Frederick Charles Slack (August 7, 1910 – August 10, 1965) was an American swing and

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, but already developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually ex ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

Life and career

Slack was born in Westby, Wisconsin, United States. He learned to play drums as a boy. Later he took up the xylophone, and at the age of 13 he changed to the piano. He studied with a local teacher throughout high school. At the age of 17, he moved with his parents to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where he continued his musical training. He met Rosy McHargue, a well-known clarinetist, who took him to hear many leading musicians, including

Bix Beiderbecke Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke ( ; March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical a ...

and

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

. His first job was with Johnny Tobin at the Beach View Gardens. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he worked with

Henry Halstead Henry Halstead (November 16, 1897 – March 19, 1984) was an American bandleader. His orchestra began in early 1922 and over the next twenty years had regular engagements at hotels in New York and California. Halstead had from 15 to 20 band mem ...

, Earl Burtnett and Lennie Hayton, before joining

Ben Pollack Benjamin "Ben" Pollack (June 22, 1903 – June 7, 1971) was an American drummer and bandleader from the mid-1920s through the swing music, swing era. His eye for talent led him to employ musicians such as Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Mil ...

in 1934. He played with the

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 Peopl ...

Band in the 1930s and was a charter member of the Will Bradley Orchestra when it formed in 1939. Known to bandmates as "Daddy Slack," he played the piano solo on Bradley's recording of "

Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

", one of the early white boogie-woogie hits and a classic of the big band era. He formed his own band in 1942 and signed with the newly founded

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. He recorded three songs at his third recording session for Capitol, on May 21, 1942. His

recording 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, re ...

of "Cow Cow Boogie," sung by the 17-year-old Ella Mae Morse, was the second record the new Capitol issued, on July 1, and by July 25 it had reached number 1 on the hit parade. It was Capitol's first

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

single. Ella Mae Morse's biography ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''R ...

was a member of Slack's band from 1942 to 1944, and Slack later accompanied Walker on his first solo recording for Capitol, " Mean Old World". This band also had a hit with "Strange Cargo." Slack continued to record with Capitol until at least 1950, recording some 80 tracks for the label. Slack also recorded as an accompanist for

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fa ...

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American singer of popular music who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard'', January 12, ...

and Lisa Morrow. In the original version of the song " Down the Road a Piece", recorded in 1940 by the Will Bradley Orchestra, Slack is mentioned in the lyrics:

If you wanna' hear some boogie then I know the place
It's just an old piano and a knocked-out bass.
The drummer-man's a guy they call eight beat Mack
You remember Doc and old "Beat Me Daddy" Slack.
Man it's better than chicken fried in bacon grease
Come along with me boy, it's just down the road a piece.

"Eight Beat Mack" refers to drummer

Ray McKinley Ray McKinley (June 18, 1910 – May 7, 1995) was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader. He played drums and later led the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra in Europe. He also led the new Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956. ...

, and "Doc" relates to the band's bass player, Doc Goldberg. His 1955 album, ''Boogie Woogie on the 88'', featured a horn section including jazz musicians Shorty Sherock and Herbie Harper among others, with arrangements by

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

. He also co-wrote the 1945 classic " The House of Blue Lights", first recorded with singer Ella Mae Morse, and later by Chuck Miller,

the Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...

, and

Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American country music, Western swing music group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, in 1970, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards, released over 20 albums, and has charted more t ...

. On August 10, 1965, Slack was found dead in his bedroom in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, from undetermined causes.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Slack, Freddie 1910 births 1965 deaths People from Westby, Wisconsin Musicians from Chicago Musicians from Los Angeles People from Viroqua, Wisconsin Musicians from Wisconsin 20th-century American musicians American jazz bandleaders American jazz pianists American big band bandleaders Capitol Records artists