The Cappy Barra Harmonica Band was an American harmonica ensemble — originally a trio, then a quartet, then two groups — that played big band arrangements. Cappy Barra flourished from 1935 to 1945.

History

1938 to 1942 : Cappy Barra was assembled by promoter Maurice Duke. The name was derived from "

capybara The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...

," the largest extant rodent in the world, native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. In 1940, Sam Scheckter and Sam Sperling left the group, George Fields replaced Schekter. Shortly after, the act split into two groups. The first unit worked primarily in the Chicago area. A second unit, based in New York, formed around Phil King, who enlisted newcomers George Fields, Charley Leighton, Alan Greene and Pro Robbins ''(né'' Irving Rubenstein). : The Chicago unit, a trio, disbanded in 1942 when Nat Bergman and Cappy LaFell enlisted in the Armed Forces. Don Ripps returned to

Freeport, Texas Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, located on the Gulf of Mexico. According to the 2020 census, the city population was 10,696, down from 12,049 in 2010. History Freeport was founded as a European-American settlement ...

. : The New York unit worked steadily in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

and in nightclubs through the war years. George Fields left in 1941 to move to California, and the group played as a trio, with

Charles Leighton Charles Leighton (24 June 1921 – 26 June 2009) was an American classical and jazz harmonica player who performed from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s. After a hiatus while he managed a recording studio, he performed again in the 1980s until his ...

handling the lead, Alan Greene playing chord harp and singing, and Pro Robbins on bass harp. Phil King booked the band, played an occasional Polyphonia, did comedy bits, and fronted the group. The group disbanded in 1944. Post World War II : Around 1945, Duke reorganized Cappy Barra as a quartet and moved it to Los Angeles with the aim of getting Hollywood studio work. The performers were Charley Leighton on lead, George Fields on second, Pete Petersen on third, and Pro Robbins on fourth. Performing members * Cappy LaFell ''(né'' Leon S. Lehrfeld; 1913–2002) * Joe Mullendore (aka Raymond Joe Sanns, ''né'' Joseph Milton Mullendore Jr.; 1914–1990) * Nat Bergman (aka Nate Burton, ''né'' Nathaniel Bergman; 1916–1994) * Phil Solomon * Don Ripps (1918–1965) * Samuel Scheckter (1913–1995) * Sam Sperling * George Joseph Fields (1921–2005) * Charley Leighton (1921–2009) * Alan Greene * Pro Robbins ''(né'' Irving Rubenstein) * Pete Petersen * Milton Freeman *

Eddie Shu Eddie Shu ''(ne'' Edward Shulman; 18 March 1918 New York City — 4 July 1986) was an American jazz musician who played saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, harmonica, and accordion. He was also a comedic ventriloquist. Career Shu learned violin and ...

''(né'' Edward Shulman; 1918–1986) Non-performing members * Maurice Duke (1910–1996). * Phil King, served as spokesman and leader, but not a musician * Harry Morton (1912–2004), comedian *

Henry Nemo Henry Nemo (June 8, 1909 – November 26, 1999) was a musician, songwriter, and actor in Hollywood films who had a reputation as a hipster. Band leading In 1941, Nemo formed his own 19-piece band. The group featured four Chinese women as singers ...

(1909–1999), composer & arranger

Filmography

* ''Musical Airwaves'' (1936, a 10-minute short),

Milton Edward Schwarzwald Milton Edward Schwarzwald (1891–1950) was a film director and musical theater composer and producer. In the 1930s, he directed numerous Mentone Productions comedy musical variety films before departing to produce musical theater in 1939. Leo F ...

(1891–1950), director,

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

* ''

Mad About Music ''Mad About Music'' is a 1938 American musical film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Deanna Durbin, Herbert Marshall, and Gail Patrick. Based on a story by Marcella Burke and Frederick Kohner, the film is about a girl at an exclusive board ...

'' (1938),

Roy Liebman, ''Musical groups in the movies, 1929–1970'',

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic and reference works, as well as general-interest adult nonfiction. Its president is Rhonda Herman. Its forme ...

(2009) # ''I Love to Whistle'', by

Jimmy McHugh James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, J ...

Harold Adamson Harold Campbell Adamson (December 10, 1906 – August 17, 1980) was an American lyricist during the 1930s and 1940s. Early life Adamson, the son of building contractor Harold Adamson and Marion "Minnie" Campbell Adamson, was born and raised i ...

(lyrics) (1938), sung by

Deanna Durbin Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With th ...

with the Cappy Barra Harmonica Band at part
(audio clip)
* '' Pot o' Gold'' (1941)
video clip
Cappy Barra is dubbed) * ''

Rockin' in the Rockies ''Rockin' in the Rockies'' is a 1945 American musical western feature film starring the Three Stooges (not to be confused with their 1940 short subject ''Rockin' thru the Rockies''). The picture was one of the Stooges' few feature-length films ...

'' (1945)
video clip
* ''Radio Stars on Parade'' (1945)
video clip
* ''Bowery Boy'' (1945) Musical film shorts The

1942–44 musicians' strike Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 ''Ab urbe c ...

banned musicians from recording with major labels. A year earlier (1941), the motion picture industry began producing short music films, which were not banned. The films were the early version of music videos — known as "

soundies Soundies are three-minute American musical films, and each short displays a performance. The shorts were produced between 1940 and 1946 and have been referred to as "precursors to music videos" by UCLA. Soundies exhibited a variety of musical ge ...

. Cappy Barra performed on the following

:
The Smoothies (vocal group) and The Cappy Barra Harmonica Boys
Smoothies personnel: Babs (Blanche Redwine?) and the two brothers, Charlie & Little Ryan ''(né'' Reinhart)

Discography

Cappy Barra Harmonica Swing Ensemble * Recorded April 5, 1937, Variety Recordings (600) : M359 ''Voo Doo'' : M356 ''Stardust'', by

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the firs ...

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

, 10-inch (1937) : ''Casa Loma Stomp'', by

Gene Gifford Harold Eugene Gifford (May 31, 1908 – November 12, 1970) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and arranger. Gifford was raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and played banjo in high school. He played in territory bands, including Watson's Bell H ...

: ''

Solitude Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without dist ...

'', by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

, arranged by

Sheet music

* ''Nocturne in Blue'', by Al Greene (lyrics) & Raymond Joe Sanns ''(né'' Joseph Milton Mullendore Jr.; 1914–1990) (music), © February 11, 1941; 249699 (Joseph Milton Mullendore Jr., Philadelphia) * ''Voo Doo'', by Raymond Joe Sanns ''(né'' Joseph Milton Mullendore Jr.; 1914–1990), Leon Lafell ''(né'' Leon S. Lehrfeld; 1913–2002), and Maurice Duke (1910–1996), © June 10, 1937; 62625 (Exclusive Publications, Inc., New York) * ''It's Nature All Around Me,'' by Joseph Milton Mullendore Jr. (1914–1990), © January 18, 1934; 81496 (Leon Lafell; ''né'' Leon S. Lehrfeld; 1913–2002)

Other harmonica ensembles

United States * The Harmonica Gentlemen * The Harmonica Rascals * The Harmonica Scamps * The Harmonicuties * The Harmonica Harlequins * The Philharmonicas * The Harlemonicats * The Three Harpers (see

Stan Harper Stanley Harper ''(né'' Stanley Theodore Wisser; 2 September 1921 – 29 June 2016) was an American virtuoso classical harmonica artist, arranger, and composer. He died June 29, 2016, in a home for the elderly in New Jersey. He raised the popular ...

) *

The Harptones The Harptones are an American doo-wop group, which formed in Manhattan in 1953. The group never had a top forty pop hit, or a record on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart, yet they are known for both their lead singer Willie Winfield and their pi ...

* The Stagg McMann Trio * The Harmonica Hi-Hats * The Harmonica Lads * The Don Henry Trio * The Harmonica Gang * The Stereomonics * The Big Harp Netherlands * The 5 Hotchas :: Eddie Sernee, Joop Heijman, Geert van Driesten, Cor Belder, Wim Belder Ireland *

The Bachelors The Bachelors were a popular music group, originating from Dublin, Ireland, but primarily based in the United Kingdom. They had several international hits during the 1960s, including eight top-ten singles in the UK between 1963 and 1966. Car ...

France * Trio Raisner Hong Kong *

King's College Harmonica Band King's College Harmonica Band (KCHB), founded in 1951, is one of the oldest harmonica ensembles in Hong Kong. History King's College Harmonica Band was established in 1951 by a group of harmonica enthusiasts. It consisted of only a few members i ...

References