Cascade PBS Passport Members gain extended access to thousands of hours of streaming video. Binge your favorite PBS programming and thought-provoking exclusives from around the world.
Video title:
Dick Gregory and the Chicago Playboy Club
Video duration:
7m 29s
Video description:
The late Dick Gregory recalls when he was booked at the Chicago Playboy Club – the first time a black comedian was booked for a white nightclub. Warning: strong language.
Reed was always at the forefront of American avant-garde music, beginning with creation of the Velvet Underground in 1965. Gritty and realistic, the brutal honesty in Reed’s lyrics and sound made him a cultural icon of the disenfranchised throughout the ’60s and ’70s. From punk rock to grunge, he has had an unparalleled influence on the American music scene.
Bebop, a style of jazz developed in the 1940's, changed American music but wasn't taken seriously for much of Charlie Parker's life. This mid-century popcorn television commercial shows how the public's perception of bebop was riddled with stereotypes.
Charlie Parker's nickname "Yardbird" came to be while he was on the way to a gig with some fellow musicians and involved a bird in a yard that had an unfortunate fate.