Josh White -- Joshua Fit the Battle and One Meat Ball

Josh White in 1944, from "The Crimson Canary" -- discussed in my book, Josh White: Society Blues. This was filmed after he had spent four years as the reigning star of Cafe Society, and gives a good sense of how he appeared onstage: one foot on a chair, a lit cigarette behind his ear. However, it's worth highlighting one historical anomaly: Cafe Society was proudly integrated and Josh personally fought against segregated venues, but Hollywood was still playing the segregation game and the audience for this clip is all white.