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.

Birth and Death Data: Born October 11, 1919 (Champaign), Died April 12, 1988 (Champaign)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1945 - 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: trumpet, vocalist, composer, songwriter

= 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

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/359166

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