Johnny St. Cyr

Johnny St. Cyr (April 17, 1890 – June 17, 1966) was an American jazz banjoist and guitarist. For banjo his by far most used type in records at least was the six string one. On a famous “action photo” with Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers he is holding a four string banjo, probably tenor. There is, however, no verified information if he ever used such an instrument on records.

St. Cyr was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and raised Catholic. He played for several leading New Orleans bands before moving to Chicago in 1923. He is best remembered as a member of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven bands. He also played with Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers. He composed the standard "Oriental Strut", known for its adventurous chord sequence.

During the 1950s, he performed and led a group named Johnny St. Cyr and His Hot Five and recorded with Paul Barbarin and George Lewis. From 1961 until his death in 1966, St. Cyr was the bandleader of the Young Men from New Orleans, who performed at Disneyland. He died in Los Angeles, California, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, in Los Angeles.

Birth and Death Data: Born April 17, 1890 (New Orleans), Died June 17, 1966 (Los Angeles)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1918 - 1927

Roles Represented in DAHR: banjo, guitar, speaker, songwriter, composer

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

Recordings (Results 26-50 of 86 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
OKeh 9486 10-in. 11/12/1925 Gut bucket blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9501 Not documented 2/22/1926 [Unknown title(s)] Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9502 Not documented 2/22/1926 [Unknown title(s)] Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9503 10-in. 2/22/1926 Come back, sweet papa Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9533 10-in. 2/26/1926 Georgia grind Lil Hardin Armstrong ; Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with female-male vocal duet instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9534 10-in. 2/26/1926 Heebie jeebies Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9535 10-in. 2/26/1926 Cornet chop suey Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9536 10-in. 2/26/1926 Oriental strut Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble composer, instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9537 10-in. 2/26/1926 You're next Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9538 10-in. 2/26/1926 Muskrat ramble Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9573 10-in. Mar. 1926 Sweet man Lillie Delk Christian ; Johnny St. Cyr Female vocal solo, with banjo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9574 10-in. Mar. 1926 Sweet Georgia Brown Lillie Delk Christian ; Johnny St. Cyr Female vocal solo, with banjo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9717 10-in. 6/15/1926 Lonesome and sorry Lillie Delk Christian ; Jimmie Noone ; Johnny St. Cyr Female vocal solo, with clarinet and banjo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9718 10-in. 6/15/1926 Baby o' mine Lillie Delk Christian ; Jimmie Noone ; Johnny St. Cyr Female vocal solo, with clarinet and banjo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9729 10-in. 6/16/1926 Don't forget to mess around Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9730 10-in. 6/16/1926 I'm gonna gitcha Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9731 10-in. 6/16/1926 Dropping shucks Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9732 10-in. 6/16/1926 Who'sit Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9750 10-in. 6/18/1926 He likes it slow Louis Armstrong ; Butterbeans & Susie ; Hot Five Female-male vocal duet, with jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9768 10-in. 6/22/1926 Messin' around Cookie's Gingersnaps Jazz/dance band, with talking songwriter  
OKeh 9776 10-in. 6/23/1926 The king of the Zulus (At a chit'lin' rag) Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with dialogue instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9777 10-in. 6/23/1926 Big fat Ma and skinny Pa Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo and talk instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9778 10-in. 6/23/1926 Lonesome blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9779 10-in. 6/23/1926 Sweet little papa Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9890 10-in. 11/16/1926 Jazz lips Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
(Results 26-50 of 86 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "St. Cyr, Johnny," accessed April 25, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112561.

St. Cyr, Johnny. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112561.

"St. Cyr, Johnny." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112561

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