Brother Bones
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Brother Bones
| image =
| caption =
| image_size =
| birth_name = Freeman Davis
| birth_date = {{birth date|1902|10|04}}
| birth_place = Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1974|06|14|1902|10|04}}
| death_place = Long Beach, California, United States
| instrument = whistling, bone, knives, spoons
| genre = popular songs
| occupation = Musician, dancer, actor, shoeshiner
| years_active = 1940s–1950s
| past_member_of = Scatman Crothers, The Shadows
| website =
}}
File:Sweet Georgia Brown Tempo Lable Recorded by Brother Bones and His Shadows.PNG label, recorded by Brother Bones and His Shadows]]
Freeman Davis (October 4, 1902 – June 14, 1974[http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/newentrees.html Thedeadrockstrasclub.com - accessed January 2010]) was an American whistling and bone playing recording artist best known by his stage names "Brother Bones" and "Whistling Sam".
Early life
Freeman Davis was born in Montgomery, Alabama.
Career
Davis is best remembered for his 1949 recording (as Brother Bones and His Shadows) of the 1925 standard "Sweet Georgia Brown".{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oPuMQx9GZVcC&pg=PA413|title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire|last=Gioia|first=Ted|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|isbn=9780199769155|location=New York|pages=413|language=en}} The recording became nationally famous after its adoption as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in 1952. Notably, the bass line for this track uses the Novachord, a very early electronic synthesizer more prominently featured on the B side of the record. Despite the success of this record, Davis himself remained relatively unknown.{{Citation needed|date=May 2013}}
Death
Davis died in June 1974, in Long Beach, California, at the age of 71. Davis was buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park, Compton, Los Angeles County, California.{{Cite news |last=Jackson-Fossett |first=Cora |date=February 2, 2022 |title=Praises to God Highlight Grand Opening of Woodlawn Celestial Gardens |url=https://lasentinel.net/praises-to-god-highlight-grand-opening-of-woodlawn-celestial-gardens.html |work=Los Angeles Sentinel}}
Popular culture
His song, "Black Eyed Susan Brown", was sampled in the De La Soul song, "Pease Porridge", on their 1991 album, De La Soul Is Dead.
"Sweet Georgia Brown" was used in the Vauxhall Meriva television advertisement in the UK.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=88361996 Freeman "Brother Bones" Davis (1902–1974) – Find A Grave Memorial]
- [http://www.whistlingrecords.net/78/Brother_Bones/index.htm Recordings of Brother Bones] at the Online Guide to Whistling Records
- [http://www.bonedrymusic.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=104%2DACMCD4081&Show=ExtInfo Who is Brother Bones?] on BoneDryMusic.com
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Category:20th-century African-American musicians
Category:20th-century American musicians
Category:American percussionists
Category:Musicians from Montgomery, Alabama
Category:Tempo Records (US) artists
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