Editing Roy Eldridge (section)

==== Racial barriers ====
As the featured soloist in Artie Shaw and Gene Krupa's bands, Eldridge was something of an exception, as black musicians in the 1930s were not allowed to appear in public with white bands.<ref name="Oliphant, p. 326"/> Artie Shaw commented on the difficulty Roy had in his band, noting that "Droves of people would ask him for his autograph at the end of the night, but later, on the bus, he wouldn't be able to get off and buy a hamburger with the guys in the band."<ref name="Balliett, p. 151"/> Krupa, on at least one occasion, spent several hours in jail and paid fines for starting a fistfight with a restaurant manager who refused to let Eldridge eat with the rest of the band.<ref>"Gene Krupa Fined", ''Cleveland Gazette'', January 3, 1942.</ref>