During this period, it was difficult for African American bands to get gigs at clubs catering to whites. The underlying segregation during these decades played a large role in the creation of a gigging circuit that revolved around a small number of clubs open to African American musicians. The following resources found in the MNHS collections document these venues and the musical creativity coming out of these spaces.
A large number of periodicals during this period discuss the issues mentioned above. They also reveal what clubs were popular over the years and where certain bands were gigging and when. A list of periodicals can be found below:
"Minority Musicians", Dec. 1978
"Valdons: motown comes to milltown", April 1972
"Maurice McKinnes", November 1972
"Boozing with the Bumblebees", December 1971
MNHS call number: ML1.C62 (1971-June 1974); microfilm 316 (1974-1978); microfilm 1405 (1978-79)
The Charles Chamblis Photograph Collection
This collection documents many of the music venues from this period. You can search for photos of clubs from this collection on our photo database Collections Online using club names as search terms (such as "Foxtrot," "the Flame," "Riverview," "Cozy Club," "Taste Show Lounge," and "Kings Solomon's Mines")
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