronzevilles" in cities like Indianapolis, Houston, Memphis and Macon. Lauterbach argues that this was where rock 'n' roll originated, that country's contribution to rock has been exaggerated, and that the first rock song was not "Rock Around the Clock" but "Good Rockin' Tonight," recorded six years earlier by Roy Brown.
July 3, 2011
Fascinating history of the beginnings of the touring circuit for African American artists. Little Richard, B.B. King, Gatemouth Brown and many other artists and the promoters who established the circuit to include the smallest most out of the way towns & villages. A must read for those interested in the history of rock 'n' roll.
January 17, 2012
Great historical account of the "juke joint" circuit! I was amazed with Lauterbach's historical in-depth research of people, places, and events. Having experienced one or two "juke joints" on the Chitlin' Circuit as a young man, I could feel the atmosphere through the authors words. A must read for music historians!!
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