Oo Bop Sh'Bam

I received an email today from Ronaldo Guilherme Benvenga from Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil. Ronaldo came right to the point: "I want to know all about the Billy Eckstine discography."

I wasn't sure what he meant by the "Billy Eckstine discography," so I sent Ronaldo the link to my Mr. B Jukebox Page: Billy Eckstine.

There are about two dozen songs on that page. You can hear BIlly with his great band from the mid-1940s, one of the best from that era, as they break new ground, showing the world what bebop was all about. Other songs feature Billy on ballads, sometimes with Count Basie and his Orchestra. No one sang like Mr. B.

Billy's big band included (not necessarily at the same time) Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, John Jackson, Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Gene Ammons, Lucky Thompson, Budd Johnson, Leo Parker (saxes); Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Kenny Dorham, Miles Davis (trumpets); Gerry Valentine, Howard Scott, Taswell Baird, Walter Knox (trombones); John Malachi, Richard Ellington (piano); Connie Wainwright (guitar); Tommy Potter (bass); and Art Blakey (drums). Eckstine handled most of the vocals, while Sarah Vaughn took care of the rest.

How is that for a remarkable lineup?

Now, why was Billy known affectionately as "Mr. B"?

For many years during the 1940s and 1950s, Billy's dress shirts had a large, roll collar that formed a "B" over his tie. It soon became hip to wear Mr. B collars. I did when I was a teenager in Chicago in the mid-1950s. Only a few places carried them. No problem. I bought mine at Smokey Joe's on Maxwell Street, "where the elite meet!" At least, that's what Daddy O'Daylie always said about Maxwell Street!

Like to hear Billy sing now? That's easy! Just click the title to this entry! You'll even hear quite a few flatted fifths....