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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZROBERTS, Luckey(b Charles Luckeyth Roberts, 7 August 1887, Philadelphia PA; d 5 February 1968, NYC) Piano, composer. He sang and danced in vaudeville aged five; his 'Junk Man Rag' was something of a hit in 1913; he also wrote 'Pork And Beans', 'Railroad Blues', and many more. Part of 'Ripples On The Nile' was slowed down and recorded with words as 'Moonlight Cocktail', a hit for Glenn Miller in 1942. He wrote more than a dozen Broadway shows, beginning with My People in 1911. He led a society orchestra for decades, counting Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Duke of Windsor among his fans; he had a radio show and operated a club, Luckey's Rendezvous, in Harlem 1942-54. He was one of the greatest of stride pianists, along with James P. Johnson, Willie 'The Lion' Smith, Fats Waller, and a few others; unfortunately there were very few recordings of his prodigious keyboard technique. The best session was probably six tracks for one side of a 1958 LP on Good Time Jazz (the other side by The Lion). Roberts used a wide dynamic range and trademark inverted chords; he was a master at playing the melody in the left hand while furiously decorating in the right, always with a strong pulse. Even more than the rest of the great New York 'ticklers', his piano sounded like a whole orchestra. (There is confusion over his biographical data. Copyrighting 'Junk Man Rag' and 'Pork And Beans' in 1914 he was C. Luckyth Roberts; in 1917 he signed his WWI draft registration card 'Charles Lucky Roberts' and gave his year of birth as 1889. He often billed himself as 'Lucky Roberts', but registering some of his music in the Library of Congress in the 1920s he spelled it 'Luckeyth', and other variants are found.) |