Deep Ellum: The Other Side of Dallas

Contents

Contents Preface vii Introduction. Deep Ellum: Fact and Fiction 1 Chapter 1. “Deep Elem Blues”: Song of the Street 17 Chapter 2. The Railroads Create Deep Ellum 30 Chapter 3. William Sidney Pittman: Architect of Deep Ellum 37 Chapter 4. Black Dallas 45 Chapter 5. Jewish Pawnbrokers and Merchants of Deep Ellum 66 Chapter 6. Blind Lemon Jefferson: Downhome Blues 79 Chapter 7. The Contemporaries of Blind Lemon 106 Chapter 8. Blind Willie Johnson and Arizona Dranes: The “Holy Blues” of Deep Ellum 119 Chapter 9. Alex Moore: Dallas Piano Blues 128 Chapter 10. Buster Smith: Dallas Jazz Goes to Kansas City and New York 141 Chapter 11. Marvin Montgomery: The Cross-Fertilization of White and Black Musical Styles 158 Chapter 12. The Contemporaries of Marvin Montgomery: Western Swing, Texas Fiddling, and the Big “D” Jamboree 176 Chapter 13. Benny Binion: Gambling and the Policy Racket 192 Chapter 14. Deep Ellum’s Just Too Doggone Slow: Decline and Rebirth 204 Notes 219 Selected Discography 229 Bibliography 281 Index 289 ...