page_title: Bob Cole (composer)
section_title: Union with the Johnson Brothers: a turn in Black entertainment
hierarchical_section_title: Bob Cole (composer) / Union with the Johnson Brothers: a turn in Black entertainment
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of composers and producers Bob Cole, James Weldon Johnson, and J. Rosamond Johnson
context_page_description: Robert Allen Cole was an American composer, actor, playwright, and stage producer and director.
  In collaboration with Billy Johnson, he wrote and produced A Trip to Coontown, the first musical entirely created and owned by black showmen. The popular song La Hoola Boola was also a result of their collaboration. Cole later partnered with brothers J. Rosamond Johnson, pianist and singer, and James Weldon Johnson, pianist, guitarist and lawyer, which resulted in over 200 songs.
  Their vaudeville act featured classical piano pieces and their musicals featured sophisticated lyrics without the usual stereotypes such as "hot-mamas" and watermelons. Success enabled Cole and Rosamond to tour America and Europe with their act. The trio's most popular songs were "Louisiana Lize" and "Under the Bamboo Tree". Their more successful musicals were The Shoo-Fly Regiment and The Red Moon.
  Cole committed suicide by drowning himself in a creek in the Catskills in 1911 after a nervous breakdown and period of clinical depression that worsened in 1910.
context_section_description: In 1899, Cole met two brothers from Jacksonville, Florida. who paved the path of the rest of his career in show business: his partnership with James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson, especially J. R. Johnson, lasted until his retirement in 1911. As Thomas L. Riis claimed, Cole’s “association with the Johnson brothers indicated that Cole was turning away from coon-song composition” (140). There was little evidence as to the reason behind Cole’s drastic shift from traditional “coon songs”; one possible reason was that Cole wanted to draw the elite audience into his plays. He averted from his normal Willy Wayward persona and adopted a more dignified and respectable character. It is possible that his transition was influenced by his partners, who both held college degrees, and his own political notions at the time. As a result, the cooperation of the two (Cole and Johnson) led to the creation of high-class vaudeville acts that incorporated elegance and sophistication, all of which were executed in evening dresses.
  One can perceive that Cole was engaged in the political and societal issues of the time, indicated by his image-altering transition into creating shows for the elite. Furthermore, his interest towards black politics was revealed from his scrapbook, which was not bursting with newspaper clippings of his own success in black show business, but rather, it consisted mainly of clippings from the Waller Affair. The Waller Affair involved the imprisonment of John L. Waller as a consequence of political confrontations between Madagascar and France, in which French imperialists who claimed to protect Madagascar did not support black developers. The French court-martial accused Waller of leaking information to the enemy (Madagascar) during the war, and sentenced Waller to twenty years imprisonment. Cole identified with Waller; they were both activists who protested against African-American inequities and believed in aiding their own kin. Although, exteriorly, Cole appeared to be a carefree showman whose only purpose was to be famous in black minstrelsy and vaudeville plays, he organized his shows very meticulously and placed much thought in every detail and aspect of his productions. For example, he considered the exact timing of his songs, including the right execution of each part of the performance.
  Several of the songs composed by the adjoining Cole-Johnson team were incorporated into larger shows by Klaw and Erlanger. Klaw and Erlanger’s shows appealed the white audiences, allowing the black composers’ songs to be known throughout the white community. Furthermore, focusing on the sophistication of the songs in comparison to earlier works, the lyrics avoided the stereotypical descriptions of the aggressive black man; instead, the lyrics provided a sentimental, romantic, and even melancholic atmosphere. Also, deviating from the traditional “coon songs,” the humor in Cole and Johnson’s works were more humane – they did not include the usual racial commentaries and African-American stereotyping. In general, their shows were more sophisticated and focused primarily on grasping the interests of the elite class. The success of their songs originated from the talents of both respective partners: Rosamond Johnson bore the advanced musical training and keyboard skills, whereas Cole bore the innovative talents in writing new pieces. It could be said that their partnership altered the path of black entertainment and subsequently moved the audience’s interests towards a more refined type of black music. Not only did Cole and Johnson change the audience’s taste in black music, they also attempted to educate the public through their songs and tried to prevent the regression towards the degrading “coon songs.”
caption: Cole, Johnson and Johnson
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