The sawdust was so high it was above the soles of your shoes. Eubie Blake leaped halfway from his seat and yelled “Oh, professor, professor, you hit me, you hit me!” He placed both hands over his heart and continued with great emotion: “You make me think of my dear mother. Eubie Blake’s career, and life, did not end until he died in February 1983, one hundred years after he had been born. Despite his mother’s negativity and sometimes ferocity, Eubie Blake grew into the shoes he had planned to wear from early on. At twelve, Eubie “Hubert” Blake was busy with his passion. Back in Baltimore, Eubie became a relief pianist for Big Head Wilbur at Alfred Greenfield’s Saloon for $1.25 a night. Baltimore in the late 1800’s was an elegant woman picking herself up after being thrown by a horse. There is much in the way of legal demographic evidence to show that Blake was actually born in 1887, not 1883 as was commonly written throughout the second half of the 20th century. John Blake himself made $9 a week. Life casts of musician Eubie Blake's hands made of polyester resin. Eubie’s father, John Sumner Blake, was a stevedore at the Baltimore docks. Blake gives a personal performance of his ever popular "Charleston Rag". Eubie kept his career a secret from his parents until one day when a neighbor lady told Mrs. Blake she had heard coming out of Aggie Sheldon’s piano playing that could only be Eubie’s – because of the “wobble-wobble” in the left hand – a sort of reverse boogie bass which came to be Eubie’s trademark. ... Holding hands at midnight 'Neath a starry sky… Nice work if you can get it, And you can get it if you try. He and Noble Sissle remained partners for fifty years. Here there were many fights and a lot of rough language. He always said he wanted to live to be a hundred. She always sang like that. This Eubie accomplished. Tags 1978-79, Eubie Blake, Gary Busey, Gregory Hines, saturday night live, Season 4, snl 8 Replies to “March 10, 1979 – Gary Busey / Eubie Blake and Gregory Hines (S4 E14)” Jurb says: Once on a streetcar, she said of his pianist’s hands, “Double those fingers up! The store manager, impressed with Eubie’s ability, convinced Mrs. Black to purchase a $75 piano for $.25 a week. Sissle and Blake – the “Dixie Duo” – were one of the first Negro acts to play without burnt cork. The casts end at the wrists and the proper left hand is pointed upwards, while … Eubie Blake seemed to know exactly what he wanted to do with his life from the time he first embarked upon it. Created by Bobbiegita Walker, American, born 1942 Subject of Eubie Blake, American, 1887 - … For more information, visit the Smithsonian's, International media Interoperability Framework. The ink was still wet, and by the time Sophie held it in her hands the ink had run so badly the music was nearly unreadable. James Hubert "Eubie" Blake was an American pianist, lyricist, and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Eubie Blake leaped halfway from his seat and yelled “Oh, professor, professor, you hit me, you hit me!” He placed both hands over his heart and continued with great emotion: “You make me think of my dear mother. Len Lyons, in “The 101 Best Jazz Albums” said, “Their most powerful imprint upon the American theatre was made with the 1921 black musical “Shuffle Along,” which ran for a year and a half on Broadway. One day Eubie watched as a friend damaged someone’s property, and stayed on the scene after his friend had run away. Shop for Eubie Blake related autographs, signed photographs, historical documents and manuscripts from the world's largest collection. Signed 8x10 black and white publicity photograph of the musician and composer sitting down with his hands crossed in a dark suit-and-tie, glasses and cloth cap. Eubie’s wife, Avis, died in 1939. From 1910 until 1915, Eubie again spent his summers in Atlantic City. Ducking behind the piano saved his life. Recorded in 1969 But he got it to play for the pimps dressed for the evening in their full-backed coats, tight-legged pants, Stetson hats, gold watch chains and diamond rings. Biography. Eubie Blake and His Orchestra Eubie Blake & His Orchestra Real name James Hubert Blake Born February 7, 1887 Died February 12, 1983 Country United States IPI 00003303059 Comments Popular, ragtime and jazz pianist. He said no, I don't write the music, I write the lyrics. James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983), was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. (from Reminiscing With Sissle & Blake by Robert Kimball & William Bolcom). John and Emma Blake had been slaves in Virginia and came north to seek a better life. And shaking hands with Jimmy Carter, and we all got a souvenir picture of shaking hands with the president at that time. Just before Eubie died, the City of New York held two grand events celebrating his centennial. James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983), was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Eubie proved to be a torment to his mother, a demigod to upcoming Black musicians, and a credit to American society. I wish I I was twenty again!” Eubie looked at her and said “Ahh! Eubie used to laugh, much later, talking of their beginning: “Some agent had a smart idea for an act for us. The casts end at the wrists and the proper left hand is pointed upwards, while the proper right hand is positioned at an angle. For Negroes it was a test of their ability to “…survive hardship and deprivation in a hostile environment,” according to Lawrence T. Carter, a Detroit journalist who wrote a book called “Eubie Blake: Keys of Memory.”  For Eubie’s parents, John and Emma, it was a time of making do with what they had and scraping to make a decent living for their family. And he did, even though he smoked and ate sweets! For the white ladies of the evening, he played the greatest hits of the times:  “After the Ball,” “Maggie Murphy’s Home,” “Hello! And I remember on the occasion, Eubie Blake was there; the bass player we used to call the Judge, Milt Hinton, he was there. The early 20th century ragtime and jazz musicians Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle had a major hit on their hands when they co-wrote Shuffle Along, the first major Broadway musical by, for, and about African Americans. They collaborated on more musical comedy. Eubie “The Indestructible,” as some called him – a man whose fingers could span twelve keys, ragtime pianist/composer and vaudevillian. Sometimes “destiny” comes into play at “the right time.”  It was in 1915 when Blake met Sissle, his partner-to-be. We support, develop, promote and advocate for cultural and educational programming in the visual and performing arts. I can hear her now. "IF I'D KNOWN I was gonna live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself," Eubie Blake remarked while celebrating his 100th birthday. Thaťs the stuff I was raised on.” Life casts of musician Eubie Blake's hands made of polyester resin. Eubie Blake was one of the longest lasting pioneers of ragtime, and lived to nearly a week past his 96th birthday, although not his 100th as had long been believed. Digial.com Best Video Production Companies 2020, Ava Platinum Winner for Full Cycle: A World Odyssey, San Diego Video Production Company on Clutch. His trick was to accent on-the-beat, off-the-beat, and in-between in an “angular but flowing melodic sense, full of surprising leaps and turns.”. He could consume two quarters of champagne in an evening without any discernable effect. One of Eubie’s jobs, after Sheldon’s, was to be “Professor Hubert Blake,” who played a melodeon – a small reed organ – while buck dancing on the tailgate of a horse-drawn wagon. Out the window he flew, down the shed roof and over the fence, straight to the pool room for the long pants he rented from Rabb Walker, then off to Aggie’s to play piano. Ornette Coleman was there. Eubie began taking classical piano lessons from a neighbor. James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983), was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of Rag Time Jazz. Eubie Blake - Autographed Signed Photograph - Item 30656. Life casts of musician Eubie Blake's hands made of polyester resin. He used to say she was one of the ten most beautiful girls in Baltimiore. Its called from rags to classics I do play some classics on, there. But you got to get up and go out and live your life.”, This Eubie did. One of these was One-Leg Willie Joseph, whose leg had been lost in an ice-skating accident. He returned later with a ham, a turkey, sweet potatoes and the works, with a quarter left over for Eubie. Blues, Rags and Stomps, Op. He was born to former slaves, Emma and John Sumner Blake, on February 7, 1883 in Baltimore, Maryland. The collection consists of one handwritten letter by Eubie Blake to Professor John Garvey, director of the University of Illinois Jazz Band, dated August 3, 1969. What sort of a legacy did he leave to fellow musicians and fellow humans? Ira Gershwin. The casts end at the wrists and the proper left hand is pointed upwards, while the proper right hand is positioned at an angle. His friends later said of him that they knew his spirit was hanging on, more than the body, because of his strong will to live. The Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center brings artists and audiences from diverse backgrounds together. He told the agents that Sissle and Blake had played in the houses of millionaires and the social elite and they dressed in tuxedos and he’d be damned if he’d let us go on stage in old overalls and act like a couple of ignoramuses.”. The floors were covered with sawdust. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Eubie Blake is in total command of his mind and memory and of his still-facile and majestic hands. There are five undated manuscripts in Blake's hand of his arangements for the songs “They All Played Ragtime” tells of a gala performance of “Shuffle Along” in Baltimore in which blacks by special permission were allowed to sit in the boxes. An artist develops his or her creativity simply by developing themselves. “Eubie’s mother, however, was not won over by her son’s success. Thaťs the stuff I was raised on.” Signed 8x10 black and white publicity photograph of the musician and composer sitting down with his hands crossed in a dark suit-and-tie, glasses and cloth cap. The ragtime pianists, reveling in their art, called themselves by such names as The Shadow, Jack the Bear, Big Head Wilbur, No Legs Casey, Abba Labba, Cat-Eye Harry, Boots Butler, Sparrow, Seminole, Slue-Foot Nelson, Sheet-Iron Brown, Wild Cat Joe, Black Diamond, Squirrel and John the Baptist (from Reminiscing With Sissle & Blake). Or perhaps she had been waiting up, as some mothers do, to see that her son was okay. Of course he was the apple of his mama’s eye. It was the 13th of March, 1915, and we are still partnerds today. Eubie Blake ended his bawdy house career after one evening when, mistaken for one of the bartenders at the Middle Section Assembly Club, Blake was shot. You can see they’re gone and the world is still here. 1, was composed by Robert Boury between 1970-1973. I can hear her now. He was a prize piano student at the Boston Conservatory who influenced Eubie with the dramatic soft and loud contrasts of his music. He describes Rachmaninoff's legendary hands interpret the tune through octaves across the keyboard, a reminder that Blake … Inside the joint there were no chairs, only beer barrels and boxes scattered about big round iron tables. Then we shook hands. Between 1906 and 1907 Eubie spent summers playing piano in Atlantic City where he met, competed with, influenced and was influenced by other musicians. Eubie Blake leaped halfway from his seat and yelled “Oh, professor, professor, you hit me, you hit me!” He placed both hands over his heart and continued with great emotion: “You make me think… I can hear her now. Eubie kept his career a secret from his parents until one day when a neighbor lady told Mrs. Blake she had heard coming out of Aggie Sheldon’s piano playing that could only be Eubie’s – because of the “wobble-wobble” in the left hand – a sort of reverse boogie bass which came to be Eubie’s trademark. Emma “washed and cleaned for white folks.” (LT Carter). The idea was to look at it as it it were from the moon and I’d say, ‘What’s dat?’ and Noble would say, ‘Dat’s a py-anner!’ and then we’d do our act. You are truly one of our greatest treasures.”, Eubie thought that music was something that could last a lot longer in the minds of some people than he himself could. He felt, lived and played his music. Did he “practice what he preached?”  Who was Eubie Blake? Like his childhood games, he made a challenge of piano-playing to himself and others. Blake’s songs included ‘I’m Just Wild About Harry,’ ‘Love … Eubie Blake: From Mouse To Lion. It looks like there's an issue with JavaScript in your browser. Eubie’s friend said “Ahh! Authentic Boldly Hand Autographed Signed 3" X … 1400 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20560, Get the latest information about timed passes and tips for planning your visit, Search the collection and explore our exhibitions, centers, and digital initiatives, Online resources for educators, students, and families, Engage with us and support the Museum from wherever you are, Learn more about the Museum and view recent news, There are restrictions for re-using this image. In 1972, Mr. Blake started a record company, Eubie Blake Records, for which he was the principal performer, and continued to write and publish rags. At 90, “Eubie had a spring in his step, jumped out of his chair whenever a lady entered the room and could recall 1907 and last week with equal alacrity.” So wrote Lynn Norment in an Ebony article called “Farewell to Ragtime’s Apostle of Happiness.”, Nearing his 100th birthday, while sitting at a table with a man in his forties, a beautiful woman moved across the dance floor. Well, Pat Casey (their agent) would have none of that. The photographs in the book are close crops of fingers on fretboards and keys as well as wider shots whose focus, nonetheless, is hands. He always remembered her “quick darting eyes” at moments before she unleashed one of “Jehovah’s thunderbolts” at his sinful head, and even in his twenties asked her to restrain her vengeance because “I look so bad up there on stage with all those welts.”, Mrs. Blake was perhaps conflicted for having bought her son a piano and investing in lessons while opposed to “the devil’s music,” ragtime, which Eubie loved to play. It was Christmas. EUBIE BLAKE Signed black and white 7¾x9¾ photograph of Blake sitting down with his hands crossed and wearing a dark suit-and-tie, glasses, and cloth cap Photograph signed "Eubie Blake". National Museum of African American History and Culture, http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd59bfda784-cacf-46c3-ba95-19700462484e. Eubie himself had made the claim that he would cut up – outlast – his musician friends, as in his piano-playing. Born James Hubert Blake, February 7, 1883, in Baltimore, MD; died February 12, 1983, New York, NY; son of James Sumner Blake and Emily Johnston; married Avis Lee, July 1910-1939; Marion Gant Tyler 1945-1983; Began career as ragtime pianist in 1898; composed first piano rag, 1899; performed in Dr. Frazier’s Medicine Show in 1901 and toured with the stage show Old Kentucky in 1902; performed as a pianist at the Gold-field Hotel, Baltimore, 1907-1915; met Noble Sissle in 1915 and began musical association; tou… by pattykaymooney | Jul 29, 2016 | Profiles. He has touched the lives of many through his music, a happy-go-lucky expression of his creativity – he loved ragtime and he always kept his own advice; never change the act if you know it’s a good one. But her feelings never stopped her from being a disciplinarian, rigid in her religious beliefs. He will entertain you completely if you’re ever lucky enough to attend him in concert. She always sang like that. 1972, Berlin, Eubie Blake (p,v): 3:33 Charleston Rag / 4:35 I am Wild About Harry / 5:50 Memories Of You / Recorded in 1968 and 1969, this record is by far the best way to get to know, love, and appreciate Eubie Blake, master of ragtime and gorgeous melodies.The taproot of jazz runs directly from Blake's generation up through all of those Eastern Seaboard ticklers, most significantly James P. Johnson and the school of what critics and historians have labeled Harlem stride piano. Every purchase includes our industry recognized COA. And twelve was when he first got drunk. It was really quite remarkable. We were supposed to shuffle on stage in blackface and patched-up overalls. When the elderly Mrs. Blake was congratulated at a backstage party on Eubie’s great achievements, she replied, “Some may see it that way but he might have done it all for Jesus instead.”. He began composing his own music. When I came home, my mother would say, ‘Don’t bring that stuff in here. Twelve was when he sang outside local bars with a group of friends for change. As he matured, his mother would wail, “the devil got in his fingers!”  And: “Take that ragtime out of my house!”. Donated by the Ann Arbor News. In 1910 he married Avis Lee of Baltimore, who herself was an accomplished classical pianist, an ex-schoolmate of Eubie. B This one is Eubie Blake alone playing piano alone. Eubie Blake leaped halfway from his seat and yelled “Oh, professor, professor, you hit me, you hit me!” He placed both hands over his heart and continued with great emotion: “You make me think of my dear mother. Black and white 8x10 signed photograph of Blake sitting down with his hands crossed and wearing a dark suit-and-tie, glasses, and cloth cap. He did not marry again until 1945 after he fell in love with Marion. He integrated this education, music he heard on the street and the “rhythms and syncopations in his mother’s own Baptist church,” into his style. You look like a pickpocket!”. Sourced quotations by the American Lyricist Eubie Blake (1887 — 1983). Neither John nor Emma were musically inclined, except for Emma’s love of gospel music; she crooned hymns to her son in his crib. If it was you that was gone, it would still be here, too. Emma, small, tough and fervently religious, gave birth to 12 children, only one of whom lived past infancy – Eubie. Eubie Blake is in total command of his mind and memory and of his still-facile and majestic hands. Black Americans. Matthew Paris and David Zimmer interview ragtime virtuoso and musical genius Eubie Blake at his Brooklyn home. Creative Commons. ... ‘delicate but powerful’ hands. Enjoy the best Eubie Blake quotes and picture quotes! Eubie’s mother could not keep him from pursuing his career. Emma relented as long as her son would play only religious tunes. … Eubie worked hard to develop his style, with emphasis on learning “tricks” that he, and he alone could play. The upright piano was still in its packing crate when Eubie first arrived. His father found him weaving in the street, brought him home to Mrs. Blake who “could smell whiskey on your breath if you were in Los Angeles and she was in Baltimore,” as Eubie Blake was later to say. This was the stage set for Eubie Blake. After the discovery about her son, Mrs. Blake called father and son into the room and said to John, “Do you know that Mr. Blake (which she called her son when she was displeased) has been playing in a bawdy house?”  Mr. Blake took his son outside and questioned his son, “How much money have you been making, boy?”  Eubie replied by taking his father upstairs, to show him $100 stashed under the carpet. Blake, 32 – ragtime pianist and composer, wedded his talents to those of Noble Sissle, 25, a singer and lyricist from Indianapolis. With his long fingers and piano-key-sparking talent, Eubie found himself a job. When asked who had thrown the rock, a woman witness pointed at Eubie and said, “That mouse-faced boy.”  Eubie thereafter became known as “Mouse” to his friends. It consists two books, three movements each. Ma Baby,” “Doobye Dolly Gray,” “Any Old Rags?” and ironically, “A Bird in a Gilded Cage.”  Before long, Eubie started to wear a pair of long pants that came up to his armpits. What was his philosophy of life? University of Michigan - African-American Music Collection Recorded in 1968 and 1969, this record is by far the best way to get to know, love, and appreciate Eubie Blake, master of ragtime and gorgeous melodies.The taproot of jazz runs directly from Blake's generation up through all of those Eastern Seaboard ticklers, most significantly James P. Johnson and the school of what critics and historians have labeled Harlem stride piano. Eubie later said, “I worked form 4 PM till midnight. They brought their first collaboration – “It’s All Your Fault,” to Sophie Tucker, at the Maryland Theatre. Eubie Blake initiated the heyday of the black musicals, and his work was in demand through the 1920’s. At fifteen, still wearing short pants, he played piano in Aggie Sheldon’s bawdy house. The other event was an all-star musical tribute to Eubie Blake, at which he was certainly there in spirit. He will entertain you completely if you’re ever lucky enough to attend him in concert. Eubie also became a very excellent buck dancer and this talent One day when he was six years old, Mrs. Blake took her son into a department store where he strayed from her side and wandered into the musical instruments section. Eubie had pneumonia and couldn’t leave bed to attend; but music from the 24-hour jazz concert at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church was telephoned in to him on a special apparatus. New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo expressed the feelings of many when he composed the following mailgram to Eubie Blake for his centennial birthday:“We have all been enriched by your extraordinary contributions to the music of this century. It was 1901. There was a gang of people there. Eubie Blake was one of the longest lasting pioneers of ragtime, and lived to nearly a week past his 96th birthday, although not his 100th as had long been believed. He climbed up onto an organ stool and began picking out tunes on an organ. The South, our elegant lady, was in the process of letting wounds heal, reviving and rebuilding. This brought on the conflict with his mother which he had feared. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu.