Black Travelling Shows Coon Songs and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. The explosion in popularity of ragtime music in the early part of the twentieth century opened up previously unthought-of opportunities for black performers. However, these opportunities were stymied by systematic racism at every turn. Ragged but Right closely traces the mass popularity of so-called coon songs during the early years of rag, to their eventual transformation into the original blues music listened to and loved by millions around the world. It also investigates the importance of black musical comedies, sideshow bands, and minstrel shows, and how they helped