Hidle Brown Barnum
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Hidle Brown Barnum (born July 15, 1936) is an American
pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
,
arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...
, record producer, songwriter, and former child actor.


Biography

After winning a nationwide talent contest at the age of four and starring in the film ''Valley of the Sun Marches On'', Barnum continued his acting career on TV in the ''
Amos 'n' Andy Show ''Amos 'n' Andy'' was an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago then later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio sho ...
'', the
Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky; February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success as a violinist on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...
Show, and others, making his first solo recording as Pee Wee Barnum in 1950. He then joined
doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...
groups the Dootones and, in late 1955, when Carl Gardner and bass Bobby Nunn left
the Robins The Robins were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound. They were founded by Ty Terrell, and twin brothers Bil ...
to form
the Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood (The Coasters song), Young Blood", "Charlie Brown (The Coasters song), Charlie Bro ...
for
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
, Barnum replaced Bobby Nunn as baritone and bass for the Robins, as well as playing piano for them. This version of the Robins recorded for the Whippet label, where Barnum soon became the A&R man. In 1960, under the pseudonym "Dudley" he recorded "El Pizza", a parody of
Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...
' "
El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
". He had the only hit under his own name, the
instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
"Lost Love" which reached number 35 in the United States on Billboard's top singles chart in early 1961. In the same year he recorded the first version of "
Nut Rocker "Nut Rocker" is an instrumental rock single recorded by American instrumental ensemble B. Bumble and the Stingers that reached number 23 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in March 1962 and went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1962. It i ...
", credited to Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks. He also recorded three albums as a singer-pianist during the 1960s. Since that time he became most widely known as an arranger, for a very wide range of performers including
Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American baritone singer. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song " You'll Never Find Another Love like Min ...
,
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 ...
, O.C. Smith,
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
,
the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...
,
Donna Loren Donna Zukor (born March 7, 1947), known professionally as Donna Loren, is an United States, American singer and actress. A performer in the 1960s, she was the "Dr Pepper Girl" from 1963 to 1968, a featured female vocalist on ''Shindig!'', an ...
,
Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
,
Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...
,
Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Will ...
,
Melinda Marx Melinda Marie Marx (born August 14, 1946) is an American former actress, singer, and musician who had a brief movie career. She is the daughter and only living child of Groucho Marx and his second wife, Kay Marvis Gorcey. Life and work Marx ...
, Al Wilson, the Pump Girls, and the Little Tots. Barnum also produced, along with Johnnie Walls of JWP Productions which distributed the record, the 1985 hip-hop comedy song "
Rappin' Duke "Rappin' Duke" is a 1984 hip-hop novelty song by Shawn Brown performing as the Rappin' Duke. It is the sixth track on Brown's 1985 album ''¿Que Pasa?''. The premise of the song is that actor, John Wayne, nicknamed The Duke, is rapping. History T ...
". He also produced "The Fish Song", a rare song by the New Creation, released on Salaam Records. In addition, he co-wrote "Your Love", a 1977 top 20 hit song by
Marilyn McCoo Marilyn McCoo (born September 30, 1943) is an American singer, actress, and television presenter, who is best known for being the lead female vocalist in the group the 5th Dimension as well as hosting the 1980s music television show '' Solid Gol ...
and
Billy Davis Jr. Billy Davis Jr. (born June 26, 1938) is an American singer and musician, best known as a member of the 5th Dimension. Along with his wife Marilyn McCoo, he had hit records during 1976 and 1977 with "I Hope We Get to Love in Time", " Your Love", ...
Barnum produced an album recorded by the Novells, a Los Angeles area band, titled, ''That Did It!'' in 1968. The album re-emerged as an import some 40 years later when it was released in the UK in July 2005 and again in December 2007 by Radioactive Records. Barnum appears in the 2023 documentary ''Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll'' which was broadcast on PBS. Barnum is the older brother of backup singer Billie Barnum.


References


External links

* *
H.B. Barnum Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2016)H.B. Barnum - The Historymakers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnum, H. B. 1936 births American male child actors Songwriters from Texas Male actors from Houston RCA Victor artists Living people Record producers from Texas 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male songwriters