SPOTLIGHT for JANUARY 27TH!!! * Jerome Kern * David Purcell * David Seville * Harry Ruby *

topic posted Sat, January 28, 2006 - 3:10 PM by  Confetta
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January 27


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BIRTHDAYS
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1910 Abe (Alvin) Aaron, Reeds, b. Toronto, ON, Canada. d. Jan. 31, 1970
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1911 Joe Attlesey, Vocals/Guitar/Mandolin, b. Reilly Springs, TX, USA. Member: "The Shelton Brothers", a Honky-Tonk/Harmony Duo consisting of Joe Shelton (né: Joe Attlesey), and Robert "Bob" Shelton (né: Robert Attlesey, Vocals/Guitar/Fiddle, b. July 4, 1909, Reilly Springs, TX, USA, d. 1986)
Biography
by Bruce Eder
Bob and Joe Shelton were among the more successful brother acts of their era, at least based on the number of recordings they made--150 sides cut for Decca alone, as well as songs for Victor and King. They aren't heard of much today on reissues, in part because much of their recorded legacy dates from before World War II, and didn't have many elements of bluegrass (despite the fact that Joe Shelton played the mandolin). Bob Attlesey (b. July 4, 1909) and Joe Attlesey (b. Jan. 27, 1911) were born in Reilly Springs, in Hopkins County, Texas. During the 1920's, they were listening to artists like Peg Moreland and Jimmie Rodgers on Victor, and were making music themselves, Bob singing and playing guitar and fiddle, and Joe on vocals, guitar, and mandolin. They played locally and then moved to Longview, Texas, and then to Tyler, Texas, where they picked up a temporary partner, Leon Chappelear. The trio recorded for the first time in Chicago in 1933, for Bluebird, working under the name the Lone Star Cowboys. They also accompanied Jimmie Davis on his sides for RCA-Victor (Davis later ran for governor of Louisiana, with the brothers campaigning for him in 1944), and moved their base of operations to New Orleans, where they broadcast regularly on WWL. In 1935, they began recording for Decca Records, the upstart company that was revolutionizing the music business with its low prices and aggressive marketing-it was Dave Kapp of Decca that suggested the Attlesey brothers needed a more commercial name, for which they reached back to their mother's family name and became the Shelton Brothers, also changing their names legally. It was during the period that ensued that the brothers cut some of their most memorable songs, including originals like "Just Because" (later covered by Elvis Presley, among many others), as well as songs they'd learned listening to Peg Moreland and Lew Childre. Their sound was closer to mainstream country, and had elements that anticipated Honky-Tonk in sound and spirit. Curley Fox, with whom they'd worked on stage in Atlanta, came into the group in late 1935, adding a second fiddle player to their line-up. During the mid-1930's, they left New Orleans, splitting their time between radio stations in Shreveport and Dallas-Fort Worth, even as they began recording heavily for Decca, ultimately cutting over 150 sides. The Shelton Brothers were one of the better selling country acts and brother acts of the period, and demand didn't slacken until after World War II. Even then, they were still a big radio act for most of the next decade. At the end of the 1930's, the Shelton Brothers band grew as a third brother, Merle (b. 1917), joined, along with Gene Sullivan. They remained a popular act on radio for more than a decade-the group line-up in 1946 included Bob, Joe, and Merle, Preacher Harkness, Joe Molina, and Bernie Harkness. In 1947, they were cutting music for Syd Nathan's King Records label, but by that time, their fortunes and audience had begun to fade. The group stopped recording at the end of the 1940's, although Joe and Bob both remained busy performing live and on radio out of Shreveport, on KWKH, home of the Louisiana Hayride. Bob later specialized in comedy, while Joe continued as a musician on the radio and various records, and Merle played on radio in Dallas and cut a few sides for Lin Records. Joe passed away on Dec. 26, 1980, Bob seems to have passed on in 1983, and Merle is known to be deceased as well. The music of the Shelton Brothers band, apart from the sides that they cut backing Jimmie Davis (which appear on Bear Family), is not easy to find. They were largely ignored during the LP era, apart from a 1976 MCA album that had one side of their Decca material (with the other side featuring the Carlisle Brothers). Two CDs, from Old Homestead (The Shelton Brothers: Bob and Joe) in 1993, and Cowgirl/boy of Germany (Just Because) released the same year, are difficult to locate. They are overdue for a Bear Family CD reissue.
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1919 Ross Bagdasarian, actor/songwriter, b. Fresno, CA, USA, d. Jan. 16, 1972 (11 days before his 53rd birthday), aka: David Seville. Perhaps his best known recording is "David Seville and The Chipmunks". Among his other songs are "The Trouble With Harry" (reached No. 44, in 1956), and two solo singles (recording as David Seville), "Armen's Theme" and "Gotta Get to Your House." In early 1958, his "Witch Doctor" hit NO. 1, and later that year, his Christmas gimmick single "The Chipmunk Song" spent four weeks at the top of the charts. Two months later, "Alvin's Harmonica" reached No. 3.
Biography
by John Bush
Though the name Ross Bagdasarian is familiar only to devoted collectors of Americana, the three characters he created -- Alvin, Simon, and Theodore Chipmunk -- have been famous around the world for decades. The man who brought the Chipmunks to life was born on January 27, 1919, in Fresno, CA. He came to Los Angeles in 1950, and appeared in the films Viva Zapata, Stalag 17, and Rear Window. Bagdasarian also worked as a songwriter, reaching the charts first in 1956, as his production of Alfi and Harry's "The Trouble With Harry" hit number 44. He later charted two solo singles (recorded as David Seville), "Armen's Theme" and "Gotta Get to Your House."
In 1958, Bagdasarian began experimenting with a novel technique -- recording vocals normally but then speeding up the playback on a tape machine. The process yielded the number one hit "Witch Doctor" in early 1958, and the phenomenon mushroomed later that year when his Christmas gimmick single "The Chipmunk Song" spent four weeks at the top of the charts. "Alvin's Harmonica" reached number three just two months later, and Christmas reissues of "The Chipmunk Song" charted in the Top 40 over the next four years. The Alvin Show premiered on prime-time television in 1961, with voices supplied by Bagdasarian. It only ran for one year, but was a success in a Saturday-morning slot. Five more Chipmunks singles charted in the early '60s, and five LPs also did well, including a Beatles cover album in 1964. Although Bagdasarian died in 1972, his son Ross Jr. revived Alvin, Simon, and Theodore in 1979 on Saturday mornings and on the 1980 album Chipmunk Punk. The series became more popular than in the '60s, and albums of the Chipmunks singing country, Christmas, rock, and Hollywood favorites were big sellers, though the Chipmunks didn't enjoy singles-chart success as in the past.
Moods
0. Silly
0. Amiable/ Good-Natured
Whimsical

www.rockabilly.nl/artists/dseville.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Bagdasarian
www.toontracker.com/alvin/alvin.htm
www.thechipmunks.com/
www.nndb.com/people/374/000062188/

SHEET MUSIC:
home.att.ne.jp/blue/zubai...-sheet.html

VIDEO:
www.toontracker.com/alvin/al...ello1.ram
www.toontracker.com/alvin/al...ello2.ram
www.toontracker.com/alvin/alvinpost.ram
www.toontracker.com/realvid/alvin2.ram
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1930 "Blue" Bobby Bland, Blues Vocals, b: Rosemark, TN, USA. né: Robert Calvin Bland.
Biography
by Bill Dahl
Bobby Bland earned his enduring blues superstar status the hard way: without a guitar, harmonica, or any other instrument to fall back upon. All Bland had to offer was his magnificent voice, a tremendously powerful instrument in his early heyday, injected with charisma and melisma to spare. Just ask his legion of female fans, who deemed him a sex symbol late into his career.
For all his promise, Bland's musical career ignited slowly. He was a founding member of the Beale Streeters, the fabled Memphis aggregation that also included B.B. King and Johnny Ace. Singles for Chess in 1951 (produced by Sam Phillips) and Modern the next year bombed, but that didn't stop local DJ David Mattis from cutting Bland on a couple of 1952 singles for his fledgling Duke logo.
Bland's tormented crying style was still pretty rough around the edges before he entered the Army in late 1952. But his progress upon his 1955 return was remarkable; with saxist Bill Harvey's band (featuring guitarist Roy Gaines and trumpeter Joe Scott) providing sizzling support, Bland's assured vocal on the swaggering "It's My Life Baby" sounds like the work of a new man. By now, Duke was headed by hard-boiled Houston entrepreneur Don Robey, who provided top-flight bands for his artists. Scott soon became Bland's mentor, patiently teaching him the intricacies of phrasing when singing sophisticated fare (by 1962, Bland was credibly crooning "Blue Moon," a long way from Beale Street).
Most of Bland's savage Texas blues sides during the mid- to late '50s featured the slashing guitar of Clarence Hollimon, notably "I Smell Trouble," "I Don't Believe," "Don't Want No Woman," "You Got Me (Where You Want Me)," and the torrid "Loan a Helping Hand" and "Teach Me (How to Love You)." But the insistent guitar riffs guiding Bland's first national hit, 1957's driving "Farther Up the Road," were contributed by Pat Hare, another vicious picker who would eventually die in prison after murdering his girlfriend and a cop. Later, Wayne Bennett took over on guitar, his elegant fretwork prominent on Bland's Duke waxings throughout much of the '60s.
The gospel underpinnings inherent to Bland's powerhouse delivery were never more apparent than on the 1958 outing "Little Boy Blue," a vocal tour de force that wrings every ounce of emotion out of the grinding ballad. Scott steered his charge into smoother material as the decade turned: the seminal mixtures of blues, R&B, and primordial soul on "I Pity the Fool," the Brook Benton-penned "I'll Take Care of You," and "Two Steps From the Blues" were tremendously influential to a legion of up-and-coming Southern soulsters.
Scott's blazing brass arrangements upped the excitement ante on Bland's frantic rockers "Turn on Your Love Light" in 1961 and "Yield Not to Temptation" the next year. But the vocalist was learning his lessons so well that he sounded just as conversant on soulful R&B rhumbas (1963's "Call on Me") and polished ballads ("That's the Way Love Is," "Share Your Love With Me") as with an after-hours blues revival of T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday Blues" that proved a most unlikely pop hit for him in 1962. With "Ain't Nothing You Can Do," "Ain't Doing Too Bad," and "Poverty," Bland rolled through the mid-'60s, his superstar status diminishing not a whit.
In 1973, Robey sold his labels to ABC Records, and Bland was part of the deal. Without Scott and his familiar surroundings to lean on, Bland's releases grew less consistent artistically, though His California Album in 1973 and Dreamer the next year boasted some nice moments (there was even an album's worth of country standards). The singer re-teamed with his old pal B.B. King for a couple of mid-'70s albums that broke no new ground but further heightened Bland's profile, while his solo work for MCA teetered closer and closer to MOR (Bland has often expressed his admiration for ultra-mellow pop singer Perry Como).
Since the mid-'80s, Bland has recorded for Jackson, MS's Malaco Records. His pipes undeniably reflect the ravages of time, and those phlegm-flecked "snorts" he habitually emits become annoying in large doses. But Bobby "Blue" Bland endures as a blues superstar of the loftiest order, resurfacing in 1998 with Memphis Monday Morning.
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1910 Joe Callahan, Singer/Yodeler/Guitar/String Bass/Comedy b. Madison County, NC, USA. d. Sept. 10, 1971. Member: "The Callahan Brothers", a duo consisting of Joe Callahan (né: Walter Tommie Callahan), and Bill Callahan (né: Homer C. Callahan, b. March 27, 1912, Madison County, NC, USA. Singer, Yodeler, Guitar, Bass Fiddle, Mandolin)
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1869 Will Marion Cook, Composer/Leader, b. Washington, DC, USA. d. July 19, 1944
Biography
by Eugene Chadbourne
The musical activities of composer, conductor and instrumentalist Will Marion Cook began even prior to the oncome of the 20th century. The son of the first Afro-American lawyer in Washington, D.C., Cook studied classical music at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio and with both Josef Joachim and Anton Dvorak in Europe. He was sure that nobody would take him seriously in either the American or European academic world due to his race, so he began utilizing material from traditional black folklore and music for his own works. He wrote a great deal of material for stage presentations featuring star black comic Bert Williams, but the greatest of Cook's early accomplishments was the 1889 Clorindy, the Origin of the Cakewalk, the first musical comedy to be written, directed, and performed entirely by blacks.
Cook subsequently wrote a series of popular musicals in this style including both Dahomey and Abyssinia. He helmed the Southern Syncopated Orchestra, a large ensemble presenting both ragtime and concert music. Cook could also write in the short form, creating ditties closely associated with singing and mugging black faces, whether the color was natural or painted on. Works coming out of this Cook's song kitchen after 1910 include both "I'm Coming, Virginia" and "Mammy". His orchestra's final tour was in 1919 and featured soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet. Cook then began freelancing with various New York publishers and was influential in the early work of Duke Ellington. His wife was Abbie Mitchell Cook, a soprano vocalist whose career began in his early shows. Their son Mercer Cook was the American ambassador to Nigeria and Senegal.
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1961 Martin Degville, guitar, b. UK. Member group: 'Sigue Sigue Sputnik', a group led by former Generation X member Tony James. They were a "conceptual" band that James never intended to be musical. He even recruited Martin Degville, Ray Mayhew, Neal X, and Chris Cavanagh because they lacked musical experience. The band signed with EMI after James had mounted an extensive publicity campaign that was basically meant to solicit such a record contract. In early 1986, their first single, "Love Missile F1-11" hit No. 3 on the U.K. charts. On their debut album, "Flaunt It", -they sold the space between tracks to advertisers. The album fell on deaf ears despite a massive marketing effort. In 1988, they released a somewhat more serious follow-up, "Dress for Excess" whose album cover featured the slogan "This time it's music". This album also was poorly received. In 1991, James was briefly a member of 'Sisters of Mercy'.
Biography
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Led by former Generation X member Tony James, the new wave group Sigue Sigue Sputnik raised selling out to an art form. The concept behind Sigue Sigue Sputnik was simple: the band adopted a postmodern, ironic style and sound, and marketed it to the hilt, saturating the media with slogans and interviews. James didn't even intend the band to be musical; he recruited Martin Degville, Neal X, Chris Cavanagh, and Ray Mayhew partially because they lacked extensive musical experience. After a publicity campaign designed to solicit a record contract, the band signed with EMI; they released their first single, "Love Missile F1-11," in early 1986, and it hit number three on the U.K. charts. Sigue Sigue Sputnik sold the space between tracks to advertisers on their debut album, Flaunt It. Despite the massive marketing campaign, the album fell on deaf ears, as did the more serious follow-up, Dress for Excess (1988), which featured the slogan "This time it's music" on the album cover. The group split soon after the release of Dress for Excess. James was a member of Sisters of Mercy for a short time in 1991.
www.geocities.com/haysifant...rtin5.html
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1895 Buddy DeSylva, Lyricist, b. New York, NY, USA. d. July 11, 1950, Los Angeles, CA, nee; George Gard DeSylva (Wife: Marie Wallace)
Biography
by Joslyn Layne
Lyricist and composer Buddy DeSylva is best known for his years in the Henderson-DeSylva-Brown team, who were without equal as songwriters of the Roaring '20s. He was born in N.Y.C. on January 27, 1895, but raised in California, where he grew up and briefly attended USC. DeSylva, also known as B.G. Desylva and George Gard Desylva, became interested in show business, began songwriting and eventually was brought to N.Y. by Al Jolson. DeSylva's first successful songs were those used by Jolson on Broadway in the 1918 Sinbad production, which included "I'll Say She Does." DeSylva wrote for over ten musicals between 1919 and 1925, including La, La, Lucille (1919), several of George White's Scandals of the early '20s, and Captain Jinks (1925). His early hits from these shows include "April Showers," "Somebody Loves Me," and "California, Here I Come." In 1925, DeSylva joined up with the duo of composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Lew Brown and the trio successfully established themselves with their second Broadway score, George White's Scandals of 1926. Henderson-DeSylva-Brown then scored the 1927 stage productions Good News, and Manhattan Mary, followed the next year by Hold Everything, more George White's Scandals in the late '20s, and Flying High in 1930. Off the stage, the songwriting trio had several hit songs, in addition to their movie credits for songs in early Al Jolson films (Sonny Boy and It All Depends On You) and the popular 1929 film Sunny Side Up, which they went to Hollywood to score. DeSylva left in 1931, to pursue a career as a movie producer, but also continued to write music for film and stage productions, such as Broadway's Take a Chance (1932). The mid-'30s found DeSylva producing Shirley Temple films like The Littlest Rebel and Poor Little Rich Girl, followed by his work as producer for a few Broadway productions. DeSylva later held positions as head of Paramount Pictures, as a music publisher, and finally as a record executive for Capitol Records. He collaborated with many other songwriters through the years including Jolson, Gus Kahn, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Nacio Herb Brown.
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1918 "Skitch" Henderson, piano/leader/arranger, b. Halstad, MN, USA, d. November 1, 2005, New Milford, Connecticut, USA. Age: 87. né: Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson. "Skitch" was certainly a colorful character, with many details of his life unclear. Various newspaper obituaries, as well as many "official" biographies have him born in Birmingham, England, taught to play the piano by his mother, and to have moved to the US in the 1930s. There are problems with this scenario. One problem is that the official census, and other sources, have him born in Halstad, Minnesota, and his mother died when he was two years old. (He was raised in Minnesota by his aunt, Hatty Gift.) Henderson told interviewers that he received classical training under Arnold Schoenberg, and Albert Coates. The difficulty here is that there is no reference whatsoever in the extremely well-documented Schoenberg archives that reflect even the slightest association with Henderson, nor is there any reference to Henderson in the Coates archives. (Coates moved to South Africa the 1940s and died there in 1953.) In the 1930s, Henderson was playing piano in the roadhouses of the American Midwest. His big break came in 1937 when MGM hired him as an accompanist for a Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney promotional tour. Henderson later claimed he rehearsed Garland for the Arlen tune "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", and that he even played piano for her first public performance of the song at a local nightclub prior to the film's completion. Regretfully, this account differs with the memoirs of the tune's composer, Harold Arlen. In his own biography, Henderson states that he joined the British Royal Air Force when World War Two began and served as a fighter pilot before becoming a US citizen, and joining the U.S. Army Air Corps as a bomber pilot. Sadly, this cannot be confirmed since no official record exists listing the precise RAF or U.S. unit in which he claimed to have served. In fact, he was living in Los Angeles, CA, all during WWII. Skitch also had some legal problems, most notably for tax evasion for the years 1969 and 1970 over claims that he donated a $350,000 music library to the University of Wisconsin. At the time, he claimed that he had consulted with Leonard Bernstein and Henry Mancini on the value of his collection. However, when questioned, both of them denied the claim. The matter was further complicated when a signature on an acceptance letter from the library's director radio, he was heard on such shows as 'California Melodies' (1940), 'Songs by Sinatra' (1946), 'I Deal in Crime' (1946), 'Philco Radio Time' starring Bing Crosby (1946), 'Best of All' (1954), 'United States Air Force Presents' (1969) and 'Skitch Henderson With the Music Makers'. He appeared in over a dozen films (1948-1995), usually portraying himself as the bandleader. During 1947 - 1949, he toured with his own dance band. He also appeared in many TV shows. was deemed to be a forgery. On July 2, 1974, he was indicted on charges of tax evasion, and on January 17, 1975 Henderson was sentenced to serve 6 months in prison and fined $10,000. On April 9, 1975, he began serving his sentence and was released on August 4, 1975. Over his career, Henderson made 100s of recordings, spanning the 78RPMs to DVDs era. On Starting in 1961, he was the musical director for "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". He was a guest conductor for a number of symphony orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic, and was also music director for the New York opera "Street Scene". Joining ASCAP in 1958, his instrumental compositions include "Skitch in Time", "Skitch's Blues", "Minuet on the Rocks", "Come Thursday", and "Curacao". In 1963, he conducted a Grammy winning recording for RCA of George Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess', with Leontyne Price and William Warfield. In more recent years, he was conductor of The New York Pops Orchestra that often appeared at New York's famed Carnegie Hall. On January 29, 2005, the Smithsonian awarded him the 'James Smithson Bicentennial Medal' in recognition of his contributions to American culture. He was also the recipient of three honorary degrees – from St. Thomas Aquinas College, the University of South Florida, and Western Connecticut State University. Henderson also received New York City's 'Handel Medallion' for his role in the cultural life of the city.
www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll
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1914 Andrew "Smokey" Hogg, Blues vocals, b. Westconnie, TX, USA, d. May 1, 1960, McKinney, TX, USA. aka: "Texas Smokey" Hogg. Influenced by Big Bill Broonzy and Peetie Wheatstraw, "Smokey" worked with a slide guitarist "Black Ace" (né: BK Turner, b. 1905 Hughes Springs, TX, USA, d. Nov. 7, 1972) at local Greenville, Texas venues. Hogg first recorded for Decca in 1937, and not again until 1948, when he had a huge hits with 1948's "Long Tall Mama" and 1950's "Little School Girl". ('Black Ace' was one of the few Bluesmen to play their guitar in Hawaiian style -on the lap, using a slide).
Biography
by Bill Dahl
Smokey Hogg was a rural bluesman navigating a postwar era infatuated by R&B, but he got along quite nicely nonetheless, scoring a pair of major R&B hits in 1948 and 1950 and cutting a thick catalog for a slew of labels (including Exclusive, Modern, Bullet, Macy's, Sittin' in With, Imperial, Mercury, Recorded in Hollywood, Specialty, Fidelity, Combo, Federal, and Showtime).
During the early '30s, Hogg, who was influenced by Big Bill Broonzy and Peetie Wheatstraw, worked with slide guitarist Black Ace at dances around Greenville, TX. Hogg first recorded for Decca in 1937, but it was an isolated occurrence -- he didn't make it back into a studio for a decade. Once he hit his stride, though, Hogg didn't look back. Both his chart hits -- 1948's "Long Tall Mama" and 1950's "Little School Girl" -- were issued on Modern, but his rough-hewn sound seldom changed a whole lot no matter what L.A. logo he was appearing on. Hogg's last few sides were cut in 1958 for Lee Rupe's Ebb label.
Smokey's cousin John Hogg also played the blues, recording for Mercury in 1951.
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1910 Charlie Holmes, Alto Saxophone, b. Boston, MA, USA. d. Sept. 12, 1985
Biography
by Scott Yanow
Charlie Holmes was one of the finest alto-saxophonists of the late 1920's/early 30's period, particularly when he was well featured with Luis Russell's Orchestra. An early associate of both Harry Carney and Johnny Hodges (both of whom were boyhood friends), Holmes was a technically skilled instrumentalist early on, playing oboe with the Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra in 1926. He moved to New York in 1927, had brief stints with Chick Webb, Henri Saparo, Joe Steele and George Howe and then in 1928 first joined Luis Russell. He had second stints with Saparo and Steele before returning to Russell in 1929. During the next three years, Holmes was one of four major soloists (along with Henry "Red" Allen, J.C. Higginbotham and Albert Nicholas) who starred with Luis Russell's impressive orchestra. He next played with Mills Blue Rhythm Band in 1932 and then rejoined Russell shortly before the band became Louis Armstrong's backup group. Leaving Armstrong in 1940, Holmes worked with Bobby Burnet briefly in 1941, was with Cootie Williams' Orchestra (1942-45), worked with the John Kirby Sextet (1947) and Billy Kyle, recorded with Al Sears in 1951 and then left music for nearly 20 years, working at a day jo In his later years, Holmes re-emerged sounding fine in an unchanged style during appearances with Clyde Bernhardt's Harlem Blues & Jazz band (1972-75) and recording with the Swedish band Kustbandet (1975). Charlie Holmes, who was influenced by Johnny Hodges but had his own sound, never led his own record date.
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1918 Elmore James, Guitar, b. Richland, MS, USA. d. May 23, 1963, Chicago, IL, USA. né: Elmore Brooks. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, best known for the song "Dust My Broom"
**BIRTHDATE VARIES DEPENDING ON THE SOURCE………grrrrrrrrr!
Biography
by Cub Kodak
No two ways about it, the most influential slide guitarist of the postwar period was Elmore James, hands down. Although his early demise from heart failure kept him from enjoying the fruits of the '60s blues revival as his contemporaries Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf did, James left a wide influential trail behind him. And that influence continues to the present time -- in approach, attitude and tone -- in just about every guitar player who puts a slide on his finger and wails the blues. As a guitarist, he wrote the book, his slide style influencing the likes of Hound Dog Taylor, Joe Carter, his cousin Homesick James and J.B. Hutto, while his seldom-heard single-string work had an equally profound effect on B.B. King and Chuck Berry. His signature lick -- an electric updating of Robert Johnson's "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" and one that Elmore recorded in infinite variations from day one to his last session -- is so much a part of the essential blues fabric of guitar licks that no one attempting to play slide guitar can do it without being compared to Elmore James. Others may have had more technique -- Robert Nighthawk and Earl Hooker immediately come to mind -- but Elmore had the sound and all the feeling.
A radio repairman by trade, Elmore reworked his guitar amplifiers in his spare time, getting them to produce raw, distorted sounds that wouldn't resurface until the advent of heavy rock amplification in the late '60s. This amp-on-11-approach was hot-wired to one of the strongest emotional approaches to the blues ever recorded. There is never a time when you're listening to one of his records that you feel -- no matter how familiar the structure -- that he's phoning it in just to grab a quick session check. Elmore James always gave it everything he had, everything he could emotionally invest in a number. This commitment of spirit is something that shows up time and again when listening to multiple takes from his session masters. The sheer repetitiveness of the recording process would dim almost anyone's creative fires, but Elmore always seemed to give it 100 percent every time the red light went on. Few blues singers had a voice that could compete with James'; it was loud, forceful, prone to "catch" or break up in the high registers, almost sounding on the verge of hysteria at certain moments. Evidently the times back in the mid-'30s when Elmore had first-hand absorption of Robert Johnson as a playing companion had a deep influence on him, not only in his choice of material, but also in his presentation of it.
Backing the twin torrents of Elmore's guitar and voice was one of the greatest -- and earliest -- Chicago blues bands. Named after James' big hit, the Broomdusters featured Little Johnny Jones on piano, J.T. Brown on tenor sax and Elmore's cousin, Homesick James on rhythm guitar. This talented nucleus was often augmented by a second saxophone on occasion while the drumming stool changed frequently. But this was the band that could go toe to toe in a battle of the blues against the bands of Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf and always hold their own, if not walk with the show. Utilizing a stomping beat, Elmore's slashing guitar, Jones' two-fisted piano delivery, Homesick's rudimentary boogie bass rhythm and Brown's braying nanny-goat sax leads, the Broomdusters were as loud and powerful and popular as any blues band the Windy City had to offer.
But as urban as their sound was, it all had roots in Elmore's hometown of Canton, MS. He was born there on January 27, 1918, the illegitimate son of Leola Brooks and later given the surname of his stepfather, Joe Willie James. He adapted to music at an early age, learning to play bottleneck on a homemade instrument fashioned out of a broom handle and a lard can. By the age of 14, he was already a weekend musician, working the various country suppers and juke joints in the area under the names "Cleanhead" or Joe' Willie James." Although he confined himself to a home base area around Belzoni, he would join up and work with traveling players coming through like Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. By the late '30s he had formed his first band and was working the Southern state area with Sonny Boy until the second world war broke out, spending three years stationed with the Navy in Guam. When he was discharged, he picked off where he left off, moving for a while to Memphis, working in clubs with Eddie Taylor and his cousin Homesick James. Elmore was also one of the first "guest stars" on the popular King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena, AL, also doing stints on the Talaho Syrup show on Yazoo City's WAZF and the Hadacol show on KWEM in West Memphis.
Nervous and unsure of his abilities as a recording artist, Elmore was surreptitiously recorded by Lillian McMurray of Trumpet Records at the tail end of a Sonny Boy session doing his now-signature tune, "Dust My Broom." Legend has it that James didn't even stay around long enough to hear the playback, much less record a second side. McMurray stuck a local singer (BoBo "Slim" Thomas) on the flip side and the record became the surprise R&B hit of 1951, making the Top Ten and conversely making a recording star out of Elmore. With a few months left on his Trumpet contract, Elmore was recorded by the Bihari Brothers for their Modern label subsidiaries, Flair and Meteor, but the results were left in the can until James' contract ran out. In the meantime, Elmore had moved to Chicago and cut a quick session for Chess, which resulted in one single being issued and just as quickly yanked off the market as the Bihari Brothers swooped in to protect their investment. This period of activity found Elmore assembling the nucleus of his great band the Broomdusters and several fine recordings were issued over the next few years on a plethora of the Bihari Brothers'owned labels with several of them charting and most all of them becoming certified blues classics.
By this time James had established a beach-head in the clubs of Chicago as one of the most popular live acts and regularly broadcasting over WPOA under the aegis of disc jockey Big Bill Hill. In 1957, with his contract with the Bihari Brothers at an end, he recorded several successful sides for Mel London's Chief label, all of them later being issued on the larger Vee-Jay label. His health -- always in a fragile state due to a recurring heart condition -- would send him back home to Jackson, MS, where he temporarily set aside his playing for work as a disc jockey or radio repair man. He came back to Chicago to record a session for Chess, then just as quickly broke contract to sign with Bobby Robinson's Fire label, producing the classic "The Sky Is Crying" and numerous others. Running afoul with the Chicago musician's union, he returned back to Mississippi, doing sessions in New York and New Orleans waiting for Big Bill Hill to sort things out. In May of 1963, Elmore returned to Chicago, ready to resume his on-again off-again playing career -- his records were still being regularly issued and reissued on a variety of labels -- when he suffered his final heart attack. His wake was attended by over 400 blues luminaries before his body was shipped back to Mississippi. He was elected to the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1980 and was later elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a seminal influence. Elmore James may not have lived to reap the rewards of the blues revival, but his music and influence continues to resonate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1885 Jerome Kern, Composer,b. New York, NY, USA d. Nov. 11, 1945, New York, NY, USA. né: Jerome David Kern. Died Cerebral Hemmorrhage. One of the 20th Century's leading composers of popular stage musicals. "Show Boat", with libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, helped to promote the "serious" musical play in U.S. theatre.

Biography
by William Ruhlmann
Jerome Kern (1885-1945) is arguably the father modern American musical theater. Born in New York of German heritage, he attended the New York College of Music and began to break into Broadway theater during the first decade of the century by having songs of his interpolated into shows. An Anglophile and friend of P.G. Wodehouse, Kern scored his first success with songs inserted into The Girl from Utah, a British import, in 1914, including the ballad "They Didn't Believe Me." Breaking away from the European model of waltz music, Kern proved adept at adapting contempoarary dance music into his songs as well as producing subtle, inventive ballads. He collaborated with Guy Bolton and, later, Wodehouse on a series of shows presented at the Princess Theater in the middle of the decade, notably Very Good Eddie, and continued to score successes into the '20s.
But Kern really entered the history books with Show Boat (1927), the first truly modern American musical, with an integrated story and such memorable songs as "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." Like many of his contemporaries, Kern divided his time between Broadway and Hollywood in the '30s, after sound came into the movies, and his movie hits included the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film Swing Time, with such songs as "A Fine Romance" and "The Way You Look Tonight" (with lyrics by Dorothy Fields). Kern worked steadily -- he wrote or contributed to 37 shows during his career -- and was beginning work on Annie Get Your Gun when he died suddenly in 1945. He left behind one of the richest catalogs of show music in history.
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1896 Clark W. Kessinger, Old-time Fiddler (Country), d. June 4, 1975. Late 1920s, he recorded on Brunswick Label. His playing influence many Southern fiddlers. In 1960, he was "rediscovered" and appeared on the "Grand Old Opry". In his mid-80s, he appeared at the 47th Annual Union Grove contest, winning first place and the title as World's Champion Fiddler

Biography
by David Vinopal
One of the greatest of old-time fiddlers, Kessinger and his nephew, Luches, were billed as The Kessinger Brothers and recorded for the Brunswick company in the late 20s, producing records that greatly influenced other fiddle players around the South. When Kessinger was "rediscovered" during the folk revival of 1960, he appeared on the Opry, giving two encores because of audience demand. He entered many of the better-known fiddle contests, winning first place and the title as World's Champion Fiddler at the 47th Annual Union Grove, when he was in his mid-80s.
www.countryworks.com/artist_full.asp
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1905 Monia Liter, Piano/Piano Accordion/Arranger/Composer, b. Odessa, Russia, d. Oct. 5, 1988
MONIA LITER
Monia Liter was born in Odessa on the Black Sea on 27 January 1906, where he studied piano and composition at the Imperial School of Music. He left Russia during the 1917 revolution for Harbin, in North China, where he managed to continue with his musical education. This provided him with the suitable qualifications that enabled him to join an Italian opera company in Shanghai, as assistant conductor and choirmaster, subsequently touring with them throughout China and Japan. When this engagement terminated, he formed his own dance band in Hankow.
Some while later he was in India with an American dance band, which involved touring throughout the sub-continent and Burma, eventually visiting Malaya. He decided to settle in nearby Singapore, and for seven years he was employed with his own orchestra at the famous Raffles Hotel, where he engaged the young Al Bowlly as a vocalist. While in that city he became a naturalised British subject. Monia Liter and Al Bowlly travelled to Britain in 1929, and different reports of this period of Liter’s career contain conflicting information. However it appears that Monia returned to China where he was appointed head of music at a commercial radio station in Shanghai; in 1933 he decided to make his permanent home in London.
His first appearance back in England was with his friend Al Bowlly in variety at the Holborn Empire (by now Bowlly had found fame, mainly as Ray Noble’s singer, although he had provided the vocals on 78s by numerous British dance bands), and thereafter Liter played the piano with virtually every famous dance band in Britain. He was a frequent visitor to the recording studios, firstly with Lew Stone (from 1933 to 1936), Nat Gonella (1934 - 1937), Jack Hylton (1936 and 1937), Harry Roy – where he replaced Stanley Black (1939 and 1940), then on various occasions with Victor Silvester (1940 - 1944). Sometimes these bands would be recording Monia Liter’s own arrangements for them.
In 1941 he joined the BBC as a pianist, conductor and arranger, initially with the Twentieth Century Serenaders. After 10 years at the BBC, he left them to concentrate on composing and concert work, which involved touring with famous names such as Sophie Tucker, Larry Adler and Richard Tauber. George Melachrino chose Monia Liter as the solo pianist on his HMV recording of Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, and with the Mantovani Orchestra on Decca he recorded Clive Richardson’s ‘London Fantasia’ (reissued on Vocalion CDEA6019), Hubert Bath’s ‘Cornish Rhapsody’, Mischa Spoliansky’s ‘A Voice in the Night’ (Vocalion CDEA6044) and Albert Arlen’s ‘Alamein Concerto’.
He was also in demand for films, recording and television, as well as working in the Light Music department at Boosey & Hawkes, writing numerous works for their Recorded Music Library. In 1956 the BBC commissioned him to compose a serious work for their Light Music Festival, for which he wrote his ‘Scherzo Transcendant’. Other original works include ‘Andalusian Girl’, ‘Black Chiffon’, ‘The Valley of the Kings’, ‘Prelude Espagnole’, ‘Spanish Suite’, ‘Two Southern Impressions’ and ‘The Puppets’.
In his later career Monia Liter preferred to concentrate more on writing, rather than performing. He died in London on 5 October 1988 aged 82.
David Ades (2003)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1904 Frankie Marvin, (Western) singer-songwriter/guitar/Steel Guitar/actor, b. Butler, Indian Territory (now: Oklahoma), USA. d. January 1985.
www.countryworks.com/artist_full.asp
Biography:
Frankie Marvin is best remembered today for his long association with Gene Autry. Born near Butler in what became Oklahoma, Frankie's older brother had been in show business almost as long as the younger sibling could remember. By the time Frankie reached adulthood, Johnny was a radio and recording star and the younger Marvin learned all of his songs. In 1929, Frankie went to New York and soon had his own record contract doing numbers like Oh For The Wild And Wooly West, The Gangsterís Warning and Oklahoma, Land of the Sunny West, on labels such as Cameo and Melotone. He also did some of the first covers of Jimmie Rodgers' songs and originals in the same vein, some under the pseudonym, "Frankie Wallace." His style tended to be more Country than that of his brother or the so-called citybilly artists like Vernon Dalhart, Carson J. Robison and Frank Luther, but less so than the hard-core Country practitioners. He also worked up a comedy act with Ben "Whitey" Ford (later known as the Duke of Paducah), calling themselves, Ralph and Elmer. Frank's steel guitar also provided instrumental support to other recordings stars. In 1934, when Gene Autry went to Hollywood, both Marvins soon joined him. Johnny wrote songs for his and other singing cowboy films, while Frankie backed Gene and had small parts in virtually all his films and radio programs. As cowboy song historian, Jim Bob Tinsley states, Marvin's steel guitar-style was a distinctive part of the Gene Autry sound. Frank also wrote several songs for Gene, most notably Cowboyís Heaven. As the years went by, Frankie's contributions to the Autry organization receded into the background as the star made accommodations to modernization, although Marvin remained with him until 1955. After retiring, Frankie moved to Frazier Park, California. He either remained there or moved to Florida shortly before his death. A few of his recordings have appeared on anthologies, most notably, Oh For The Wild And Wooly West and Barber's Blues. His steel guitar, however, can be heard on many of the re-issues of early Autry material.
Ivan M. Tribe
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1914 "Mississippi Matilda", vocals, b. Hattiesburg, MS, USA. Wife of Delta Bluesman Eugene Powell, a.k.a "Sonny Boy Nelson". (guitar/vocals, b. Dec. 23, 1908, Utica, Mississippi, USA, d. Nov. 4, 1998, Greenville, Mississippi, USA). In 1936, Eugene, his wife "Mississippi Matilda", and Willie "Brother" Harris traveled with the Chatmon Brothers to New Orleans, LA, where they recorded for the Bluebird label.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1908 Oran Thaddeus "Hot Lips" Page. Trumpet, b. Dallas, TX, USA. d. Nov. 5, 1954. Played with Count Basie and many, many others.
Biography
by Scott Yanow
One of the great swing trumpeters in addition to being a talented blues vocalist, Hot Lips Page's premature passing left a large hole in the jazz world; virtually all musicians (no matter their style) loved him. Page gained early experience in the 1920s performing in Texas, playing in Ma Rainey's backup band. He was with Walter Page's Blue Devils during 1928-1931, and then joined Bennie Moten's band in Kansas City in time to take part in a brilliant 1932 recording session. Page freelanced in Kansas City and in 1936 was one of the stars in Count Basie's orchestra but, shortly before Basie was discovered, Joe Glaser signed Hot Lips as a solo artist. Although Page's big band did alright in the late '30s (recording for Victor), if he had come east with Basie he would have become much more famous. Page was one of the top sidemen with Artie Shaw's orchestra during 1941-1942 and then mainly freelanced throughout the remainder of his career, recording with many all-star groups and always being a welcome fixture at jam sessions.
www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/arti...t.cgi
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1966 David “The Baron” Purcell, Accordian/Angklung/Castanets/Contrabass Sarrusophone/Da'uli da'uli/Drums/Nose Flute/Ocarina/Oliphant/Ophicleide/Piano, /Rattle/Teponaztli/Theremin/Toys/Ukulele/Zither. b. Raised by gibbons with a limited grasp of the English language, “Dave” Purcell managed to translate his mediocre high school grades into a successful career in mastering a variety of bad-aSs instruments. He attended the Larry Storch International School of Castanets in the town of his birth, Xenia, Ohio. He worked toward receiving my masters degree while employed as a gigolo for widowed yard duties. Eventually he decided to see the world with fellow musician David Hasselhoff. In Japan he mastered the Ichigenki, the Selingup in Sarawak and in Viet Nam the Koni – (Vietnamese stick fiddle). His family and their 7 mynah birds, 9 spotted weasels and 27 professionally trained potato bugs live in a former dehydrated astronaut food factory on the outskirts of a major metropolitan airport where Purcell is currently recording new cd devoted to the Mayan Bird Whistle.
people.tribe.net/davidvonshmavid
baronvondavid.tribe.net/
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1916 Milt Raskin, Piano, b. Boston, MA, USA. d. Oct. 16, 1977
Biography
by Scott Yanow
A skillful swing pianist who chose to spend much of his career in the studios, Milt Raskin was a strong asset to several swing era big bands. He started on saxophone, switched to piano when he was 11 and studied at the New England Conservatory in the early 1930's. After having some local radio jobs, Raskin moved to New York, played a bit with Wingy Manone in 1937 and then joined Gene Krupa's new big band (1938-39). He had stints with Teddy Powell, Alvino Rey, Krupa again and most prominently with Tommy Dorsey (1942-44). After finishing up with TD, Raskin moved to Los Angeles and became a busy studio musician and musical director. Although he sometimes recorded in jazz settings in the 1940's and 50's (including with Artie Shaw, Billie Holiday, Wingy Manone and Georgie Auld), Milt Raskin was largely lost to the lucrative but anonymous world of the studios; he never led a jazz recording session of his own.
www.spaceagepop.com/raskin.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1895 Harry Ruby, composer/piano, b. New York, NY, USA. d. Feb. 23, 1974, Woodland Hills, CA, USA.

Biography
by Joslyn Layne
Composer Harry Ruby enjoyed a long career songwriting for Broadway and Hollywood musicals, almost always in collaboration with lyricist Bert Kalmar. Born in N.Y.C. in 1895, he got his start working as a staff pianist for various music publishers, then toured vaudeville accompanying groups such as the Bootblack Trio and the Messenger Boys Trio. Ruby and Kalmar had worked together before, but in 1920 they formed a songwriting duo that would last until Kalmar's death in the late '40s. The team produced a large number of stage and movie hits, such as "I Wanna Be Loved by You," "Who's Sorry Now?" "Three Little Words," "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," and many more. After ten years of coming up with hits for such Broadway productions as Ladies First (1918), Helen of Troy, New York (1923), The Ramblers (1926), and Good Boy (1928), the duo moved out to Hollywood and wrote hits for over ten motion pictures, including the Amos N Andy film Check and Double Check (1930) and the Marx Brothers' features Animal Crackers (1930) and Duck Soup (1933). Ruby wrote much less after Kalmar's death in 1947, but did have a few more hits, as with the Hit Parade chart-topper "Maybe It's Because" (1949) and 1951's "A Kiss to Build a Dream On." In 1950, Red Skelton and Fred Astaire portrayed Ruby and Kalmar in a movie about their lives and music called Three Little Words. A few of the other songwriters Ruby worked with over the course of his career were Edgar Leslie, Rube Bloom, and Fred E. Ahlert.
Songwriters Hall of Fame:
www.songwritershalloffame.org/exh....asp
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1919 David Seville, comedian, b: Fresno, CA, USA. d: Jan. 16, 1972, Beverly Hills, CA, USA. né: Ross Bagdasarian. (See Bagdasarian entry above.) Perhaps best recalled for his one huge hit recording of "David Seville and The Chipmonks"
Biography
by Larry Lapka
The mind behind The Chipmunks was actually a seasoned songwriter with several straight hit recordings to his credit. He then went the comedy/novelty route, leading the way with "Witch Doctor," from which he would use the voice effects later for his cartoon creations. These albums show both the novelty and the straight side of Seville.
*SEE ABOVE - Ross Bagdasarian.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1932 Purvis Scott, bass, b. Earle, AR, USA. "Worked with Sunnyland Slim"
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1946 Nedra Talley, R&B vocals, b. New York (Washington Heights). NY, USA. Member group: 'The Ronettes' x
www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll

www.history-of-rock.com/ronettes.htm
www.geocities.com/theronettes/
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1911 Benay Venuta, vocals/actress, b. San Francisco, CA, USA , d. Sept. 1, 1995, New York, NY, USA. (lung cancer) It's a shame that Benay is not better recalled today, - she was a fine singer, as well as a Broadway and Hollywood actress. Among the films in which she appeared are 'Easter Parade' (1948 -she was a Bar Patron, uncredited), 'Call Me Mister' (1951 playing part of Billie Barton), 'Annie Get Your Gun' (1950 in role of Dolly Tate), 'Bullets Over Broadway' (1994, just a year before her demise), and about a half dozen other films. A very talented little lady, - she was also a sculptor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1920 Helmut Zacharias, Leader/Violin b. Germany. Helmut is from a musical family. His father was a violinist and kapellmeister, his mother a singer. In 1950, he was to be heard on all German radio stations, and AFN Frankfurt called him the "Best Jazz Violinist in the World." Sadly, today (2004) Helmut is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He under the care of his daughter, Dr. Sylvia Zacharias, a medical journalist who has also published a comprehensive biography about her famous father.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notable Events on this date include:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1961. "Blind Simmie" Dooley, guitar, died in Spartanburg, SC, USA. Age: 79

1972. Mahalia Jackson died in Evergreen Park, IL, USA. Age 60.

1981. Julius Cheeks, vocals, died in Miami, FL, USA. Age: 51.

1986. Ernie Williams, vocals/drums, died in Kansas City, MO, USA. Age: 81. Worked with Harlen Leonard

1993. "Little" Johnny Christian, vocals, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 56

1994. Stanley Adams, songwriter, died in Manhasset, NY, USA. Age: 86

1994. Eddie Calhoun, bass, died in Paradise Lake, MS, USA. Age: 72


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1921 “Beela Boola”, (Rosey) - Paul Biese Trio
www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/bi...Boola.ram


1922 “Lola Lo”, (Arthur Lange / Ernest Klapholz) - Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra
www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/jc...olaLo.ram


1922 “Blue”, (Lou Handman) - Dolly Kay
www.redhotjazz.com/songs/kay/blue.ram


1923 “Loose Feet”, (Williams) - The Georgians
www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/ge...efeet.ram


1926 “I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate”,
(A.J. Piron) - University Six
www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/u6...could.ram


1927 “Cock-a-Doodle, I'm Off My Noodle (My Baby's Back)”,
(Tom Stacks vocal) - Harry Reser and his Orchestra
www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/re...etsmm.ram


1928 “Make Believe” (From "Show Boat"), (Oscar Hammerstein / Jerome Kern) - Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
www.redhotjazz.com/songs/wh...eliev.ram


1928 “I Ain't Got Nobody”, (matrix 18198) - The California Ramblers
www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/ca...obody.ram


1930 “Lazy Daddy”, (Larry Shields / Nick LaRocca / Henry Ragas) - Louisiana Rhythm Kings
www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/LR...daddy.ram


1930 “Cooking Breakfast For The One I Love”, (Billy Rose / Henry Tobias ) - Annette Hanshaw
www.redhotjazz.com/songs/ha...kfast.ram


1931 “Potatoes Are Cheaper, Tomatoes Are Cheaper - Now's the Time To Fall In Love”, - Ben Selvin and his Orchestra
www.redhotjazz.com/songs/se...etime.ram


1932 “All Of Me”, (S. Simons / Gerald Marks) - Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra
www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/Lo...lofme.ram

1932 “Home”, (Van Steeden / Clarkson) - Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra
www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/Lo.../home.ram


1944 Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me, - Ellington, Duke

1944 No Love, No Nothin', - Morse, Ella Mae

1950 Music! Music! Music!, - Brewer, Teresa

1950 Quicksilver, - Crosby, Bing

1950 Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy, - Crosby, Bing

1958 Dede Dinah, - Avalon, Frankie

1958 Don't, - Presley, Elvis

1962 Duke Of Earl, - Chandler, Gene

1968 Bottle Of Wine, - Fireballs

1968 Love Is Blue, - Mauriat, Paul

1968 I Wish It Would Rain, - Temptations

1973 Last Song, - Edward Bear

1973 Love Train, - O'Jays

1979 Lady, - Little River Band

1979 Shake Your Groove Thing, - Peaches & Herb


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LYRICS:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Of Me Lyrics


All of me, why not take all of me
Can't you see I'm no good without you

Take my arms I want to lose them
Take my lips I'll never use them

Your goodbyes left me with eyes that cry
How can I go on dear, without you

You took the part that once was my heart
So why not why not take all of me

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Cooking Breakfast For The One I Love"
Written by: William Rose and Henry Tobias
from the musical "Be Yourself" (c. 1930)

Morning, I'll be getting up, Morning, I'll be setting up.
A tiny table for two.
Breakfast, I'll be making {her} breakfast,
{she'll} be taking her shower,
My happy hour

The coffee is steaming,
Oh boy what I'm dreaming
While I'm cooking breakfast
For the one I love.
My baby likes bacon,
And that's what I'm making!
While I'm cooking breakfast
For the one I love.
Our life has been so nice and cheery
right from the start
When I won {her} tummy, I won {her} heart.
My baby is happy, no wonder I'm happy
While I'm cooking breakfast for the one I love.

I'm baking a biscuit,
{She's} willing to risk it
While I'm cooking breakfast for the one I love.
{I'm} wiping the dishes and breaking the dishes
While I'm cooking breakfast for the one I love.
I serve a plate of steaming oatmeal
Taste it but schucks!
Who the heck wants oatmeal,
sprinkled with "Lux?"
{She} eats a big plateful (and)
Faints right after breakfast
For the one {she} loves

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
(Piron)

I went to a dance with my sister Kate;
Everybody there thought she danced so great;
I realized a thing or two,
When I got wise to something new:
When I looked at Kate, she was in a trance,
And then I knew it was in her dance;
All the boys are going wild
Over sister Katie's style.
Oh, I wish I could I shimmy like my sister Kate;
She shimmies like a jelly on a plate.
My mama wanted to know last night,
What makes the boys think Kate's so nice.
Now all the boys in the neighborhood,
They know that she can shimmy and it's understood;
I know that I'm late, but I'll be up-to-date
When I shimmy like my sister Kate.
I mean, when I shimmy like my sister Kate.
Now I can shimmy like my sister Kate,
I know that I'm real late,
I think I'll do a real shimmy dance,
Dancing like my sister Kate,
Sweet papa, just like my sister Kate.
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  • Unsu...
     
    I'm surprised our trusty biographer failed to mention Baron Purcell's esteemed musical lineage as direct descendant of Early Music composer Henry Purcell (and David, let me know if you ever need a home for one of those spotted weasels!)

    The "Witch Doctor" Song - David Seville

    I told the witch doctor I was in love with you
    I told the witch doctor I was in love with you
    And then the witch doctor, he told me what to do
    He said that

    Ooo eee, ooo ah ah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang (4x):

    I told the witch doctor you didn't love me true
    I told the witch doctor you didn't love me nice
    And then the witch doctor, he gave me this advice
    He said that

    Ooo eee, ooo ah ah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang (4x):

    You've been keeping love from me just like you were a miser
    And I'll admit I wasn't very smart
    So I went out and found myself a guy that's so much wiser
    And he taught me the way to win your heart

    My friend the witch doctor, he taught me what to say
    My friend the witch doctor, he taught me what to do
    I know that you'll be mine when I say this to you

    Ooo eee, ooo ah ah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang (4x):

    You've been keeping love from me just like you were a miser
    And I'll admit I wasn't very smart
    So I went out and found myself a guy that's so much wiser
    And he taught me the way to win your heart

    My friend the witch doctor, he taught me what to say
    My friend the witch doctor, he taught me what to do
    I know that you'll be mine when I say this to you, oh, baby

    Ooo eee, ooo ah ah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang (4x)

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