365 DAYS PROJECT

2003   DECEMBER 10   #344

Mr. Lynn Carter - She's A He (excerpt)

A friend of mine recently passed a copy of this album onto me. I had never heard of Lynn Carter before and was immediately fascinated by it.

Lynn Carter was a female impersonator, and this is a recording of his nightclub act. I discovered that Lynn was actually semi-popular on the drag queen circuit, and was part of a traveling troupe of impersonators called The Jewel Box Revue. Lynn was best known for his impersonation of Pearl Bailey.

Recorded in 1958, at a time when I can imagine being a drag queen could get you in trouble in certain states, it serves more as a historical document (Christine Jorgensen is mentioned as a personal friend of Lynn's) than entertainment.

What makes it more fascinating is how unfunny it is; jokes are painfully lame, the segueways are clunky, "mmm, honey lemme tell youse" til the cows come home, and one drunk lady who laughs at everything. Not unlike Neil Hamburger, if he were a drag queen in 1958.

~ Lee Rosevere, Audio Oddities, http://www.geocities.com/audiooddities/

TT-10:06 / 9.5MB / 128kbps 44.1khz
Fiesta Records (FLP 1257) 1958




(Images courtesy of Lee Rosevere)