George Rock (October 11, 1919 – April 12, 1988) was a trumpet player and singer with various bands before starring with

Spike Jones and His City Slickers Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...

. A man of large physical stature, Rock attended Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois on a football scholarship. He abandoned football for music, becoming a professional musician at the age of 20. His first national exposure was in the Freddie Fisher's Schnickelfritz Band. In 1944,

Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...

hired Rock to join his band, the City Slickers. With Spike Jones and His City Slickers, Rock played lead trumpet and also sang with the group. He was especially noted for imitating children using a voice characterization that sounded remarkably childlike. Rock was featured on many City Slickers recordings including lead vocals on the 1947 classic "

All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" is a novelty Christmas song written in 1944 by Donald Yetter Gardner""Donald Yetter Gardner, 91, Songwriter". ''The New York Times''. September 22, 2004. p. B-8.Oliver, Myrna (September 26, 2004)" ...

". Rock also performed on several other recordings by Spike Jones and the City Slickers including "I'm the Captain of the Space Ship", "You Wanna Buy a Bunny?", "I'm the Angel in the Christmas Play", "Three Little Fishes (Itty Bitty Poo)" and "Happy New Year" (the 'B' side of "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"). Rock also played trumpet on ''

The Spike Jones Show ''The Spike Jones Show'' was the name of several separate American comedy and variety show, variety series that aired on NBC and CBS in the 1950s and 1960s. The series was presented by actor and musician Spike Jones, his wife, musician Helen Gray ...

'' on television in the late 1950s, including the 1958

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

series ''

Club Oasis Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

''.

References

External links

*
Findagrave
1919 births 1988 deaths American trumpeters American male trumpeters 20th-century American singers 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century American male singers Illinois Wesleyan Titans football players {{US-singer-stub

Further reading

References

External links