Chitlin' circuit
The "Chitlin' Circuit" is the collective name given to the string of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper mid-west areas of the United States that were safe and acceptable for African American musicians, comedians, and other entertainers to perform in during the age of racial segregation in the United States (from at least the early 19th century through the 1960s).[1]
In the 21st century, the term is applied to the venues where contemporary African-American blues singers such as Bobby Rush, Denise LaSalle, and O.B. Buchana continue to appear regularly, especially in the South. The name derives from the soul food item chitterlings (stewed pig intestines); it is also a play on the term "Borscht Belt", which referred to a group of resort venues (primarily in New York State's Catskill Mountains) that were popular with Jewish performers and audiences during the 1940s, '50s and '60s.[2]
Contents
Theaters and night clubs
Noted theaters and night clubs on the Chitlin' Circuit included the Royal Peacock in Atlanta; the Carver Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama; the Cotton Club, Smalls Paradise and the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City; Robert's Show Lounge, Club DeLisa and the Regal Theatre in Chicago; the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.; the Uptown Theatre in Philadelphia; the Royal Theatre in Baltimore; the Fox Theatre in Detroit; the Victory Grill in Austin, Texas; the Hippodrome Theatre in Richmond, Virginia; the Ritz Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida; the Manhattan Casino in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Red Bird Cafe in Frenchtown, Tallahassee, Florida, and The Madam C. J. Walker Theatre on Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis.
According to Ruth Brown, an artist needed to play at four of these theaters to prove they had made it: the Regal Theater in Chicago, the Howard in Washington, the Uptown in Philadelphia, and the Apollo in New York. This was called the "litchman chain".[3]
The song "Tuxedo Junction" was written about a stop along the Chitlin' Circuit in Birmingham. Once the performance was over, the band would leave for the next stop on the circuit. After composing the music, Erskine Hawkins explained the reason for the title to Buddy Feyne, who created lyrics to express the concept.[4]
Many notable 20th-century performers worked on the Chitlin' Circuit, including Count Basie, Sam Cooke, Sheila Guyse, Jackie Wilson, Peg Leg Bates, George Benson, Hammond B-3, Jeff Palmer, James Brown & The Famous Flames, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Wayne Cochran, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis, Jr., Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, The Jackson 5, Redd Foxx, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday, John Lee Hooker, Lena Horne, Etta James, B.B. King, Donna Hightower, Patti LaBelle, Moms Mabley, The Delfonics, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Wilson Pickett, Richard Pryor, Otis Redding, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Marvin Gaye, Little Richard, The Miracles, Ike & Tina Turner, The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, The Supremes, The Temptations, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Tammi Terrell, Muddy Waters, Johnnie Taylor, Tyrone Davis, O.V. Wright, Marvin Sease, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Flip Wilson, Jimmie Walker and Roy Hamilton. The 5 Stair Steps performed on the Chitlin' Circuit as well.
Mississippi Blues Trail marker
The second historic marker designated by the Mississippi Blues Commission on the Mississippi Blues Trail was placed in front of the Southern Whispers Restaurant on Nelson Street in Greenville, Mississippi, a stop on the Chitlin' Circuit in the early days of the blues. The marker commemorates the importance of this site in the history of the blues in Mississippi.[5][6] In the 1940s and 1950s, this historic strip drew crowds to the flourishing club scene to hear Delta blues, big band jump blues and jazz.
Contemporary use
Ebony magazine prefers the term "urban theater circuit" for recent work like that of playwright and actor Tyler Perry. In a January 2004 interview with Perry, the genre's leading practitioner, Ebony wrote that his work marked
- "a new chapter in the urban theater circuit as a whole—a genre that has been dogged by criticism from some Blacks in the traditional theater. Perry, as the most visibly recognized player in the circuit, has felt the brunt of this criticism.
- "'They say that Tyler Perry has set the Black race back some 500 years with these types of "Chitlin' Circuit" shows. The problem with the naysayers is that they don't take the opportunity to see my shows,' Perry argues. 'With my shows, I try to build a bridge that marries what's deemed "legitimate theater" and so-called "chitlin' circuit theater," and I think I've done pretty well with that, in bringing people in to enjoy a more elevated level of theater.'"[7]
The North Carolina hip-hop group Little Brother named their mixtape, Chittlin Circuit 1.5, after the venues.
See also
References
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- ↑ Frederick Douglass Opie, Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America, (Columbia University Press 2008), Chapter 7.
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Further reading
- Lauterbach, Preston. The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'N' Roll. New York: W. W. Norton, 2011. ISBN 978-0-393-07652-3
