Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (January 9, 1911 – February 26, 1991), also known as McVouty, was an American jazz singer and songwriter who played piano, guitar, vibraphone, and tenor saxophone. Gaillard was noted for his comedic vocalese singing and word play in his own constructed language called "Vout-o-Reenee", for which he wrote a dictionary.
In addition to English, he spoke five languages (Spanish, German, Greek, Arabic, and Armenian) with varying degrees of fluency.
He rose to prominence in the late 1930s with hits such as "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)" and "Cement Mixer (Put-Ti-Put-Ti)" after forming Slim and Slam with Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart. During World War II, Gaillard served in the U.S. Army Air Forces. In 1944, he resumed his music career and performed with such notable jazz musicians as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Dodo Marmarosa.
In the 1960s and 1970s, he acted in films—sometimes as himself—and also appeared in bit parts in television series such as Roots: The Next Generations. Gaillard resumed touring the circuit of European jazz festivals during the 1980s.
Early life
Along with Gaillard's birthdate, his lineage and place of birth are disputed. Many sources state that he was born in Detroit, Michigan, though Gaillard said himself that he was born in Santa Clara, Cuba, of an Afro-Cuban mother called Maria (Mary Gaillard) and a German-Jewish father called Theophilus (Theophilus Rothschild) where a "Theophilus Rothchild" had been raised the son of a successful merchant in the small town of Burnt Corn; other documents give his name as Wilson, Bulee, or Beuler Gillard or Gaillard. his World War II enlistment record with the U.S. Army also lists his birth year as 1911; and his entry in the Social Security Death Index gives his date of birth as January 9, 1911.
At age 12, Gaillard accompanied his father on a world voyage and was accidentally left behind on the island of Crete. On a television documentary in 1989, he said, "When I was stranded in Crete, I was only 12 years old. I stayed there for four years. I traveled on the boats to Beirut and Syria and I learned to speak the language and the people's way of life." After learning a few words of Greek, he worked on the island "making shoes and hats". Gaillard, with Dodo Marmarosa on piano, appeared as a guest several times on Command Performance, recorded at KNX radio studios in Hollywood in the 1940s and distributed on transcription discs to American troops during World War II.
thumb|upright|Gaillard in 1947
thumb|upright|The Slim Gaillard Trio in 1947
thumb|upright|Gaillard in a press photo for the 1954 film [[Go Man Go (film)|Go, Man, Go!]]
In December 1942, Gaillard was drafted into the United States Army Air Forces. There, Corporal Gaillard was an assistant crew chief working on Martin B-26 Marauder bombers at Laughlin Army Air Field in Del Rio, Texas. He was discharged before the end of the war after a year and seven months of service, six months after being diagnosed with chronic frontal sinusitis.
He resumed his music career on his release from the draft in 1944. Upon his return he released the song "Atomic Cocktail", which featured seemingly lighthearted lyrics laced with symbolism about nuclear war.
Gaillard later teamed with bassist Bam Brown, and their successes included the hipster anthem "Opera in Vout (Groove Juice Symphony)". They can be seen in O'Voutie O'Rooney, a 1947 motion picture featurette filmed live at one of their nightclub performances. Slim and Bam were featured at the first Cavalcade of Jazz concert at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles produced by Leon Hefflin Sr. on September 23, 1945, along with Count Basie. Gaillard also played for the 2nd Cavalcade of Jazz at Wrigley Field on October 12, 1946, and for the 3rd Cavalcade of Jazz, also at Wrigley Field on September 7, 1947.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Gaillard frequently opened at Birdland for Charlie Parker, Flip Phillips, and Coleman Hawkins. His December 1945 session with Parker and Dizzy Gillespie is notable, both musically and for its relaxed convivial air. "Slim's Jam", from that session, is one of the earliest known recordings of Parker's speaking voice. In 1949, Gaillard was playing in San Francisco. An account of meeting Gaillard at a performance there can be found near the end of Part Two of On the Road.
Gaillard could play several instruments and manage to turn the performance from jazz to comedy. He would play guitar with his left hand fretting with fingers pointing down over the fingerboard (instead of the usual way up from under it), or would play credible piano solos with palms facing up.
Gaillard wrote the theme for the Peter Potter radio show, and wrote and recorded the "Don Pitts On the Air" theme in 1950 for San Francisco DJ Don Pitts. On March 27, 2008, the Pitts theme entered the archives of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
In the early 1960s, Gaillard lived in San Diego, California. During that time, he recorded several singles and performed with local bands. Under the name Slim Delgado, he recorded "Frank Rhoads Round", a rock-and-roll single for the Xavier label. On the B-side is a song called "Dr. Free".
Gaillard appeared on several TV shows during the 1960s and 1970s, including Marcus Welby, M.D., Charlie's Angels, Mission: Impossible, Medical Center, The Flip Wilson Show, and Then Came Bronson. He also appeared in the 1970s TV series Roots: The Next Generations and reprised some of his old hits on the NBC prime-time variety program The Chuck Barris Rah Rah Show.
By the early 1980s, Gaillard was touring the European jazz festival circuit, playing with such musicians as Arnett Cobb. He also performed with George Melly and John Chilton's Feetwarmers, appearing on their BBC television series and occasionally deputising for Melly when he was unwell. Gaillard's onstage behavior was often erratic and nerve-wracking for the accompanying musicians. He made a guest appearance on Show 106 of the 1980s program Night Music, an NBC late-night music series hosted by David Sanborn.
Gaillard followed Dizzy Gillespie's advice to move to Europe and settled in London in 1983. Around Christmas 1985, Gaillard recorded the album Siboney at Gateway Studios in Battersea, London, produced by Joe Massot. As Massot recalled later: