“Tuxedo Junction” is a popular song written by Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson, Julian Dash with lyrics by Buddy Feyne. The song was introduced by Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra, a college dance band previously known as the Bama State Collegians. RCA released it in 1939. The song was a No. 1 hit for Glenn Miller & His Orchestra in 1940.
In the late 1930s Hawkins and his Orchestra were one of the house bands at the Savoy Ballroom. They alternated with the Chick Webb band and often used “Tuxedo Junction” as their sign-off song before the next band would take the stage so that the dancing would continue uninterrupted. A live 6+1⁄2-minute version of the song by the Hawkins Orchestra exists, with extended solos from Hawkins on the trumpet, Paul Bascomb and Julian Dash on tenor saxophones, and Haywood Henry on the clarinet. It was recorded as an aircheck in the summer of 1942 at the Blue Room club in New York City. The song was written as an instrumental. When it was given to Lewis Music Publishing, they sent it to several prospective lyricists to see who could write the best words for the song. Buddy Feyne asked Erskine Hawkins why he titled it “Tuxedo Junction.” Erskine explained that the Junction was a whistle stop on the “Chitlin’ Circuit”. That information inspired Feyne’s lyrics, which Hawkins preferred to the other submissions. Once the song had been published, European American bands added it to their playlist
Ok, you should know where is Tuxedo Junction since it is the most famous song about Birmingham. The junction got its name from its proximity to the Tuxedo Park community of worker’s houses platted in 1899 and used by Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Company employees. It is likely that the subdivision was named for New York’s Tuxedo Park, an enclave of large estates dating to 1885 that later lent its name to the cropped Tuxedo jacket. As juke joints and dance halls grew up around the busy intersection, the area became known as a premier entertainment district for black workers. The junction’s nightlife was immortalized by Alabama jazz great Erskine Hawkins in his classic song, “Tuxedo Junction,” . At the crossing of the Wylam and Pratt City streetcar lines, and also at Ensley Avenue and 20th Street, was a social hub for Birmingham’s black community in the 1920s and 30s. To find it, take USI20 to Ensley- at the junction housed an active dental practice and other businesses. It stands as the only surviving commercial structure marking the formerly vibrant intersection. It is across the street from Holy Family High School.