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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

Narrator
Contributor
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
Work
Publication
Extent
1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 29 minutes)
Note
Title from title frames
Instance
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
Contributor
Film director
Narrator
Subject
Genre
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
Instantiates
Publication
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
Publication
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

Genre

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