Information
Narrator
Date
2008-07-18
Description
Audio clip from interview with Eugene Williams. In the clip, he recalls the prejudices that he and other black musicians faced during the 1970s.
Digital ID
ohr000867_clip
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I agree.Audio clip from interview with Eugene Williams. In the clip, he recalls the prejudices that he and other black musicians faced during the 1970s.
Eugene Williams oral history interview, 2008 July 18. OH-02427. [Audio recording] Oral History Research Center, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevad
English
We didn't work Sun City like the average artists that were coming over there. But we stood up. Buck stood up. We refused. That was the first time they had Indian, black, white as you know the classifications of the variations, at one show. That was a proud moment. That's wonderful. Now, in this country you may have missed this, but did you have any problems or experiences with a black group making a song and then a record company having a white group record that same song? I saw it happen with Pat Boone. He was the main one. We never had that problem. A lot of people recorded Buck's songs all over the world. He didn't even care, because Pat already made them millions on them. It was an honor to him. "Only You" was done 13 times. Even one of The Beatles did it. Johnny Mathis did it. That's an honor, to have your song recorded 13 times by different artists. We virtually never went through that. But it was an insult that our guys are thinking that they made it. That's the way it was. My uncle, when he was traveling with Lionel Hampton, would have to walk in the back door at some hotels. He had a light complexion. He would put a turban on and walk through the front door with his little accent. He could even eat in the restaurant. He just used what he had to. It was demeaning. He's from California. It was demeaning, and he was tired of being treated like that. A lot of the guys kind of came down on him for alienating the past. But he was about my complexion. He wasn't a white man. But he decided he was going with the Arab thing because they'll let Arabs eat.