Benjamin Franklin "Reb" Spikes (October 31, 1888 – February 24, 1982) 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 ...

and entrepreneur. His composition with his brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, "

Someday Sweetheart "Someday Sweetheart" is a jazz standard written by Los Angeles–based musicians John and Reb Spikes in 1919. It was the biggest hit the brothers wrote, and was performed by many recording artists of the period. The first one to record the tune was ...

", has become an often-recorded

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

Biography

Spikes was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

to an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

family, and also had Irish, French, Norwegian and Native American heritage. Nicknamed "Rebel" since childhood, the name was eventually shortened to "Reb". His family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1897, where Spikes worked on building sites before moving to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 1907. Almost all of Spikes's siblings were pianists, but for a long time, Spikes preferred painting to music. He eventually took up music when his brother

bought him a set of drums. The brothers started touring the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

and

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

as a piano and drums duo. Reb learned to play several instruments, including the

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

, the

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

, the

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

, and some piano. In 1914, Spikes returned to San Francisco and was hired as baritone saxophonist in Sidney LeProtti's "The So Different Jazz Band". Spikes was billed as "The World's Greatest saxophonist" on the band's performances. Spikes returned to Los Angeles in 1919 and worked with his brother John in a music shop. At the time, the Spikes' music shop was one of the few places on the West Coast that sold jazz records, and many local musicians used to hang out at the store. The brothers also published music and had their own record company (Sunshine).

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, Trombone, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of Music of New Orle ...

's Creole Orchestra recorded for them in June 1921 (as "Spikes' Seven Pods of Pepper"), making the first commercial jazz recordings by a black

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

band. Spikes composed "

" with his brother John in 1919.

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( Lemott, later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz ...

recorded it in 1923 and again in 1926, and the song has become a popular

. The Spikes brothers also wrote lyrics for Morton's "

Wolverine Blues ''Wolverine Blues'' is the third studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 31 August 1993 by Earache Records. The album displays a completely different sound from previous releases, combining elements of hard rock, heavy ...

" and "Froggie Moore Rag". In the 1930s, Spikes worked as a promoter and worked with

Les Hite Les Hite (February 13, 1903 – February 6, 1962) was an American jazz bandleader. Life and career Born in DuQuoin, Illinois, United States, Hite attended the University of Illinois and played saxophone with family members in a band in the 1920s. ...

and

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

, both of whom were his former sidemen. He also took part in Jelly Roll Morton's comeback in 1940–1941. Morton and Spikes were planning on starting a publishing business, but their plans were ended when Morton got ill and subsequently died in 1941. Spikes died in Los Angeles on February 24, 1982.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spikes, Reb 1888 births 1982 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists 20th-century multi-instrumentalists American jazz multi-instrumentalists Musicians from Dallas 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Texas 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians