Butler May | |
|---|---|
 Butler and Sweetie May | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Butler May Jr. |
| Also known as | String Beans "The Elgin Movements Man" |
| Born | August 18, 1894 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | November 17, 1917 (aged 23) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Vaudeville, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Entertainer, comedian, singer, songwriter |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Years active | 1909–1917 |
| Formerly of | Will Benbow Sweetie May Butterbeans and Susie |
Butler "String Beans" May (August 18, 1894 – November 17, 1917) was an American vaudeville performer, singer, pianist and comedian. He has been described as "the greatest attraction in African-American vaudeville, the first recognizable blues star," and was known "for his streetwise humor, contortive vernacular dancing, and outrageous blues piano playing."[1] He was said to have been the highest-paid black entertainer in the country at the time of his accidental death at the age of 23, and has been claimed as "the model for Jelly Roll [Morton], at least as a stage entertainer and perhaps even as a blues pianist".[2] No recordings of May exist.
- ^ Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff, ""They Cert'ly Sound Good to Me": Sheet Music, Southern Vaudeville, and the Commercial Ascendancy of the Blues", American Music, Vol. 14, No. 4, New Perspectives on the Blues (Winter, 1996), pp.402-454, University of Illinois Press
- ^ Alan Lomax, Mister Jelly Roll: The Fortunes of Jelly Roll Morton, New Orleans Creole and "inventor of Jazz", University of California Press, 1993, p.338