Langston Hughes - "The Weary Blues" on CBUT, 1958

[@suchomimus9921]

The museum bit from Spider-Man 2 introduced me to so many cool people lol

[@mickeymike7490]

Same dude!!

[@TLDH1]

Literally came because of it

[@THEEOriginalMM]

It legit made me rediscover my jazz love I haven’t felt since middle school…I appreciate the game for that

[@RoseInnn]

Ong bro

[@demonioum]

Im playing spiderman 2 and he gets a homage in the game. “He did a lazy sway… He did a lazy sway…” I love music history❤

[@RoseInnn]

Sick game fr

[@dallasgarvin4116]

Happy Birthday, Mr. Langston Hughes! I'll be 26 in a few days, which shows how your words and efforts still live on. We have not forgotten about you. The youth has not forgotten.

[@noahgoyette467]

Have a long wonderful recording of this. the irony of the fact that it is an entirely white band behind him, is painful, and not lost on me. Love to Mr. Hughes and his legacy.

[@MusicKit]

Recorded in Canada in 1958, it would have been difficult to find a band of black people! But ironic non-the-less!

[@MusicKit]

@@juniord3997 Vancouver? 1958? Not many!

[@davidpiscopo3774]

@@juniord3997 why not look at the fact that this was a great opportunity for the poet. This is adventurous programming back in the day. A poet on TV getting showcased in prime time on CBC is what needs to be recognized and respected. Why you focus on the colour of people's skin speaks more about your filters.

[@SebastiaanHolStadsgids]

I gues in their 'white innocence' like professor Gloria Wekker names it, the Canadian program makers thought about playing a Jazz Band along with Hughes his performance. And indeed, I guess in those times in Vancouver - just like in the smaller or more remote towns of The Netherlands - there were white folks playing Jazz (evolving from the Classical music) and making up Jazz Bands. My father started playing the trumpet, inspired by the music of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie & Chet Baker, and he also liked the music by Sidney Bechet and Charles Mingus, and the big band of Duke Ellington. Likewise this boy from Hoorn, Theo Meurs, who formed in this small town a Jazz Band in 1958 / 1959 (after 1960 all the other youth formed beat and rock & roll bands).

[@SebastiaanHolStadsgids]

I wonder if we can find out the names of the Jazz Players in this recording.

[@carloshamilton9639]

Langston Hughes is my favorite poetry writer... I write poetry myself.. so imma put this out there... You Had Me Down, like a slave in the fields. My heart was cold and blue, since you put me down. I thought I was gone forever, felt like I couldn't breathe. Everything about me, was down, like a frown, upon my face. You turned my whole world misty blue. I cried sounded like an old howling wolf. I tried to stay silent with my tears, but the sniffles and heartache was too much. You had me down.. this is an original poem written by me....

[@restinpeace8319]

hey. i'm like 4 years late but that was beautiful. read it multiple times. thanks for sharing your poetry. i hope youre doing good right now. peace, brother :)

[@soumiatulip]

nice indeed. Greetings from Algeria

[@taylorjones1733]

I love the rhythm flow of you're poem. I too love Mr. HUGHES since an adolescent.

[@jalen.thompson]

I'm 5 years late. This poem just inspired me so much. I am a writer and filmmaker who does visual poetry. Was not expecting to stumble on this video and this comment. Thank you so much! Please release a poetry collection soon.

[@0327babygirl]

I know those were the times, but, I would have much rather have had an African American band with more feeling/soul to accompany this beautiful poem..Langston Hughes is one of my favorite poets, writers, activists..

[@thaxtonwaters8561]

I can always tell when it's a white band on the radio because i can't FEEL it.__Miles Davis

[@BaldwinFanonGarveyTureShakurX]

@@thaxtonwaters8561 That sounds exactly like something Miles would say. Lol

[@theuberman7170]

The ideal scenario would be a mix of people just enjoying life.

[@gloriasimpkins823]

That was probably his way of making you think have that band playing , just like his poem Dinner Guess.

[@lauraa.g.bracken1764]

That would make more sense, maybe with an occasional token white guy. And...where are the women?

[@rex788]

After I read the poem out loud while playing SM2. I had to come check it out.

[@johnervin8033]

It's hard to believe there are so few views: Langston Hughes is a great genius, and a gift to the wounds of our country, there to bind them. Let's hope that such videos are a note of renaissance to spark a new life for his writings. He's the best. More Hughes! James Emanuel credits him as his mentor, and he was and is still mentor to many men and wooooo-men. Tore!

[@jacobsturm1683]

300k now.

[@wills.e.e8014]

This is perhaps, the snowball that turned into the avalanche. Langston Hughes' poetry was the very first foundation of Hip Hop and the infancy of Rap.

[@rachelm712]

I thought the same thing

[@RaphaelAmbrosiusCosteau51]

I don’t think he was the only one doing stuff like this at the time but you’re definitely right about the similarities

[@oziermuhammad2488]

A tremendous creative force that burned brightly too quickly. We, humanity would have been blessed had he been among us more than the 65 years grated him on this planet.

[@Roctasticallyperfect]

Anyone else here from Spiderman 2?

[@TheSonOfOdinn]

Me 😂

[@coolcookie3885]

Yeah XD

[@Artemisto]

Meeee🤣🤣

[@saltogsurt4u]

Guilty 🖐

[@biertje3734]

Yup

[@cashglory]

I absolutely love that Spiderman 2 gave so much appreciation and history to these beloved people!! I love this history 🩵💎

[@Musicienne-DAB1995]

My favourite poem by Langston Hughes. What a master of musicality and words.

[@heatherallingham7120]

This is a rare treat because when I hear this poem I akways hhear blues playing in my head...it's that brilliant. What an utterly inspiring artist

[@udude3wy]

You know, when you take a step back in time, and view something as beautiful as this, it makes me appreciate #TheAnatomyOfWords more than ever.

[@Tupelo927]

vanalogue Thank you so very much for posting this absolute treasure! Thanks to you, this recording will be seen by many & will hopefully spark an appreciation for the brilliant Langston Hughes in a new generation. Kudos to you!

[@zacharyratcliff5378]

This a reminder to come back to this timeless treasure

[@Ematrix1979]

I'm ashamed, I didn't know Langston Hughes: I'm 40, I'm Italian, and I have just discovered this great Artist thanks to "This is us". This is the typical example of learning from a TV serial.

[@SebastiaanHolStadsgids]

It's a small step from james Baldwin to Langston Hughes. I advice you to learn more about the Harlem Renaissance. Also about the female poets, singers and writers of that era.

[@seyvdesanz486]

He's such a g.reat inspiration! Im writing my second term paper about him and I love his poetry

[@alyseegriffin4192]

SeyvdeSanz me too

[@simonmunchen5914]

Where you from buddy

[@seyvdesanz486]

@@simonmunchen5914 Turkey, but was born and raised in Germany. You?

[@simonmunchen5914]

Australia

[@adale79]

Thank you for posting! Love Mr. Hughes.

[@mrzots]

my favorite American Poet....I highly recommend to get his anthology!

[@DosAguas57]

I have a recording of this with Charlie Mingus and his band. Thanks for sharing! It plays as one whole song on both the cassette tape (which I've had since the 1990s) and the cd. He sounds exactly the same on the recording, which is amazing. The full recording is much longer than this.

[@raxeeyeloversismytype6892]

Can you send me a copy please

[@VenusDeMilho]

Where can I find it?

[@saralove9922]

Thank you for posting this.

[@Boogsboogie]

“By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light” not sure if it’s a typo on Spider-Man 2 🎮😅

[@kxmode]

chillrap

[@tylschleicher4474]

Just here because of spiderman 2

[@cheyennevandyke9940]

So interesting how the actual musicians playing and accompanying the poem, can change how one might experience it! That long pause he takes, when he recites the line "I heard a negro play", pan the background the accompaniment is from the looks all white. I'm interested to know if Uncle Langston chose this accompaniment or if it was arranged by the program?

[@brandygeorgi2856]

I agree. The white man on piano? Mr. Hughes would have preferred a black man I’m sure .... I just kept looking at Mr. Hughes thinking “Is he ok with this? If he wanted to do a poem with the music he would have right!!!?” The listener is manipulated to only one sound vs the vision one could possibly have built from the actual character description ... even all the way to the end I said out loud “I did not like that and I bet he didn’t either” I hate to say it but with his smile at the end , I’m wondering in his mind at least he got to share with the world right? I don’t know

[@KillTuco]

it may have taken over a decade, but my middle school english teacher put me on to some cool underground shit

[@theuniqueoneable]

Langston Hughes is one of my favorite poets

[@sholarben]

This is breathtaking.

[@elizawebb2011]

Thanks for posting!!!

[@Chinareport]

Thanks for uploading! Never heard of this Man but writing travel guide to Tashkent Uzbekistan and there he popped up with quite the historic reporting and photography. Anyone interested, look that up!

[@saymasadia-sp3lg]

Glad to see the poet with his own poetry 😊

[@LiamJohnson470]

Spider-Man 2 anyone?

[@walkerarnold9414]

from ps5 Spider-man2

[@Meracog]

Here from Spider-Man 2

[@OnlyLocus]

Same

[@BinJar]

Im just weary thats why I'm here

[@FrosstKatt]

Came here from Spider-Man 2

[@GiftedFiasco]

Somewhat insignificant but I'm wondering why the presenter may have mixed up the words 'accompaniment' and 'introduction' just before handing over to the band. Also Langston changed 'old gas light' to 'one bulb light', apparently!

[@davidcoleman5498]

How come there are not a lot of video recordings of Langston Hughes?

[@Noway-sg8md]

not many video cameras around in his time (1920s-1930s), especially because he was black and it was rare for white people to pay mind to black writers (or any black artist for that matter)

[@SebastiaanHolStadsgids]

This is beautifull...

[@ShoogyBallZ]

Anyone else came to hear this cause of spider man 2 ?

[@sasquatchka]

sh

[@mdcoury]

How did you run across this? A wonderful find and thanks so much for posting it! So great to see these wonderful musicians, most of whom I only know by reputation

[@vanalogue]

Isn't it great? It is too bad that so much of this great old material goes unnoticed... I think it deserves some new attention.

[@OnlyLocus]

No pun intended but this is simply amazing, been kinda studying up on these figures, some genuinely amazing people existed. Good on them.

[@mikefelix3150]

It's the real ... Real... Real... Hip hop... Hip hop

[@chickenwityamz]

Crazy thing is, Langston Hughes was from the south. Tell that to a New Yorker, and they will trip out. The south played an intricate part of Hip-hop's formation.

[@LaSweetable]

chickenwityamz I thought he was from the midwest?? where in the south was he from?

[@chickenwityamz]

LaSweetable Did Google bhm(black hstory month tribute) bring you here? People call it Midwest, but Missouri is indeed considered the south. Jim crow laws were enforced, it was apart of the confederate, as well as Hughes claimed it as being the south in his poems

[@GGiblet]

LaSweetable perhaps that person was thinking of his great grandparents? they were from Kentucky

[@chickenwityamz]

Boo Spanyer Cassiopeia Yea true.

[@Kat-V]

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other night By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light He did a lazy sway. . . . He did a lazy sway. . . . To the tune o’ those Weary Blues. With his ebony hands on each ivory key He made that poor piano moan with melody. O Blues! Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool. Sweet Blues! Coming from a black man’s soul. O Blues! In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan- “Ain’t got nobody in all this world, Ain’t got nobody but ma self. I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’ And put ma troubles on the shelf.” Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor. He played a few chords then he sang some more- “I got the Weary Blues And I can’t be satisfied. Got the Weary Blues And can’t be satisfied- I ain’t happy no mo’ And I wish that I had died.” And far into the night he crooned that tune. The stars went out and so did the moon. The singer stopped playing and went to bed While the Weary Blues echoed through his head. He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.

[@Dresh93]

Bakermat brought me here, tottaly worth it

[@zachbolton6557]

No one has drawn parallels between Langston and Kerouac?? Or how this is basically the same as Kerouac's reading of on the road accompanied by piano. Langston has such amazing soul. This piece blew me away. Kerouac ripped this guy's work off big time. Wow

[@aaronchapman5094]

Neither Kerouac or Hughes invented the poetry recital to jazz music. This was being done in coffeehouses long before they did TV broadcasts. So it’s quite incorrect to suggest anybody is ripping off each other here, except for in the manner that the TV networks liked to present this material.

[@zachbolton6557]

@@aaronchapman5094 I hear what you're saying mate but... The fact is that Kerouac was 100% influenced massively by Hughes. I am a huge Kerouac fan but the tone and rhythm is identical

[@peterruark645]

I hear what both of you are saying. Where does the line between "influenced by" and "ripped off" get crossed?

[@marcopl17]

I Love Langston Hughes. He's always been my favorite. My first reaction was that its almost a crime to have this all white band behind him. But then, I remembered, it was super progressive to have a black man on TV at that time. Langston himself was mixed so I was alright with it. In fact, my favorite poem by Langston is Mulatto. ""You see, unfortunately, I am not black. There are lots of different kinds of blood in our family. But here in the United States, the word "Negro" is used to mean anyone who has any Negro blood at all in his veins. In Africa, the word is more pure. It means all Negro, therefore black. I am brown. My father was a darker brown. My mother an olive-yellow. On my father's side, the white blood in his family came from a Jewish slave trader in Kentucky, Silas Cushenberry, of Clark County, who was his mother's father; and Sam Clay, a distiller of Scotch descent, living in Henry County, who was his father's father. So on my father's side both male great-grandparents were white, and Sam Clay was said to be a relative of the great statesman, Henry Clay, his contemporary. On my mother's side, I had a paternal great-grandfather named Quarles - Captain Ralph Quarles - who was white and lived in Louisa County, Virginia, before the Civil War, and who had several colored children by a colored housekeeper, who was his slave. The Quarles traced their ancestry back to Francis Quarles, famous Jacobean poet, who wrote "A Feast for Wormes". On my maternal grandmother's side, there was French and Indian blood. My grandmother looked like an Indian - with very long black hair. She said she could lay claim to Indian land, but that she never wanted the government (or anybody else) to give her anything. She said there had been a French trader who came down the St Lawrence, then on foot to the Carolinas, and mated with her grandmother, who was a Cherokee - so all her people were free." - Langston Hughes

[@artinaw8320]

I'm Looking for the poem by Langston Hughes called To Artina

[@VenusDeMilho]

THANK YOU SPIDER MAN 2

[@lizm7298]

Stunning

[@ennikleinad]

Langston is amazing, does anyone else hear similarities between the way he recites poetry/passages and the way Jack Kerouac did?

[@ShianneClassic]

yupp !!

[@tharris7290]

They're both natural dramatists.

[@suzanneparrish1849]

I dreamt last night (spellcheck doesn't like dreamt) that I was in a class where we were given a Langston Hughes poem and told to put it to music, then sing it for class. Isn't that cool? I think I'll do just that. Pretty sure I want to use, "Dream Deferred". What a fabulous voice and smile that man had (there's another site with his grinning pic, and the audio of him reading three poems).

[@sergiolobato1798]

This is the cool, that has since lost it's way....

[@NerdFuelYT]

1:32, favorite part, no question

[@namafarm]

coming from a Black Man's soul.. oh Blues

[@tgally2197]

so epic I love

[@NA-cy9mq]

Bless you

[@RoccoChief]

Good Job, Langston.

[@yanki1061]

Qui est venu par curiosité grace a spiderman 2 mdr ?!!

[@MaasLaMenace]

Spoken pionner!

[@Spawnwick_Boseman82820]

Spider-Man 2 brought me here

[@iftachsolomon]

Hip hop could be traced back to this

[@thehiphoptrucker]

Hip hop need to go back to this

[@ilitardo160]

@@thehiphoptrucker No

[@Jaz31day]

Not even close.

[@jroc01]

This my brother is called the "foundation ".

[@19598835]

Hip Hop embarrasses thins kinda intellect

[@kvazium]

Hello from annemasse

[@GetSlappedPlease]

This is epic

[@radhamusprime8563]

“I heard a negro play….” THE ABSOLUTE IRONY!!! 🤦🏽‍♀️ Still. We love you Brother Langston. ❤️✊🏽

[@connordougherty9860]

That transatlantic accent goes hard. Word to Greg Kihn Band because they really don’t write ‘em like that anymore.

[@MichaelJones-gl3be]

Lmao here from Spiderman 2

[@ellaAntonyan-w4i]

whose here from Spiderman

[@grimslaysx898]

Me

[@JButler356]

2024: I’m only here because someone said “Kendrick and J.Cole having a Langston Hughes slam poetry ass beef”

[@TimBsTechTalk]

The recording with Charlie Mingus is obviously much better but this video is wonderful

[@anyasummermeadow7087]

This shit right here fuckin hits!!!!

[@escanor2218]

I can tell 50% of people here just know him from spiderman 2

[@clarkewi]

Not one black musician?

[@doublebubleguy12]

+clarkewi Lol thats 1950s TV for ya:p

[@Musicienne-DAB1995]

+clarkewi Look at the date:1958. The segregation was in force back then. Read Hughes' account of the Harlem Renaissance just to get a glimpse of it. Whites wanted the culture, but not to treat blacks as thier equals.

[@clarkewi]

+TheMusicZone I was alive in 1958 living in NYC where there was no segregation. Then I went to Florida and saw segregation with my own eyes and in more ways than segregated swimming pools; My first grade teacher called me a "Yankee" because I was from NYC! An ugly chapter in American history.

[@slohan99]

This was filmed in Vancouver, Canada and there wasn't a lot of black musicians there at the time. This may not have aired on mainstream TV in the states because of segregation. I knew the piano player Doug Parker and was one of the least racist people you would ever meet, his hero being Duke Ellington

[@imagine07018]

The possible lack of black jazz musicians in Canada helps explain it. But it is still quite a sight when Hughes talks of hearing a black trumpeter play and the camera briefly moves to the white trumpeter.

[@RoccoChief]

just tryna find the MWW

[@BuddyTroy]

RIP...

[@Carol_9nine]

DEMAIS !

[@koolaid5684]

Spider-Man 2

[@alnoogamevid]

am here because spider-man 2

[@57steviewonder]

Cool!

[@ilitardo160]

Hey this is cool

[@TheDudeWithTheHatN2]

bruh f in the chat for the old man

[@jacobreynolds3917]

My Melancholy Blues-Queen...... Thank me later .

[@ladavis2670]

Hey there, fellow TPSer! Watcha doin in the comment section?

[@Recaidostv]

Alguien más vino aquí por spiderman 2? 😂

[@josephcurtin2489]

anyone else think Larry Elder sounds just like Langston Hughes?

[@bbottoms]

The juxtaposition of a black man performing with a white band playing behind is powerful!

[@aphelelekhambule4793]

Any UCT ONLINE students watching this

[@Bow503]

Nina Simones tribute with blavklash blues brought me here

[@enricosecco9217]

o weary blues

[@midweekmike]

You heard a... play. but ain't nobody such playing in the back but a...

[@alyssummichelle]

No doubt, this is great content. I just don't think that he was terribly happy about what he had to do. Langston: a blues man made to read his blues to the tune of "white man" jazz. That's not what he was about, I think.

[@Musicienne-DAB1995]

True.

[@MichaelDominici1968]

That's an extremely uninformed comment. You do realize that he made an entire recording with two incredible bands "Weary Blues" featuring Milt Hinton/Leonard Feather on one session and Charles Mingus on the second, yes? A true classic. His reading is exactly the same here. So, there goes that 'theory'.

[@GiftedFiasco]

I feel part of the minority that thinks this is absolutely superb. This is real blues, coming from a black man's soul, and you can feel it in each pause and utterance. The dismay expressed by some of the comments here are understandable, but in attempting to point out this well understood narrative, you do Mr. Hughes' legacy the biggest disservice as the mature gentleman you see in the video. As if any such irony and effect could ever escape this lyrical genius and his talented milieu. A similar point can be made of 'The Real Ambassadors' by Louis Armstrong and the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Anyway, thanks for the info!

[@ilitardo160]

White jazz and black jazz sounds about the same.

[@naughtybeast96]

Hip-Hop:Beginning

[@elementdragonoid]

Bri is rapping

[@danialharper700]

Imagine this narrated by Morgan Freeman!

[@MarcoPolo881]

The band was very good, too bad the poem was not sung , i think it would be really great !

[@ayinstrumentals7731]

Barz

[@mdsoulsounds]

Optics look bad to see Langston interpret a poem on blues with an all white musician band?

[@scum1979]

👀

[@Ameelah1234]

I hear Tom and Jerry