|
Leon René
Leon René (February 6, 1902 – May 30, 1982) was an American music composer of pop, R&B and rock and roll songs and a record producer in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. He sometimes used the songwriting pseudonym Jimmy Thomas or Jimmie Thomas. He also established several record labels. History Born in Covington, Louisiana, he is best known for his hit song "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano". The song, written as a tribute to the annual springtime return of the cliff swallows to Mission San Juan Capistrano in Southern California, spent several weeks at the top of ''Your Hit Parade'' charts during its initial release in 1940. The lyrics say: The song has been recorded by such musicians as The Ink Spots, Fred Waring, Guy Lombardo, and Glenn Miller. A glassed-off room in the mission has been designated in René's honor and displays the upright piano on which he composed the tune, the reception desk from his office and several copies of the song's sheet music and other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Definition The term is descended from Latin, ''compōnō''; literally "one who puts together". The earliest use of the term in a musical context given by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' is from Thomas Morley's 1597 ''A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music'', where he says "Some wil be good descanters ..and yet wil be but bad composers". 'Composer' is a loose term that generally refers to any person who writes music. More specifically, it is often used to denote people who are composers by occupation, or those who in the tradition of Western classical music. Writers of exclusively or primarily songs may be called composers, but since the 20th century the terms 'songwriter' or ' singer-songwriter' are more often used, particularl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clarence Muse
Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, singer, and composer. He was the first African American to appear in a starring role in a film, 1929's ''Hearts in Dixie''. He acted for 50 years, and appeared in more than 150 films. He was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973. Life and career Born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Alexander and Mary Muse, he studied at Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for one year in 1908. He left because he believed he could not make a living in law as an African American. He later received an honorary doctorate of laws from Dickinson School of Law in 1978. By the 1920s Muse was acting in New York during the Harlem Renaissance with two Harlem theatres, Lincoln Players and Lafayette Players. While with the Lafayette Players, Muse worked under the management of producer Robert Levy on productions that helped black actors to gain prominence and resp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Liggins
Joseph Christopher Liggins, Jr. (born Theodro Elliott; July 9, 1916 – July 26, 1987) was an American R&B, jazz and blues pianist and vocalist who led Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers in the 1940s and 1950s. His band appeared often on the ''Billboard'' magazine charts. The band's biggest hit was "The Honeydripper", released in 1945. Joe Liggins was the older brother of R&B performer Jimmy Liggins. Music career The son of Harriett and Elijah Elliott, he was born in Seminole, Oklahoma, and took his stepfather's surname, Liggins, as a child. He apparently dropped the name Theodro and adopted the names Joseph Christopher during the 1930s. The family moved to San Diego in 1932.Michael Jack Kirby, "Joe Liggins – Pink Champagne", ''Wayback Attack'' Retrieved November 15, 2016 He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Baker (composer)
Norman Dale "Buddy" Baker (January 4, 1918 – July 26, 2002) was an American composer who scored many Disney films, including ''The Apple Dumpling Gang'' in 1975, ''The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again'' in 1979, ''The Shaggy D.A.'' in 1976, ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' in 1977, and ''The Fox and the Hound'' in 1981. He also composed scores for Disney theme park attractions, including Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and The Haunted Mansion. Biography Baker was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, and got his degree in music from Southwest Baptist College. He moved to the West Coast in the 1930s to arrange music scores for radio, and became the musical director for Bob Hope's radio show. Career One of Baker's first hits as a big band arranger was "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" for the Stan Kenton Orchestra. He later became a professor at L.A. City College in the early 1950s. Among his early students were film composer Jerry Goldsmith and jazz drummer Loui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
"Frantic" Fay Thomas
Fannie "Frantic Fay" Crawford Thomas (September 14, 1922 – July 6, 1978) was an American pianist and vocalist. She recorded for Exclusive Records in 1949. Life and career Thomas was born Fannie Crawford in Memphis, Tennessee. As a teenager, her family moved to Detroit, Michigan. Her father Elijah Crawford and her brother Bayless Crawford were cooks. On March 12, 1940, she married George Thomas in Cleveland, Ohio. Thomas began performing at Detroit's Four Horsemen Club in 1940. She was discovered by Earl Carroll, who gave her the stage name "Frantic Fay." Thomas was featured with Earl Carroll's Vanities in the spring of 1944 and played eight months at Harry's Show Bar in Detroit. She was managed by Delbridge & Gorrell. Thomas played piano by ear. ''Billboard'' magazine described her style as "individual, with a jive touch," adding that "she is at her very best in an interpretation of the deep blues." Through the 1940s, she had appearances at hotels and bars around Detroit and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gramophone Record
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. At first, the discs were commonly made from shellac, with earlier records having a fine abrasive filler mixed in. Starting in the 1940s polyvinyl chloride became common, hence the name vinyl. The phonograph record was the primary medium used for music reproduction throughout the 20th century. It had co-existed with the phonograph cylinder from the late 1880s and had effectively superseded it by around 1912. Records retained the largest market share even when new formats such as the compact cassette were mass-marketed. By the 1980s, digital media, in the form of the compact disc, had gained a larger market share, and the record left the mainstream in 1991. Since the 1990s, records con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music industry. Its music charts include the Hot 100, the 200, and the Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in different genres of music. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs, and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox, phonograph, and radio became commonplace. Many topics it covered were spun-off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Excelsior Records
Excelsior Records was an American record label established by Otis René, which existed from 1944 to 1971. It is particularly notable as having released some of the earliest recordings of Nat King Cole. It is not to be confused with former MCA and current independent record label Excelsior Recordings of The Netherlands. History The Excelsior record label was established by Otis René in 1944, and ceased operations in original form in 1951, only to live on in a second incarnation until 1971. It is particularly notable for having released some of the first recordings by Nat King Cole. Otis René was noted to have earned $25,000 on one song in 1945, " I'm Lost", recorded by the King Cole Trio. René had written and produced the song, as well as distributed the record.Uncredited, Billboard, September 1, 1945Buck-Five Disk of Indies Seen Different Ways Retrieved 2012-03-21. Other artists on Excelsior Records included Herb Jeffries, the King Perry Orchestra, Timmie Rogers, the Flenn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exclusive Records
Exclusive Records was a record label established by Leon René, which existed from 1944 to 1950. History Exclusive Records was established by Leon René in Los Angeles in 1944 and ceased operations in January 1950. Buddy Baker was the music director. The label's roster included music by Lucky Thompson, the Basin Street Boys, the Ceele Burke Orchestra, Edgar Hayes & His Stardusters, Herb Jeffries, Rickey Jordan, Jack McVea & His Orchestra, Mabel Scott, Frantic Fay Thomas, Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers, and Johnny Moore's Three Blazers with Charles Brown.Dave PennyBiography of Johnny Moore Black Cat Rockabilly Europe. Retrieved 2012-03-31. Leon René and his brother Otis René, who owned Excelsior Records, purchased a shellac record pressing plant, but when the format changed from 78 rpm to 45 rpm, their old equipment could not press the new smaller vinyl discs, and both labels went out of business. In 1951, Leon René started up Class Records with his son, musician Googie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhythm And Blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music ... ith aheavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, economics, and aspirations. The term "rhythm and blues" has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s, it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music contr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boogie Woogie Santa Claus
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie music. The characteristic rhythm and feel of the boogie was then adapted to guitar, double bass, and other instruments. The earliest recorded boogie-woogie song was in 1916. By the 1930s, Swing bands such as Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Louis Jordan all had boogie hits. By the 1950s, boogie became incorporated into the emerging rockabilly and rock and roll styles. In the late 1980s and the early 1990s country bands released country boogies. Today, the term "boogie" usually refers to dancing to pop, disco, or rock music. History The boogie was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie music and adapted to guitar. Boogie-woogie is a style of blues piano playing characterized by an up-tempo rhythm, a repeated melodic patt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rockin' Robin (song)
"Rockin' Robin" (originally released as "Rock-In Robin" on the Class Records 45 single) is a song written by Leon René under the pseudonym Jimmie Thomas, and recorded by Bobby Day in 1958. It was Day's biggest hit single, becoming a number two hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and spent one week at the top of the R&B sales chart. Michael Jackson recorded his own version of the song in 1972, which also achieved success. Personnel *Bobby Day – vocals *Plas Johnson – piccolo *Earl Palmer – drums * Barney Kessel – guitar Copyright status "Rockin' Robin" is in the public domain, as the owners never renewed the copyright. Charts Michael Jackson version In 1972, Michael Jackson released his own version of "Rockin' Robin", which was released as a single from his gold-certified solo album titled ''Got to Be There'' as a follow-up single to the song of the same name. It was the biggest hit from the album, hitting number 1 on the '' Cash Box'' singles chart and peaking at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_1.jpg "Click for more on -> Clarence Muse")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Rhythm And Blues")
