‘Midnight at the Barrelhouse’ With Johnny Otis

Johnny Otis wasamong the top-selling R&B acts of the 1950s and the author of many hitsongs, some of them, such as “Willie and the Hand Jive,” familiar to babyboomer audiences through cover versions in the ’60s and ’70s. A drummer,vibraphonist, pianist, singer and bandleader, Otis was one of the crucial linksbetween R&B and rock ’n’ roll. He was also a prominent civil rightsactivist in Los Angeles,dedicated to raising the social, political and economic level of blacks.

The curious thingabout the dusky-complexioned musician was that by birth he was Greek American,not African American. At a time when many lighter-skinned blacks tried to “pass”as white, Otis fully identified himself with minority cultures.

George Lipsitz’sbrilliant biography, Midnight at theBarrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story (University of Minnesota Press), is a reminder that race is a slipperyconcept. When Otis grew up in the 1920s, the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants whodominated America consignedGreeks and other Mediterranean and EasternEuropeans to the lower orders. For them, Greeks were not white, but “Oriental.”Many Greek immigrants fought back, joining hands with Latinos, blacks, EastAsians and others in early struggles for social justice. Johnny Otis simplytook his father’s example several steps further. Lured as much by the vibrantsoulfulness of blues, gospel and jazz as anything else, Otis became black, sufferingthe indignities of segregation and prejudice while being enriched by theculture and community he joined.

A spirit ofgenerosity animated his career. His bands were group efforts, allowing membersand guests to shine while he took a back seat. “Many of his most importantcontributions to Black music came from his efforts at promoting othermusicians,” Lipsitz writes. Hank Ballard, Little Willie John, Big Mama Thorntonand Jackie Wilson were among the great singers featured in his band; Otis alsoproduced or promoted Etta James, Sugar Pie DeSanto and many others.

As anAfrican-American columnist, author of an insightful account of ghetto lifecalled Listen to the Lambs (1968) andpastor/social activist, Otis walked a careful balancing act involving the meaningof culture and the ability to negotiate difficult boundaries with grace. ForOtis, social justice wasn’t simply a racial matter but a class issue, bound upwith power structures and economic inequality. More than just the chronicle ofa superb and influential musician, Midnightat the Barrelhouse is an exploration of some of the less extolled aspectsof the struggle for civil rights in America.