Buddy Cole (musician)

Edwin LeMar "Buddy" Cole (December 15, 1916 – November 5, 1964) was a jazz pianist, organist, orchestra leader, and composer. He played behind a number of pop singers, including Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby.

Biography

Cole was born in Irving, Illinois, on December 15, 1916^[1] and the family moved to California when he was two. One of his two sisters - Bertie - played for silent movies and Buddy would watch as a little boy. At the age of ten, he debuted on the theater piano, filling in for someone who had not turned up.^[2] He started his musical career in the theater playing between movies^[1] and his first keyboard job was as theater organist at Los Angeles' Figueroa Theater.^[3] He was recruited to be part of Gil Evans's band at the age of 19.^[4] In Hollywood in the second half of the 1930s Cole played in dance bands, including those led by Alvino Rey and Frankie Trumbauer.^[1] He married Yvonne King, member of The King Sisters, in 1940^[5] and they had two daughters, Christine and Cathleen. They divorced in 1953.^[6] He married Regina Woodruff^[7] (known as Clare) on November 12, 1955 in Las Vegas but they separated on July 6, 1956 prior to a divorce on September 20 the same year.^[8] As soon as the divorce became final, Cole and Clare remarried in Los Angeles on November 12, 1957.^[9] From the 1940s, his main work was as a studio musician, utilizing piano, electric organ, celeste, harpsichord and Novachord.^[1]

In 1947, Cole joined the John Scott Trotter Orchestra working for Bing Crosby on his radio shows and he remained with Trotter until 1954. Crosby then dispensed with the services of a large orchestra and instead employed Cole and his trio to support him on his radio programs such as The Bing Crosby Show and The Bing Crosby – Rosemary Clooney Show.^[10] Cole performed on Bing Crosby's hits "In a Little Spanish Town" and "Ol' Man River",^[1] and on the albums Some Fine Old Chestnuts and New Tricks.^[11] Cole also played on Rosemary Clooney's radio program; some recordings from the show were released on the album Swing Around Rosie.^[12]

In his capacity as a studio musician, Cole worked with Henry Mancini, who used his Hammond organ sound for the soundtrack to the TV series Mr. Lucky.^[1] Cole also recorded several organ albums for Warner Brothers, Columbia, Alshire and Doric.^[1]

Cole played most of the piano parts in the 1951 film Young Man with a Horn, subbing for Hoagy Carmichael, who appeared on screen.^[13] Cole also wrote the music for the television game show Truth or Consequences.^[1] He died in Hollywood on November 5, 1964.^[1]

References

1. Chadbourne, Eugene. "Buddy Cole". AllMusic. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
2. Films of the Golden Age (Summer 2022): 52. Summer 2022. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. Cornyn, Stan (1962). "Modern Pipe Organ (sleeve notes)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. Crease, Stephanie Stein (2002). Gil Evans: Out of the Cool – His Life and Music. A Cappella Books. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-55652-425-7.
5. Tumpak, John R. (2008). When Swing Was the Thing: Personality Profiles of the Big Band Era. Marquette University Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-87462-024-5.
6. "The Los Angeles Times". The Los Angeles Times. Local News: 1. May 8, 1958.
7. "Variety". Variety: 63. November 23, 1955.
8. "The Spokesman-Review". The Spokesman-Review: 2. September 21, 1956.
9. "The Los Angeles Times". The Los Angeles Times. Local News: 1. November 13, 1957.
10. Macfarlane, Malcolm. "Bing Crosby - Day By Day". BING magazine. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
11. Gramophone 2003- Volume 81 - Page 122 "Crosby brought a jazzman's phrasing and sense of improvisation to much of what he did, whether in the company of Armstrong or a non-specialist jazz group like the Buddy Cole Trio whose album, New Tricks, exemplifies his relaxed approach...
12. Giddins, Gary (2004). Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century. Oxford University Press. p. 459. ISBN 978-0-19-515607-2.
13. Whitehead, Kevin (2020). Play the Way You Feel: The Essential Guide to Jazz Stories on Film. Oxford University Press. pp. 97–100. ISBN 978-0-19-084757-9.

External links

• Buddy Cole recordings at the Internet Archive