JOSH WHITE JR CARRIES ON GREAT TRADITION by Eric Myers ______[This feature appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on August 8, 1980]

osh White Jr may well have had more exciting times during his first 20 years than most people have in a lifetime. During those years he spent time J in the company of famous black entertainers such as Paul Robeson, Bill Robinson (the celebrated Mr Bojangles), Billie Holiday, Leadbelly and others. He became an intimate of the Roosevelt family, appeared in five Broadway productions as a child actor and some 50 television dramas - and survived the notorious McCarthy blacklist in the early 1950s. Son of the legendary American gospel/blues singer and guitarist Josh White, he was born into show business in 1940. He began singing with his father at the age of four, and attended the Professional Children's School in New York with such luminaries as Leslie Uggams, Marvin Hamlisch, Elliot Gould, Sandra Dee and Brandon de Wilde.

Josh White Jr (left) aged 11, with his father Josh White in 1951…

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As an entertainer who works alone, accompanying himself on guitar, Josh White Jr sees himself as carrying on the great tradition of his father who, during the 1930s, made records under the name of Joshua White the Singing Christian, and also recorded songs in the blues idiom under the name Pinewood Tom. By the second world war, Josh White had emerged from the gospel/blues world and became a major attraction in the clubs of New York. At this time he met President Franklin D Roosevelt, beginning a long association between the Roosevelt and White families. To protest against the segregation of black and white American soldiers who were fighting and dying together in Europe, White wrote a song called Uncle Sam Says, which was widely performed by folk artists with a social conscience, such as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. President Roosevelt became aware of the song and in 1943 invited the composer and his family to the White House. As a result of this meeting Eleanor Roosevelt invited Josh White's wife, Carol, to sit on various committees concerned with civil rights for minorities, including blacks and women. "Eleanor Roosevelt was just a marvellous human being," says Josh White Jr. "After 1945 my uncle, who had been in the services, became Mrs Roosevelt's driver and was with her for about 15 years, before he went on to drive for the Revlon family.

Eleanor Roosevelt (above) was “just a marvellous human being” who treated Josh White Jr like a god-son…

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"Our families became close and she treated me like a god-son. We would often go to Hyde Park, their summer place in New York State. My uncle would bring the Roosevelt grandchildren to our house to play with our children. Every year Mrs Roosevelt would send us turkeys for Thanksgiving, and sleds for Christmas. She was always there for us; it was just a nice, close relationship." During the hysteria of the later McCarthy period, Josh White was included in the witchhunt against alleged communist sympathisers. This was partly because of his participation in fundraising shows during the war, which had been organised by Russians in America, but also because of his close friendship with the African-American singer Paul Robeson.

Josh White was included in the witchhunt against alleged communist sympathisers, because of his close friendship with the African-American singer Paul Robeson (above)… Josh White was given to understand that if he was prepared to label Robeson a communist, the McCarthyists would be very helpful to him. Appearing before the Senate Committee, however, White refused to denounce his friend, and was therefore included in the famous McCarthy blacklist.

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"A lot of lives and careers were totally ruined during that period, although a lot of actors and singers paid for their names not to show up on the blacklist," says Josh White Jr. "My father's life was not ruined, but it stopped him from working certain clubs and television shows." Josh White Jr himself, while still a child, was called a communist sympathiser by one critic for singing a song called I'm Marching Down Freedom's Road, by the black playwright and poet Langston Hughes.

Josh White Jr: it's a very small planet, and I feel in my heart that we're here to get on with one another, to be united as one… Josh White Jr, has been a solo performer since 1961, and is reputed to be the most in-demand artist on the lucrative American college circuit. He believes that a singer, if strong enough, can be a greater entertainer without the panoply of bands and backing musicians. "I'm not a great guitarist at all, and not the best vocalist in the world, but I think I’m a damn good entertainer, given a chance. "When I finish a performance, I like to think that people have got more from it than just hearing a singer playing guitar. I hope they get a feeling of brotherhood. It's a very small planet, and I feel in my heart that we're here to get on with one another, to be united as one." Josh White Jr, is appearing at The Basement next Tuesday night, and the following night at the Chatswood venue called And Now For Something Completely Different.

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