Todd Washington Rhodes (August 31, 1899 or 1900 – June 4, 1965) was an American pianist, bandleader and arranger who was an early influence in

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 ...

and later in R&B. He recently became popular due to his song “Rocket 69” being featured in the 2015 video game '' Fallout 4''.

Biography

Rhodes was born in

Hopkinsville Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 31,577. History Early years The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 b ...

, Kentucky, and was raised in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

. He attended the Springfield School of Music and the Erie Conservatory, studying as pianist and songwriter. After graduating in 1921, he began performing with drummer

William McKinney William "Bill" McKinney (September 17, 1895 – October 14, 1969) was an American jazz drummer who led a series of musical groups, most notably McKinney's Cotton Pickers. Early life McKinney was born in Cynthiana, Kentucky. He worked as a dru ...

in the jazz band McKinney's Cotton Pickers, and played with Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins,

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

, Rex Stewart, Doc Cheatham, and Don Redman. He left McKinney's Cotton Pickers in 1934, and lived and played in Detroit from then on. He formed his own small group in 1943, expanding it into the Todd Rhodes Orchestra by 1946. The orchestra made its first

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

for

Sensation Records Bernard Besman (October 8, 1912 – January 10, 2003) was a Russian-born American record producer and distributor who established Sensation Records, an early independent record label in Detroit, Michigan. He was the first to record John Lee ...

in 1947. Turning more towards

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 ...

music, the band became known as Todd Rhodes & His Toddlers, and their recordings were distributed by the Vitacoustic label.Dave Penny, "Todd Rhodes", ''Black Cat Rockabilly''
Retrieved October 10, 2016 His instrumental "Blues for the Red Boy" reached number 4 on the R&B chart late in 1948, and the following year "Pot Likker", made number 3 on the R&B chart. "Blues for the Red Boy" was later famously used by Alan Freed as the theme song for his ''Moondog'' radio show; Freed referring to the song as "Blues for the Moondog" instead of its actual title.John Broven, notes to "Honky Tonk! – The Best of King & Federal Instrumentals." Ace CDCHD 761, 2000. With his Toddlers, Rhodes also recorded "Your Daddy's Doggin' Around" and "Your Mouth Got a Hole in It". After signing with King Records in 1951, he also worked with Hank Ballard, Dave Bartholomew, and

Wynonie Harris Wynonie Harris (August 24, 1915 – June 14, 1969) was an American blues shouter and rhythm-and-blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. He had fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952. Harris is attributed by ma ...

. He featured singers such as

Connie Allen Constantina "Connie" Allen (September 24, 1926 – August 30, 1991) was an American singer and musician. She recorded the song " Rocket 69" in 1951, backed by Todd Rhodes and His Toddlers (also called the Todd Rhodes Orchestra). Other songs In a ...

, who recorded "Rocket 69" in 1952. After she left the band in early 1952, her position was taken by

LaVern Baker Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedle Dee" (1955), " Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I ...

. Rhodes made his last recordings in the late 1950s. Rhodes developed diabetes, which was untreated for several years. He died in Inkster, Michigan, in 1965, aged 64 or 65, following the amputation of a leg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Todd American jazz pianists American male pianists Songwriters from Kentucky People from Hopkinsville, Kentucky American music arrangers American bandleaders Year of birth uncertain 1965 deaths Jazz musicians from Kentucky 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians McKinney's Cotton Pickers members American male songwriters