Maurice Rocco

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Maurice Rocco
Maurice Rocco in 1944
Maurice Rocco in 1944
Background information
Birth nameMaurice John Rockhold
Born(1915-06-26)June 26, 1915
Oxford, Ohio, United States
DiedMarch 25, 1976(1976-03-25) (aged 60)
Bangkok, Thailand
Genres
  • jazz
  • stride piano
Years active1931–1974
Labels
  • Decca
  • Guild
  • Musicraft

Maurice Rocco (born Maurice John Rockhold; June 26, 1915 – March 24, 1976)[1] was an American pianist, singer, and composer known for playing boogie-woogie piano and his disdain for using a piano bench. He was a top nightclub and theater draw in the 1940s, and made several film appearances. He toured the United States, Canada, and Europe before becoming a fixture in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was murdered.

Biography

Maurice Rocco in 1960

Maurice Rockhold was born in 1915[2] in Oxford, Ohio to a music teacher mother.[3] His mother taught him piano starting at a young age,[4] but did not interfere with his interest in rhythm playing as long as he finished his lessons.[3]

He may have entered

Vogues of 1938 and 52nd Street.[3] He returned to New York to form his own band,[3] which included Alton Moore, Arville Harris, and Bobby Holmes among its members.[6] By the early 1940s he was no longer fronting a band, but was working as a solo act.[7]

Between 1940 and 1941 he cut 14 sides for Decca,

RCA Victor Records in 1949.[18]

In the early 1950s he made tours of Europe and Southeast Asia.[19] Alongside Slim Gaillard, he was in 1953 solicited to play a lead role in a film to be entitled "Two Joes from Georgia".[20] Rocco fell into legal difficulties in the 1950s regarding bad checks: he was jailed over Christmas 1957 in Cleveland,[21] and was accused of the same offense in July 1958.[22] He moved to Europe before spending the last 12–15 years of his life performing in Thailand,[23] where he had a residency at the Bamboo Bar in the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok.[24][25] He was found slashed to death in his apartment. The murder occurred on March 24, 1976. The murder weapon was his own Malaysian knife.[23] He is buried at Woodside Cemetery in Oxford.[2]

Performance style

Rocco was billed as "Maurice Rocco and His Rockin' Rhythm" in nightclubs and his recordings.

Billboard described his playing as "Rocking and Riotous" but panned his singing ability.[27] His nightclub performances were known to be uncommonly boisterous for the period,[14] even moving the piano from one end of the stage to the other with "violent energy,"[28] but Duke Ellington and Mabel Mercer praised his ability to perform in a sophisticated manner.[23] His showmanship was as recognized as his piano playing,[29][30] and he was known to favor wearing a pea-green dinner jacket.[31] His performance style is said to have influenced Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.[1] Critic Peter Silvester describes Rocco's boogie-woogie style as "technically slick" but "devoid of genuine boogie-woogie tone coloring."[32]

Legacy and influence

Rocco was a headlining act for much of the 1940s, both in the United States and England.[18] His stand-up piano playing became a byline.[33] Because of his appearances in Hollywood musicals and "soundies" (musical short films) that were exported to Britain during the Second World War, Rocco's playing style was to influence several European post-war boogie-woogie specialists.[32] He was an early influence on Ramsey Lewis[34] and Bobby Short.[35]

Recordings

Rocco made his first recordings, for Decca, recording 12 sides in 1940 and '41. Some of his most popular recordings first appeared on the Guild label, where he recorded 8 sides, with Cozy Cole on drums and Mack Stewart on bass. When this label went out of business, its catalog was sold to Musicraft Records[36][37] in 1946,[38] which re-issued all 8 of them. He cut 10 new sides for Musicraft in September, 1946, 7 of which were re-issued by Allegro on a vinyl 10 inch LP in 1957. A Musicraft album of 78's numbered 449-452 was issued in 1946.[39]

Discography

Decca 8574, Tea for Two
Title Recording Date Issue Notes
Rhumboogie September 27, 1940 Decca 8504 [8]
Rocco Blues September 27, 1940 Decca 8504 [8]
Rocco's Boogie Woogie September 27, 1940 Decca 8523 [8]
Tonky Blues September 27, 1940 Decca 8523 [8]
Donkey Serenade, The September 27, 1940 Decca 8533 [8]
Jungle Drums September 27, 1940 Decca 8533 [8]
Java Jive March 11, 1941 Decca 8544 [8]
Little Rock Getaway March 11, 1941 Decca 8544 [40]
Hold Me Baby March 11, 1941 Decca 8558 [8]
How Come You Do Me Like You Do? March 11, 1941 Decca 8558 [8]
Tea for Two March 11, 1941 Decca 8574 [40]
One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else), The March 11, 1941 Decca 8574 [40]
St. Louis Blues * 1945 [41] Guild 102, Musicraft 353* [42][43]
Begin the Beguine * 1945 [41] Guild 102, Musicraft 353* [42][43]
In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree 1945 [41] Guild 103, Musicraft 368 [42][43]
Tunke Blues 1945 [41] Guild 103, Musicraft 368 [42][43]
Cocktails for Two 1945 [41] Guild 117, Musicraft 364 [42][43]
Sugar 1945 [41] Guild 117, Musicraft 364 [42][43]
I Can't Get Started – Musicraft 427 [27]
Blue Skies
 1945 [41] Guild 148, Musicraft 427 [27][43]
Lullaby of Broadway 1945 [41] Guild 148 [43]
At Sundown
 September 1946 Musicraft 443, Allegro 4110 (LP) [44][42]
My Tzatzkela September 1946 Musicraft 443 [42][45]
Somebody Loves Me September 1946 Musicraft 449 [42]
Invitation to the Blues September 1946 Musicraft 449, Allegro 4110 (LP) [42]
You Can Depend of Me September 1946 Musicraft 450, Allegro 4110 (LP) [42]
On the Sunny Side of the Street September 1946 Musicraft 450, Allegro 4110 (LP) [42]
Hour of Parting, The September 1946 Musicraft 451 [42]
Rose Room September 1946 Musicraft 451, Allegro 4110 (LP) [42]
Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams September 1946 Musicraft 452, Allegro 4110 (LP) [42]
Easter Parade September 1946 Musicraft 452, Allegro 4110 (LP) [42]

*There are two versions of each of these sides. St. Louis Blues, matrix A.G.634-A recorded by Guild and issued as Guild 102. Re-issued as Musicraft 353 B, some with matrix A.G.634-A and some simply with 634-A. Re-recorded by Musicraft, matrix 5391-B, and issued also as Musicraft 353 B.[42][43][46] Begin The Beguine, matrix A.G.633-A recorded by Guild and issued as Guild 102. Re-issued as Musicraft 353 A, some with matrix A.G.633-A and some with just 633-A. Re-recorded by Musicraft, matrix 5390-B, and also issued as 353 A.[47] For both songs, the Musicraft paper labels all say 5390 and 5391, only the matrix numbers on the shellac distinguish the takes.[42][43]

Compositions

Film

Rocco appeared in numerous Hollywood musicals in the 1940s and 1950s.[23]

Radio

Rocco appeared regularly on network radio programs. Besides the usual guest spots, he was featured regularly on Duffy's Tavern and The Radio Hall of Fame.[57]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0313344237
    .
  2. ^ a b "Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar – Maurice Rocco". Bman's Blues Report. March 26, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Mama Didn't Object, so Rocco Went to Town". The Afro American. January 29, 1944. p. 8. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Johnson, Erskine (August 28, 1944). "Standing Up at Piano Transformed Rocco from Mediocrity to Success". The Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  5. ^ Cohen, Harold V. (January 26, 1948). "The Drama Desk". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 20. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  6. ISBN 9780306802430
    .
  7. ISBN 9780472084784
    .
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Abrams, Steve; Settlemier, Tyrone (December 7, 2011). "Decca 8500 series Numerical Listing". Online Discographical Project. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-1101185841
    .
  10. ISBN 9783923397013
    .
  11. ^ a b "Profiles". Billboard. April 3, 1943. p. 17.
  12. ^ "Vaudeville Reviews". Billboard. March 5, 1949. p. 43.
  13. ^ "Total Stem Trade Tapers; MH Fair 142½G, Others Dive". Billboard. October 26, 1945. p. 43.
  14. ^ a b "Night Club Reviews – Chez Paree, Chicago". Billboard. August 5, 1944. p. 26.
  15. ^ Perpener, John O. III (2012). "Asadata Dafora Horton (1890–1965)" (PDF). Danceheritage.org. The Dance Heritage Coalition. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  16. ^ a b "Rocco Stomped Her, Says Wife in Separation Suit". The Afro American. October 26, 1946. p. 3. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  17. ^ "N.Y. Columnists Last Week". The Afro American. Baltimore, Maryland. December 22, 1945. p. 10. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  18. ^ a b Mack, Otto (May 24, 1949). "The Record Parade". Baltimore African-American. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  19. ^ "Jazzpianist Rocco overleden". De Waarheid. Amsterdam. March 26, 1976. p. 3. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  20. Jet Magazine
    . April 16, 1953. p. 64.
  21. Jet Magazine
    . January 9, 1958. p. 56.
  22. ^ Winchell, Walter (July 14, 1958). "Walter Winchell of New York". The Lakeland Ledger. Lakeland, Florida. p. 4. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  23. ^ a b c d "Pianist Killed". The Montreal Gazette. March 26, 1976. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  24. ^ Orgibet, Jorges (1982). From Siam to Thailand: backdrop to the land of smiles. Thailand: Kofco. p. 135.
  25. ISBN 9780306800337
    .
  26. ^ "Incendiary Blonde finds Rocco Up to Old Tricks". The African American. October 20, 1945. p. 11. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  27. ^ a b c "Advance Record Releases". Billboard. December 7, 1946. p. 119.
  28. The Montreal Gazette
    . March 23, 1951. p. 9.
  29. ^ Selchow, Manfred; Lohmann, Karsten (1988). Profoundly blue: a bio-discographical scrapbook on Edmond Hall. M. Selchow. p. 207.
  30. ISBN 9781617744426
    .
  31. ^ Dent, Alan (1950). Nocturnes and Rhapsodies. H. Hamilton. p. 154.
  32. ^
    ISBN 9780810869332
    .
  33. ^ Berle, Milton (August 19, 1949). "Actor Insures Bob Hope to Insure Gag Supply". The Miami Herald. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  34. ISBN 9780195152494
    .
  35. ^ Holden, Stephen (May 4, 1997). "Celebrating The Man Who Casts a Spell At the Carlyle". New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  36. ISBN 9780968644546
    .
  37. ISBN 0-936433-11-6
    .
  38. ^ Gorder, Erika (1998). "Guide to the Musicraft Records, Inc., Records 1937–1960". Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University Libraries. Rutgers University. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  39. ^ "Photographic image of album cover" (JPG). Hyzercreek.com. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  40. ^
    ISBN 9780415978620
    . Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  41. ^
    ISBN 0-936433-11-6
    .
  42. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Abrams, Steve; Settlemier, Tyrone (December 6, 2012). "Musicraft 78rpm numerical listing discography – 200 through 600". Online Discographical Project. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  43. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Abrams, Steve; Settlemier, Tyrone (April 20, 2010). "GUILD 78rpm numerical listing discography". Online Discographical Project. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  44. ^ "Advance Record Releases". Billboard. December 7, 1946. p. 31.
  45. ^ "Advance Record Releases". Billboard. December 7, 1946. p. 112.
  46. ^ "YouTube". YouTube.
  47. ^ "YouTube". YouTube.
  48. ^ "Index to African American material in the Sheet Music Collection". Research Guide. Virginia Historical Society. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  49. ^ Rocco's Boogie Woogie (78rpm). Decca Records. 1940. 8523A.
  50. ^ Tonky Blues (78rpm). Decca Records. 1940. 8523B.
  51. ISBN 9780306805530
    . Maurice Rocco.
  52. ^ "Nightclub Cavalcade in "52nd St., Studio". Prescott Evening Courier. February 28, 1938. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  53. ISBN 0786403071
    .
  54. ^ "Incendiary Blonde (advertisement)". Life. September 3, 1945. p. 102.
  55. ISBN 0786403071
    .
  56. ^ "Maurice Rocco Stars Chez Paree Tonight". The Montreal Gazette. August 5, 1952. p. 10. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  57. ISBN 9780195076783
    . Maurice Rocco.
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