The Treniers (pronounced /trəˈniərz/) were an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
R&B and
jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...
musical group
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the na ...
led by
identical twins
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
Cliff and Claude Trenier. They were originally billed as the Trenier Twins, who performed alongside the Gene Gilbeaux Quartet, but shortened their name to the Treniers when Gilbeaux and other musicians became integral members of the group. Besides the Trenier brothers, group members included Don Hill on saxophone,
Shifty Henry
John Willie "Shifty" Henry (4 October 1921 – 30 November 1958) was an American musician, most noted as a double bass and bass guitar player, and blues songwriter. He also played flute, violin, viola, saxophone, and oboe and was in demand as a se ...
and later James (Jimmy) Johnson on bass, Henry (Tucker) Green on drums and Gene Gilbeaux on piano. Later, additional Trenier brothers Milt and Buddy, and nephew Skip, joined the group on vocals, and there were many other musician and line-up changes over the years including Herman Washington and
Mickey Baker
MacHouston "Mickey" Baker (October 15, 1925 – November 27, 2012) was an American guitarist, best known for his work as a studio musician and as part of the recording duo Mickey & Sylvia.
Early life
Baker was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His ...
on guitar.
Career
The band was based around twins Clifton L. "Cliff" Trenier (July 14, 1919 – March 2, 1983) and Claude Oliver Trenier (July 14, 1919 – November 17, 2003). They were born in
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
, and formed the Alabama State Collegians when in college together in 1939. In 1943, Claude Trenier left to join
Jimmie Lunceford
James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.
Early life
Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, Mi ...
's band as lead singer, and Cliff joined him the following year.
[Dik de Heer, "The Treniers", ''Black Cat Rockabilly'']
Accessed November 31, 2014 The twins left the Lunceford band in 1947 and began performing together as the Trenier Twins, backed by the Gene Gilbeaux Quartet which included Gene Gilbeaux on piano and Don Hill on alto sax. They made their first recordings for
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
in 1947, and developed a strong reputation for their live performances. In 1949, they were joined by older brother Buddy Trenier (December 11, 1913 – March 15, 1999), and started to be billed as "The Rockin' Rollin' Treniers".
[
They played a form of music intermediate between swing and early ]rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
. Though their sound is more swing influenced, the Treniers incorporated a thumping backbeat and several songs that included the words "rock" and "roll" - "Rocking on Sunday Night" and "It Rocks! It Rolls! It Swings!", for example, and in the 1940s were already playing "Rockin' Is Our Bizness," which was inspired by Jimmie Lunceford's "Rhythm Is Our Business" from the 1930s. They were also known for the humorous content of many of their songs, and their on stage acrobatics were seen as precursors to the wild antics of many later rock and roll groups. Their lively stage presentation influenced Bill Haley and Comets, The Shadows
The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
in the UK in 1959, Paul Revere and Raiders, and beyond.
They had their only national chart hit in 1951, when "Go! Go! Go!" reached #10 on the R&B chart
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
, but several of their other records including "It Rocks! It Rolls! It Swings!" (1952) and "Rockin' Is Our Bizness" (1953) "anticipated some crucial elements of rock n roll with their solid, thumping beats, their squealing sax solos."[ In the 1950s, they moved closer towards an R&B influenced sound, but were unable to weather the influx of rock and roll. Nonetheless, the group was considered a strong influence on bands such as their contemporaries ]Bill Haley and His Comets
Bill(s) may refer to:
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* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
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* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
, and they were one of the first to record Haley's "Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie". Claude Trenier would later claim in an interview in ''Blue Suede News'' magazine that his group was responsible for Haley deciding to record rock and roll; this account is disputed.
One of the first times rock and roll appeared on national television was in May 1954 when the Treniers appeared on the ''Colgate Comedy Hour
''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series ...
'', hosted by Dean Martin
Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...
and Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
. During the playing of their songs, Martin and Lewis participated in the antics, and when the drummer got up and stepped aside, Jerry Lewis sat down and played drums for one song.
The group appeared in several films in the 1950s including ''The Girl Can't Help It
''The Girl Can't Help It'' is a 1956 American musical comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield in the titular role, Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Jones, and Julie London. The picture was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenpl ...
'' and ''Don't Knock the Rock
''Don't Knock the Rock'' is a 1956 American musical film starring Alan Dale and Alan Freed. Directed by Fred F. Sears, the film also features performances by Bill Haley & His Comets, Little Richard, The Treniers, and Dave Appell and the Appleja ...
'' (which also featured Haley), and continued to perform as recently as 2003.
In 1955, the group released the song "Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song)" about Giants
A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore.
Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to:
Mythology and religion
*Giants (Greek mythology)
*Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...
center fielder, Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...
, which included some dialogue by the Hall-of-Famer himself. The song is included on the soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
to Ken Burns 1994 documentary ''Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
''.
In 2013, surviving member Milt Trenier performed semi-weekly at Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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area restaurants. Milt retired from performing in 2017, after 70 years (1947-2017).
Saxophonist Don Hill died on June 18, 2021, aged 99. John Przybys, "Don Hill, saxophonist with The Treniers, dies", ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'', June 25, 2021
Retrieved August 9, 2021
Film appearances
* ''Don't Knock the Rock
''Don't Knock the Rock'' is a 1956 American musical film starring Alan Dale and Alan Freed. Directed by Fred F. Sears, the film also features performances by Bill Haley & His Comets, Little Richard, The Treniers, and Dave Appell and the Appleja ...
'' (1956)
* ''The Girl Can't Help It
''The Girl Can't Help It'' is a 1956 American musical comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield in the titular role, Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Jones, and Julie London. The picture was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenpl ...
'' (1956)
* ''Calypso Heat Wave'' (1957)
* ''Juke Box Rhythm'' (1959)
References
External links
Milt Trenier's Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treniers, The
American rock music groups
American rhythm and blues musical groups
African-American musical groups
RCA Victor artists
Jump blues musicians