Albert Lavada Durst (January 12, 1913 – October 31, 1995), known as Dr. Hepcat, was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

pianist, singer, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

commentator who became the first black

radio DJ A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, influential in the spread of

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

music.

Biography

Durst was born in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, and learned to play piano as a child. He grew up playing barrelhouse blues locally, and developing a talent for hip rhythmic

jive talk Jive talk, also known as Harlem jive or simply Jive, the argot of jazz, jazz jargon, vernacular of the jazz world, slang of jazz, and parlance of hip is an African-American Vernacular English slang or vocabulary that developed in Harlem, where "jiv ...

, which won him a position as announcer at

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

games in Austin. He was heard by radio station KVET manager

John Connally John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917June 15, 1993) was an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Texas from 1963 to 1969 and as the 61st United States secretary of the treasury from 1971 to 1972. He began his career as a Hi ...

, later the

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constit ...

. With the support of station owner Jake Pickle, he hired Durst to be the station's baseball commentator and first black

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

, in 1948. Naming himself "Dr. Hepcat", Durst's presentation made him successful with white as well as black radio listeners, and according to the

Texas State Historical Association The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

he "can be credited for introducing an entire generation of white Austin listeners to jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues." "Durst, Albert Lavada", ''Texas State Historical Association''
Retrieved 23 November 2016. Pickle said of Durst: " ehad a lingo all his own... A lot of people listened to

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

games solely for the pleasure of hearing Dr. Hepcat.... He was as good an entertainer as he was an announcer, and he became famous all over Austin...". Durst also recorded for

Uptown Records Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by old school rapper ‘Dr Jekyll’ - Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip-hop. Beginnings and success In ...

, a label owned by KVET program director Fred Caldwell, and managed a

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

group, the Charlottes. He wrote the gospel song "Let's Talk About Jesus" for the Bells of Joy, and also published a dictionary of jive talk, ''The Jives of Dr. Hepcat'', in 1953. The magazine ''

Wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give lo ...

'' in 1978 credited him as one of the inventors of rock'n'roll radio. He was also responsible for bringing many prominent black entertainers to perform in Austin. "Rev. Albert L. “Lavada” Durst (1913–1995)", ''Texas Music Office''
Retrieved 23 November 2016. He retired from KVET in the early 1960s and was ordained as a minister at Mount Olive Baptist Church in 1965. He gave up performing for several years, returning to play the blues from the mid-1970s at festivals and other venues. From the mid-1940s until retiring in 1979, Durst also worked as director of athletics for the Rosewood Recreation Center in Austin. He died in Austin in 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hepcat, Doctor 1913 births 1995 deaths American blues pianists American male pianists Mass media people from Austin, Texas American radio DJs Radio personalities from Texas African-American radio personalities Radio and television announcers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists 20th-century African-American musicians

Biography

See also

References