Harry Haag James , was born to Everett Robert and Maybelle (Stewart) James on March 15, 1916, in Albany, Georgia. James began his stage life as the circus contortionist in the Haag Circus, which later became the Christy Brothers Circus. The gimmick was the Youngest and Oldest Contortionists in the World, because young Harry worked with a seventy-year-old partner. He started his musical education with the drums at age four in the circus band. He learned to play piano and trumpet with his father, the circus bandmaster. Though thought by many to be a native Texan, Harry James did not arrive in Texas until the 1930s, when he and his parents moved to Beaumont. There he played trumpet and led a band. In 1934 he toured as a trumpet player with Joe Gill. When he joined Art Hicks and His Orchestra in 1934 he met vocalist and North Texas native Louise Tobin. They married in 1935. Tobin, a rising star in her own right, would later be featured with Benny Goodman’s orchestra before relenting to James’s wishes that she give up her career to start a family; they had two sons. James joined Ben Pollacks band in 1935 and made his recording debut with the group early in 1936. Fame came later that year, when James joined Benny Goodmans orchestra. He made a name for himself with fiery trumpet solos and an appearance in the bands 1938 movie, Hollywood Hotel. He started his own band, the Harry James Band in 1939. Two years later, he had a huge hit with this song: You Made Me Love You: https://youtube/watch?v=bMaCoxOGXPM “You Made Me Love You” sold more than a million copies. Other popular Harry James recordings included Carnival in Venice and Flight of the Bumble Bee. Early in his career as bandleader, James hired an unknown Frank Sinatra upon the recommendation of his wife Louise, but Sinatra soon left his band and accepted an offer to join Tommy Dorsey. James had a great technique that showed off rich, brassy tones. A true virtuoso, Harry, along with his band, developed the boogie-woogie style for big-band swing. His romantic ballads, the key to his success, shot him to fame as a big-band leader. In 1941 a national poll voted his band the number-one dance band in the country. He appeared on radio shows for Danny Kaye, Coca Cola, and Jack Benny, and also on his own series, sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes. Some of the famous musicians who performed with Harry James in the 1940s were Dick Haymes, Frank Sinatra, and Helen Forrest. Into the 1950s and 1960s Harry and the band were joined as well by Buddy Rich, Sam Firmature, Jack Perciful, and Ray Sims. James continued to be popular, appearing cameo or with Benny Goodmans band in many movies, including Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Young Man with a Horn (1950), The Benny Goodman Story (1955), and Anything Goes (1956). Still an active musician in the 1970s, he was quoted then as saying, I dont look at people as changing, being old or being young. I just look down from the stand to see if people are having fun. James divorced Louise Tobin in 1943 and promptly married actress Betty Grable. He and Betty moved to Las Vegas, where Harry played for many years. They had two daughters but were divorced in 1965. Afterward, he married Joan Boyd, a Las Vegas showgirl, with whom he had a son. James died of cancer at the age of sixty-seven on July 5, 1983, in Las Vegas, Nevada. That year he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame. The Museum of the Gulf Coast’s Music Hall of Fame in Port Arthur also honors James as a music legend. Harry James started early in life as a circus performer. His father, the bandleader in the same circus, taught him to play the piano and most importantly, the trumpet. He became known as one of the best trumpet players of his time, and today, he is known as a Pioneer of Texas Music. Pioneers of Texas Music can be heard twice daily, Monday through Saturday on KDRP FM. Please visit kdrplive.org for specific times. Pioneers of Texas Music is made possible in part by Scholz Garten, the oldest business in Texas, since 1866. And history is still being made at Scholz Garten where you can enjoy delicious, authentic German food as well as excellent American food while sampling any of 52 different ICE COLD DRAFT BEERS and listening to LIVE MUSIC in their spacious Bier Garten. For a calendar of LIVE MUSIC and their MENU, visit scholzgarten.net. Pioneers of Texas Music is also brought tou you by All About Vapor. Thanks to Denver O’Neal and Chris Rollins for assisting in the recording and editing of Pioneers of Texas Music. If you or someone you know might be interested in sponsoring Pioneers of Texas Music, please contact Daryl O’Neal at [email protected]. Pioneers of Texas Music is written, spoken and produced by David Arnsberger from an idea by Larry Monroe. Some of the reference material for this edition of Pioneers of Texas Music comes from the TSHA Handbook
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 22:16:38 +0000
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