Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake Sing Snappy Songs

When the All-Black musical "Shuffle Along" opened on Broadway in May of 1921 it created a sensation, earned rave reviews, and then played to packed houses for over a year. Although it wasn't the very first Broadway show conceived, written and performed by African Americans, it was nonetheless seen as something different, modern and urban, a smart show that made a break from the old minstrel-style tradition. A major element of the production's success was the propulsive ragtime score of Eubie Blake, who pounded out his tunes at the keyboard, accompanied by the elegant lyrics of Noble Sissle, who sang and played a role in the show. The team's songs for "Shuffle Along" included two that became standards, "I'm Just Wild About Harry" and "Love Will Find a Way," and another whose lyrics made a boast that was startling for the time: "If You Haven't Been Vamped by a Brownskin, You Haven't Been Vamped at All."

In the wake of their show's success Sissle & Blake were invited to Lee De Forest's Phonofilm Studio on East 48th Street in Manhattan, where they performed in several short films. De Forest and his collaborator Theodore Case had been experimenting with a new sound-on-film process, and, happily for theater historians, they produced a number of brief but fascinating movies capturing performances by the likes of Eddie Cantor, Weber & Fields, DeWolf Hopper, and others. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake were, most likely, the first African American artists to appear in the talkies.

In this very short film the team performs before a closed curtain, Mr. Blake sitting at the piano while Mr. Sissle stands nearby. They begin with some casual cross-chat but the words are difficult to catch. Then they launch into "Affectionate Dan," a song about a gent who is something of a tomcat, and very popular with the ladies. Sissle carries the lyric, singing in a high, piping voice and bobbing up and down as Blake chimes in on the verse. When the song is over they both bow solemnly toward the camera, and then Blake kicks into a jaunty, up-tempo song about how people behave when they get to Heaven. Sissle really loosens up during this number, running in place and gesticulating. I don't know the title of the second song, but I liked the refrain in the chorus: "Not everybody talking about Heaven is going there!"

Noble Sissle's tenor sounds so high-pitched some may wonder whether the film has been formatted at the correct speed, especially since early sound recording technology often made voices sound tinny. It's hard to say, but worth noting that Sissle recorded several songs with James Reese Europe's band in 1919 and his voice sounds about the same on those records as he sounds here.

It's too bad the great comedian Bert Williams didn't live long enough to appear in sound movies, but it's nice to see Sissle & Blake in their early prime in this novelty short. Incidentally, Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake both lived very long lives, long enough to experience vast change in the world. It's amazing to think that the man at the keyboard is the same Eubie Blake who performed as musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 1979!

This isn't exactly a movie, but is really a very, very early music video. I was absolutely amazed to see that it was made way back in 1923--four years before the famous "talkie", THE JAZZ SINGER. It shows that there were indeed experimental films that tried to incorporate talking AND they were actually done with Black performers. This probably is because although Black-Americans were in an underclass, they were, relatively speaking, doing much better as a group in the 1920s--as reflected in this film as well as the Harlem Renaissance. It was obvious that someone with money and influence was able to finance such an expensive and novel film.

As for the song itself, it was not particularly great, as the film seemed to be played too fast on the videotape (THE African American CINEMA II)--as Mr. Sissel sounded kind of like he'd ingested helium. Perhaps he REALLY did sound that way, but I doubt it. I also did enjoy seeing Hubie Blake at the piano--every other time I have seen him he was very old and bald. Here, he looked so young and heavier--but still bald! This is a very important and historically significant film not to be lost--it is in many ways an American treasure.