Show 18 - Joe Louis is the Man

Show 18 - Joe Louis is the Man



Many songs were written about Joe Louis over his career from 1934 into the fifties. The songs reflect Louis’ status as a kind of a folk hero to black America and eventually to all of America. Louis was born Joe Louis Barrow to a family of sharecroppers in Alabama. He moved as a child with his family to Detroit. Louis was a popular fighter well before he became the champ. His 4th round knockout of former champ Max Baer made him famous. But the fight that made him a hero to millions of African-Americans was in 1935 against the giant Primo Carnera. Louis fought the Italian as the world was becoming aware that Mussolini’s Italy was about to invade Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia. As one of the few African nations remaining uncolonized, Ethiopia was a point of pride for the black world. Joe Louis came to represent Ethiopian strength in America. People throughout the U.S. rejoiced when Louis handled Carnera easily knocking him out in the sixth round. That same year, Memphis Minnie recorded two songs about the Brown Bomber and pianist Joe Pullum recorded “Joe Louis is the Man.”

Joe Louis had become a hero in the ring with his frequent victories. But in 1936 he suffered a devastating loss to German Max Schmeling. Despite the loss, the next year, Louis managed to become heavyweight champion by defeating Cinderella Man Jim Braddock. Even with the belt, the loss to Schmeling weighed on Louis and he never felt like the true champion. In 1938, Louis got his rematch against Schmeling. In the years since the first fight the exploits of Adolph Hitler had become common headlines and once again Louis was thrust into the role of representing American values and strength against an enemy. This time, Louis became the hope of not just African-Americans but virtually the whole country. Louis destroyed Schmeling. A new hero, Joe Louis became one of the country’s biggest celebrities.

Joe Louis enhanced his status as American hero when he joined the army to serve during World War II (which some referred to as Louis-Schmeling III). He appeared constantly in newspapers, magazines, and elsewhere. The importance of a black man achieving this iconic status at that time in America cannot be overstated.

Despite deteriorating abilities in the ring, Louis’ career continued into the fifties, largely because of tremendous financial difficulties. He owed millions to the IRS. His last professional fight was his 1951 loss to Rocky Marciano. After his death in 1981, the champ received a hero’s burial in Arlington National Cemetery. What Louis did along with other athletes like his friends Jesse Owens and later Jackie Robinson changed the attitudes of millions. His reception presented a stark contrast to that of the last black champion, Jack Johnson. This was reflected in the blues songs as well as songs by Sonny Count Basie, Cab Calloway and others. Louis’ life and career through the Second World War made him perhaps the most important athlete in American history and a natural hero in the world of the blues.


Songs:
Joe Louis is the Man - Joe Pullum
Joe Louis Strut - Memphis Minnie
He's In the Ring (Doing That Same Old Thing) - Memphis Minnie
Joe Louis Special - Jack Kelly
Joe Louis Blues - Carl Martin

Show 14 - Bonus Blues

Bonus Blues



The earliest recorded blues were made in the wake of the First World War. It’s tough to know how many blues musicians served, but the war was clearly a formative experience for many. Every veteran of the Great War was promised a pension that include $1 for every day served on the homefront and $1.25 for every day served overseas. The fight to actually receive this money would turn into one of the most important events of the Great Depression and inspire several blues songs.

Since 1929, Congress had reviewed the bonus situation several times and in 1932 a bill to allow immediate payment passed the House but not the Senate. In 1932, a Veterans Bonus Army, known as the Bonus Expeditionary force, (in an echo of the American Expeditionary Force that served in Europe) had marched on D.C. to demand payment. Black and white soldiers came from all over the country and formed integrated camps in Southeast D.C. along the Anacostia River. The veterans’ camp presented a stark contrast to the strictly segregated units the soldiers had served in during the war as well as to the still segregated streets of Washington D.C.

After the defeat of the Bonus Bill, President Hoover ordered the camp of the Bonus Army disbanded. General Douglas MacArthur led the effort to burn down the camp and force the veterans army out of D.C. The images of the standing army attacking veterans from its own ranks were printed in newspapers across the country, cementing national anger with the Hoover administration and creating great sympathy for the veterans.

After being cleared out in 1932, the veterans continued their campaign to receive the bonus money including additional marches on Washington that had vast public support The Government continued to resist immediate payment, citing concern about the effects of the huge expenditure on the economy. The veterans were finally successful in 1936. A bill to allow bonds to be cashed whenever the veteran chose passed over President Roosevelt’s veto.

Joe Pullum may have been the first blues singer to reference the bonus in his 1934 song “Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?” At that time the bonus money was available only in the form of bonds that could not be cashed out until 1945. Many veterans were able to capitalize on the bonuses through loans, but that entailed paying interest. That’s what Joe Pullum referred to when he sang about having his bonus money. Joe Pullum eventually recorded several more songs that reference the bonus including “Bonus Blues” in 1936.

Most of the blues songs that address the bonus talk about how the money will be spent when they finally get it. These include the Carl Martin, Peetie Wheatstraw, and other songs. The political issues are referenced indirectly as they often are in blues songs. As both pop music and a method of folk expression in the 1930s, the blues always provide interesting takes on issues that will affect individual lives.

I decided to make a show on this theme because I think the Bonus Army is a fascinating story and I liked the Red Nelson Wilborn and Cripple Clarence Lofton song. When I started to do research, I discovered a book by Guido Van Rijn. Roosevelt's Blues: African American Blues and Gospel Songs on FDR has a chapter on exactly this subject and it made it quite easy to put the show together.

Songs:
Black Gal What Makes You Head So Hard - Joe Pullum
I'm Gonna Have My Fun - Carl Martin
Bonus Blues - Joe Pullum
When I Get My Bonus (Things Will Be Coming My Way) - Peetie Wheatstraw
When The Soldiers Get Their Bonus - Cripple Clarence Lofton and Red Nelson
When I Get My Money - Bumble Bee Slim