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Minstrel Magic
The Black and White Minstrel Show was one of the greatest shows the BBC ever produced, bringing the BBC international plaudits and awards. Yet after running for an unprecedented twenty one years on television, the BBC airbrushed it from history.
Yet the George Mitchell Choirs were more than the Minstrels and their story spans half a century of light entertainment. Their founder George Mitchell - the most famous back in show business - produced an entertainment phenomenon, one which deserves to reclaim its rightful place in the post war history of show business.
‘Of all the shows I have produced and directed, and that’s nearly three hundred of them, the show that gave me the greatest pleasure, the greatest thrill that came from inside here, was the Black and White Minstrels, because that is the greatest show that ever got to the heart of the people in this country. George himself is a genius, there’ll never be the likes of this man again.’ Ernest Maxin
Yet the George Mitchell Choirs were more than the Minstrels and their story spans half a century of light entertainment. Their founder George Mitchell - the most famous back in show business - produced an entertainment phenomenon, one which deserves to reclaim its rightful place in the post war history of show business.
‘Of all the shows I have produced and directed, and that’s nearly three hundred of them, the show that gave me the greatest pleasure, the greatest thrill that came from inside here, was the Black and White Minstrels, because that is the greatest show that ever got to the heart of the people in this country. George himself is a genius, there’ll never be the likes of this man again.’ Ernest Maxin
454 pages, Paperback
Published June 13, 2017
361 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 20, 2025
The ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ achieved a definitive standard of excellence in TV entertainment that was never surpassed during its record breaking run on BBC TV and in theatres in London, all over Britain, and throughout Australia and New Zealand. Eleanor Pritchard’s comprehensively researched and beautifully written history of this show business phenomenon, ‘Minstrel Magic,’ makes stimulating and rewarding reading.
Like the musicians and singers she writes about, Eleanor’s book is clearly a labour of love - much like the love that ran through the George Mitchell Choirs – love for the songs, love for the spectacular productions, love for the group’s immaculate vocal arrangements, and love for their friendly, supportive and very talented leader, George Mitchell himself.
As a pianist in hotels and piano bars, I built up a pretty big repertoire of popular songs, recognising that everybody has a favourite song, and the more you know the more customers you will please. But my playlist could never compare with the one George compiled for the ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’. I don’t know how he became aware of them all and where he found the sheet music, which he must have needed to prepare the vocal parts.
And that was still not all – he then had to put them all together for the TV and stage shows. One of the TV show’s producers, Ernest Maxin believed that the way he was able to segue effortlessly from one song to the next was ‘pure genius’. Indeed it was.
George’s genius was combined with that of many other outstanding artists on the show – great set designers like Stanley Dorfman, musical arrangers of the calibre of Alan Bristow, master choreographers like Roy Gunson, fabulous dancing girls, terrific solo vocalists, and the cream of British swing musicians in the orchestra, including world class trumpeters like Kenny Baker, Stan Roderick and Freddy Clayton. No wonder it achieved audience figures of 21 million, won a Golden Globe at Montreux, and was sold to over 30 countries.
And the BBC’s reaction? True to form, they pulled the plug, bowing to accusations of racism from the new generation of politically correct fanatics. The ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ entertained a world wide audience of millions between 1958 and 1978. A BBC writer, Kate Broome, stated ‘that an innocently-intentioned show could, in just a generation, become such a screen pariah is one of the most extraordinary episodes in television history.’
Far from being racist, the show was a celebration of black music. It regularly featured the music of the great blues composers like W C Handy (St Louis Blues), Spencer Williams (Basin Street Blues), and other popular music composers who have given the world some of its best loved melodies – Eubie Blake (Memories of You), Stevie Wonder (Isn’t She Lovely),’Soul Boss Nova’ (Quincy Jones),’ ‘Take The A Train’ (Billy Strayhorn), ‘Aint Misbehavin’ (Fats Waller), ‘I’m Beginning To See The Light’ (Duke Ellington), and Sy Oliver (Opus One). George also arranged negro spirituals like ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’, ‘Beautiful Dreamer’, ‘Carry Me Back To Green Pastures’ - and folksy favourites set in America’s south like ‘Camptown Races’ and ‘Swanee River’.
The ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ featured music that touched the hearts of millions, black or white, as the title suggests. But the BBC thought it knew better – just like in the 1930’s Lord Reith, the BBC’s first Director General, decided that dance music was inappropriate on Sundays - so listeners defected to Radio Luxembourg in their millions to hear the jazz and dance bands they loved. And in the 60’s, it took the stiff competition of the pirate radio ships to make the Beeb aware of the great audience of younger listeners it had been ignoring.
My father worked with George Mitchell in an accountancy practice in the city of London before the war. They were great friends and naturally, after the war our family were avid watchers of George’s’ Black and White Minstrel Show’. We always had a laugh at George’s awkward movements when he had to join the cast at the end of the show.
He was not comfortable with the limelight, prompting his status as ‘the most famous back in show business’. He must have overcome his shyness because he later hosted the whole show, and I’m sure audiences loved his quiet manner in contrast to the usual hyped up TV comperes. But the dear old BBC opined that ‘George added nothing to the show’, and he was subsequently removed!
Another crass decision by the BBC was its decision to remove black make up on the male cast – including the star soloists Tony Mercer, Dai Francis and John Boulter. Of course it destroyed the entire unique presentation of the show, and it showed there were troubled times ahead in the light of increased pressure from the racist lobby. In 1978, Bill Cotton - Controller of BBC 1 – finally gave in and the show was axed.
When it won a Golden Rose at Montreux in 1961, it was regarded as the best light entertainment production in the world, It has never been surpassed - and it’s unlikely it ever will be. In its day, it could draw upon the great song writing that spanned the whole of the twentieth century. Songs as good as the beautifully crafted and engaging standards which George Mitchell arranged to such perfection, are simply not around in the twenty first.
Another amazing reason the BBC gave for bombing the show was that it was becoming ‘old fashioned’. Beethoven and Bach wrote their stuff hundreds of years ago - maybe one day they will also be on the Beeb’s cancellation list!
Eleanor Pritchard’s classic volume is a tribute to the dazzling combination of mega talent that was the ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ It is also a mine of information on British show business between 1950 and 1980, not to mention heaps of detail on British radio and television during the same years. It is indeed a magic read.
Like the musicians and singers she writes about, Eleanor’s book is clearly a labour of love - much like the love that ran through the George Mitchell Choirs – love for the songs, love for the spectacular productions, love for the group’s immaculate vocal arrangements, and love for their friendly, supportive and very talented leader, George Mitchell himself.
As a pianist in hotels and piano bars, I built up a pretty big repertoire of popular songs, recognising that everybody has a favourite song, and the more you know the more customers you will please. But my playlist could never compare with the one George compiled for the ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’. I don’t know how he became aware of them all and where he found the sheet music, which he must have needed to prepare the vocal parts.
And that was still not all – he then had to put them all together for the TV and stage shows. One of the TV show’s producers, Ernest Maxin believed that the way he was able to segue effortlessly from one song to the next was ‘pure genius’. Indeed it was.
George’s genius was combined with that of many other outstanding artists on the show – great set designers like Stanley Dorfman, musical arrangers of the calibre of Alan Bristow, master choreographers like Roy Gunson, fabulous dancing girls, terrific solo vocalists, and the cream of British swing musicians in the orchestra, including world class trumpeters like Kenny Baker, Stan Roderick and Freddy Clayton. No wonder it achieved audience figures of 21 million, won a Golden Globe at Montreux, and was sold to over 30 countries.
And the BBC’s reaction? True to form, they pulled the plug, bowing to accusations of racism from the new generation of politically correct fanatics. The ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ entertained a world wide audience of millions between 1958 and 1978. A BBC writer, Kate Broome, stated ‘that an innocently-intentioned show could, in just a generation, become such a screen pariah is one of the most extraordinary episodes in television history.’
Far from being racist, the show was a celebration of black music. It regularly featured the music of the great blues composers like W C Handy (St Louis Blues), Spencer Williams (Basin Street Blues), and other popular music composers who have given the world some of its best loved melodies – Eubie Blake (Memories of You), Stevie Wonder (Isn’t She Lovely),’Soul Boss Nova’ (Quincy Jones),’ ‘Take The A Train’ (Billy Strayhorn), ‘Aint Misbehavin’ (Fats Waller), ‘I’m Beginning To See The Light’ (Duke Ellington), and Sy Oliver (Opus One). George also arranged negro spirituals like ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’, ‘Beautiful Dreamer’, ‘Carry Me Back To Green Pastures’ - and folksy favourites set in America’s south like ‘Camptown Races’ and ‘Swanee River’.
The ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ featured music that touched the hearts of millions, black or white, as the title suggests. But the BBC thought it knew better – just like in the 1930’s Lord Reith, the BBC’s first Director General, decided that dance music was inappropriate on Sundays - so listeners defected to Radio Luxembourg in their millions to hear the jazz and dance bands they loved. And in the 60’s, it took the stiff competition of the pirate radio ships to make the Beeb aware of the great audience of younger listeners it had been ignoring.
My father worked with George Mitchell in an accountancy practice in the city of London before the war. They were great friends and naturally, after the war our family were avid watchers of George’s’ Black and White Minstrel Show’. We always had a laugh at George’s awkward movements when he had to join the cast at the end of the show.
He was not comfortable with the limelight, prompting his status as ‘the most famous back in show business’. He must have overcome his shyness because he later hosted the whole show, and I’m sure audiences loved his quiet manner in contrast to the usual hyped up TV comperes. But the dear old BBC opined that ‘George added nothing to the show’, and he was subsequently removed!
Another crass decision by the BBC was its decision to remove black make up on the male cast – including the star soloists Tony Mercer, Dai Francis and John Boulter. Of course it destroyed the entire unique presentation of the show, and it showed there were troubled times ahead in the light of increased pressure from the racist lobby. In 1978, Bill Cotton - Controller of BBC 1 – finally gave in and the show was axed.
When it won a Golden Rose at Montreux in 1961, it was regarded as the best light entertainment production in the world, It has never been surpassed - and it’s unlikely it ever will be. In its day, it could draw upon the great song writing that spanned the whole of the twentieth century. Songs as good as the beautifully crafted and engaging standards which George Mitchell arranged to such perfection, are simply not around in the twenty first.
Another amazing reason the BBC gave for bombing the show was that it was becoming ‘old fashioned’. Beethoven and Bach wrote their stuff hundreds of years ago - maybe one day they will also be on the Beeb’s cancellation list!
Eleanor Pritchard’s classic volume is a tribute to the dazzling combination of mega talent that was the ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ It is also a mine of information on British show business between 1950 and 1980, not to mention heaps of detail on British radio and television during the same years. It is indeed a magic read.
February 7, 2018
I'm not going to lie, I've never heard of George Mitchell. I do believe he was a little before my time. It was still an entertaining book.
June 16, 2017
What a brilliant book! I watched the TV shows all through my childhood, and was sorry when the BBC stopped them. This book gives a 'behind the scenes' insight into not just the creator of the Minstrels and associated choirs and companies, but also the 'back story'.....How George Mitchell started his career as choirmaster, how his choirs and shows developed over the years, and how the world's greatest light entertainment / variety show prgoressed from a small Army choir formed during WW II and became a weekly must see colour TV spectacular, and featured in theatres all over England and worldwide. If you love Music, Theatre, Light entertainment and much more, this is a MUST READ !!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews