Ford Thompson Dabney (15 March 1883 – 6 June 1958) was an American
ragtime pianist, composer, songwriter, and acclaimed director of bands and orchestras for
Broadwaymusical theater,
revues,
vaudeville, and early recordings. Additionally, for two years in
Washington, from 1910 to 1912, he was proprietor of a theater that featured vaudeville, musical revues, and
silent film. Dabney is best known as composer and lyricist of the 1910 song "
That's Why They Call Me Shine,"[1] which for eleven point four decades, through 2023, has endured as a jazz standard. As of 2020, in the jazz genre, "Shine" has been recorded 646 times[2] Dabney and one of his chief collaborators,
James Reese Europe (1880–1919), were transitional figures in the prehistory of jazz that evolved from
ragtime (which loosely includes some syncopated music) and
blues — and grew into
stride,
boogie-woogie, and other next levels in jazz. Their 1914 composition, "
Castle Walk" – recorded February 10, 1914, by
Europe's Society Orchestra with Dabney at the piano (
Victor 17553-A,
Matrix: B-14434) – is one of the earliest recordings of jazz.[3][4][5][Note 1]
Dabney studied music privately first with his father, John Wendell Dabney, then with his uncle,
Wendell Phillips Dabney (1865-1952), then Charles Donch (né Charles Bernard Donch; 1858–1948), William Waldecker (1857–1931), an organist for several churches in
Washington, and Samuel Fabian (né Samuel Monroe Fabian; 1859–1921), a concert pianist.[B][C][1]
1901: New York
Dabney moved from
Washington, D.C., to New York around 1901, two or three years before
James Reese Europe moved there. In New York, Dabney studied music and played piano in parlors. He played many piano engagements in drawing rooms filled to capacity with prominent society. Dabney and Europe's early days in New York apparently overlapped because, reportedly, they often met at the Marshall Hotel in
Midtown's
Tenderloin District, at 127–129 West
53rd Street, between
Sixth and
Seventh Avenues – one of two avant-garde hotels for creative, intellectual black New Yorkers. James L. Marshall (1874–1925),[D] with the assistance of his brother, George Marshall – both accomplished African-American
bonifaces – operated the hotel from 1901 through 1914.[E][6][7] The Colored Vaudeville Benevolent Association (compare to
White Rats of America), when founded in 1909, was headquartered right across the street at 320 West 53rd Street. The
Clef Club – founded in 1910 by Europe, Dabney, and others – was initially headquartered next door, at 137 West 53rd Street, but eventually moved west two blocks to 334 West 53rd. St. Mark's M.E. Church, an African-American congregation, was one block east, at 231 West 53rd. The church flourished from 1895 to 1926.
That same neighborhood, one block south —
52nd Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues — contained, from the late 1930s until the early 1960s, a remarkable concentration of jazz night clubs.[8]
Haiti
While in New York, Dabney won sponsorship of the Haitian consul to France, Joseph Jefford, who also was a special Haitian envoy to the United States.[B] In the first week of January 1904, he sailed to
Haiti to fill a four-month post as pianist to the president,
Pierre Nord Alexis (1820–1910), for $4,000 (equivalent to $135,644 in 2023). His itinerary included a trip to France to play for President
Émile Loubet, then to Germany.[F] His appointment in Haiti was extended through 1907.[9]
Dabney's Theater, Washington, D.C.
From around October 1910 through 1911, Dabney owned and operated a theater bearing his name, "Ford Dabney's Theater." It was located at the eastern edge of the Cardozo neighborhood,
Washington, D.C., on the northeast corner of 9th and
U Streets, N.W. (2001 9th Street, N.W.), around the corner from the current
African American Civil War Memorial Museum. George W. Hamilton (1871–1910) was general manager. The theater's
tagline in newspaper ads read, "Refined vaudeville and motion pictures."
In 1910, Dabney formed several touring vaudeville groups, among which, he and violinist Willie Carroll (né William Thomas Carroll; 1881–1943) conceived and produced Dabney's Ginger Girls, who first performed at his theater before going on the road. The Ginger girls were a duet:
Lottie Gee(née Charlotte O. Gee; 1886–1973), dancer and soprano, and Effie King, dancer and
contralto (photo in New York Age, June 12, 1913, p. 6 Newspapers.com; subscription required). Effie King was the stage name of Anna Green (maiden; 1888–1944), who in 1907, married actor
Frank Henry Wilson (1885–1956).
When Dabney's theater manager Hamilton died December 10, 1910,[G][H] James H. Hudnell took over as manager. Dabney's Theater received competition when the Hiawatha Theater, running vaudeville, opened in October 1910. It was also located in the Cardozo neighborhood at 2006-2008 11th Street, N.W. That theater ran until May 1922.[10]
In October 1911, the New York Age published an announcement that Dabney had purchased the Chelsea Theatre at 1913 M Street, N.W. (between 19th and 20th Streets, N.W.). Louis Mitchell and J. West were the house managers.[I] One year earlier, around August 1910, S.L. Jones and L. Kohler Chambers (né Luddington Kohler Chambers; 1874–1913) acquired the Chelsea, which had been "formerly owned and managed by white people."[G]
Two months later, around December 1, 1911, Dabney's Theater changed hands and James H. Hudnell became sole manager.[J] He kept the name, "Dabney's Theater," but operated it as a motion-picture theater until January 1912, then added back vaudeville.
In 1917, Ford Dabney's Syncopated Orchestra began recording jazz. In August 1917, during their first session, they recorded 5 songs for
Aeolian Vocalion, including "At the Darkdown Strutter's Ball," which featured vocalist
Arthur Fields.
Dabney and his instrumentalists were black and Fields was white. According to historian
Tim Brooks, that recording was "an early, and unusual example of a white vocalist recording with a black orchestra. Though not the first example of interracial recording, it was progressive for its time."[11] Dabney, from 1919 through 1922, as pianist and leader, recorded 28 songs with
Vocalion and
Paramount.[12][2]
Dabney, leading his own Syncopated Orchestra, was the musical director of Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic for 8 years, from 1913 to 1921. The shows were in the Roof Garden Club of the
New Amsterdam Theatre, where more risqué productions were presented. In that setting, his Syncopated Orchestra stands as the first black orchestra to play regularly in a Broadway Theater.[13][L][14]
In the summers, Dabney's orchestra performed at the Palais Royale in
Atlantic City.
On May 9, 1919,
Europe was performing in Boston at
Mechanics Hall. During an intermission, he berated a snare drummer, Herbert B. Wright (born 1895), who became enraged and lunged at him, striking his neck with a pen knife in what seemed initially to be a minor nick. Even Europe dismissed it as a superficial wound. But, within a few hours it turned fatal. Wright was convicted of manslaughter and served 8 years of a 10-to-12-year sentence in the
Massachusetts State Prison.[18]
After Europe's death, Dabney continued leading his own ensembles, including Dabney's Band and Ford Dabney's Syncopated Orchestra, the latter of which recorded for
Belvedere and
Puritan Records. However, these endeavors were less successful, and in 1921 he lost his theater position on Broadway.
As a side note, when Wright was released on March 30, 1927, he, with his wife Lillie, went on to live in
Roxbury, Boston, at 23 Haskins Street, working as an elevator operator, a danceband drummer, and a private drum teacher. Wright was the first music teacher for one particular 8-year-old
Roy Haynes, who lived across the street at 30 Haskins.[Genealogy 1]
Dabney's career (continued) and death
After losing his job in 1921 at the
New Amsterdam Theatre, Dabney continued working in New York, composing for three more decades. Notably, he scored all the music and co-wrote the lyrics for Rang Tang in 1927. His film credits include the 1934 film, Social Register, and the 1943 film, Stormy Weather (as consultant). Dabney operated an entertainment bureau, and for many years, performed engagements in
West Palm Beach and
Newport.
The song debuted in
S.H. Dudley's 1909 production of His Honor the Barber, with a notable production in 1911 at the
Majestic Theater, currently the site of the
Time Warner Center. Stars included Dudley and
Aida Overton Walker (1880–1914), who sang "Shine."
According to songwriter
Perry Bradford, the song was inspired by a real person named 'Shine' (possibly 'Kid Shine'), a street tough kid who was a friend of
George Walker, and who was caught with Walker in the New York City race riot of August 1900.[11]
David Krasner, in his 1995 article, "Parody and Double Consciousness in the Language of Early Black Musical Theatre," stated, "Not only do the lyrics echo themes in
Paul Laurence Dunbar's 1895 poem '
We Wear the Mask,' the text signifies what
Du Bois calls living a 'double life, with double thoughts, double duties, and double social classes ... ' The lyrics of 'Shine' draw our attention to the double consciousness of racial identity, and parody racism through inverting the position of the signifier. The signifier (
Walker) inverts the signified (racial identification; i.e., names), subverting racist signification. 'Shine,'
Richard Newman writes, 'is almost a song of social protest in its
antiracism."[22]
In 1924, fourteen years after "That's Why They Call Me Shine" was published,
Lew Brown shortened the title to "Shine" and changed the lyrics from a black man singing about himself to a shoe shine man who has a sunny outlook.[v][vi]
The syndicated cartoon, Strange as It Seems, by Elsie Hix (née Elsie Teresa Huber; 1902–1995), dated September 21, 1959, states that "The fox trot was born because Ford Dabney, the band leader, played "
Down Home Rag" too slow! The new step was improvised by Vernon and Irene Castle because the tempo was too slow their brisk one-step . . . "[24]
— Operetta: lyrics by J. Mord Allen (né Junius Mordecai Allen; 1875–1953), an
African American poet, music by Dabney, which includes the song, "Oh! You Devil."
Around 1910, Dabney formed several touring vaudeville groups, among which, he and violinist Willie Carroll (né William Thomas Carroll; 1881–1943) conceived and produced Dabney's Ginger Girls, who first performed at his theater in Washington, D.C., before going on the road. The Ginger girls were a duet:
Lottie Gee(née Charlotte O. Gee; 1886–1973), dancer and soprano, and Effie King, dancer and
contralto (photo in New York Age, June 12, 1913, p. 6; accessible via Newspapers.com; subscription required)
Dabney, Europe, and others left the
Clef Club and, in 1913, organized the Tempo Club (an
African American talent bureau), which became a rival to the
Clef Club. It was the Tempo Club that furnished an orchestra for the dance team of
Irene and Vernon Castle.
" . . . from slow, sexy clinging to stylish high-stepping, with the performers adding to their outfits at the side of the stage between dances, in stage business that is as potent as the dancing itself. By the last dance, they have become period fashion plates in handsome costumes by Stephen dePietri (born 1952)."[33]
Chief collaborators
As bandleader, songwriter, professional organization founder
In an effort to place Dabney as a ragtime pianist among peers, Elliott Shapiro (1895–1956), son of one of Dabney's publishers,
Maurice Shapiro, in a 1951 article, offered a list of
standout ragtime pianists — in two categories, (i) pioneers and (ii) later ragtimers. Shapiro included Dabney in the latter group.
Parents
Ford Thompson Dabney was born to John Wesley (J.W.) Dabney (1851–1924)[Q] and Rebecca C. Ford (maiden; 1854–1896).[Genealogy 2][R][S] J.W. and Rebecca had married November 13, 1879, in
Alexandria, Virginia.[Genealogy 3] J.W. was a musician and celebrated barber, who, according to the Washington Times in 1903, had cut hair for
President McKinley and
President Theodore Roosevelt.[B][T] Beginning around 1889, J.W. Dabney was often referred to as Capt. J.W. Dabney, reflecting his rank in a Washington, D.C.-based milita, exclusively African-American, known as the Washington Cadet Corps, founded June 12, 1880 – which in 1887, was the first unit to become a permanent part of the then newly established
District of Columbia National Guard, Fifth Battalion.[35] Capt. Dabney, nonetheless, as a professional, was chronicled as an innovative and successful
tonsorial artist. Ford's step-mother, Capt. Dabney's second wife (married December 21, 1898) – Gertrude V. Dabney (née Gertrude V. Adams; 1876–1961) – sold J.W. Dabney's tonic products.
J.W. Dabney's barber shop, in the latter 1880s, was at the Hamilton House Hotel,
14th and
K Streets, N.W. (same site as the
Hamilton Hotel erected in 1922 at the northwest corner of
Franklin Square). On November 15, 1888, J.W. Dabney opened a barber shop at Welckers Hotel (see photo below), 721 15th Street, N.W., between
New York Avenue and
H Street, N.W.
Dabney's stepmother, Gertrude, in 1929, held the distinction of serving on the first all-women jury in Washington, D.C. She was the only non-white.[U]
Wife Dabney married – on March 14, 1912, in
Washington – Martha D. Gans, widow of boxer
Joe Gans who had owned the Goldfield Hotel in
Baltimore at the corner of East Lexington and Colvin Streets, just east of
downtown, in the
Pleasant View Gardens neighborhood. Joe Gans – according to boxing historian and Ring Magazine founder
Nat Fleischer – was the greatest
lightweight boxer of all-time.
Ford and Martha had a son, Ford Thompson Dabney, Jr. (1917–1983), who became a certified public accountant.
Uncle and step-aunt: James H. and Ruby H. Dabney Gertrude's sister (Ford Dabney's step-aunt), Ruby H. Dabney (née Ruby Adams; 1872–1901) (see photo below), was the second of three wives of one of Ford's uncles, James H. Dabney (1846–1923), a prominent and affluent
Washington, D.C.-based undertaker and philanthropist. Ruby, in 1898, earned a professional degree from the Massachusetts College of Embalming, Boston[Note 9] – notable for being the first African American woman in the history of Washington, D.C., to earn a college diploma.[V]
Uncle:
Wendell Phillips Dabney Dabney's uncle,
Wendell Phillips Dabney (1965–1952), who is chronicled as having been one of his music teachers, became founding president of Cincinnati chapter of the
NAACP, author, and newspaper editor and publisher of the Ohio Enterprise, later named The Union, both late of
Cincinnati. During the early 1890s, Prof. Wendell Phillips Dabney was of the most notable musicians in
Richmond, Virginia. He had studied attended music in 1883 at the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Part of his influence on Ford Dabney, as his student, may be found in the 1914 composition, "Castle Valse Classique,"
humoreske, an adaptation by Dabney of
Antonin Dvořák's
Humoresque, Op. 101, No. 7 (of 8), Poco lento e grazioso in G♭ major. Prof. Dabney, in 1895, contacted Dvořák, who was director the
National Conservatory of Music of America, an institution in
New York that, like Oberlin, accepted African Americans. At
Dvořák's home, Prof. Dabney, among other things, introduced one of his own compositions, a plantation melody, "Uncle Remus."[W]
Great uncle: John Marshall Dabney One of Dabney's great uncles, John Marshall Dabney (1824–1900), was honored in November 2015 in
Richmond, Virginia, at the
Quirk Hotel, as a caterer and bartender – known as the world's greatest
mint julep maker.[36] The event was attended by notable community members and one of his great-great granddaughters, Jennifer Hardy (née Jennifer Dehaven Jackson). Jennifer's mother (great-granddaughter-in-law of John Marshall Dabney),
Mary Hinkson (1925–2014), was an internationally celebrated modern dancer. His legacy was the subject of the a 23-minute documentary released in 2017, The Hail-Storm: John Dabney in Virginia, by Hannah Ayers and Lance Warren.[37][38][39][40]
One of John Marshall Dabney's sons (Dabney's 1st cousin, once removed) John Milton Dabney (né Milton Williamson Dabney; 1867–1967) was a player in the
Black baseball leagues.[41] Alexander "Buck" Spottswood, as manager, and J. Milton Dabney as team captain, reorganized, in 1895, the Manhattan Baseball Club of Richmond, Virginia. J.M. Dabney also played for the
Original Cuban Giants of
St. Augustine, Florida, and
Trenton, New Jersey – the first professional African-American baseball team.
1898 Ruby H. Dabney
March 1906 Location of J.W. Dabney's barber shop at
Welcker's Hotel – second building on the right, looking north from
New York Avenue 721, 15th St, N.W.
Notes, copyrights, and references
Notes
^"
Livery Stable Blues," recorded February 26, 1917, and released March 7, 1917, is widely acknowledged as the first jazz recording commercially released. The 1914
Victor "
Castle Walk" recording, when released, was neither recognized nor promoted as jazz, but rather, popular jazz-like dance music. Claims of others as the first jazz recordings include:
^J. Nimrod Jones, Jr. (John Nimrod Jones, Jr.; 1880–1934) was born Leon Jones, but at some point, probably around 1903, he adopted his father's name, John Nimrod Jones, Jr.
^Carl F. Williams (né Carl Friedrich Christian Daniel Knust; 28 July 1867
Eldagsen,
Hanover,
Germany – 30 October 1944
Manhattan) was an American arranger.
^The 1915 production, Nobody Home, at the
Princess Theatre, was an American debut of a 1905 English musical, Mr. Popple of Ippleton.
^Signor Grinderino was a pseudonym for Eddie King (néEdward T. King), a Victor executive and pianist for the company
^Willie Too Sweet (né William Perry) was a vaudeville comedian, who, with his wife, Lulu Too Sweet, aka "Little Lulu" (née Susan Johnson; 1889–1923), managed the Gem Theater in
Memphis from 1908 to 1910, after which, they began traveling southern
vaudeville circuits as a duet comedy act, mixing confrontational humor with vernacular dancing and blues singing. In 1913, the song, "I'm So Glad My Mamma Don't Know Where I'm At," showcased Lula Too Sweet's bad-little-girl persona (
"The Iroquois Theater" ‹of
New Orleans›, by Lynn Abbot and Jack Stewart, The Jazz Archivist, Vol. 9 No. 2, December 1994;
OCLC748504163;
ISSN1085-8415). Willie Too Sweet became known as the "King of Colored Comedians" (
sic). Beginning around 1939, he began starring with the
Royal American Shows, which also featured
Pine-Top's
boogie-woogie piano.
^At the end of 1893, the Dodge brothers, chemists of Boston, acquired the Oriental School of Embalming in Boston. Asa Johnson Dodge (1849–1926) ran it simultaneously with the newly formed Dodge Chemical Company (embalming chemicals). In 1894, the name was changed to "Massachusetts College of Embalming." In 1989, it became a constituent institute of
Mount Ida College, which closed in 2018.
Note: sheet music copyrighted in the U.S. (a) prior to 1925 with copyright renewal or (b) from 1925 through 1963 without copyright renewal is deemed
public domain.
^The Boston Directory for the Year Commencing August 1, 1933, Sampson & Murdock Company, Vol. 129 (1933);
OCLC27465586
"Wright, Herbert B. (Lillie)," p. 1834 "Haynes, Gustavus (Edna)," p. 942 (accessible via
Ancestry.com; subscription required)
^"District of Columbia Deaths, 1874–1961" (re:
"Rebecca C. Dabney"), DOD: August 3, 1896,
District of Columbia, citing reference ID 109217, District Records Center, Washington D.C.;
FHL microfilm 2115023 (accessible via
FamilySearch; free, but login registration required)
^"Virginia, Marriages, 1785–1940" via
FamilySearch; re: Marriage of John W. Dabney and Rebecca C. Ford, November 13, 1879,
Alexandria, Virginia;
FHL Film No. 30497 (accessible via
Ancestry.com; subscription required)
Biography Index, A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines, Vol. 14, September 1984 – August 1986,
H.W. Wilson Co. (1986);
OCLC36821512,
956660721 (online via
Gale)
Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816–1960, by Bernard L. Peterson, Jr.,
Greenwood Press (2001);
OCLC1126462332
In Black and White, A guide to magazine articles, newspaper articles, and books concerning black individuals and groups (3rd ed.), Mary Mace Spradling (née Mary Elizabeth Mace; 1911–2009) (ed.)
^"Ford T. Dabney" by Bill Edwards (né William G. Motley; born 1959), ragpiano.com Website administrator: Bill Edwards
^Motion Picture Exhibition in Washington, D.C.: An Illustrated History of Parlors, Palaces and Multiplexes in the Metropolitan Area, 1894–1997, by Robert Kirk Headley (born 1938),
McFarland & Company, Inc. (2006);
OCLC1058367286
^
abLost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919, by
Tim Brooks, Richard Keith Spottswood,
University of Illinois Press (2004; paperback 2005), p. 395
^"Ragtime, U.S.A.," by Elliott Shapiro (1895–1956), Notes, Second Series, Vol. 8, No. 3, June 1951, pps. 457–470 (accessible via
JSTOR at www.jstor.org/stable/891042; subscription required)
^"Crafting Life Lessons: Caterer, Bartender, Restaurant Owner John Dabney Cunningly Navigated Post-Civil War Richmond," by Susan Winiecki and Jack Norton, Richmond Magazine, November 2017, pps 74–77, 164, 166;
OCLC1013544061
^"John Milton Dabney,"Baseball History Daily (blog of Thom Karmik) (retrieved January 22, 2020)
^"Jimmie Marshall, Famed as Proprietor of Hotel Marshall, 53rd St., in Days Gone By, Died in Canada Where He Lived," New York Age, April 11, 1925, p. 1 (accessible viaNewspapers.com; subscription required)
^"In the Name of ... " (obituary of Allie Ross), by Percy Outram, New York Age, September 2, 1933, p. 6 (accessible via Newspapers.com; subscription required)
Note: Percy Outram (né Rowland Percival Outram; 1877–1957) was a
Barbados-born musician and music columnist for the New York Age.
^"Tracy F. Cooper Dead," New York Age, January 31, 1925, p. 9 (accessible via Newspapers.com; subscription required)
^"Thousands Mourn Wife of Thurgood Marshall," New York Age, Vol. 74, No. 49, February 19, 1955, pps. 1–2 (accessible via Newspapers.com; subscription required)
^"W. Philips Dabney, the Accomplished Guitar Soloist in Ohio — Making a Splendid Record — Richmond Proud of Him, Richmond Planet, Vol. 12, No. 10, February 23, 1895, p. 3, col. 1 (of 8) (accessible via Library of Congress, "Chronicling America")