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TAIHMEHT
Herb Jeffries: The Cowboy Code Today
hits for the forties, “ You, You Dar
ling ’,” with The M ills Brothers.
Recording in Nashville, Jeffries
realized that western an jazz had an
affinity for each other and decided to
blend them together, “ they ’ re the on ly
musical art forms bom here,” he says.
“ A ll he others are borrowed. But
there’ s a whole different cadence to
the music now than 50 years ago. I t ’s
not waltz-3/4-time western that Garth
and C lint are doing; it’ s a 4/4 beat,
which is line-dancing. It’s the same
beat as jazz! and there’s no genera
tion gap in line-dancing, it’s foryoung
and old. I smelled an inspired mar
riage and so did Jim Ed. Norman
(President o f Wamer/Reprise Nash
ville). A fter seeing an episode o f a
PBSseriescalled“ C alifom ia’sGold”
that featured singing cowboys Gene
Autry, Roy Rogers and Jeffries, Jim
Ed Norman called Jeffries in late
1993. That show in turn had been
inspired by a tribute concert the previ
ous year at the Gene Autry Western
heritage Museum in Los Angeles that
inicuded Autry, Jeffries, Rex Allen
and Patsy Montana, among others.
“ That was the first time I ’d worn
a Stetson in public in 50 years,” says
Jeffries, “ but I ’d never stopped lov
ing westerns or the image o f the
cowboy.” a pair o f his boots, a hat,
and posters from his oaters now oc
cupy a place in the museum.
How did a young man from De
troit become a singing cowboy?
From a theatrical family, he be
gan singing in a combo with a neigh
borhood piano prodigy, performing
locally and on radio. When Jeffries
moved to Chicago, he was discov
ered by Earl “ Fatha” Hines, who
invited him to sing at his local shows
there. Hines was so pleased that he
asked Jeffries to go on the road with
his band for a tour o f the South.
Herb Jeffries
“ The cowboy never discrim i
nated He just wanted to know ify o u
could ride and do the work. He didn’t
give a damn what color you were. We
could use more o f that cowboy code
today. No, this album is a lot more
than nostalgia. There’ s a message
too: There’ s only one race--the hu
man race.” Herb Jeffries
For the first, and only, black
singing cowboy on the silver screen,
there's no such thing as riding into
the sunset. In the late thirties, Herb
Jeffries became the first black movie
hero and, in the forties, a singing star
w ith the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Today, Jeffries is a phenomenally
vigorous 83-year-old w ho’s as char
ismatic (and his smooth baritone as
strong) as when the Bronze Bucka-
roo first saddled up. In fact, nearly 60
years after he made movie history,
he’s recorded his western songs for
the very first time on an album--The
Bronze Buckaroo (Rides Again),
produced by Jim Ed Norman and like
Jeffries himself, his Warner Western
debut is both “ Now and Then.”
“ 1 was like the Pied Piper at
personal appearances,” says Jeffries
at his Los Angeles home, recalling
earlier days. “ I had a Cadillac with
July 12, 1995 7:00 pm
T h e D a le V a n W o rm e r B a n d
August 9, 1995 7:00 pm
For Ticket Information Call EMO 221-1054
___
*• COUMUM *ONMR
C H A R G E -B Y -P H O N E ( 5 0 3 ) 2 2 4 - 4 4 0 0
J
7&
Seattle Women
in Rhythm & Blues,
Mitchy Ryder & The
Detroit Wheels,
Nick Vigarino,
Terrance Simien,
The Lily Wilde Band, &
The Brian Butler Band
Friday thru Sunday
July 21-23, 1995
Tickets: $35 in advance and
$40 at the door.
July 21 -2 2 -2 3
Booker T & the MG’s
Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
Roomful of Blues
Lily Wilde Band
Brian Butler Band
Paul Delay Band
Terrance Simien
Dorothy Moore
The Reputations
w/Rich Dangel
Seattle Women in Rhythm & Blues
Nick Vigarino & Mean Town Blues
Too Slim & the Taildraggers
Call
(509) 996-2148
for tickets.
0N SITE CAMP,NG available
liV l T P M
IVxvJ»/ l / V t
For Tickets, Lodging, Camping Information
Central Reservations (509)996-2148 • Ticketmaster (206)628-0888
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Booker T & The MG's,
The Reputations with
Rich Dangel,
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AHMIYERSAHV
b i71 SWCapitol Highway
T h e D a n B a lm e r T r io
Main Attraction:
Too Slim &
The Taildraggers,
celebrates its
-A L.
Hopewell House
V
Dorothy Moore,
W hc ^ o r t l a n b (f)l 15C V Ü C V
Benefitting
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
pr^Ct&hZ...
Paul Delay Band,
There were black cowboys.’ ”
Once, he saw a group o f white
boys ninning from a little black child
who was crying. It turned out they
were the c h ild ’ s friends but they’d
started playing cowboy and since
they’d never seen a black cowboy
they left him out. Jeffries told the
child what he knew ofblack cowboys
and the child wiped his tears and
scampered o ff after his playmates.
Says Jeffries, “ He belonged in the
posse as much as they.”
JAZZ VADER
THE STARS
steer homs up front and my name in
gold rope on the side and after the
picture I ’d do rope tricks, spin my
gun and sing songs from the movie.
Wherever I went kids would follow
me down the street-not only black
kids but white kids too, which was
unusual to see down South. They’d
see cowboys before but not movie
cowboys.”
Now, on The Bronze Buckaroo
(Rides Again), Jeffries sings brand-
new recordings o f his theme song,
“ I ’ m A Happy Cowboy,” which was
heard in all four o f his Saturday mat
inee horse operas; “ Pay Day Blues”
(from Harlem Rides The Range) with
Michael M artin Murphey; and two
new songs he wrote specifically for
the album, “ Lonesome Rider Blues”
and “ Down Home Cowboy.” He also
reprises the western classics “ Texas
To A T ’” (w ith L ittle Texas), “ Nine
Hundred M iles” (w ith the Sons O f
The San Joaquin), Bob N ola n ’ s
“ Tum bling Tumbleweeds” (an inno
vative version with the R &B group
Take 6), “ Cow-Cow Boogie” (with
singer-actor-musician Hal Linden on
clarinet) and Gene A u try ’ s “ Back In
The Saddle Again” (w ith Rex Allen,
J r), he performs one o f his many jazz
The Blues Ranch
8th Annual
Winthrop Rhythm
& Blues Festival
Jeffries, who grew up in an inte
grated neighborhood and went to an
integrated school, says he “ never saw
discrimination until I went South.”
Playing tin ro o f theaters and tobacco
warehouses, he noticed there were
thousands o f small movie theaters
where blacks went to watch the cow
boy pictures o f To M ix, Buck Jones,
Ken Maynard and Duke Wayne be
cause they weren’t allowed in white
theaters. “ I thought. M y god, there
should be black cowboy pictures.