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 51-75 of 86 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
OKeh 9891 10-in. 11/16/1926 Skid-dat-de-dat Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9892 10-in. 11/16/1926 Big butter and egg man from the West May Alix ; Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with female-male vocal duet instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9893 10-in. 11/16/1926 Sunset Cafe stomp May Alix ; Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with female vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9980 10-in. 11/27/1926 You made me love you Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9981 10-in. 11/27/1926 Irish black bottom Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh 9982 10-in. 11/27/1926 Leave mine alone Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W81126 10-in. 5/13/1927 S.O.L. blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Seven Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W81302 10-in. 9/2/1927 Put 'em down blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Seven Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo, guitar  
OKeh W81310 10-in. 9/2/1927 Ory's Creole trombone Louis Armstrong ; Hot Seven Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo, guitar  
OKeh W81317 10-in. 9/6/1927 The last time Louis Armstrong ; Hot Seven Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo, guitar  
OKeh W82037 10-in. 12/9/1927 Struttin' with some barbecue Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W82038 10-in. 12/9/1927 Got no blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance quintet instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W82039 10-in. 12/10/1927 Once in awhile Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance quintet instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W82040 10-in. 12/10/1927 I'm not rough Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance quintet, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W82046 10-in. 12/12/1927 My blue heaven Lillie Delk Christian Female vocal solo, with clarinet and guitar instrumentalist, guitar  
OKeh W82047 10-in. 12/12/1927 Who's wonderful, who's marvellous? Miss Annabelle Lee Lillie Delk Christian Female vocal solo, with clarinet and guitar instrumentalist, guitar  
OKeh W82055 10-in. 12/13/1927 Hotter than that Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W82056 10-in. 12/13/1927 Savoy blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W82078 10-in. 12/16/1927 She's nothing but nice Wilton Crawley Clarinet solo, with male vocal solo and banjo, guitar, and piano instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W82079 10-in. 12/16/1927 Crawley clarinet moan Wilton Crawley Clarinet solo, with male vocal solo and banjo, guitar, and piano instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W82080 10-in. 12/16/1927 Love will drive me crazy Wilton Crawley Clarinet solo, with male vocal solo and banjo, guitar, and piano instrumentalist, banjo  
OKeh W82081 10-in. 12/16/1927 Let's pretend to be sweethearts Wilton Crawley Clarinet solo, with male vocal solo and banjo, guitar, and piano instrumentalist, banjo  
Brunswick E2620-E2621 10-in. 3/10/1926 29th and Dearborn Russell's Hot Six Instrumental ensemble instrumentalist, banjo  
Brunswick E2622-E2623 10-in. 3/10/1926 Sweet Mumtaz Russell's Hot Six Instrumental ensemble, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, banjo  
Brunswick E3884-E3885 10-in. 10/1/1926 Messin’ around Royal Flush Orchestra ; Fess Williams Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
(Results 51-75 of 86 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "St. Cyr, Johnny," accessed April 23, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112561.

St. Cyr, Johnny. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112561.

"St. Cyr, Johnny." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 23 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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