Subverse Aphrodesia

My favorite story about Broadway's first black star, Bert Williams is how handled an overly racist bartender. One day back in the '20s, Williams walks into a bar and orders a bourbon. The bartender looks him in the eye and says sure, that'll be $50. Williams, who was paid handsomely by theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld, lays down five $100 bills and says, "I'll take ten."

In this week's Village Voice, Eric Weisbard writes about the Bert Williams recordings, with an emphasis on the early years (1901-1909), as released by Archeophone.