GayCultureLand: Tony Jackson

Hello and a great week to everybody! Before we get into today's featured artist, I'd like to share some thoughts. I originally intended every thematic unity to run for 2 weeks. I guess I went off schedule with the 70s and then really went off schedule with the 80s. A fan's enthusiasm and the necessity to divide my entries into smaller parts, for lack of time, were the main reasons. I'll try to stay on schedule from now on. Mostly that is, because what's the use of a rule if it's not broken once in a while? :)

During the next 2 weeks we'll be introducing a third factor in the equation that intersects the Gay Experience (if such thing does really exist) with the Pop Culture: this factor will be the experience of being Black in America.

Since this sounds terribly pompous, let me explain: I'm not American, I'm not Black and I'm neither a History or Social Studies expert. What I'll try to do is tell the stories of gay black musicians. Why do I give them their own unity, you may ask. Isn't this a bit like creating a ghetto for them? I have thought long and hard about it and I have reached this decision because it appears that there was, especially in the 20th Century, an additional burden to coming out when one was black and that's the reason that most of the artists that I will present, even in the 80s and 90s, never actually came out. I noticed an improvement in the 21st Century, so I decided to present all 21st Century artists together, no matter what their race is. It's easier to present Frank Ocean next to Olly Alexander than to present Freddie Jackson next to Boy George. I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions on the subject.

The schedule for the next 18 weeks is as follows: Black Artists, Possibility 1, 21st Century, Possibility 2, Possibility 3, 21st Century, Possibility 4, Possibility 5, 21st Century. Possibilities 1 through 5 are: Lesbian musicians, the 50s & 60s (together), the rest of the 70s, the 90s and finally gay artists from non-english speaking countries. You have the chance to decide the order of presentation for yourselves: just write a comment with your preferred order during this week and next Monday we'll see which unity is more popular, so I can lead off with that.

Also (with the exception of the current Black Artists' fortnight which is already programmed) all the other unities are open for your requests. If you have a favorite artist or song that you want presented, you may ask and I will try to accomodate you. Just make sure that some kind of biography exists in English on the Internet and that the song(s) in question can be found on youtube.

Also, I would appreciate your comments in general: with the exception of regular comments by the Record Man (thanks again, RM!) and occasional comments by afhi and a couple of others, the comment area is depressingly underused. I make no money out of this, nor does it help me professionally in any way. I do it out of love for the Gay Culture as well as for the Pop Culture, as a conversation with like-minded individuals around the world. If it wasn't for Google Statistics that tell me that there are indeed a lot of you out there reading this, I would have stopped writing.

I understand that many of you have valid reasons for not wanting to comment and I fully respect those reasons. But for those of you that refuse to write out of fear of saying something uninteresting, let me tell you: great conversations can be ignited even by the simplest remark. Give it a try. Maybe we can develop a sense of community. Now, on with today's subject.

Bronzeville is a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. During the Great Migration, a movement of approximately seven million African-Americans out of the Southern United States to the North, Midwest and West from 1916 to 1930, Bronzeville's homosexual population grew rapidly. African Americans migrated to escape racism, seek employment opportunities in industrial cities, and get better education.

Like the millions of African-Americans who left behind the poverty and racism in the South for a more respectable, dignified and stable life in the North, Black LGBTQI people traveled to urban centers to find better-paying jobs, but also to take advantage of the opportunities for same-sex encounters, which they knew were often abundant in large cites. In an environment of relative sexual freedom, African-Americans in Bronzeville could establish relationships with members of the same sex, and these relationships were often accepted by the neighborhood authorities and by its residents.

Tony Jackson was born to a poor African-American family in Uptown New Orleans on 1882. Some sources claim birth dates back to 1876 and others place it in 1884. At 10 years old he built a tuned harpsichord out of junk from his parents' yard. By 15, he was considered the greatest jazz pianist in New Orleans. Jackson spent his youth in saloons, gambling halls, and brothels in the Black neighborhood of Storyville.

Despite his great popularity as a musician, Jackson often complained about the tough gay life in New Orleans. In search of a place of residence more receptive to his music and sexual orientation, the musician migrated to Chicago in 1912. But before reaching Chicago, Jackson stopped in Louisville, KY where he met one of the leading pianists of the town, Glover Compton, with whom he had a long-term friendship.

Blues singer Jelly Roll Morton, a friend of the pianist, claimed that Jackson had migrated to Chicago because "he happened to be one of those gentlemen that a lot of people call […] lady or sissy." According to Morton, Jackson "liked his freedom in Chicago," a freedom that included the ability to work full time in Bronzeville's most renowned cabarets, theaters, and cafés, as well as the possibility of sexual encounters with men. Jackson was one of the best and most popular musicians in the Southside, often performing at Elite No. 1, Elite No. 2, and the Pekin Cafe.

In moving to Chicago, Tony Jackson transformed the work of other blues musicians who surrounded him, and as many gay people before and after him, the culture and social life of the neighborhood.

Nonetheless, Jackson never discussed his own homosexuality publicly. He did not make any records, but published nine songs in the period from 1916 to 1920, including Some Sweet Day and the very popular Pretty Baby. Some historians believe that the original lyrics of the song were written for his male partner, though the lyrics of the song released for sale, reworked by Gus Kahn and Egbert Van Alsine, clearly refer to a woman.

A heavy drinker, Jackson suffered from cirrhosis of the liver before he died in his apartment on 20th April 1921. He also suffered from chronic epilepsy. In 2011 the Chicago Gay And Lesbian Hall Of Fame inducted Jackson into the hall. He was honored for his musical contributions and for living "as an openly gay man when that was rare".

Here's Billy Murray's version of Pretty Baby (1916). Murray was the most successful male vocalist in the US during the first two decades of the 20th Century.