Todd Rhodes

Todd Rhodes (August 31, 1900 – June 4, 1965)[1] was an American pianist and arranger and was an early influence in jazz and later on in R&B.

He was born Todd Washington Rhodes, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.[1] Rhodes attended both the Springfield School of Music and the Erie Conservatory, studying as pianist and songwriter.[2]

In the early 1920s he played with Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, Fats Waller, Rex Stewart, Doc Cheatham, and Don Redman in McKinney's Cotton Pickers, a jazz group. Rhodes lived and played in Detroit in the 1930s. In the late 1940s he started his own group, Todd Rhodes and His Toddlers, and started doing more R&B arrangements. With his Toddlers, he recorded "Your Daddy's Doggin' Around" and "Your Mouth Got a Hole In It." Rhodes also worked with Hank Ballard, The Chocolate Dandies and Wynonie Harris.[1] He featured African American female lead singers, such as Connie Allen, who recorded "Rocket 69" in 1951. After she left the band in early 1952, her position was taken by LaVern Baker.

His instrumental "Blues For The Red Boy" became a top 5 R&B hit late in 1948, and was later famously used by Alan Freed as the theme song for his "Moondog" radio show. Freed apparently insisted on referring to the song as "Blues For The Moondog" instead of its actual title.[3]

Rhodes died in June 1965 in Detroit, at the age of 64.[1][2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed March 2010
  2. 1 2 Yanow, Scott. "Todd Rhodes". Allmusic. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  3. ↑ John Broven, notes to "Honky Tonk! - The Best of King & Federal Instrumentals." Ace CDCHD 761, 2000.


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