- Frankie Jaxon
Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon (
February 3 1895 - 1944 ? [Although most sources state that he died in 1944, AMG gives a date of 1970] ) was anAfrican American vaudeville singer , female impersonator, stage designer andcomedian , popular in the 1920s and 1930s.Life and career
He was born in Montgomery,
Alabama , orphaned, and raised in Kansas City,Missouri . His nickname of "Half Pint" referred to his 5'2" height. He started inshow business around 1910 as a singer in Kansas City, before travelling extensively withmedicine show s inTexas , and then touring the eastern seaboard. His feminine voice and outrageous manner, often as a female impersonator, established him as a crowd favorite. By 1917 he had begun working regularly in Atlantic City,New Jersey and inChicago ,Illinois , often with such performers asBessie Smith andEthel Waters , whose staging he helped design.In the late 1920s he sang with top
jazz bands when they passed through Chicago, working withBennie Moten ,King Oliver andFreddie Keppard among others. He also performed and recorded with thepianist sCow Cow Davenport ,Tampa Red and "Georgia Tom" Dorsey, recording with the latter pair under the name of The Black Hillbillies. He also recorded with theHarlem Hamfats . In the 1930s he was often onradio in the Chicago area, and led his own band, Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon and his Quarts Of Joy.Jaxon appeared with
Duke Ellington in afilm short called "Black and Tan Fantasy" (1929).Cab Calloway 's "Minnie the Moocher " (1931) is based both musically and lyrically on Jaxon's "Willie the Weeper" (1927). [Lorenz, Brenna & Lorenz, Megaera. (2001). "Heptune Lorenz-Pulte Jazz and Blues Page". Retrieved January 11, 2008, from http://www.heptune.com/jazzfolk.html ] [(1999). "Willie the Weeper." Retrieved January 11, 2008, from http://www.heptune.com/willieth.html]His recordings, such as "Fan It" (later recorded by
Woody Herman ), are mostly filled with bawdy comedy,double entendre s andhokum .Blues fans reserve a special place in their hearts for hisorgasm ic parodies of "How Long How Long Blues" and "It's Tight Like That", louché collaborations with Tampa Red,Georgia Tom and assorted jugbandsmen.In 1941 he retired from show business and worked at
The Pentagon inWashington, D.C. He was transferred to Los Angeles,California in 1944 where, according to most sources, he died in the veterans hospital, although according toAllmusic he lived in Los Angeles until 1970.ong lyric
"If this song's too hot," sang Frankie Jaxon, "Go out and buy yourself a five cent fan." - "Fan It" cite book
first= Tony
last= Russell
year= 1997
title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
edition=
publisher= Carlton Books Limited
location= Dubai
pages= p. 124
id= ISBN 1-85868-255-X]ee also
*
List of East Coast blues musicians References
External links
* [http://www.redhotjazz.com/jaxon.html More information]
* [http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioj1/jaxo1.html Biography]
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