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Pee Wee Hunt

Walter Gerhardt "Pee Wee" Hunt (May 10, 1907 – June 22, 1979) was an American jazz trombonist, vocalist, and bandleader. Hunt was born in Mount Healthy, Ohio. He developed a musical interest at an early age, as his mother, Sadie, played the banjo and his father, Edgar C., played violin. He had a younger sister, Marian, and younger brother, Raymond. The teenage Hunt was a banjoist with a local band while he was attending college at Ohio State University, where he majored in Electrical Engineering, and during his college years he switched from banjo to trombone. He graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He joined Jean Goldkette's Orchestra in 1928.

Hunt was the co-founder and featured trombonist with the Casa Loma Orchestra, but he left the group in 1943 to work as a Hollywood radio disc jockey, before joining the Merchant Marine near the end of World War II. He returned to the West Coast music scene in 1946. His "Twelfth Street Rag" was a three million-selling, number one hit in September 1948. He was satirized as Pee Wee Runt and his All-Flea Dixieland Band in Tex Avery's animated MGM cartoon Dixieland Droopy (1954). His second major hit was "Oh!" (1953), his second million-selling disc, which reached number three in the Billboard chart.

At age 72, Hunt died after a long illness in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Hunt and his wife, Ruth, had a daughter, Holly, and a son, Lawrence.

Birth and Death Data: Born May 10, 1907 (Mount Healthy), Died June 22, 1979 (Plymouth)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1930 - 1943

Roles Represented in DAHR: trombone, vocalist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 176-200 of 282 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca 67238 10-in. 2/27/1940 The fable of the rose Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67239 10-in. 2/27/1940 A lover's lullaby Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67240 10-in. 2/27/1940 Save your sorrow for tomorrow Glen Gray Orchestra vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67342 10-in. 3/20/1940 Jimtown blues Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67343 10-in. 3/20/1940 Big Bad Bill Glen Gray Orchestra vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67344 10-in. 3/20/1940 No name jive, part 1 Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67345 10-in. 3/20/1940 No name jive, part 2 Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67459 10-in. 4/3/1940 Sierra Sue Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67460 10-in. 4/3/1940 Charming little faker Glen Gray Orchestra vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67461 10-in. 4/3/1940 Polka dots and moonbeams Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67462 10-in. 4/3/1940 Soft winds Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67515 10-in. 4/10/1940 The pessimistic character Casa Loma Orchestra ; Glen Gray vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67516 10-in. 4/10/1940 I haven't time to be a millionaire Casa Loma Orchestra ; Glen Gray instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67517 10-in. 4/10/1940 April played the fiddle Casa Loma Orchestra ; Glen Gray instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67518 10-in. 4/10/1940 Meet the sun half-way Casa Loma Orchestra ; Glen Gray vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67561 10-in. 4/17/1940 Rock Island flag stop Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67562 10-in. 4/17/1940 When Buddha smiles Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67680 10-in. 5/7/1940 I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67681 10-in. 5/7/1940 Coral sea Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67682 10-in. 5/7/1940 Mirage Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67683 10-in. 5/7/1940 Beautiful dreamer Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67745 10-in. 5/16/1940 Clear out of this world Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67746 10-in. 5/16/1940 Temptation Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67747 10-in. 5/16/1940 I touched a star Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 67748 10-in. 5/16/1940 A Latin tune, a Manhattan moon and you Glen Gray Orchestra vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
(Results 176-200 of 282 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hunt, Pee Wee," accessed November 22, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

Hunt, Pee Wee. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

"Hunt, Pee Wee." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 22 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359

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