Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, composer, and bandleader. His major recordings were "Nagasaki", "Skyliner", "

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle".

Early life

Barnet was born in New York City, the son of Charline (Daly) and Willard Barnet. His parents divorced when he was two, and he was raised by his mother and her grandparents. His grandfather was Charles Frederick Daly, a vice-president for the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

, banker, and businessman. Barnet attended boarding schools, both in the New York and Chicago areas. He learned to play piano and saxophone as a child. He often left school to listen to music and to try to gain work as a musician. Although his family wanted him to become a lawyer, he chose to be a musician instead.

Career

By sixteen, Barnet had played on tours with Jean Goldkette's satellite band and was in New York, where he joined Frank Winegar's Pennsylvania Boys on tenor sax. Always restless, by 1931 he had relocated to Hollywood and appeared as a film extra while trying to interest local bandleaders in hot music, which was increasingly unpopular due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Late in 1932, aged 18, he returned east and persuaded a contact at CBS' artist bureau to try him out as an orchestra leader. Barnet began recording in October 1933, during an engagement at New York's Park Central Hotel, but was not a great success for most of the 1930s, regularly breaking up his band and changing its style. Early in 1935, he attempted to premiere

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

at New Orleans' Hotel Roosevelt, where Louisiana's colorful Governor Huey Long, disliking the new sound, had the band run out of town by luring them to a bordello, which was then raided. Barnet arranged with Joe Haymes to take several of his now-jobless sidemen, while he himself went on a lark in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.The Modernaires but quickly faded from the scene. The height of Barnet's popularity—and his first truly permanent band—came between 1939 and 1941, a period that began with his hit version of "

", written by

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 3 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United S ...

and arranged by

Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet (TV series), The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad (TV series), T ...

. In 1944, Barnet had another big hit with "Skyliner". In 1947, he started to switch from swing music to

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

. During his swing period, his band included

Buddy DeFranco Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

, Neal Hefti,

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

, Barney Kessel, Dodo Marmorosa, Oscar Pettiford, Wes Dean, and Art House, while later versions of the band included

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

Doc Severinsen Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Early life Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) ...

, Jimmy Knepper and Clark Terry. Trumpeter

was an arranger in the Charlie Barnet Orchestra before joining

Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...

in 1940. Barnet was one of the first bandleaders to integrate his band, with more black musicians working for him than virtually all of the other popular white bandleaders. Trumpeters

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

and Frankie Newton and bassist John Kirby joined in 1937.

was one of Barnet's vocalists. Unusually, for a mainly white group, Barnet was booked to perform at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

in Harlem and established a new attendance record. He was an outspoken admirer of

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

and

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

. Ellington recorded the Charlie Barnet composition "In a Mizz". In 1939, in a gesture that was warmly appreciated and admired, Count Basie (who was booked 2 days after) lent Barnet some of his charts after his instruments, notes and arrangements had been destroyed in the famous fire at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles (October 2, 1939), which prevented Barnet's last show there. Throughout his career he was an opponent of syrupy arrangements. In the song "The Wrong Idea", he lampooned the "sweet" big band sound of the era. The song was written by Billy May, who later used the same satirical bent in his collaborations with Stan Freberg on Capitol Records including the

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. The program was known for its light and family-friendly style, and the ...

satire "Wunnerful! Wunnerful!" Barnet's was a notorious party band where drinking and vandalism were not uncommon. While Glenn Miller enforced strict standards of dress and deportment, Barnet was more interested in having fun, according to his autobiography ''Those Swinging Years: The Autobiography of Charlie Barnet''. In 1949 he retired, apparently because he had lost interest in music. He was able to retire when he chose because he was one of the few heirs in a very wealthy family. He occasionally returned from retirement for brief tours but never returned to music full-time. In 1956, he released an album, '' Dance Bash'', which was recorded over five years from 1947 to 1952. Known for a unique sound and hard-swinging style on tenor saxophone, Barnet in the late 1930s added the alto saxophone to his arsenal, followed by the soprano saxophone, an instrument that had fallen out of favor after the 1920s and was not generally used in the big band era. In September 1964, Barnet arranged a private party for his musical hero, Duke Ellington, and orchestra to play at

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

' San Jacinto country club. At the door, a small sign painted by Barnet said: "Any complaints about loud music or requests for excessive use of mutes will be grounds for instant expulsion (to a table in the parking lot). Any requests for folk music, twist, watusi, or rock and roll will result in instant execution by golf balls at 20 paces."Leonard Feather, ''DownBeat''; Duke's diary, Ken Vail, vol. 2, p. 252. Barnet did not play at the gathering. Barnet's theme song was "Redskin Rhumba". His autobiography, ''Those Swinging Years: The Autobiography of Charlie Barnet'', written with

Stanley Dance Stanley Frank Dance (15 September 1910 in Braintree, Essex – 23 February 1999 in Vista, California) was a British jazz writer, business manager, record producer, and historian of the Swing era. He was personally close to Duke Ellington over ...

, was published in 1984.

Personal life

Barnet was married eleven times and in his autobiography says: "I went through several more marital fiascos, but they were mostly Mexican marriages and quickly annulled, because they weren't legal in the first place." His final marriage, to Betty Thompson, was for 33 years. He had one son, Charles D. Barnet Jr., and two grandchildren from an earlier marriage, Jennifer Ann Barnet and Darren Charles Barnet. During retirement, Barnet resided at homes in Palm Springs and San Diego, California. He kept a 46-foot boat in San Diego.

Death

Barnet died from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at San Diego's Hillside hospital, on September 4, 1991, aged 77.

Compositions

Charlie Barnet's compositions included "Skyliner", "Southland Shuffle", "Swing Street Strut", "The Right Idea", "The Wrong Idea" (with

), "Growlin'", "Scotch and Soda", "Midweek Function", "Oh, What You Said (Are We Burnt Up?)", "I Kinda Like You", "Tappin' at the Tappa", "The Last Jump", "Knocking at the Famous Door", "Lazy Bug" (with Juan Tizol), "Ogoun Badagris (Voodoo War God)", "Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie", and "In a Mizz", which was also recorded by

. "Skyliner", arranged by Neal Hefti, was written as the theme music for the late 1940s US

Armed Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the United States Armed Forces provides to soldiers stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. AFN comprises two sub ...

program "Midnight In Munich", broadcast from the AFN station in Munich, Germany, and hosted by Ralph Moffat. Thanks to the station's immensely powerful twin 100 kW transmitters, AFN Munich could be heard as far away as the UK; this, and the popularity of Moffat's show, evidently helped "Skyliner" and many other contemporary American swing hits to gain wide popularity across Europe and become hits in the UK.''Billboard'', February 14, 1948, p.38. The title (which was originally printed as "Sky Liner") may be a reference to the practice of American pilots flying into Munich who used the radio station's powerful signal to home in on the city.

Discography

Barnet had 78's, 45's, and 10"/12" LP's from 1935 to his waning years. The record labels on which he appeared included:

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is an American record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of children's music, blues, jazz and swing in the 1930s and 1940s. Bluebird was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebi ...

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, Apollo Records,

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, Clef Records,

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

, Everest Records, Crown Records, Vault Records, Joyce Records, Ajax Records, and Calliope Records. * ''The Best of Charlie Barnet (1942-1946)'' he Decca Years/ MCA #2-4069 (1975) * ''The Complete Charlie Barnet, Vol. 1 (1935-1937)'' / Bluebird #AXM2-5526 (1977) * ''The Complete Charlie Barnet, Volume II (1939)'' / Bluebird #AXM2-5577 (1981) * ''The Complete Charlie Barnet, Volume 3 (1939-1940)'' / Bluebird #AXM2-5581 (1981) * ''The Complete Charlie Barnet, Volume IV (1940)'' / Bluebird #AXM2-5585 (1982) * ''The Complete Charlie Barnet, Volume V (1940-1941)'' / Bluebird #AXM2-5587 (1982) * ''The Complete Charlie Barnet, Volume VI (1941-1942)'' / Bluebird #AXM2-5590 (1982)

References

External links

* *
Barnet biography at swingmusic.net

Charlie Barnet collection of big band arrangements 1939-1949
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Charlie Barnet recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnet, Charlie Swing saxophonists Swing bandleaders American big band bandleaders American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz bandleaders Jazz musicians from New York City Jubilee Records artists 1913 births 1991 deaths Abbey Records artists Apollo Records artists Äva Records artists Capitol Records artists Vault Records artists 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Bluebird Records artists Decca Records artists