Earl Burtnett

Brunswick 78er by Earl Burtnett: Singin 'in the Rain for the Latin American market

Earl Burtnett (* 1899 in Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) , † January 2, 1936 in Chicago ) was an American pianist and big band leader in the field of jazz and popular music .

Life

Earl Burtnett studied for two years at Pennsylvania State University , then dropped out to become a member of the Art Hickman Band in 1918, before they went to Florence Ziegfeld in New York. When Hickman retired, he offered Burtnett to lead the band. The success prompted him to found his first own formation in Los Angeles in the early 1920s , with which he - apart from a guest appearance in Miami and a tour of the Midwest - performed on the west coast of the USA . Radio broadcasts and numerous recordings for the Columbia and Brunswick labels were also made there .

In 1924 he had a hit with Mandalay, which Earl Burtnett had composed with Abe Lyman and Gus Arnheim . In the same year his song Sleep, written with Adam Geibel , was released . Another successful title of his band was Walter Donaldson's Little White Lies. In 1928, his version of Sweet Sue, Just You was in the charts at number 3. A frequently covered track by Burtnesta was also "'leven-Thirty Saturday Night"

In the early 1930s, Burtnett led the hotel band of the Biltmore Hotel in San Francisco , with the Biltmore (vocal) trio also making recordings for Brunswick Records. In his band u. a. Freddie Slaxk , Ned Hewitt, Les Houck, Don Dorsey and the band singer Ruth Lee, who was successful with the song Imagine . Another band vocalist was Stanley Hickman.

In 1933, Burtnett began an 18 month engagement at the Rice Hotel in Houston ; after that he went to Chicago. There their appearances were often broadcast on the WGN station; they played u. a. in the Blackhawk Ballroom, Lincoln Tavern and for a long time in the Drake Hotel, most recently in the Trianon Ballroom.

In 1935 they had success with the novelty song The Music Goes Round and Round, which Red Hodgson sang in Burtnett's band; However, there was no recording, which Mike Riley and Eddie Farley made up for.

In September 1935, while touring with his orchestra, Burtnett suffered a traffic accident in which his leg broke. At the end of the year he was active again. Eventually he had to undergo appendectomy in Chicago, but claimed to have had an operation in 1918, which was a mistake. When his condition worsened on December 24, 1935, he was admitted to hospital, where he died that evening; he was only 37 years old.

Burtnett's orchestra has also appeared in two films, The Flying Fool (1929) and The Party Girl (1930). Earl Burtnett was the composer of some songs like Down Honolulu Way, Sleep and Leave Me With A Smile.

In 2005 the song Puttin 'on the Ritz , recorded in 1930 for Brunswick by Harry Richman with Earl Burtnett & His Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra, received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award .

literature

Leo Walker: The Big Band Almanac. Ward Ritchie Press, Pasadena. 1978

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Burtnett wrote it with Bell Grantham and Jess Kirkpatrick. The song was u. a. by Bert Ambrose , Lud Gluskin , Henny Hendrickson's Louisville Serenaders, Arthur Schutt , Charlie Spivak , Eddie Walters and Fess Williams , covered in later years by Marty Grosz .

personal data
SURNAME	Burtnett, Earl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American jazz pianist and big band leader
DATE OF BIRTH	1899
PLACE OF BIRTH	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH	January 2, 1936
Place of death	Chicago

[1] Burtnett wrote it with Bell Grantham and Jess Kirkpatrick. The song was u. a. by Bert Ambrose , Lud Gluskin , Henny Hendrickson's Louisville Serenaders, Arthur Schutt , Charlie Spivak , Eddie Walters and Fess Williams , covered in later years by Marty Grosz .