tr, cor, 1905-1965 US, Ogden, Utah
Musician / Composer of Jazz and Pop
A.k.a. Ernest Loring Nichols
Red Nichols (born May 8, 1905, Ogden, Utah, USA – died June 28, 1965, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader. Jazz legend Red Nichols was perhaps one of the most prolific recording artists in history. In the 1920s alone the cornetist appeared on over 4,000 recordings, working with almost every important musician of his time. Though his style of playing was influenced by Bix Beiderbecke, Nichols was a better, more polished musician. His contribution to the early days of jazz cannot be overstated. Few artists can even come close to equaling his accomplishments. Nichols studied music under his father, a college music professor, and mastered a variety of instruments, though he favored the cornet. As a teen he attended the Culver Military Academy and played in its band before being dismissed. Returning home to Utah he worked in various pit orchestras, joining Ray Stillson in 1922. Later that year he left Stillson for a Midwestern ensemble called the Syncopating Five, a seven-piece group which was later billed as the Royal Palms Orchestra, and toured across country with them. In 1923 Nichols settled in New York, where he met trombonist Miff Mole, who became a permanent fixture in Nichol's various groups. Nichols most famously recorded under the name Red Nichols And His Five Pennies, but the same group of musicians also recorded under many different pseudonyms, including the Louisiana Rhythm Kings, the Charleston Seven, the Arkansas Travelers, Miff Mole's Molers, the Hottentots, and the Red Heads. The list of top musicians who worked with Nichols is long. They include Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden, Pee Wee Russell, Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, Adrian Rollini, and Gene Krupa. During the 1920's Nichols also led pit orchestras for two George Gershwin Broadway shows, Girl Crazy and Strike Up the Band, and played with a variety of other bandleaders, including Paul Whiteman, Donald Voorhees, Cass Hagan, Vincent Lopez (2), Henry Halstead, Ross Gorman, Harry Reser, and Bennie Krueger, as well as with the group the California Ramblers. In the 1930's Nichols formed his own big band, which appeared on both Bob Hope's radio program and the Kellogg College Prom in addition to regular broadcasts from Cleveland's Golden Pheasant restaurant. Vocalists were Frances Stevens, Ernie Mathias, and Tony Sacco (3). Around 1940 Nichols took advantage of the swing craze and updated his sound, though he still featured a Dixieland base. The new band recorded for Bluebird (3), with Bill Darnell and Harry Jaeger providing vocals. The orchestra sounded promising when it debuted but soon floundered. By 1941 it featured an entirely new line-up, including a Wee Bonnie Baker sound-alike by the name of Penny Banks. After a few failed dates in Boston, Nichols gave up the band, selling it to Anson Weeks in 1942. Nichols briefly found work as a member of the Casa Loma Orchestra before retiring to Hollywood, where he led several small groups throughout the rest of the 1940's and into the 1950's. The highly-fictional 1959 biographical film The Five Pennies, starring Danny Kaye (2), brought renewed interest in his career and prompted Nichols to put together a new Five Pennies.
Track list and 30sec audio provided by
Title | Artist | Year | Type |
---|---|---|---|
The Complete Brunswick Recordings Of Red Nichols: Volumes 1, 2 & 3 | Red Nichols | 2011 | Compil. |
The Complete Brunswick Recordings Of Red Nichols: Volumes 4, 5 & 6 | Red Nichols | 2011 | Compil. |
The Complete Brunswick Recordings Of Red Nichols: Volumes 7, 8 & 9 | Red Nichols | 2011 | Compil. |
Riverboat Shuffle | Red Nichols | 2008 | Compil. |
The Discovery Of Jazz | Red Nichols | 2004 | Compil. |
1929 | Red Nichols | 2003 | Compil. |
Morning Glory | Red Nichols | 2001 | Compil. |
Red Nichols And His Pennies | Red Nichols | 1999 | Album |
Wail Of The Winds | Red Nichols | 1998 | Compil. |
Strike Up The Band | Red Nichols | 1998 | Compil. |
Red Nichols & Miff Mole, 1925-1927 | Red Nichols & Miff Mole | 1998 | Compil. |
Great Original Performances - 1925 To 1930 | Red Nichols And Miff Mole | 1994 | Compil. |
New York Jazz In The Roaring Twenties | Tommy Dorsey, Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey | 1994 | Compil. |
Original 1929 Recordings | Red Nichols | 1991 | Album |
The Roaring Twenties And All That Jazz | California Ramblers Featuring The Dorsey Brothers, Red Nichols | 1991 | Compil. |
1923-1931 | Red Nichols, Phil Napoleon | 1990 | Compil. |
Red & Ben | Ben Pollack, Red Nichols | 1988 | Compil. |
Together Again | Bing Crosby And Red Nichols | 1988 | Album |
Feelin' no Pain | Red Nichols | 1987 | Compil. |
Great Original Performances - 1925 To 1930 | Red Nichols And Miff Mole | 1987 | Compil. |
Black And Tan Fantasy / Wabash Blues | Duke Ellington And His Orchestra / The Charleston Chasers Under The Dir. Of Red Nichols | 1986 | Album |
Volume 5 | Red Nichols | 1986 | Compil. |
New York Horns (1923-1931) | Red Nichols & Phil Napoleon | 1986 | Compil. |
Real Rare Red - Volume II: The Acoustical Years 1925-1927 | Red Nichols | 1984 | Compil. |
Volume 4 | Red Nichols | 1984 | Compil. |
1929 - 1931 | Jack Teagarden With Red Nichols | 1983 | Compil. |
Red & Miff (1926-1931) | Red Nichols And Miff Mole | 1982 | Compil. |
The Greatest Recordings Of The Big Band Era | Gene Krupa / Wayne King / Red Nichols / Will Osborne | 1981 | Compil. |
Volume 3 | Red Nichols | 1980 | Compil. |
Real Rare Red | Red Nichols | 1980 | Compil. |
The Sounds Of New York Vol. 4 (1924-1930) | Red Nichols | 1980 | Compil. |
The Legendary Earl Baker Cylinders 1926 - Red Nichols Radio Transcriptions 1929-30 | Earl Baker, Red Nichols | 1979 | Compil. |
Red Nichols with Sam Lanin's Orchestra | Red Nichols | 1978 | Compil. |
Jazz In a Vertical Groove | Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, Phil Napoleon, Miff Mole | 1977 | Compil. |
Sessions, Live | Red Nichols / Firehouse Five Plus Two | 1976 | Album |
Volume 1 | Red Nichols | 1976 | Compil. |
Sessions, Live | Red Nichols, Firehouse Five Plus Two | 1976 | Album |
Early Red Nichols 1925-1927 | Red Nichols | 1975 | Compil. |
1925-28: The Redheads - We Three - Sam Lanin - The Six Hottentots | Red Nichols | 1973 | Compil. |
Jazz Panorama Of The Twenties Vol. 2 | Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey & Red Nichols | 1971 | Compil. |
1925-1928 | The Charleston Chasers With Miff Mole, Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, Fud Livingston | 1970 | Compil. |
Golden Age Of Jazz | Red Nichols | 1962 | Compil. |
Drum Crazy (The Gene Krupa Story) | Gene Krupa With Anita O'Day And Red Nichols | 1960 | Album |
The Best Of Red Nichols | Red Nichols | 1959 | Compil. |
Meet The Five Pennies | Red Nichols | 1959 | Album |
Selmer Sampler | Red Nichols | 1959 | Single |
A Five Pennies Sampler | Red Nichols | 1959 | Single |
Lullaby In Ragtime / Battle Hymn Of The Republic | Danny Kaye - Eileen Wilson / Red Nichols - Louis Armstrong | 1959 | Single |
The Immortal Louis Armstrong | Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Joe Venuti, Barney Bigard, Earl Hines, Red Nichols, Eddie Condon | 1951 | Compil. |
A Handful Of Stars / Singin' The Blues / Dancing On The Ceiling | Ray Noble And His Orchestra / Bobby Hackett And His Orchestra / Red Nichols | 1947 | Album |
Birth Of The Blues | Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, Phil Harris, Red Nichols | 1938 | Album |
New York Jazz Of The Roaring 20's | Red Nichols And Miff Mole | Album | |
Thesaurus Of Classic Jazz Volume 3 | Red Nichols And The Charleston Chasers | Compil. | |
Kansas City, Kansas | Red Nichols | Album | |
Jazz Gallery | Red Nichols | Single | |
Great Jazz of 1930 | Rube Bloom And His Bayou Boys, Red Nichols, Gil Rodin | Compil. | |
A Red Nichols Story Vol. 1 | Red Nichols | Single | |
A Red Nichols Story - Volume 2 | Red Nichols | Single | |
The Five Pennies - Part 1 | Danny Kaye, Louis Armstrong, Red Nichols | Single | |
Red Nichols' Pennies Class of '39 | Red Nichols | Album | |
Delirium / I'm Coming, Virginia | The Charleston Chasers Under The Dir. Of Red Nichols / Fletcher Henderson And His Orchestra | Album |