Butler May

Butler May
Butler and Sweetie May
Background information
Birth name	Butler May Jr.
Also known as	String Beans "The Elgin Movements Man"
Born	(1894-08-18)August 18, 1894 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
Died	November 17, 1917(1917-11-17) (aged 23) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Blues
Occupation(s)	Entertainer, comedian, singer, songwriter
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1909–1917
Associated acts	Will Benbow Sweetie May Butterbeans and Susie

Butler "String Beans" May (August 18, 1894 – November 17, 1917) was an American vaudeville performer, singer, pianist and comedian. He has been described as "the greatest attraction in African-American vaudeville, the first recognizable blues star," and was known "for his streetwise humor, contortive vernacular dancing, and outrageous blues piano playing." He was said to have been the highest-paid black entertainer in the country at the time of his accidental death at the age of 23, and has been claimed as "the model for Jelly Roll [Morton], at least as a stage entertainer and perhaps even as a blues pianist". No recordings of May exist.

May was born in Montgomery, Alabama, one of a family of eight. His father died when he was a child, and, while his mother worked in menial jobs, Butler May developed his musical talents, singing and playing piano. By the age of fourteen he had become an accomplished performer, and he joined Will Benbow's "Chocolate Drops Company" on the vaudeville touring circuit. Based in Pensacola, Florida, the troupe also included Jelly Roll Morton and Ma Rainey.

When interviewed by Alan Lomax in 1938, Morton recalled May as "the greatest comedian [he] ever knew", describing him as "a very, very swell fellow, over six feet tall, very slender with big liver lips, and light complexioned. His shoes were enormous and he wore trousers impossible to get over his feet without a shoe horn. He always had a big diamond in his front tooth. He was the first guy I ever saw with a diamond in his mouth, and I guess, I got the idea for my diamond from him".

In 1909, he appeared as half of a double act with comedian Kid Kelly in Atlanta, and acquired the stage name "String Beans" (or "Stringbeans") for his lanky appearance. The following year, he formed a personal and professional relationship with New Orleans-born Sweetie Matthews. They married, and performed regularly together in Benbow's company. In 1911, they played in Chicago at the Monogram theater, one of the top black vaudeville venues in the city, and, according to writers Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff, "opened the floodgates for other Southern acts, and ensured a prominent place for the blues in American entertainment."