Scat Man Crothers was a multi-talented entertainer of the old school. In addition to acting, he sang, danced, did comedy and played a number of musical instruments, including drums, ukulele and guitar. Born Benjamin Sherman Crothers on May 23, 1910, at fifteen he got a job playing drums in a local speakeasy. Four years later he was touring the Midwest and wound up in Dayton, Ohio, where he found a job on radio station WFMK, where his style of singing earned him the name Scat Man. His career gained momentum in 1943 with a booking at Chicago’s Capitol Lounge, and from there, he was off to Hollywood and Billy Berg’s famous Swing Club. Things slowed down after the war, until he recorded “Dead Man’s Blues” for Capitol in 1948, the same year he became the first black performer to host a TV Program in Los Angeles. Playing as a single at the Oasis club, his big break came in 1952 when producer Albert J. Cohen offered him a part in his upcoming movie, Meet Me at the Fair, which started Crother’s extensive film career, including such classics as The Shining and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. But TV was where Crothers really found fame, beginning with Disney’s The Aristocats. Until his death in 1986, he participated on countless shows, a work which earned him a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Billy Vera contributes a well-documented 20-page booklet...........
CD 1
01. Fine
02. Shoo Shoo Baby
03. One O'Clock Jump
04. Riff’s Blues
05. The Thing
06. Mabel the Lush
07. Dead Man's Blues
08. Have You Got the Gumption (To Make the Assumption)
09. Just Lookin'
10. Blue-Eyed Sally
11. I'm the Only Man (The Buscuit Song)
13. I'd Rather Be a Hummingbird
14. Chattanoogie Shoe-Shine Boy
15. Wondering
16. Exactly Like You
17. It's You
18. Keep It Hot
19. Unemployment Blues
20. Shuffleboard Blues
21. I'd Rather Be a Rooster (With a Flock of Chicks)
22. Television Blues
23. Beale Street on a Saturday Night
24. King Berman's Stomp
25. A-Gruntin' and A-Groanin' (TheWrestler’s Song)
26. Free Samples
27. Just Like Two Drops ofWater
CD 2
01. Elaine
02. Man, Have I Got Troubles
03. It's a Sin to Tell a Lie
04. Hot Rod Harry (The Coolest Cat In Town)
05. Hot Rod Cowboy
06. Saturday Night Drag Race, Part 1
07. Saturday Night Drag Race, Part 2
08. Papa (I Don't Treat That Little Girl Mean)
9. I Like Your Mother Better
10. Easy Money [Mastertake]
11. Easy Money [Alternate take]
12. Waiting for My Baby
13. Beale Street on Saturday Night
14. Walkin' My Baby Back Home
15. Honeysuckle Rose
16. On The Sunny Side of the Street
17. A Smile Will Go a Long Way
18. Keep That Coffee Hot
19. Dearest One
20. Pork 'N' Beans
21. When OhWhen
22. Do You Love Me?
23. Sweet Lips (Jazz Lips)
24. Waitin' for My Baby (Savoy Blues)
25. The Death of Emmett Till, Part 1
26. The Death of Emmett Till, Part 2
