A historic venue with a divisive past.
The First Great Migration to northern states brought tens of thousands of African-Americans to
New York City, especially Harlem, during the 1920’s. Harlem soon became a nexus for art,
literature, and music. The clubs, speakeasies, and juke joints of Lenox and Seventh Avenues
characterized the nightlife. Places like Smalls’ Paradise, the Lafayette Theatre, Connie’s Inn, and
the Savoy Ballroom attracted Black audiences to their revues, comedy shows, and concerts.
However, it was the famous Cotton Club that attracted curious white patrons. and was THE
place for Cab Calloway’s subtle but indelible influence on American culture began the moment
he forgot the chorus to his own signature song. Picture the scene: The club is packed. Dancers
fill the floor. Calloway steps to the mic and begins that new song he’s been dying to sing. He
reaches the chorus. Something catches his eye. And he can’t remember what comes next.
Always the consummate showman, he improvises with some scat. The crowd joins in. The rest
is history.
That happy accident forever changed “Minnie the Moocher,” and introduced a piece of Black
history to future generations. The “call-and-response,” an intrinsic element of African culture,
was brought to America during the slave trade. Field workers incorporated call-and-response
into their work songs, to set the pace of labor, but also as covert communication. It became a
potent form of resistance, picked up again during the marches of the Civil Rights movement.
Of great pride to Calloway was “Minnie the Moocher’s” legacy for breaking the color barrier.
Over a million copies were sold upon release and was played on both black and white radio
stations. The story of a down-and-out opium addict, it seems, has universal appeal.
Calloway led what was arguably the most popular big band of the Harlem Renaissance and into
the Swing Era. He replaced Duke Ellington as the headliner of the Cotton Club. The fact that his
all-Black orchestra could play the Cotton Club but not enter as guests was not lost on him. As if
in response, he took his band on the road, leading a successful all-Black revue through the deep
South.
Music: Cab Calloway singin’ about “Poor Min” in his immortal “Minnie the Moocher”
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