Cab Calloway, 1907-1994
Growing Up Cabell
When Cab Calloway was 11 years old, his family moved from his birthplace, Rochester, NY, to Old West Baltimore. Born Cabell Calloway III on Christmas day 1907 to Martha Eulalia Reed (Graduate of Morgan State College, Teacher and Church Organist at Grace Presbyterian Church) and Cabell Calloway, Jr. (Lawyer, Graduate of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania), Cab Calloway - an actor, author, singer, drummer, athlete- would become one of the most magnetic and dynamic performers in history.
Cab was one of four children. His eldest sister Blanche Calloway - who was the first African American woman to lead her own orchestra- was one of his first mentors and music teacher, along with Ruth MacAbee, with whom he began studying in 1922.
"All of us black kids went to all-black schools and we lived in streets that were black… there was very little social mixing in Baltimore."
- Cab Calloway
Cab attended Frederick Douglass High School in Old West Baltimore, where he received additional Classical music training from W. Llewelleyn Wilson, who taught many other Black Baltimore music legends.
Though Cab was encouraged to steer away from performing Jazz, he could not resist and would often perform with Ike Dixon’s band at post-game school dances.
He also played around Baltimore in juke joints and clubs, under the mentorship of Chick Webb and Johnny Jones, and would often perform with Johnny and his Arabian Tent Orchestra, much to the dismay of his parents.
Fun Fact:
In his senior year at Frederick Douglass High, Cab Calloway played professional basketball, travelling across the country with a team in the “Professional Negro Baskeball League,” the Baltimore Athenians.
Johnny Jones and his orchestra with Cab Calloway, seated at the drums, with a megafone, used to amplify his voice over orchestra.
Chi-Town Bound
Before he became known as the “Hi De Ho Man” and the first African American musician to sell a million copies of his single “Minnie the Moocher,” Cab Calloway studied law at Crane College (known today as Malcolm X College) in Chicago.
In the summer of 1927, just after graduating from Douglass High, Cab traveled to Chicago to perform with his sister Blanche in a popular Black music revue. After the tour was finished, Cab enrolled at Crane College to study law. However, it was music that called to him and, instead of following in his father’s footsteps to become a lawyer, Cab began to play at clubs in and around Chicago.
In one such club, the Sunset Café, he met and performed regularly with Louis “Sachmo” Armstrong, who is credited with teaching Cab how to “scat”.
Scattin’ up to Harlem
Cab Calloway’s rise to fame began in 1930s Harlem, where he played the top clubs including the Savoy Ballroom, and the Cotton Club. He and his band would eventually replace Duke Ellington’s as the club’s house band. Dizzy Gillespie was just one of history's Jazz greats who got his start playing with Cab’s band during 1931-40, a period in history known as the “Harlem Renaissance.”
Fun Fact:
Cab Calloway was the first African American to have his own nationally syndicated radio show. He was also the first African American to publish a dictionary, which was printed in six different editions.
Foreword to “A New Cab Calloway’s Hepster's Dictionary: the Language of Jive
Films, Records, and the stage, OH MY!
Often described as extremely humorous, innovative and energetic performer, Cab was a natural fit for performing on television, radio, stage and film.
In 1943, Cab was cast in the movie, Stormy Weather, which featured many Harlem Renaissance stars, including Lena Horne, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Fats Waller, Katherine Dunham and the incredible Nicholas Brothers.
A Legacy to Remember
Cab Calloway died in 1994 at the age of 86. Throughout his 65-year-long career, Cab was featured in many productions, the list of which is extensive. Here are some highlights of his storied legacy:
Cab was Cartoonized in the old classic “Betty Boop” cartoons of the 1930s, singing with his orchestra playing “Minnie the Moocher.”
“Max Fleischer wanted me in it and so we did "St. James Infirmary Blues" (for Betty Boop's 'Snow White') and they drew characters around my singing. Then I did 'Minnie the Moocher.' My band and I appeared in the lead-in for that cartoon." Cab Calloway
- Cab Calloway
He performed the role of Sportin’ Life on Broadway in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in the 1950s revival of the opera, which also featured the African American operatic dive, Leontyne Price as Bess.
He was featured in the 1980s film, “The Blues Brothers,” which also featured a cameo from the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
He was the inspiration for Janet Jackson’s music video “Alright” and was a featured performer in the video along with rap star, Heavy D. He was said to have been the inspiration for countless artists including Michael and Janet Jackson, Prince, Morris Day and the Times, Alicia Keys, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and among others, Tupac Shakur, who lived in Baltimore for four years beginning when he was 13 years old.
Fun Fact:
Bill Clinton presented Cab Calloway with the National Medal of Arts at the White House in 1993.