Everything about Eubie Blake totally explained
James Hubert Blake (
February 7,
1887 –
February 12 1983) was a
composer,
lyricist, and pianist of
ragtime,
jazz, and
popular music. With long time collaborator
Noble Sissle, Blake wrote the Broadway musical
Shuffle Along in 1921; this was one of the first
Broadway musical ever to be written and directed by
African Americans. Blake's compositions included such hits as, "Bandana Days", "Charleston Rag", "Love Will Find A Way", "
Memories of You", and "
I'm Just Wild About Harry". The musical
Eubie!, which featured the collective works of Blake opened on
Broadway in 1978.
Birth
Born
James Hubert Blake at 319 Forrest Street in
Baltimore, Maryland, on
February 7 1887, to former slaves John Sumner Blake (1838 - 1917) and Emily "Emma" Johnstone Blake (1861 - 1927). He was the only surviving child of eight who all died in infancy. In 1894 the family moved to 414 North Eden Street, and later to 1510 Jefferson Street. John Blake worked earning
US$9.00 weekly as a
stevedore on the Baltimore docks.
Music
Blake's musical training began when he was just four or five years old. While out shopping with his mother, he wandered into a music store, climbed on the bench of an organ, and started "foolin’" around. When his mother found him, the store manager said to her: "The child is a genius! It would be criminal to deprive him of the chance to make use of such a sublime, God-given talent." The Blakes purchased a pump organ for
US$75.00 making payments of 25 cents a week. When Blake was seven, he received music lessons from their neighbor, Margaret Marshall, an organist from the Methodist church. At age fifteen, without knowledge of his parents, he played piano at Aggie Shelton’s Baltimore bordello.
Blake said he first composed the melody to the "Charleston Rag" in 1899, which would have made him 12 years old, but he didn't commit it to paper until 1915, when he learned to write in musical notation.
In 1912, Blake began playing in
vaudeville with
Jimmy Europe's "Society Orchestra" which accompanied
Vernon and Irene Castle's ballroom dance act. The band played
ragtime music which was still quite popular at the time. Shortly after
World War I, Blake joined forces with performer
Noble Sissle to form a vaudeville music duo, the "Dixie Duo." After vaudeville, the pair began work on a musical revue,
Shuffle Along, which incorporated many songs they'd written, and had a book written by
F. E. Miller and
Aubrey Lyles. When it premiered in June 1921,
Shuffle Along became the first hit musical on
Broadway written by and about African-Americans. The musicals also introduced hit songs such as "I'm Just Wild About Harry" and "Love Will Find a Way."
In 1923, Blake made three films for
Lee DeForest in DeForest's
Phonofilm sound-on-film process. They were
Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake featuring their song "Affectionate Dan",
Sissle and Blake Sing Snappy Songs featuring "Sons of Old Black Joe" and "My Swanee Home", and
Eubie Blake Plays His Fantasy on Swanee River featuring Blake performing his "Fantasy on Swanee River". These films are preserved in the Maurice Zouary film collection at in the
Library of Congress collection.
Personal life
In July 1910, Blake married Avis Elizabeth Cecelia Lee (1881–1938), proposing to her in a chauffeur-driven car he hired. Blake and Lee met around 1895 while both attended Primary School No. 2 at 200 East Street in Baltimore. In 1910 Blake brought his newlywed to
Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he'd already found employment at the Boathouse nightclub.
In 1938 Avis was diagnosed with
tuberculosis and died later that year at 58. Of his loss, Blake is on record saying, "In my life I never knew what it was to be alone. At first when Avis got sick, I thought she just had a cold, but when time passed and she didn’t get better, I made her go to a doctor and we found out she'd TB … I suppose I knew from when we found out she'd the TB, I understood that it was just a matter of time." and a
U.S. Library of Congress biography, incorrectly list his birth year as 1883. Every official document issued by the government, however, records his birthday as February 7, 1887. This includes the 1900 Census, his 1917
World War I draft registration, 1920 passport application, 1936 Social Security application, and death records as reported by the United States
Social Security Administration. Peter Hanley writes: "In the final analysis, however, the fact that he was only ninety-six years of age and not one hundred when he died doesn't in any way detract from his extraordinary achievements. Eubie will always remain among the finest popular composers and songwriters of his era."
Timeline
Diplomas, Honors and Legacy
1969: Eubie Blake's nomination for a Grammy Award for The 86 Years of Eubie Blake in the category of "Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Small Group or Soloist with Small Group".
1972: Omega Psi Phi Scroll of Honor
1974: Diploma, Rutgers University Doctor of Fine Arts
1978: Diploma, University of Maryland Doctor of Fine Arts
1979: Diploma, Dartmouth College, Doctor of Humane Letters
1979: Diploma, Morgan State University Doctor of Music
1980: Received the Johns Hopkins University's, George Peabody Medal
1981: Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on October 9, 1981, awarded by President Ronald Reagan.
1982: Diploma, Howard University Doctor of Music
1983: Inducted in the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
1995: The United States Postal Service issued a stamp in his honor.
1995: Inducted into the New York's American Theatre Hall of Fame.
1998: James Hubert Blake High School was built in Silver Spring, Maryland in his honor. Eubie Blake HS has a strong focus on the performing arts, and its instrumental music ensembles are perennial award winners.
2006: The album The Eighty-Six Years of Eubie Blake (1969) was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. The board selects songs in an annual basis that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."Further Information
Get more info on 'Eubie Blake'.
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