In the end I did go down, but only to shut him up. Florence Mills was vivacious, a cutie, and a whirlwind when it came to selling a song and dance. But she had a small voice. They had been using a choir around her to get volume, and then Florence would come in and sing the punch line. However, she was a public idol, and I didn't think that following her at the Plantation was going to be easy. But I went there for the tryout, and in those days I was as trim and shapely as Florence or anyone else. Mr. Salvin, along with Harry Akst and Joe Howard, who were writing the songs for that floor show, was there for my audition. They asked me to do a couple of my own numbers, and I started off with "Georgia Blues." I could see that Sam Salvin was tremendously impressed. << less