Sweet Georgia Brown Tempo Lable Recorded by Brother Bones and His Shadows

Freeman Davis (October 4, 1902 – June 14, 1974
/ref>) was an American

whistling Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...

and

bone A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provid ...

playing recording artist best known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

s "Brother Bones" and "Whistling Sam".

Early life

Freeman Davis was born in Montgomery,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Career

Davis is best remembered for his 1949 recording (as Brother Bones and His Shadows) of the 1925 standard "

Sweet Georgia Brown "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey. History Reportedly, Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricist ...

". The recording became nationally famous after its adoption as the theme song of the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

basketball team in 1952. Notably, the bass line for this track uses the

Novachord The Novachord is an electronic musical instrument often considered the world's first commercial polyphonic synthesizer. All-electronic, incorporating many circuit and control elements found in modern synthesizers, and using subtractive synthesi ...

, a very early electronic synthesizer more prominently featured on the B side of the record. Despite the success of this record, Davis himself remained relatively unknown.

Death

Davis died in June 1974, in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, at the age of 71. Davis was buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park,

Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

Popular culture

His song, "Black Eyed Susan Brown", was sampled in the

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...

song, "Pease Porridge", on their 1991

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

De La Soul Is Dead ''De La Soul Is Dead'' is the second studio album by American hip-hop group De La Soul, released on May 14, 1991. The album was produced by Prince Paul, whose work on ''3 Feet High and Rising'' was highly praised by music critics. The album wa ...

''. "Sweet Georgia Brown" was used in the

Vauxhall Meriva Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

in the UK.

References

External links

Freeman "Brother Bones" Davis (1902–1974) – Find A Grave Memorial

at the Online Guide to Whistling Records *
Who is Brother Bones?
' on BoneDryMusic.com 1902 births 1974 deaths 20th-century African-American musicians 20th-century American musicians American percussionists Harlem Globetrotters Musicians from Montgomery, Alabama Tempo Records (US) artists Whistlers {{US-musician-stub