Billy Eckstine

At 78 years old, Billy Eckstine has this physical status:

William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914-March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer as well as a bandleader during the swing period.

He was known for his rich, almost operatic bass baritone voice.

In 1999, MGM's recording of "I Apologize" (MGM, 1948) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The New York Times characterized him as a "influential band leader" whose "suave bass-baritone" and "full-throated, sugary approach to popular songs inspired singers like Joe Williams, Arthur Prysock, and Lou Rawls."

Early life and education

Eckstine was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of William Eckstein, a chauffeur, and Charlotte Eckstein, a seamstress. William F. Eckstein and Nannie Eckstein, a mixed-race married couple who lived in Washington, D.C., were among Eckstine's paternal grandparents; both were born in 1863. William was born in Prussia (Germany) and Nannie in Virginia. Maxine, Billy's sister, was a high school coach.

Eckstine attended Peabody High School in Pittsburgh. Romare Bearden, Gene Kelly, pianist Dodo Marmarosa, and Lorin Maazel were among the notables to attend. He went to Washington, D.C., where he attended Armstrong High School, St. Paul Normal and Industrial School, and Howard University after high school. Howard left Howard in 1933 after winning first place in an amateur talent competition, imitating Cab Calloway's performance of a nursery rhyme and scatting.

Personal life

In 1942, he married his first wife, Mary. He married actress and model Carolle Drake in 1953, and the pair remained married until his death. Ed Eckstine, a president of Mercury Records, and singer and record producer; and actress Gina Eckstine, who died in his second marriage.

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Career

Eckstine joined Earl Hines' Grand Terrace Orchestra in 1939 and spent with the band as a vocalist and trumpeter until 1943. Eckstine had begun to make a name for himself by the time, with "Stormy Monday Blues" and his own "Jelly, Jelly."

Eckstine formed his own big band in 1944, and it soon became the finishing school for young jazz players whose contributions to jazz's future include Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, Miles Davis, Ceceil Payne, Fats Navarro, John Malachi, Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne, and Lena Horne. Tadd Dameron, Gil Fuller, and Jerry Valentine were among the band's arrangers. The Billy Eckstine Orchestra is considered to be the first bebop big-band, and it had Top Ten chart entries for "A Cottage for Sale" and "Prisoner of Love" in addition. Both were given a gold disc by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIAA).

Dizzy Gillespie, who wrote about the band in his 1979 autobiography To Be or Not to Bop, gives this insight: "There was no band that sounded like Billy Eckstine's." Our attack was solid, and we were playing bebop, the modern age. "No other band like this one existed in the world." Eckstine appeared as the hero in the 1946 Riff's musical film Rhythm, which also starred Ann Baker and Lucky Millinder.

Eckstine debuted as a soloist in 1947, with albums containing lush, sophisticated orchestrations. Eckstine had performed solo to promote his band, earning two million-sellers in 1945 with "Cottage for Sale" and "Prisoner of Love" revivals, even before folding his band. These prefigured Eckstine's future as a performer than his band albums. During the late 1940s, Eckstine would post a dozen hits. He came right back to MGM Records with "Everything I Have Is Yours" (1947), Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Moon" (1948), and Juan Tizol's "Caravan" (1949).

Eckstine had more success in 1950 with Victor Young's "My Foolish Heart" as a theme song, and the next year, with a revival of the 1931 Bing Crosby hit, "I Apologize."

Frank Sinatra's appearance at the Paramount Theatre in New York City in 1950 attracted a larger audience than his Paramount counterpart's Paraphrasedoutput.

Eckstine was the subject of a three-page profile in LIFE magazine's April 25, 1950 issue, in which photographer Martha Holmes accompanied Eckstine and his entourage during a week in New York City. Eckstine was captured with a group of white female admirers, one of whom had her hand on his shoulder and his head on his chest while laughing, according to a photograph taken by Holmes and published in LIFE. Cary Ginell, Eckstine's biographer, referred to the photograph that Holmes "captured a moment of shared exuberance, joy, and love unblemished by racial tension." Holmes would later describe the photograph as the most favorite of many she had taken during her career because it "told just what the world should look like." The photograph was so controversial that an editor at LIFE magazine, who claimed that it should be published. Since the image was published, letters of protest were sent to the magazine, and singer Harry Belafonte later said of the journal that "if a barrier had been broken." Eckstine's career had a major influence on the course of his career because of the scandal that resulted from the photograph. Tony Bennett would recall that "It changed everything" before and after that, but he had a huge fanbase...and offended the white community," a sentiment shared by pianist Billy Taylor who said that the "coverage and the photograph just slammed the door shut for him."

Eckstine appeared at the seventh Cavalcade of Jazz festival in Los Angeles, produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr., on July 8th.

Among Eckstine's recordings of the 1950s was a 1957 duet with Sarah Vaughan titled "Passing Strangers," a minor hit for them in 1957, but not a no. The UK Singles Chart has a 22nd success.

Eckstine appeared on No Cover, No Minimum, a 1960 Las Vegas live album, with the exception of a few trumpet solos and a few sketches showcasing his nightclub act. In the early 1960s, he recorded albums for Mercury and Roulette, and later appeared on Motown albums in the late 1980s. Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter in 1986, who appeared sparingly during Al Bell's Stax/Enterprise imprint, made his last album, the Grammy-nominated Billy Eckstine.

Eckstine appeared on television variety shows including on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Nat King Cole Exhibition, The Tonight Show with Steve Allen, Jack Paar, and Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show, The Joey Bishop Exhibition, The Flip Wilson Exhibition, and Playboy After Dark. He appeared in Sanford and Son's television sitcom, As well as in such films as Skirts Ahoy, Let's Do It Again, and Jo Jo Dancer. Prior to Game 4 of the 1979 World Series at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, he performed "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Eckstine, a cultural icon, was a fashion icon. He was known for his "Mr. B. Collar" – a high roll collar that revealed a "B" over a Windsor-knotted tie (or without a tie at all). Many a hipster in the late 1940s and early 1950s were seen wearing collars.

Eckstine's penultimate album, I Am a Singer, was released and performed by Angelo DiPippo and featured Toots Thielemans on harmonica in 1984. Eckstine recorded with saxophonist Benny Carter in November 1986 for his 1987 album Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter. Eckstine produced his final recordings for Motorcity Records, a brand for ex-Motown musicians created by Ian Levine.

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