Black & white songs

In the very early 70s I played at a West Indian wedding in London at which 2 of the special songs chosen by the happy couple were Young Gifted & Black and Im Dreaming of a White Christmas

This was not done out of a desire to make a point, it was just romantic. At that time White Christmas, at least during the December party season, fulfilled much the same function in the Eastern Caribbean as did Save the Last Dance For Me for those of my generation who went to dances in England in the 1950s

Not long after I had ‘discovered’ Langston Hughes I read in the Guardian that he had written Young Gifted & Black with Nina Simone, so I was particularly keen to find out more. It was not mentioned at all in the autobiography, nor in the biography by Rampersad. I tried my luck with various pop reference sources but got nowhere

But then Google came along & I was able finally to check. Sadly, in a way, this is not a Hughes anthem but was written with Weldon Irvine, Simone's music director. But not the less great for that

Link
To be young, gifted & black
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