I'd Rather Be the Devil (eBook)

1 The Blues Singer In the winter of 1931, a blues singer boarded a segregatedIllinois Central passenger train in Jackson, Mississippi. He wasa small, dark, figure with a laborer's brawny build and a facethat was memorable chiefly for its blue eyes. He carried noluggage, except for a sixty-five dollar guitar that had recentlybeen given to him by a local record store owner. In his pocketswere thirteen dollars, expense money the same man hadgiven him. He had no idea how much he would be paid for the recordshe was scheduled to make, or how many songs he would beallowed to record. Almost nothing concerning the session hadbeen explained to him by his sponsor, who had given him histrain ticket. The man had been north of Memphis only once, two yearsbefore, and he was surprised to see a well-dressed, light-complexionedblack woman board the train at Springfield, Illinoiswith a white man, evidently her lover. He had never seen amixed couple. In his native Mississippi, a black man could notglance at a white woman without risking the wrath of Southernwhites, if a white man consorted with a black woman, he didso surreptitiously. Noticing his guitar, the man asked him if he could play AmI Blue*, a popular tune Ethel Waters had introduced a year anda half earlier in a movie musical. 'I think so,' Skippy James replied. After singing a verse, hecompleted the song with kazoo accompaniment Enraptured byhis performance, the couple engaged him in conversation. WhenJames explained that he was headed north to record for the Paramount label, the woman asked what songs he intended to record.She wrote down his address, and promised to buy his records. A few moments after they concluded their conversation, thewoman tapped him on the shoulder and handed him fifty cents.Silently, he snickered. Her lover was a wealthy Jew, he thought,he could have afforded a dollar tip. At six o'clock the next morning the train pulled into Milwaukee,Wisconsin. In the station, James was startled to find himselfhailed by a white stranger dressed in a business suit. As theman introduced himself as Art Laibly, the recording managerof Paramount, James wondered how Laibly had been able torecognize him. Together they rode an electric train to Grafton,a small town twenty miles north of Milwaukee. Laibly escortedhim to a local hotel, where he was to rest before the sessionbegan that afternoon. Before leaving James, Laibly asked himhow many records he could make. 'As many as you want,' Jamesreplied. Soon James fell asleep. At eleven a bellhop woke him andtook him to a cafe, where Laibly bought his lunch. As Jamesate, the 37-year old recording director explained the financialdetails of the recording session, offering him a choice betweena deferred sales royalty and a flat fee for making records overthe next two years. Believing that his records would sell abundantly,James decided to accept the deferred payment arrangement. At one o'clock, he was taken to a nearby recording studiolocated on the second floor of a deserted factory. The roomwas empty except for an engineer and a tall, attractive blackwoman who evidently worked as Laibly's assistant. A glance at the company's equipment satisfied him that itwas 'number one stuff.'