Les Brown R.I.P.

[Ron Hearn]

The following sad news was posted to the Jazz West Coast list today.

Ron

----- Original Message -----
From: <Lynn...@AOL.COM>
To: <SIN...@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU>
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 7:58 PM
Subject: Big Band Leader Les Brown, 88, Dies (Some FAS)

> Big Band Leader Les Brown, 88, Dies
>
> LOS ANGELES (AP) - Les Brown, whose Band of Renown scored a No. 1 hit
with
> ``Sentimental Journey'' during America's big band era of the 1930s and
'40s,
> has died of lung cancer. He was 88.
>
> Brown died Thursday night at his home, according to his daughter,
Denise
> Marsh.
>
> As recently as five months ago, Brown was still touring and performing
swing
> music. The Guinness Book of Records recognized him as the leader of
the
> longest lasting musical organization in pop music history.
>
> Brown formed his Band of Renown in 1936. He co-wrote ``Sentimental
Journey,''
> which was sung by Doris Day. It became a theme song for men and women
> returning home from World War II.
>
> ``The happiest times in my life were the days when I was traveling
with
Les
> and his band,'' Day said. ``I loved Les very much, I am going to miss
his
> phone calls.''
>
> Brown's career included a close association with Bob Hope. In 1950, he
joined
> Hope for the first of 18 Christmas tours to entertain American troops
at
> military bases around the world. Day also participated.
>
> ``The world has lost a great musician,'' Hope said. ``I have lost my
music
> man, my sideman, my straight man and a special friend.''
>
> As the first president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Academy of
Recording
> Arts and Sciences, Brown helped make the Grammy Awards a televised
event.
He
> convinced Hope, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby to participate in the
first
> telecast.
>
> In addition to his daughter, Brown is survived by his wife, Evelyn;
and
son,
> Les Brown Jr. No services were scheduled.
>
>

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[Top_Catt]

In article <9360su$o8u$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,

Ron Hearn <he...@telus.net> wrote:
> The following sad news was posted to the Jazz West Coast list today.
>
> Ron
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Lynn...@AOL.COM>
> To: <SIN...@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU>
> Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 7:58 PM
> Subject: Big Band Leader Les Brown, 88, Dies (Some FAS)

> > Big Band Leader Les Brown, 88, Dies
> >
> > LOS ANGELES (AP) - Les Brown, whose Band of Renown scored a No. 1

hit withSentimental Journey'' during America's big band era of the 1930s

and '40s, has died of lung cancer. He was 88.
Brown died Thursday night at his home, according to his daughter,
Denise Marsh.

> > As recently as five months ago, Brown was still touring and
performing swing music. The Guinness Book of Records recognized him as
the leader of the longest lasting musical organization in pop music
history.

> > Brown formed his Band of Renown in 1936.

[snipped for brevity]

The old-school troupers, ya gotta love 'em. Read anything about the
history of the Big Band era, and you'll find out what killing schedules
those musicians had. Every year, thousands of miles by train, and by
bus over bad roads; lousy venues, marginal pay, indifferent or hostile
club managers, the Mob (which of course doesn't exist), bad pianos,
worse bathrooms-- and Jim Crow hotels and restaurants for the
African-Americans (that's one reason why the Ellington band traveled by
private train).

A different era, a different breed (hardier than us, I think). Whenever
I learn something about the early-to-mid 20th century era of American
music and entertainment, it always amazes me how much practically every
performer knocked him or herself out for their audiences. That used to
be the *standard* for performers, though-- really; Willie The Lion Smith
said, "Those audiences were tough. If they didn't like what you were
doing, they'd read newspapers on you." A "School of Hard Knocks," then,
but it seems to have worked...

T.C.

[Ulf Åbjörnsson]

Top_Catt skrev ...

> Willie The Lion Smith
> said, "Those audiences were tough. If they didn't like what you were
> doing, they'd read newspapers on you." A "School of Hard Knocks," then,
> but it seems to have worked...
>
> T.C.

Some of the modern guys should need an audience like that! ;-))

Ulf

[Jeff Boy]

The top of his class, he will be missed.

JEFF

Acclaimed Band Leader Les Brown Dies at 88
 
By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 6, 2001; Page B07

 

Les Brown, 88, the leader of the Band of Renown, which played for years on television with Bob Hope and was one of the best-known and longest-surviving ensembles of the Big Band Era, died of lung cancer Jan. 5 at his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., relatives said.

 

Mr. Brown was a co-author of "Sentimental Journey," the band's greatest hit. It was written during World War II and recorded by Doris Day. Soft and dreamy, it seemed perfectly suited to be the melodic backdrop to the homeward voyages of millions of servicemen.

 

Mr. Brown was a clarinet player as well as a conductor. He began his career in the Depression and the days of ballroom dancing. He was known as one of the foremost exponents of swing. Mr. Brown abandoned his instrument relatively early, but he continued to lead his group of 17 to 20 until last year.

 

His brother, Clyde "Stumpy" Brown, a trombonist and business manager for the band, said Mr. Brown's last appearance with the group was Oct. 15, at Citrus Community College, in Glendora, Calif.

 

According to Clyde Brown, the Band of Renown is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-surviving organization in popular music.

 

Lester Raymond Brown was born March 14, 1912, in Reinerton, Pa. His father was a baker and an amateur musician. "He taught all of us" until there was no more the children could learn from him, Clyde Brown said.

Mr. Brown's formal musical education began at the Ithaca (N.Y.) Conservatory of Music, and he also studied at the New York Military Academy. As a college student, his brother said, Mr. Brown worked his way through Duke University by doing the arranging for a band during his first two years and leading it his last two.

After he graduated, Mr. Brown toured the East Coast with his Duke Blue Devils. But, as his brother recalled it, parents of the other band members wanted their offspring to return to campus to get their degrees.

 

The band broke up, and Mr. Brown tried his luck in New York. After working as a freelance arranger for such names as Jimmy Dorsey and Isham Jones, Mr. Brown started his own big band. By one account, he adopted its memorably euphonic name after an announcer used it during a broadcast from a hotel in Washington.

 

The association with Hope began in 1947 on the radio. It continued into the television age and went on for decades until health problems curtailed the comedian's career. Mr. Brown and the band made 18 overseas Christmas tours with Hope. They also played on other TV shows, on cruise ships and at conventions, festivals and other special events, maintaining a reputation for high-level musicianship. "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" was one of the band's best-known numbers. In recent years, the band's theme was "Leapfrog."

 

Day's recording of "Sentimental Journey" was "a hit right out of the box," Mr. Brown once said. He told a reporter that "the only problem was that it was 1945 and there wasn't enough shellac to press all the copies that people wanted."

 

It was the nation's No. 1 song for 17 weeks.

 

"The happiest times in my life were the days when I was traveling with Les and his band," Day told the Associated Press. "I loved Les very much; I am going to miss his phone calls."

 

The AP quoted Hope as saying: "The world has lost a great musician. I have lost my music man, my sideman, my straight man and a special friend."

 

Clyde Brown said Mr. Brown's survivors include his wife, Evelyn; another brother, Warren; a sister, Sylvia Thompson; a daughter, Denise Marsh; a son, Les Brown Jr., who had taken over much of the work of leading the band; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a great-great-grandchild.

 

© 2001 The Washington Post Com