Tiny Bradshaw

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Tiny Bradshaw
Tiny Bradshaw
Background information
Birth name	Myron Bradshaw
Born	1905
Origin	Youngstown, Ohio
Died	1958
Genre(s)	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Jazz pianist, rhythm and blues bandleader
Instrument(s)	Drums, piano
Years active	1933-1958

Myron ("Tiny") Bradshaw (1905 – 1958) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues bandleader, singer, composer, pianist, and drummer from Youngstown, Ohio.^[1]

1 Early years
2 Bandleader
3 Legacy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early years

After graduating from Wilberforce University in psychology, Bradshaw turned to music for a living.^[2] In Ohio, he sang with Horace Henderson's campus-oriented Collegians.^[3] Then, in 1932, Bradshaw relocated to New York City, where he drummed for Marion Hardy, the Savoy Bearcats, and the Mills Blue Rhythm Band, and sang for Luis Russell.^[4]

[edit] Bandleader

In 1934, Bradshaw formed his own Swing orchestra, which recorded eight sides that year. The band's next recording date was in 1944, at which point its music was closer to rhythm and blues. The band recorded extensively for the rhythm and blues market, especially between 1950 and 1954.^[5]

Bradshaw's best known recording was "Train Kept A-Rollin'" (1951), which passed from rhythm and blues into rock.^[6] The song was most famously recorded by the The Yardbirds in 1965; it was covered again by Aerosmith in 1974.

Bradshaw's later career was hampered by severe health problems, including two strokes that left him partially paralyzed. His 1958 recording, "Bushes", proved an unsuccessful attempt to reach out to the emerging teenage market. Weakened by the successive strokes as well as the rigors of his profession, Bradshaw died in his adopted hometown of Cincinnati in 1958. He was 53 years old.^[7]

[edit] Legacy

Bradshaw is remembered for a string of rhythm and blues hits, including "Well Oh Well", "Breaking Up the House", and "Soft". As a bandleader, he was an invaluable mentor to important musicians and arrangers including Shad Collins, Gil Fuller, Gigi Gryce, Russell Procope, Red Prysock, Sonny Stitt, and Shadow Wilson.^[8]