The hit song Tuxedo Junction was composed by Erskine Hawkins in 1939 and co-written with Buddy Feyne. When Buddy Feyne was commissioned to compete for the lyrics of the song, he asked Hawkins what the title referred to. In Feyne’s words, Erskine Hawkins replied that it was a “a performance venue whistle stop” on the Chittlin’ Circuit in Birmingham Alabama. According to www.800alabama.com, the official travel and tourism site for the state of Alabama, “the corner of Ensley Avenue and 19th Street in the Ensley area of west Birmingham was once home to the famed Tuxedo Junction, the heart of social life for the black populations of Birmingham and the surrounding areas…a booming center for black nightlife in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s…” Erskine Hawkin’s Tuxedo Junction was covered by the Glen Miller Orchestra in 1940. It became one of the most popular songs of World II and did much to popularize the notion of a so called Chittlin’ Circuit among the American public.