Coon Song - Coon Songs in Britain

Coon Songs in Britain

Coon songs became tremendously popular in Britain after the 1880s. Racial stereotyping in Britain had a different role than in America, in that the theatre audiences listening to the song often did not see black people on a day to day basis in their lives.

In Britain, the most important stars to popularize coon songs were Eugene Stratton, G. H. Elliott and G. H. Chirgwin. "Coon imitators" singing these songs were a staple part of British music-hall until at least 1920. Initially reserved to male artists; however, a small number of women and children increasingly began to sing coon songs at the beginning of the twentieth century.