by Jason AnkenyA musician and actor whose often sordid private life tended to overshadow his career as an entertainer, Spade Cooley was the self-proclaimed King of Western Swing, an innovator who at his peak led the largest band ever assembled in the annals of country music. The product of a multi-generational family of fiddle players, Donnell Clyde Cooley was born in Oklahoma in 1910, and at the age of four, his family moved to Oregon. Despite his impoverished background, Cooley was a classically trained fiddler, and by the time he was eight years old, he was performing professionally at square dances with his father John. In 1930, Cooley (who received his nickname thanks to his poker skills) moved to Los Angeles, playing with a number of western-oriented acts. By the mid-30s, he was working as an actor, with bit parts in several Westerns; for Republic Studios, he served as Roy Rogers stand-in. He also toured with Rogers as a fiddle player, and handled vocal duties with the Riders of the Purple Sage. Cooley did not begin a recording career until 1941, when he entered the studio while a member of Cal Shrums band. A year later, he took control of bandleader Jimmy Wakelys group, the house band at Santa Monica, CAs Venice Pier Ballroom, and their Western swing music began attracting thousands of fans each Saturday night. The densely populated band, home to as many as three vocalists and fiddlers at a time, featured singer Tex Williams and guitarists Joaquin Murphey and John O. Weis. In 1945, Spade Cooley by 1946, Williams, the vocalist on all of the groups hits, was demanding more money, and Cooley refused to pay it. As a result, Williams quit, taking much of the Orchestra with him to form the Western Caravan. In 1947, Cooley began a career in television, hosting a program in Los Angeles titled The Hoffman Hayride. The shows popularity grew quickly, and within months an estimated 75 percent of all televisions in the L.A. area tuned into the show each Saturday night. He also resumed his film career, this time with much higher visibility; in addition to significant roles in a number of Westerns, he also starred in two 1949 short subjects, King of Western Swing and Spade Cooley after a time, he even fired the Orchestra to replace its members with an all-female band. A heavy drinker, Cooley descended into alcoholism as his career declined, and he suffered a series of minor heart attacks. Furthermore, he was facing financial ruin as a result of problems with a planned water theme park to be located in the Mojave Desert. In 1961, his wife Ella Mae left him; after an argument on April 3, he stomped her to death while the couples 14-year-old daughter Melody looked on in horror. The resulting trial, a media circus during which Cooley suffered another heart attack, culminated in a sentence of life imprisonment. Throughout his term, he was a model prisoner, and thus was allowed to perform at a sheriffs benefit in Oakland, CA, on November 23, 1969. After playing in front of a crowd of over 3,000, Cooley returned to his dressing room, suffered yet another heart attack, and died. (更多)
| 中文名 | spade cooley |
|---|---|
| 出生地 | 美国,俄克拉荷马州,大 |
| 出生日期 | 1910-12-17 |
| 唱片公司 | 未确定 |
| 地区 | 欧美 |
| 年龄 | 58 |
| 所属公司 | 未确定 |
| 星座 | 射手 |
| 类似歌手 | 相似艺人 |
| 逝世日期 | 1969-11-23 |
| 风格 | 西部摇摆 western swing |