General Information About The 1919-1920s "Black Bottom" Songs & Dances (from various online sources)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision: Nov. 28, 2021

This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series on the Black Bottom, the title of a number of African American originated Jazz dances and songs that were very popular beginning aroun 1926.

This post presents general information about the Black Bottom dances and songs from various online sources.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/11/five-film-clips-of-black-bottom-jazz.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II showcases five film clips of dancers performing the Black Bottom. Selected comments from the YouTube discussion threads of four of those film clips are also included in that post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/11/black-bottom-1926-and-black-bottom-dance.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents lyrics to three 1920s versions of the Black Bottom song. YouTube videos for two of these versions are also included in that post. 

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the composers and choreographers of  Black Bottom songs and dances. Thanks to streetswing.com and all who are quoted in this post.

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STREETSWING EXCERPT
From https://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3blkbtm.htm [no author/s and publishing date given]
"The Black Bottom (aka Swanee Bottom) was originally from New Orleans, later worked its way to Georgia and finally New York. Some say the Black Bottom was introduced by blues singer "Alberta Hunter" (which is probably true as many songs/ dances were "stolen" and reproduced by someone else). However, it has been reported that the Black Bottom was derived from an earlier and similar dance called the "Echo."

The dance was done all over the South before Bradford wrote his song in 1919. The dance is said to be a copy of a bossy cow's hind legs mirred in mud (12-14-1926 - Danville Bee Newspaper) other newspapers state that Mrs. Esther Gagnet from Texas states that the dance came from Sumaria (2/18/1927 Lancaster Daily Eagle Newspaper) and other newspapers say it is of the Mississippi Negroe trying to dance in the sticky mud (2/12/1927 - Davenport Democrat and Leader).

Perry Bradford's sheet music had the music as well as the dance instructions printed on them. Bradford says that he first saw the Dance done in Jacksonville, (??) and decided to write a song about it in 1907 called the 'Jacksonville Rounders Dance' which used the term "Black Bottom" to describe the dance, but the song was not popular because "Rounder" meant "Pimp" (for the Pimp Walk) and no one wanted to dance to it, so he re-wrote the song and titled it the 'Original Black Bottom Dance' in 1919 which he introduced in Nashville Tennessee.

The stage Play "Dinah" in 1924 introduced the Black Bottom to the public and almost overnight became as popular as the Charleston. Ann Pennington and Tom Patricola did a famous rendition of the black bottom in the George White Scandals of 1926 which he bought from the earlier show Dinah. White hired Desylva, Henderson and Brown to write the song for the show, however it was based on the Charleston dance rhythm and the songs lyrics were vague for the dance, however it did become popular but Bradford's song was the base for all to come and even Jelly Roll Morton wrote a song called  'Black Bottom Stomp.'  There was a town called 'Black Bottom' in Detroit, Michigan from 1900 to 1960 (it's supposed birth place, Marshall Stearns [1964] says Atlanta, but more has been found since 1964).

The Black bottom was basically a solo challenge dance. Predominately danced on the "Off Beat" and was the prototype for the modern Tap dance phrasing. The Dance featured the slapping of the backside while hopping forward and backward, stamping the feet and gyrations of the torso and pelvis/Hips like the Grind, while occasionally making arm movements to music with an occasional 'Heel-Toe Scoop' which was very erotic in those days. The dance eventually got refined and entered the ballroom with ballroom couples doing the dance.

In 1926 the "Black Bottom" became the rage and replaced the Charleston all together with the exception of it being done in the Breakaway, with the Lindy Hop eventually replacing the Black Bottom all together. The Black Bottom was also done at the Apollo theater in 1927 with the George White Scandals. The Roseland Ballroom (New York) hosted a Black Bottom endurance (marathon) contest in 1927. Some original pattern names for this dance are "The Flick, The Side Shuffle, The Walk." The Dance called the Five Step is said to be a variation of the Black Bottom Dance around 1928.

In 1942 dancer and actress Ginger Rogers does a very good Black Bottom in the R.K.O. film Roxie Hart which was the original film version of the 2002 movie 'Chicago that featured Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere. The 2002 Chicago film has no Black Bottom but Roxie Hart does and it is not just a brief screenshot of her doing it but a full routine ... it is very good. If your interested in the Black Bottom dance it is a good film to get.

The Five Step, Varsity Drag and the Lowdown tried to replace the Black Bottom, but only the Low Down (a sensuous shiver and a flutter of the hips) actually made a real attempt. The Lowdown and Five Step were actually just variations of the Black Bottom.

[...]

Basic Step: (9/1927 Dance Magazine):

This, as with all other dances, is a mixture of Jazz steps. The Basic step, however, is one dependent entirely on rhythm. This step is 2 long stamps, first right, then left, followed by 4 short ones; they are done off the regular beat of the music. Accompanying this, the index finger on both hands is pointing up, and the eyes are rolling. Any other steps may be done to
lengthen the dance."...
-snip-
The author of this article wrote that the "Black Bottom" was originally titled "Swanee Bottom).

Here's some information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suwannee_River  about the Suwanee River.  (The word "Suwanee" was spelled "Swanee" in Stephen Foster's 1851 song of that name which is also titled "Old Folks  At Home").
"The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States."
-end of quote-
That streetswing.com article also wrote that "it has been reported that the Black Bottom was derived from an earlier and similar dance called the "Echo." "

Here's another quote from that same Wikipedia page:
"Etmology
 "Echo": In 1884, Albert S. Gatschet claimed that Suwannee derives from the Creek word sawani, meaning "echo","
-end of quote-
I haven't found any online information about any dance called "Echo".

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ONLINE EXCERPT #2
From https://aaregistry.org/story/the-black-bottom-african-roots-in-american-dance/ [African American Registry]
"Fri, 01.17.1919

‘The Black Bottom’, African Roots in American Dance

 *The Black Bottom dance is celebrated on this date. This is one of many dances brought from African culture through Blacks during and after slavery.

Originally starting in New Orleans the Black Bottom later worked its way to New York.  Some say blues singer Alberta Hunter introduced the dance. Others say Perry Bradford in Nashville, Tennessee introduced it to white America in 1919 when he wrote the Song "The Black Bottom.” Bradford's sheet music had the music as well as the dance instructions printed on them.

It has also been said that the Black Bottom was derived from the "Echo," an earlier dance. The stage Play "Dinah" in 1924 showcased the Black Bottom to the Public and almost overnight became as popular as The Charleston. Jelly Roll Morton wrote a song called Black Bottom Stomp and there was also a town called Black Bottom in Detroit, Michigan from 1900 to 1960.

The Black Bottom was performed at the Apollo Theater in 1927 with the George White Scandals. Additionally the Roseland Ballroom (New York) hosted a Black Bottom endurance (marathon) contest in 1927. Some original pattern names for this dance are "The Flick, The Side Shuffle, The Walk.

Reference:

The Encyclopedia of African American Heritage by Susan Altman

Copyright 1997, Facts on File, Inc. New York

ISBN 0-8160-3289-0"

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ONLINE EXCERPT #3
This is a passage from Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era (Don Tyler · 2007, page 140; Google books)
"A second hit song, Black Bottom, from the Scandals of 1926 became one of the big dance sensations of the ‘20s. The muddy flats of the black bottom land of the Suwanee River inspired the dance and rather than the slapping of the rear-end that was one of its movements. It also featured sluggish foot movements that suggested plodding through the mud.  Considering the fast tempo of the song, plodding through anything doesn’t sound appropriate.

The Black Bottom dance supposedly originated in New Orleans and later migrated to New York City.  Blues singer Alberta Hunt is often given credit for introducing the dance, but others say Perry Bradford introduced it in Nashville, Tennessee in ‘19 when he wrote a song titled “The Black Bottom”.  The sheet music had the dance instructions printed along with the music.  Jelly Roll Morgan wrote a song called “The Black Bottom Stomp” in ’26 about a predominately African American area of Detroit referred to as the Black Bottoms.  The dance became much more famous when it was performed at the Apollo Theatre in the George White Scandals.

The chorus lyrics tell us about a dance called the Black Bottom. It’s sure captivated everyone as they clap their hands and dance this “raggedy trot”.  Even old men with lumbago are going to give it a try.  The bridge lyrics move to the muddy river bottom that is oozing with mud; they start to squirm “just like a worm!”

“Black Bottom" was selected for Variety’s Hit Parade of A Half Century”…

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ONLINE EXCERPT #4
This is a passage from Just Remember This (Colin Bratkovich · 2014,  Page 397,Google Books) 
…"with “dance” origins perhaps existing into the earlier part of the century, the early 1920s found (black) entities (who also sang) such as Alberta Hunter and Ethel Ridley claiming to have originated the contemporary [Black Bottom] dance subsequently claimed by (white) entities, especially George White’s own Anne Pennington. Indeed, this “Black Bottom” song ditty, featured in George White’s Sandals of 1926 -penned by the white team of Ray Henderson, Buddy de Sylva, and Lew Brown with the lyrics full of black slang and obvious racial references-became a vocal as well, and, like the Charleston which had proceeded it, this ditty reeked of a rip off. "...
-snip-
I added the song title in brackets and written in italics. The words in parenthesis were found in that passage.

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ONLINE EXCERPT #5
This is a passage from Worlding Dance (Susan Leigh Foster, 2009, page 96; Google books) 
...a  1926 newspaper article written by Lester Walton which states "Alberta Hunter, a well known singer of the blues, claims the distinction of having done the [Black Bottom] before the first white audience at one of  the New York vaudeville houses in 1925. She said she had it copyrighted. Walton also points to an earlier source for the Black Bottom, explaining" "So far as known, the first time the Black Bottom was put on at a New York theater was in 1923, by Ethel Riley in a colored musical comedy at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem."

[...]     

Perry Bradford was convinced that [George] White first saw the Black Bottom in the Harlem show Dinah and subsequently enlisted Sandals' three white composers Buddy de Sylva, Lew Brown, and Ron Henderson to compose a song for it (Sterns, 1968, 110-11)."

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ONLINE EXCERPT #6
From Choreographing Copyright: Race, Gender, and Intellectual by Anthea Kraut, 2016, page 145, Google books
"Two chronicles of American theater state that Alberta Hunter copyrighted the Black Bottom...In his 1987 biography of Hunter, Frank Taylor refers to [Variety writers] Green's and Laurie's contention about Hunter's dance copyright but doesn't corroborate it. Instead, Taylor explains "Alberta was embarrassed by the suggestion that she had much to do with a dance that was heavy bump and grind. When asked to describe it, she said, "Oh, it was just a tricky kind of step"... 

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This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams series.

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