FROM THE VAULTS

Wingy Manone (13 February 1900 – 9 July 1982) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His major recordings included "Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)", and "Tailgate Ramble".

Manone was born Joseph Matthews Mannone in New Orleans, Louisiana. He lost an arm in a streetcar accident, which resulted in his nickname of "Wingy". He used prosthesis, handling it so naturally and unnoticeably that his disability was not apparent to the public. Jazz violinist Joe Venuti, who was a notorious practical joker and good friend of Manone, used to send “Wingy” a single cufflink every year on his birthday.

He played trumpet in riverboats starting when he was 17, was with the Crescent City Jazzers (which later became the Arcadian Serenaders) in Alabama, and made his recording debut with the group in the mid-'20s. He

worked in many territory bands throughout the era before recording as a leader in 1927 in New Orleans. By the following year, Manone was in Chicago and soon relocated to New York, touring with theatre companies.

His hit records included "Tar Paper Stomp" (an original riff composition of 1929 that was later used as the basis for Glenn Miller's "In the Mood"), and a hot 1934 version of a sweet ballad of the time "The Isle of Capri", which was said to have annoyed the songwriters despite the royalties revenue it earned them.

Manone was an esteemed musician who was frequently recruited for recording sessions. He plays on some early Benny Goodman records, for example, and fronted various pickup groups under pseudonyms like "The Cellar Boys." His style was similar to that of fellow New Orleans trumpeter Louis Prima: hot jazz with trumpet

leads, punctuated by good-natured spoken patter in a pleasantly gravelly voice.

Manone's group, like other bands, often recorded alternate versions of songs during the same sessions; Manone's vocals would be used for the American, Canadian, and British releases, and strictly instrumental versions would be intended for the international, non-English-speaking markets. Thus there is more than one version of many Wingy Manone hits. Among his sidemen on his 1935-1941 recordings were Matty Matlock, Eddie Miller, Bud Freeman, Jack Teagarden, Joe Marsala, George Brunies, Brad Gowans, and Chu Berry.

Among his better records are "San Antonio Stomp" (1934), "Send Me" (1936), and the novelty hit "The Broken Record" (1936). He

and his band did regular recording and radio work through the 1930s, and appeared with Bing Crosby in the movie Rhythm on the River in 1940 and would later appear on many of Crosby's radio shows.

In 1943 he recorded several tunes as "Wingy Manone and His Cats"; that same year he performed in Soundies movie musicals. One of his Soundies reprised his recent hit "Rhythm on the River." His autobiography, Trumpet on the Wing, was published in 1948.

From the 1950s he was based mostly in California and Las Vegas, Nevada, although he also toured through the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe to appear at jazz festivals.

In 1957, he attempted to break the teenage rock & roll market with

his version of Party Doll, the Buddy Knox hit. His version on Decca 30211 made #56 on Billboard's Pop chart and it received a UK release on Brunswick 05655.

Wingy Manone's compositions include "Tar Paper Stomp" (1930), "There'll Come a Time (Wait and See)" with Miff Mole, "Tailgate Ramble" with Johnny Mercer, "Stop the War (The Cats are Killin' Themselves)" (1941) on Bluebird, "Trying to Stop My Crying", "Downright Disgusted Blues" with Bud Freeman, "Swing Out" with Ben Pollack, "Send Me", "Nickel in the Slot" with Irving Mills, "Jumpy Nerves", "Mannone Blues", "Easy Like", "Strange Blues", "Swingin' at the Hickory House", "No Calling Card", "Where's the Waiter", "Walkin' the Streets (Till My Baby Comes Home)", and "Fare Thee Well".

Wingy stayed active in music and continued to lead and tour with his bands for the rest of his life. He died on July 9, 1982 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. (Info edited from Wikipedia & AMG)

Probably in a recording studio in New York in 1964 we see a performance of Wingy Manone playing one of his favourite tunes "Tailgate Ramble".

Samuel Gene Maghett (February 14, 1937 – December 1, 1969), known as Magic Sam, was an American Chicago blues musician. He was born in Grenada County, Mississippi, United States, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter. He was known for his distinctive tremolo

guitar playing.

Maghett moved to Chicago in 1956, where his guitar playing earned him bookings at blues clubs on the West Side. He recorded singles for Cobra Records from 1957 to 1959, including "All Your Love" and "Easy Baby". They did not reach the record charts but had a profound influence, far beyond Chicago's guitarists and singers. Together with recordings by Otis Rush and Buddy Guy (also Cobra artists), they were a manifesto for a new kind of blues. Around this time Magic Sam worked briefly with Homesick James Williamson.

The stage name Magic Sam was devised by Sam's bass player and childhood friend Mack Thompson at Sam's first recording session for Cobra, as an approximation of "Maghett Sam". The name Sam was using at the time, Good Rocking Sam, was already being used

by another artist.

Magic Sam gained a following before being drafted into the U.S. Army. He served six months in prison for desertion and received a dishonourable discharge.

In 1963, his single "Feelin' Good (We're Gonna Boogie)" gained national attention. He successfully toured the United States, Britain and Germany. He was signed to Delmark Records for which he recorded West Side Soul and Black Magic.

His first LP, West Side Soul, did not come out until 1967, ten years after the release of "All Your Love". The wait was well worth it, as it turned out to be an absolutely fantastic blues album, full of energy, highlighted by his high, soulful vocals and his distinctive guitar work. Notable songs included the blues standard "Sweet

Home Chicago", a new version of "All Your Love", and the catchy original "That's All I Need", which learned more in the direction of soul than blues. Second guitar throughout the album came from Mighty Joe Young.

He continued performing live and toured with the blues harp player Charlie Musselwhite and Sam Lay. Magic Sam's breakthrough performance was at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969, which won him many bookings in the United States and Europe.

His career was cut short when he suddenly died of a heart attack in December 1969. Only days before, Maghett had agreed to sign with the renowned Stax Records label. He was 32 years old. Magic Sam

was buried in the Restvale Cemetery, in Alsip, Illinois. His passing robbed the blues genre of a potentially influential figure.

In February 1970, the Butterfield Blues Band played at a benefit concert for Magic Sam, at Fillmore West in San Francisco. Also on the bill were Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite and Nick Gravenites.

His guitar style, vocals, and songwriting have inspired and influenced many blues musicians. In the film The Blues Brothers, Jake Blues dedicates the band's performance of "Sweet Home Chicago" to the "late, great Magic Sam".

"Magic Sam had a different guitar sound," said his record producer, Willie Dixon. "Most of the guys were playing the straight 12-bar blues thing, but the harmonies that he carried with the chords was a different thing altogether. This tune "All Your Love", he expressed with such an inspirational feeling with his high voice. You could always tell him, even from his introduction to the music."

(Info mainly edited from Wikipedia)

Henry Mackenzie, (February 15, 1923 - September 2, 2007) was a clarinettist and saxophonist who enjoyed a high-profile career in British jazz and big-band music after first making a reputation in his native Edinburgh. Famed for his extended tenure under bandleader Ted Heath, Henry MacKenzie towers among the premier clarinetists in British jazz. A sophisticated yet fiery player, he also enjoyed a long career as a first-call session player, even contributing to the Beatles' landmark Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Kenny Baker (trumpet), Danny Moss (saxophone) and Henry Mackenzie (clarinet)

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, MacKenzie studied accordion as a child and later played in a local Boys' Brigade band. By his late teens he discovered jazz and turned to clarinet and tenor saxophone, studying under area musician Joe Marsh, an alumnus of the Edinburgh Empire pit orchestra.

After a brief apprenticeship as an auto mechanic, Mackenzie launched his professional music career in the house band at the Princes Street nightspot the Havana Club. Shortly after signing on at Leith's Eldorado Ballroom in 1942, he was called to serve in World War II, and as a member of the Royal Army Service Corps he played in the military band.

On returning to civilian life in 1947, MacKenzie joined bandleader Tommy Sampson, and over the next year toured Britain, Italy, and Germany. Following a brief tenure with Paul Fenoulhet, he was recruited by Heath in September 1949, and remained until Heath's death in late 1969.

Here's St. Louis Blues (feat. Henry MacKenzie)

from above 1959 album.

Often earning favourable comparison to Duke Ellington's famed clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton, MacKenzie was respected by critics and audiences alike for his elegant, exacting performances. In December 1966, he joined fellow clarinettists Robert Burns and Frank Reidy in the studio to record the whimsical "When I'm Sixty-Four," one of the more beloved contributions to the Beatles' epochal Sgt. Pepper.

After Heath's passing, MacKenzie was a favourite of arrangers including Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, and Billy May, and was a fixture of several Heath Orchestra revivals led by trombonist Don Lusher. In addition, during the 1990s he led his own quintet for the radio program Music While You Work, and performed for TV's Come Dancing. Mackenzie also played with George Chisholm's Gentlemen of Jazz.. After a brief illness, MacKenzie died in Surrey on September 2, 2007.

(Edited mainly from All Music bio by Jason Ankeny)

James Clarence Wakely (February 16, 1914 – September 23, 1982), was an American actor and country Western music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. Wakeley was born in Howard County, Arkansas but his family moved to Rosedale, Oklahoma by 1920. As a teenager, he changed his surname to Wakely, dropping the second "e".

In 1937 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma he formed The Bell Boys, a

country Western singing group named after their Bell Clothing sponsor. The group performed locally, made some recordings, and did frequent radio broadcasts over Oklahoma City's WKY. Johnny Bond, Dick Reinhart, Scotty Harrell and Jack Cheney were members of the Bell Boys and later groups. Over time, Wakely's groups were known as The Jimmy Wakely Trio, Jimmy Wakely and His Saddle Pals, Jimmy Wakely Trio and James Wakely.

During a tour through Oklahoma, Western movie star Gene Autry invited Wakely to come to California. Autry felt the group might be a good addition to his new Melody Ranch radio show which debuted on CBS in January 1940. The Wakely Trio joined the show in mid-1940. He stayed for a couple of years, then left because of

movie commitments and a recording contract with Decca Records that ran from 1941–1942 through 1947. Johnny Bond stayed with the show for most of its run (the show left the air in 1956).

In 1939, Wakely made his screen debut (with the Jimmy Wakely Trio) in a Roy Rogers Western, Saga of Death Valley. In 1941, The Jimmy Wakely trio appeared in Hopalong Cassidy films Twilight on the Trail and Stick to Your Guns, singing songs such as Lonesome Guitar, My Kind of Country, and Twilight on the Trail. In the 1940s, Wakely groups provided songs and musical support for several B-western movies.
Wakely made only one film with Autry, Heart of the Rio Grande, at Republic in 1942. He was sometimes referred to as a low-budget

Autry in films. His response was, "Everybody reminds somebody of someone else until they are somebody. And I had rather be compared to Gene Autry than anyone else. Through the grace of God and Gene Autry, I got a career." He appeared in 28 Westerns at Monogram between 1944 and 1949.

About 1941–1942, Decca gave Wakely a recording contract that ran until 1947. After leaving films, he continued to record, switching to the Capitol label. Though most of his songs were

country Western, some crossed over to the pop charts, including collaborations with singer Margaret Whiting and Karen Chandler, and for the Christmas song "Silver Bells”. His duet singles with Margaret Whiting from 1949–51 produced a string of top seven hits, including 1949's number one hit on the US country charts and pop music charts, "Slippin' Around." He had a number one country hit with "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)", a song originally released by Western singer Eddie Dean.

Like other Western film stars of the era, Wakely had his own comic book series. DC Comics published 18 issues from Sept/Oct 1949–July/Aug 1952, billing him as "HOLLYWOOD'S SENSATIONAL COWBOY STAR!" In addition to Autry's

Melody Ranch, Wakely had his own CBS Radio show and co-hosted other programs. He also made several appearances on television variety shows; and in 1961 he was one of five rotating hosts on the NBC-TV program Five Star Jubilee.
He also had one of the last live network radio programs at the NBC radio studios at the corner of Sunset and Vine in Hollywood, California in 1958.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Wakely developed Shasta Records and owned two music publishing companies. He converted part of his California ranch into a recording studio, producing recordings for himself as well as for other country Western performers, including Tex Williams, Merle

Travis, Eddie Dean, Tex Ritter and Rex Allen. For his recording work, Wakely has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Vine Street.

Later in life, Wakely performed at the Grand Ole Opry and National Barn Dance. His nightclub act visited Las Vegas, Reno and other venues. He did a Christmas USO Tour with Bob Hope. He made a few recordings on the Coral, Decca/Vocalion and Dot labels. He made appearances at Western film nostalgia conventions and continued personal appearances and stage shows, often with his daughter Linda and son Johnny in the act.

After contracting emphysema, Wakely died of heart failure at Mission Hills, California on September 23, 1982. He and his wife, who died in 1997, are interred next to each other in the Court of Remembrance at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California.

Wakely was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971 and the Western Music Association Hall of Fame in 1991.

(Info edited from Wikipedia)

Inge Brandenburg (born February 18, 1929 in Leipzig , died February 23, 1999 in Munich) was a German jazz singer and theatre actress . She is often referred to as the best German jazz singer of the 1960s.

Inge Brandenburg was born as one of six children in a broken family, in which violence and strife prevailed. Her father, a communist and in the First World War conscientious objector, was imprisoned in 1939 in the Mauthausen concentration camp, where

he later died,. Her mother was called "asocial" in Ravensbrück concentration camp interned and died there in 1945 shortly before the end of the war. The siblings were separated from each other and housed in various children's homes, which Inge Brandenburg spent the greater part of her youth in homes in Dessau and Bernburg.

Immediately after the end of the war she fled to the American zone to Hof , where she was imprisoned for several months as a rambler. Then she went to Augsburg. There she worked in a bakery, learning to play the piano and first came into contact with jazz in the city's GI clubs. She successfully applied to a newspaper advertisement of a dance orchestra, which was looking for a singer and tingled after her move to Frankfurt am Main with

that by German nightclubs and dance halls.

As an autodidact she developed increasingly into an outstanding jazz interpreter and undertook an eight-month tour to Sweden, which was crowned with success (originally planned only four weeks). Back in Germany, the breakthrough came in 1958 at the German Jazz Festival; the critics also prophesied a great future for her. She got her first recording contract and sang, appreciated for the dark timbre of her voice and her excellent timing, soon with the first jazz guards.

At the European Music Festival in Antibes in 1960, she was honoured as the "Best European Jazz Singer". The collaboration with Hans Koller , Albert Mangelsdorff , Emil Mangelsdorff , Helmut Brandt and the orchestras of Kurt Edelhagen and Erwin Lehn consolidated their reputation as the best West German jazz

singer; she mainly sang in swing idiom and blues pieces. Her interpretation of Lover Man allegedly made her "legendary" in 1960: "Undeterred by the overwhelming vocal recordings that were already available at that time, the young German sang her soul with individual phrasing and a soulful, dark voice."

In the early 1960s, Inge Brandenburg was managed by AFN host Charlie Hickman, who gave her the first television appearances, including Ted Heath (1962). She toured with the Gunter Hampel Group in 1965 and interpreted Ornette Coleman pieces like Lonely Woman. In 1968 she went on tour with the trio of Wolfgang Dauner. Record labels released a few recordings with her, but they preferred to record hit-and- miss songs, which she was not prepared to do. After her futile attempt to force the labels in court, as originally agreed to release jazz recordings with her, she was "burned" in the industry. Due to her alcohol consumption and bad nature she received only a few commitments, so that she later played mostly theatre.

In 1976 she sang again at a jazz festival in Würzburg, 1974 and 1976 in the gully in Frankfurt am Main, 1985 in Frankfurt am Main) and Brewhouse in Stuttgart with the Peter Mayer Quartet and Jan Jankeje . After that, she withdrew completely because of the difficult economic situation in the music market.

After the end of career Brandenburg slipped into deeper alcohol problems, in addition there were problems with their vocal cords. In 1990 she underwent surgery. In the mid-nineties, she tried a comeback - supported by Gerry Hayes and Charly Antolini , with the trios of pianists Walter Lang and Heinz Frommeyer, which, however, failed.

Impoverished, she died in 1999 in Schwabing hospital. Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Her grave is located on the Munich North Cemetery. (Edited from a German Wikipedia translation)

Samuel Joseph Myers (February 19, 1936 – July 17, 2006) was an American blues musician and songwriter. He was an accompanist on dozens of recordings by blues artists over five decades. He began his career as a drummer for Elmore James but was most famous as a blues vocalist and blues harp player. For nearly two decades he was the featured vocalist for Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets.

Myers was born in Laurel, Mississippi. He acquired juvenile cataracts at age seven and was left legally blind for the rest of his life, despite corrective surgery. He could make out shapes and shadows, but could not read print at all; he was taught Braille.

He acquired an interest in music while a schoolboy in Jackson, Mississippi, and became skilled enough at playing the trumpet and drums that he received a nondegree scholarship from the American Conservatory of Music (formerly the American Conservatory School of Music) in Chicago. Myers attended school by day and at night frequented the nightclubs of the South Side.

There he met and was sitting in with Jimmy Rogers, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Little Walter, Hound Dog Taylor, Robert Lockwood, Jr., and Elmore James. Myers played drums with Elmore James on a fairly steady basis from 1952 until James's death, in 1963, and is credited on many of James's historic recordings for Chess Records. In 1956, Myers wrote and recorded what was to be his most famous single, "Sleeping in the Ground", a song that has been covered by Blind Faith, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, and many other blues artists.

From the early 1960s until 1986, Myers worked clubs in and around Jackson and across the South in the (formerly) racially segregated string of venues known as the Chitlin' circuit. He also toured the world with Sylvia Embry. From 1979 to 1982, Myers fronted the Mississippi Delta Blues Band and recorded for the TJ

label out of Palo Alto, California.

In 1986, Myers met Anson Funderburgh, from Plano, Texas, and joined his band, The Rockets. Myers toured all over the U.S. and the world with The Rockets, enjoying a partnership that endured until the time of his death. Myers and The Rockets collectively won nine W. C. Handy Awards, including three "Band of the Year" awards and the 2004 award for Best Traditional Album of the Year.

In January 2000, Myers was inducted into the Farish Street Walk of Fame in Jackson, Mississippi, an honour he shares with Dorothy

Moore and Sonny Boy Williamson II.

In 2005, Myers was nominated for Traditional Blues Album of the Year for his record, Coming From The Old School. Myers was diagnosed with cancer in February 2005, but he toured as a solo artist, in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, with the Swedish band, Bloosblasters. The following year, the University Press of Mississippi published Myers' autobiography titled Sam Myers: The Blues is My Story. Writer Jeff Horton, whose work has appeared in Blues Revue and Southwest Blues, chronicled Myers' history and

delved into his memories of life on the road.

In 2006, just months before Myers died, the Governor of Mississippi presented Myers with the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, and was named state Blues Ambassador by the Mississippi Arts Commission.

Sam passed away while at home on July 17, 2006, following his release from the hospital after throat cancer surgery. He was making good progress with his recovery, and his death was totally unexpected. He was laid to rest next to his parents, Ollie and Celeste Myers, near Meridian, Mississippi. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)

Andrés Segovia Torres, (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987) known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Spain. He could be considered as one of the fathers of the modern movement of the classical guitar because he is the guitarist that introduced the current classical guitar to large audiences. Many professional classical guitarists today are students of Segovia, or

students of his students.

Andrés Segovia, Marquis of Salobreia, was born near Jaen, Granada, Spain. He became a guitarist against the double opposition of his parents. First, they opposed his learning the guitar and got him cello and piano teachers instead. When he persisted in teaching himself guitar, they opposed his becoming a musician. He sought a guitar teacher at the Granada Institute of Music when he studied there, but found none, so continued learning the instrument on his own.

He made his debut at the Centro Artística in Granada at the age of 15. He played so skilfully that he was urged to become a professional soloist. He played in Madrid in 1912, at the Paris

Conservatory in 1915, and in Barcelona in 1916, and made a wildly successful tour of South America in 1919. He made his formal debut in Paris on April 7, 1924, in a program which included a new work written for him by Albert Roussel, named Segovia. It was the first of many works which were written for him by distinguished composers, enriching the instrument's repertory as Segovia had elevated its artistic potential. His U.S. debut was at Town Hall, New York, on January 8, 1928.

Being self-taught, his technique was unique. It was, in fact, superior to that which was being taught at the time, and extended the flexibility and expressive possibilities of the instrument. The main difference was in the method of using the right hand for strumming and picking the strings: Segovia's method paid much attention to the means of attack: whether hard parts of the fingers, fleshy parts, or the nails were used; other subtleties that affected the

dynamics of the instrument; and an economy of motion that allowed longer and more sustained playing.

There were classical guitarists before him, and distinguished ones even when he appeared, but it was not an instrument that was regarded as a serious vehicle for classical music. Segovia personally changed that, and not by accident. No doubt affected by his parents' attitude toward his chosen career, he had a driving desire to make it so. He wrote numerous transcriptions of older music for lute and for the Spanish vihuela. He transcribed music of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, Handel, and others. He commissioned works by Castelnuovo-Tedesco (notably the great suite Platero and I), Falla, Turina, Tansman, Villa-Lobos, Torroba, Ponce, and Rodrigo, whose Fantasia para un gentilhombre was written for him.

Here is "Preludio en Mi Mayor" by Ponce from above album

His reinstatement of the guitar as a solo instrument was sealed by his becoming one of the great teachers of music history. He established guitar schools or courses at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena, Santiago de Compostela, and the University of California in Berkeley. His students included Alirio Diaz, Oscar

Ghilia, and John Williams.
Segovia became one of the great names in classical music, whose mere name was enough to sell out houses worldwide. He received numerous awards and honours during his lifetime, including the Grand Cross of Isabela and Alfonso, the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society of London, and many honorary degrees. The house where he was born had a commemorative plaque attached to it in 1969 proclaiming him the "leading son of the city." King Juan Carlos of Spain ennobled him as the Marquis of Salobreia in 1981, and in the same year a Segovia International Guitar Competition was established in his honour. He continued to give recitals and concerts until an advanced age, and had the rare opportunity, in 1984, of playing at a gala concert honouring the 75th anniversary of his professional debut.

He died in Madrid of a heart attack June 2, 1987, at the age of 94. He is buried at Casa Museo de Linares, in Andalusia. (Mainly edited from an All Music bio by Joseph Stevenson)

Pat Kirkwood (24 February 1921 – 25 December 2007) was a British stage actress, singer and dancer who appeared in numerous performances of dramas, cabaret, revues, music hall, variety and pantomimes. She also performed on radio, television and films. She was the first woman to have her own television series on the BBC.

Patricia Kirkwood was born, the daughter of a shipping clerk, in Pendleton, about three miles from Manchester's city centre, in 1921. Whilst on holiday with her parents in the Isle of Man, she took part in a talent contest and as a result, was asked to sing on the BBC's Children's Hour. In 1936, she played variety at the Hippodrome, Salford where she was billed as "The Schoolgirl Songstress". The following year, she played Dandini in Cinderella in a West End pantomime.
Kirkwood's potential was obvious to all: she could act, dance and sing; she spoke well; and she had a gorgeous figure. She appeared with success in the films Save A Little Sunshine (1937) and Me And My Pal (1938) and made her first record, "Hurry Home".

Her first prominent role was in 1939, alongside George Formby in his horse-racing comedy Come On, George! The comedy duo Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch were happy to allow Kirkwood to sing, look lovely and shine in their film of Band Waggon (1940). It led to her being described as Britain's Betty Grable but she hated references to her million-pound legs, "It did make me cross. They are simply things to walk around on. I never thought anything more of them than that."

In 1939, Kirkwood opened to tremendous reviews in the revue

Black Velvet at the London Hippodrome; in the show she introduced British audiences to Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs To Daddy She was the queen of a new universe in the London Palladium extravaganza Top Of The World in 1940, with Tommy Trinder and the Crazy Gang. Kirkwood worked hard during the war. She was involved in making films, records, personal appearances and with her own radio series, A Date With Pat Kirkwood. She also appeared before George VI at a Command Performance at Windsor Castle.

In 1944, she was offered a contract, allegedly worth 250,000, with MGM in Hollywood. She and her mother flew to America shortly after the war ended and she appeared alongside Van Johnson in the

romantic No Leave, No Love, (1946) directed by Charles Martin. She sang three songs in the film including "Love on a Greyhound Bus". The poor reviews plus the strict diet and fitness regime of the studio led to a breakdown and an attempted suicide, and she returned home.

Kirkwood had a West End hit with Starlight Roof in 1947 and some record success with one of its songs, "Make Mine Allegro". She appeared in Coward's 1950 musical Ace Of Clubs, but it was an old-fashioned operetta that was lucky to make 250 performances. Encouraged by Coward, she also played a successful season at the Desert Inn, Las Vegas. She had further West End success in Leonard Bernstein's Wonderful Town (1955) with Shani

Wallis and a musical comedy, Chrysanthemum (1958), which co-starred her then husband Hubert Gregg.

There was much unwanted publicity when it was suggested that Kirkwood had had an affair with the Duke of Edinburgh. She had met him in 1948 and reporters had seen them dancing and having breakfast. She totally denied any impropriety but said, "He was so full of life and energy. I suspect he felt trapped and rarely got a chance to be himself. I think I got off on the right foot because I made him laugh."

She became the first female to have her own television series with The Pat Kirkwood Show in 1954 and also appeared in various TV plays. In Our Marie (1953) she played the music hall star Marie Lloyd; she also appeared in Pygmalion (1956) and The Great Little Tilley (1956) as another music hall star, Vesta Tilley, which was

directed by Hubert Gregg and subsequently became the film After The Ball (1957). In 1953, she was reunited with George Formby on the panel of What's My Line but was seen on screen feeding Formby questions to ask the contestants.

In the 1960s, Kirkwood and Gregg moved to Portugal and she told reporters, "I never play my old records or look at my cuttings. I've retired." She was to write her autobiography, The Time Of My Life, in 1999.

Kirkwood made several stage appearances in the 1970s, often in pantomime, and she had success in a revival of Pal Joey at the Edinburgh Festival in 1976 and touring in The Cabinet Minister with Dulcie Gray and Michael Denison in 1978. She married for the fourth time in 1981 to Peter Knight and settled down to a life in Yorkshire. Occasionally, she performed her one woman show, An Evening With Pat Kirkwood, and appeared in revivals of Noël Coward and Cole Porter's works.

Her last public appearance was in Noel/Cole: Let's Do It at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1994. Earlier that year she had been a subject of This Is Your Life, when she was surprised by Michael Aspel at London's Prince of Wales Theatre.

Kirkwood was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. There was a family history of the disease as her mother Norah had suffered from the same illness. She died at Kitwood House nursing home in Ilkley, West Yorkshire on Christmas Day 2007, aged 86.

(Compiled and edited mainly from an article by Spencer Leigh for The Independent)

Glamorous West End star of the 1940s and 1950s, Pat Kirkwood, also frequently lit up our TV screens. Here she is strutting her stuff on a live television performance of 5 March 1960.

Hartzell Strathdene "Tiny" Parham (February 25, 1900 – April 4, 1943) was a Canadian-born American jazz bandleader and pianist of African-American descent. Some musicians are only known to specialized record collectors and music historians. Tiny Parham is one of those, now almost forgotten bandleaders from the 1920s that never became known to the public.

Parham was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada but grew up in

Kansas City. He worked as a pianist at The Eblon Theatre being mentored by the ragtime pianist and composer James Scott. Parham developed as a skilled versatile bandleader, who toured through Mexico, Canada, Hawaii and Cuba and later with territory bands in the South-western United States before moving to Chicago in 1926. Here he played in venues like the Merry Garden Ballroom, The Lincoln Tavern and the Savoy Ballroom, great names in jazz.

He is best remembered for the recordings he made in Chicago between 1927 and 1930 for Victor Records, as an accompanist for Johnny Dodds and several female blues singers as well as with his own band. Most of the musicians Parham played with are not well known in their own right, though cornetist Punch Miller, banjoist Papa Charlie Jackson, saxophone player Junie Cobb and bassist Milt Hinton are exceptions.

His entire recorded output for Victor is highly collected and appreciated as prime examples of late 1920s jazz. His style of jazz was comparable to the sophisticated style of Jelly Roll Morton. Parham favoured the violin and a number of his records have surprisingly sophisticated violin solos, along with the typical upfront tuba, horns and reeds. Parham wrote most, if not all, of his own material.

Parham's arrangements were often atmospheric, and such numbers as "The Head-Hunter's Dream,""Jogo Rhythm,""Blue Melody Blues,""Blue Island Blues,""Washboard Wiggles," and "Dixieland Doin's" were particularly memorable.

In 1930, like Jelly Roll Morton, Henry "Red" Allen, and King Oliver, Victor chose not to renew Parham's contact. After 1930, Parham found work in theatre houses, especially as an organist. He also played in a Chicago roller-skating rink in 1939 and 1940, which was the year he made his last three recordings.
Parham died during a show on April 4, 1943 while in a dressing room at the Kilbourn Hotel in Milwaukee.

The cartoonist R. Crumb included a drawing of Parham in his classic 1982 collection of trading cards and later book "Early Jazz Greats". Parham was the only non-American born so included. The book also includes a bonus cd which has a Parham track.
(Info compiled and edited from various sources, mainly from Wikipedia & Keep It Swinging Blog)

Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg; February 26, 1921 – March 12, 2007) was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer.

Betty Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg on February 26, 1921, in Battle Creek, Michigan. Two years later Betty's father decided that the family way of life wasn't for him, so he left (he committed suicide 16 years later). Having to fend for themselves,

Mrs. Thornburg moved the family to Detroit to find work in the numerous auto factories there, but times were hard and she decided to take advantage of Prohibition and opened a small tavern, at the time called a speakeasy. The police were always looking for those types of operation, both big and small, and when they detected one, they swooped in and closed it down. Mrs. Thornburg was no different from the other owners, they simply moved elsewhere. Poverty was a constant companion. In addition to that, Mrs. Thornburg was an alcoholic.

At nine years old Betty began singing publicly for the first time in a school production. Realizing the voice Betty had, her mother took her around Detroit to have her sing to any group that would listen. This was a small way of getting some money for the poor family.

When she was 13 Betty got a few singing jobs with local bands in the area. Thinking she was good enough to make the big time, she left for New York two years later to try a professional career. Unfortunately, it didn't work out and Betty headed back to Detroit.

In 1937, Betty was hired by Vincent Lopez who had a popular band that appeared on the local radio. Later, she would return to New York and it was here that her career took off. Betty found herself on Broadway in 1940, and it was only a matter of time before her career took off to bigger heights. The following year she left New York for Hollywood, where she was to find new life in films. She was signed by Paramount Pictures and made her debut, at 21, in The Fleet's In (1942), along with Eddie Bracken, William Holden and Dorothy Lamour. Reviews were better than expected, with critics looking favourably

upon her work. She had previously appeared in a few musical shorts, which no doubt helped her in her first feature film. She made one more musical in 1942 and two more in 1943.

In 1944 she tried to break away from musicals and try her hand in a screwball comedy, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943). She proved - to herself, the public and the critics - that she was marketable outside musicals. In subsequent films Betty was able to show her comedic side as well as her singing. In 1948 she appeared in her first big box-office bomb, Dream Girl (1948), which was ripped to shreds by critics, as was Betty's acting, and the movie flopped at the box office. It wasn't long before Betty became unhappy with her career. In truth she had the acting talent, but the parts she got weren't the types to showcase that. Though she did appear in three well received films later, Red, Hot and Blue (1949), Annie Get Your Gun (1950) and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), her career was winding down.

Later, after filming Somebody Loves Me (1952), Betty was all but finished. She had married 'Charles O'Curran' that year and he wanted to direct her in an upcoming film. Paramount didn't like the idea and the temper tantrum-prone Betty walked out of her contract

and movies. She did concentrate on the relatively new medium of television and the stage, but she never recovered her previous form. Her final film was a minor one, Spring Reunion (1957). Her TV series, The Betty Hutton Show (1959), didn't fare too well at all.

As her career faded, Hutton fell victim to her private demons and fiscal woes. She abused sleeping pills along with other drugs for a long time. In 1967, she declared insolvency, having spent the $9 million to $10 million that she’d brought in during her heyday. Several years after, she had a mental breakdown, afterwards spending time in a treatment facility.

Together with assistance from Father Peter Maguire, Hutton was able to turn her life around. Also around now, she became a drama teacher at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.

After Maguire’s passing in 1996, Hutton moved to Palm Springs, California, hoping to make up along with her three daughters who lived in the state. Wed four times, Hutton had two kids, Sweets and Lindsay, with her first husband, Ted Briskin. “My husbands all fell in love with Betty Hutton,” the famed blonde bombshell once said, in accordance with The New York Times. “None of them fell in love with me.”

Betty lived in quiet retirement in Palm Springs, California until her death from complications from colon cancer on March 11, 2007, at the age of 86. There was a modest, private service to mark her passing, which her daughters failed to attend. Despite her attempts, Hutton hadn’t had the opportunity to mend the rift between her and her children.

(Compiled mainly from a bio by Denny Jackson @ IMDb & Wikipedia)

Mildred Bailey (February 27, 1907 – December 12, 1951) was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "Mrs. Swing". Her number one hits were "Please Be Kind", "Darn That Dream", and "Says My Heart".

Born as Mildred Rinker in Tekoa, Washington, Bailey retained the last name of her first husband, Ted Bailey, when she moved to Seattle to bolster her singing career. With the help of her second

husband, Benny Stafford, she became an established blues and jazz singer on the West Coast. According to Gary Giddins' book on Bing in 1925 Mildred secured work for her brother, Al Rinker, and his partner Bing Crosby. Giddins further states that Crosby first heard of Louis Armstrong and other Chicago black jazz records from Bailey's own record collection.

In Summer 1929, whilst touring California, some members of the Whiteman were involved in a serious car accident in which one died and Joe Venuti was seriously injured. To cheer the band up, Mildred held a ‘home brew’ party for them and which Whiteman attended. Hearing her sing (at the behest of brother Al), the famous man was immediately struck by Mildred’s blossoming talent and invited her to a radio session two

days later. The response from the public to her featured song, "Moanin’ Low", was overwhelming and she was duly signed, becoming the first featured female vocalist with a national band.

Crosby helped Bailey in turn by introducing her to Paul Whiteman. She sang with Paul Whiteman's band from 1929 to 1933 (Whiteman had a popular radio program and when Bailey debuted with her version of "Moaning Low" in 1929, public reaction was immediate, although she did not start recording with Whiteman until late 1931).

Her first two records were as uncredited vocalist for an Eddie Lang Orchestra session in 1929 ("What Kind O' Man Is You?", an obscure Hoagy Carmichael song that was only issued in the UK) and a 1930 recording of "I Like To Do Things For You" for

Frankie Trumbauer. She was Whiteman's popular female vocalist through 1932 (recording in a smooth crooning style), when she left the band due to salary disagreements. She then recorded a series of records for Brunswick in 1933 (accompanied by The Dorsey Brothers), as well an all-star session with Benny Goodman's studio band in 1934 that featured Coleman Hawkins.

In 1932 Bailey debuted “Ol’ Rockin’ Chair’s Got Me” on a Chicago-based live broadcast of Whiteman’s weekly Old Gold radio show, and the tune sparked a public response that was immediate and overwhelming. A studio recording of the tune

became such a huge hit that Bailey was ever after known as the “Rockin’ Chair Lady.” The record also made significant jazz history as “the first recording by a 'girl singer' with a big band, an innovation that would set the pattern for the swing era.”

In the mid 1930s, she recorded with her third husband Red Norvo. A dynamic couple, they earned the nicknames "Mr. and Mrs. Swing". During this period (1936-1939) Norvo recorded for Brunswick (with Bailey as primary vocalist) and Bailey recorded her own set of recordings for Vocalion, often with Norvo's band.

Some of her recordings instead featured members of Count Basie's band. Despite her divorce from Norvo, she and Red would continue to record together until 1945. Suffering from diabetes and depression, she only made a few recordings following World War

II.
Jazz vocal collectors have always considered Bailey one of the best vocalists of her era (refer to many Downbeat polls and articles in Downbeat and many other jazz publications), Despite being a big woman, Bailey had a sweet, rather small yet very expressive voice, and quite a light, unique swinging vocal style (refer to many recordings). Many of her records were considered among the best versions recorded.

Despite all of her success, superstardom eluded Bailey. She blamed her plumpness, but others claimed it was her temper and sharp tongue as well as the bitterness she carried with her towards better-looking female vocalists whom she thought less talented. She claimed her obesity was glandular, but many of her friends felt it had more to do with her great love of eating.

Bailey continued recording until the mid-1940s, when health problems forced her to retire. Plagued by a combination of diabetes, heart trouble and hardening of the arteries, she was near death and broke until she was rescued by composer Jimmy Van Heusen, who arranged to split her medical bills with Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. She recovered well-enough to begin performing again, but her health problems eventually took their toll, and she died, penniless in Poughkeepsie, on December 12, 1951, aged 44, of heart failure, chiefly due to her diabetes. Bailey's ashes were scattered.

Red Norvo outlived Mildred by nearly half a century, dying in April 1999, a week after his 91st birthday. (Info edited mainly from Wikipedia, Solid & Jasmine Records)

Svend Asmussen (28 February 1916 – 7 February 2017) was a jazz violinist from Denmark, known as "The Fiddling Viking". A Swing style virtuoso, he played and recorded with many of the greats of Jazz, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Stephane Grappelli. He played publicly until 2010 when he had a blood clot, his career having spanned eight decades.

Asmussen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, raised in a musical

family, and started taking violin lessons at the age of 7. At age 16 he first heard recordings by jazz violin great Joe Venuti and began to emulate his style. He started working professionally as a violinist, vibraphonist, and singer at age 17, leaving his formal training behind for good. Early in his career he worked in Denmark and on cruise ships with artists such as THE Mills Brothers, Josephine Baker and Fats Waller.

Asmussen later was greatly influenced by Stuff Smith, whom he met in Denmark. Asmussen played with Valdemar Eiberg and Kjeld Bonfils during World War II, during which time jazz had moved to the underground and served as a form of political protest.

In the late 1950s, Asmussen formed the trio Swe-Danes with singer Alice Babs and guitarist Ulrik Neumann. The group became very

popular in Scandinavia for their music hall style entertainment and also toured the United States. Asmussen also worked with Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, and Duke Ellington. Asmussen was invited by Ellington to play on his Jazz Violin Session recording in 1963 with Stéphane Grappelli and Ray Nance.

In 1966 Asmussen appeared alongside Grappelli, Stuff Smith, and Jean-Luc Ponty in a jazz Violin Summit in Switzerland that was issued as a live recording. He made an appearance at the 1967 Monterey Jazz Festival, which included a

celebrated violin summit with him, Ray Nance and Jean-Luc Ponty. In 1969 he guested on "Snakes in a Hole," an album by the jazz-rock band Made in Sweden. He was still active playing violin at the age of 94. He turned 100 in February 2016. A few weeks before Asmussen would have turned 101, on 7 February 2017, he died peacefully in his sleep.

Asmussen's collection of jazz music, photographs, posters and other material is held in the jazz collections at the University Library of Southern Denmark. Asmussen's son, Claus Asmussen, is a guitar player in Denmark and a former member of the band Shu-Bi-Dua. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)

James Oswald “Jimmy” Little, AO (1 March 1937 – 2 April 2012) was an Australian Aboriginal musician, actor and teacher from the Yorta Yorta people and was raised on the Cummeragunja Mission, New South Wales. He was widely loved and known as a true gentleman with 'The Honey Voice'

It's not often an artist is recognized for his collection of cover

songs, but after a long and successful career in Australia, Aboriginal country singer Jimmy Little remade a name for himself singing distinctive versions of well-known hits.
Growing up on the Cummeragunja mission on the Murray River in Victoria, Little left for Sydney in 1955 to pursue his country music where his mellow style earned him the nicknames of the Balladeer, Gentleman Jim, and the Honey Voice. His first single, "Mysteries of Life"/"Heartbreak Waltz," was released in 1956, but his first hit didn't come until 1959 with "Danny Boy," which peaked at number nine in Sydney. It was followed by "El Paso," which reached number 12 in Sydney in February 1960. Little made his acting debut in the Billy Graham evangelical feature film Shadow of the Boomerang that same year.

After 17 previous singles, Little scored his biggest hit with "Royal Telephone," which peaked at number one in Sydney and number three in Melbourne (November 1963). The Barry Gibb-penned "One Road" reached number 19 in Sydney and number 30 in

Melbourne in March 1964 and Everybody's Magazine named him Australian Pop Star of the Year. His final hit of the era came with "Baby Blue," which peaked at number eight in Melbourne and number 37 in Sydney (September 1974).

Little then turned to full-time acting, making his theatre debut in Black Cockatoos before appearing in director Wim Wenders' 1991 film Until the End of the World. As well as appearing in Tracy Moffatt's The Night Cries and the opera Black River, his teaching and community work earned him the title of MAIDOC Aboriginal of the Year in 1989.

In 1992, he performed at the Tamworth on Parade and Kings of

Country road- shows before releasing his 14th album, Yorta Yorta Man, in 1994. That same year, he was inducted into Tamworth's Country Music Roll of Renown, the highest honour an Australian country music artist can achieve.

Messenger, a collection of contemporary songs reinterpreted through Little's smooth vocals, was released in June 1999 and peaked at number 26 nationally, eventually selling over 20,000 copies. The album featured covers of well-known songs by artists such as Nick Cave, Ed Kuepper, and Paul Kelly. At 62 years of age, Jimmy Little had hit the big time again. A cover of Sunnyboys'"Alone with You" followed for the Timelines: The Intergenerational Music Project album in

September, an album issued to celebrate the Year of Older People in 1999.

The 1999 Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Music Awards proved a bonanza for Little, where Messenger won the Best Country Album award (jointly with Kasey Chambers) and Best Adult Contemporary Album, before being inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. At the 1999 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Awards (known as the Deadlys), he won Best Male Artist of the Year and Best Single Release of the Year. Little returned in September 2001 with his new album – Resonate.

In 2002 Little won the Golden Gospel Award at the Australian

Gospel Music Awards for his lifetime support of Australian gospel music. He also sang "Happy Day' with Olivia Newton-John that year. Little released the album Down the Road for ABC Country in 2003. In 2004 he released his 34th album, Life's What You Make It, a collection of distinctive and poignant versions of songs by contemporary artists as diverse as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, PJ Harvey, Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen.

On Australia Day (26 January) 2004, Little was made an Officer of

the Order of Australia with the citation, "For service to the entertainment industry as a singer, recording artist and songwriter and to the community through reconciliation and as an ambassador for Indigenous culture". Also that year he was named a Living National Treasure.

In 2010 Little retired from performing. On 2 April 2012 Little died at his home in Dubbo, aged 75 years, from complications from a longstanding condition. (Compiled and edited from an AllMusic bio by Brendan Swift & Wikipedia)

Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), better known as Desi Arnaz or Desi Arnaz, Sr., was a Cuban-born American actor, musician, and television producer. He is best remembered for the hugely popular television sitcom "I Love Lucy" (1951 to 1957), which he produced and in which he portrayed ‘Ricky Ricardo.'

He was born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III in Santiago, Cuba on March 2, 1917, the son of a wealthy landowner who was also the mayor of Santiago. The 1933 Batista revolution landed his father in jail and stripped Desi's family of wealth and power. Following his father's release, the family fled to Miami, where Desi worked a variety of odd jobs to help support his family.

After reaching Florida, Desi took admission at St. Patrick Catholic High School. In an attempt to improve his English, he attended Saint Leo Prep, situated near Tampa in 1934. At the same time, he used to play guitar at the Roney Plaza Hotel.

In 1936, he got his first professional musician's job as a guitarist for the Siboney Septet. He later took a cut in pay to work for Xavier Cugat in New York. Six months later, he returned to Miami to lead

a Latin combo of his own, with help from Cugat. It was there where he introduced the Conga Line to American audiences. It soon became a national phenomenon and led to a return to New York, where he was offered a role in the successful 1939 Broadway musical "Too Many Girls."

In 1940, he signed with RKO and travelled to Hollywood to star in the film version. There he met his co-star and future wife, Lucille Ball. They were married later in 1940. Desi went on to make three more films with RKO and one, the classic war film "Bataan," with MGM before being inducted into the Army during WWII. During his two years in the service, he was responsible for keeping stateside troops entertained.

After being discharged, he went back into music, forming a new orchestra. It was an instant success and he went on recorded several hits during the late forties. His single “Babalu” is regarded as his signature song.

He also served as orchestra leader on Bob Hope's radio show from 1946 to 1947. The orchestra stopped recording in 1949, after which Desi worked with his wife Lucy to start up their joint production company Desilu and its first major project, the television sitcom "I Love Lucy," which ran for six years on CBS and became the most successful television program in history.

Desi's orchestra remained together as part of the TV program. As producer of the "I Love Lucy series," Desi originated many techniques that are now standard procedure in series television, including the use of several cameras to film the performance,

preceding performances with a warm up man, filming before a live audience, and the re-running of films of old episodes. At the time, normal practice was to broadcast live from a studio in New York. Desi's innovations allowed "I Love Lucy" to be filmed at Desilu in Hollywood and broadcast from New York via film. The existence of a broadcast quality film print for each episode also opened the way to syndication of the series, which is still widely aired today.

Even after "I Love Lucy" ended, Desilu Productions continued as a successful and influential company. Desilu produced "December Bride", "Make Room for Daddy", "Our Miss Brooks,""The Untouchables," and other shows. Desi's marriage to Lucille Ball broke up in 1960.

He retired from active participation in show business and sold his half of Desilu to Lucy for $3 million, which made her the most powerful woman in show business. He eventually moved to Del

Mar, California with his second wife, Edith, where he lived the rest of his life, occasionally turning up on television or film.

He used to smoke four to five Cuban cigars a day. This habit of Desi led him towards suffering from lung cancer from which he succumbed in Del Mar on December 2, 1986.

Desi Arnaz has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: One at 6327 Hollywood Boulevard for contributions to motion pictures, and one at 6220 Hollywood Boulevard for television.

(Compiled and edited from various sources, mainly from a bio by Edward Parsons)

Here's Desi in the RKO movie "Too Many Girls"

Margaret Allison Bonds (March 3, 1913 – April 26, 1972) was an American composer and pianist. One of the first black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States, she is best remembered today for her frequent collaborations with Langston Hughes.

Margaret Bonds received great acclaim during her lifetime as a composer, pianist, and teacher. She was the first black soloist to perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933, an event that has been chronicled as one of the historic moments of black pride in American history. Ironically, she seems to have been denied the credit for her most famous work of arranging and song-writing, the gospel hymn "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." This song is known around the world, has been performed countless times, and is considered by most listeners to be "just" a traditional song. Not so. The arrangement of the song that is commonly performed is an arrangement that is lock, stock, and Bonds'.

She also wrote for choir, orchestra, and piano as well as songs in both the popular and art genres. She was at the heart of the great

developments in black classical music through three decades beginning in the '20s, that term meant to encompass jazz as well as gospel and classical music. She might not have kept "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" in her hands, but most of her catalogue of compositions is easy to acquire in published forms. Her most famous cycle of art songs is the "Three Dream Portraits, based on the poetry by Langston Hughes and first published in 1959.

A native of Chicago, Bonds grew up in a home visited by many of the leading black intellectuals of the era; among houseguests were soprano Abbie Mitchell and composers Florence Price and Will Marion Cook.

Bonds began her musical studies with her mother, Estella C. Bonds

and showed an early aptitude for composition, writing her first work, Marquette Street Blues, at the age of five. She continued to study piano with Florence B. Price and composition with William Dawson, completing both a bachelor's and master's degree at Northwestern University at 21 years old. She then went on to the Juilliard School, where she studied with Tobert Storer, Henry Levine, Roy Harris, and Emerson Harper.

Upon her high school graduation, Bonds became one of the few

black students at Northwestern University. Her song "Sea-Ghost" won a Wanamaker Award in 1932; two years later, at the age of 21, she left Northwestern with a bachelor's and master's degree, both in music. She opened a short-lived school, the Allied Arts Academy, at which she taught art, music, and ballet.

he performed as a pianist with numerous local organizations, appearing in 1933 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and performing Florence Price's piano concerto with the Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago the following year. In 1939 she moved to New York City; there, she edited music for a living and collaborated on several popular songs.

That same year, an adaptation of "Peach Tree Street" appeared in Gone With the Wind. The latter song, based on a popular Atlanta thoroughfare, was recorded by Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman, among others. In 1940 Bonds married a probation officer named Lawrence Richardson; the couple later had a daughter.

Among Bonds' works from the 1950s is The Ballad of the Brown King, a large-scale work originally for voice and piano, but later revised for chorus, soloists, and orchestra. The piece was first performed in December 1954 in New York. Bonds was writing other works during this period of her career, as well; her Three Dream Portraits for voice and piano, again setting Hughes' poetry, were published in 1959; her D Minor Mass for chorus and organ was first performed in the same year.

She was both a respected performing pianist and teacher in Chicago and New York through the mid-'60s, her students including the composer Ned Rorem, among many others. In 1967, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she began working on film music and with the Inner City Institute and Repertory Theatre. Hughes was her greatest collaborator. The two worked on a series of songs and musical theatre works including the musical Shakespeare in Harlem and the cantata "Ballad of the Brown King."

Margaret with Eartha Kitt

She received the Northwestern University alumni medal in 1967. Her "Credo" for baritone, chorus, and orchestra was performed by the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta shortly after her death in 1972.

(Compiled and edited from Wikipedia and mainly an AllMusic Bio by Eugene Chadbourne)

Here’s a clip of “Over My Head & You Can Tell The World”, arr. Margaret Bonds. Performed on April 22, 2017, by Andrew J. Darling, countertenor, and Michael S. Caldwell, piano, at the John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University. Recorded and edited by Rodney Leinberger.

Benjamin Bernard Selvin (March 5, 1898 – July 15, 1980) was an American musician, bandleader, and record producer. He was known as the Dean of Recorded Music.

Selvin was the son of Jewish Russian immigrants. He started his professional life at age 15 as a fiddle player in New York City night clubs. Six years later, as leader of his own dance band, the Novelty Orchestra, he released the biggest-selling popular song in the first quarter-century of recorded music. "Dardanella" sold more than six million copies and an additional million pieces of sheet music. It was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) that was presented to Selvin on his retirement on March 14, 1963.

According to The Guinness Book of World Records, Selvin recorded more musical sides (on 78-rpm discs) than any other person. One reason for this prolific output is that he recorded for dozens of different record labels during this productive time in the industry, using a different name for each label. His output has been estimated at 13,000 to 20,000 song titles.

Selvin started recording for Victor in 1919. He proceeded to record for almost all record companies at the time including Paramount, OKeh, Emerson, Lyric, Arto, Cardnal, Vocalion, Pathe, Federal, Brunswick, Grey Gull, Banner (and the related dime store labels), and Columbia. From 1922-1925, over half of his records were on Vocalion, but he apparently did not have an exclusive contract with any of these labels until he signed with Columbia in 1927.

From 1927 to 1934 Selvin was artists and repertoire (A&R) director for Columbia Records, where his many productions included musicians Manny Klein, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, and Bunny Berigan. Many of these recordings are collectable and prized (especially those recorded in 1931-1934).

There were incorrect reports that Ben Selvin's Band played under the name "Perley Stevens and his Orchestra". Perley Stevens occasionally played with Ben Selvin's Band and many others, including Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras and Paul Whiteman's Band. During the Columbia era, Selvin recorded under many different names for Columbia, OKeh, Odeon, Parlophone, Harmony, Diva, Velvet Tone, and Clarion.

Around 1947 Selvin worked for Majestic Records as chief of artists and repertory. He was an A&R director at RCA Victor in charge of the company's popular Camden Records label and served as the musical director for a recording in 1954 with John Serry Sr. In the early 1960s, he was forced to retire from RCA at age 65.

He became a consultant for 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing), a company that transferred recordings to audiotape. He recommended records to be transferred to the new tape medium. He was a vice-president and A&R director (artists and repertoire) at Columbia Records in charge of the recordings of Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark in the late 1940s and early '50s.

In 1956 he served once again as musical director with Serry for another swing jazz album at Dot Records.

Ben at home with Dardinella Gold Disc on wall.

He married three times. His first wife, Alice, bore him a son, Robert, in 1924 (he died in 1999). In 1944 he married Gloria, and they had two children, Rick (1944) and Rene (1950). Following Gloria's death in the 1970s, he married a woman named Dorothy. He died July 15, 1980, while recuperating from a heart attack. (Compiled and edited from Wikipedia & Red Hot Jazz)

James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975), better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by many music authorities one of the fathers of Western swing and called the King of Western Swing by his fans.

Bob Wills was the driving force behind Western Swing, a form of country & western that was broader in scope than the parent genre. A master at synthesizing styles, Wills brought jazz, hillbilly, boogie, blues, big-band swing, rhumba, mariachi, jitterbug music and more under his ecumenical umbrella. He has been called “the King of Western Swing” and “the first great amalgamator of American music.”

Wills grew up in a part of Texas where diverse cultures and forms of music overlapped. His enthusiasm and mastery were such that he

assimilated disparate genres into what might best be termed American music. (Wills called it “Texas fiddle music.") “We’re the most versatile band in America,” Wills forthrightly asserted in 1944. He might’ve added that they were most innovative band as well. Certainly, they forced country music to open up in its acceptance of electric instruments. Even rock and roll’s freewheeling spirit of stylistic recombination has antecedents in the work of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.

Wills was born into a family of fiddlers that included his father, John Wills, who regularly won Texas fiddling competitions. Bob Wills learned how to play fiddle and mandolin from his father. As a young man, Wills performed at house dances, medicine shows and on the radio. With commercial sponsorship, Wills’ bands

performed on radio in the early Thirties as the Aladdin Laddies (for the Aladdin Lamp Co.) and the Light Crust Doughboys (for Light Crust Flour). Following a salary dispute, Wills renamed his band the Texas Playboys and relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he had a live radio show. This exposure led to a contract with American Recording Corp. (later absorbed into Columbia Records).

In 1935, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys laid down 24 tunes during their historic first session at a makeshift recording studio in Dallas. The group recorded prolifically in the late Thirties and early Forties, laying down such classics as “Steel Guitar Rag” (written by Leon McAuliffe, the Texas Playboys’ long-time steel guitar player), “Take Me Back to Tulsa” and Wills’ signature song, “New San Antonio Rose.”

Their biggest hit, “New Spanish Two Step,” topped the country charts for 16 weeks in 1946. Wills’ mix of horns, fiddles and steel guitar made for a uniquely swinging sound that grabbed the public’s ear at mid-century. The Texas Playboys always had fine

singers like Tommy Duncan and Leon McAuliffe, and Wills punctuated the tunes with jive talking, falsetto asides and cries of “ah-ha!” He’d call out soloists by name and instrument, good-naturedly goading them on to rollicking performances.

In terms of personnel, the Texas Playboys expanded and contracted like an accordion over the years, according to Wills’ desires and the whims of the market. At one point the Texas Playboys were 22

pieces strong, although the band more typically numbered between 9 and 18 members. There were personnel changes and musical shifts as Wills struggled to adapt to the changing face of America in the post-war era. Nonetheless, there was always a solid core of loyal regulars in the Texas Playboys. After leaving Columbia in 1947, Wills continued to record prolifically for such labels as MGM, Decca, Longhorn and Kapp. The group also toured the country and often performed at a Wills-owned dancehall in Sacramento, California.

In 1968, Wills was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. A year later, he suffered a debilitating stroke. There were reunions

and recording sessions with many of the old Texas Playboys in 1971 and 1973. Wills’ final stroke came in his sleep following the first day of recording for a December 1973 session that resulted in the double album For the Last Time. Confined to a wheelchair, he’d reprised his role as bandleader that day with a group of musicians that included former Texas Playboys. He never regained consciousness and died 18 months later.

Wills has been revered by such country-music legends as Merle Haggard (whose band, the Strangers, was configured in the style of the Texas Playboys) and Willie Nelson (who covered Wills’ “Stay a Little Longer"). The contemporary Western Swing group Asleep at the Wheel cut a pair of tribute albums that have kept Wills’ name before the public: the star-studded Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys (1994) and Ride With Bob (1999). Every year, Bob Wills Day is celebrated on the last Saturday in April in Turkey, Texas. (Info mainly RockHall)

Danyel Gérard (born Gérard Daniel Kherlakian, 7 March 1939) is a French pop singer and composer.

Gérard was born in Paris, France to an Armenian father and an Italian mother, but grew up mainly in Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. In 1953, he returned to Paris and became a choir boy at Notre Dame.

Following this he played in the rock and roll band The Dangers.

In 1958 he made his first recordings: "Viens" (a cover of the Kalin Twins' hit "When") and "D'où reviens-tu Billy Boy" (adapted from Dorothy Collins'"Where Have You Been, Billy Boy"), making one of the first young French singers to successfully sing rock and roll (his only rivals at this stage were Richard Anthony, Claude Piron (later better known as Danny Boy) and Gabriel Dalar), although his commercial impact was very limited; despite a latter-day, revisionist recasting of him as the French Elvis Presley, he was nevertheless one of France's first rock stars.

After cutting a further EP featuring a cover of Don Gibson's "Oh

Lonesome Me" ("O pauvre moi") which was buried by a rival version by Sacha Distel and an adaptation of the Fraternity Brothers'"Passion Flower" ("Tout l'amour"), he was drafted and spent from 1959 to 1961 he was a soldier in North Africa. Subsequently he was a singer and guitarist in various bistros. On his return, he resumed his singing career with the minor 1961 hit "Oh Marie-Line" but by then he had been overtaken by newer singers such as Johnny Hallyday. He also began to write songs, penning tunes for Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan, Dalida, Richard Anthony, German-based star Caterina Valente, actress Marie Laforêt and Austrian singer Udo Jürgens.

After enjoying a major hit with the French version of Pat Boone's "Speedy Gonzales" ("Le petit Gonzalès"), despite competition from a version by Dalida, in 1963 he became to the first signing to the new Disc AZ label, issuing two further EPs for them before unleashing his best recording of the period, a revival of Chuck

Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee". Further hits followed but by the mid-sixties his star had waned and he moved into record production, most notably for Michel Corringe.

He returned in 1970 with the French hit "Même un clown" but his international breakthrough came in 1971 with "Butterfly",which he recorded in several languages and which has sold seven million copies. It charted across Europe, reaching #1 in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and France, #5 in the Netherlands, and #10 in the UK; in the US it peaked at #78. It was awarded a gold disc by t

he Recording Industry Association of America. It has since became a pop standard, and was also used in the film The Mad Aunts Strike Out.

After this brief success, he enjoyed several other European hits, including "Ti-laï-laï-laï (l'armenien)", which reflected his Armenian roots, but he never again recorded anything with the same impact as his breakthrough hit. Among the more interesting recordings from this period are his "Atmosphère" album, which included both "Butterfly" and the funky groover "Sexologie", and the follow-up, logically titled "Atmosphère 2", which featured the hit "D'Amérique au coeur du Japon", as well as

the late seventies'"Gone With the Wind" album, which housed the nostalgic "Les temps changent". Alongside his own recordings, he continued to dedicate himself to composing music for other artists.

Gérard made a comeback to the live scene with a concert at the Paris Olympia theatre on 20 November 1978. The concert was a sell-out and included a 21-piece band and orchestra conducted by French composer and trumpeter, Yvan Julien. A full troupe of circus performers joined Gérard on stage for the finale. Anton Karas also performed his composition "Harry Lime Theme" from the film, The Third Man.

Gérard enjoyed a further major hit in the French pop charts with "Mélodie mélodie", taken from his 1978 album of the same name. This led to various television and radio appearances in France and Germany. Following the Paris Olympia concert, he took the nucleus of the orchestra and formed a seven-piece band, Horde, with which he played a number of shows in Paris and the south of France in 1978 and 1979. He continued to record into the eighties before retiring into the shadows to enjoy the benefits of his not inconsiderable royalties. (Edited from Wikipedia)

Betty Bonney (born Betty Jane Bonney March 8, 1924, Norfolk, Virginia) was an accomplished American band singer during the final years of the swing era. Later known as Judy Johnson, she was most notable for her regular appearances on the NBC television series Your Show of Shows in the 1950s. She was married to composer and conductor Mort Lindsey.

Singer Betty Bonney began her professional career at age eight, when she earned a regular solo spot on a children’s radio program. At age eleven, she had her own fifteen-minute program on Newport News, Virginia, radio station WGH, and by the following year she had begun to sing with local orchestras, ending up as regular vocalist for the Auburn Cavaliers out of Auburn College, Alabama. The band eventually signed with the Gene Austin tent show before settling in New York, where they became known as Colonel Manny Prager and His Cavaliers.

Bonney left Prager for Les Brown’s band in 1941, singing on their first big hit, “Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio.” Her biggest hit was "How Little We Know", written by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer. Bonney was young at the time, though how young became a matter of rumour. Gossip put her at age fourteen, though some later reports say she was thirteen. She was more likely seventeen

however. She remained with Brown until August 1942, when she left to get married.

Bonney, who was also billed as Betty Jane Bonney, sang with Jan Savitt’s orchestra in early 1943. She left Savitt in July of that year for Jerry Wald, staying until at least November. In February 1944, she was vocalist for Frankie Carle’s first orchestra, singing during the band’s debut at the Hotel Pennsylvania. She quit Carle in May of that year to work on Broadway and study voice. She also sang for Charlie Spivak.

In 1945, Bonney divorced her first husband and married a recording executive. She made three soundies for Filmcraft that year and released six sides on the Victor label. Victor tried a new technique to test Bonney’s sales potential, first releasing only a limited amount of disks in the New York market. The records sold out, and the label then heavily promoted Bonney, prompting singer Dinah Shore to cry foul, claiming that Victor had focused its resources on Bonney and had ignored her own recordings released at the same time. As a result of that promotion, Billboard magazine featured Bonney on its September 22, 1945, cover. She also appeared on WNBT television in November, lip-syncing to her records in-between election coverage reports.

While 1945 proved a good year for Bonney on wax and film as

well as in print, she had trouble finding radio work, prompting her to switch booking agencies. She continued singing, appearing on stage and in nightclubs throughout the rest of the 1940s. In 1948, she recorded “Baby’s in Bermuda” on the Gem label and also appeared as part of the stage show at the Copacabana. In 1949, she sang and danced in the Broadway musical High Button Shoes. She also toured with the production. In 1949, she signed with the Rainbow label.

In 1950, Bonney changed her professional name to Judy Johnson

and in June of that year became vocalist for Sammy Kaye, though she didn’t stay with the bandleader for long. Also in 1950, she made the first of what would be several television appearances throughout the decade, which included guest spots on Arthur Murray’s Dance Party and Guy Lombardo’s short-lived program. She performed multiple times on Your Show of Shows, often with duet partner Bill Hayes.

Johnson recorded two sides with Hayes for MGM in 1952. In 1953, she recorded solo on the Tempo label as part of a series of disks commissioned by the Navy for enlistment purposes. She also recorded on the Bell label that year. Owned by Pocket Books, Bell released inexpensive 78rpm singles for 35 cents each. In 1956, she made a polka record on Victor.

In 1953, Johnson toured the nightclub circuit with a backing male group, calling her act Judy and Her Dates, and in 1955 she appeared in a New York revival of Guys and Dolls. In 1954, she married Mort Lindsey, who later went on to lead the orchestra for Merv Griffin’s television program. He also worked as musical director for Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand.

Johnsons last television singing appearance was on The Arthur Murray Party in 1959. Latest news is that as Betty J. Lindsey she survived her husband who died in 2012, and still resides in Malibu, Califonia. (Info mainly from bandchips.com)

Gerald Lester "Jerry" Byrd (March 9, 1920 – April 11, 2005), was an American musician who played the lap steel guitar in country and Hawaiian music, as well as a singer-songwriter and the head of a music publishing firm, he appeared on numerous radio programs.

Byrd was born on March 9, 1920 in Lima, Ohio. His interest in the instrument began after a "tent show" when he was 12 and by 15 he was playing in bars. As a child, he developed a passion for

Hawaiian music, although he made his first inroads into performing by playing country on an area radio station between 1935 and 1937.

Illness struck Jerry in 1941 when he contacted pneumonia which nearly took his life. The disease prevented him from participating in any military service during World War II. He returned to his home in Lima and following a long recuperation period he returned to the Renfro Valley Barn

Dance where he worked until 1942. During that year he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he appeared on radio station WJR for over two years until he signed on with Ernie Lee's Pleasant Valley Boys in 1944. Byrd remained with Lee until 1946, when he formed his own group, the Jay-Bird Trio.

In 1948 his career saw him as a member of Ernest Tubb's band the "Texas Troubadours" for about three months; long enough to go to Hollywood and be a part of the movie, "Hollywood Barn Dance". Later on, he joined the Cumberland Valley Boys which was the group behind Red Foley.

Jerry then joined the world famous "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1944/45. It was during this time that his unique playing style was first heard on commercial recordings with nearly

all the top country singers of that era. Jerry quickly became the most sought after "side" man in the recording industry, doing hundreds of sessions with singers from the country and pop segments of the business.

Also in 1948, Byrd cut his first singles, "Mountain Mambo" and, under the name Jerry Robin, "Sun Shadows." Later in the year, he issued his first 78, "Steelin' the Blues." While at King, Byrd also recorded a handful of Hawaiian songs, and as the years wore on, the music became his primary focus.

Still, Byrd remained an active figure on the country landscape; in
1950 he became a regular on Foley's NBC television program, and from 1954 to 1956 he was featured on the Nashville-based series Home Folks. An eight-year stint on the program Country Junction followed, and in 1964 he became a member of Bobby Lord's TV band.

He was important to the early career of Dolly Parton being one of the first to sign her. He also was an educator of the steel guitar giving lessons to Jimmie Vaughan and Jerry Garcia among others. The list of artists that Byrd played or recorded with included Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline and Red Foley and countless others. With Hank Williams he played songs like I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Lovesick Blues and Mansion on the Hill.

In the early 1970s he moved to Hawaii and worked on reviving

Hawaiian steel guitar music, taking a great delight in giving lap steel lessons to the young musicians who showed interest in insuring that the lap steel remained an important instrument in Hawaiian music.

While living in Hawaii, Byrd had a regular weekly gig with his trio at the Royal Hawiian Hotel that lasted until his death. Though Byrd often joked about pedal steel guitar players, he had nothing but the highest of praise for Buddy Emmons, saying he had taken the steel guitar to new places with his playing. Byrd was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1978 as # 1. His plaque proclaims him to be "The Master of Touch and Tone".

He published his autobiography "It Was a Trip: On The Wings of Music". Byrd died of Parkinson's disease at 85 in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he had resided for 30 years. His Rickenbacker lap steel is housed at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

(Info compiled and edited from All Music,Wikipedia & Hill-billy Music.com)

Wingy Manone born 13 February 1900

Magic Sam born 14 February 1937

Henry MacKenzie born 15 February 1923

Jimmy Wakely born 16 February 1914

Inge Brandenburg born 18 February 1929

Sam Myers born 19 February 1936

Andres Segovia born 21 February 1893

Pat Kirkwood born 24 February 1921

Tiny Parham born 25 February 1900

Betty Hutton born 26 February 1921

Mildred Bailey born 27 February 1901

Svend Asmussen born 28 February 1916

Jimmy Little born 1 March 1937

Desi Arnaz born 2 March 1917

Margaret Bonds born 3 March 1913

Ben Selvin born 5 March 1898

Bob Wills born 6 March 1905

Danyel Gerard born 7 March 1939

Betty Bonney born 8 March 1924

Jerry Byrd born 9 March 1920