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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 126-150 of 282 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca 63338 10-in. 2/9/1938 My Bonnie lies over the ocean Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 63339 10-in. 2/9/1938 You go to my head Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63340 10-in. 2/9/1938 Dear old southland Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 64961 10-in. 1/27/1939 Last night a miracle happened Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 64962 10-in. 1/27/1939 Riverboat shuffle Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 64963 10-in. 1/27/1939 Boneyard shuffle-1 Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65012 10-in. 2/13/1939 Could be Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 65013 10-in. 2/13/1939 I won't believe it Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65015 10-in. 2/13/1939 This night (will be my souvenir) Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65017 10-in. 2/13/1939 Honolulu Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 65035 10-in. 2/17/1939 Sunrise serenade-1 Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65036 10-in. 2/17/1939 I promise you Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65037 10-in. 2/17/1939 Heaven can wait Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65038 10-in. 2/14/1939 (Gotta get some) Shut-Eye Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 65044 10-in. 2/20/1939 Ay ay ay Casa Loma Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65045 10-in. 2/20/1939 Rockin' chair-1 Louis Armstrong ; Casa Loma Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 65046 10-in. 2/20/1939 Lazybones Louis Armstrong ; Casa Loma Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone, vocalist  
Decca 65063 10-in. 2/25/1939 Washboard blues Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65064 10-in. 2/25/1939 Little old lady Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65065 10-in. 2/25/1939 Lazy river Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65066 10-in. 2/25/1939 Moon country Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65180 10-in. 3/15/1939 Star dust Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65181 10-in. 3/15/1939 One morning in May Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65182 10-in. 3/15/1939 In the still of the night Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 65183 10-in. 3/15/1939 Georgia on my mind Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
(Results 126-150 of 282 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hunt, Pee Wee," accessed April 26, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

Hunt, Pee Wee. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 26, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

"Hunt, Pee Wee." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 26 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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