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'''Josh White''' (born '''Joshua Daniel White''', [[February 11]] [[1915]]<ref>[http://www.joshwhitejr.com/biojwsr.html Josh White] from the Website of [http://www.joshwhitejr.com/ Josh White Jr.]</ref> - [[September 5]] [[1969]]) was an [[United States of America|American]] folk, blues, and gospel singer and guitarist best remembered as a New York singer and guitarist. He specialized in [[Piedmont blues]] and [[Country blues]]. He was cited as a major influence by [[Pete Seeger]], [[Ray Charles]], [[Elvis Presley]], [[Lonnie Donegan]], [[Harry Belafonte]], [[Peter, Paul & Mary]],[[Roger McGuinn]], [[Richie Havens]], and [[John Fogerty]].{{Fact|date=May 2007}}
==Career==
===1930s and 1940s===
Born in [[Greenville, South Carolina]], White was the first blues performer to attract a large white and middle-class [[African American]] following, and the first African American artist to perform in previously segregated venues in America, as he transcended the typical barriers at the time associating blues with a rural and working-class African American audience, while performing in prestigious night clubs and theatres during the 1930s and 1940s. From 1928 to 1936, he was the youngest "[[race records]]" star in America, the only one successfully writing and recording blues, [[gospel]], and [[Protest song|social protest songs]], and the only one recording under three names: The Singing Christian (gospel records), Pinewood Tom (blues recordings), and Joshua White for the social protest songs. His best known songs at the time were "Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed" (covered by [[Led Zeppelin]] years later as "In My Time of Dyin'"), "Blood Red River," "Ball & Chain Blues" (covered years later by Janis Joplin [[Janis Joplin]]) "Low Cotton," and "[[Silicosis]] is Killing Me." Throughout the 1940s, as a major international star of concerts, nightclubs, radio, film and Broadway, his most popular recordings were "One Meatball" (the first million-selling record by an African American; a cover version was recorded by [[Shinehead]] for the 1990 compilation album ''[[Rubáiyát]]''), "Jelly, Jelly", "[[Strange Fruit]]," "The House I Live In," "Careless Love," "[[The Riddle Song|I Gave My Love a Cherry]]," "Miss Otis Regrets," and "[[The House of the Rising Sun]]" (covered years later in a rock beat by The Animals [[The Animals]]). He recorded in a wide variety of contexts, from recordings in which he was accompanied only by his own guitar playing to others in which he was backed by jazz groups and gospel vocal groups. He was prominently associated with the U.S. [[American Civil Rights Movement (1896-1954)|civil rights movement]] in the 1940s.
Beginning in 1940, White established a long and close relationship with the family of [[Franklin Roosevelt|Franklin]] and [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], and would become the closest African American confidant to the [[President of the United States]]. The Roosevelts were the [[godparent]]s of Josh White, Jr. (born on [[November 30]], [[1940]]); and Josh became the first African American artist to give a [[White House]] Command Performance in 1941, followed by five more Command performances, and two appearances at the Inaugurations of 1941 and 1945. The President sent Josh to give concerts overseas as a "Goodwill Ambassador" and he was often referred to in the press as the "Presidential Minstrel." More importanly, it was White's songs of social protest, such as "Uncle Sam Says" and "Defense Factory Blues," which caused the President to begin exploring how to [[Desegregation|desegregate]] the U.S. Armed Forces.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} Meanwhile, Josh's recordings of "Beloved Comrade" (the President's favorite song), "Freedom Road," and "House I Live In (What is America to Me)," were great songs of inspiration to the Roosevelts and the country during [[World War II]].{{Fact|date=May 2007}} After the President's death, Josh's younger brother William became Eleanor Roosevelt's personal assistant, house manager and chauffeur for the remainder on her life. In 1950, then United Nations Ambassador in charge of War Relief, Eleanor Roosevelt and Josh White made a historical speaking and concert tour of the capitals of Europe to lift the spirits of those war-torn countries. The tour built to such proportions, that when they arrived in [[Stockholm]], the presentation had to be moved from the Opera House to the city's soccar stadium where 50,000 came out in the pouring to hear Mrs. Roosevelt speak and White perform. All during this tour, audiences across Europe enthusiastically requested White to sing his famed anti-lynching recording of "Strange Fruit," but on each occasion he would respond, "My mother always told me that when you have problems in your background you don't give those problems to your neighbor.....so that's a song I will sing back home until I never have to sing it again, but for you, I would now like to sing its'<!--Is there really an apostrophe here in the source?--> sister song, written by the same man ('The House I Live In')."
===The blacklist and the 1950s===
However, his songs of social protest and his involvement in political causes in the 1940s resulted in him being [[blacklist]]ed.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} Controversially, to escape the blacklist, he testified to the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] regarding [[Communism|Communist]] influence in the entertainment industry and African American community.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} He defended his testimony as a friendly witness to HUAC by claiming that the scope of his testimony was limited, that he did not state anything that was not already known, and that he was sincerely opposed to Communism. He did not give them names of Communist Party members, and he read them the lyrics of one of his most famous recordings, the anti-[[lynching]] song "Strange Fruit," stating that it was his responsibility as a folksinger to bring injustices to the public's attention through his songs. Eleanor Roosevelt cautioned him that the HUAC Committee would turn his testimony against him if he spoke, and indeed his blacklisting would not be lifted for years. Meanwhile, the fact that he testified before the committee angered his large socially progressive fan base and it greatly affected his posthumous reputation in America. He was the only artist of the era to be blacklisted by the [[Right (politics)|Right]] and [[Left (politics)|Left]]. Accordingly, from 1950 to 1955, he was based in [[London]], where he hosted his own [[BBC]] radio show, ''My Guitar Was Old As Father Time'', continued to record and give concert tours thoughout Europe. However, in America, between the years of 1947 and 1955, his national radio show was canceled, he could not appear on other radio or televison shows and he was not allowed to record in his home country. Accordingly, his name and reputation in America has only begun to recover in recent years.
===Later life===
From the mid-1950s until his death in [[Manhasset, New York]] in 1969, White primarily performed at folk music venues and festivals. He was seen as an influence by Pete Seeger, Elvis Presley, Lonnie Donegan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Roger McGuinn, Richie Havens, John Fogerty, Josh White, Jr. and Ray Charles and Harry Belafonte who in the footsteps of Josh similarly broke considerable barriers that had hampered blues musicians in the past.
==Personal life==
Josh White's son, Josh White, Jr., is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, educator, and social activist.
==Posthumous honors==
[[Image:Josh White Stamp.jpg|right]]
On [[June 26]] [[1998]], the [[United States Postal Service]] issued a 32-cent postage stamp honoring Josh White, unveiling it on Washington's National Mall followed by a concert tribute of his songs by Josh White, Jr.
Also in 1998, Homespun Videos released ''The Guitar of Josh White'', an instructional video featuring Josh White, Jr. showing his father's pioneering guitar techniques.[http://www.homespuntapes.com/prodpg/prodpg.asp?prodID=573]
In 1996, Josh White, Jr. released a second tribute album to his father's music, entitled ''House of the Rising Son'' (Silverwolf), to rave reviews.
In 1987, the Josh White, Jr. tribute album to his father's music "Jazz, Ballads and Blues" (RYKODISC) received a GRAMMY nomination.
In 1983, Josh White, Jr. starred in the long-running and rave reviewed biographical dramatic musical stage play on his father's life "JOSH: The Man & His Music," which premiered at the Michigan Public Theatre in Lansing. Subsequently, the State of Michigan formally proclaimed April 20, 1983, as "JOSH WHITE & JOSH WHITE, JR. DAY" in the State of Michigan.
==References==
* Wald, Elijah (2000). ''Josh White: Society Blues.'' Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
* [http://www.joshwhitejr.com/biojwsr.html Josh White] from the Website of [http://www.joshwhitejr.com/ Josh White Jr.] retrieved on [[May 17]] [[2007]]
* Siegel, Dorothy (1982). ''THE GLORY ROAD<!--Is there a reason why this is in all capital letters?-->: The Story of Josh White''. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
* Shelton, Robert (1963). ''The Josh White Songbook (with Biography)''. Quadrangle Books, Inc.
Yeager, Douglas. Since 1976, the Estate Manager and Archival Biographer of the Estate of Josh White (Sr.)
==External links==
* [http://www.elijahwald.com/josh.html "Josh White: Society Blues"], a page about White's biography, including a gallery of photos and information about several of his currently available recordings.
* [http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/piedmontblues/white.html "Josh White"] by Amanda Guyer
* [http://www.wirz.de/music/whitejos.htm Illustrated Josh White discography]
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[[Category:African American musicians]]
[[Category:American blues singers]]
[[Category:American folk musicians]]
[[Category:American guitarists]]
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