Herb Wiedoeft

Herbert Arthur Wiedoeft (22 November 1886 – 12 May 1928) was a German-American band leader in California in the 1920s.

Herb Wiedoeft
Herb Wiedoeft Band
Background information
Born22 November 1886
Germany
Died12 May 1928(1928-05-12) (aged 41)
Medford, Oregon, United States
GenresBig band

Career

Wiedoeft was born in Germany and came to the United States with his parents as a child.[1] Wiedoeft came from a family of gifted musicians and was encouraged by his father. His brothers Gerhardt and Adolph (nicknamed "Gay" and "Ad" respectively) played as sidemen in his band, Gerhardt on string bass and Adolph on percussion and xylophone. Another brother, Rudy Wiedoeft was a saxophone player during the late ragtime and early jazz era.[2][3] Their sister, Erica, was a pianist.[4][5] Herbert himself played the trumpet.[6]

Wiedoeft started his first orchestra before 1915.[1] His band played for several years at the Cinderella Roof Ballroom at Sixth and Olive in downtown Los Angeles. The band's theme song "Cinderella Blues" came from the name of this venue.[3] The band recorded four songs for the Nordskog label in 1922.[7] The band gained a recording contract with Brunswick Records, toured in Chicago and New York and earned a national reputation. Their first record for Brunswick was "Cinderella Blues"/ "Shine",[3][8] the latter being the first recording of the song that had Lew Brown's revised lyrics.[8] Clyde Lucas, who went on to form his own popular band in the 1930s and 1940s, started out as a singer and trombonist in the Herb Wiedoeft orchestra.[9]

Wiedoeft died in a car accident in Medford, Oregon, on 12 May 1928, when his car skidded off the Medford-Klamath Falls highway.[2] The trombonist Jesse Stafford took over the band, and released another 13 sides on Brunswick records under the name of the Jesse Stafford Orchestra.[2][10]

Discography

A partial list of Brunswick recordings:[10]

TitleComposersRecordingSerial
DateLocation
Beale Street BluesW.C. Handy5-20-1924Los Angeles, California2795-A
Beside A Sunny StreamMoret / Black5-1925Los Angeles, California2893-A
Cinderella BluesNorman Spencer / Herb Wiedoeft8-14-1923San Francisco, California2542-A
Chimes BluesGene Rose / Johnson / Jesse Stafford5-11-1924Los Angeles, California2647-B
ClementineBrown10-21-1924Los Angeles, California2730-B
Deep ElmWillard Robison / Clay10-14-1925Chicago, Illinois2982-B
Everything Is Hotsy Totsy Now (Vocal chorus by Clyde Lucas)Jimmy McHugh / Irving Mills5-1925Los Angeles, California2916-A
From Day To DayThompson / Wiedoeft / Rose10-21-1924Los Angeles, California2730-A
Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine5-7-1924Los Angeles, California2660
Hard Hearted HannahYellen / Bigelow / Bates10-21-1924St. Louis, Missouri2751-B
He's Just A Horn-Tootin' FoolLou Davis / Henry Busse / Ross Gorman5-1925Los Angeles, California2916-B
Hoodoo ManBrown8-8-1924Los Angeles, California2627-A
Hot StuffJackson / Herb Wiedoeft / Gene Rose / Jesse Stafford10-21-1924St. Louis, Missouri2781-B
If It Wasn't For YouBerg / Fields / Herb Wiedoeft / Gene Rose10-21-1924Los Angeles, California2781-A
I Want You All For MeFisher / Miller / Cohen10-14-1925Los Angeles, California2982-A
Maple Leaf RagScott Joplin10-21-1924St. Louis, Missouri2795-B
Monte Carlo Moon10-21-1924St. Louis, Missouri2751-A
Moonlight MemoriesRose / Terriss5-11-1924Los Angeles, California2647-A
Oh, Peter! You're So NiceHerb Wiedoeft / Gene Rose / Jesse Stafford8-8-1924Los Angeles, California2627-B
Promenade WalkGrey / Goodman / Rubens / Coots10-12-1925Los Angeles, California2976
Roamin' AroundHerb Wiedoeft / Sonny Clay / Jesse Stafford5-1925Los Angeles, California2893-B
Shinearranged by Herb Wiedoeft8-14-1923San Francisco, California2542-B
Stack O'Lee BluesRay Lopez / Lew Coswell5-14-1924Los Angeles, California2660

Works
  • Herbert Wiedoeft (1926). "The Development of Jazz". Metronome. 4 (73).

References
  1. "The Herb Wiedoeft/Jesse Stafford Orchestra 1922-1930". DialSpace. Archived from the original on 2011-06-22. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
  2. Gracyk & Hoffmann 2000, pp. 380
  3. "Dismuke's Hit of the Week!". Dismuke. May 26, 2005. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
  4. Smith 1989, pp. 57
  5. Pool 2008, pp. 32
  6. "Herb Wiedoeft | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  7. "Herb Wiedoeft: BIOGRAPHY". Solid!. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
  8. Brooks & Spottswood 2004, pp. 397,408
  9. "Clyde Lucas and his California Dons". Big Bands Database Plus. Archived from the original on June 4, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  10. "Herb Wiedoeft's Cinderella Roof Orchestra". Red Hot Jazz. Retrieved 2020-12-06.

Bibliography for references

Herb Wiedoeft's Cinderella Roof Orchestra at the Red Hot Jazz Archive

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