Cole Porter Scores An Interracial Couple’s Highs And LowsPosted in Articles, Arts, Audio, Biography, New Media, United States on 2012-08-31 00:01Z by Steven |
Cole Porter Scores An Interracial Couple’s Highs And Lows
National Public Radio
All Things Considered
Music: Mom and Dad’s Record Collection
2012-08-30
NPR Staff
As summer winds down, All Things Considered is winding down its series “Music: Mom and Dad’s Record Collection.”
For the past few months, the show has asked listeners to tell their stories about a particular piece of music they associate with their parents. Listener Melanie Cowart of San Antonio, Texas, wrote in to explain how Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine” — a song that’s been interpreted by Artie Shaw, Ella Fitzgerald and many others — became a running soundtrack for her parents’ relationship.
“My father was African-American; my mother was white,” Cowart tells NPR’s Melissa Block. “They met in 1929, at a time when that type of a relationship was not something that was acceptable in society. In fact, in many states, including in Missouri where they met, it was against the law. But they fell in love and formed a very strong bond.”…
Read the entire transcript here. Download the audio here (00:05:42).