Biography
Anson Weeks came into the world on 14 February 1896 in Oakland, California, USA, and left it on 7 February 1969 in Sacramento, California, USA. He first took the helm of a dance orchestra during the mid-1920s, reaching widespread acclaim in 1928 while fulfilling an engagement at San Francisco’s Mark Hopkins Hotel. Engagements at leading venues across New York, Chicago and New Orleans followed, with the group always announced through his own number ‘I’m Writing You This Little Melody’ and the accompanying tagline ‘Dancin’ with Anson’. His programming remained devoted solely to dance accompaniment, showing scant interest in fleeting trends such as the swing era. Xaviar Cugat appeared among the instrumentalists, and the vocalists at various points included Bob Crosby and Tony Martin. Weeks maintained leadership of the orchestra throughout the 1950s and 1960s, continuing to overlook prevailing musical fashions, and was still performing at the time of his death in Sacramento.