The Resource T'ain't nobody's bizness : queer blues divas of the 1920s
T'ain't nobody's bizness : queer blues divas of the 1920s
Resource Information
The item T'ain't nobody's bizness : queer blues divas of the 1920s represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Deschutes Public Library.This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
Resource Information
The item T'ain't nobody's bizness : queer blues divas of the 1920s represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Deschutes Public Library.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
- Summary
- T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness excavates the hidden sexualities of Black female entertainers who reigned over the nascent blues recording industry of the 1920s. Unlike the male-dominated jazz scene, early blues provided a space for women to take the lead and model an autonomy that was remarkable for women of any color or sexual orientation. The fact that some of these women, still famous 90 years later, successfully conducted same-sex relations with friends and working partners is a tribute to their independent spirit and a marker of the relaxed mores that shaped the world of Black entertainment. Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues" recruited a devoted following touring the vaudeville circuit in the deep South and along the Mississippi River. Jazz historian Chris Albertson reveals the result of her partying with her chorines in Chicago, where she also recorded almost 100 sides. A true original, Ma Rainey wrote and recorded several songs about sissy men and mannish women - not all of them derogatory. The most famous blues artist of her day, Bessie Smith, was a sexual predator to both men and women. Her affair with Lillian Simpson, a dancer in her show, triggered one of the greatest fights in Smith's violence-soaked marriage to Jack Gee. Renowned Bay Area vocalist, Linda Tillery, talks about the inspiration Bessie provided for her life and music. Chris Albertson confirms the lesbianism of Alberta Hunter and Ethel Waters, an early blues singer who later earned stardom as a headliner on Broadway and as a Hollywood actor. And, finally, T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness, resurrects the reputation of Gladys Bentley, a Harlem nightclub singer famous in her day for wearing a tuxedo and boasting of her affairs with other women. Cultural historian Brian Keizer puts the early blues scene in its social context, pointing out that these women, alienated from mainstream society by race and cultural practice (the blues being regarded as the devil's music), created a space for themselves that presaged the freedom later claimed by the civil rights movement and, by example, gay liberation. Taking its title from a popular song of the day (written by gay musician Porter Grainger), T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness introduces contemporary audiences to the transgressive practices of the distaff side of the early blues. It wasn't all about cheating men and low times. To quote from the song, "If I go to church on Sunday/Then shimmy down on Monday/T'ain't nobody's bizness if I do."
- Language
- eng
- Extent
- 1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 29 minutes)
- Note
- Title from title frames
- Label
- T'ain't nobody's bizness : queer blues divas of the 1920s
- Title
- T'ain't nobody's bizness
- Title remainder
- queer blues divas of the 1920s
- Subject
-
- African American lesbians -- History
- BIPOC
- Bentley, Gladys
- Black people
- Blues (Music)--To 1931
- Blues musicians -- Biography
- Documentary films
- Hunter, Alberta
- LGBTQ people
- LGBTQ people -- History
- Rainey, Ma, 1886-1939
- Smith, Bessie, 1894-1937
- Streaming video
- Waters, Ethel, 1896-1977
- African American bisexuals -- History
- Language
- eng
- Summary
- T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness excavates the hidden sexualities of Black female entertainers who reigned over the nascent blues recording industry of the 1920s. Unlike the male-dominated jazz scene, early blues provided a space for women to take the lead and model an autonomy that was remarkable for women of any color or sexual orientation. The fact that some of these women, still famous 90 years later, successfully conducted same-sex relations with friends and working partners is a tribute to their independent spirit and a marker of the relaxed mores that shaped the world of Black entertainment. Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues" recruited a devoted following touring the vaudeville circuit in the deep South and along the Mississippi River. Jazz historian Chris Albertson reveals the result of her partying with her chorines in Chicago, where she also recorded almost 100 sides. A true original, Ma Rainey wrote and recorded several songs about sissy men and mannish women - not all of them derogatory. The most famous blues artist of her day, Bessie Smith, was a sexual predator to both men and women. Her affair with Lillian Simpson, a dancer in her show, triggered one of the greatest fights in Smith's violence-soaked marriage to Jack Gee. Renowned Bay Area vocalist, Linda Tillery, talks about the inspiration Bessie provided for her life and music. Chris Albertson confirms the lesbianism of Alberta Hunter and Ethel Waters, an early blues singer who later earned stardom as a headliner on Broadway and as a Hollywood actor. And, finally, T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness, resurrects the reputation of Gladys Bentley, a Harlem nightclub singer famous in her day for wearing a tuxedo and boasting of her affairs with other women. Cultural historian Brian Keizer puts the early blues scene in its social context, pointing out that these women, alienated from mainstream society by race and cultural practice (the blues being regarded as the devil's music), created a space for themselves that presaged the freedom later claimed by the civil rights movement and, by example, gay liberation. Taking its title from a popular song of the day (written by gay musician Porter Grainger), T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness introduces contemporary audiences to the transgressive practices of the distaff side of the early blues. It wasn't all about cheating men and low times. To quote from the song, "If I go to church on Sunday/Then shimmy down on Monday/T'ain't nobody's bizness if I do."
- Cataloging source
- UtOrKAN
- Characteristic
- videorecording
- Date time place
- Originally produced by Shoga Films in 2011
- http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
-
- Gomez, Jewelle
- Philipson, Robert
- Kanopy (Firm)
- Runtime
- 28
- http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
-
- Hunter, Alberta
- Smith, Bessie
- Rainey, Ma
- Waters, Ethel
- Bentley, Gladys
- Blues (Music)--To 1931
- Blues musicians
- African American lesbians
- LGBTQ people
- African American bisexuals
- LGBTQ people
- Streaming video
- BIPOC
- Black people
- Technique
- live action
- Label
- T'ain't nobody's bizness : queer blues divas of the 1920s
- Note
- Title from title frames
- Antecedent source
- unknown
- Carrier category
- online resource
- Carrier category code
-
- cr
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Configuration of playback channels
- unknown
- Content category
- two-dimensional moving image
- Content type code
-
- tdi
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Control code
- kan1178256
- Dimensions
- unknown
- Extent
- 1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 29 minutes)
- File format
- unknown
- Form of item
- online
- Level of compression
- unknown
- Media category
- computer
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- c
- Medium for sound
- other
- Other physical details
- digital, .flv file, sound
- Publisher number
- 1178256
- Quality assurance targets
- not applicable
- Reformatting quality
- unknown
- Sound
- sound
- Sound on medium or separate
- sound on medium
- Specific material designation
-
- other
- remote
- System control number
- (OCoLC)948843674
- System details
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Video recording format
- other
- Label
- T'ain't nobody's bizness : queer blues divas of the 1920s
- Note
- Title from title frames
- Antecedent source
- unknown
- Carrier category
- online resource
- Carrier category code
-
- cr
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Configuration of playback channels
- unknown
- Content category
- two-dimensional moving image
- Content type code
-
- tdi
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Control code
- kan1178256
- Dimensions
- unknown
- Extent
- 1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 29 minutes)
- File format
- unknown
- Form of item
- online
- Level of compression
- unknown
- Media category
- computer
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- c
- Medium for sound
- other
- Other physical details
- digital, .flv file, sound
- Publisher number
- 1178256
- Quality assurance targets
- not applicable
- Reformatting quality
- unknown
- Sound
- sound
- Sound on medium or separate
- sound on medium
- Specific material designation
-
- other
- remote
- System control number
- (OCoLC)948843674
- System details
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Video recording format
- other
Subject
- African American lesbians -- History
- BIPOC
- Bentley, Gladys
- Black people
- Blues (Music)--To 1931
- Blues musicians -- Biography
- Documentary films
- Hunter, Alberta
- LGBTQ people
- LGBTQ people -- History
- Rainey, Ma, 1886-1939
- Smith, Bessie, 1894-1937
- Streaming video
- Waters, Ethel, 1896-1977
- African American bisexuals -- History
Genre
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<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.deschuteslibrary.org/portal/Taint-nobodys-bizness--queer-blues-divas-of/9rvgQ507lAM/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.deschuteslibrary.org/portal/Taint-nobodys-bizness--queer-blues-divas-of/9rvgQ507lAM/">T'ain't nobody's bizness : queer blues divas of the 1920s</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.deschuteslibrary.org/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="https://link.deschuteslibrary.org/">Deschutes Public Library</a></span></span></span></span></div>