Barney Rapp
Barney Rapp | |
|---|---|
 Rappaport in a 1935 publication of the Indianapolis Times | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Barney Rappaport |
| Born | March 25, 1900 New Haven, Connecticut, US |
| Died | October 12, 1970 (aged 70) Cincinnati, Ohio, US |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Bandleader, musician |
| Labels | RCA, Bluebird |
| Spouse | |
Barnaby Rappaport (March 25, 1900 – October 12, 1970) was an American bandleader and jazz musician known for his work with singer Doris Day.
Biography
[edit]Barnaby Rappaport[1] was born on March 25, 1900,[2] in New Haven, Connecticut. His younger brother was singer Tony Pastor. He organized his first band—an orchestra—in the early 1920s, in Connecticut. In 1936, he married Ruby Wright, a vocalist in his orchestra, having four children together.[3]
Rappaport and Wright later moved to Cleveland, where he broadcast his music on local nighttime radio, which led to him signing to RCA and Bluebird Records. While searching for a singer for his planned club in Bond Hill, Cincinnati—called the Sign of the Drum[1]—he met singer Doris Day in a restaurant in 1938. Two weeks later, he selected her as his singer from a pool of 200 contestants.[4][5] He also suggested Day's stage name, because her surname was too difficult to pronounce; the suggestion began a trend of alliteration in women's stage name in pop music.[6] Rappaport seduced and manipulated Doris, paying her only $50 per week to sing in his band the New Englanders, with half being stolen by her manager.[7] In 1947, he suggested singers Betty and Rosemary Clooney to bandleader Tony Pastor;[3] he also seduced Rosemary.[1]
He also founded the Reds' Rooters Fan Club for the Cincinnati Reds, once performing a band at a stadium for the team.[8]
At some point, Rappaport visited California and appeared in a movie. He died on October 12, 1970,[2] aged 69 or 70, in Cincinnati,[3] and was interred at Spring Grove Cemetery.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Bret, David (2009-03-25). Doris Day: A Reluctant Star. Quarto Publishing Group USA. ISBN 978-1-78131-351-0.
- ^ a b c Wilson, Scott (2016-08-19). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 614. ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7.
- ^ a b c Lee, William F. (2005). American Big Bands. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-634-08054-8.
- ^ Day, Doris (1976). Hotchner, A. E. (ed.). Doris Day, her own story. New York, NY: Morrow. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-688-02968-5.
- ^ Binchy, Rebecca (2024-08-01). Fate Hollywood: The life of American actress Doris Day outside the film industry. novum publishing. ISBN 978-1-64268-828-3.
- ^ Friedwald, Will (2010-11-02). A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-307-37989-4.
- ^ Akitt, Helen (2020-07-21). Doris Day: Essential Hollywood. Character-19.
- ^ Dotson, Chad; Garber, Chris (2025-03-04). The Big 50: Cincinnati Reds: The Men and Moments that Made the Cincinnati Reds, Revised & Updated. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-63727-573-3.
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