Colored Aristocracy
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legacy / American
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Gus. W. Bernard
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
In 1858, Cyprian Clamorgan wrote a book entitled The Colored<br> Aristocracy of St. Louis. The grandson of a white voyageur and a<br> mulatto woman, he was himself a member of the "colored aristocracy".<br> In a setting where the vast majority of African Americans were slaves,<br> and where those who were free generally lived in abject poverty,<br> Clamorgan's "aristocrats" were exceptional people. Wealthy, educated,<br> and articulate, these men and women occupied a "middle ground." Their<br> material advantages removed them from the mass of African Americans,<br> but their race barred them from membership in white society.<br> In 1899, "Colored Aristocracy" became the title of a cakewalk number<br> by Gus. W. Bernard, published by Baldwin. Sheet music is available<br> online at Univ. South Carolina - <br> http://sheetmusic.library.sc.edu/Music.asp?mid=419.<br> This is a genuine ragtime piece that fiddlers and mandolin players<br> adopted in the early 20th century.<br> Other rags/blues tunes in this collections are:<br> Cherry River Rag<br> Dora Dean<br> Old Jackson Stomp<br> Pig Ankle Rag<br> Ragtime Annie<br> Stone's Rag<br> - all in the Tunes section and<br> East Tennessee Blues<br> Eli Greens Cakewalk<br> Hawkin's Rag<br> Horace Hanesworth<br> Sister Kate<br> Woody's Rag<br> - in the Legacies section.<br> I learned this from the Old Time Banjo Project album.<br> I sometimes play it in medleys with:<br> Far from Home in this section and<br> Hawkin's Rag in the legacies section.<br>
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