Ford T. Dabney
Ford Thompson Dabney (15 March 1883 – 6 June 1958) was an American ragtime pianist, composer, songwriter, and acclaimed director of bands and orchestras for Broadway musical theater, revues, vaudeville, and early recordings. Additionally, for two years in Washington, from 1910 to 1912, he was proprietor of a theater that featured vaudeville, musical revues, and silent film. Dabney is best known as composer and lyricist of the 1910 song "That's Why They Call Me Shine," which for eleven point three decades, through 2022, has endured as a jazz standard. As of 2020, in the jazz genre, "Shine" has been recorded 646 times Dabney and one of his chief collaborators, James Reese Europe (1880–1919), were transitional figures in the prehistory of jazz that evolved from ragtime (which loosely includes some syncopated music) and blues — and grew into stride, boogie-woogie, and other next levels in jazz. Their 1914 composition, "Castle Walk" – recorded February 10, 1914, by Europe's Society Orchestra with Dabney at the piano (Victor 17553-A, Matrix: B-14434) – is one of the earliest recordings of jazz. |
Birth and Death Data: Born 1883 (Washington, D.C.), Died June 21, 1958 (Manhattan)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1911 - 1942
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, leader, songwriter, arranger, vocalist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 32 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | B-10713 | 10-in. | 7/12/1911 | You can lead a mule to water, but you can't make him drink | Ed Morton | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-12301 | 10-in. | 8/8/1912 | Porto Rico | Felix Arndt | Piano solo | composer | |
Victor | B-14434 | 10-in. | 2/10/1914 | Castle walk | Europe's Society Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-16599 | 10-in. | 10/5/1915 | The Georgia grind | Signor "Grinderino" | "Street" (barrel) piano | composer | |
Victor | B-25672 | 10-in. | 10/26/1921 | Sweet cookie | Ford T. Dabney ; Ford Dabney's Syncopated Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Victor | B-25673 | 10-in. | 10/26/1921 | Dapper Dan | Ford T. Dabney ; Ford Dabney's Syncopated Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Victor | B-29953 | 10-in. | 4/30/1924 | Shine | Ross Gorman ; Virginians | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Victor | BVE-49781 | 10-in. | 3/13/1929 | Shine | Boyd Senter ; Senterpedes | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | BS-75980 | 10-in. | 7/29/1933 | Shine | King's Jesters | Vocal and instrumental ensemble | songwriter | |
Victor | BS-80632 | 10-in. | 6/18/1934 | Shine | Red Nichols ; Pennies ; Songcopators | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal ensemble | songwriter | |
Victor | BS-98121 | 10-in. | 11/15/1935 | S-H-I-N-E | Dolly Dawn and her Dawn Patrol | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | PBS-09646 | 10-in. | 8/16/1937 | Piano stomp (Shine) | Lionel Hampton Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | songwriter | |
Victor | BS-071766 | 10-in. | 2/4/1942 | Shine | Henry Levine ; Strictly from Dixie Jazz Band | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Victor | [Trial 1914-12-18-06] | Not documented | 12/18/1914 | The last waltz | Ford T. Dabney ; Dabney's Orchestra | Orchestra | leader | |
Victor | [Trial 1914-12-18-07] | Not documented | 12/18/1914 | Fox trot | Ford T. Dabney ; Dabney's Orchestra | Orchestra | leader | |
Victor | [Trial 1916-12-08-03] | Not documented | 12/8/1916 | Are you from Dixie | Ford T. Dabney | Male vocal solo, with vocal chorus and instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
Columbia | 81699 | 10-in. | 4/18/1924 | Shine | California Ramblers | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Columbia | 81791 | 10-in. | 5/23/1924 | Shine | Van and Schenck | Male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 36930 | 12-in. | ca. 1914 | The Castle walk | Prince's Band | Band | composer | |
Columbia | 36935 | 12-in. | ca. 1914 | Castle's half and half | Prince's Band | Band | composer | |
Columbia | 37009 | 12-in. | 7/24/1914 | Castle valse classique | Prince's Band ; G. Hepburn Wilson | Band | arranger | |
Columbia | 37297 | 12-in. | 5/21/1915 | Georgia grind | Prince's Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 49236 | 12-in. | 6/9/1917 | Castle valse classique | Earl Fuller ; Rector Novelty Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | arranger | |
Columbia | W148577 | 10-in. | 6/5/1929 | Shine | Ted Lewis and his Band | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | W149568 | 10-in. | 12/6/1929 | Shine | Dallas String Band ; Coley Jones | String band, with male vocal duet | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Dabney, Ford T.," accessed November 25, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/108631.
Dabney, Ford T.. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 25, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/108631.
"Dabney, Ford T.." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Ford Dabney
Discogs: Ford T. Dabney
Allmusic: Ford T. Dabney
IMSLP: Ford T. Dabney
IMDb: Ford T. Dabney
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Dabney, Ford T., 1883-1958 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no88001058
Wikidata: Ford Dabney - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q19843365
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/6946403
MusicBrainz: Ford Dabney - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/33a49f1f-b236-4781-921c-c8abbb6ffc09
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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