Louis+Bellson

Original Author: Lissa Manchester, ENG 346 FL12
 * Louis Bellson **

In an area such as the Quad Cities, which is so inundated with the Bix Beiderbecke legacy, it is often easily forgotten that many other talented and influential individuals have also called the Quad Cities home. One such individual was the late Louis Bellson, who in the words of Duke Ellington was “not only …the world’s greatest drummer, he is the world’s greatest musician” (Leary).

Born Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni on July 6, 1924, in Rock Falls, IL, Bellson said "People were either misspelling or mispronouncing my father's last name, so he changed it to Bellson" (Fratallone). Born to parents with a love and talent for music themselves, Bellson developed his own love of music at a young age. When the family moved to Moline, IL and his father opened a music store in the downtown area Louie began training there, and by the age of 13 he was giving lessons in the store. In an interview for the Smithsonian Institution Jazz Oral History Program Louie said he studied with his father for about a year before Bellson Sr. decided there was nothing else he could teach him.

Around age 14 Louie had his first paying gig in Rock Island, IL, he played all night for $3 and recalls that he “had to be escorted into the place, because they sold liquor there” (Bellson, Official Smithsonian Institution Jazz Oral History Interview). At about 15, or 16 years old Louie began traveling to Chicago to take lessons with Roy Knapp, and every Tuesday night he would play at the Rendezvous nightclub in Moline. Louie said “that’s where I learned what swing was all about. They taught me how to play for soloists, how to back up a band – big band, small band” (Bellson, Official Smithsonian Institution Jazz Oral History Interview).Bellson is credited with inventing the double-bass drum setup at the age of 15. "My art teacher saw me draw two round circles and he asked me what I was drawing," Bellson said. "I told him I was developing a new drum set: a two-bass drum set up. He thought it was an interesting concept and passed me on that drawing. It was my art project for the year."(Fratallone). Bellson believed that a drummer shouldn’t need anything more than the basic drum kit to get the job done, but that “the extra bass drum is frosting on the cake” (Fratallone).

At 17 he beat out over 40,000 other drummers to win the National Gene Krupa – Slingerland Drum Company Contest (photo 1), an accomplishment that would “set him on the road to international fame in the jazz and big band community” (Leary). This win would also lead to his first professional job; after the contest bandleader Ted FioRito came to Davenport to hear Louie play and invited him to join his band. When Louie told Mr. FioRito he wanted to finish high school he was told he’d hire him after he graduated, and FioRito lived up to his word. Louie graduated from Moline High School in 1942 and left for Hollywood to play with FioRito’s band at the Florentine Gardens.

It was while playing with that band in September of 1942, that Louie was spotted by bassist Harry Goodman, and offered the opportunity to audition for the “King of Swing” Benny Goodman. Louie remembered “when Harry asked me if I would like to audition for Benny's band, I just started stuttering! I was just floored” (Fratallone). Louie impressed Goodman and got the job, he would eventually do two stints with Goodman’s band, the first lasting eight months before he was drafted into the Army. Louie’s time with Goodman’s band was not without difficulties however, three months into his first stint with the band Bellson was fired. He recalled in one interview "I went back to Chicago and hung out with Louis Jordan for the night. By the time I got home, my dad was at the train station to meet me. I was surprised to see him because I didn't notify him that I was coming home. He told me Benny kept him up all night on the telephone. He told my dad to tell me to get my butt on that train back to New York. I returned to New York on the next train and rejoined the band. Benny never bothered me again"(Fratallone).

In May of 1946, after being discharged from the Army, Louie rejoined Goodman’s band for the remainder of the year and in 1947 he joined Tommy Dorsey’s band, staying with them until 1949. After his time with Dorsey’s band Louie played with a few others before joining Harry James for a year. His time with James gave him yet another new opportunity, as he and fellow band members Juan Tizol and Willie Smith were “wooed” by Duke Ellington “over to his side” (Fratallone).

In 1952, Louie left Duke Ellington’s band to marry singer/actress Pearl Bailey, whom he met while playing with Ellington and began working as her musical director while leading his own band. Bellsonand Bailey were engaged after four days and married in London; they adopted two children together, Dee Dee and Tony and were married 39 years, until Bailey’s death in August of 1990. During their years together the couple was second only to Bob Hope in the number of performances at the White House. Throughout his career Louie always cherished a fondness for his hometown of Moline, and often would return with his wife for performances and festivals in the area. Local newsman Bill Wundram recounted the story of a time when he was at the Blackhawk Hotel with Louie and Pearl as they were waiting to go onstage, the couple was joking around and Louie smacked his wife on the bottom with a drumstick. Pearl turned to Louie and scolded “Listen to me, sweetheart, behave yourself and remember that I’m the star of this show” but Wundram said Louie nearly stole the show from Pearl(Wundram). That was only one of many trips back home for Louie.

In May of 1972 Louie was honored by the city of Moline with Louie Bellson Day (photos 2, 3), and awarded the key to the city (photo 4).In October of 1973 Louie and Pearl had their first official performance together in Moline at the Deere & Co. auditorium. During his trips to the area Louie would visit with old friends and would often stop by Moline High School to play a few songs for the students (photo 5).On one of his visits home, in July 1985, Louie led a performance with the Augustana College jazz ensemble at Centennial Hall (photo 6)(McElwain). In 1994Louie was again honored by the Quad Cities when they started a new jazz festival in his honor, now known as the Quad Cities Jazz Festival. The majority of the festivities took place in Rock Island’s Entertainment District, and on May 27, 1994 a plaque was erected with Louie’s handprints, drumstick impressions, and signature (photo 6). That same year, Louie was awarded the prestigious American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1998, Louie was named a “Living Legend of Music” when he received the American Drummers Achievement Award. When the Moline High School Student Government came up with the idea for a Hall of Honors at the school, to honor distinguished alumni, as one of its first inductees Louie was there for the October 2000 ceremony, and beat out a drum roll as the curtain was lifted (photos 7, 8).The River Music Experience performing arts center and museum opened a permanent Louie Bellson exhibit, and in 2005, declared every July 12th to be Louie Bellson Day (photos 9, 10, 11, 12, 13). In March of 2007 Louie, along with 35 other jazz greats received the Living Jazz Legends Award from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Later that same year, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers inducted Bellson as a Living Legend on the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame.

Throughout his long career Louie always found time to make annual trips home, often hosting workshops for aspiring musicians and performing for a hometown crowd, as well as attending the yearly Louis Bellson Heritage Days in his birthplace of Rock Falls, IL(Jensen). Mr. Bellson’s first professional gig was here in the Quad Cities, so it was only fitting that October 15, 2008 at the River Music Experience was his last as well. It was noted that he was looking frail, and the effects of Parkinson’s disease were starting to show, but when Louie began to play all of that faded away, as one attendee said “It was electrifying. Louie Bellson was young again. He wasn’t 84; he was a kid” (Wundram). Bellson passed away only a few months later, on February 14, 2009. Louie’s second wife Francine chose Riverside Cemetery in Moline to be his final resting place, so that he could be buried next to his father (photo 14). Louie Bellson’s legacy continues to live on in the area that gave him his start; the Louie Bellson5K Memorial Drum Roll, inaugurated in 2010, honors his memory each fall, raising funds to support music education in Illinois Quad City public schools.


 * Works Cited **

Bellson, Louie. //Official Smithsonian Institution Jazz Oral History Interview// Anthony Brown. 20-21 October 2005. Transcript, pp. 108. Fratallone, Stephen. "Hail, King Louie: Drumming Great Louis Bellson To Be Honored With Golden Bandstand Award." March 2005. //jazzconnectionmag.com.// 15 November 2012. Jensen, Julie. "Birthday boy: Bash planned for jazzman Bellson." //Dispatch Argus// 05 July 2006. Leary, Sean. "Our Brightest Stars." //Dispatch Argus// 2 January 2000. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">McElwain, Bill. "Bellson wows hometowners." //The Daily Dispatch// 7 July 1985. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Skin Deep Solo //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">. Perf. Louie Bellson. 1957. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBQWaCLlK9Y. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Wundram, Bill. "Louie's Last Concert: He Was Young Again." //The Quad City Times// 16 February 2009.

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