Johnny St. Cyr
Johnny St. Cyr () (April 17, 1890 – June 17, 1966) was an American jazz banjoist and guitarist. He was one of the original pioneers of jazz music, playing banjo and guitar in the bands of Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Johnny Dodds and Kid Ory, among others. He started the idea of banjo with jazz, a combination whose impact changed the banjo world during the Jazz years, and continues to have a marked affect. He is best known for writing the songs "Messin' Around", "Buddy's Habit", "High Fever" and "Oriental Strut", and for playing the banjo and/or guitar on the Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions. St. Cyr played a Martin guitar, a four-string tenor banjo, or a six-string banjo guitar, making his own instrument by attaching the neck of a guitar to a banjo. The result was a louder banjo with a jazz tone; his sound is notably different from other banjo music recorded in that era. He used a hard, thick pick to produce the smooth rhythm guitar sound and hard, clean single string lines that typified his style–he made his own picks from toothbrush handles. A hard-working, selfless bandsman, St. Cyr had a professional, simple outlook on musicianship: “A jazz musician has to be a working class of a man, out in the open all the time, healthy and strong," he commented. "Playing music for him is just relaxing. He gets as much kick out of playing as other folks get out of dancing. The more enthusiastic his audience is, the more spirit the working man’s got to play.” |
Birth and Death Data: Born New Orleans (largest city of the state of Louisiana, United States), Died June 17, 1966 (Los Angeles (seat of Los Angeles County, and largest city in California, United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1918 - 1948
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 1-25 of 88 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | B-21549 | 10-in. | 2/27/1918 | Mamma's baby boy | Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
| Victor | BVE-36239 | 10-in. | 9/15/1926 | Black bottom stomp | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| Victor | BVE-36240 | 10-in. | 9/15/1926 | Smoke-house blues | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| Victor | BVE-36241 | 10-in. | 9/15/1926 | The chant | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| Victor | BVE-36283 | 10-in. | 9/21/1926 | Sidewalk blues | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band, with talk | instrumentalist, banjo, speaker | |
| Victor | BVE-36284 | 10-in. | 9/21/1926 | Dead man blues | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band, with talk | instrumentalist, banjo, speaker | |
| Victor | BVE-36285 | 10-in. | 9/21/1926 | Steamboat stomp | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band, with talk | instrumentalist, banjo, speaker | |
| Victor | BVE-37254 | 10-in. | 12/16/1926 | Someday sweetheart | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BVE-37255 | 10-in. | 12/16/1926 | Grandpa's spells | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BVE-37256 | 10-in. | 12/16/1926 | Original Jelly-Roll | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Victor | BVE-37257 | 10-in. | 12/16/1926 | Doctor Jazz stomp | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| Victor | BVE-37258 | 10-in. | 12/16/1926 | Cannon ball | Jelly Roll Morton ; Red Hot Peppers | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, guitar | |
| Columbia | W142426 | 10-in. | 7/13/1926 | Perdido Street blues | New Orleans Wanderers | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9446 | 10-in. | 11/6/1925 | New Orleans shags | Richard M. Jones Three Jazz Wizards | Jazz/dance trio | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9447 | 10-in. | 11/6/1925 | Spanish shawl | Albert Nicholas ; Richard M. Jones Three Jazz Wizards | Clarinet solo, with piano and banjo | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9448 | 10-in. | 11/6/1925 | 29th and Dearborn | Albert Nicholas ; Richard M. Jones Three Jazz Wizards | Clarinet solo, with piano and banjo | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9449 | 10-in. | 11/6/1925 | Wonderful dream | Richard M. Jones Three Jazz Wizards | Jazz/dance trio, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9471 | 10-in. | 11/11/1925 | Gambler's dream | Hociel Thomas | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance ensemble | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9472 | 10-in. | 11/11/1925 | Sunshine baby | Hociel Thomas | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance ensemble | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9473 | 10-in. | 11/11/1925 | Adam and Eve had the blues | Louis Armstrong's Jazz Four ; Hociel Thomas | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9474 | 10-in. | 11/11/1925 | Put it where I can get it | Louis Armstrong's Jazz Four ; Hociel Thomas | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance ensemble | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9475 | 10-in. | 11/11/1925 | Wash woman blues | Hociel Thomas | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance ensemble | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9476 | 10-in. | 11/11/1925 | I've stopped my man | Hociel Thomas | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance ensemble | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9484 | 10-in. | 11/12/1925 | My heart | Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five | Jazz/dance ensemble | instrumentalist, banjo | |
| OKeh | 9485 | 10-in. | 11/12/1925 | Yes! I'm in the barrel | Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five | Jazz/dance ensemble | instrumentalist, banjo |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "St. Cyr, Johnny," accessed December 26, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112561.
St. Cyr, Johnny. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 26, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112561.
"St. Cyr, Johnny." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 26 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Johnny St. Cyr
Discogs: Johnny St. Cyr
Allmusic: Johnny St. Cyr
Grove: Johnny St. Cyr
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: St. Cyr, Johnny - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2004094470
Wikidata: Johnny St. Cyr - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q326273
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/94112651
MusicBrainz: Johnny St. Cyr - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/7a281c93-adc9-4426-9331-f5e870162f91
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1596711 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1596711
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