Joseph Lawrence Haymes (February 10, 1907 – July 10, 1964) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

bandleader and arranger.

Life and career

Born in

Marshfield, Missouri Marshfield is a city in Missouri and the county seat of Webster County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,633. As of the 2020 census, Marshfield had a population of 7,458. It is part of the Springfield, Missouri, Metro ...

, United States, Haymes relocated with his family to

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, after his railroader father was killed in an accident. Joe attended Greenwood Laboratory School in Springfield and was a drummer in the local Boy Scout Band; as a youth he also learned the piano. Entering

Drury College Drury University, formerly Drury College and originally Springfield College, is a private university in Springfield, Missouri. The university's mission statement describes itself as "church-related". It enrolls about 1,700 undergraduate and grad ...

in 1926, he played locally with his own dance band, before being hired as arranger by

Ted Weems Wilfred Theodore Wemyes, known professionally as Ted Weems (September 26, 1901 – May 6, 1963), was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Born in Pitcair ...

in 1928 and leaving school. Haymes arranged the hit " Piccolo Pete", among many others, for Weems, setting a new, highly jazz-informed style for the orchestra. Haymes struck out on his own again in 1930, leading a band in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. Billed as "a Ted Weems unit", Haymes continued to write Weems' arrangements. During 1931, the vocal trio

The Merry Macs The Merry Macs were an American close-harmony pop music quartet active from the 1920s till the 1960s and best known for the hits " Mairzy Doats", "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" and " Sentimental Journey". The group also sang on recording ...

toured with the band. Relocating to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

by 1932, the Haymes orchestra was briefly one of the country's hottest dance bands, with a particular knack for jazz novelties and recording on all three major labels, but in late 1933 he sold the band to actor-leader Buddy Rogers, beginning a habit of selling orchestras to others. Early in 1934, Haymes put together a swing group with assistance from arranger

Spud Murphy Miko Stefanovic (August 19, 1908 – August 5, 2005), better known as Lyle 'Spud' Murphy, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and arranger. Early life Born Miko Stefanovic to Serbian émigré parents in Berlin, Germany, Murphy ...

, but after

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

and

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People ...

split in 1935, Tommy arranged a deal with Haymes to take over the latter's group. Haymes himself hired several of

Charlie Barnet Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His major recordings were "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle ...

's musicians for a new band, which recorded for ARC from 1935 until 1937, but was only modestly successful. Haymes toured as an arranger with Les Brown in 1938, re-formed in 1939, and then found work writing and arranging anonymously for radio. He was briefly inducted into the U.S. Army in 1942, where he served as a medical orderly. On his return, he continued arranging for Hollywood studios from the 1940s into the late 1950s, interrupted by spells with

Phil Harris Wonga Philip Harris (June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was an American actor, comedian, musician and songwriter. He was an orchestra leader and a pioneer in radio situation comedy, first with ''The Jack Benny Program'', then in '' The Phil Harr ...

and

Johnnie Lee Wills Johnnie Lee Wills (September 2, 1912 – October 25, 1984) was an American Western swing fiddler popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Biography Wills was born in Jewett, Texas, United States, and was the younger brother of Bob Wills. He played banjo w ...

. Haymes' chief employer during the 1950s was

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, tele ...

's television show, although he sometimes performed solo in the Los Angeles area playing at piano bars.

Death

About 1960, he relocated to

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, then home to several semi-retired bandleaders (Ted Weems chief among them) who occasionally employed his scoring skills. Never married, Haymes died of heart failure at age 57.

Other

Among the players in Haymes's orchestras were

Johnny Mince Johnny Mince (born John Henry Muenzenberger) (July 8, 1912 – December 23, 1994) was an American swing jazz clarinetist. Career Mince played with Joe Haymes from 1929 to 1934, and recorded with Red Norvo and Glenn Miller in 1935. He then worked ...

Pee Wee Erwin George "Pee Wee" Erwin (May 30, 1913 – June 20, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography He was born in Falls City, Nebraska, United States. Erwin started on trumpet at age four. He played in several territory bands before joining the gr ...

Toots Mondello Nunzio (Toots) Mondello (August 14, 1911 in Boston, Massachusetts – November 15, 1992 in New York City, New York) was an American swing jazz alto saxophonist. Mondello played with Mal Hallett from 1927 to 1933, where he also simultaneously p ...

Chris Griffin Christopher “Chris” Cross Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series, ''Family Guy''. He is the second of three children of Peter and Lois Griffin and is also the older brother of Stewie Griffin and the younger bro ...

, Sterling Bose,

Bud Freeman Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991) was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet. Biography In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high sc ...

, Walt Yoder, and

Lee Castle Lee Castle (February 28, 1915 – November 16, 1990) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He was born Lee Aniello Castaldo, and performed under this name early in his career. His first major professional job was with Joe Haymes in 1935 ...

. He is buried in his native Marshfield, Missouri.

References

Other sources

*Paul Lindemeyer, "Joe Haymes: Lost Motion." '' IAJRC Journal,'' summer, 1993. *

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

Joe Haymes Joseph Lawrence Haymes (February 10, 1907 – July 10, 1964) was an American jazz bandleader and arranger. Life and career Born in Marshfield, Missouri, United States, Haymes relocated with his family to Springfield, Missouri, after his railroad ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haymes, Joe 1907 births 1964 deaths American jazz bandleaders Jazz musicians from Missouri People from Marshfield, Missouri 20th-century American musicians