Bunny Berigan
Encyclopedia
Rowland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American
jazz
trumpeter who rose to fame during the swing era
, but whose virtuosity and influence were shortened by a losing battle with alcoholism
that ended in his early death at age 33. He composed the jazz instrumentals "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues" in 1935. His 1937 classic jazz recording "I Can't Get Started
" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975.
, the son of William Berigan and Mamie Schlitzberg, and raised in Fox Lake, Wisconsin
. A musical child prodigy
, having learned the violin
and trumpet
at an early age, Berigan played in local orchestra
s by his late teens before auditioning for the successful Hal Kemp
orchestra in 1928 or 1929.
Kemp first spurned the young trumpeter, reputedly because Berigan at the time had an uncertain tone, but any deficiencies were apparently resolved a year and a half later: this time, in mid-1930, Kemp hired Berigan. Berigan's first recorded trumpet solos came with the Kemp orchestra, and he was with the unit when they toured England later in the year.
By the time the Kemp unit returned to the U.S. in 1931, Berigan, like fellow trumpeter Manny Klein
, became a sought-after studio musician; Fred Rich
, Freddy Martin
and Ben Selvin
were just some who sought his services for record dates. Berigan recorded his first vocal, "At Your Command", with Rich that year. From late 1932 through 1933, Berigan was also employed by Paul Whiteman
, before playing with Abe Lyman's
band in 1934.
He continued freelancing in the recording and radio studios, most notably with the Dorsey Brothers and on Glenn Miller's
earliest recording date as a leader in 1935, playing on "Solo Hop
". At the same time, however, Berigan made the association that graduated him to fame in his own right: he joined Benny Goodman's
re-forming band. Legendary jazz talent scout and producer John Hammond
, who also became Goodman's brother-in-law in due course, later wrote that he helped persuade Gene Krupa
to re-join Goodman, with whom he'd had an earlier falling-out, by mentioning that Berigan, whom Krupa admired, was already committed to the new ensemble. With Berigan and Krupa both on-board, the Goodman band made the legendary, often disheartening tour that ended with their unexpectedly headline-making stand at the Palomar Ballroom
in Los Angeles
, the stand often credited with the "formal" launch of the swing era
.
orchestra; his solo on the Dorsey hit "Marie" became considered one of his signature performances. Then, in 1937, Berigan assembled a band to record under his name, picking the then-little known Ira Gershwin
/Vernon Duke
composition, "I Can't Get Started
". Berigan's crisp trumpet work and passable vocal made the song the biggest hit of his career and his theme for the rest of his life. Berigan modeled his trumpet style in part on Louis Armstrong's
style, and often acknowledged Armstrong as his own idol. Armstrong, for his part, returned the compliment after Berigan's death, saying the only thing wrong with Berigan was that he died too young.
around this time. Already a heavy drinker, the business stress of bandleading drove Berigan to drink even more heavily. Nevertheless, musicians considered him an excellent bandleader; several notable players came into and out of the Berigan orchestra during its short life: Buddy Rich
(a fellow Dorsey alumnus), Gus Bivona
, Davie Tough
, Danny Richards
, Joe Bushkin
, Ray Conniff
, Ruth Bradley
, Hank Wayland
, Jack Sperling
, Bama Warwick, Helen Ward
, Sid Weiss
, Morty Stuhlmaker, Hymie Shertzer, Bob Jenney, Al Jennings, Buddy Koss, Steve Lipkins, Kathleen Lane
, Joe Dixon, Georgie Auld
, Joe Lipman, George Wettling
, Clyde Rounds, and Tommy Morgan.
Berigan was also a fixture on CBS Radio
's Saturday Night Swing Club broadcasts from 1937 to 1940, a coast-to-coast broadcast that helped further popularize jazz as the swing era climbed to its peak.
for a brief period before leaving to form a new small group to play mostly one-night stands. By this time, however, the touring grind became too much: during one such tour, Berigan was hospitalized with pneumonia
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. But his doctors discovered worse news: Berigan by now was stricken with cirrhosis
of the liver. His doctors advised him to stop drinking and to stop playing the trumpet for an undetermined length of time. Berigan couldn't do either. He returned to New York City
and suffered a massive hemorrhage on May 30, 1942. He died two days later in the hospital at age 33. He was survived by his wife, Donna, and his two young daughters, Patricia and Joyce. He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery south of Fox Lake.
(1973), the Roman Polanski
film Chinatown (1974), and a Martin Scorsese
short film,The Big Shave
(1967). Fox Lake, Wisconsin
has kept his memory and influence alive with an annual Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee since the early 1970s. At least one of Berigan's Saturday Night Swing Club dates, a performance from Manhattan Center
in New York on 26 September 1939, has survived to circulate among jazz and old-time radio collectors alike.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpeter who rose to fame during the swing era
Swing Era
The Swing era was the period of time when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though the music had been around since the late 1920s and early 1930s, being played by black bands led by such artists as Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Moten, Ella Fitzgerald,...
, but whose virtuosity and influence were shortened by a losing battle with alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
that ended in his early death at age 33. He composed the jazz instrumentals "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues" in 1935. His 1937 classic jazz recording "I Can't Get Started
I Can't Get Started
"I Can't Get Started" is a popular song, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by Vernon Duke, that was first heard in the theatrical production Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 where it was sung by Bob Hope...
" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975.
Early life and career
Berigan was born in Hilbert, WisconsinHilbert, Wisconsin
Hilbert is a village in Calumet County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,089 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Hilbert is located at ....
, the son of William Berigan and Mamie Schlitzberg, and raised in Fox Lake, Wisconsin
Fox Lake, Wisconsin
Fox Lake is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,454. The city is located within the Town of Fox Lake.-Geography:...
. A musical child prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
, having learned the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
at an early age, Berigan played in local orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s by his late teens before auditioning for the successful Hal Kemp
Hal Kemp
James Harold "Hal" Kemp was a jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. He was born in Marion, Alabama and died in Madera, California following an auto accident...
orchestra in 1928 or 1929.
Kemp first spurned the young trumpeter, reputedly because Berigan at the time had an uncertain tone, but any deficiencies were apparently resolved a year and a half later: this time, in mid-1930, Kemp hired Berigan. Berigan's first recorded trumpet solos came with the Kemp orchestra, and he was with the unit when they toured England later in the year.
By the time the Kemp unit returned to the U.S. in 1931, Berigan, like fellow trumpeter Manny Klein
Manny Klein
Manny Klein was a jazz trumpeter most associated with swing.He began with Paul Whiteman in 1928 and was active throughout the 1930s playing with several major bands of the era including the Dorseys and Benny Goodman. In 1937, he moved to California and worked with Frank Trumbauer's orchestra...
, became a sought-after studio musician; Fred Rich
Fred Rich
Frederic Efrem "Fred" Rich was a Polish-born American bandleader and composer who was active from the 1920s to the 1950s. Among the famous musicians in his band included the Dorsey Brothers, Joe Venuti, Bunny Berigan and Benny Goodman. In the early 1930s, Elmer Feldkamp was one of his...
, Freddy Martin
Freddy Martin
Frederick Alfred Martin was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist.-Early life:Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one...
and Ben Selvin
Ben Selvin
Benjamin B. Selvin , son of Russian-immigrant Jewish parents, was a musician, bandleader, record producer and innovator in recorded music. He was known as The Dean of Recorded Music....
were just some who sought his services for record dates. Berigan recorded his first vocal, "At Your Command", with Rich that year. From late 1932 through 1933, Berigan was also employed by Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
, before playing with Abe Lyman's
Abe Lyman
Abe Lyman was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including Your Hit Parade....
band in 1934.
He continued freelancing in the recording and radio studios, most notably with the Dorsey Brothers and on Glenn Miller's
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
earliest recording date as a leader in 1935, playing on "Solo Hop
Solo Hop
Solo Hop is a 1935 instrumental composed by Glenn Miller and released as a Columbia 78 single. The recording was part of Glenn Miller's earliest sessions as a leader recording under his own name....
". At the same time, however, Berigan made the association that graduated him to fame in his own right: he joined Benny Goodman's
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
re-forming band. Legendary jazz talent scout and producer John Hammond
John H. Hammond
John Henry Hammond II was an American record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s...
, who also became Goodman's brother-in-law in due course, later wrote that he helped persuade Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
to re-join Goodman, with whom he'd had an earlier falling-out, by mentioning that Berigan, whom Krupa admired, was already committed to the new ensemble. With Berigan and Krupa both on-board, the Goodman band made the legendary, often disheartening tour that ended with their unexpectedly headline-making stand at the Palomar Ballroom
Palomar Ballroom
The Palomar Ballroom, built in 1925, was a famous ballroom in Los Angeles, California, in the United States. It was destroyed by a fire in late 1939....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, the stand often credited with the "formal" launch of the swing era
Swing Era
The Swing era was the period of time when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though the music had been around since the late 1920s and early 1930s, being played by black bands led by such artists as Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Moten, Ella Fitzgerald,...
.
Fame
Berigan left Goodman to spend some time with Tommy Dorsey'sTommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
orchestra; his solo on the Dorsey hit "Marie" became considered one of his signature performances. Then, in 1937, Berigan assembled a band to record under his name, picking the then-little known Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
/Vernon Duke
Vernon Duke
Vernon Duke was a Russian-American composer/songwriter, who also wrote under his original name Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for "Taking a Chance on Love" with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche, "I Can't Get Started" with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, "April in Paris" with lyrics by E. Y...
composition, "I Can't Get Started
I Can't Get Started
"I Can't Get Started" is a popular song, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by Vernon Duke, that was first heard in the theatrical production Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 where it was sung by Bob Hope...
". Berigan's crisp trumpet work and passable vocal made the song the biggest hit of his career and his theme for the rest of his life. Berigan modeled his trumpet style in part on Louis Armstrong's
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
style, and often acknowledged Armstrong as his own idol. Armstrong, for his part, returned the compliment after Berigan's death, saying the only thing wrong with Berigan was that he died too young.
Bandleader
Berigan got the itch to lead his own band full-time and did so for about three years. Some of their records were equal in standard to the sides he cut with Goodman and Dorsey, but they weren't financially successful and Berigan was known to fret over a business sense that wasn't quite equal to his musical talent. Bunny also began a torrid affair with singer Lee WileyLee Wiley
Lee Wiley was an American jazz singer popular in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.Wiley was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. While still in her early teens, she left home to pursue a singing career with the Leo Reisman band. Her career was temporarily interrupted by a fall while horseback riding...
around this time. Already a heavy drinker, the business stress of bandleading drove Berigan to drink even more heavily. Nevertheless, musicians considered him an excellent bandleader; several notable players came into and out of the Berigan orchestra during its short life: Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
(a fellow Dorsey alumnus), Gus Bivona
Gus Bivona
Gus Bivona was an American musician.This reed player—covering a range of clarinets, saxophones, and flute—was at the height of the big band era. Following World War II, he was a staff musician for the MGM Studio Orchestra, playing on countless soundtracks and sessions...
, Davie Tough
Dave Tough
Dave Tough was an American jazz drummer associated with both Dixieland and swing jazz in the 1930s and 1940s...
, Danny Richards
Danny Richards
Danny Richards was a big band vocalist in the 1930s and 1940s, primarily known for working with bandleader Bunny Berigan's popular swing outfit. His smooth vocal style was well-utilized on ballads and mid-tempo numbers. After Berigan's death in 1942, Richards was heard less...
, Joe Bushkin
Joe Bushkin
Joe Bushkin was an American jazz pianist.He began his career by playing trumpet and piano with New York City dance bands. He joined Bunny Berigan's band in 1935, then left to join Muggsy Spanier's Ragtime Band in 1939. From the late 1930s through to the late 1940s he also worked with Eddie Condon...
, Ray Conniff
Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
, Ruth Bradley
Ruth Bradley
-Career:Bradley's first screen appearance were in 2002 in Ultimate Force and Sinners .Since then she has had recurring roles in The Clinic , Love Is the Drug , Legend , The Innocence Project , Plus One and Love/Hate .She...
, Hank Wayland
Hank Wayland
Hank Frederic Gregson Wayland was an American swing jazz double-bassist....
, Jack Sperling
Jack Sperling
Jack Sperling was an American Big Band, television and studio drummer. He was a recording artist, versatile jazz combo and dynamic Dixieland musician.-Career:In 1941 he played with trumpeter Bunny Berigan...
, Bama Warwick, Helen Ward
Helen Ward (jazz singer)
Helen Ward was an American singer. Her father had taught her piano, and she appeared on radio broadcasts with WOR and WNYC...
, Sid Weiss
Sid Weiss
Sid Weiss was an American jazz double-bassist, active principally as a sideman for white jazz musicians in the 1930s and 1940s.Weiss learned clarinet, violin, and tuba when young, and switched to bass in his teens...
, Morty Stuhlmaker, Hymie Shertzer, Bob Jenney, Al Jennings, Buddy Koss, Steve Lipkins, Kathleen Lane
Kathleen Lane
Kathleen Lane, sometimes billed as Kitty Lane, was a Big Band singer in the 1930s and 40s.-Life and career:She joined Glenn Miller’s unsuccessful first band in May or June 1937, replacing Vi Mele. She recorded five songs with Miller in November and December; "Sweet Stranger" made Metronomes Best...
, Joe Dixon, Georgie Auld
Georgie Auld
Georgie Auld was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist and bandleader.Auld was born John Altwerger in Toronto...
, Joe Lipman, George Wettling
George Wettling
George Wettling was an American jazz drummer.He was one of the young white Chicagoans who fell in love with jazz as a result of hearing King Oliver's band at the Lincoln Gardens in Chicago in the early 1920s...
, Clyde Rounds, and Tommy Morgan.
Berigan was also a fixture on CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
's Saturday Night Swing Club broadcasts from 1937 to 1940, a coast-to-coast broadcast that helped further popularize jazz as the swing era climbed to its peak.
Death
Berigan's business troubles drove him to declare bankruptcy in 1940 and re-join Tommy DorseyTommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
for a brief period before leaving to form a new small group to play mostly one-night stands. By this time, however, the touring grind became too much: during one such tour, Berigan was hospitalized with pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. But his doctors discovered worse news: Berigan by now was stricken with cirrhosis
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
of the liver. His doctors advised him to stop drinking and to stop playing the trumpet for an undetermined length of time. Berigan couldn't do either. He returned to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and suffered a massive hemorrhage on May 30, 1942. He died two days later in the hospital at age 33. He was survived by his wife, Donna, and his two young daughters, Patricia and Joyce. He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery south of Fox Lake.
Legacy
His 1937 recording of "I Can't Get Started" was used in the film Save the TigerSave the Tiger
Save the Tiger is a 1973 film about moral conflict in contemporary America. It stars Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford, Laurie Heineman, Thayer David, Lara Parker and Liv Lindeland. The film is directed by John G...
(1973), the Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
film Chinatown (1974), and a Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
short film,The Big Shave
The Big Shave
The Big Shave is a 1967 six-minute short film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is also known as Viet '67.Peter Bernuth stars as the recipient of the title shave, repeatedly shaving away hair, then skin, in an increasingly bloody and graphic bathroom scene...
(1967). Fox Lake, Wisconsin
Fox Lake, Wisconsin
Fox Lake is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,454. The city is located within the Town of Fox Lake.-Geography:...
has kept his memory and influence alive with an annual Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee since the early 1970s. At least one of Berigan's Saturday Night Swing Club dates, a performance from Manhattan Center
Manhattan Center
The Manhattan Center building, built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, houses Manhattan Center Studios , its Grand Ballroom, and the Hammerstein Ballroom, one of New York City's most renowned performance venues...
in New York on 26 September 1939, has survived to circulate among jazz and old-time radio collectors alike.
Compositions by Bunny Berigan
Bunny Berigan's compositions included "Chicken and Waffles", released as Decca 18117 in 1935 with the Blue Boys, and "Blues", released in 1935 as Decca 18116 with the Blue Boys.Honors
In 1975, Bunny Berigan's 1937 recording "I Can't Get Started" on Victor as VICTOR 25728-A was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.External links
- Bunny Berigan, Fox Lake's Own, historical materials from the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections