The Treniers were an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musical group led by identical twins Cliff and Claude Trenier, with The Gene Gilbeaux Orchestra which included Don Hill on Saxophone, Shifty Henry and later James (Jimmy) Johnson on bass, Henry (Tucker) Green on drums and Gene Gilbeaux on piano, with the Treniers Twins and later additional Treniers brothers joining the group on vocals. The name was shortened to "The Treniers" and there were many other session musician and line up changes over the years.
The Treniers were an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musical group led by identical twins Cliff and Claude Trenier, with The Gene Gilbeaux Orchestra which included Don Hill on Saxophone, Shifty Henry and later James (Jimmy) Johnson on bass, Henry (Tucker) Green on drums and Gene Gilbeaux on piano, with the Treniers Twins and later additional Treniers brothers joining the group on vocals. The name was shortened to "The Treniers" and there were many other session musician and line up changes over the years. Active since the 1940s, they played a cross between swing and early rock n' roll. Though their sound is more swing influenced, the Treniers incorporated a thumping backbeat and copious songs that included the words "rock" and "roll" - "Rocking on Sunday Night" and "It Rocks! It Rolls! It Swings!", for example, and in the 40's were already playing "Rockin' Is Our Bizness," which was a reworded version of
Jimmie LuncefordJames Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader of the swing era.-Biography:...
's "Rhythm Is Our Business" of the 1930s (the Trenier twins got their start playing in Lunceford's band). They were also known for the humorous content of many of their songs, and their on stage acrobatics were seen as precursors to the wild antics of many later rock and roll groups. Their lively stage presentation influenced
The ShadowsThe Shadows are Britain's most successful instrumental and vocal group with a grand total of 69 UK hit singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and The Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s...
in the UK in 1959 and beyond.
In the 1950s, they moved closer towards an R&B influenced sound, but were unable to weather the influx of rock and roll. Nonetheless the group was considered a strong influence on bands such as their contemporaries Bill Haley and His Comets, and they were in fact one of the first to record Haley's "Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie".
http://www.rockabilly.net/milttrenier/discog.shtmlhttp://www.rockabilly.net/milttrenier/45d.shtmlhttp://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/h/hale6200.htmhttp://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/pics/d04/4781.htm (One of the Trenier brothers would later claim in an interview in
Blue Suede News magazine that he was responsible for Haley deciding to record rock and roll; this account is disputed.)
One of the first times rock and roll appeared on national television was in May 1954 when the Treniers appeared on the
Colgate Comedy Hour, hosted by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. During the playing of their songs, Martin and Lewis participated in the antics, and when the drummer got up and stepped aside, Jerry Lewis sat down and played drums for one song.
The group appeared in several films in the 1950s including
The Girl Can't Help ItThe Girl Can't Help It is a 1956 comedy/musical film, starring Jayne Mansfield, Tom Ewell, and Edmond O'Brien. It was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay written by Frank Tashlin and Herbert Baker from an uncredited novel Do Re Me by Garson Kanin...
and
Don't Knock the RockDon't Knock the Rock was a 1956 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults...
(which also featured Haley), and continued to perform as recently as 2003.
In 1955, the group released the song "Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song)" about
GiantsThe San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California who currently play in the National League West Division. One of the oldest baseball teams, the Giants hold the honor of having won the most games of any team in the history of baseball...
center fielder,
Willie MaysWilliam Howard "Willie" Mays, Jr. is a retired American baseball player who played the majority of his career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of...
, which included some dialogue by the
Hall-of-FamerThe National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
himself. The song is included on the
soundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronized...
to
Ken BurnsKenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films known for his style of making use of archival footage and photographs...
1994
documentaryDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
Baseball.
As of 2008, surviving member Milt Trenier still performs semiweekly at
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
-area restaurants.
Film Appearances
- Don't Knock the Rock
Don't Knock the Rock was a 1956 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults...
(1956)
- The Girl Can't Help It
The Girl Can't Help It is a 1956 comedy/musical film, starring Jayne Mansfield, Tom Ewell, and Edmond O'Brien. It was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay written by Frank Tashlin and Herbert Baker from an uncredited novel Do Re Me by Garson Kanin...
(1956)
- Calypso Heat Wave (1957)
- Juke Box Rhythm (1959)
External links