Disver Sissy Man Blu: Straight & Gay Blu by Var Artists released 1989. Fd album reviews, track lists, creds, awards and more at AllMic.
Contents:
- THE BLU AND THE GAY COMMUNY: A STORY OM THE ARCHIV
- SISSY MAN BLU: STRAIGHT & GAY BLU
- GAY BLU: DEPRSN AND ANXIETY OM A LIFE FILLED WH PREJUDICE, DISCRIMATN, REJECTN, AND SRN N VASTATE HOMOSEXUALS, BUT THIS OFTEN CRIPPLG TRMA N BE OVERE. KDLE EDN
THE BLU AND THE GAY COMMUNY: A STORY OM THE ARCHIV
The history of pop mic, and of black pop mic particular, has always been gay history. * blues gay *
Her nfn is overstated, and maybe liberately ironic: Like her mil mentor Ma Raey, Smh had numero sexual relatnships wh both men and women, and was que faiar wh gay and lbian subcultur. Lyrilly she rarely flirted wh homoerotic material as did Ma Raey and Bsie Smh, and her only referenc to lbianism her tobgraphy are rogatory. Billy Strayhorn, pianist and wrer wh the De Ellgton orchtra, was openly gay.
Hugh' private life was also much ls public than Raey's—but most scholars believe he was gay, and he did wre sympathetilly about gay characters a number of his works. Gay performers, and sometim gay subtext, ntued to be a part of blu and jazz and their rivativ.
That history has often been obscured though, so that, for example, the mixture of gay and Ain-Amerin fluenc dis was seen at the time as somehow alien to, or outsi of, the blu/rock leage, rather than as a natural part of . But fact, the history of pop mic general, and of black pop mic particular, has always been gay history. ‘Prove It On Me’ was later reworked by another mician, Waymon ‘Sloppy’ Henry, who changed the song to foc on a gay male relatnship stead.
SISSY MAN BLU: STRAIGHT & GAY BLU
* blues gay *
Another song referencg gay male relatnships, and one of my favour on this list, is ‘Sissy’ by Louis Powell. Contug on this theme, Gee Hannah’s ‘Freakish Man Blu’ and Kokomo Arnold’s ‘Sissy Man Blu’ both reunt tal of gay or bisexual men. Specifilly, Jelly Roll Morton — who often creded himself wh ventg jazz — nsired Jackson a mentor and close well as beg a preternaturally gifted mician who ma an immeasurable impact, Jackson was gay.
In a world where intifyg as LGBTQ ntu to mean facg discrimatn and vlence, ’s certaly signifint that a black gay man was able to live wh some gree of eedom over a century ago — that, spe his work beg whewashed by mercial lyricists, he was able to exprs his affectns the vastns of pop culture. An effective show tune, Tony Jackson’s “Pretty Baby” was also a sweetly bold exprsn of gay affectn. Put an oft-quoted assertn, was “surely as gay as was black.
Jazz and blu weren’t straight and exclnary styl wh regard to Gladys Bentley, who rose to fame performg sus and ti at a gay-iendly Harlem club lled the Clam Hoe. Their mic was often sexually explic and clud referenc to homosexualy.
GAY BLU: DEPRSN AND ANXIETY OM A LIFE FILLED WH PREJUDICE, DISCRIMATN, REJECTN, AND SRN N VASTATE HOMOSEXUALS, BUT THIS OFTEN CRIPPLG TRMA N BE OVERE. KDLE EDN
Gay Blu: Deprsn and anxiety om a life filled wh prejudice, discrimatn, rejectn, and srn n vastate homosexuals, but this often cripplg trma n be overe. eBook : Clark III, John H.: Kdle Store * blues gay *
gay speakeasi drsed men’s attire and unr the name, “Barbara Bobbie.
Later her life, she studied to be a mister and claimed that she was cured of homosexualy by takg female hormon. They nied havg an affair, but mic bgrapher Gayle Wald wr Shout, Sister, Shout!, her 2007 bgraphy of Tharpe, that was an open secret.
He was openly gay and equently participated Civil Rights . Not even an idm like jazz, reputed for s loose, liberal nature, is ee om homophobic stras, so stands to reason that not everyone would want to hear such works as the tle cut or "Freakish Man Blu" by Gee Hannah and Mea Lux Lewis. There are some numbers that are simply double-entendre piec rather than gay treatis, but their cln don't tract om the eye-openg nature of such songs as "Two Old Maids In A Foldg Bed" or "Fairy Blu.