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Shep Fields (September 12, 1910 – February 23, 1981) was the band leader for the critically acclaimed "Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm" orchestra during the Big Band
Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the swing from the early 1930s until the late 1940s....
 era of the 1930s.

as born in Brooklyn, New York, and his mother's maiden name was Sowalski. He played the clarinet
Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
 and tenor sax in bands during college. By 1933 he led a band that played at Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel
Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel

Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel was a resort in the Catskill Mountains near the town of Liberty, New York, New York. It is part of the Borscht Belt....
. In 1936 he was booked at Chicago's Palmer House
Palmer House

The Palmer House Hilton Hotels is a famous and historic hotel in downtown Chicago....
, and the concert was broadcast on radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
.






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Shep Fields (September 12, 1910 – February 23, 1981) was the band leader for the critically acclaimed "Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm" orchestra during the Big Band
Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the swing from the early 1930s until the late 1940s....
 era of the 1930s.

Biography

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and his mother's maiden name was Sowalski. He played the clarinet
Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
 and tenor sax in bands during college. By 1933 he led a band that played at Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel
Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel

Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel was a resort in the Catskill Mountains near the town of Liberty, New York, New York. It is part of the Borscht Belt....
. In 1936 he was booked at Chicago's Palmer House
Palmer House

The Palmer House Hilton Hotels is a famous and historic hotel in downtown Chicago....
, and the concert was broadcast on radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
. A contest was held in Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
 for fans to suggest a new name for his band. The word "rippling" was suggested in more than one entry, and Fields came up with "Rippling Rhythm".

Fields was at a soda shop counter, his wife was blowing bubbles into her soda through a straw, and that sound became his trademark that opened each of his shows. In 1936 he received a recording contract with Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records

Bluebird Records is a sub-record label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 in music to counter ARC Records in the "3 records for a dollar" market....
. His hits included: "Did I Remember?", "Cathedral in the Pines", and "Thanks for the Memory
Thanks for the Memory

"Thanks for the Memory" is a popular song, with music composed by Ralph Rainger and lyrics by Leo Robin. It was introduced in the 1938 film The Big Broadcast of 1938 by Shep Fields with vocals by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross....
". In 1937 Fields started a radio show called The Rippling Rhythm Revue with Bob Hope
Bob Hope

Bob Hope, Order of the British Empire, Order of St. Gregory the Great , was an British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway theatre, and in radio, television and movies....
 as the announcer. In 1938, he was in his first motion picture, The Big Broadcast of 1938
The Big Broadcast of 1938

The Big Broadcast of 1938 is a Paramount Pictures film featuring W.C. Fields and Bob Hope. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, the film is the last in a series of Big Broadcast movies that were variety show anthologies....
.

Even though a leading "sweet band" of the era -- that is, an orchestra that didn't pursue swing music but performed rather old fashioned ballroom music, often spiced with lot of theatrics and tongue in cheek humor -- Fields tried to change his style to the super-smooth sax swing in the early forties, but popular demand prompted him to revert to his previous style in 1947.

The group disbanded in 1953, and he moved to Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles ....
 where he worked as a disc jockey
Disc jockey

A disc jockey is a person who selects and plays sound recording for an audience. Originally, disk referred to phonograph records, while disc refers to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling....
. He later started a talent agency in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles

Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....
, and died on February 23, 1981 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles

Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....
. He was buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery
Mount Hebron Cemetery

Mount Hebron is a Jewish cemetery located in the Flushing, Queens neighborhood of New York City. It was founded in 1903 as the Jewish section of Cedar Grove Cemetery ....
 in New York.

Band

  • Sid Greene (1913-2006), drums & percussion, band manager, circa 1932-1943
  • Hal Derwin, vocals 1940
  • Larry Neill, vocals 1940
  • Dorothy Allen, vocals 1940
  • Ken Curtis
    Ken Curtis

    Ken Curtis was an American singer and actor best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the long-running CBS western drama, Gunsmoke....
    , vocals
  • The Three Beaus and a Peep, vocals circa 1947-1948
  • Bob Johnstone
    Bob Johnstone

    Bob Johnstone, born Robert Morton Johnston was an American traditional pop music singer.Johnstone was born Chattanooga, Tennessee, moving with his family to Atlanta, then to the family home town of Nashville, Tennessee, Tennessee, where he grew up....
    , singer circa 1947-1948
  • Toni Arden
    Toni Arden

    Toni Arden is an United States traditional pop music singer.Born Antoinette Ardizzone, Toni Arden became a big band singer in the 1940s, singing with Al Trace, Joe Reichman, Ray Bloch and Shep Fields....
    , singer, circa 1945
  • Carl Frederick Tandberg
    Carl Frederick Tandberg

    Carl Frederick Tandberg , was a bass fiddle musician who recorded with Glen Campbell and Frankie Ortega....
     (1910-1988), bass fiddle, circa 1940
  • Lou Halmy, trumpet
    Trumpet

    The trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest Register in the brass instrument family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC....
    , circa 1935
  • Sid Caesar
    Sid Caesar

    Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar is an Emmy Award-winning United States comic actor and writer known as the leading man on the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger generations as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2....
    , saxophone
    Saxophone

    The saxophone is a conical-Bore transposing instrument musical instrument considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a Single-reed instrument mouthpiece similar to the clarinet....
    , circa 1940
  • John Serry, Sr.
    John Serry, Sr.

    John Serry, Sr. was a distinguished concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist and music educator who achieved prominence through his live performances on the Columbia Broadcasting System network....
    , concert accordion
    Accordion

    The accordion is a portable box-shaped musical instrument of the hand-held bellows-driven free reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox....
    ist and soloist, 1937-1938


Recordings

  • That Old Feeling
  • Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm, 1940, Volumes 1 and 2


Live broadcasts

  • Biltmore Hotel
    Biltmore Hotel

    Biltmore Hotels was a chain created by hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman.The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attractions in Asheville, North Carolina, United States....
     in Los Angeles, California
    Los Angeles, California

    Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
     during September 1938 - October 1938 with John Serry, Sr.
    John Serry, Sr.

    John Serry, Sr. was a distinguished concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist and music educator who achieved prominence through his live performances on the Columbia Broadcasting System network....
     as featured soloist on the NBC radio network .
  • Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York
    New Rochelle, New York

    New Rochelle is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City in the south-east portion of the U.S. state of New York in Westchester County, New York....
     on May 12, 1947 with Toni Arden
    Toni Arden

    Toni Arden is an United States traditional pop music singer.Born Antoinette Ardizzone, Toni Arden became a big band singer in the 1940s, singing with Al Trace, Joe Reichman, Ray Bloch and Shep Fields....
    , Bob Johnstone, and The Three Beaus and a Peep.
  • Ice Terrace Room of the Hotel New Yorker on March 6, 1948 with Toni Arden
    Toni Arden

    Toni Arden is an United States traditional pop music singer.Born Antoinette Ardizzone, Toni Arden became a big band singer in the 1940s, singing with Al Trace, Joe Reichman, Ray Bloch and Shep Fields....
    , Bob Johnstone, and The Three Beaus and a Peep.


Filmography

  • You Came To My Rescue (1937) - Director Dave Fleischer
    Dave Fleischer

    David Fleischer was a Jewish-American animator film director, and film producer, best known as a co-owner of Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer as well as uncle to director Richard Fleischer....
  • The Big Broadcast of 1938
    The Big Broadcast of 1938

    The Big Broadcast of 1938 is a Paramount Pictures film featuring W.C. Fields and Bob Hope. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, the film is the last in a series of Big Broadcast movies that were variety show anthologies....
     (1938) - Director Mitchell Leisen
    Mitchell Leisen

    Mitchell Leisen was an United States film director, art director, and costume designer. He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments....
     with W.C. Fields, Martha Raye
    Martha Raye

    Martha Raye was an United States comic actress and traditional pop music singer who performed in film, and later on television.Biography...
    , Dorothy Lamour
    Dorothy Lamour

    Dorothy Lamour was an United States film actor. She is probably best-remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies co-starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby....
     and Bob Hope
    Bob Hope

    Bob Hope, Order of the British Empire, Order of St. Gregory the Great , was an British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway theatre, and in radio, television and movies....
    .
  • Kreisler Bandstand (1951) - TV Series Director Perry Lafferty.


External links

  • at Find A Grave
    Find A Grave

    Find A Grave is a website providing access and input to an online database of cemetery records....


Further reading