Of Minnie the Moocher and Me

Cab Calloway (with Bryant Rollians) / 1976

Thomas Y. Crowell Co. /ISBN 069001032X

This was the man who whooped, "Hi-de-hi-de-ho" and back they'd all echo, "Hi-de-hi-de-ho".
But that was in the North. Mostly New York. In the South, it was a little different:

"When we got to Raleigh (South Carolina) we had quite a time. The city had just built a new
auditorium, a beautiful place. Ben Bernie's band got there the night before we were due, and
opened the place for the white folks. They had a big, all-white dance until midnight. After
midnight, Cab Calloway and the Cotton Club Orchestra were scheduled to play for the black folks."

But black or white, when the Great Depression hit it was a bumpy ride for everybody, especially
for performers who usually lived on the edge of financial disaster even in the best of times.
But Cab has a sense of humor that can outlast any depression. I think you'll enjoy his stories.


volume: 250 pages + "The New Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary (Language of Jive - 1944 Edition)


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