In celebration of Pride month 🏳️🌈 all of my posts this month will feature the music of LGBTQ+ artists of the 78 rpm era!
A final disc from our LGBTQ+ heroine of the week, Gladys Bentley (the “Toast of the East Coast”). This one from much, much later in her career, coinciding with an article in Ebony magazine called “I’m a Woman Again” in which she renounced her “abnormal life” as a “male impersonator”, under duress from the conservative repression of the McCarthy era 1950s.
It is difficult to imagine the pressure she must have been under at that time – trying to continue her career as a performer but under new trying circumstances. Perhaps that is why it is so telling that this record has no lyrics – just Bentley scatting along with her trademark trumpet-like voice to the backing of a soul-infused R&B quintette.
The optimism and exuberance of her performance speaks volumes.
The Flame label was owned by Jack Lauderdale, who started the Down Beat label in 1947. Only a handful of records were released from 1952-53 on this short-lived label.
Believe it or not, I actually got this record as a packer record – a disc that is part of a record sandwich to protect a third inner disc. Often used by 78 sellers as an insurance policy to guard against damage during shipment. Thankfully, it survived the trip – and I was absolutely delighted to get it for free!
Happy Pride!! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Recorded circa 1952 in Cincinnati, Ohio (?).
Released as Flame 1001.
Credits:
Gladys Bentley – vocals
Unknown Artists – sax, piano, bass, drums
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