Existing comment:
Eubie Blake (1883-1983), 1981, by Robert Walker (dates unknown).
Baltimorean James Hubert Blake was born in 1883, the son of former slaves. When he was six his mother bought him a $75 parlor organ for $1.00 down and 25 cents a week. A neighbor gave him piano lessons, and soon he was playing ragtime music that combined a syncopated African rhythm with a strong beat. At fourteen Eubie played in bars and sporting houses and later he and his partner, lyricist Noble Sissle joined the vaudeville circuit. in 1921, Blakes and Sissle wrote "Shuffle Along," a show combining ragtime music and jazz dancing performed by an all-black cast. "I'm Just Wild Harry," a popular song from the show became President Harry Truman's 1948 campaign song.
Though Eubie was one of America's foremost composers of ragtime and stage music, his career declined with vaudeville. The 1973 movie "The Sting" renewed the public's interest in ragtime and rejuvenated Eubie's career. He began playing again and made appearances into his ninety-seventh year. |