Even in today's opera world, the position of the black tenor is problematic.
But life is tough and if you're creative, it's tougher.
I was very young at the time, and I mainly appreciated their vocal qualities, even though I was already living as they did - as black performers in a white world.
If you try to do that in pop music - to play only rare show tunes, for example - people don't come.
Once in a while, I try to sneak in something less known anyway.
