RAE BOURBON LADIES OF BURLESQUE LP 50's GAY FEMALE IMPERSONATOR TRANSGENDER GLBT
$
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RAE BOURBON
LADIES OF BURLESQUE
Now appearing Rae Bourbon ~ World's Foremost Female Impersonator Ray or Rae?
1930-50's Female Impersonator Drag Queen Record with Transgender Overtones
LP RECORD, USA PRESSING, UTC ( Under the Counter ) # 10
Tracks: strip queen; parade girl; cocktail time; Anne, Fanny, Tessie, Bessie, & Flo; old mrs. richbit; three girls at a matinee; forty-five; the awkward age.
VINYL = GENERALLY PLAYS EX, LOOKS NEAR MINT, HOWEVER I PLAYED IT AND IT IS ONE OF THE NICEST COPIES OF THIS I HAVE FOUND, YET THERE ARE A VERY FEW PLACES WHERE IT SEEMS TO SKIP ONE GROOVE ON MY TURNTABLE. SOMETIMES I WASN'T SURE IF IT HAD, EVEN WHEN REPLAYING IT, IF IT WAS A SKIP. HE TALKS VERY FAST. THERE IS A LOT OF MATERIAL ON THIS RECORD AND THESE FEW SPOTS DON'T RUIN THE COMEDY MATERIAL. I AM SELLING THIS AS-IS DUE TO THE VINYL.
COVER = EXCELLENT WITH LIGHT WEAR. BACK IS SOLID BLACK, WHICH IS LIKELY THE VERY FIRST ISSUE OF THIS LP IN THE 50's, AS LATER COPIES HAD HIS ALBUMS PICTURED ON THE BACK.
SEE MORE ABOUT RAE BOURBON BELOW
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COMBINE RECORD SHIPMENTS AND SAVE MONEY ON SHIPPING!!!
For EACH ADDITIONAL LP (2 LP Sets count as 2 LPs), ADD THE FOLLOWING to the BASIC SHIPPING CHARGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR EACH EXTRA LP or Box Set.
Add $1.00 per LP to the shipping charge for USPS Media Mail shipment in the USA or Add $3.00 for USPS Priority in the USA.
Add $2.00 for EACH ADDITIONAL BOX SET (Media Mail Shipment in the USA Only.
Add $4.00 per LP for First Class Air Mail to CANADA.
Add 5.00 per LP for First Class Air Mail for SHIPMENT WORLDWIDE.
For SHIPPING BOX SETS INTERNATIONALLY, please ask for exact rates.
For Each Additional 45 or EP, add 75 cents to the shipping charge for shipping in the USA and Canada
Add $1.50 for each 45 or EP for anywhere else in the world.
ATTENTION: THE US POST OFFICE NO LONGER SHIPS by SURFACE MAIL (SEAMAIL), ONLY AIR MAIL. THIS MEANS RATES HAVE INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY PARTICULARLY FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IN PART DUE TO THE HIGH COSTS OF GASOLINE/PETROL AND THE NEWLY INCREASED COSTS OF AIR MAIL. I PACKAGE MY RECORDS AND OTHER ITEMS CAREFULLY WITH APPROPRIATE MATERIALS. MY SHIPPING CHARGES ARE CAREFULLY CALCULATED TO COVER MY COSTS FOR SHIPPING BOXES, PACKAGING MATERIALS, GASOLINE AND MYRIADS OF OTHER FEES AND CHARGES I MUST PAY TO CONTINUE AFFORDABLE SHIPPING. I GLADLY COMBINE SHIPMENTS TO REDUCE CHARGES WHEN POSSIBLE, BUT SHIPPING RATES ARE NOT NEGOTIABLE. ALSO: WHEN SHIPPING INSURANCE IS YOUR OPTION AND YOU CHOOSE NOT TO INSURE YOUR ITEM, YOU ARE AGREEING TO ACCEPT FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR BREAKAGE OR LOSS BY THE POST OFFICE. YOU MUST PAY FOR INSURANCE IF YOU WANT TO BE FREE OF THIS RISK AND RESPONSIBILITY.
SAVE ADDITIONAL MONEY ON SHIPPING
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You may also contact me for combining other Ebay wins, such as movie memorabilia, original film posters, one sheets, inserts, lobby cards, classic sheet music, movie star signed photos, stills, autographs, pressbooks, magazines, rare records, 78. 45 and 33 rpm, EP, PS 45 and LP, transcriptions, CD, VHS, DVD, antiques and vintage collector's items, when they may be easily combined in a similar shipping container.
Grading Is as Follows:
MINT .. Literally Perfect Record, Shiny Gloss, No Marks, Beautiful Condition.
MINT- .. Very Clean, Light Paper Marks... A Great Record for Most Any Collector.
VG+ .. Light Scratches Only, Should Play Well with Only Occasional and Minimal Surface Noise at Times.
VG .. A Nice Record, Looks Used with Some Scratches. Plays with Some Surface Noise.
VG- .. Rough with Scratches and has Some Surface Noise , but Will Play without skips.
G .. Plays Quite Rough, Has Multiple Scratches, Very Noisy.
P .. Poor Condition. Good only for those who will accept any copy to fill in their collection.
Rae Bourbon was a drag queen in the 50s and 60s and had quite an extensive catalog. He made 11 albums, which is quite a large number of releases for a drag artist. For example, Charles Pierce, who is much better known, only had two. Bourbon also had a wide catalog of 78s and 45s dating back to the 30s. On some of his early 78s he spelled his name R-a-y, and then he switched it to R-a-e. Rae's obituary Read: Rae Bourbon, 78, cafe entertainer, died of a heart attack in the State Hospital at Big Springs, Texas. He had been serving a life. jail term as an accomplice in a 1968 murder, stemming from a dispute over pet dogs. Bourbon, who did femme impersonations in vaudeville as well as sophisticated songs in niteries, played many rooms in New York and elsewhere. He came to the attention of Mae West, who cast him in Diamond Lil as Broadway Rose and another of her shows. At one time, in 1956, he sent out press releases stating that he had had a sex change operation." So says the obituary, but that was all hype, he didn't have an operation, it was rumors perpetuated by him and he milked it. On one of his later albums he even reproduced the newspaper articles that talked about him having a sex change…that album was even titled "Let Me Tell You About My Operation". Ray was working on an autobiography of sorts before his death, in which he describes:
1 - Early Life
In this section Ray describes his family and upbringing on a ranch in Texas. The material includes a rather touching story about the ranch foreman that had a sexual relationship with Ray and the foreman's subsequent murder. Ray was sent to school in England because of the scandal. The chapter ends with Ray's first meeting with Pancho Villa who helped Ray's mother with the situation created by the murder.
2 - School in London
Ray attends a boarding school in London, describing the culture clash between himself and the students at the school. He meets a sympathetic older male instructor who takes him to see a show -- Ray is hired to play a part in the show, beginning his long show business career.
3 - La Senora Diablo
This chapter of the book is reproduced from Carlton Stowers original article, based on an interview with Ray when he was in prison. Ray returns home after working in show business and winds up running guns (in drag) for Pancho Villa, becoming the mysterious "La Senora Diablo" or "Devil Woman".
4 - Paramount Studios
Ray describes his work in silent movies in the 1920s. The chapter is a fascinating look at how silent films were made during the period. Ray was friends with then-unknown William Boyd (who would later play Hopalong Cassidy) and worked on films with Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, and Cecil B. DeMille.
5 - Vaudeville
Ray didn't feel his career was going anywhere in films, so he returned to the stage. Here, Ray gives a fascinating look at the day-to-day life of a vaudeville performer, as he travels in large and small towns all over the country. While in vaudeville, Ray would meet and encourage a very young Robert Taylor early in his career.
6 - Shanghai
After vaudeville begins to die out, Ray looks to Shanghai for work. While there, he meets and befriends a member of the royal family of China who was living in exile with his entourage in Shanghai at the time.
7 - Chicago and Al Capone
Ray works in a nightclub owned by Al Capone. He has a relationship with a female associate of Capone's and both have near misses in the dangerous world of Chicago's gang wars. Ray goes into great detail about Capone's work for underpriveledged people in Chicago and the many unusual characters in Capone's organization.
8 - London and the Crazy Gang
Ray describes working with "The Crazy Gang", a well-known music hall group of the period and doing a command performance for King Edward with the group. He first meets a long-time accompanist, George Duke, whom he befriends and takes under his wing.
9 - Josephine Baker
Ray works with the Follies in Paris with headliner Josephine Baker.
10 - Franco
Ray and Baker perform a dangerous command performance for Franco and Ray tries to smuggle an aspiring French actor into the US for Louis B. Meyer.
11 - Cuba
After his tour of Europe, Ray travels to Cuba with the French actor. An interesting look at the nightclubs of pre-communist Havana.
12 - The Hollywood Screen Test
The French actor comes to Hollywood and finally gets a screentest, which scandalizes the studio.
13 - Jean Harlow
Ray discusses Hollywood scandals over the years and looks at his friendship with Jean Harlow. He goes into detail about the circumstances surrounding the death of Harlow's husband and his own involvement with the aftermath.
14 - Finochio's
Ray discusses his work at the famous San Francisco drag nightclub and his friendship with its eccentric owner, Marge Finochio.
15 - Miami
Ray works at a nightclub in Miami to audiences of Jewish tourists that only speak Yiddish and parties with some of Miami's well-heeled residents in his spare time.
16 - Mae West and "Catherine Was Great"
In the late 40's, Ray worked with West in her show "Catherine Was Great". He looks at his friendship with West in detail.
17 - Lupe Velez
Ray discusses the eccentric Lupe Velez, an associate of Mae West.
18 - "Diamond Lil", Colorado Incident
During the Colorado run of "Diamond Lil", Ray has an experience in what appears to be a haunted house.
19 - Egypt
Ray works in a small nightclub in Egypt and is given a pet camel by the club's owner. He meets George Duke for the final time, bringing a close to their long (and by now, strained) friendship.
20 - Pueblo, Colorado
A fitting end, in a sense, to Ray's own look at his career. He performs in a small club in Pueblo and has an encounter with a wild cowboy and his even wilder wife.
He also included information on the rest of his life -- excerpts and a discussion of his FBI file and the spy case he was touched by in the early 60's, his trial for murder.
The most famous prisoner at Brown County Jail was Rae Bourbon, 76, a female impressionist that had worked with Mae West. He had left 70 dogs, 5 cats, and 2 skunks with an animal shelter in Big Spring, run by a man named Blount. Two of Bourbon's "friends" from Kansas City named Crane and Crisco went to Big Springs and one of them shot Blount. Bourbon was brought to Brownwood for trial. Bourbon was tried and convicted by a Brown County jury of conspiracy to commit murder and Bourbon died while the case was on appeal. Bourbon was a person who claimed to have known and helped Pancho Villa smuggle guns from Texas and was a personal friend of many of the movie stars in Hollywood. Bob Hope even called William B. Bell, his attorney, one day about him while Bell was in a pre-trial hearing. Bell's daughter, Susan, has written a screen play about the case. An escape he made from the jail in December 1970 made the headlines. One day he asked to make a phone call, and when finished he looked for the jailer but did not find him. The outside door had been left standing open, so he walked out. After he got down the street, he reasoned that maybe they had let him escape so that they could shoot him and it would all be over. After he was discovered by law enforcement officers just a short distance away from the jail in a pickup, he was merely escorted back to his cell. Certainly Rae Bourbon and the marvelous Christine Jorgensen (who was history's first transexual/transgender person) helped pave the way for other transgender acts and the great female impersonators such as T. C. Jones, Arthur Blake Charles Pierce, Michael Greer, Craig Russell, Jim Bailey and today's Jimmy James.
SEE MORE ABOUT CHARLES PIERCE BELOW
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COMBINE RECORD SHIPMENTS AND SAVE MONEY ON SHIPPING!!! Visual Grading Is as Follows:
MINT .. Literally Perfect Record, Shiny Gloss, No Marks, Beautiful Condition.
MINT- .. Very Clean, Light Paper Marks... A Great Record for Most Any Collector.
VG++ (EX) ... Very Clean, Light Paper Marks... Plays Well with Seldom, but Occasional and Minimal Surface Noise
VG+ .. Light Scratches Only, Should Play Well with Only Occasional and Minimal Surface Noise at Times.
VG .. A Nice Record, Looks Used with Some Scratches. Plays with Some Surface Noise.
VG- .. Rough with Scratches and has Some Surface Noise , but Will Play without skips.
G .. Plays Quite Rough, Has Multiple Scratches, Very Noisy.
P .. Poor Condition. Good only for those who will accept any copy to fill in their collection.
COMBINE RECORD SHIPMENTS AND SAVE MONEY ON SHIPPING!!!
For EACH ADDITIONAL LP (2 LP Sets count as 2 LPs), ADD THE FOLLOWING to the BASIC SHIPPING CHARGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR EACH EXTRA LP or Box Set.
PLEASE NOTE; DUE TO INCREASED USPS SHIPPING COSTS. THE MAXIMUM SHIPPING WEIGHT TO CANADA IS 4 lbs. & OTHER INTERNATIONAL COUNTRIES A MAXIMUM OF 3 lbs. THIS IS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE SHIPPING CHARGES NEARLY DOUBLE WHEN THE PACKAGE WEIGHS MORE THAN THIS.
FOR EACH ADDITIONAL LP
USA: Add $1.00 per LP for USPS Media Mail shipment in the USA
USA: Add $4.00 for USPS Priority in the USA.
USA: Add $2.00 per Box Set for USPS Media Mail shipment in the USA
INTERNATIONAL: PLEASE NOTE WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS
CANADA: Add $6.00 per LP for First Class Air Mail to CANADA.
ALL OTHER INTERNATIONAL: Add 8.00 per LP for First Class Air Mail for SHIPMENT WORLDWIDE (NO MORE THAN 3 LBS. ALLOWED (GENERALLY 3 LP's or A SINGLE LP & A DOUBLE LP)
FOR EACH ADDITIONAL 45 or 7" EP
USA: 50 cents
Canada: Add : $1.00 (ALL PACKAGES LIMITED TO NO MORE THAN 4 Lbs.)
Worldwide: Add $2.00 (ALL PACKAGES LIMITED TO NO MORE THAN 3 Lbs.)
Please contact me for combining other records such as 78's, 45's or CD's in order to save on shipping.
If You Are Interested in SIMILAR ITEMS, Please:
VISIT MY EBAY STORE
Just Click Below to Visit Seller's Store:
Baby Jane's Looney Bin
Charles Pierce (July 14, 1926 – May 31, 1999) was one of the 20th century's foremost female impersonators, particularly noted for his impersonation of Bette Davis.
Born in Watertown, New York, he began his show business career playing the organ and acting in radio dramas at station WWNY. He branched out into a comedy routine, attired in tuxedo, yet managing to evoke eerily convincing imitations of popular movie actresses. Eschewing the term drag queen, which he hated, he billed himself as a male actress.
Initially playing in small gay clubs, his fame spread. He took up residence in San Francisco, California, where his act became well-known to Hollywood stars. As he toured, his costuming became more elaborate, initially adding small props, later full costume and makeup changes. His imitations were imitated by other female impersonators, and his roles included Bette Davis, Mae West, Tallulah Bankhead, Gloria Swanson, Carol Channing, Katharine Hepburn, and Joan Crawford, which became the drag queen canon. His act was centered on wit rather than accurate mimicry, though it was often said that he looked more like Joan Collins than did Joan Collins herself.
He performed at many clubs in New York, including The Village Gate, Ted Hook's OnStage, The Ballroom, and Freddy's Supper Club.
He was a guest actor on an episode of TV's Wonder Woman and played a cross-dressing villain in an episode of Laverne & Shirley ("Murder on the Moose Jaw Express"). Pierce also appeared on an early episode of the hit 80's TV sitcom Designing Women as a steward on a cruise ship. During the episode, he imitates Joan Collins (as the ship's waitress) and Bette Davis (as the ship's lounge entertainment). As Davis he quips: "Was that Joan Collins hustling the tables? One bitch on this boat is enough!"
He died in North Hollywood, California, aged 72, and was cremated. At his funeral, Carol Channing spoke and said, "He did Carol Channing better than I did." Bea Arthur also spoke and told his favorite joke. In Bea Arthur's Tony Award-nominated one-woman show, Just Between Friends, which she played on Broadway and in London's West End, Arthur repeated Pierce's favorite joke, A Mother's Ingenuity. It can be heard in the CD cast recording.
Filmography
Year Title Episode / segment Role Notes
1972 The Partners "Headlines for Higgenbottom" Pretty Boy Clyde TV series
1973 Love, American Style "Love and the Baby Derby" TV series
1977 Chico and the Man "The Dress" Brad Rushton TV series
Starsky and Hutch "Death in a Different Place" Sugar TV series
1978 Rabbit Test The Queen of England written and directed by Joan Rivers
Wonder Woman "Death in Disguise" Finley / Starker TV series
1980 Laverne & Shirley "Murder on the Moose Jaw Express", Parts 1 and 2 MacGuffin TV series
1982 Legends of the Silver Screen HBO Special; live at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Madame's Place "A Visit from Cousin Charlie" Charley / Bette Davis TV series
1983 Fame "Hail to the Chief" Bag Lady TV series
1987 Designing Women "Cruising" Claude TV series
1988 Gay Voices, Gay Legends Himself documentary
Torch Song Trilogy Bertha Venation
1989 DuckTales "The Good Muddahs" TV animated series (voice)
Spies and Lovers Granny Greenberg
1990 Nerds of a Feather
1991 The Butcher's Wife Beau
2006 Stardust: The Bette Davis Story Himself as Bette Davis TV documentary; archive footage
2009 Queer Icon: The Cult of Bette Davis Himself as Bette Davis documentary; archive footage
PACKAGING & SHIPPING
I PACKAGE MY RECORDS AND OTHER ITEMS CAREFULLY WITH APPROPRIATE MATERIALS.
RETURN & INSURANCE POLICY FOR ALL BUYERS:
ANY UNDAMAGED ITEM MAY BE RETURNED WITHIN 14 DAYS OF RECEIPT FOR A FULL REFUND LESS SHIPPING COSTS. ALL ITEMS SHIPPED UNINSURED ARE AT THE BUYERS OWN RISK FOR DAMAGE OR LOSS. INSURANCE IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE FOR EXACT COST IN THE USA AND IS HIGHLY ADVISED. I ALWAYS PROVIDE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION OR TRACKING IN THE USA.
INTERNATIONAL BUYERS POLICY:
UNFORTUNATELY INSURANCE AND TRACKING IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR NON-US BUYERS IF YOU CHOOSE FIRST CLASS INTERNATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL PRIORITY FLAT RATE, ONLY FOR REGULAR INTERNATIONAL PRIORITY OR EXPRESS MAIL. WHEN YOU CHOOSE FIRST CLASS INTERNATIONAL MAIL AND INSURANCE, YOUR SHIPPING WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY UPGRADED TO INSURED INTERNATIONAL PRIORITY MAIL WITH RECORDED DELIVERY. THIS IS THE SAFEST WAY TO RECEIVE YOUR ITEM. I CANNOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITEMS SHIPPED BY FIRST CLASS INTERNATIONAL UNINSURED, AS THERE IS NO WAY TO TRACK THEM AND NO RECOURSE IF THEY ARE DAMAGED OR LOST.
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