Cecil Brower
Encyclopedia
Cecil Lee Brower was a classically trained American jazz
violin
ist who became an architect of Western swing
in the 1930s. Perhaps the greatest swing fiddle
r, he could improvise as well as double shuffle and created his own style which became the benchmark for his contemporaries. Brower played in many Western bands, including his own, and was a renowned Nashville
session musician
. He performed with some of the biggest names in country music
until his death at age 50 while a member of Jimmy Dean
's band.
Brower is a member of the Texas Music Hall of Fame.
northeast of Dallas
on November 28, 1914. He moved to San Pedro, California with his family as a boy, but they returned to Texas in 1924, settling in Fort Worth. His father, Hubert, insisted he learn an instrument so he received formal violin lessons from Wylbert Brown, who was also teaching Kenneth Pitts. Brown later said it gave Brower an edge on other "hillbilly" fiddlers "who had no bowing technique." Brower and Pitts played together locally in the Junior Harmony Club, and both were influenced by jazz and big band
s.
In 1931, he joined Pitts to form The Southern Melody Boys with Bob Wren and Burke Reeder, which became the first string band to feature improvised solos, patterned after jazz violinist Joe Venuti, who Brower idolized. He was the first to master the double shuffle, a bowing technique devised by Venuti in the late 1920s described as an off-beat shuffling movement. Brower used it to great effect and passed it along to other Texas fiddlers in the early 1930s. The Southern Melody Boys played popular music and appeared on WBAP-AM and KTAT-AM
in Fort Worth.
and played briefly with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
,
but his big break came when he became a member of the first true Western swing band, Milton Brown
and His Musical Brownies. In January 1933, Brower, playing harmony, joined fiddler Jesse Ashlock to create the first example of harmonizing twin fiddles. Brower learned the art of breakdown fiddling from Brown's banjoist, Ocie Stockard, and developed a free-swinging style which became the cornerstone of fiddlers in Western swing bands. The twin fiddles often heard in the Brownies' music (setting a pattern that lasted for decades in country music) are those of Brower and Cliff Bruner, a later addition to the band. Like their contemporaries, the Light Crust Doughboys
, the Brownies played a mixture of country, pop, and jazz, but had a harder dance edge.
The group had a regular spot on KTAT-AM, but frequently performed in Waco
, where Brower met Jeff Knight, a breakdown fiddle player with whom he became good friends. Brower married Knight's daughter, Sybil, on March 23, 1937. After Brown's death in 1936, Brower joined the staff of WRR-AM in Dallas, where he worked for $14 a week, and played dances with Roy Newman and His Boys. In October 1936, Brower recorded with Bill Boyd and His Cowboy Ramblers in San Antonio; and in June 1937 with Bob Dunn
. That same week he made his only recording with Bob Wills
and The Texas Playboys. He then toured with bandleader Ted Fio Rito's orchestra until returning to Texas in 1939, when he joined the Light Crust Doughboys. Brower, replacing Buck Buchanan as fiddler in the string section but playing lead (Buchanan had played harmony), was also reunited with Kenneth Pitts. The group enjoyed great popularity, and by the 1940s was heard over 170 radio stations in the South and Southwest.
in 1948 and became known as Cecil Brower and His Kilocycle Cowboys. The group included Jack Jordan (bass), Buster Ferguson (guitar, vocals), Andy Schroder (steel guitar) and Frank Reneau (piano). The band performed at the Oasis nightclub and recorded at KECK-AM in Odessa.
From 1949–51, Brower played with Leon McAuliffe
, then from 1951–52 with Al Dexter
and His Troopers. He also performed with Patsy Montana
and Her Pardners, and the Coffee Grinders, a later interim name of the Doughboys.
in Springfield, Missouri
for several years, and in 1960, was playing with the Ft. Worth-based Bob Bohm Trio. He soon moved to Nashville, Tennessee
and became a much sought-after session musician. He accompanied, among others, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline (viola
), Roy Orbison, Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn and Brenda Lee; in 1963, former Doughboy John "Knocky" Parker called Brower "one of the finest jazz violinists...[He] is now the leading hillbilly violinist in Nashville."
In the summer of 1961, he appeared on NBC-TV's Five Star Jubilee
. In 1962, "Cousin" Cecil Brower And His Square Dance Fiddlers released the album, America's Favorite Square Dances (Mercury
MGS 27015, also issued on Smash
SRS 67015 and Cumberland
green label 29509); and in 1970, Cumberland issued the group's Old Fashion Country Hoedown (Cumberland 29500).
He joined Jimmy Dean's band in 1963 and appeared on ABC-TV's The Jimmy Dean Show
. On November 21, 1965, Dean performed at Carnegie Hall
, and during a party later at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
, Brower died suddenly from a perforated ulcer, a week short of his 51st birthday.
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...
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....
ist who became an architect of Western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
in the 1930s. Perhaps the greatest swing fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
r, he could improvise as well as double shuffle and created his own style which became the benchmark for his contemporaries. Brower played in many Western bands, including his own, and was a renowned Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
. He performed with some of the biggest names in country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
until his death at age 50 while a member of Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...
's band.
Brower is a member of the Texas Music Hall of Fame.
Biography
Cecil Brower was born in Bellevue, TexasBellevue, Texas
Bellevue is a city in Clay County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 386 at the 2000 census.- History :...
northeast of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
on November 28, 1914. He moved to San Pedro, California with his family as a boy, but they returned to Texas in 1924, settling in Fort Worth. His father, Hubert, insisted he learn an instrument so he received formal violin lessons from Wylbert Brown, who was also teaching Kenneth Pitts. Brown later said it gave Brower an edge on other "hillbilly" fiddlers "who had no bowing technique." Brower and Pitts played together locally in the Junior Harmony Club, and both were influenced by jazz and big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s.
In 1931, he joined Pitts to form The Southern Melody Boys with Bob Wren and Burke Reeder, which became the first string band to feature improvised solos, patterned after jazz violinist Joe Venuti, who Brower idolized. He was the first to master the double shuffle, a bowing technique devised by Venuti in the late 1920s described as an off-beat shuffling movement. Brower used it to great effect and passed it along to other Texas fiddlers in the early 1930s. The Southern Melody Boys played popular music and appeared on WBAP-AM and KTAT-AM
KFLC
KFLC is a Spanish language talk radio station broadcasting in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. This station is licensed in Fort Worth, Texas under Univision Radio....
in Fort Worth.
Brownies and Doughboys
Brower majored in music at Texas Christian UniversityTexas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
and played briefly with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra. It performs its concerts in the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States....
,
but his big break came when he became a member of the first true Western swing band, Milton Brown
Milton Brown
Milton Brown was an American band leader and vocalist who co-founded the genre of Western swing. His band was the first to fuse hillbilly hokum, jazz, and pop together into a unique, distinctly American hybrid, thus giving him the nickname, "Father of Western Swing"...
and His Musical Brownies. In January 1933, Brower, playing harmony, joined fiddler Jesse Ashlock to create the first example of harmonizing twin fiddles. Brower learned the art of breakdown fiddling from Brown's banjoist, Ocie Stockard, and developed a free-swinging style which became the cornerstone of fiddlers in Western swing bands. The twin fiddles often heard in the Brownies' music (setting a pattern that lasted for decades in country music) are those of Brower and Cliff Bruner, a later addition to the band. Like their contemporaries, the Light Crust Doughboys
Light Crust Doughboys
The Light Crust Doughboys is a quintessential American Western swing band from Texas organized in 1931 by the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company in Saginaw, Texas. The band achieved its peak popularity in the few years leading up to World War II...
, the Brownies played a mixture of country, pop, and jazz, but had a harder dance edge.
The group had a regular spot on KTAT-AM, but frequently performed in Waco
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, where Brower met Jeff Knight, a breakdown fiddle player with whom he became good friends. Brower married Knight's daughter, Sybil, on March 23, 1937. After Brown's death in 1936, Brower joined the staff of WRR-AM in Dallas, where he worked for $14 a week, and played dances with Roy Newman and His Boys. In October 1936, Brower recorded with Bill Boyd and His Cowboy Ramblers in San Antonio; and in June 1937 with Bob Dunn
Bob Dunn (musician)
Robert Lee "Bob" Dunn was a jazz trombonist and a pioneer Western swing steel guitarist.He is noted as the first musician to record an electrically amplified instrument—January, 1935, with Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies.Dunn also played steel guitar in numerous other Western Swing...
. That same week he made his only recording with Bob Wills
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
and The Texas Playboys. He then toured with bandleader Ted Fio Rito's orchestra until returning to Texas in 1939, when he joined the Light Crust Doughboys. Brower, replacing Buck Buchanan as fiddler in the string section but playing lead (Buchanan had played harmony), was also reunited with Kenneth Pitts. The group enjoyed great popularity, and by the 1940s was heard over 170 radio stations in the South and Southwest.
Kilocycle Cowboys
After serving from 1942–46 in the US Coast Guard during and briefly after World War II, Brower played with the Hi-Flyers before forming Cecil Brower's Cowboy Band in Fort Worth in 1947, which moved to OdessaOdessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
in 1948 and became known as Cecil Brower and His Kilocycle Cowboys. The group included Jack Jordan (bass), Buster Ferguson (guitar, vocals), Andy Schroder (steel guitar) and Frank Reneau (piano). The band performed at the Oasis nightclub and recorded at KECK-AM in Odessa.
From 1949–51, Brower played with Leon McAuliffe
Leon McAuliffe
Leon McAuliffe , born William Leon McAuliffe, was an American Western swing musician from Houston, Texas...
, then from 1951–52 with Al Dexter
Al Dexter
Al Dexter was an American country musician and songwriter. He is best known for "Pistol Packin' Mama," a 1944 hit that was one of the most popular recordings of the World War II years and later became a hit again with a cover by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters.-Biography:Born Clarence Albert...
and His Troopers. He also performed with Patsy Montana
Patsy Montana
Ruby Rose Blevins , known professionally as Patsy Montana, was an American country music singer-songwriter and the first female country performer to have a million-selling single...
and Her Pardners, and the Coffee Grinders, a later interim name of the Doughboys.
1950s–1960s
In 1955, Brower became a regular performer on ABC-TV's Ozark JubileeOzark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
in Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
for several years, and in 1960, was playing with the Ft. Worth-based Bob Bohm Trio. He soon moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and became a much sought-after session musician. He accompanied, among others, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline (viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
), Roy Orbison, Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn and Brenda Lee; in 1963, former Doughboy John "Knocky" Parker called Brower "one of the finest jazz violinists...[He] is now the leading hillbilly violinist in Nashville."
In the summer of 1961, he appeared on NBC-TV's Five Star Jubilee
Five Star Jubilee
Five Star Jubilee was an American country music variety show carried by NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a spin-off of ABC-TV's Jubilee USA, was the first network color television series to originate outside New York City or Hollywood.From March 17 to May 5, the...
. In 1962, "Cousin" Cecil Brower And His Square Dance Fiddlers released the album, America's Favorite Square Dances (Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
MGS 27015, also issued on Smash
Smash Records
Smash Records is an American record label. It was founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966...
SRS 67015 and Cumberland
Cumberland Records
Cumberland Records is a subsidiary of Mercury Records....
green label 29509); and in 1970, Cumberland issued the group's Old Fashion Country Hoedown (Cumberland 29500).
He joined Jimmy Dean's band in 1963 and appeared on ABC-TV's The Jimmy Dean Show
The Jimmy Dean Show
The Jimmy Dean Show is the name of several similar music and variety series on American local and network television between 1957–75. Each starred country music singer Jimmy Dean as host.-Daytime:...
. On November 21, 1965, Dean performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, and during a party later at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
The Waldorf-Astoria is a luxury hotel in New York. It has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York City. The first, designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, was on the Fifth Avenue site of the Empire State Building. The present building at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan is a...
, Brower died suddenly from a perforated ulcer, a week short of his 51st birthday.
External links
- Watch Bob Wills with Cecil Brower on Jubilee USA, "Fiddle Breakdown", June 27, 1959 (Country Music Hall of Fame website)
- Listen to Cecil Brower and His Kilocycle Cowboys
- Cecil Brower and His Kilocycle Cowboys at westernswing78.com
- The Light Crust Doughboys at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
- http://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=&t=fulltext&q1=cecil+brower&o1=EXACT&t1=fulltext&q2=&o2=EXACT&t2=fulltext&q3=&o3=EXACT&t3=fulltext&q4=&o4=NOTANY&t4=fulltext&q5=&o5=NOTANY&t5=fulltext&q6=&o6=NOTANY&t6=fulltext&nlow=&nhi=&q7=&t7=untl_institution&q8=&t8=untl_collection&q9=&t9=dc_language&q10=&t10=dc_type&searchType=advanced1947 photos of Cecil Brower's Cowboy Band at radio station KECK in Odessa] at the Portal to Texas History