The REAL Tent Show Queens: What Was On Their Mind?

Shouldn't we know that in 1960, a drag queen ruled the R&B charts for the first time in history?  You must remember Bobby Marchan (left) for the dance hits, Booty Green and Shake Your Tamborine.  If not, I know you've at least heard his There's Something On Your Mind (Parts 1&2) from 1960.  The monologue on Part Two might be a tad bit hysterical, but that's what made it a million seller.  Furthermore, it's a classic!  And despite public opinion, I don't throw the word around loosely. 

Bobby Marchan was a veteran entertainer by 1960, having paid his dues on the chitlin' circuit which is where he'd continue to work for the remainder of his career.  He was also a seasoned performer on another legendary circuit - the tent show!  Tent Shows were originally more like underground traveling revues of entertainers in rural black communities in the South.  Female blues singers usually ruled the Tent Shows, but there were female impersonators who were stars in their own right.  Why wouldn't they be?  They were talented and flamboyant, and in some cases very beautiful.  In time, they brought their gay and transvestite acts to city nightclubs (most particularly The Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans) which often served as launching pads for recording careers, and more mainstream success. 

Bobby Marchan, Larry Darnell, Jackie Shane, Esquerita, and Billy Wright are all alumni of the so-called "tent show" tradition.  They all enjoyed recording careers with chart successes in the early 50's, throughout that decade and well into the 60's.  Marchan and Larry Darnell remained active entertainers well beyond that.  The flamboyant blues-singing, piano-playing style they are now rightly credited for helping to pioneer reached its apex in Richard Penniman.  Billy Wright and Esquerita are especially named by Penniman as being major influences on his whole look and style as he morphed into Little Richard, the original Georgia Peach, the Originator and the Architect of Rock & Roll! 

However, one blogger & musicologist, has now infamously tagged them as the Tent Show Queens!

I don't quite know how I feel about that terminology.  I don't think he particularly used it in a derisive fashion,  but I think it might diminish their importance, and further relegate them off to the side as just another other.  On the other hand, if someone referred to Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and the various other 20's blues divas as "tent show queens" would they be lying?   As regal queens like Bessie stepped out of backwoods covered tents onto Broadway stages & into the movies, the hopes and dreams of their sister-like counterparts was no less expectant.

This is NOT Little Richard!  THIS is Esquerita!  He was either born Eskew Reeder, Jr. (or Steven Quincy Reeder, Jr.) in South Carolina in 1935, and later got his start in the gospel music industry as a teenager. 

Esquerita didn't start recording under his name until after Little Richard's initial success, therefore there is some debate on who actually influenced who?  They both wore heavy make-up and wigs piled up to make their pompadours even higher, but it is generally accepted that Richard took Reeder's manic performing style to even higher hights than either of them could have imagined.  During a decidedly checkered career, he did a stint in Riker's Island where he lost an eye, and had the distinction of recording with Jimi Hendrix, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John.  In 1963, he recorded a session with Motown Records, but they were never released commercially.  Although still fabulous and flamboyant in his later years, Esquerita died in poverty in 1986, due to complications from AIDS.  His 1959 RCA debut, described as so far out "where no man has ever gone" is available on CD.  He is a New Orleans legend!

I LOVE THIS PHOTO!  And I just had to add it in!  Check out the reaction Esquerita gets from the black ladies in the factory as he walks by in all of his fabulosity!

Larry Darnell is practically forgotten today, although in 1950, he was the biggest selling R&B artist of the year.  He is also the biggest selling artist for Regal Records, and his 1949 single for that label, I'll Get Along Somehow, another two-part hit with a crazy spoken monologue is, you guessed it - a classic!  Darnell was born in 1928 in Columbus, Ohio, but left home at age 18 to join a traveling revue called The Brownskinned Models.  Shortly thereafter, he settled in New Orleans where he gained notoriety at The Dew Drop Inn.  He recorded throughout the 50's with a few more big hits, but as the label he was contracted to dried up, basically so did his career.  Luckily, in 1955, Larry Darnell filmed a segment for the movie, Harlem Rock & Roll Revue.  It's on Youtube, where Darnell is seen soft, handsome and suited up all in his finger-snapping glory.  GO SEE IT! 

Larry  Darnell was jumped, beaten and bashed in 1979 after leaving a nightclub, and received severe injuries.  As the doctors fought to save his life, they discovered he had lung cancer.  He died in 1983.

Billy Wright was born in Atlanta, GA in 1932.  It was as a teenager that he first started doing drag in the nightclubs there.  In the late 1940's, Billy formed a bond with another female impersonator from "Snake Anthony's Hot Harlem Revue" named Richard Penniman.  "I copied him, you know, for my dressin' and my hairdo and my makeup...I would call him a butch boy, you know, but I duplicated him really" says Little Richard.  At the time, Dinah Washington was their idol, and they both built local careers singing in her style.  Wright hit the charts first with a double-sided hit in 1949 on Savoy Records, but was later very instrumental in getting Richard his very first recording contract.  Billy Wright recorded for Savoy Records throughout the 1950s, but enjoyed the heart of his success in the earlier part of that decade with popular blues hits like Stacked Deck!  *His original recordings are scarce, but I recently found a copy in good condition for .25c in a second hand shop!*  As Little Richard ascended the charts, Billy Wright dropped off into near oblivion.  By the 60's, Billy Wright's career was over and he was back in the nightclubs working as an MC and again as a female impersonator.  However, despite a serious stroke, Wright was one of the most popular MC's on the circuit well into the 70's.  He passed away from a pulmonary embolism in 1991.

 

Don't You Want A Man Like Me? Billy Wright asked in one of his hit songs, and Little Richard answered in the affirmative! 

Because of his flamboyance and sexuality, Billy Wright is routinely ignored by blues scholars even today.  But there is no doubt that he not only influenced Richard, but scores of others like James Brown, as well.

 

Jackie Shane singing Walkin' The Dog on Youtube is A MUST SEE!  The video, straight from a local Memphis television show in 1965, is an historical piece of footage! 

Somebody called it Prince meets Little Richard meets Eartha Kitt as Shane serves up bouffant hair, makeup and sequins.  He also gives some indication why he had several moderate hits throughout the 60's with In My Tenement, Any Other Way, and Comin' Down on Sue Records. 

I don't know much about Jackie Shane.  I'm not sure if he performed in the clubs of New Orleans or not.  Some sources say that he was more popular in Canada.  Maybe that's where he's from?  However, some others say that he is now living a quiet life in Nashville. I do know his album, Jackie Shane Live is SUPER RARE and SUPER EXPENSIVE!  I'll take a copy in any condition for my collection...hint!

In 1953, Bobby Marchan (seen here in stark contrast to the lead photo) organized a troupe of female impersonators at the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans, and finding the city to his liking, relocated from Ohio and rented a room above the famed establishment.  He was discovered the next  year and offered a recording contract by Ace Records under the presumption that he was a woman.  He had a few regional hits, and eventually joined the legendary New Orleans outfit, Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns, and created some of the city's most renowned R&B hits.  Otis Redding brought him to Stax Records in the 60's, and he began to make the transition toward singing the new style of music. Marchan recorded for many small labels, but most of his recordings failed to chart, and by the 70's, he was also back on the road as an MC and impersonator.  He worked in the music industry in many other capacities with moderate success well into the 1980's.  He passed away in 1999 after a bout with cancer.

The Tent Show Queens!  More man than some will ever be, more woman than some will ever get, and more talented than most!  God Bless 'em!

 

 

 

Comments

[Sebastian]

Wow, props to you and thanks, you have made me more informed of all our 'family' than anyone else has ever come close, keep up the good work, this was OUR history!

[bb]

This was a wonderful piece. Cannot lie, I am a bit jealous it got pass me and you wrote it up first. (Smile)

Simply wonderful in every way. A great read!!!! Wishing I could have visited te Dew Drop Inn way back in the day.

[Corey]

@Bronze Buckaroo! Hey...allow me this one - YOU GET EVERYTHING FIRST! LOL! The truth is I got it from a few other bloggers - but NONE of THEM can do it like US! BAM!

[Jim]

Love this post, Corey.

Thanks for sending me off to Jackie Shane’s “Walk the Dog” video. He is like the essence of fem cool.

And look at Bobby Marchan’s cheekbones! They’re olympic!

[jahlaune]

Great Blog and those men were FABULOUS ! Nothing else to say!

[jahlaune]

I must add this is the very first time as I read I was on bing searching for more pictures and at You Tube for music! Thank you for restoring my faith in a god blog!

[Corey]

@ Jim & Jahlaune: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Thanks!