Red Perkins

{{About||the former NBA player|Warren Perkins|the country singer|Red Perkins (country singer)}}

{{Infobox musical artist |

| name = Red Perkins

| image =

| caption =

| alt =

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| birth_name = Frank Shelton Perkins

| birth_date = {{birth date|1890|12|26}}

| birth_place = Muchakinock, Iowa United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|1976|9|27|1890|12|26}}

| death_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota United States

| instrument = Trumpet

| genre = Jazz music
Big band

| occupation = Bandleader
Musician

| years_active =

| label = Gennett Records

| associated_acts = Red Perkins and His Dixie Ramblers

| website =

| past_members =

}}

Frank Shelton "Red" Perkins (December 26, 1890 – September 27, 1976){{cite web|title=Frank S. Perkins - Minnesota Death Index|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4WB-D8V|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=20 February 2016|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303135420/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4WB-D8V|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Frank Perkins - United States Social Security Death Index|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J1TZ-12K|website=FamilySearch|accessdate=20 February 2016|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303144336/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J1TZ-12K|url-status=live}} was an American jazz trumpet player, singer, and bandleader. Perkins led of one of the oldest Omaha, Nebraska-based jazz territory bands, The Dixie Ramblers,{{cite book|last1=Breaux|first1=Richard M.|editor1-last=Glasrud|editor1-first=Bruce A.|editor2-last=Wintz|editor2-first=Cary D.|title=The Harlem Renaissance in the American West: The New Negro's Western Experience|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-1-136-64911-0|pages=125–126|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/784953356|accessdate=20 February 2016|chapter=The New Negro Renaissance in Omaha and Lincoln, 1910-1940|oclc=784953356|archive-date=5 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705201608/http://www.worldcat.org/title/harlem-renaissance-in-the-american-west-the-new-negros-western-experience/oclc/784953356/viewport|url-status=live}} and saw his greatest period of success in the 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Perkins, who was African-American, was born in Muchakinock, Iowa, a coal mining camp near Oskaloosa, Iowa. As an adult, Perkins moved from Oskaloosa to Fort Dodge, Iowa.

In 1917, Perkins moved with his wife and child to Omaha, Nebraska. He got a job as a porter at a barber shop and worked there from 1917 to 1925.

Career

File:The Dixie Ramblers.jpg

In 1923, Perkins took over the Omaha Night Owls jazz band and renamed them the Dixie Ramblers. Perkins based his band in Omaha's Near North Side. It was a small band with six players but several of the musicians doubled on different instruments. The Dixie Ramblers quickly grew into a medium-sized jazz territory band.{{cite book|last1=Walker|first1=Leo|title=The Big Band Almanac|date=1989|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=New York, N.Y.|isbn=978-0-306-80345-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bigbandalmanac00walke/page/340 340–341]|edition=Revised|url=https://archive.org/details/bigbandalmanac00walke/page/340|accessdate=20 February 2016|oclc=18873553}}

The National Orchestra Service booked the band from 1923 into the 1940s. In 1932, he joined with harmonica player O.P. Alexander and they performed on radio station WFAA until 1934. Perkins and his band were signed by RCA Victor in 1936 and later released music on Gennett Records. The band cut more than 250 sides of records. The band played in ballrooms, theaters, and hotels in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

One of the Dixie Rambler's most famous songs was "Hard Times Stomp."{{cite book|last1=Schuller|first1=Gunther|title=The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945|date=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-195-07140-5|page=787|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/895744417|accessdate=20 February 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302110256/http://www.worldcat.org/title/swing-era-the-development-of-jazz-1930-1945/oclc/895744417/viewport|archivedate=2 March 2016|chapter=The Territory Bands|oclc=25637133}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=6EZ2TDuGEOkC&dq=%22red+perkins%22+%22dixie+ramblers%22&pg=PA787 Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311015121/https://books.google.com/books?id=6EZ2TDuGEOkC&lpg=PA787&dq=%22red%20perkins%22%20%22dixie%20ramblers%22&pg=PA787#v=onepage&q=%22red%20perkins%22%20%22dixie%20ramblers%22&f=false |date=2023-03-11 }} The jazz band was known for its variety acts and floor shows.{{cite web|title=The Dixie Ramblers|url=http://historyharvest.unl.edu/items/show/740|website=History Harvest: Great Plains Black History Museum|publisher=University of Nebraska, Lincoln|accessdate=20 February 2016|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305020619/http://historyharvest.unl.edu/items/show/740|url-status=live}}

Perkins' bookings were handled by National Orchestra Service of Omaha, Nebraska.{{cite book|last1=Lee|first1=William F.|title=American Big Bands|date=2005|publisher=Leonard|location=Milwaukee, Wis.|isbn=978-0-634-08054-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/americanbigbands00leew/page/93 93]|edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/details/americanbigbands00leew/page/93|accessdate=20 February 2016|oclc=62090862}}

Personal life

Towards the end of the big band era in the late 1940s, Perkins moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and became a professional photographer. He died September 27, 1976, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Selected discography

During the 1920s and 1930s, the Dixie Ramblers recorded for Gennett Records.

Red Perkins and His Dixie Ramblers

: Frank "Red" Perkins (t, as, ss, v) dir. Joe Drake (t, cl, ts, arr), Andre C. Oglesby (tb), Jesse Simmons (cl, as, ts), Howard Fields (p), Charles “Goodie” Watkins (bjo, gtr), Eugene Freels (t, bb), Harry Rooks (d-x), trio (v).