Of Minnie the Moocher & Me

From dust jacket notes: "From the back streets of Baltimore where he hustled as a kid, through the jazz clubs of Chicago in the raw and roaring twenties, to the Cotton Club, Hollywood, Paris, and beyond, here in his own words is the story of Cab Calloway - the man who made Minnie the Moocher a household heroine and became one of the most respected jazz musicians and best loved entertainers in America. He sang and danced like no other performer of his time. Tall, slender, handsome and resplendent in a white zoot suit, his presence on stage was electric. 'Hi-de-hi-de-ho,' he'd sing. 'Hi-de-hi-de-ho,' the audience would answer. 'Wah-de-do-de-way-de-ho,' he'd intone. 'Wah-de-do-de-way-de-ho,' they'd roar back. And on it would go until the crowd was singing and stomping and dancing in the aisles. It was the Great Depression, but he made them forget. More than that, he made them happy. That has always been Cab Calloway's profession - and the secret of his monumental success - knowing how to make people happy. He has entertained presidents and crowned heads of Europe, Mr. and Mrs. America (as they were then called) over network radio and the first integrated audiences in the South - as well as those still segregated by a rope down a concert hall. He has starred in Broadway shows, made scores of movies, and written hundreds of songs. He has worked - and played - with the greats of his profession from Louis Armstrong to Lena Horne, Duke Ellington to Al Jolson, Dizzy Gillespie to Bill Robinson...."