Biography
Contrary to the widely repeated claim that scat originated during Louis Armstrong’s 1926 session for “Heebie Jeebies,” when he supposedly invented nonsense syllables after dropping his sheet music, earlier documented instances already existed by 1923. Even less frequently acknowledged is the 1911 recording of “King of the Bungaloos” by vaudevillian Gene Greene, who delivered two full choruses of scat. Greene is believed to have absorbed the technique from ragtime performer Ben Harney, although Harney left no recorded trace of the style.
Billed as “the Ragtime King,” Greene cultivated a deliberately ragged vocal approach. Between 1911 and 1917 he cut “King of the Bungaloos” on five separate occasions, making it his signature release. Early in his career he appeared with his wife Blanche Werner under the billing Greene & Werner; she died while the couple was touring Europe in 1912. Greene remained abroad for two years, committing sixty-four titles to disc in 1912–1913, yet his popularity endured after he returned to the United States. His repertoire leaned toward humorous material, many numbers bearing “Rag” in their titles and echoing ragtime syncopation. In 1916 he recorded “The Chinese Blues,” four years before Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues.” The following year he answered “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” with his own “Alexander’s Got a Jazz Band Now.”
That 1917 release proved to be his final recording. After performing a few additional seasons, Greene withdrew from the stage to run a restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The establishment was shuttered later in the decade after authorities discovered violations of Prohibition statutes. Attempting a return in New York, he overexerted himself onstage, acknowledged the audience for curtain calls, and then suffered a fatal heart attack backstage at age fifty-two. Both his broader historical significance and his pioneering role in scat singing have remained largely unrecognized.
Billed as “the Ragtime King,” Greene cultivated a deliberately ragged vocal approach. Between 1911 and 1917 he cut “King of the Bungaloos” on five separate occasions, making it his signature release. Early in his career he appeared with his wife Blanche Werner under the billing Greene & Werner; she died while the couple was touring Europe in 1912. Greene remained abroad for two years, committing sixty-four titles to disc in 1912–1913, yet his popularity endured after he returned to the United States. His repertoire leaned toward humorous material, many numbers bearing “Rag” in their titles and echoing ragtime syncopation. In 1916 he recorded “The Chinese Blues,” four years before Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues.” The following year he answered “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” with his own “Alexander’s Got a Jazz Band Now.”
That 1917 release proved to be his final recording. After performing a few additional seasons, Greene withdrew from the stage to run a restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The establishment was shuttered later in the decade after authorities discovered violations of Prohibition statutes. Attempting a return in New York, he overexerted himself onstage, acknowledged the audience for curtain calls, and then suffered a fatal heart attack backstage at age fifty-two. Both his broader historical significance and his pioneering role in scat singing have remained largely unrecognized.
Albums
Singles