Billed alternately in the ads as “Sepia Prima Donna”, “The Sepian Nightingale”, “Siren of Songs”, “Songbird of the South”, “Bundle of Blues”, “Popular and petite songbird”, “The aristocrat of song”, “The Broadway Favorite and Singing Sensation”, “Second to Marian Anderson” or “Greatest colored soprano” (sic). Still: if we had to rely on Cab Calloway’s autobiography to find out a little more about this singer who was the canary for the orchestra for more than 7 years, we wouldn’t get very far! The Hi De Ho Blog invistigated and tells you almost everything about a great singer (cousin of the singer and TV star Leslie Uggams) admired then and forgotten today. Read the full story →
PART I: THE EARLY YEARS AND NEW YORK (by Keller WHALEN) The Sepia Mae West, Copper-Colored Mae West, Creole Mae West, Scarlett O’Hara from Lennox Avenue, Gypsy Rose Lee in Bronze, Rainy Day Sadie, the Duchess of Yorkville, the Chick with the Limber Timbre, and Miss Atomic Blues. These are all sobriquets given to Mae Johnson, forgotten star of the Cotton Club. Read the full story →
PART 5: THE OTHER MAE JOHNSON & OTHER SEPIA MAE WESTS The Sepia Mae West, Copper-Colored Mae West, Creole Mae West, Scarlett O’Hara from Lennox Avenue, Gypsy Rose Lee in Bronze, Rainy Day Sadie, the Duchess of Yorkville, the Chick with the Limber Timbre, and Miss Atomic Blues. These are all sobriquets given to Mae Johnson, forgotten star of the Cotton Club. Read the full story →
PART 4: LOS ANGELES, RECORDS, AND THE STAGE (by Keller Whalen) The Sepia Mae West, Copper-Colored Mae West, Creole Mae West, Scarlett O’Hara from Lennox Avenue, Gypsy Rose Lee in Bronze, Rainy Day Sadie, the Duchess of Yorkville, the Chick with the Limber Timbre, and Miss Atomic Blues. These are all sobriquets given to Mae Johnson, forgotten star of the Cotton Club. Read the full story →
PART 3: THE MOVIE CAREER (by Keller WHALEN) The Sepia Mae West, Copper-Colored Mae West, Creole Mae West, Scarlett O’Hara from Lennox Avenue, Gypsy Rose Lee in Bronze, Rainy Day Sadie, the Duchess of Yorkville, the Chick with the Limber Timbre, and Miss Atomic Blues. These are all sobriquets given to Mae Johnson, forgotten star of the Cotton Club. Read the full story →
PART 2: THE COTTON CLUB REVUES (by Keller Whalen) The Sepia Mae West, Copper-Colored Mae West, Creole Mae West, Scarlett O’Hara from Lennox Avenue, Gypsy Rose Lee in Bronze, Rainy Day Sadie, the Duchess of Yorkville, the Chick with the Limber Timbre, and Miss Atomic Blues. These are all sobriquets given to Mae Johnson, forgotten star of the Cotton Club. Read the full story →