Tiny Bradshaw

Tiny Bradshaw divided his working life between two distinct phases, performing swing during the 1930s and later emerging as a successful R&B performer from the middle 1940s onward. Although he studied psychology at Wilberforce University, he ultimately selected music as his profession. Early in his career he contributed vocals—while also handling drums—with Horace Henderson’s Orchestra, Marion Hardy’s Alabamians, the Savoy Bearcats, the Mills Blue Rhythm Band, and Luis Russell. Forming his own orchestra in 1934, the group cut eight energetic sides for Decca before the year ended. After a ten-year period of limited opportunities, the ensemble returned to the studio in 1944 with material oriented toward R&B and jump styles. Bradshaw completed the bulk of his recordings between 1950 and 1954, adding single sessions in both 1955 and 1958. Every release after 1947 appeared on King, among them the influential “Train Kept A-Rollin’” from 1951. For years afterward the number remained a standard for countless garage bands and received notable covers by the Yardbirds in the 1960s and Aerosmith in the 1970s.

Bradshaw endured his first stroke in 1954 and a second two years later, spending the following period recuperating at a Florida hospital. During his absence King issued a single drawn from earlier material in an effort to sustain his visibility. By the start of 1958 he had gradually resumed touring and directing his band. King then released one last single pairing “Bushes” with “Short Shorts,” yet it attracted no attention. At that point Bradshaw’s career effectively concluded, as younger listeners had already embraced Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Elvis while he attempted to adapt to the rock & roll audience. He suffered a fatal third stroke on November 26, 1958, at his Cincinnati residence, aged 53. Bradshaw is recalled both as a powerful jump-blues vocalist and as a leader who featured outstanding jazz sidemen such as Shad Collins, Russell Procope, and Happy Caldwell in 1934, Sonny Stitt during the 1944 sessions, and later Big Nick Nicholas, Red Prysock, Bill Hardman, and Sil Austin.