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Pee Wee Hunt

Walter Gerhardt "Pee Wee" Hunt (May 10, 1907 – June 22, 1979) was an American jazz trombonist, vocalist, and bandleader. Hunt was born in Mount Healthy, Ohio. He developed a musical interest at an early age, as his mother, Sadie, played the banjo and his father, Edgar C., played violin. He had a younger sister, Marian, and younger brother, Raymond. The teenage Hunt was a banjoist with a local band while he was attending college at Ohio State University, where he majored in Electrical Engineering, and during his college years he switched from banjo to trombone. He graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He joined Jean Goldkette's Orchestra in 1928.

Hunt was the co-founder and featured trombonist with the Casa Loma Orchestra, but he left the group in 1943 to work as a Hollywood radio disc jockey, before joining the Merchant Marine near the end of World War II. He returned to the West Coast music scene in 1946. His "Twelfth Street Rag" was a three million-selling, number one hit in September 1948. He was satirized as Pee Wee Runt and his All-Flea Dixieland Band in Tex Avery's animated MGM cartoon Dixieland Droopy (1954). His second major hit was "Oh!" (1953), his second million-selling disc, which reached number three in the Billboard chart.

At age 72, Hunt died after a long illness in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Hunt and his wife, Ruth, had a daughter, Holly, and a son, Lawrence.

Birth and Death Data: Born May 10, 1907 (Mount Healthy), Died June 22, 1979 (Plymouth)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1930 - 1943

Roles Represented in DAHR: trombone, vocalist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 101-125 of 282 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca 62826 10-in. 12/1/1937 I can dream, can't I? Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62827 10-in. 12/1/1937 Memories of you Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62828 10-in. 12/1/1937 Let's make it a lifetime Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62829 10-in. 12/1/1937 Song of India Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62862 10-in. 12/8/1937 I see your face before me Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62863 10-in. 12/8/1937 Bei mir bist du schoen Glen Gray Orchestra vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62864 10-in. 12/8/1937 Time on my hands Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62865 12-in. 12/8/1937 Sleepy time gal Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62882 10-in. 12/14/1937 Two dreams got together Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62883 12-in. 12/14/1937 Drifting apart Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62884 10-in. 12/14/1937 You have everything Glen Gray Orchestra vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62885 10-in. 12/14/1937 I cried for you Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62898 10-in. 12/22/1937 Sweet as a song Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 62899 10-in. 12/22/1937 I could use a dream Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63109 10-in. 12/22/1937 Girl of my dreams Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63179 10-in. 1/19/1938 My heart is taking lessons Glen Gray Orchestra vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63180 10-in. 1/19/1938 Did an angel kiss the day you were born? Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63181 10-in. 1/19/1938 Nutty nursery rhymes Glen Gray Orchestra vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63182 10-in. 1/19/1938 This is my night to dream Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63222 10-in. 2/2/1938 What is this thing called love? Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63223 10-in. 2/2/1938 Malady in F minor Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63224 10-in. 2/2/1938 Mindin' my business Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63261 10-in. 2/9/1938 You better change your tune Glen Gray Orchestra vocalist, instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63262 10-in. 2/9/1938 The old apple tree Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
Decca 63337 10-in. 2/9/1938 Daddy's boy Glen Gray Orchestra instrumentalist, trombone  
(Results 101-125 of 282 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hunt, Pee Wee," accessed November 22, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

Hunt, Pee Wee. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359.

"Hunt, Pee Wee." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 22 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/106359

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