Eddy Duchin on the cover of his album "Talk of the Town"

Eddy Duchin (b. Edwin Frank Duchin, April 1, 1909, Cambridge, Massachusetts - d. February 9, 1951, New York City) was an American popular pianist and bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s, famous for his engaging onstage style, his elegant piano style, and his courageous fight against leukemia. Image File history File links Eddy_Duchin. ... Image File history File links Eddy_Duchin. ... is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Middlesex County Settled 1630 Incorporated 1636 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Kenneth Reeves (D) Area  - City  7. ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ... Leukemia or leukaemia (see spelling differences) is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). ...

Duchin first became a pharmacist before turning full-time to music and beginning his new career with Leo Reisman's orchestra at the Central Park Casino in New York, an elegant nightclub where he became hugely popular in his own right and eventually became the Reisman orchestra's leader by 1932. He became widely popular thanks to regular radio broadcasts that boosted his record sales, and he was one of the earliest pianists to lead a commercially successful large band.

Playing what later came to be called "sweet" music rather than jazz, Duchin's success opened a new gate for similarly styled, piano-playing sweet bandleaders such as Henry King, Joe Reichman, Nat Brandwynne, Dick Gasparre, Little Jack Little, and particularly Carmen Cavallaro (who acknowledged Duchin's influence) to compete with the large jazz bands for radio time and record sales. Carmen Cavalarro was an American pianist from New York. ...

Duchin had no formal music training -- which was said to frustrate his musicians at times -- but he developed a style rooted in classical music that some believe the forerunner of Liberace's ornate, gaudy approach. Still, there were understatements in Duchin's music that were beyond Liberace's self-conscious glitz. By no means was Duchin a perfect pianist, but he was easy to listen to without being rote or entirely predictable. He was a pleasing stage presence whose favourite technique was to play his piano cross-handed, using only one finger on the lower hand, and he was respectful to his audiences and to his classical influences. Liberace shows off his rings (circa 1980). ...

Duchin entered the Navy during World War II, serving as a combat officer. But what war could not do to him leukemia eventually did. Duchin was unable to reclaim his former stardom in spite of a brave stab at a new radio show in 1949; he died two years later, at age 41. The Eddy Duchin Story (1956) is a fictionalized tearjerker of a movie about Duchin's life, with Tyrone Power in the title role ([1]). An anthology of some of Duchin's best recordings, Dancing with Duchin, was released in 2002. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Leukemia or leukaemia (see spelling differences) is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Eddy Duchin ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. ...

Perhaps Duchin's strongest legacy, however, is his only child. Peter Duchin (b. 1937), was the product of his first marriage (to Marjorie Oerlich) and 14 years old when his father died, but the boy began a musical education with his father and eventually studied formally at Yale. In time he became an orchestra-leading pianist in his own right, as well as the author of a series of mystery novels, a presence in high society (into which his mother had been born), and a frequent entertainer (as well as musical director for U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's inauguration) at the White House and on television. In his 1996 memoir "Ghost of a Chance," Peter Duchin wrote humorously but with a trace of righteous resentment about the wholesale fictionalization in "The Eddy Duchin Story." Peter Duchin is a famous pianist and band leader. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... “LBJ” redirects here. ... For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ...

Controversy

Perhaps the earliest usage of the word "fuck" in popular recorded music was Duchin's 1938 release of the Louis Armstrong song "Ol' Man Mose" (Brunswick Records 8155) with vocals by Patricia Norman. The words created a scandal at the time, resulting in sales of 170,000 copies during the Great Depression years when sales of 20,000 were considered blockbuster. The verse reads: This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Brunswick Records logo Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. ... The Great Depression was a dramatic, worldwide economic downturn beginning in some countries as early as 1928. ...

(We believe) He kicked the bucket,
(We believe) Yeah man, buck-buck-bucket,
(We believe) He kicked the bucket and ol' man mose is dead,
(We believe) Ahh, fuck it!
(We believe) Buck-buck-bucket,
(We believe) He kicked the bucket and ol' man mose is dead.

The song was banned after its release in Great Britain.

Also of note, vocalist Patricia Norman recorded another song that was released on Vocalion Records entitled, "Pluckin' on a Golden Harp" (Vocalion 4547) that was a sequel of sorts to "Ol' Man Mose" in that it uses the phrase "pluck-pluck-pluck it". "Ol' Man Mose" was on the charts in February of 1938, while "Pluckin' on a Golden Harp" charted in December 1938. 1921 Vocalion label Vocalion Records was a record label historically active in the United States and in the United Kingdom. ...