[Dixielandjazz] More on George Rock

[David Richoux]

(from www.allmusic.com)  - I have most of his recordings with Spike 
Jones and one LP of the New Society Band (never knew about his work 
with Turk Murphy.)

Dave Richoux
===================================================
Biography	by Jordan R. Young
George Rock was the backbone of one of the most popular bands of the 
1940s and '50s. But while he was justly proud of his accomplishments, 
he was too modest a man to claim his rightful place in the history of 
popular music. As lead trumpet for Spike Jones & His City Slickers, he 
largely determined the sound of the zany band and contributed a great 
deal to their success.

Rock attended Wesleyan College on a football scholarship before trading 
in his helmet for a horn. He turned professional at 20 and worked with 
a number of small groups in the Midwest before becoming a member of 
Freddie Fisher's Schnickelfritz Band. The group played a mix of 
Dixieland and polkas with a liberal sprinkling of novelty and corn -- a 
distinct predecessor of the City Slickers.

The young trumpeter recorded for Decca, appeared in movies and 
performed in nightclubs with the Schnickelfritzers. He was working in 
Hollywood with Fisher's group when Spike Jones caught his act and 
invited him to join the Slickers. Rock worked briefly with Charlie 
Barnet while Jones went on a USO tour; upon joining Spike late in 1944, 
he quickly became the star of the wacky troupe.

"Spike could hire all the trumpet players he wanted, but none of them 
could play like George," asserted Jones' longtime staff writer Eddie 
Brandt. "He had that big fat tone and he could bend all the notes. 
Nobody could do what he did. He had the Slicker style, and Spike knew 
he had the style, so he took Rock away from Fisher."

Rock borrowed "Trumpet Blues" from Fisher's repertoire (which he 
inherited from the Schnickelfritzers' original trumpet player, Nels 
Laakso) and turned it into a show-stopping solo called "Minka." He also 
utilized his talent for mimicking children -- which Fisher was well 
aware of -- when he recorded "All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front 
Teeth)" for Jones. The record sold over two million copies. "Ya Wanna 
Buy a Bunny?" was less popular, but won Rock new fans decades later 
when Dr. Demento reprised it regularly on his syndicated radio program. 
One of his proudest moments came when the six-foot, 250-pound 
entertainer performed "Blowing Bubble Gum" in a Little Lord Fauntleroy 
suit for President Truman, during a Slicker command performance. Rock 
augmented his virtuoso trumpet solos and comic kiddie vocals with 
uncredited vocal effects, including crazy laughs and raucous belches, 
which can be heard on almost every RCA record Jones ever made.

Rock left the Slickers early in 1960, about the time the band began to 
fade into obscurity, to play the Las Vegas/Reno/Lake Tahoe circuit with 
his own group. He joined trad-jazz revivalist Turk Murphy for a short 
stint before moving on to work with fellow Slicker alumni Phil Gray and 
Joe Siracusa, with whose Spike-like New Society Band he recorded an LP. 
Toward the end of his life, he often performed with Merle Koch's jazz 
band in a Nevada steakhouse.

While he was no threat to Louis Armstrong or Harry James, Rock was 
considered by his fellow trumpet players then and now to be a man of 
great artistry. Al Hirt, who played second trumpet on some of Jones' 
radio shows in his salad days, is one among many who looked up to him.