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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 51-75 of 282 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca 39920 10-in. 9/4/1935 Takes two to make a bargain Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 39921 10-in. 9/4/1935 I wish I were Aladdin Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 39922 10-in. 9/4/1935 The devil is afraid of music Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 60100 10-in. 10/23/1935 Will love find a way? Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 60101 10-in. 10/23/1935 Yankee doodle never went to town Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 60182 10-in. 11/29/1935 With all my heart Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 60183 10-in. 11/29/1935 Lovely lady Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 60233 10-in. 12/16/1935 Lovely lady Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 60234 10-in. 12/13/1935 With all my heart Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 60425 10-in. 2/1/1936 Moonburn Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 60426 10-in. 2/1/1936 My heart and I Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 60427 10-in. 2/1/1936 Let yourself go Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 60428 10-in. 2/1/1936 I'd rather lead a band Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 60486 10-in. 2/17/1936 I'd rather lead a band Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 61152 10-in. 6/10/1936 Shades of Hades Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 61153 10-in. 6/10/1936 Copenhagen Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 61154 10-in. 6/10/1936 Royal garden blues Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 61155 10-in. 6/10/1936 Rose of the Rio Grande Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 61156 10-in. 6/10/1936 Jungle jitters-1 Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 61157 10-in. 6/10/1936 Bugle call rag Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 61555 10-in. 1/28/1937 You're laughing at me Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 61556 10-in. 1/28/1937 I've got my love to keep me warm Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 61557 10-in. 1/28/1937 Swing high, swing low Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 61558 10-in. 1/28/1937 Please keep me in your dreams Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 61577 10-in. 2/4/1937 A study in brown Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
(Results 51-75 of 282 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hunt, Pee Wee," accessed March 28, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

Hunt, Pee Wee. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

"Hunt, Pee Wee." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 28 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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