Chitlin’ Circuit and Performers of The Line

West 9th Street was the only consistently safe stop on the Chitlin' Circuit in all of Arkansas. The next closest Circuit locations were in Louisiana and Tennessee, which meant that virtually every major Black artist touring the American South came through Little Rock - and played Taborian Hall.

What happened on this stage between 1933 and 1957 reads like a who's who of American music history. These aren't approximations - the dates below come from contemporary newspaper advertisements and articles, primary sources that document one of the most remarkable performance histories of any venue in the South.

The vintage advertisements displayed on this page are original promotions for actual performances at the Dreamland Ballroom and Club Morocco.

The Headliners

  • Duke Ellington - 1936, alongside Fats Waller and W.C. Handy. The Chicago Defender noted that Dreamland was "one of the leaders in the Southwest."

  • Fats Waller - 1936 and again in 1941 at Club Aristocrat.

  • W.C. Handy - 1936, the Father of the Blues himself on the Dreamland stage.

  • Cab Calloway - 1934 and 1937. Two visits from one of the era's biggest stars.

  • Jimmie Lunceford - 1937, 1940, 1941, 1945, 1946. One of the most frequent headliners in Dreamland's history.

  • Ella Fitzgerald - 1940 with Chick Webb and again in 1946 with Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra. Two separate decades, two legendary performances.

  • Count Basie - 1940 with his Orchestra, James Rushing, and Helen Humes. Returned in 1942 for the Ninth Street USO.

  • Lionel Hampton - 1941, presented by S.W. Tucker Productions.

  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe - An Arkansas native who came home to Dreamland at the height of her career in 1942, touring with Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra. She returned in 1943 with the Ink Spots and Peg Leg Bates.

  • Lil Green - 1947-48, one of the most celebrated blues vocalists of her era.

  • Louis Armstrong - 1949, bringing his All Star Esquire Combo: Earl Hines, Sidney Catlett, Jack Teagarden, Barney Bigard, Arvel Shaw, and Velma Middleton.

  • Dizzy Gillespie - 1945 with his 18-piece Orchestra, and again in 1946 with Ella Fitzgerald.

  • Ida Cox - 1942, bringing her elaborate Darktown Scandals road show to the USO Dreamland.

  • Louis Jordan - 1942 with Claude Trenier at the Ninth Street USO.

  • Peg Leg Bates - Performed at Dreamland during the Depression years and returned to the stage in the early 1940s.

  • Red Foxx - 1937. Oral histories suggest he was a regular visitor to The Line for many years after.

  • Johnny Otis and Little Esther - 1952.

  • B.B. King - Three performances at Club Morocco: November 7, 1952, December 10, 1952, and June 13, 1953, each time with Bill Harvey and his Orchestra.

  • Ray Charles - February 4, 1953 at Club Morocco. Billed as the "Famous Blind Singing Star" performing Midnight Hour, Kiss Me Baby, and Roll With My Baby.

  • Lloyd Price - January 23, 1953 and July 10, 1953 at Club Morocco, riding the success of Lawdy Miss Clawdy.

  • Big Maybelle - April 27, 1953 at Robinson Auditorium, billed as "Queen of Torch and Blues Rhythm."

  • Faye Adams - November 13, 1953 at Club Morocco, performing her hit Shake A Hand.

  • The Five Royales - January 29, 1954 at Club Morocco.

  • Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton - May 12, 1955 at Club Morocco with Bill Harvey and Gatemouth Brown.

  • Etta James - February 18, 1956 at Club Morocco with Floyd Dixon and his Orchestra. Billed as Etta "Wallflower" James.

The Promoters Who Put Little Rock on the Map

The Chitlin' Circuit brought artists through the region, but local promoters made sure they stopped in Little Rock. Two names stand above the rest.

Sharper W. Tucker was a successful Black entrepreneur who owned several businesses on West 9th Street. His promotion company, Tucker's Promotions, operated out of Taborian Hall for years and was responsible for bringing some of the biggest names to the Dreamland stage in the 1930s and 40s. After his death in 1948, his nephew Buck Allen partnered with local disc jockey Al Allen to continue the promotion company and operate Club Morocco out of the Dreamland Ballroom space.

In the 1950s, Eddie LeMonte - known around The Line as "Old Sad Sack" - became the most prominent of several locals who kept the club's programming alive.

The Women Who Ran The Show

The Dreamland Ballroom stage saw a remarkable number of significant female artists - Ella Fitzgerald, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Lil Green, Big Maybelle, Faye Adams, Big Mama Thornton, and Etta James among them. But the most remarkable woman connected to this stage never performed on it.

May Clark Bass was known throughout the industry as the South's only woman promoter. In 1937 the Atlanta Daily World reported on her success bringing major acts to Little Rock, noting that she had outgrown the Dreamland Ballroom entirely - moving her presentations to the larger Rainbow Gardens venue to accommodate the crowds. Among the artists she brought to Little Rock were Etta Moten, Noble Sissle, Andy Kirk, Chick Webb, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Jimmie Lunceford.

Others that Played the Stage

  • Otis Redding

  • Al Hibbler

  • Sam Cook

  • Lightnin’ Hopkins

  • Willie Mabon

  • Pigmeat Markham

  • Albert King

  • T Bone Walker

  • Big Maybell Walker

  • Clarence Carter

  • Joe Simmon

  • Sonny Thompson

  • Tab Smith

  • Chuck Young

  • Roy Brown and His Mighty

  • Ruth Brown

  • Willis Jackson

  • Betty (Miss Blues) Ford

  • Joe Turner

  • Christene Henderson

  • Willie Johnson

  • Jimmie Liggins

  • Herman Manzy

  • Lewis and Parker

  • Chester Guyden

  • The Little Rockers

  • Shirley Lee with Roland Cook

  • Woody Herman and the Third Herd Orchestra

  • Jimmie Lofton

  • Satchel Mouth Baby

  • Atomic Mama

  • Groovie G

  • Just One More Drink

  • Erskine Hawkins

  • Cootie Williams

  • Jack McVea

  • Howling Wolf

  • Erksine Hawkins

  • Buck and Bill Douglas

  • Lionel Hampton

  • The Rockets

  • Harlan Leonard

  • Ike Barlett's Vamping Babies

  • Pha Terrell

  • Doctor Clayton

  • Andy Kirk and his 12

  • Clouds of Joy

  • June Richmond

  • Benny Carter