John Hubbard Beecher
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John Hubbard Beecher, also known as Little John Beecher (February 8, 1927 – August 6, 1987) was an American
bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...
, jazz trumpeter and valve trombonist, and a singer of
novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
s. His band, Little John Beecher and his Orchestra, was active throughout the 1950s, and was booked by National Orchestra Service of
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
. Before forming his own band, he played trumpet with Lee Williams.


Career

Beecher founded and served as bandleader of Little John Beecher and His Orchestra throughout the 1950s. The orchestra was a nonet plus a featured vocalist territory band. Beecher was a large man, weighing 300 pounds in 1955. He promoted the catchphrase "THE BAND with the big front." Beecher booked his gigs through the National Orchestra Service ("NOS"), a territory band agency in
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
. Royce Stoenner, who had been an executive at NOS, left the agency in 1959 to become a partner with the Dave Brumitt Agency, a territory band booking agency in Atlanta. Beecher followed Stoenner to Georgia and started working through his agency. Shortly thereafter in 1959, the band ended. Jimmy Fuller founded The Cavaliers Orchestra in 1946 and served as bandleader until 1976. Having played trumpet with the Cavaliers since 1973, Beecher became its second bandleader in the spring of 1976. The band was based in
Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...
.


Former members of Beecher's Orchestra

* 1959–1960: Travis Wayne Jenkins, tenor sax (May 23, 1939 Hockley County, Texas – January 11, 2004
Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
) * 1950s: Betty Jordan, vocals * Stewart "Dirk" Fischer * Richard "Dick" Vaughn Busey, tenor sax (born 1931) * Russ Long, piano ''(né'' Russell V. Longstreth March 9, 1939 – December 31, 2006) * Robert Fisher * Mel (Oscar) Ross, sax * Carl Greene, horn * Johnny Morre * Larry Brown * Robert Hampson, baritone sax * 1954: Bill Porter, drums * 1958 Don Farrar, Bass


See also

*
List of jazz arrangers The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or devel ...
* Territory bands


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beecher, John Hubbard American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Swing trumpeters American male jazz composers American music arrangers Jazz arrangers American jazz bandleaders 1927 births 1987 deaths People from Marshalltown, Iowa 20th-century American trumpeters Jazz musicians from Nebraska 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American jazz composers