Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who became famous during the swing era. He wrote some jazz instrumentals, such as "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues," but he was most well-known for his skilled jazz trumpet playing. His 1937 recording of "I Can't Get Started" on RCA Victor was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975. His career and influence were limited by alcoholism, which led to his early death at age 33 from cirrhosis. His recordings of "I Can't Get Started" on Vocalion and "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" were released again in 1976 as part of the Columbia Records Hall of Fame series.
Early life and career
Berigan was born in Hilbert, Wisconsin, to William Patrick Berigan and Mary Catherine (Mayme) Schlitzberg. He grew up in Fox Lake, Wisconsin. As a teenager, he learned to play the violin and trumpet. He began his music career by performing with local bands, including the University of Wisconsin's jazz group, even though he never attended college. After trying out for the Hal Kemp Orchestra and being turned down, he joined the band in late 1929. His first trumpet solos were recorded with this orchestra, which traveled to England and other European countries in 1930. He also performed as a soloist with bands led by Rudy Vallée, Tommy Dorsey, Abe Lyman, Paul Whiteman, and Benny Goodman.
After the Kemp Orchestra returned to the United States in late 1930, Berigan, along with other musicians like Mannie Klein, the Dorsey Brothers, and Artie Shaw, became a highly requested studio musician in New York. Fred Rich, Freddy Martin, and Ben Selvin asked him to record music. In early 1931, he joined the staff of CBS radio network musicians. That same year, he recorded his first vocal song, "At Your Command," with Fred Rich. From late 1932 to early 1934, he was a member of Paul Whiteman's orchestra. In 1934, he briefly played with Abe Lyman's band.
In 1934, Berigan returned to working as a freelance musician in New York's recording studios and continued his role at CBS radio. He played on hundreds of commercial records, most notably with the Dorsey Brothers and on Glenn Miller's earliest recording as a leader in 1935, where he performed on "Solo Hop." Around the same time, he joined Benny Goodman's Swing Band. John H. Hammond, a jazz talent scout and producer who later became Goodman's brother-in-law, wrote that he helped bring Gene Krupa back to Goodman's band by mentioning that Berigan, whom Krupa admired, was already part of the new group. With both Berigan and Krupa in the band, Goodman's group performed at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles, a show often credited with starting the swing era. While with Goodman, Berigan recorded solos such as "King Porter Stomp," "Sometimes I'm Happy," and "Blue Skies."
Berigan left Goodman's band to return to freelance work in New York's recording studios and radio in Manhattan. During this time (late 1935 and throughout 1936), he began recording music under his own name and continued to support singers like Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey, and Billie Holiday. In late 1936 and early 1937, he worked with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra, performing as a jazz soloist on Dorsey's radio program and on several records. His solo on the Dorsey hit "Marie" became one of his most famous performances. In 1937, Berigan formed his own band to record and tour, choosing the then-unknown song "I Can't Get Started" by Ira Gershwin and Vernon Duke as his theme. A 1937 recording of the song was released in March 1938 by RCA Victor, with Bunny Berigan on vocals. He had previously recorded the song in 1936 on Vocalion Records. Berigan made three attempts to organize his own band, with his final effort being successful. He played trumpet in nearly every song and directed the band. His trumpet playing and singing on the Victor recording of "I Can't Get Started" became his most famous work. Berigan was influenced by Louis Armstrong's style and often credited Armstrong as his idol. However, Berigan's unique trumpet sound and jazz ideas earned praise from Armstrong both before and after Berigan's death.
Bandleader
From early 1937 until June 1942, Berigan led his own band full-time, except for a six-month break in 1940 when he worked as a sideman in Tommy Dorsey's band. Bad luck and Berigan's alcoholism made it hard for him to be financially successful as a bandleader. In 1936, Berigan began a romantic relationship with singer Lee Wiley, which continued until 1940. The pressures of leading a band caused Berigan to drink more heavily. Members of the Berigan band included drummers Buddy Rich, Dave Tough, George Wettling, Johnny Blowers, and Jack Sperling; saxophone and clarinet players Gus Bivona, Joe Dixon, and Andy Fitzgerald; vocalists Danny Richards, Ruth Bradley, and Kathleen Lane; pianist Joe Bushkin; trombonist and arranger Ray Conniff; trombonist Sonny Lee; bassists Hank Wayland and Morty Stulmaker; trumpeters Carl Warwick, Steve Lipkins, and Les Elgart; saxophone players Georgie Auld and Don Lodice; and pianist and arranger Joe Lipman.
Berigan was often featured on CBS Radio's Saturday Night Swing Club broadcasts from 1936 to 1937. This radio show helped make jazz more popular during the peak of the swing era. In the rest of the 1930s, he sometimes appeared on the program as a guest.
In the late 1930s, Berigan's drinking and related health problems might have caused his band to face ongoing financial and booking challenges.
Final years and death
Berigan faced business problems and declared bankruptcy in 1939. Shortly after, he joined Tommy Dorsey as a featured jazz soloist. By September 1940, Berigan briefly led a new small group but soon reorganized a touring big band. From the fall of 1940 into early 1942, Berigan led moderately successful big bands and was on the comeback trail when his health worsened. On April 20, 1942, while on tour, Berigan was hospitalized with pneumonia at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until May 8. His doctors found that cirrhosis had severely damaged his liver. They advised him to stop drinking alcohol and not play the trumpet for an undetermined period. Berigan ignored this advice. He returned to his band on tour and played for a few weeks before returning to his home at the Van Cortlandt Hotel on 49th Street in New York City. On May 31, 1942, he suffered a massive hemorrhage and died two days later at Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital in New York at age 33.
Funeral services were held on June 3 at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church in New York. He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, located south of Fox Lake, Wisconsin.
Legacy
Following Berigan's wish, the band remained under his name. His wife, Donna Berigan, kept control of the financial part of the band. Tenor sax player Vido Musso became the leader.
In 1944, Victor Records released a collection of Berigan's recordings as bandleader after his death.
His 1937 recording of "I Can't Get Started" on RCA Victor was used in the film Save the Tiger (1973), the movie Chinatown (1974), and a short film by Martin Scorsese called The Big Shave (1967). Woody Allen has sometimes used Berigan's music in his films. In 2010, his Victor recording of "Heigh-Ho" was used in a clothing advertisement by Gap Inc. Berigan's name has appeared often in the comic strip Crankshaft.
Beginning in 1974, Fox Lake, Wisconsin held an annual event called the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee. The event was first organized by Berigan's daughter, Joyce Hansen, until she became unable to manage it due to Alzheimer's disease. After that, Julie Fleming organized the event. The last Jubilee was held in 2018. Most of Berigan's recordings are still available, and two full-length books about his life have been published.
In 1976, Columbia Records released Berigan's 1936 recording of "I Can't Get Started" from Vocalion Records as part of its Columbia Hall of Fame 45 single series. The recording was paired with "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love."
Top compositions
Berigan's most famous songs include "Chicken and Waffles," which was released in 1935 under the name Bunny's Blue Boys on Decca record 18117, and "Blues," released the same year on Decca record 18116 with the Blue Boys. This 1935 recording session was produced by John H. Hammond for Decca and later released in the UK by Parlophone. The Decca recordings were included in a four-pocket album set released in the 1940s during the 1942–44 musicians' strike.
Honors
In 1975, Berigan's 1937 recording of "I Can't Get Started" on Victor Records was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2008, Berigan was included in the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame. His original 1936 Vocalion recording of the same song was part of the Columbia Hall of Fame series in 1976.
Personal life
The youngest child of Bunny, Joyce "Jo," was born on April 22, 1936, and died on July 4, 2011. Her older sister, Patricia, was born in New York City on July 23, 1932, and died on December 8, 1998.