Freddie Slack

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Freddie Slack (born August 7, 1910 in Westby near La Crosse (Wisconsin) as Frederick Charles Slack , † August 10, 1965 in Los Angeles ) was an American pianist , composer and big band leader in the field of swing and boogie woogie .

Live and act

Freddie Slack was initially a drummer and came to Chicago in 1927 , where he soon switched to piano; during this time he played in the Johnny Tobins orchestra. In 1931 he went to Los Angeles , where he played in the bands of Henry Halstead, Earl Burtnett , Archie Rosate and Lennie Hayton . From 1934 to 1936 he was with Ben Pollack , then he went to Jimmy Dorsey , where the drummer Ray McKinley , whom he knew from his early days, also played. In 1939 he was a founding member of the Will Bradley Orchestra with Ray McKinley. Nicknamed Daddy Slack, Slack played the piano solo in one of Bradley's most famous recordings, "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar," which was an early boogie-woogie hit and a tribute to legendary pianist Peck Kelley .

1942 broke up after McKinley's departure, the Bradley band as a result of the war and Slack put together his own band; The theme tune was "Strange Cargo", composed together with McKinley. The big breakthrough came in 1942, when the seventeen-year-old Ella Mae Morse joined as a band singer. In this year the first recordings were made for the Capitol label , newly founded by Johnny Mercer , for example his “Cow Cow Boogie” with Ella Mae Morse in May 1942, which soon became a number one hit in the USA. The single was an enormous sales success for Capitol and earned him the first gold record. Another hit for Slack's band was “Mr. Five by Five "; the title hit # 1 on the new "Harlem Hit Parade" (the forerunner of the R&B charts). Further recordings were made for Capitol until 1947.

The arrangers of the slack band included Les Baxter , who also played tenor saxophone in the band, as well as Phil Moore , who also wrote an ambitious composition for the slack band, the "Fugue for Barroom Piano (and Symphony Orchestra)" performed in Los Angeles but never recorded. In Slack's band, Charlie Byrd , Floyd O'Brien , Howard Rumsey , Cliffie Stone , Buzz Gardner and Herbie Steward played at times ; from 1942 to 1944, T-Bone Walker was also a member of Slack's band; he also worked on Walker's first recordings under his own name ("I Got a Break Baby" / "Mean Id World"). Even Jimmy Knepper , Dick Meldonian and Cliffie Stone were short of Slack-band. In 1944, Slack appeared in the musical film Follow the Boys .

During this time, Freddie Slack's band also worked on several Hollywood films, Universal and Republic B-movies , such as Reveille with Beverly , Hat Check Honey 1943, Seven Days Ashore , Take it Big, Babes On Swing Street 1944 and High School Hero in 1946. In 1943 the band starred in The Sky's the Limit , with Fred Astaire and Joan Leslie in the lead roles.

At the end of the 1940s Freddie Slack fell into oblivion and had to give up the band in the early 1950s. He worked primarily as an arranger and continued to appear in Los Angeles clubs until the 1960s; Occasionally he led smaller ensembles, for example at a recording session for EmArCy in 1955, during which the album Boogie Woogie on the 88 with a brass section a. a. from Shorty Sherock and Herbie Harper ; the arrangements were made by Benny Carter . Slack also worked on recordings and a. by Big Joe Turner , Johnny Mercer, Margaret Whiting ( " That Old Black Magic ") and Lisa Morrow with.

Freddie Slack composed about 20 to 30 tracks; his greatest success was "The House of Blue Lights", which he wrote with Don Raye . The song was later interpreted by numerous artists, including a. by the Andrew Sisters , Commander Cody , Asleep At The Wheel , Meat Puppets, Chuck Berry and George Thorogood .

In the original version of the Don Raye song "Down the Road a Piece", which was first recorded in 1940 by the Will Bradley Orchestra, Slack is mentioned in the lyrics:

Freddie Slack's 78 "House of Blue Lights"

If you like to boogie woogie, I know the place.
It's just an old piano and a knocked out bass.
The drummer man's a guy they call Eight Beat Mack.
And you remember Doc and old "Beat Me Daddy" Slack.

Eight Beat Mack was referring to Ray McKinley, and Doc referring to the band bassist Doc Goldberg .

Discographic notes

  • Mr. Freddie's Boogie (High Note)

Web links

swell

  • Leo Walker: The Big Band Almanac . Ward Ritchie Press, Pasadena. 1978
personal data
SURNAME Slack, Freddie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Slack, Frederick Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pianist and big band leader
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Westby near La Crosse, Wisconsin
DATE OF DEATH August 10, 1965
Place of death los Angeles