1. Mitchell Herbert Ellis was an American jazz guitarist.
19 Facts About Herb Ellis
1. 2.
Herb Ellis was first exposed to guitar music when he heard the Light Crust Doughboys on the radio.
3.
At the age of three, Herb Ellis was playing harmonica, and banjo by six.
4.
Herb Ellis wanted to play better than his brother, so he bought a book to learn how to tune guitar properly, and his interest in guitar grew from there.
5.
Herb Ellis was ultimately inspired to pick up jazz guitar after hearing George Barnes on a radio program.
6.
Herb Ellis was proficient on the instrument by the time he entered North Texas State University.
7.
Herb Ellis majored in music, but because the university did not have a guitar program, he studied the bass.
8.
Herb Ellis dropped out of college and toured for six months with a band from the University of Kansas.
9.
Herb Ellis remained with Dorsey through 1947, traveling and recording extensively, and playing in dance halls and movie palaces.
10.
Together with Frigo and Lou Carter, Herb Ellis wrote the classic jazz standards "Detour Ahead" and "I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out".
11.
Herb Ellis then joined the Oscar Peterson Trio in 1953, forming what Scott Yanow would later on refer to as "one of the most memorable of all the piano, guitar, and bass trios in jazz history".
12.
Herb Ellis became prominent after performing with the Oscar Peterson Trio from 1953 to 1958, along with pianist Peterson and bassist Ray Brown.
13.
Herb Ellis was a somewhat controversial member of the trio, because he was the only white person in the group in a time when racism was still very much widespread.
14.
Herb Ellis was part of the rhythm section but did not solo on every track.
15.
Herb Ellis left the Peterson Trio in November 1958, to be replaced not by a guitarist, but by drummer Ed Thigpen.
16.
The years of 1957 through 1960 found Herb Ellis touring with Ella Fitzgerald.
17.
Herb Ellis was featured on an episode of Sanford and Son accompanying Fred Sanford's singing.
18.
Herb Ellis gave cartoonist and The Far Side creator Gary Larson guitar lessons, in exchange for the cover illustration for the album, Doggin' Around by Herb Ellis and bassist Red Mitchell.
19.
Herb Ellis died of Alzheimer's disease at his Los Angeles home on the morning of March 28,2010, at the age of 88.