Bobby Short gets credit for keeping Cabaret alive and smiling in New York, and it isn’t all Cole Porter. Another slice of the repertoire comes from the jazz and blues divas of the 1920s and 30s.
Ethel Waters was the first and biggest of the black stars with hits like “Stormy Weather” and “There’ll Be Some Changes Made.” Bessie Smith may have been the most original and most influential with her own “Backwater” and “Shipwreck” blues, with classics like “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” and sexy subtleties like “Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl” and not-so-subtleties like “He’s Got to Get It and Bring It and Put It Right Here, or else He’s Going to Keep it Out There.”
There was also Edith Wilson, who sang: “He may be your man…but he comes to see me sometimes.” And “My Handy Man Ain’t Handy Anymore.”
Out of the blues tradition, a modern performer who remembers and gives credit – Bobby Short in this hour.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Bobby Short