The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #46744   Message #2597304
Posted By: Gibb Sahib
25-Mar-09 - 05:31 PM
Thread Name: Jamboree: Oat Cakes?
Subject: RE: Jamboree: Oat Cakes?
Ha ha, indeed!
I've sung an extra bawdy version of "A Rovin" at a party...people were in tears laughing...though one or two probably also thought I was a sexist bastard!

This is kind of unrelated, but it makes me think about why people (or so some have theorized) started performing in "blackface" -- I mean a different reason than they were simply "white guys imitating/parodying/trying to be black." At that point in time, at first, performing such material must have been too much; it was stepping outside of the zone of what was considered appropriate for white singers. The black "mask" as it were "allowed" them to perform and have their performance interpreted as a different kind of expression.

After I recorded the version of Jamboree, above, I put a funky visual effect on it, as if it "hide" my identity. Of course, everyone will know it is me, but it is a gesture nonetheless that makes it as it it is not me in my "normal" mode. When I watched back the video, it made me feel that I was performing in a form of "blackface."

To try to answer your question, I know I've seen that Legman collection discussed on many a thread here, by people who move in circles that were close to Hugill.   I think the most and latest info on that so far is in this thread here.