An electrifying Jimi Hendrix plays guitar and Ike and Tina Turner give a spellbinding show in these fascinating photos of the swinging Chitlin Circuit in segregated America

DEEP racial segregation meant they were banned from performing at most concert halls.

But incredible pictures showing a Jimi Hendrix playing the guitar and a spellbinding Tina Turner show them plying their trade on the Chitlin Circuit.

The Circuit was a collective of venues throughout America, where it was acceptable for African American entertainers to perform.

Under intolerant laws during the 1950s, black singers and musicians were unable to play for white audiences and were forced into separate concert halls.

But in some deeply segregated American cities, venues sprung up that provided employment for hundreds of black musicians.

It was named the Chitlin Circuit after the soul food dish made out of pig intestines and venues were in cities such as New York, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.

And fascinating pictures from the time show household names performing as their audiences get down on the dance floor.

Among them are Sam Cooke, James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr, Aretha Franklin and Otis Reading.

The heartwarming pictures feature in a new book called The Chitlin Circuit by author Preston Lauterbach.

And he explained: "It's definitely a vernacular term.

"In the African-American press they were typically called the one-nighter circuit or the theatrical circuit, it was dressed up a little bit. Chitlin' was informal.

"It denotes a certain 'second-classness' because of the food that it is associated with

"But still, there was something redeeming in the term."

Earlier this year, we also brought you powerful photos showing the searing gap between black and white fortunes during segregation in 1960s America.

We also revealed fascinating black and white photos showing a vibrant pre-Blitz London in the 1930s.