Woodrow Charles Herman was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader.
23 Facts About Woody Herman
2.
Woody Herman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 16,1913.
3.
Woody Herman's father had a deep love for show business and this influenced Woody at an early age.
4.
Woody Herman joined the Tom Gerun band and his first recorded vocals were "Lonesome Me" and "My Heart's at Ease".
5.
Woody Herman performed with the Harry Sosnick orchestra, Gus Arnheim and Isham Jones.
6.
Jones wanted to live off the residuals of his songs; Woody Herman saw the chance to lead his former band and eventually acquired the remains of the orchestra after Jones' retirement.
7.
Woody Herman's commissioning Gillespie to write arrangements for the band and hiring Ralph Burns as a staff arranger heralded a change in the style of music the band was playing.
8.
Woody Herman liked what drew many artists to Columbia, Liederkranz Hall, at the time the best recording venue in New York City.
9.
The first side Woody Herman recorded was "Laura", the theme song of the 1944 movie.
10.
Woody Herman's version was so successful that it made Columbia hold from release the arrangement that Harry James had recorded days earlier.
11.
On February 26,1945, in New York City, the Woody Herman band recorded "Caldonia".
12.
Woody Herman recorded the work at Belock Recording Studio in Bayside, New York.
13.
Charlotte Woody Herman joined Alcoholics Anonymous and gave up everything she was addicted to.
14.
In 1947, Woody Herman was Emcee and played at the third Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr.
15.
Woody Herman was known for hiring the best young musicians and using their arrangements.
16.
Woody Herman was known to feature brass and woodwind instruments rarely associated with jazz, such as the bassoon, oboe or French horn.
17.
On November 20,1976, a reconstituted Woody Herman band played at Carnegie Hall in New York City, celebrating Herman's fortieth anniversary as a bandleader.
18.
Woody Herman signed a recording contract with Concord Records around 1980.
19.
Woody Herman continued to perform into the 1980s, after the death of his wife and with his health in decline, chiefly to pay back taxes that were owed because of his business manager's bookkeeping in the 1960s.
20.
Woody Herman owed the IRS millions of dollars and was in danger of eviction from his home.
21.
Woody Herman died on October 29,1987, and had a Catholic funeral on November 2 at St Victor's in West Hollywood, California.
22.
Woody Herman is interred in a niche in the columbarium behind the Cathedral Mausoleum in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
23.
Between 1937 and 1956, Woody Herman had numerous hits on Billboards charts.