Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

GREEN, Freddie

(b 31 March 1911, Charleston SC; d 1 March 1987, Las Vegas) Rhythm guitarist. Nicknamed 'Esquire' by Buck Clayton; 'Pepper' by Lester Young (short for 'Pepperhead', then shortened to 'Pep'); also 'Quiet Fire'. The rise of the electric guitar began with Charlie Christian; since it has become a solo instrument guitarists no longer value the art of keeping time as it was practised during the Big Band Era. Green was discovered at the Black Cat in Greenwich Village by John Hammond and auditioned for Count Basie in his dressing room at Roseland Ballroom '37, joined that band and never left it: the last and the greatest of four-to-the-bar rhythm guitarists, the anchor of one of the greatest rhythm sections in history (Basie, Green, Walter Page on bass, Jo Jones on drums), not simply strumming but chording as well, adding to the music. He played on virtually all Basie's records in his long career, plus on many sessions with Clayton, Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, Al Cohn, Joe Newman, Illinois Jacquet; on The Jo Jones Special '56, many more; he had his own LP on RCA in the 1950s. He sang 'Them There Eyes' on a Young session at Commodore '38. He almost never played solo notes; never played electric guitar, yet can be heard on most of the records: 'Basie never did play much with his left hand, so Freddie substituted for it,' said Clayton. He played with the Basie band led by Thad Jones, then Frank Foster after Basie's death, his last recordings on Diane Schuur And The Count Basie Orchestra '87 on GRP; they dedicated the album to 'Father Time'. Trombonist Dennis Wilson said, 'It's as if in the Bible they said, ''Let there be time,'' and Freddie started playing.' (Quotations from an article by Eric Levin.)