Sam Manning was one of the earliest calypsonians who achieved international… Read Full Bio ↴Sam Manning was one of the earliest calypsonians who achieved international acclaim. He was born around 1899 in Trinidad and died in 1960 while traveling in Africa.
Manning served in the British West Indies Regiment in France and the Middle East during World War I. In the early 1920s, he moved to New York, where he recorded music that combined jazz and calypso rhythms. His song "Lieutenant Julian" commemorated the 1929 transatlantic flight by Trinidadian Hubert Fauntleroy Julian. In 1934, he moved to England, where he gave performances in London.
His companion was Amy Ashwood Garvey, Marcus Garvey's first wife. She produced Brown Sugar, a jazz musical production at the Lafayette Theatre, which featured Manning and Fats Waller and his band. She and Manning opened the Florence Mills Social Club in London's Carnaby Street, which quickly became a gathering spot for the city's black intellectuals.
Manning returned to New York in 1941. That same year, he produced the only known calypso "soundies". film clips made for film jukeboxes located in restaurants and bars. They featured Manning and his ensemble, and Trinidadian dance legend Beryl McBurnie. In 1947, Manning wrote and directed Caribbean Carnival, a Broadway show produced by Adolph Thenstead, which was billed as the "First Calypso Musical Ever Presented". It was a lavish production, featuring 50 singers and dancers, among them New York-based calypsonian, the Duke of Iron, Trinidadian dancer, Pearl Primus, and Manning himself. Manning and Thenstead also founded a record company, Cyclone.
Manning served in the British West Indies Regiment in France and the Middle East during World War I. In the early 1920s, he moved to New York, where he recorded music that combined jazz and calypso rhythms. His song "Lieutenant Julian" commemorated the 1929 transatlantic flight by Trinidadian Hubert Fauntleroy Julian. In 1934, he moved to England, where he gave performances in London.
His companion was Amy Ashwood Garvey, Marcus Garvey's first wife. She produced Brown Sugar, a jazz musical production at the Lafayette Theatre, which featured Manning and Fats Waller and his band. She and Manning opened the Florence Mills Social Club in London's Carnaby Street, which quickly became a gathering spot for the city's black intellectuals.
Manning returned to New York in 1941. That same year, he produced the only known calypso "soundies". film clips made for film jukeboxes located in restaurants and bars. They featured Manning and his ensemble, and Trinidadian dance legend Beryl McBurnie. In 1947, Manning wrote and directed Caribbean Carnival, a Broadway show produced by Adolph Thenstead, which was billed as the "First Calypso Musical Ever Presented". It was a lavish production, featuring 50 singers and dancers, among them New York-based calypsonian, the Duke of Iron, Trinidadian dancer, Pearl Primus, and Manning himself. Manning and Thenstead also founded a record company, Cyclone.
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Dance Hall Shuffle
Sam Manning Lyrics
No lyrics text found for this track.
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
@CandyCrawford
You're absolutely right! I've always said the men AND the women were Olympic quality athletes in this classic scene!
What's really amazing is that this was done in one take! The movie company didn't want to waste time doing several versions. Fred Astaire could never do such a complicated, demanding dance routine in one take.
Also, there was no professional choreographer to create the dance steps for them. These folks made up their routine on the fly. They were street dancers from Harlem who loved jazz music and the Lindy Hop with an exuberant passion!
It would be interesting to learn how much the dancers were paid for their film performance. But it would only piss me off! Trust me, I'm sure these performers are due some reparations from the movie company.
It's not just the complicated, physically demanding, creative routine they performed. It's their sheer joy and exuberance that lifts my soul. That expression of passion in the cinema is so very authentic. When I get down or depressed, I watch this explosion of energy and pure passionate enthusiasm. It makes me thankful to be alive.
I appreciate the wonderful colorization process that was done to this classic clip.
@eugenewilson3034
My wife’s Grandmother is one of the women dancing in this video ( one of the maids). Today’s is my wife’s birthday!!! And this just popped up on my YouTube feed out of nowhere! She has the video but NEVER saw it color. This is an amazing gift to see her cry out of Joy! This actually is the first and probably the last time I will post a comment on YouTube.
@blackpepperswing
Oh my, that's wonderful, thanks for sharing!
@pachy444
Brilliant to be descended from such talent 👍
Happy (late) Birthday 🎂
@kaleahcollins4567
TELL HER I SAY HAPPY MAREVLOUS BDAY TODAY IS MY NEPHEWS BDAY TOO HES 4 BUT LOVED WHEN I WOULD PLAY THIS PART AND WE WOULD DANCE AND I WOULD SWING HIM AROUND
AND AAAAAWAAAAY WE GO.
@kaleahcollins4567
Anna that I say thank you all the way from New York because when my daughter had to study swing dancing I pulled that up and I showed her how to really swing dance not that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers stuff not that Lindsey step stuff that these white kids is doing now and I mean she killed it when time came for her to do her swing dance . I was so proud and Ya nana wouldve been too
@kaleahcollins4567
Which one the names is at the end. I hope its Ms. Anna i love her
@domc2909
That moment when you realize your grandparents are much cooler than you are.
@Michelle-pn9xt
Did you think they were the same age? Everyone in the world is not the same age.
@CBLOVE2856
not grandparents actually, blacks
Films like this were rare I think
@stevehtml5490
An a daymn shot TOUGHER !