Agreed, I keep hoping someone will make a movie or miniseries, his story is pretty epic. He stands with Louis Armstrong and Glenn Miller as true giants of popular music.
A documentary on Ella Fitzgerald brought me to Chick Webb. Chick Webb brought me to James Barton, who actually performed in blackface in minstrel shows. Fascinating stuff. History in a bottle. Thanks for posting.
Process the Jim Crow and the stereotyping as the historical relics they are. Pay attention to Chick Webb's drumming but far more importantly to the visual documentation of the birth of Swing Dancing under the unsuspecting nose of the Jazz Age. Chick Webb was later to rule the roost at the Savoy Ballroom, known as "The Home Of Happy Feet" in the catbird seat for the birth of Swing Music and the Jitterbug, as the Lindy Hop became known by the end of the 1930's.
This was in 1929. Not quite swing yet. Armstrong just recorded with his hot 5 and 7s so it sounds like that type of jazz. But you can hear and see the swing era in its inception
A great piece of history! I remember seeing parts of this when attending a Swing Dance festival taught in part by Frankie Manning and one of his sons in 2003. Manning had a historian working with him to preserve the evolution and growth of swing dancing, and he was one of the OGs that helped popularize it. In 1929, a white man in blackface for vaudeville, minstrel shows, and films was commonplace. Manning chose to show us the last 4 minutes of this and talked about how it was good exposure at the time. It raised a lot of interest in swing dancing. In this film, vaudeville actor James Barton wrote the script and starred in it. Though it raises modern eyebrows to see him in blackface, notice that he starred as a black character married to a white woman AND most of the other people in the film were black. Black culture was prominent in the music and dancing, even when Barton was performing. To perform it that well, he'd have had to spend years working at it. In some ways, this film was somewhat progressive for its time, but aside from the dancing it would be a big step back today. My favorite dance moments were the end of Barton's solo routine, starting at 14:55 - I've never figured out how he managed that weird bouncing move.
yeah, that fast bounce he is literally just driving his feet down with his knees locked, so he might have a decent amount of spring in the floor, or most likely he is just wrecking his knees and loading his hamstrings like a maniac.
The audio quality is really amazing here. Also the actors are great, very nuanced and quite skilled. But back to the audio, they used an optical sound technology that had superior fidelity and would exactly synchronize with the film sequencing. Because there's no physical contact between the sound waves as captured on the film and the photosensitive reader, the resulting electrical sound signal is very clean and clear, as you can hear in this film. No hiss, rumble, rotation error or dirt noise. Much better than a phonograph although the frequency response was limited to a 50-8000Hz range, that's still pretty good and likely could have been improved. So it's interesting why sound didn't naturally head in that direction. The likely culprit probably had to do with corporate battles for market dominance.
Not digging the blackface or the stereotypes, but LOVE the ONLY footage of that great drummer of the swing era and the great music of the era.......3 stars.....
Their footwork doesn't suggest they were too affected by the blackface.... I'm white and you can go blackface all day long. Men were men then.... had thicker skin.
So? Someone who looks "rather peculiar" cannot do this: drumming, leading a band, playing music? Chick Webb had tuberculosis as a child, and this left him with a spinal deformity. It made no difference to his love for music: he first played drums professionally when he was only 11 years old. He should be an inspiration to us all.
James Barton may have come out of blackface minstrel shows and Vaudeville....but he obviously loved and identified with, African American culture, music and dance.
jsmall10671 he was performing an awful parody of African American culture. It must’ve been horrible to be an extra or on the band for this film shoot, if some of them had social/,cultural consciousness-and I bet some of them did.
All that lead-up stuff in blackface... it's amazing what passed for entertainment back then. There's just nothing there. Contrasted with some of the greatest music ever played.
I certainly agree about the great dancing and singing! The wonderful James Barton was the principle actor. Yes, the last tune was Tiger Rag. Barton headlined at the the Paramount Theater eight times in 1932 and his career spanned from minstrel shows and burlesque to vaudeville and silent films to Broadway and later, television.His years of experience working with African American performers led to his becoming one of the first jazz dancers in America. He was also a fine character actor. Check out his Wiki page.
Ok, saw that. Thanks. Funny they did not feature the leader much in that clip, mainly the other band members. Makes you think he was humble, most leaders would have made sure they were there somehow.
Well Chick was a little person, literally, and that might have had something to do with them thinking he wouldn't look their idea of charismatic on screen. Plus, important jazz musicians when they were in film _usually_ weren't treated like they were very important. Somebody like Howard McGhee, if you can find him, blink or you'll miss him, pretty much, that's usually how it goes. Billie Holiday got to play a maid...
It's really hard for me to watch this because I can't focus on anything but the horrible racism of the time. That said, thank you so much for posting this so we can try to catch a glimpse of the great Chick Webb.
Colianni Orchestra there is also this whole page on shorty and other Lindy Hoppers that shows clips of then dancing I will try to search for it and let you know but I discovered Lindy back in 2009 I'm not sure if the same website is up and running at this time I'll research it though.
why has no one commented this clip is about a white guy playing a black guy? love chick webb, but not the focus. i'm sure whites controlled film and chose to include blacks as "Being One of Them"...Native Americans have same history...
Dam Ham same here - I was on it as soon as the lead guy stepped out and started his banter. Fake, ugly stereotype and parody. It’s a shame that Mr. Webb’s supposed only existing film performance couldn’t be something that honors him and his people properly.
Chick Webb is also hidden due to his "uglyness" (Hunchback), so you only see him in the left corner briefly. And, one last thing, the title of the movie "After Seben" is officially After Seven but they wrote the way Afro-Americans apparently pronounced it. So all in all - once again a very racist short movie, sadly. I remember the first time I saw it, and I thought "Why is that guy looking so different" and I quickly got to the conclusion of black face. This was more than 25 years ago I think. I had a very bad copy on VHS-tape. We have a movie of first time Lindy Hoppers, great musicians and great dancing from The Afro-Americans strutting their stuff, which, sadly, have all the other elements in it too.
@@NathanThePrezPretlow Read up on the story - this clip is indeed filled up with racism all the way, and that was one of them. He was indeed hidden awat due to his size and hunch back.
Jesus Christ, this is a crime against humanity. having chick webbs orchestra in it just makes it worse. Look how pissed off they are when he's doing that idotic dance at the end
![B-17 FLYING FORTRESS BOMBERS RETURN WITH COMBAT DAMAGE AND WOUNDED HD COLOR [ WWII DOCUMENTARY ]](/img/n.gif)
And what a bummer, not getting to actually SEE Chick playing. You were outstanding Chick, my hero in more ways than one. ❤
Chick Webb, the greatest of drummers but so little too see of him.
Agreed, I keep hoping someone will make a movie or miniseries, his story is pretty epic. He stands with Louis Armstrong and Glenn Miller as true giants of popular music.
if you are trying to find the sweet sue style played , it by the Louisiana Rhythm Kings ,
A documentary on Ella Fitzgerald brought me to Chick Webb. Chick Webb brought me to James Barton, who actually performed in blackface in minstrel shows. Fascinating stuff. History in a bottle. Thanks for posting.
7:55 Chick Webb at the drums
11:41 First dance couple
12:32 Second couple
13:10 Third couple
Thank you! I never would have found him.
Process the Jim Crow and the stereotyping as the historical relics they are. Pay attention to Chick Webb's drumming but far more importantly to the visual documentation of the birth of Swing Dancing under the unsuspecting nose of the Jazz Age. Chick Webb was later to rule the roost at the Savoy Ballroom, known as "The Home Of Happy Feet" in the catbird seat for the birth of Swing Music and the Jitterbug, as the Lindy Hop became known by the end of the 1930's.
This was in 1929. Not quite swing yet. Armstrong just recorded with his hot 5 and 7s so it sounds like that type of jazz. But you can hear and see the swing era in its inception
Finally!! =D Chick Webb is one of the greatest jazz drummers of all time, and we barely have any footage of him!! Thank you!!
A great piece of history! I remember seeing parts of this when attending a Swing Dance festival taught in part by Frankie Manning and one of his sons in 2003. Manning had a historian working with him to preserve the evolution and growth of swing dancing, and he was one of the OGs that helped popularize it. In 1929, a white man in blackface for vaudeville, minstrel shows, and films was commonplace. Manning chose to show us the last 4 minutes of this and talked about how it was good exposure at the time. It raised a lot of interest in swing dancing.
In this film, vaudeville actor James Barton wrote the script and starred in it. Though it raises modern eyebrows to see him in blackface, notice that he starred as a black character married to a white woman AND most of the other people in the film were black. Black culture was prominent in the music and dancing, even when Barton was performing. To perform it that well, he'd have had to spend years working at it. In some ways, this film was somewhat progressive for its time, but aside from the dancing it would be a big step back today. My favorite dance moments were the end of Barton's solo routine, starting at 14:55 - I've never figured out how he managed that weird bouncing move.
yeah, that fast bounce he is literally just driving his feet down with his knees locked, so he might have a decent amount of spring in the floor, or most likely he is just wrecking his knees and loading his hamstrings like a maniac.
The audio quality is really amazing here. Also the actors are great, very nuanced and quite skilled. But back to the audio, they used an optical sound technology that had superior fidelity and would exactly synchronize with the film sequencing. Because there's no physical contact between the sound waves as captured on the film and the photosensitive reader, the resulting electrical sound signal is very clean and clear, as you can hear in this film. No hiss, rumble, rotation error or dirt noise. Much better than a phonograph although the frequency response was limited to a 50-8000Hz range, that's still pretty good and likely could have been improved. So it's interesting why sound didn't naturally head in that direction. The likely culprit probably had to do with corporate battles for market dominance.
Great to see the entire footage and so well presented - thanks!
Not digging the blackface or the stereotypes, but LOVE the ONLY footage of that great drummer of the swing era and the great music of the era.......3 stars.....
Their footwork doesn't suggest they were too affected by the blackface.... I'm white and you can go blackface all day long. Men were men then.... had thicker skin.
@@t.tocsmaillup8685
but of course your white bstrd azz doesn't have a problem with blkface....LOL....!!!
Yassuh.....btchazz clown.
THE Jitterbugging Lindy Hop dancing being born is the main point of the film.
@@t.tocsmaillup8685I think he's actually living his dream with the black face.
What a fabulous band..Great trumpet work on Sweet Sue
Ward Pinkett one of the very great trumpets
At 7:55, you can see Chick all the way to the left on the stage holding his sticks at the drum.
The way his footwork synced up with the frame rate like a strobe toward the end was cool.
So? Someone who looks "rather peculiar" cannot do this: drumming, leading a band, playing music?
Chick Webb had tuberculosis as a child, and this left him with a spinal deformity. It made no difference to his love for music: he first played drums professionally when he was only 11 years old. He should be an inspiration to us all.
beautiful dance!
As usual this is a 2reeler treet from HEAVEN! OMG! This is just FANTASTIC!
That was Awsome!!
James Barton may have come out of blackface minstrel shows and Vaudeville....but he obviously loved and identified with, African American culture, music and dance.
I thought he was the best dancer.
But did he see their culture? Or a twisted, elitist view of it?
jsmall10671 he was performing an awful parody of African American culture. It must’ve been horrible to be an extra or on the band for this film shoot, if some of them had social/,cultural consciousness-and I bet some of them did.
I think I saw a corner of Chick Webb between 7:58 and 8:02.
All that lead-up stuff in blackface... it's amazing what passed for entertainment back then. There's just nothing there. Contrasted with some of the greatest music ever played.
Shorty Stump and Liza Thunderdunk!
Great dancing and singing! Who was the principle actor? The last tune - for the solo dance- sounded as if it was on the chords of "Tiger Rag."
I certainly agree about the great dancing and singing! The wonderful James Barton was the principle actor. Yes, the last tune was Tiger Rag. Barton headlined at the the Paramount Theater eight times in 1932 and his career spanned from minstrel shows and burlesque to vaudeville and silent films to Broadway and later, television.His years of experience working with African American performers led to his becoming one of the first jazz dancers in America. He was also a fine character actor. Check out his Wiki page.
Song Living today with film Taxi driver?
After I saw the protagonist I fast forwarded immediately to look for Chick Webb but it appears to be yet another misleading or clickbait video.
At 7:55 you can see Chick Webb.
could not see chick but wonderful clip..
That's Chick holding the drumsticks at 7:57.
Ok, saw that. Thanks. Funny they did not feature the leader much in that clip, mainly the other band members. Makes you think he was humble, most leaders would have made sure they were there somehow.
Well Chick was a little person, literally, and that might have had something to do with them thinking he wouldn't look their idea of charismatic on screen. Plus, important jazz musicians when they were in film _usually_ weren't treated like they were very important. Somebody like Howard McGhee, if you can find him, blink or you'll miss him, pretty much, that's usually how it goes. Billie Holiday got to play a maid...
Fair call
Look to the far left you will see Chic holding the drum sticks.
He must be in there somewhere.
Where's chick?
Good question!
Watch closer at 7:58
It's really hard for me to watch this because I can't focus on anything but the horrible racism of the time. That said, thank you so much for posting this so we can try to catch a glimpse of the great Chick Webb.
Maybe, but the blackface guy smokes the other dancers. lol
Colianni Orchestra it was set up that way he was the star of the show. Shorty Snowden would have danced circles around him if this was reality.
Ah! Well, maybe so! I'd love to see Shorty dance some more. Can you direct me to some more clips?
Colianni Orchestra there are plenty just type in shorty George or shorty George Snowden
Colianni Orchestra there is also this whole page on shorty and other Lindy Hoppers that shows clips of then dancing I will try to search for it and let you know but I discovered Lindy back in 2009 I'm not sure if the same website is up and running at this time I'll research it though.
Sade ERA !!!! !!! TRISTE ÉPOQUE !!
why has no one commented this clip is about a white guy playing a black guy? love chick webb, but not the focus. i'm sure whites controlled film and chose to include blacks as "Being One of Them"...Native Americans have same history...
that's the first thing I noticed when it started..
Dam Ham same here - I was on it as soon as the lead guy stepped out and started his banter. Fake, ugly stereotype and parody. It’s a shame that Mr. Webb’s supposed only existing film performance couldn’t be something that honors him and his people properly.
Chick Webb is also hidden due to his "uglyness" (Hunchback), so you only see him in the left corner briefly. And, one last thing, the title of the movie "After Seben" is officially After Seven but they wrote the way Afro-Americans apparently pronounced it. So all in all - once again a very racist short movie, sadly. I remember the first time I saw it, and I thought "Why is that guy looking so different" and I quickly got to the conclusion of black face. This was more than 25 years ago I think. I had a very bad copy on VHS-tape.
We have a movie of first time Lindy Hoppers, great musicians and great dancing from The Afro-Americans strutting their stuff, which, sadly, have all the other elements in it too.
@@killerdillr Look fool Chic Webb was not hidden because of his damn handicap the drums set in always in the rear.Stupid.
@@NathanThePrezPretlow Read up on the story - this clip is indeed filled up with racism all the way, and that was one of them. He was indeed hidden awat due to his size and hunch back.
Didn't know the guy was white,but he could dance. He reminds me of that rubberlegs with Paul Whiteman in the King Of Jazz.
Nah, he's just shuffling around.
Is that a white guy in black face.Oh boy.Sign of the racist times then.Anyway the early jitterbugging dancing was historic to things yet to come.
+Nathan “The Prez” Pretlow It's funny that he's the best dancer out of all of them, though...
lol
kafenwar no he's not lol they just set it up that way
kafenwar I thought his dancing was awful. A spasmodic, twisted parody of the truly great black dancers of that era
Jesus Christ, this is a crime against humanity. having chick webbs orchestra in it just makes it worse. Look how pissed off they are when he's doing that idotic dance at the end
I thought he was rather peculiar looking myself.
хрень на палочки.
Not good barely any footage of chick Webb and a ton of stereotyped shameful acting
Micheal Jackson copied all this stuff. Novelty dancers.
He continued all this stuff. Continued kept it alive, not copied.