He had also planned on a football career, though after breaking his collar bone, he made music his focus. We, the whole music profession, were so happy to see him achieve what he was doing. Eckstine had further success in 1950 with Victor Young's theme song to "My Foolish Heart," and the next year with a revival of the 1931 Bing Crosby hit, "I Apologize". Eckstine was a style leader and noted sharp dresser. "[18], The title of a 1956 promotional movie by the C. G. Conn Company, Mr. B Natural, is derivative of Eckstine's nickname "Mr. Let us know what you think of the Last.fm website. Culturally Eckstine was a fashion icon. His huge, distinctive baritone made him one of the first African American singers to have mainstream success.

[4] Billy's sister, Maxine (married name Whedbee), was a well-respected Spanish teacher at Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh.

In addition to looking cool, the collar expanded and contracted without popping open, which allowed his neck to swell while playing his horns. No other band like this one existed in the world.". An influence looming large in the cultural development of soul and R&B singers from Sam Cooke to Pr…. Contact, © 2020 Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft, This page was last modified 09.09.2018 02:00:49, 8/7/1914 in Pittsburgh, PA, United States, 8/3/1993 in Pittsburgh, PA, United States, "Billy Eckstine - Pennsylvania Historical Markers on", "Billy Eckstine - Pittsburgh Music History", "Martha Holmes, 83, Pioneer in Photography, Dies". He also performed briefly as Billy X. Stine. [11] The publication of the image caused letters of protest to be written to the magazine, and singer Harry Belafonte subsequently said of the publication that "When that photo hit, in this national publication, it was if a barrier had been broken". The Billy Eckstine Orchestra was the first bop big-band, and its leader reflected bop innovations by stretching his vocal harmonics into his normal ballads. "[17], Lionel Hampton: "He was one of the greatest singers of all time.... We were proud of him because he was the first Black popular singer singing popular songs in our race. He was the father of four children by second marriage and two step-children, including Ed Eckstine, who was a president of Mercury Records, Guy Eckstine, who was a Columbia and Verve Records A&R executive and record producer, singer Gina Eckstine, and actor Ronnie Eckstine. Far more successful than his band recordings, these prefigured Eckstine's future career. He was also quite popular in Britain, hitting the Top Ten there twice during the '50s -- "No One But You" and "Gigi" -- as well as several duet entries with Sarah Vaughan. The Billy Eckstine Orchestra is considered to be the first bop big-band, and had Top Ten chart entries that included "A Cottage for Sale" and "Prisoner of Love". [7] He married his first wife, June, in 1942. He also performed as an actor in the TV sitcom Sanford and Son, and in such films as Skirts Ahoy, Let's Do It Again, and Jo Jo Dancer. When he made a recording of "Caravan", I was happy and honored to watch one of our tunes help take him into the stratosphere of universal acclaim. born on [12] The controversy that resulted from the photograph had a seminal effect on the trajectory of Eckstine's career. [13], Among Eckstine's recordings of the 1950s was a 1957 duet with Sarah Vaughan, "Passing Strangers", a minor hit in 1957, but an initial No. After recording sparingly during the 1970s for Al Bell's Stax/Enterprise imprint, the international touring Eckstine made his last recording, the Grammy-nominated Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter in 1986. After singing with the Earl Hines band from 1939 to 1943 he led his own band from 1944 to 1947. On the group's frequent European and American tours, Eckstine also played trumpet, valve trombone, and guitar.Though he was forced to give up the band in 1947 (Gillespie formed his own bop big band that same year), Eckstine made the transition to string-filled balladry with ease. https://josephcrusejohnson.blogspot.com/2009/02/billy-eckstein.html

Hal Mooney and His Orchestra), I Apologize (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, April 8, 1951), I Apologize (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, April 8, 1951) - Single, Live At Angelo's White Palms Theater Lounge (Remastered). Timeless Billy Eckstine represents a nice single-disc overview of the bop stylings that influential vocalist recorded during the late '40s. All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. Eckstine was an American jazz singer and bandleader who also played trumpet, valve trombone, and guitar. Sammy Davis, Jr. made several live appearances and impersonated Eckstine.

Eckstine returned to his jazz roots occasionally as well, recording with Vaughan, Count Basie, and Quincy Jones for separate LPs, and the 1960 live LP No Cover, No Minimum featured him taking a few trumpet solos as well. [15], His friend Duke Ellington recalled Eckstine's artistry in his 1973 autobiography Music is My Mistress: "Eckstine-style love songs opened new lines of communication for the man in the man-woman merry-go-round, and blues a la B were the essence of cool. An influence looming large in the cultural development of soul and R&B singers from Sam Cooke to Prince, Eckstine was able to play it straight on his pop hits "Prisoner of Love," "My Foolish Heart" and "I Apologize." He had to fight the system, so things never quite fell into place. Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Available with an Apple Music subscription. Eckstine's final word was "Basie". Data-Privacy Eckstine's paternal grandparents were William F. Eckstein and Nannie Eckstein, a mixed-race, married couple who lived in Washington, D.C.; both were born in 1863. 22 success in the UK Singles Chart.[1]. [14] Eckstine made his final recordings for Motorcity Records, a label for ex-Motown artists founded by Ian Levine. | He recorded albums for Mercury and Roulette in the early 1960s, and appeared on Motown albums during the mid to late 1960s. B." Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular music. Connect your Spotify account to your Last.fm account and scrobble everything you listen to, from any Spotify app on any device or platform. Though his speech improved in the hospital, Eckstine had a heart attack, and died a few months later on March 8, 1993, aged 78.

A remarkable artist, the sonorous B." Eckstine made numerous appearances on television variety shows, including on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Nat King Cole Show, The Tonight Show with Steve Allen, Jack Paar, and Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show, The Art Linkletter Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Flip Wilson Show, and Playboy After Dark. [10] The photograph was considered so controversial that an editor at LIFE sought personal approval from Henry Luce, the magazine's publisher, who said it should be published.