KEY DATES IN
AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE

THE LIFE OF
WILLIE "THE LION" SMITH

HISTORICAL EVENTS

Mid-1890’s — Minstrel shows in decline; "coon songs" popular in Tin Pan Alley; "Cake Walk" dance fad popularized by Bert Williams & George Walker.

1894 — William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertheloff born in Goshen, NY. As a child, hears black workers singing blues in Haverstraw, NY.

1896 — Plessy v. Ferguson "separate but equal" Supreme Court decision supporting racial segregation.

1899 — Sheet music for "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin sells 1 million copies; Tin Pan Alley and vaudeville discover ragtime; vaudeville most popular form of entertainment. Eubie Blake composes "Charleston Rag."

1903 — In Dahomey 1^st full length black musical, w/ Williams & Walker, music by Will Marion Cook.

Between 1895-1907, most Southern states disenfranchise black voters.

1904 — Little Johnny Jones by George M. Cohan on Broadway.

1905 — The Merry Widow operetta by Franz Lehar impacts popular fashions, music and social dancing.

1906 — Victola: 1^st phonograph w/ turntable & playback horn in body of machine.

Willie learns to dance (from his uncle) and play piano by ear (church hymns, from his mother). Delivers laundry to Jewish family; learns Hebrew from rabbi.

Bar mitzvah ca. 1907 (?)

1909 — T.O.B.A. (black vaudeville circuit) founded.

1910 — Bert Williams joins Ziegfeld Follies. Also on B’way: Naughty Marietta — operetta by Victor Herbert. James Reese Europe establishes Clef Club.

Willie sees Bert Williams star in Mr. Lode of Koal in Newark.

Willie dances and plays ragtime in saloons and "buffet flats" of Newark’s Coast district.

W.E.B. DuBois co-founds NAACP.

1911 — "Alexander’s Ragtime Band" by Irving Berlin; Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha has unsuccessful NY run.

Willie at Randolph’.s on the Coast in Newark.

1912 — Woodrow Wilson elected president on progressive platform.

1913 — Palace Theater (NY) opens: golden age of vaudeville.

Popular dance craze led by Vernon & Irene Castle (music by J.R. Europe); "Grizzly Bear," "Turkey Trot," and "Fox Trot."

Ziegfeld buys black dance numbers from Darktown Follies for his Follies on Broadway.

Willie meets Luckey Roberts ("a lemon pool player") in Randolph’s saloon; Roberts’ original tunes "Pork and Beans" and "Junk Man Rag" become part of Willie’s repetoire.

Willie sees Darktown Follies at Harlem’s Lafayette Theatre.

1914 — W.C. Handy publishes "St. Louis Blues." Clef Club plays evening of "Negro" music at Carnegie Hall; J.R. Europe’s Society Orchestra records for Victor.

Willie meets James P. Johnson in Coast saloon. Johnson plays music by Victor Herbert and Rudolph Friml, takes him to clubs in New York’s "Jungle" (Hell’s Kitchen).

Willie learns to read music from pianist at Newark vaudeville house.

World War I begins in Sarajevo.

Panama Canal opens.

Child labor laws passed.

1915 — Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith released; hailed as an artistic masterpiece, it also inspires resurgence of the KKK.

Jelly Roll Morton publishes his own arrangement of "Jelly Roll Blues."

Willie goes to Atlantic City, plays in clubs and brothels in the tenderloin ("the Line"). Meets Eubie Blake, replaces him at Kelly’s.

Lusitania sunk by German torpedoes.

1916 — Bert Williams makes series of short films for Biograph; riots follow showing of Darktown Jubilee in Brooklyn.

Billboard starts publishing chart of hit songs.

Willie marries white pianist-singer; they separate after less than a year but never divorce.

He plays best clubs in Newark and the Jungles in NYC; often attends theater and vaudeville.

Joins US Army, 92^nd Division, 153^rd Negro Brigade, 350^th Field Artillery ("the Black Devils").

Woodrow Wilson re-elected.

1917 — New York piano style emerges combining ragtime, light classical and Broadway influences.

Original Dixieland Jazz Band appears at Reisenweber’s (NY) , makes first "jass" record for Victor.

Willie becomes drum major for Tim Brymn’s brass band.

Earns nickname "the Lion" as heavy artillery gunner, promoted to sergeant.

US declares war on Germany.

1918 — Sgt. Irving Berlin writes YipYipYaphank, a musical produced and played by soldiers at Camp Upton.

Willie remains on duty for almost a year after armistice; plays piano in French dance halls.

November — Armistice ends World War One.

Influenza epidemic

1919 — J.R. Europe killed by crazed orchestra member.

Growing number of Harlem cabarets; "black belt" of Harlem expands with post-war migration. Start of Harlem Renaissance.

"Shimmy" dance performed in white cabarets and revues.

Willie demobilized and awarded medal.

Hired at Leroy’s cabaret in Harlem; lives in boarding house run by Scott Joplin’s widow.

Nationwide wave of strikes and labor unrest; "Red scare" — 6,000 suspects arrested.

1920 — Mamie Smith’s "Crazy Blues" becomes 1^st hit blues record by black artist; sparks blues craze, "race" records for black audiences.

Prohibition closes legit cabarets and clubs but speakeasies and after hours joints proliferate and demand musical entertainment.

Willie accompanies Mamie Smith for "Crazy Blues" session, for which he is paid $25. Also records "It’s Right Here for You," decides against TOBA vaudeville tour with her band.

Prohibition takes effect.

Warren Harding elected president.

Women vote for 1^st time in national election.

1921 — Shuffle Along, all-black musical by Noble Sissel & Eubie Blake a surprise hit; inspires vogue for Harlem clubs, jazz dances and black revues.

Black Swan Records — 1^st all-black recording company

James P. Johnson brings his pupil Thomas "Fats" Waller to Leroy’s to meet Willie the Lion; they become known in Harlem as "The Big Three."

1922 — "King of Jazz" Paul Whiteman radio premiere.

"I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" a hit song.

Willie the Lion tours in T.O.B.A. and Orpheum vaudeville circuits (‘22-23), then spends 6 months playing clubs in Chicago’s South Side.

1923 — Runnin’ Wild, all-black cast w/ music by J.P. Johnson introduces Charleston dance.

In Harlem, era of rent parties, night clubs and after-hours joints. White gangsters and bootleggers take control of clubs.

Sissel & Blake filmed on experimental sound-film system.

Young Duke Ellington sees Willie the Lion at the Capitol Palace; Willie becomes his mentor.

Harlem population now at 300,000.

KKK membership increasing, influential political force in several midwestern and southern states.

1924 — O’Neill’s All God’s Chillun Got Wings w/ Paul Robeson portrays interracial marriage.

Premieres of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, (w/ Ira) Lady Be Good on Broadway.

Gershwin invites "The Big Three" to a party to celebrate Rhapsody premiere; they become frequent performers at white society parties.

1925 — The Savoy Ballroom and Small’s Paradise open.

Victor releases 1^st electronically recorded 78s; new recording techniques change performance styles and instrumentation.

NBC inaugurates national radio broadcasts (1926).

Willie records his 1^st original composition, "Keep Your Temper", produced by Clarence Williams.

The Rhythm Club (next to Lafayette Theatre) a hang out for jazz musicians; features after hours jams with Willie, Sidney Bechet, Louis Metcalf, Joe Smith, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, many others.

Scopes Trial

Nightclubs and bootlegging are booming.

40,000 KKK members march in Washington DC.

1927 — Cotton Club presents black revues for white audiences; Duke Ellington’s orchestra radio broadcast.

Harlem nightlife thriving (1927-1933).

The Jazz Singer launches "talkies."

280 B’way shows open in 1927-28 season; biggest theater boom ever.

Willie the Lion plays in quartet featured in Broadway drama, Four Walls.

Jelly Roll Morton moves to NYC; after cutting contest at Rhythm Club w/ Willie the Lion, Willie calls him "Mr. One-Hand," (1928?).

Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic, becomes national hero.

Sacco and Vanzetti executed.

Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs.

1929 — Louis Armstrong records w/ Hot Five and Hot Seven groups.

Hot Chocolates (w/ music by Waller and Razaf) a hit musical.

Movie musicals are hot; many songwriters and musicians head for Hollywood.

Willie the Lion becomes regular pianist at Pod’s & Jerry’s (aka the Categonia Club). Show biz folks and young jazz musicians stop in: the Dorsey Brothers, Hoagy Carmichael, Bix, mae West, Tallulah Bankhead, Eddie Dowling, etc.

Publishes song advertising the club, "The Stuff is Here and It’s Mellow."

Stock market crash; within a few weeks unemployment rises from 700,000 to 3.1 million.

1930 — Hit songs include "Body & Soul," "Sunny Side of the Street," "Georgia on My Mind."

The New Yorkers (Cole Porter) and Strike Up the Band (the Gershwins) B’way musicals.

At Pod’s & Jerry’s, Willie the Lion meets and plays with 19 yr.-old Artie Shaw; they also play at the Nest (across the street). Willie plays at Helbocks (later the Onyx Club) on 52^nd Street.

Unemployment rises sharply.

1931 — "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries," "Minnie the Moocher," "Mood Indigo" are hit songs.

The Band Wagon w/ Fred & Adele Astaire on B’way.

Willie the Lion tours with black stage/screen star Nina Mae McKinney; circuit includes southern black theaters and riverboats. He vows never to go below the Mason-Dixon line again.

9 black men ("the Scottsboro Boys") sentenced to death for allegedly raping 2 white women.

1932 — The Palace Theater in NY ends vaudeville "2 a day" shows.

Gangster and horror films surpass Westerns at box office.

Radio City Music Hall opens.

Louis Armstrong makes 1^st trip abroad,

Art Tatum comes to NYC; after playing at the Rhythm Club, Willie the Lion refuses to play after Tatum. Willie begins studying w/ music professor Hans Stenke, and begins most fertile era of composing and publishing original music.

Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president.

NY Mayor Jimmy Walker resigns in corruption scandal.

Prohibition repeal takes effect (1933)

1934 — Benny Goodman band popularizes swing.

National Biscuit radio series; boom in big bands.

Rise of cocktail lounges with juke boxes.

Clarence Williams publishes music by Johnson and Willie the Lion. Willie records w/ Mezz Mezzrow and Orchestra (Victor/Bluebird), on of 1^st integrated jazz band recordings. He works the new 52^nd St. clubs: the Onyx, Famous Door, Hickory House.

Dust storms ravage large potions of midwest.

Bonnie & Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Dillinger killed in ambushes.

1935 — Porgy & Bess — folk opera w/ black cast and music by George Gershwin

Willie Smith and His Cubs (small group) sessions for Decca Sepia series (race records) includes original compositions; w/ different group for 1937 Decca sessions.

1 out of 4 households on relief.

1936 — Musicals and revues thrive on Broadway.

Vogue for big bands continues: Goodman, Ellington, Lombardo, T. Dorsey, Duchin top bands.

Willie the Lion records with Mezz Mezzrow and His Swing Band (Bluebird)

FDR re-elected in landslide.

Japan and Germany announce pact.

Edward VIII of Great Britain abdicates.

1938 — RCA Victor and Decca numbers 1 and 2 in record sales.

"From Spirituals to Swing" concert at Carnegie Hall.

"Begin the Beguine" hit for Artie Shaw.

Willie the Lion records piano solos for Decca; several sessions w/ Milt Herth Trio.

Willie performs at "Carnival of Swing" at Randall’s Island (NY): 25,000 blacks and whites attend.

Joe Louis KO’s Max Shmeling for heavyweight boxing crown.

Jewish shops throughout Germany looted and smashed ("Kristelnacht").

1939 — Charlie Parker goes to NYC.

Movie box office receipts at all-time high: Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Stagecoach.

Ellington’s orchestra now includes Jimmy Blanton, Billy Strayhorn, Ben Webster.

Marian Anderson sings at Lincoln Memorial.

Willie the Lion records 20 piano solos for Commodore, including 8 originals.

He spends most of coming decade playing nightclubs on 52^nd St. and in Greenwich Village.

NY World’s Fair opens.

German army invades Poland.

1940 — Ethel Waters in B’way musical, Cabin in the Sky.

Minton’s (NY club) presents new jazz by Gillespie, Monk & Kenny Clark.

James P. Johnson suffers stroke.

Willie the Lion accompanies blue singer Big Joe Turner, 4 songs for Decca.

Germany invades Holland, Belgium, attacks Great Britain.

FDR re-elected to 3^rd term as president.

1941 — Exceptional year for Hollywood films: How Green Was My Valley, Citizen Kane, Maltese Falcon, Suspicion, etc.

Top records include "Dancing in the Dark" (Artie Shaw) and "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (Glenn Miller).

Willie the Lion records with Sidney Bechet (Victor), including "Strange Fruit."

US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy.

Joe Louis becomes national hero.

1943 — Duke Ellington performs his "Black, Brown & Beige" at Carnegie Hall.

Fats Waller dies on a train near Kansas City. Willie the Lion in mourning.

Reports of over 3 million Jews killed by Nazis.

Riots in Harlem: 6 killed, over 500 injured and 1000 arrested. Mayor says, "This is not a race riot."

1944 — Radio variety shows popular: Stage Door Canteen, Ed Sullivan, Kate Smith.

Thelonius Monk records "Round Midnight."

On the Pop charts: "Don’t Fence Me In," "Acc-ent-chuate the Positive."

Willie the Lion records with Max Kaminsky & His Band.

Appears at Pied Piper in Greenwich Village (NYC).

Willie’s mother dies in Newark; he becomes cantor of a Harlem synagogue.

D-Day Allied invasion of Normandy.

US planes bomb Japan.

FDR re-elected to 4^th term.

1946 — Many big bands dissolve. Bebop becomes trendy; new generation of jazz musicians equate traditional jazz with "Uncle Tom music."

Folk-blues revival and boogie-woogie: record companies and nightclubs revive interest in "hot" and "Dixieland" jazz.

Willie the Lion begins having health problems.

In response to folk-blues revival, Willie says, "Nowadays, when they see a black man in the gutter, they ask for his autograph."

Jackie Robinson becomes 1^st black player in major league baseball.

1948 — Vaudeville returns, now on TV w/ Texaco Comedy Hour starring Milton Berle.

Columbia introduces 33 1/3 rpm long playing record.

Many 52^nd St clubs closing.

Willie teaching piano, working as a cantor, and performing at private parties, hotels and clubs in mid-town and Greenwich Village NYC.

Truman defeats Dewey in upset.

State of Israel created.