Jun 19, 2023
There have been many power couples throughout history, and one of those couples were instrumental in the blues community in St. Louis in the early part of the 20th century. Through their music shop, this black couple made a huge impact and helped many people, get gigs and get recording contracts. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———
Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Black History, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, Music, ———
Podcast
Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the
Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX.
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While we often see famous musicians depicted as “lone geniuses,”
even the most towering of musical talents have always had help
somewhere along the way. For the early blues musicians of St.
Louis, one of the best places to find help was the husband-and-wife
team of Jesse and Edith Johnson. ———
When music promoter Jesse Johnson opened Market Street’s DeLuxe Music Shoppe in 1919, it sat right beside the Booker T. Washington Theatre, the city’s largest entertainment venue for Black St. Louisans. The DeLuxe Music Shoppe offered records for sale, but it also functioned as an audition booth and networking hangout for aspiring musicians. Record label representatives often scouted the store, and Jesse Johnson used his extensive industry connections to get dozens of local performers gigs and record deals. ———
In the mid-1920s, Jesse Johnson married local St. Louis blues singer Edith North. She co-ran the DeLuxe Music Shoppe, serving as judge and mentor to the musicians testing out their material. One of them was young Victoria Spivey, who in 1926 took a 500-mile train ride from Texas to St. Louis just to try and make a hit record. Victoria belted out her chilling original song “Black Snake Blues” for Edith, and five days later, the record was being pressed in New York City. It would sell 150,000 copies in its first year. ———
In addition to running the DeLuxe Music Shoppe, Jesse Johnson used his promotional sway to break the color line on the city’s excursion boats, getting Monday nights set aside for black patrons. He also brought in national acts like Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald to perform in St. Louis for Black audiences. ———
The important role of the DeLuxe Music Shoppe in the early St. Louis blues scene reminds us that the music we hear is always shaped by a historic context. For St. Louis blues legends like Peetie Wheatstraw, Victoria Spivey, Roosevelt Sykes, and Henry Townsend - and for all the artists those musicians later inspired - the helping hands of Jesse and Edith Johnson were vital in getting their voices heard. ———
Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———