Black Bottom (dance)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Black Bottom refers to a dance which became popular in the 1920s, during the period known as the Flapper era.
The dance originated in New Orleans in the 1900s. The theatrical show Dinah brought the Black Bottom dance to New York in 1924, and the George White Scandals featured it at the Apollo Theater in Harlem 1926 through 1927. Jelly Roll Morton, jazz player and composer, wrote the tune "Black Bottom Stomp" with its name referring to Detroit’s Black Bottom area. The dance became a sensation and ended up overtaking the popularity of the Charleston, eventually becoming the number one social dance.
"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is a song by Ma Rainey which makes obvious allusions rather than being dance music. The title Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was used for a 1982 play by August Wilson, showing the exploits and experiences of African-Americans.
The comedy musician Spike Jones who became popular in the 1940s performed a jaunty cover of the "Black Bottom". His version released on 78 RPM records repeated a single measure of a piano solo in the middle of the song several times, each time continuing with a loud "crack!" as a joke to make the record sound broken.
