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CONTENTS

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Acknowledgments

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE

Saloon-Theaters and Park Pavilions: The Birth of Southern Vaudeville, 1899–1909

FIRST INTERLUDE

The Death of J. Ed Green and the Birth of State Street Vaudeville

CHAPTER TWO

The Life, Death, and Untold Legacy of Bluesman Butler “String Beans” May

CHAPTER THREE

Male Blues Singers in Southern Vaudeville

CHAPTER FOUR

The Rise of the Blues Queen: Female Blues Pioneers in Southern Vaudeville

SECOND INTERLUDE

Theater Circuits, Theater Wars, and the Formation of the T.O.B.A.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Yours for Business”: The Commercialization of the Blues, 1920–26

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Notes

Bibliography

General Index

Song Index

Theater Index