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Lester Raymond Brown (March 14, 1912 – January 4, 2001) was an American jazz musician who for over six decades (1938–2000) led his big band, later called Les Brown and His Band of Renown.
Biography
Brown was born in Reinerton, Pennsylvania. Brown attended college at Duke University from 1932 to 1936. The band had nine other number-one hit songs, including "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (1949).
Les Brown and the Band of Renown performed with Bob Hope on radio, stage and television for almost fifty years.
Brown and the Band were also the house band for The Steve Allen Show (1959–1961) and the Dean Martin Show (1965–1972). Brown and the band performed with virtually every major performer of their time, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. The annual Les Brown Big Band Festival, started March 2006 in Les' hometown, features area big bands preserving the songs of the big band era. At the 2012 festival celebrating the 100th birthday anniversary, the town of Reinerton renamed the street near Les' birthplace to Les Brown Lane. In 2013 his hometown of Reinerton, PA adopted as the town's official slogan: Reinerton: The Town of Renown in honor of Les and his band.
Les Brown Sr. died of lung cancer in 2001, and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. He was survived by his wife Evelyn, son Les Jr., and daughter Denise. He was 88 years old at the time of his death.
His grandson, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, co-created the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law.
Brown was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
Les Brown Jr.
In 2001, Les Brown Jr. (1940–2023), became the full-time leader of the Band of Renown. It performed throughout the world and had a regular big band show in Branson, Missouri. Brown Jr. also hosted a national radio show on the Music of Your Life network. Brown Jr. was a television actor in the 1960s (Gunsmoke, General Hospital, The Baileys of Balboa, Gilligan's Island), a rock musician and producer who worked with Carlos Santana, and a concert promoter for many country music artists including Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn. In 2004, Brown Jr. received the "Ambassador of Patriotism" award from the POW Network. Brown Jr. died from cancer at his home in Branson, Missouri, on January 9, 2023, at the age of 82.
Discography
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" |Year
! rowspan="2" |Album
! colspan="1" |Peak positions
|-
!US 200<br/>
|-
| 1947
| Sentimental Journey
| 5
|-
| 1949
| Les Brown & His Orchestra, Vol. 2
| —
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1950
| Dance Date With Les Brown
| 4
|-
| I Don't Know<br /><small>with Connee Boswell</small>
| —
|-
| Martha<br /><small>with Connee Boswell</small>
| —
|-
| 1951
| Over the Rainbow
| 10
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1953
| Les Dance<br /><small>with Lucy Ann Polk, and The Rhythmaires</small>
| —
|-
| Concert at the Palladium Vol. 1 & 2
| 15
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1954
| Live at the Hollywood Palladium
| —
|-
| Le's Dream
| —
|-
| 1955
| The Cool Classics
| —
|-
| 1956
| Dancer's Choice
| —
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1957
| Les Brown & His Band of Renown
| —
|-
| Swing Song Book
| —
|-
| 1958
| Concert Modern
| —
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1959
| Live at Elitch Gardens 1959
| —
|-
| The Les Brown Story: His Greatest Hits in Today's Sound
| —
|-
| Stereophonic Suite for Two Bands<br /><small>(with Vic Schoen and His Orchestra)</small>
| —
|-
| 1961
| The Lerner and Loewe Bandbook
| —
|-
| 1963
| Play Hits From The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Others
| —
|-
| 1966
| A Sign of the Times
| —
|-
| 1976
| Today
| —
|-
| 1977
| Goes Direct to Disc
| —
|-
| 1986
| Digital Swing
| —
|-
| 1994
| Anything Goes
| —
|-
| rowspan="2"|1995
| America Swings
| —
|-
| Bandland / Revolution in Sound
| —
|-
| 2001
| Radio Days Live
| —
|-
| 2003
| Sentimental Thing<br /><small>with Bing Crosby & Billy Eckstine</small>
| —
|-
| 2005
| Palladium Concert 1953<br /><small>(reissue)</small>
| —
|-
| 2006
| The Les Brown All-Stars
| —
|-
| 2016
| The One and Only
| —
|}
Musical short films
- Spreadin' the Jam (1945) dir: Charles Walters
- Les Brown (1948) (10 min) dir: Jack Scholl
- Les Brown and His Band of Renown (1949) (15 min) dir: Will Cowan
- Art Lund-Tex Beneke-Les Brown (1948) (10 min) dir: Jack Scholl
- Connee Boswell and Les Brown's Orchestra (1950) (15 min) dir: Will Cowan
- Crazy Frolic (1953) (19 min) dir: Will Cowan
- Dance Demons (1957) (14 min) dir: Will Cowan
- Rockabilly Baby (1957) (81 min) dir: William F.Claxton
Television
- Bob Hope Show (1945) NBC Radio
- Bob Hope Show (1959–1966) NBC
- The Steve Allen Show (1958–1960) NBC
- The New Steve Allen Show (1961) NBC
- Hennesey (1962) CBS
- Hollywood Palace (1964) NBC
- Bob Hope Thanksgiving Show (1964) NBC
- Dean Martin Show (1965) NBC
- Dean Martin Summer Show (1966) NBC
- Rowan and Martin at the Movies (1968) NBC
- Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968) NBC
- Dean Martin and the Golddigger's (1968) NBC
- The Christmas Songs (Mel Torme, host)(1972) PBS
- Bob Hope Special: Joys (1976) NBC
- The Good Old Days of Radio (1976) NBC
- Doris Day's Best Friends (1985) NBC
- Ooh-La-La, It's Bob Hope's Fun Birthday Special from Paris (1981) NBC
- Biography: Doris Day "It's Magic" (1985)
- Rocko’s Modern Life
References
External links
- Les Brown Historical Marker and Photographs
- Les Brown Scores Collection Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University
- With Bob Hope Show Christmas Day 1968 Vietnam
- Connee Boswell and Les Brown (1950) Short Film (15 min.)
- New York Military Academy archives page - Alumni of Distinction
- Les Brown Interview NAMM Oral History Library (1994)
- Les Brown recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
- Entry for Les Brown Jr.
- Entry for Les Brown Jr.