Charles Luckyth Roberts (August 7, 1887 – February 5, 1968),[2] better known as Luckey Roberts, was an American composer and stride pianist who worked in the jazz, ragtime, and blues styles. Roberts performed as musician, band/orchestra conductor, and dancer. He taught music and dance. He also owned a restaurant and bar in New York City and in Washington, D.C. Luckey Roberts noted compositions include "Junk Man Rag", "Moonlight Cocktail",[3] "Pork and Beans" (1913),[4] and "Railroad Blues".[5]
Luckey Roberts | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Charles Luckyth Roberts[1] |
Born | [1] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1] | August 7, 1887
Died | February 5, 1968[1] New York City, U.S.[1] | (aged 80)
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, dancer, entertainer, orchestra and band director, instructor, restaurant and bar proprietor |
Instrument(s) | Piano |
Spouse(s) | Lena Sanford Roberts
(m. 1911; died 1958) |
Charles Luckyth Roberts | |
---|---|
Born | [1] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1] | August 7, 1887
Died | February 5, 1968[1] New York City, U.S.[1] | (aged 80)
Burial place | Frederick Douglass Memorial Gardens in Bay Terrace on Staten Island, New York. |
Other names | Charles Luckeyth Roberts C. Luckeyth Roberts Luckey Roberts Lucky Roberts |
Spouse | Lena Sanford Roberts
(m. 1911; died 1958) |
Relatives | William L. Roberts (father) Elizabeth Williams (mother) |
Luckey Roberts was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States,[2] and was playing piano and acting professionally with traveling Vaudeville and Negro minstrel shows in his childhood. His father, William Roberts, an unaccredited self-taught veterinarian, was overwhelmed by the responsibility of single-parenthood when his mother, Elizabeth Williams Roberts, tragical died just three weeks after his birth. His father engaged the Ringolds, a show-business family, to raise him. With the Ringolds influence, he became a lifelong Quaker, teetotaler (Teetotalism), and abstained from using tobacco.[6][8] His first stage performance was as a toddler with a troupe performing Uncle Tom's Cabin.[8] His vaudeville career began at age 5.[9]
By the age of 7, he had taught himself to play piano, but only in the key of F-sharp, which is based on the black keys. As a child, he was paid to sing and dance with Gus Sulky (sometimes spelled Gus Selke[8]) and his Pickaninnies in theater work as a picaninny.[6] His father was involved in his childhood, ensuring his health and happiness. One biographer reports: "One night his father saw him perform for the first time dressed only in a raffia shirt. Enraged, Roberts Sr. stopped the show. The packed house roared, thinking the scene was part of the show."[7]
Reconciliation was made, and Roberts' father financed a visit to Lonnie Hicks (Hoofers Club), a leading ragtime pianist, who Roberts later credited with mentoring his early career in music. Roberts also performed with Mayme Remington's Black Buster Brownies Ethiopian Prodigies. For about a 10-year period, Roberts toured Europe three times in addition to many USA performances which showcased his childhood talents of singing, dancing, tumbling, and juggling. Mayme Remington's troupe paid him $1.25 weekly plus room and board and tutoring (from the team Prevost, Rice & Prevost),[8] and sent his father $5 weekly for five years.[7] Roberts accompanied the drum corps at Philadelphia's First Regiment Armoury one summer.[6]
Roberts performed at Billy William's restaurant, in Baltimore, Maryland, in the summer of 1905. Roberts took fighting lessons from Joe Gans, a former lightweight champion boxer. During this time he and pianist Eubie Blake, a lifelong friend, at Joe Gans's saloon, collaborated on ideas for piano composition.[6] During another vacation from annual vaudeville touring, he performed at the Green Dragon saloon in Philadelphia.[6]
Roberts settled in New York City about 1910. He became one of the leading pianists in Harlem and started publishing some of his original rags, assisted by Artie Matthews although he regularly won cutting contests he was still learning how to annotate music:[2]
On December 28, 1911, he married his lifelong partner Lena Sanford Roberts, a musical comedy actress, who he met while they were traveling with J. Leubrie Hill in the My Friend from Dixie company.[9] Lena frequently performed as a soloist in Roberts's bands in the Harlem Renaissance and throughout his career.
In 1911, Roberts composed "The Junk Man Rag", but since he could not yet notate music, he elicited ragtime pianist Artie Matthews's help to create publishable sheet music.[6] In 1913, "The Junk Man Rag," a one-step, with lyrics Chris Smith and Ferd Mierisch, for Turkey Trot Opera written by Will Marion Cook.[15] "The Junk Man Rag" was subsequently published both as an instrumental (piano) solo and as a song (with lyrics by Chris Smith (composer) (1879–1949) and Ferd E. Mierisch (fl. 1911–1914), by Jos. W. Stern & Co., 102-104 W. 38th St., N.Y., 1913[16] Roberts sheet music was often annotated as being 'simplified' since the complex ornamentation and decoration that he and the other ragtime performers embellished into their pieces were not easily scored or played by others. Fortunately, there are existing recordings and piano rolls of Roberts and contemporaries performing "The Junk Man Rag":
A complete analysis of Roberts work would therefore necessarily entail an in-depth analysis of the published scores, a study of any existing piano rolls (which don't always capture the dynamics) and recordings (which at the time had difficulty capturing rapid embellishments), as well as a consideration of interviews and contemporary commentary which give insight into the performance improvisation and reading the room whether for stage performance, a cutting competition, or private dance entertainment.
Roberts next big hit was "Pork and Beans", annotated as a One-Step or Two-Step and recognized as a Fox Trot, and an early example of Stride (music) style.[23] Some notable recordings of "Pork and Beans" exist at the Library of Congress and on YouTube:
From 1911 to 1919, among other work, Roberts served as the music director with producers Homer Tutt and Salem Tutt Whitney in their Southern Smart Set Company, an off-broadway troupe, that produced the Smart Set musical comedy[30] [8] Together they formed the Roberts & Tutts Publishing Company, 110 West 130th St. New York City, and some of Robert's compositions were published as sheet music from Smart Set Company musical comedies. Tutt Brothers hired Roberts to write some musical comedies:
These successes led to a series of very popular compositions by Roberts for solo piano and song (vocalist and piano):
In 1913, through the encouragement of Lester Walton, Roberts teamed up with lyricist Alex Rogers to produce Broadway musicals, many of which resulted in subsequent publication of popular sheet music. Roberts successful partnership with Rogers lasted until 1930 when Rogers died.[7]
For many years, Roberts held side jobs: doubled as a pool hustler, taught music and dance, and taught boxing and swimming at the YMCA.[6]
During World War I, he served with the 369th Infantry Regiment (United States) "Hellfighters" platoon and band.[8][42] Roberts toured France and the UK with James Reese Europe during World War I.[2]
Notable war-themed works:
Through these associations he became an occasional performer for the Vernon and Irene Castle dance team.[8]
When Roberts returned to New York where he wrote music for various shows and recorded piano rolls.[8]
With James P. Johnson, Roberts developed the stride piano style of playing about 1919. Roberts' reach on the keyboard was unusually large (he could reach a fourteenth), leading to a rumor that he had the webbing between his fingers surgically cut, which those who knew him and saw him play live denounce as false; Roberts simply had naturally large hands with wide finger spread.[2]
Roberts was the orchestra director of Shuffle Inn (165 West 131st Street, New York), named after hit musical revue Shuffle Along, by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, a venue that opened in November 1921 and was managed by Jack Goldberg. [47] In 1923, the Shuffle Inn moved to basement next door to the Lafayette Theatre and was renamed Connie's Inn.
Roberts 1920s hit "Railroad Blues", a fox trot, was published and recorded for solo piano, as a song with vocalist and piano, and as an orchestration. In "Railroad Blues", Roberts mimics the sounds of a train using his stride (music) techniques:
His other 1920s notable solo works with various lyricists include:
In the 1920s Roberts toured with, Luckey Roberts and His 12 Browns on Vaudeville.[8]
In 1920, Roberts and Alex Rogers started the publishing company, Rogers & Roberts at 386 Cumberland Street in Brooklyn, at first releasing songs from their musical comedy Baby Blues.[8] Throughout the 1920s, Roberts composed music and co-wrote Broadway musicals, generally credited with contributing to 23 musicals,[52] as well as radio comedy shows. Many of their successful numbers were performed by famous show celebrities include They wrote successful numbers for such famous show folk as Molly Williams, Nora Bayes, Bert Williams, Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker, and Marie Cahill.[7]
Alex Rogers and Roberts wrote all the material for the radio comedy show Two Black Crows, featuring Moran and Mack, broadcast every Sunday night at 9 p.m. over station WABC for several months. They collaborated to write the sketch. Roberts played piano solos and Alex Rogers played a character in the skit.[7][9] A few recordings are available online as audio files at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Library:
Among the hit singles with music by Roberts and lyrics by Rogers were:
The Library of Congress National Jukebox archive and the University of California San Diego's Discography of American Historical Recordings Collection include a number of routines written by Rogers and Roberts. These are often performed by Rogers with Roberts accompanying on piano. Eddie Hunter, a comedian and the star of Broadway show How Come recorded and sold several commercially.
Having been introduced to Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. by Will Marion Cook, Roberts composed numbers for Bert Williams, then the star of the Ziegfeld Follies.[30]
Roberts created and performed "Midnight Frolic Glide", the finale of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.'s two-season (1916–1917) Follies, that clicked on the New Amsterdam Roof.[7] A recording (Victor 35645-A, recorded July 2, 1917, Conway's Band, Patrick Conway, Conductor) includes "Midnight Frolic - Medley Fox Trot" likely this piece,[74] although generally the entire show music is credited to David Stamper.
The records are scarce for determining exactly which comedy routines written by Roberts and Rogers were performed in the Ziegfeld Follies by comedians like Bert Williams and Eddie Cantor, but their comedy sketches featuring Eddie Hunter are representative. For example, Bert Williams performed "Elder Eatmore's Sermon".
Around August 1927, Florenz Ziegfeld hired Rogers and Roberts to select and work with a chorus of 40 performers for Show Boat.[66]
In 1924, Luckey accepted an elite social-function gig at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, a resort for New York Society "snowbirds". He moved his band seasonally to Palm Beach to accept the many requests for private entertainment for their various social functions.[23] At the time, he charged about $1,700 for a single engagement, and his musicians were among the highest paid in the profession.[7] It was noted in that the foxtrot and the Charleston were commonly danced at these parties.[75] Elmer Snowden, a banjo player in Robert's group, recalled playing for millionaires as late as 1935 to 1939.[6] Although Society was hit hard by the Great Depression, Roberts, admired for his generosity, was resilient and reported to have anonymously given away Christmas baskets during the hardest years.[6]
Roberts performed in Palm Beach and New York City Society Dinner Parties.[76] Roberts frequently helped New York Society ladies with charity entertainment both by performing at charity events[77][78][79] and by instructing society ladies in dance for their own benefit performances.[75] [80]
More than 100 guests was a dinner-dance enjoyed Roberts playing in the dining salon and then on the top deck of the floating hotel, Amphitrite, at a party given by Mrs. James Deering in honor of Princess Rospigliosi.[81] In addition to playing the piano and leading his band, Roberts would sometimes dance for guests, with mentions of such at parties of Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt 2d particularly noted in newspapers.[82]
Throughout his life, Roberts earned money through side occupations of dancing, playing pool, and giving instruction in music, dance, boxing, and swimming. The records of these engagements are scarce; however, the New York Times and the New York Daily News featured articles about his tutelage of the New York Society in dance, particularly to learn the Charleston. New York Society ladies, while at their summer homes in Palm Beach, were putting on a special charity event version of the Ziegfeld Follies, with Society Ladies performing alongside a few Ziegfeld girls in dance routines. Roberts was employed to teach dance to these members of the Social Registered Aristocracy.
Among his students were Mr. and Mrs. Joshua S. Cosden, Mrs. Louis G. Kaufman, Mrs. William K. Dick (Madeleine Force, the former widow Mrs. John Jacob Astor), Mrs. Theodore Frelinghuysen, Mr. and Mrs. Edward F. Hutton, Countess Salm, Mr. and Mrs. J. J. O'Brien, Florenz Ziegfeld, Billie Burke, wife of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Harold Vanderbilt, Mrs. A. J. Drexel Jr. and Major and Mrs. Barclay Warburton, Mrs. Frederick Frelinghuysen, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Breese, Mrs. Ernest Gagne, Rodman Wanamaker, Paris Singer, Mrs. Edward Shearson, Mrs. Gurne Munn, and Marilyn Miller.[75][82]
Roberts and returned to New York after the season, and resumed teaching society there alongside Paul Bass. Grace Robinson, of the New York Times wrote:
If the dulcet strains of "Magnolia," which afford the very best Charlestoning, float out of exclusive $40,000-a-year Fifth ave. apartments as you rattle by in a bus, you may know that Lucky Roberts and Paul Bass are still earning gin and baby shoes.[82]
Roberts relayed that Mrs. Louis G. Kaufman was his most proficient pupil, and was learning the 30 original Charleston steps and their 1000 variations, including the camel walk, the Charleston kick, the scissors step, and falling off the log and tap.
Roberts suggested that Palm Beach lessons were easier because the Palm Beachites practiced in bathing suits after their morning dip, a costume that "afforded freedom of movement". Roberts explained when the number called on dancers to "droop their knees" that the ladies "knocked their kneebones together almost as well as Paul or I could do it." Roberts is quoted:[82] "It takes a lot of patience to teach these here society folks," admits Lucky. "But once they get the swing of it, there's no stopping them."
Thirty years after composing the syncopated tune "Ripple of the Nile" (1912), which proved too difficult for most players of the day and was not copyrighted or published, Roberts drastically slowed the tempo around 1940 to teach it to a student. Realizing that it sounded good as a ballad, he collaborated with Kim Gannon to add lyrics and published it under a new title, "Moonlight Cocktail".[3][6][9]
MOONLIGHT COCKTAILS Couple of jiggers of moonlight and add a star Pour in the blue of a June night and one guitar Mix in a couple of dreamers and there you are Lovers hail the Moonlight Cocktail Now add a couple of flowers, a drop of dew Stir for a couple of hours 'til dreams come true Adds to the number of kisses, it's up to you Moonlight Cocktail, need a few Cool it in the summer breeze Serve it in the starlight underneath the trees You'll discover tricks like these Are sure to make your Moonlight Cocktail please Follow the simple directions and they will bring Life of another complexion where you'll be king You will awake in the morning and start to sing Moonlight Cocktails are the thing Follow the simple directions and they will bring Life of another complexion where you'll be king You will awake in the morning and start to sing Moonlight Cocktails are the thing
Glenn Miller and his orchestra performed the number first on New York's station WABC, and it rapidly became among top ten on Hit Parade.[7] "Moonlight Cocktail"[3] was recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra with vocal support by Ray Eberle and the Modernaires,[23] and was the best selling record in the United States for ten weeks in 1942. "Moonlight Cocktail" was the number one American song hit of World War II and sold over one million recordings by Bing Crosby and Glenn Miller.[7]
Its fast rise from No. 9 in March 1942 to No. 1 by May 1942 was celebrated by Variety (magazine), which hailed it as "No. 1 all over the nation"; Billboard (magazine), which gave it a leading position for several weeks; and New York Enquirer, which listed it as no. 1 in sheet music sales of the eastern states and the West Coast, and no. 2 in the Middle West.[7] "Moonlight Cocktail" became the song of wartime America.[7]
Through cards and letters, the armed forces voted Glenn Miller's recording of "Moonlight Cocktail" as No. 1 Hit of America, prompting an April 11, 1942 thank you from Glenn Miller.[7] Mary Martin sang it on-air radio for Hollywood to the armed forces of the nation on April 18, 1942; soon after many celebrities performed and recorded it, including Horace Heidt, Tommy Tucker (bandleader), Joe Reichman and his orchestra, Dolly Dawn and Her Dawn Patrol.[7]
Roberts remained an active composer and performer his entire life. Notable compositions from his later years:
Reportedly with the income he earned from the sales of "Moonlight Cocktail" and another semi-popular song "Massachusetts", Roberts opened Luckey's Rendezvous [Rendezvous Inn, Rendezvous Club],[23] (773 St. Nicholas Avenue) which quickly became an active as a venue for many styles of music, employing opera singers as waiters who also performed, jazz musicians, and a feature point of the evening entertainment being a solo piano performance by Roberts himself. He sold the venue in 1954.[47] It's been said that Roberts had big hands, and an even bigger heart. Rumor was that he gave away so many free drinks that the business eventually failed.[6]
Robert composed a classical, a three-movement Spanish Suite (1939), reworking earlier work "Spanish Fandango"[12] as a movement. "Spanish Suite" was performed with symphonic orchestra in his Carnegie Hall concert, August 1939.[83] Eleanore Roosevelt (Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt) was among his patrons.[7]
July 1, 1940, Roberts was severely injured in an automobile accident: his jaw, his right hand, and both feet were broken.[7]
Roberts composed "miniature syncopated rhapsody" for piano and orchestra called "Whistlin' Pete" (1941). Despite recent injuries and strokes, Roberts performed a full concert of his own compositions at the New York City Town Hall on May 28, 1941.[7][6]
On 18 January and 8 February 1946, Roberts performed as pianist with an all-star traditional jazz group for the first two shows in the radio series This Is Jazz; and the following he recorded "Railroad Blues" and his five durable compositions: "Ripples of the Nile," "Pork and Beans," "Shy and Sly," "Music Box Rag," and "Junk Man Rag" for Blesh's Circle label.[6]
His wife Lena Sanford Roberts passed away in 1958. In 1958, Roberts suffered a stroke shortly before recording an album, Harlem Piano Solos. Later, a second stroke impaired his control of his left hand.[6]
An astute businessman, Roberts became a millionaire twice through real estate dealings. He reportedly owned a bar in New York City and a restaurant in Washington, D. C. He was very generous throughout his life, and had paid for a medical library at Harlem Hospital.[6]
Very late in life, Roberts wrote two more musicals:
He passed away before they could be realized.
On February 5, 1968, Roberts died in New York City. He is buried at the Frederick Douglass Memorial Gardens in Bay Terrace on Staten Island, New York.[9]
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