160:
83:
In 1916, Benbow formed a new company, "Beans and Benbow’s Big
Vaudeville Review”, with Butler "Stringbeans" May, who by then had become one of the foremost black entertainers in the country. The group had fifteen performers, but broke up in early 1917. Benbow was hired to lead another touring group,
19:(October 15, 1881 or 1882 – November 18, 1950) was an American vaudeville entertainer who was the manager of the Alabama Chocolate Drops touring company and "a pioneer of black vaudeville entertainment in the southern states in the early part of the twentieth century".
46:. The company, which also toured as the Alabama Chocolate Drops, included Benbow and his wife Alberta, Morton, and pianist and bandleader Frank Rachel. By 1909, the company had expanded to include singer, pianist and comedian
31:, in either 1881 or 1882, though records show that in later life he claimed dates as late as 1887. He started performing in touring black vaudeville shows by 1899, and in 1902 joined Allen's Minstrels in
161:
William F. Benbow, death certificate, Indiana State Board of Health. Death
Certificates, 1900–2011. Microfilm. Indiana Archives and Records Administration, Indianapolis, Indiana.,
84:"C. W. Park's Colored Aristocrats", initially also featuring May who died later that year. Benbow continued to perform in vaudeville shows. In 1918 he was living in
268:
253:
231:
47:
190:
72:
Landreaux, 1895–1925). They separated in the mid-1910s, and she later recorded as Edna Hicks for various
59:
62:, and Jelly Roll Morton remained with the company until 1911. By then, Benbow had remarried, to singer
258:
205:
263:
32:
28:
89:
43:
51:
227:
36:
193:
Ragged but Right: Black
Traveling Shows, "Coon Songs," and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz
85:
112:
97:
247:
55:
104:
73:
142:
68:
63:
42:
The following year, he established Will Benbow’s
Chocolate Drops Company in
175:
111:
at a nightclub, the Cotton Club. He died in
Indianapolis in 1950, from
77:
206:
Erwin Bosman, "Butler May: was he the real Father of the Blues?",
39:, forming a small road show with Morton in about 1906.
108:
35:
as a singer and dancer. He married, and linked up with
224:The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock'n'Roll
54:. The company toured widely, in the north and
176:"Jelly Roll Morton: On The Road, 1905-1917",
8:
96:, with a troupe of eighteen performers, in
195:, Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2009, p.148
92:. In 1925 and 1926 he produced a show,
138:
136:
134:
132:
130:
128:
156:
154:
124:
226:. New York: W. W. Norton. p. 37.
67:
7:
14:
269:People from Montgomery, Alabama
254:American vaudeville performers
1:
222:Lauterbach, Preston (2011).
103:From the 1930s he lived in
285:
191:Lynn Abbott, Doug Seroff,
212:. Retrieved 8 March 2017
181:. Retrieved 8 March 2017
166:. Retrieved 8 March 2017
148:. Retrieved 8 March 2017
48:Butler "Stringbeans" May
37:Ferd "Jelly Roll" Morton
88:, and by 1920 was in
33:Birmingham, Alabama
29:Montgomery, Alabama
27:Benbow was born in
17:William Fuse Benbow
107:, where he became
90:Memphis, Tennessee
58:as well as in the
44:Pensacola, Florida
233:978-0-393-34294-9
276:
238:
237:
219:
213:
208:NoDepression.com
203:
197:
188:
182:
178:DoctorJazz.co.uk
173:
167:
158:
149:
145:DoctorJazz.co.uk
143:William Benbow,
140:
86:Washington, D.C.
71:
284:
283:
279:
278:
277:
275:
274:
273:
244:
243:
242:
241:
234:
221:
220:
216:
204:
200:
189:
185:
174:
170:
159:
152:
141:
126:
121:
113:prostate cancer
60:southern states
25:
12:
11:
5:
282:
280:
272:
271:
266:
261:
256:
246:
245:
240:
239:
232:
214:
210:, June 4, 2012
198:
183:
168:
150:
123:
122:
120:
117:
98:Macon, Georgia
24:
21:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
281:
270:
267:
265:
262:
260:
257:
255:
252:
251:
249:
235:
229:
225:
218:
215:
211:
209:
202:
199:
196:
194:
187:
184:
180:
179:
172:
169:
165:
164:
157:
155:
151:
147:
146:
139:
137:
135:
133:
131:
129:
125:
118:
116:
114:
110:
106:
101:
99:
95:
91:
87:
81:
79:
75:
74:record labels
70:
65:
61:
57:
56:New York City
53:
49:
45:
40:
38:
34:
30:
22:
20:
18:
259:1880s births
223:
217:
207:
201:
192:
186:
177:
171:
163:Ancestry.com
162:
144:
105:Indianapolis
102:
93:
82:
41:
26:
16:
15:
264:1950 deaths
64:Edna Landry
52:"Ma" Rainey
50:and singer
248:Categories
119:References
94:Get Happy
23:Biography
78:Chicago
230:
100:.
228:ISBN
80:.
76:in
69:née
250::
153:^
127:^
115:.
109:MC
236:.
66:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.