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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 251-275 of 282 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca 71209 10-in. 7/27/1942 Moonlight mood Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71210 10-in. 7/27/1942 Happy mood Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71278 10-in. 7/31/1942 Rock-a-bye bay Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71279 10-in. 7/31/1942 I'm old-fashioned Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71280 10-in. 7/31/1942 Don't do it, darling Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 71281 10-in. 7/31/1942 Lullaby of the rain Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71284 10-in. 7/31/1942 Purple moonlight Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71439 10-in. 10/1/1943 My heart tells me Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71440 10-in. 10/1/1943 My shining hour Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 71441 10-in. 10/1/1943 Birmingham special Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 71442 10-in. 10/1/1943 An old manuscript Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca DLA 825 10-in. 7/2/1937 Yours and mine Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 826 10-in. 7/2/1937 Let 'er go Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 827 10-in. 7/2/1937 I'm feelin' like a million Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca DLA 828 10-in. 7/2/1937 I may be wrong, but I think you're wonderful Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca DLA 833 10-in. 7/23/1937 Swing low, sweet chariot Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 834 10-in. 7/23/1937 Smoke rings Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 835 10-in. 7/23/1937 Casa Loma stomp Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 836 10-in. 7/23/1937 For you Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 837 10-in. 7/23/1937 Always Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 1408 10-in. 8/8/1938 Yours.all yours Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca DLA 1409 10-in. 8/15/1938 You never know Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 1410 10-in. 8/15/1938 At long last love Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 1411 10-in. 8/15/1938 Hoboken bucket Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca DLA 2403 10-in. 5/24/1941 Boogie woogie piano man Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
(Results 251-275 of 282 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hunt, Pee Wee," accessed May 10, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

Hunt, Pee Wee. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 10, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

"Hunt, Pee Wee." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 10 May 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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