Freddy_Crump

Freddie Crump

Freddie Crump

American vaudeville drummer and actor

Freddie Crump, also referred to as Freddy Crump, Fred Crump and Rastus Crump[1] (died May 4, 1979 in Holland) was a drummer from the United States. He performed in various vaudeville[2] productions including with Gonzelle White in Cuba, performed in Europe, and was featured in several films. He was African American.

Career

Crump's career started out in the 1920s.

Vitaphone filmed his performance with the Norman Thomas Quintette in the short film Harlem-Mania.[3][4] He would get off his seat and move around doing stunts, tricks, and laughing audibly.[2] He also performed on film with Victor Feldman in the 1942 comedy film King Arthur Was a Gentleman[5] in an act where he drummed on glasses and his own teeth.[6][7][8]

Crump spent time in Britain and Europe performing with the Johnny Claes' Big Band.[9] Claes was born in London, but his father was Belgian,[10] and Claes and performed there with an octet that included Ronnie Scott and Crump.[11] He appeared with Claes' band in the 1946 film George in Civvy Street.[12] He also appeared on several BBC radio programs doing his own comedy routines.

Count Basie was inspired by the showman's performances.[13]

Billboard noted the quality of his performance in a review of White's vaudeville group in Havana.[14] Carlo Krahmer described what he was like.[15] Tony Crombie said he was "the most fantastic drummer I've seen in my life, including Buddy Rich".[15] Ronnie Scott described Crump as a little Black guy who had a beat up drum kit that no one else could have played.[16]

Filmography

References

  1. [1]
    Count Basie; Albert Murray (1985). Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie. Penguin Group USA. ISBN 978-0-917657-89-4.
  2. [2]
    Coleridge Goode; Roger Cotterrell (20 October 2014). Bass Lines: A Life in Jazz. Northway Publications. pp. 34–. ISBN 978-0-9928222-1-7.
  3. [3]
    "Vaudeville & Novelty Harlem-Mania". 20's Jazz.
  4. [4]
    "The Vitaphone Project!". www.picking.com.
  5. [5]
    Ron Ramdin (1 September 1999). Reimaging Britain: 500 Years of Black and Asian History. Pluto Press. ISBN 978-0-7453-1600-0.
  6. [6]
    Ronnie Scott; Kitty Grime (1979). Jazz at Ronnie Scott's. Hale. ISBN 978-0-7091-6907-9.
  7. [7]
    Frank Driggs; Chuck Haddix (2006). Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop : a History. Oxford University Press. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-0-19-530712-2.
  8. [8]
    Marshal Royal; Claire P. Gordon (1 September 2001). Marshal Royal: Jazz Survivor. A&C Black. pp. 33–. ISBN 978-1-4411-8069-8.
  9. [9]
    Jazz Journal International. Billboard Limited. 2007.
  10. [10]
    Larry Kemp (16 October 2018). Early Jazz Trumpet Legends. Dorrance Publishing. pp. 179–. ISBN 978-1-4809-7637-5.
  11. [11]
    Scott, Ronnie; Hennessey, Mike (1979). Some of my best friends are blues. ISBN 9780491022392.
  12. [12]
    "GEORGE IN CIVVY STREET". Library of Congress.
  13. [13]
    Driggs, Frank; Haddix, Chuck (3 January 2019). Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop : a History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195307122 – via Google Books.
  14. [14]
    Sampson, Henry T. (2013). Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Scarecrow Press. p. 417. ISBN 9780810883512.
  15. [15]
    Scott, Ronnie; Grime, Kitty (1979). "freddie+crump"+drummer Jazz at Ronnie Scott's. ISBN 9780709169079.
  16. [16]
    Scott, Ronnie; Hennessey, Mike (3 January 1979). Some of my best friends are blues. W. H. Allen. ISBN 9780491022392 – via Google Books.
  17. [17]
    "KING ARTHUR WAS A GENTLEMAN". Library of Congress.
  18. [18]
    "Walking on Air (1946)". BFI. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019.
  19. [19]
    Bourne, Stephen (3 January 1998). Black in the British Frame: Black People in British Film and Television, 1896-1996. Cassell. ISBN 9780304333745 – via Google Books.
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