antedating (?) "Katy, bar the door" (1890)

[George Thompson]

Wilson Gray asks
>
> FWIW, I've never heard "high yellow" spoken by anyone of whatever
> race, creed, color, nationality, or sexual orientation. Is there any
> evidence that this has ever been used in the wild by anyone, even in
> the past?

This may not meet the "in the wild" requirement, but Bessie Smith sings "I aint no high yellow, I'm a most particular brown" in Young Woman Blues.  (As I remember it, and not attempting to capture her pronunciation.)

Hunting in Google for the lyricist of this song, (if known), I see that the transcription of the words I hear as "most particular" varies greatly.
The CD of her complete works that would give the lyricist isn't where it should be.  A crisis I will deal with another time.

GAT


George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

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