[Dixielandjazz] Second and Different Obituary on John Becker

Fri Mar 5 20:16:13 PST 2010

Hi Bruce, No that link turned out not to work.  I'll paste it  below.  Ginny

John Becker dies; celebrated banjo player

By _Michael D. Sorkin_ (mailto:MSorkin at post-dispatch.com) 
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/05/2010

John Becker started out working at the insurance company  where his dad was 
an executive. He worked his way up to district  manager.

But Mr. Becker wanted to play the banjo. He began sneaking out  of the 
office to play on the noontime Charlotte Peters variety show on the old  KSD-TV. 
His boss back at the insurance company spotted him on the live show and  
gave him an ultimatum.

That's when "Big John" Becker decided to make a  career with his 
four-string banjo. He ended up an international star.

He  toured Europe and knew the top musicians because he was one of them. In 
St.  Louis, he played on riverboats and in clubs at the old Gaslight Square 
in  midtown.  

Mr. Becker died of  congestive heart failure on Feb. 26, 2010, at his home 
in Desloge, Mo., his wife  said this week. He was 90 and had been a hospice 
patient for four  years.

Mr. Becker was inducted last year into the National Four-String  Banjo Hall 
of Fame at the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City. 

"His  favorite line was that he was trying to prove that the banjo was a 
musical  instrument," recalled Michael Mason, a museum board member who 
studied under Mr.  Becker. "So he played classical pieces, swing, Dixieland — just 
about  everything."

Banjos can be four or five strings. The five-string is known  for its 
bluegrass and country sound. The four-string that Mr. Becker played is  
considered a more traditional jazz instrument.

In recent years, Mr.  Becker played at charitable events with a trio that 
included Stan Musial on  harmonica.

"He would rather play the harmonica than eat," Mr. Becker once  said of the 
baseball great.  

VIDEO:
 _Amazing Banjo with Big John  Becker_ 
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVLFkizgE44) 

Mr. Becker, an only child, grew up on Fendler  Place in the Bevo 
neighborhood, listening to the radio and Harry Reser, "the  greatest banjo player that 
ever played," Mr. Becker recalled in a magazine  interview.

His father bought him a $260 banjo during the Depression. His  first job, 
while he was in high school, was at a South Side tavern. He and the  piano 
player worked four hours and got $2 "and all of the Coca-Cola I could  drink."

He graduated from Cleveland High School in 1936 and studied with  banjo 
great Genevieve "Bunny" Longo. During World War II, he served as a radar  
technician in the Army Air Forces.

During the 1940s, he put away his  banjo to play guitar with big bands. He 
played at the old Kiel Opera House and  for the "Hello Dolly" show with 
Carol Channing. 

Later, after leaving his  insurance company job, he took a day job as a 
musical director at KSD-TV. Mr.  Becker played at the old Robert E. Lee 
riverboat with the Jazz Incredibles  group. In Gaslight Square, he played at the 
Golden Eagle and Lorelei  clubs.

One of his best-known recordings was "Big John's Banjo  Band."

In 1986, he married his fourth wife. "John was my third husband,"  said 
Dorothy Becker. "Between the two of us, we had lucky No. 7."

Mr.  Becker asked that his beloved banjo, a Fender that he had strummed 
since 1965,  be displayed at the banjo museum after his death.

His wife plans a  celebration of his life at a date to be determined this 
spring. His body was  cremated, and she plans to scatter the ashes in 
Yosemite National  Park.

In addition to his wife, survivors include a son, Larry John Becker  of St. 
Louis.

In a message dated 3/5/2010 10:12:43 P.M. Central Standard Time,  
stangeland at earthlink.net writes:

Ginny,

I'm very sorry to hear about John Becker.
He was my  inspiration. I enjoyed hearing him play in Sacramento with Jean 
Kittrell's  Jazz Incredibles.
I once asked him about his amazing speed. I said "are you  playing 16th 
notes?"
"No," he said gently, "they're 32nd notes."

I  asked how he could play so fast. He said to just keep playing, and 
you'll get  faster and faster.
I've still got a long way to go.

I was not able  to find John's obituary.

Bruce Stangeland
Berkeley  banjoist

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Fri,  5 Mar 2010 11:32:26 EST
From: Gluetje1 at aol.com
To:  fourstringbanjo at yahoogroups.com, Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com,
rmfields219 at charter.net
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List  <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Second and  Different Obituary on John Becker
Message-ID:  <10c81.7ee4756b.38c28c1a at aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;  charset="US-ASCII"

A very nice obituary on John Becker is in today's  St. Louis Post   
Dispatch.
Ginny

<_http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/deathsobituaries/story/7
7886E707E62873C862576DD000DBB50?OpenDocument_  
(http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/deathsobituaries/story/77
886E707E62873C862576DD000DBB50
?OpenDocument)  >

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