Robert Toll's "Blacking Up" is the standard account of 19c minstrel shows
though it unfortunately stops before the turn of the century (and could use
an updated edition).  There's a new Eddie Cantor bio called "Banjo Eyes"
(can't remember the author) that appears to cover some aspects of
blackface.  And definitely check out the CD by Emmett Miller called
"Minstrel Man From Georgia" which is pretty much the Rosetta Stone of
American music.  Background on Miller & 20c minstrel shows can be found in
the newest edition only of Nick Tosches' "Country."
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Lang Thompson
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/wlt4
New at Funhouse:  Pazz & Jop Ballot, Overlooked Albums
of 1997, expanded links.
 
"I saw weird stuff in that place last night.  Weird,
strange, sick, twisted, eerie, godless, evil stuff.
And I want in."  --  Homer Simpson
 
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Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite