Customer Reviews

The Original Amos 'n' Andy: Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll And The 1928-1943 Radio Serial

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For far too long history has ignored the immense contributions to the radio medium by two men who were radio story-telling pioneers. The two men were Freeman F. Gosden and Charles J. Correll---Amos 'n' Andy.

Most radio and social histories dismiss Amos 'n' Andy as merely "racist," but they fail to put Amos 'n' Andy in a proper perspective.

Finally someone has come along who has set the record straight--Elizabeth McLeod.

Using the original scripts as her primary sources, she has painstakingly retold the true story of Amos 'n' Andy---leaving the question of the program's place in race relations up to those who wish to make up their own minds---which they will have little trouble doing, as the facts are presented clearly and accurately in this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Amos 'n' Andy or the history of broadcasting and mass media in the United States. I would love to see the complete Amos 'n' Andy scripts reprinted in book form---perhaps this will be accomplished on the coat-tails of this work.

Sammy Jones
Athens, GA

this book is a *must read* for anyone interested in amos 'n' andy, the history of early old time radio, or the comic serial format generally. "must read" is an abused and overused cliche in book reviews, but in this case no other phrase would fit.

if there is an overarching theme to the book, it's that correll and gosden's contributions to broadcasting, which were far reaching and numerous, have been unfairly obscured by the various controversies surrounding amos 'n' andy over the years: e.g., they virtually invented the concept of syndicated broadcasting, the daily serial format, and to a large extent, the very concept of a fully plotted continuing radio series. what louis armstrong was to american popular music, correll and gosden were to broadcasting.

in addition, mcleod also concerns herself largely with shattering numerous well-established myths surrounding the duo and their show. for instance, she thoroughly-- yet respectfully-- debunks the notion that amos 'n' andy was a controversial show during its initial serial run. she convincingly presents evidence that the only major organized protest against the show by african americans was by a philadelphia newspaper in 1931, and that the publisher's motivation was more likely to increase the circulation of his newspaper than to express any genuine outrage. in any event, the public failed to rally around the cause, and the first instance of serious organized protest
against amos 'n' andy didn't ocurr until the television era. even then, mcleod points out, the radio show-- which was still on the air-- remained almost entirely outside the storm of controversy.

she also demonstrates, through fascinating excerpts from the original scripts, that the world of amos 'n' andy was far from a simplistic and demeaning exploitation of stereotyped minstrel characters. the lack of surviving recordings from the serial era, and the huge popularity of the later radio and television
sitcom versions, have all but completely obscured how diverse and individualized the characters populating the amos 'n' andy universe were. in fact, it may have been the only show on radio to have presented african americans as anything *but* subservient characters.

the book is extremely well-written, perfectly straddling the language line between serious academic study and readability. there's enough material here with enough backing evidence and research to justify a doctoral thesis, but the prose is never anything less than completely fluid and accessible, unlike so many academic pop culture studies (ever read any "serious" film criticism? my *goodness*.)

the book itself is hardbound with a lovely laminated cover (no dust jacket included or required), with numerous black and white photos throughout. an appendix provides a detailed analysis of the ratings history of the program over the years, which debunks
yet another myth that the soaring popularity of the show in its early years was followed by a sharp decline in listenership in the early '30s.

while a bit on the pricey side, the monumental nature of the task at hand, and my guess that mcleod's years of research work was not funded by grants, and the fact that the topic itself has such a limited potential readership, i can't imagine she will ever receive anything close to the compensation she deserves. i was quite happy to contribute something to the "cause". i've spent far less on other serious OTR studies and regretted the
money spent. this book is well worth the investment.

This book is a must-read. Period.

Okay, that's not much of a review. But it's a fact. If you have any interest in genuine broadcasting history - indeed, if you want to know how broadcast entertainment evolved to embrace forms that we know and love to the present day, and you want to know EXACTLY WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE - this book is a must-read.

Most of you only know what you've been told about "Amos 'n' Andy." Most of you have been misled by so-called "enlightened scholarship" that has reduced this once-beloved show to what one revisionist termed "a nightly racial slur."

Behold instead the work of a genuine scholar, Elizabeth McLeod, who has evaluated all the latter-day critiques and not-so-benign neglect surrounding Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll's place in broadcast history and then sets the record straight with facts.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable, enlightening, fascinating account of a program that captivated millions of listeners of all races. It's a story of two performers who created characters that all of America cared about and considered friends. It's an account of the power of intimacy in all of broadcasting, whether strictly aural, visual or both. And it's a meticulous, exhaustively researched documentation of data that proves without doubt that Amos Jones and Andy Brown were beloved because they represented that which is good and decent in humankind, foibles and all.

Sadly, I know some who flatly declare they will never read this book (hopefully they won't be writing "reviews" here). I don't know whether they're afraid to let go of their pre-conceived notions, or afraid to think for themselves - or just afraid to be seen reading something with "Amos 'n' Andy" on the cover. To continue to skewer radio's "Amos 'n' Andy" without having read and reflected upon this work is akin to saying that, from 1928-43, this nation consisted of about 50 million racists, some of whom can be found in your own family tree.

The time has come - it was long overdue - to set the record straight about "Amos 'n' Andy" and its creators; time for America to know the rest of this story.

This book is a must-read.

Fans of OTR will surely be familiar with the Amos & Andy radio shows. They were so extraordinarily popular and woven into the fabric of the lives of legions of Americans that everything stopped when the show was scheduled to air. Restaurant conversations halted; even the motion picture houses stopped the film long enough to air Amos & Andy for the audience (or risk having patrons just stay home so as not to miss the broadcast).

I've been reading an excellent book. The Original Amos 'n' Andy: Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll And The 1928-1943 Radio Serial. The author, Elizabeth McLeod, has produced a deft and scholarly look at a bit of radio history that was in great danger of being lost forever.

The radio show went beyond those years, but it is the early episodes (thousands) that warrant the attention of this book. What I found fascinating is that, while the Amos & Andy series is often regarded in modern commentary as patently racist and a propagation of stereotypes, the creators of the two characters, Gosden and Correll, took great pains to achieve just the opposite. The author addresses this early on and powerfully. Both Amos and Andy were treated as real people and given multi-layered story lines and and dignified treatment. They could easily have bent to sponsor pressure and allowed the characters to become silly minstrels doing gag lines. Instead, the programs followed the two as their own lives followed the pattern of many African-Americans of the time: migration from the southern US to Chicago in search of work, and from there to New York. They fell in love, got taken by slicksters, felt hunger, pain, and joy, got and lost work, cried at loss, and expressed it all through amazingly real story lines that hooked a generation of listeners. Astonishingly, Gosden and Correll voiced virtually all of the shows dozens of characters!
Amos & Andy received wheelbarrows full of not just fan mail, but objects that had to do with the story line of the shows, attesting to the way listeners thought of them - as real individuals about whom they came to care.
Sadly, none of the early, and if this book is to believed (and it is), best, original broadcasts remain in audio form, only the scripts survive. Ms. McLeod has done obvious, painstaking, laborious research, including the transcriptions of the early scripts.
The result is a truly excellent, well-executed telling of a fascinating story. She has accomplished something very difficult for a writer: she has presented in a very immediate and attention-keeping way what is actually a quite scholarly narrative. Her affection for the material is obvious and it is hard to imagine this book would have been as deliciously readable if that were not the case.
An excellent history of Old Time Radio.