<541, P age B4 ~iS9f 5, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver JJortlatxh © bseruer 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 i , eomuM) h ac c . a AMOClAnOM PGRTUMO «TAU UMVaRBTV CMC S tM M M rORTVAM) C iw T IA R » I X a a m * , u at o m / t » rn to u M . a m oau « u . coumum. or Booker T & The MG's, The Reputations with Rich Dangel, ¿ J' 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.