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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 226-250 of 282 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca 69968 10-in. 11/23/1941 Sweet and lovely Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70065 10-in. 12/16/1941 Moonlight cocktail Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70066 10-in. 12/16/1941 Purple moonlight Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70067 10-in. 12/16/1941 Until the stars fall down Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70068 10-in. 12/16/1941 The bottom man on the totem pole, part 1 Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 70069 10-in. 12/16/1941 The bottom man on the totem pole, part 2 Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 70070 10-in. 12/16/1941 Autumn nocturne Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70170 10-in. 1/15/1942 Darling, how you lied Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70171 10-in. 1/15/1942 I would do anything for you Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 70172 10-in. 1/15/1942 Angels of mercy Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70173 10-in. 1/15/1942 It's the talk of the town Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70174 10-in. 1/15/1942 I'll never forget Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70604 10-in. 4/1/1942 Here you are Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70605 10-in. 4/1/1942 Oh, the pity of it all Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 70606 10-in. 4/1/1942 The mem'ry of this dance Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70607 10-in. 4/1/1942 One dozen roses Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 70657 10-in. 4/15/1942 Carry me back to the lone prairie Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 70658 10-in. 4/15/1942 Till we meet again Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 70659 10-in. 4/15/1942 Dear old pal of mine Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71106 10-in. 7/20/1942 Tall grows the timber Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71107 10-in. 7/20/1942 Yesterday's gardenia Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71108 10-in. 7/20/1942 I came here to talk for Joe Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71109 10-in. 7/20/1942 South wind Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71207 10-in. 7/27/1942 You're in love with someone else Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71208 10-in. 7/27/1942 Don't get around much any more Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
(Results 226-250 of 282 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hunt, Pee Wee," accessed April 23, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

Hunt, Pee Wee. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

"Hunt, Pee Wee." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 23 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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