Bunny Berigan: Elusive Legend Of Jazz [Paperback]

Robert Dupuis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2005

The accomplishments of seminal jazz trumpeter Bernard "Bunny" Berigan have secured his place in the annals of American music history. In his short lifetime (1908–1942) , Berigan performed on more than six hundred recordings and served as a direct link between Louis Armstrong and later musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown, and Wynton Marsalis. Berigan lent his uninhibited jazz style to the big bands of Benny Goodman, Hal Kemp, and Tommy Dorsey, and he was in demand as a studio musician for vocalists Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, and Mildred Bailey. In addition to playing for the music industry’s giants, Berigan became one himself by forming his own band in 1937 and recording his most famous hit and theme song, "I Can’t Get Started." In the first comprehensive biography of Berigan, Robert Dupuis draws on hundreds of interviews with family, friends, and colleagues to present a fascinating and entertaining look at the fast-paced career and personal life of this jazz great.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (1908-1942) was only 33 when he died an alcoholic's death in New York City, far from his rural hometown of Fox Lake, Wis. Berigan, who played with Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey before forming his own band in 1937, wasn't as widely recognized as other bandleaders of his era, but his fans were intensely loyal. His own fidelity, however, comes into question: when Berigan's wife heard that the trumpeter was having an affair with singer Lee Wiley, she confronted him, saying, "It's her or me"--Bunny choose Lee. Dupuis, a former Detroit school principal, brings together the major successes and myriad scrapes of Berigan's brilliant yet tormented career. Interviews with friends and acquaintances from Fox Lake as well as from the music industry give this enjoyable if occasionally sluggish volume a friendly, admiring tone. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Dupuis offers the first full-length biography of swing-era jazz trumpeter Bunny Berigan (1908-42). By interviewing dozens of Berigan's relatives, friends, and musical associates, he pieces together the trumpeter's life: the early years in Wisconsin; his extensive work on the CBS radio network; stints with such notables as Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Paul Whiteman, Billie Holiday, and Bing Crosby; and the formation of the Berigan band in 1937, which hit the charts with "I Can't Get Started." The author ends with the trumpeter's premature death from alcohol poisoning. Throughout the account, Dupuis places Berigan's life in a social and historical context. This lively, well-written, exhaustively researched book is highly recommended for anyone interested in jazz.
- David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr (March 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807130680
• ISBN-13: 978-0807130681
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #696,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly engrossing biography about a true jazz legend., December 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Bunny Berigan: Elusive Legend of Jazz (Hardcover)

Mr. Dupuis has quite successfully transferred his years of scholarly research and genuine personal affection for the Swing Era into a very readable and insightful time capsule of that era. My father, Mort Stulmaker, was a bassist for Bunny Berigan during this unique time in music history and, so, I had a special reason for reading this book. I became thoroughly immersed in it. Through the author's narrative and in-depth intense descriptive ability, I felt I was living a musician's life and experiencing all the joys, successes, failures and heartaches that went with it. He has captured it in total honesty. I must also add that I had the wonderful experience of attending the 25th Bunny Berigan Jazz Festival in Bunny's hometown of Fox Lake, Wisconsin. After reading Mr. Dupuis' book and then attending the Festival, I came away with even a deeper appreciation for the special quality of the music and times of that era. I highly recommend this book.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best biography out on one of jazz's greatest trumpeters., January 28, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Bunny Berigan: Elusive Legend of Jazz (Hardcover)

This is, I believe, Mr. Dupuis's first book and it shows to an extent. He spends too much time on his visits to Bunny's hometown in Wisconsin and devotes a big chunk of one chapter to a generic discussion of alcoholism. That's the bad news. The good news is that this is the best researched and detailed biography of Bunny Berigan that has been done, it's in print, it's well (if not lavishly) illustrated, and Dupuis's recommendations for listening are excellent (my opinion and that of several fellow Berigan fans I checked with). Bunny Berigan was one of jazz's great musicians, a true "musician's musician." It was his solo at the Palomar Ballroom in California, while a member of the Benny Goodman orchestra, that nearly started a riot and is as good a starting point for the emergence of Swing as the dominant popular music form as any. Like too many of his era, Benny was a chronic alcoholic and he died a premature death because of his drinking. The modest amount of recordings he left still attract a following and through them his magic lingers on. Many of the greats of jazz (such as Louis Armstrong) were quick to list themselves as fans of his. This is the best biography of one of jazz's greatest trumpeters and one of its most tragic lost souls. If you want to learn about the life of Bunny Berigan or his music, this is your book. Also highly recommended for Swing Era/Music fans in general

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The pied piper, January 29, 2007

By 

Arve Somdahl (Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bunny Berigan: Elusive Legend Of Jazz (Paperback)

Bunny Berigan's career as a jazz musician, in a very particular, almost god-given way, happened to co-incide with the swing era. At that, Bunny was one, who more than anybody of his contemporaries, contributed to justifying the the concept of swing, the real core of swinging jazz. One thing is all the memorable recordings he left behind, another thing is the many testimonies of those who were happy to listen to him alive. A word that often turns up about his performances, is "electrifying", expressed by or agreed upon by great leaders as Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey. It was very much due to Bunny's marvellous solo achievments,that
the two band leaders benefitted from a lot of many million hits in the thirties. Robert Depuis' biography is written with both admiration and an honest wish to pay a matter-of-fact tribute to one of the heroes of his youth. His book, "Bunny Berigan, elusive legend", is an immaculate account of Bunny's life and invaluable contribution to jazz music. I was very lucky to meet Bob Dupuis in Fox Lake in 2003 and get his dedication. His book has a very special and cherished place in my collection of jazz litterature.
Regards
Arve Somdahl
Norway