Ming, Ling & Hoo Shee, The Chinese Hillbillies - Vintage Signed Vaudeville Photo

Description: Ming, Ling & Hoo Shee, The Chinese Hillbillies - Vintage Signed Vaudeville Photo Click images to enlarge Description CLICK ANY OF THE ABOVE IMAGES TO ENLARGE RARE, original, vintage 1940s vaudeville photograph: Ming, Ling and Hoo Shee included the infamous duo who later struck out on their own as Ming and Ling, the Chinese Hillbillies. By some accounts, they were related. Ming was Ling's father, according to Jadin Wong, who was active in the closed world of Oriental nightclub entertainment in the forties-a world that began, in a way, with the opening of Charlie Low's Forbidden City in San Francisco in 1938. Our first glimpse of them is in the summer and fall of 1945, when they worked the Latin Quarter in New York. It was a trio then: "Ming, Ling and Hoo Shee, Oriental hillbilly trio comprising two men and a gal follow to rock them with laughter, doing gags, songs and instrumentation. Baritone's take-offs of Sinatra, Crosby and Ink Spots send them off to good applause," observed a review in the July 25, 1945, issue of Variety. In early 1946, New York entrepreneur Tom Ball took over the old London Club for a reported $30,000, decked it with lanterns, and reopened it as the China Doll. Variety, commenting on the new "Oriental slant" of the joint, reported in its April 10 issue that, while some of the China Doll's acts were newly arrived from San Francisco, Ming and Ling were veterans of the Manhattan club circuit. "They do solidly." In the spring of 1947, we find them at the Oriental in Chicago, as part of the half-hour stage show featured with the Groucho Marx movie Copacabana. "Ming and Ling, gaudily attired Chinese hillbillies, are standout," Variety remarked in its June 18 issue. After versions of "My Sing Song Girl" and "The Red River Valley," Ling performed "his battle of the crooners, with imitations of Sinatra and Crosby, and although he doesn't sound much like either, reveals good pipes. Also does take-off on Jolson and joins Wing [sic] for impresh of Ink Spots for plenty of applause." In the spring of 1951, Ming and Ling headlined the China Doll Revue at the Desert Inn, Las Vegas. Since then, no trace of them has been found. Who were these mysterious guys, these "gaudily attired Chinese hillbillies" who drift so tantalizingly through the mists of those faded, forgotten years? There are some, indeed, who say that there were several Ming and Lings; some, indeed, who say that the Ming and Ling known as the Chinese hillbillies were not the same Ming and Ling who made three obscure records in the late forties, records so strange that they defy description. The 1950 Ming and Ling DeLuxe recording of Kokomo Arnold's 1935 "Milkcow Blues Boogie," for example, bears so little resemblance to its source--or to subsequent versions of it: Cliff Bruner's (1937), Bob Crosby's (1938), Johnny Lee Wills's (1941), Moon Mullican's (1946)--that it seems more a mutation than a variation. Elvis's recording of the song, four years later, pales by comparison. Their "Eggroll Eatin' Mama," released by Carousel in June 1949, a torrent of boogie-woogie wailing ("my eggroll has gone soggy/She won't take it in her mouth") and unreined baritone-sax blasts (suggesting the work of David McRae, then recording with Jesse Stone for RCA-Victor), seems both a foreshadowing and a culmination, a prophesy and a denial. But it is the concept of the gaudily attired Chinese hillbilly that lingers above all else. American music was unlike that of any other nation. (Of course, rock 'n' roll changed all that. Since the late fifties, every country has pretended to be American when it sang--at least, that is, until the seventies, when Americans started pretending to be limeys pretending to be Americans.) Blacks emulated whites. Whites emulated blacks. Singers from Mississippi dressed up as Hollywood cowboys, and Chicago sharpies as dirt- poor rural crackers. In this ridiculous but deeply ingrained context, the gaudily attired Chinese hillbilly seems to shine forth as the apotheosis, the essence and two-bit substance, of the American rock-'n'-roll Everyman. Within the soul of each and every one of us the gaudily attired Chinese hillbilly dwells. We are one, indivisible, sock carbons under God. 8" x 10" photo, created by the Apeda photography studio, New York, is in excellent condition with no creases or tears. It is autographed and inscribed, To Francis- Best of everything- Ming, Ling, & Hoo Shee Obviously, infinite.bizdom is a watermark, and does not appear on the actual photo YES, I combine shipping! Just request an invoice prior to completing payment My photos and scans always depict the actual item(s) you are buying! Shipping infinite.bizdom COMBINES LOTS TO SAVE YOU $ International Bidders: your parcel will ship within three days of payment. Please be aware, based on customs and other unforeseen circumstances beyond my control, your item may take up to 3-5 weeks to arrive Terms of Sale I offer a full 30-day money back guarantee on all items (excluding "as is" listings). Unhappy? Return it. Unfortunately, due to the occasional "create-your-own discount" type I've encountered over the years, partial refunds will not be issued. This way you are either 100% satisfied, or keep 100% of your purchase price. Simple and fair! 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Price: 39.99 USD

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

End Time: 2023-12-14T20:22:14.000Z

Shipping Cost: 2.31 USD