Herb Jeffries

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Herb Jeffreys
Birth name Herbert Jeffrey
Born September 24, 1913 (1913-09-24) (age 96)

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Genres Jazz
Occupations Singer and actor
Years active 1938 - 1995
Labels Warner Bros. Records[1]

Herbert "Herb" Jeffries (born September 24, 1913, Detroit, Michigan) is an American jazz singer and actor.

Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Career
3 Partial filmography
4 Selected discography
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Biography
Born Herbert Jeffrey, he is the son of Howard Jeffrey, a pianist of African-American descent and his wife, Mildred, who was of European descent. The family lived in a rented home on 224 Watson Street in Detroit's third ward.[2]

[edit] Career
A jazz musician of Ethiopian-French Canadian and Italian-Irish descent, Jeffries is noted for his singing cowboy roles in several all-black Western films in which he sang his own western compositions. Jeffries got the financing for the first black western film and hired Spencer Williams to appear with him. In addition to starring in the film, Jeffries sang and performed his own stunts as the cowboy character "Bob Blake."

Jeffries, a deep baritone, sang with Duke Ellington in the 1940s. His most famous song, "Flamingo", sold over 50 million copies.

Through a series of low-budget westerns, in which he played a singing cowboy, he soon became known as the "Bronze Buckaroo" by fans who flocked to his films. In a time of American racial segregation these films played only in theaters catering to African Americans audiences, though Jeffries was/is not African-American. The films can be found on video and are titled, "The Bronze Buckaroo", "Harlem Rides the Range", "Two Gun Man from Harlem", and "Harlem on the Prairie".

In 1995, at age eighty-one, Herb Jeffries recorded a Nashville album of songs on the Warner Western label titled The Bronze Buckaroo (Rides Again).

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Herb Jeffries has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6672 Hollywood Blvd.

In 2004, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

In 2007, while assembling materials for the producers of a documentary film about him, "A Colored Life," Herb ran across his birth certificate, which reminded him that he actually had been born in 1913—not 1911—but that he had fibbed about his age after he left home as a youngster looking for a job. So, he's now had two age-95 birthday celebrations.

Jeffries lives in the Southern California mountains with his wife, Savannah. He is the father of five children, and his family tree includes numerous grand children, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, including a granddaughter with autism.

"Mr. Flamingo" is still singing today (2009). he regularly appears at jazz festivals and events that benefit Autism and other childhood causes that involve developmental delays. He also lectures at colleges and universities across America.

[edit] Partial filmography
Harlem on the Prairie (1937)
Two-Gun Man from Harlem (1938)
Harlem Rides the Range (1939)
The Bronze Buckaroo (1939)
Calypso Joe (1957)
Chrome and Hot Leather (1971)
Portrait of a Hitman (1977)
[edit] Selected discography
Sidney Bechet: 1940-1941 (Classics)
Earl Hines: 1932-1934 (Classics)
Duke Ellington:The Blanton Webster Band (RCA, 1940-42)
Michael Martin Murphey:Sagebrush Symphony
[edit] References
James Lincoln Collier, Duke Ellington (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987) ISBN 0-19-503770-7
Richard Cook and Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide To Jazz on CD, 6th Edition (London, Penguin Books, 2002) ISBN 0-14-017949-6
1.^ http://www.geocities.com//patmil007/5769.jpg
2.^ "Fourteenth Census of the United States (1920) [database on-line , Detroit (3rd Ward), Wayne County, Michigan, Enumeration District: 99, Page: 2A, Lines: 13-18, household of Howard Jeffrey"]. United States: The Generations Network. 1920-01-06. http://www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
[edit] External links
Herb Jeffries at Jazz Standards
Herb Jeffries at the Internet Movie Database
Herb Jeffries on B Western Stars
Herb Jeffries on Musica & Memoria in Italian ling.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Jeffries"
Categories: 1913 births | Living people | American country singers | American film actors | Western (genre) film actors | American jazz singers | American television actors | People from Detroit, Michigan | Mercury Records artists | RCA Victor Records artists | Duke Ellington Orchestra membersViews
ArticleDiscussionEdit this pageHistoryPersonal tools
Try BetaLog in / create accountNavigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Search
Interaction
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact Wikipedia
Donate to Wikipedia
Help
Toolbox
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this page
Languages
Deutsch
Suomi