George Rock
| George Rock (October 11, 1919 – April 12, 1988) was a trumpet player and singer with various bands before starring with Spike Jones and His City Slickers. A man of large physical stature, Rock attended Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois on a football scholarship. He abandoned football for music, becoming a professional musician at the age of 20. His first national exposure was in the Freddie Fisher's Schnickelfritz Band. In 1944, Spike Jones hired Rock to join his band, the City Slickers. With Spike Jones and His City Slickers, Rock played lead trumpet and also sang with the group. He was especially noted for imitating children using a voice characterization that sounded remarkably childlike. Rock was featured on many City Slickers recordings including lead vocals on the 1947 classic "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth". Rock also performed on several other recordings by Spike Jones and the City Slickers including "I'm the Captain of the Space Ship", "You Wanna Buy a Bunny?", "I'm the Angel in the Christmas Play", "Three Little Fishes (Itty Bitty Poo)" and "Happy New Year" (the 'B' side of "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"). Rock also played trumpet on The Spike Jones Show on television in the late 1950s, including the 1958 NBC series Club Oasis. |
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | D5VB-1127 | 10-in. | 9/10/1945 | That old black magic | City Slickers ; Carl Grayson ; Spike Jones | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D5VB-1128 | 10-in. | 9/10/1945 | You always hurt the one you love | City Slickers ; Carl Grayson ; Red Ingle ; Spike Jones | Male vocal duet, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D5VB-1129 | 10-in. | 9/10/1945 | The blue Danube | Boys in the Back Room ; City Slickers ; Carl Grayson ; Spike Jones ; Del Porter | Male vocal duet, with vocal group and instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D5VB-1130 | 10-in. | 9/10/1945 | Liebestraum | City Slickers ; Red Ingle ; Spike Jones ; Dick Morgan | Male vocal solo, with narration and instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D5VB-1131 | 10-in. | 9/10/1945 | Hawaiian war chant (Ta-hu-wa-hu-wai) | Spike Jones ; Wacky Wakakians | Instrumental ensemble, with vocal chorus, narration, sound effects, and vocal solos | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D6VB-2024 | 10-in. | 2/11/1946 | I dream of Brownie with the light blue jeans | Barefooted Pennsylvanians ; City Slickers ; Carl Grayson ; Spike Jones | Male vocal solo, with vocal group and instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D6VB-2025 | 10-in. | 2/11/1946 | Mother Goose medley | Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath ; City Slickers ; Spike Jones | Animal sound effects, with vocal chorus and instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D6VB-2026 | 10-in. | 2/11/1946 | The glow worm | Aileen Carlisle ; City Slickers ; Red Ingle ; Spike Jones | Female-male vocal duet, with vocal chorus and instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D6VB-2027 | 10-in. | 2/11/1946 | Old MacDonald had a farm | City Slickers ; Spike Jones | Vocal chorus, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D6VB-2063 | 10-in. | 5/6/1946 | Jones polka | City Slickers ; Spike Jones ; Mickey Katz | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D6VB-2065 | 10-in. | 5/6/1946 | Minka | Spike Jones ; Other Orchestra [Spike Jones] ; George Rock | Jazz/dance band | composer, instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | D7VB-0456 | 10-in. | 2/10/1947 | Blowing bubble gum | City Slickers ; Spike Jones | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet, vocalist | |
| Victor | D7VB-1163 | 10-in. | 11/13/1947 | I'm getting sentimental over you | Barefooted Pennsylvanians ; City Slickers ; Spike Jones | Male vocal trio, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Victor | D7VB-1304 | 10-in. | 7/15/1947 | Our hour (the puppy love song) | City Slickers ; Spike Jones | Vocal ensemble, with instrumental ensemble, sound effects, and vocal solos | vocalist | |
| Victor | D7VB-2342 | 10-in. | 12/4/1947 | All I want for Christmas (is my two front teeth) | City Slickers ; Spike Jones ; George Rock | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Victor | D7VB-2409 | 10-in. | 12/23/1947 | Happy New Year | City Slickers ; Spike Jones | Instrumental ensemble, with vocal refrain | vocalist | |
| Victor | D9VB-0502 | 10-in. | 1/6/1949 | Knock knock (who's there?) | City Slickers ; Sir Frederick Gas ; I. W. Harper and the Four Fifths ; Spike Jones ; Dick Morgan ; Freddy Morgan ; George Rock ; Doodles Weaver | Vocal ensemble, with jazz/dance band | vocalist | |
| Victor | D9VB-0503 | 10-in. | 1/6/1949 | Ya wanna buy a bunny? | City Slickers ; Spike Jones ; George Rock | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Rock, George," accessed November 4, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/359166.
Rock, George. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 4, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/359166.
"Rock, George." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 4 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Rock, George - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n95109240
Wikidata: George Rock - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5543979
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/58333886
MusicBrainz: George Rock - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/e649403b-7873-47d7-a318-2b8cc8dcdc21
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