Calloway, Cab (1907-1994)

Known as "The Hi-De-Ho Man," jazz singer, dancer, and bandleader Cab Calloway was one of the best-known entertainers in the United States from the early 1930s until his death in 1994. Calloway's musical talents, however, were only part of the story. His live performances at Harlem's Cotton Club became legendary because of Calloway's wild gyrations, facial expressions, and entertaining patter.

Born Cabell Calloway on Christmas Day, 1907, in Rochester, New York, Calloway spent most of his childhood years in Baltimore. The younger brother of singer Blanche Calloway, who made several popular records in the early 1930s before retiring, Cab discovered show business during his teen years, frequenting Chicago clubs while attending that city's Crane School. When Calloway encountered financial difficulties, he naturally turned to moonlighting in the same clubs, first as an emcee and later as a singer, dancer, and bandleader.

Although Calloway was attending law school and his hopes for a career in that field looked promising, he elected to drop out and try to make it as a singer and dancer. He led a successful Chicago group, the Alabamians, who migrated to New York but found the competition too harsh to survive. Calloway had better luck with his next group, the Missourians, appearing in the Broadway revue Connie's Hot Chocolates in 1929.

Soon after, Calloway was offered a position as the headline act at the Cotton Club, and he readily accepted. He also had begun recording, and in 1931 produced his best-known single, "Minnie the Moocher." Minnie and her companion, Smokey Joe, were the first of many fictional characters Calloway invented to entertain his audiences. He continued Minnie's saga with such "answer" records as "Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day" and "Mister Paganini, Swing for Minnie," which took a satirical look at classical music. He continued to develop his talents as a jazz singer and was one of the first "scat" singers, improvising melodies while singing nonsense lyrics. Blessed with a wide vocal range, Calloway employed it to his fullest advantage, especially on his famous "hi-de-ho" songs, which included "You Gotta Hi-De-Ho" and the "Hi-De-Ho Miracle Man."

Calloway's orchestra was a showcase and proving ground for some of the most prominent musicians in the history of jazz. Walter "Foots" Thomas, Doc Cheatham, Danny Barker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ike Quebec, among many others, gained notoriety by appearing with Calloway, who paid higher salaries—and demanded better work—than any other bandleader.

Calloway had so much visual appeal that he was cast in several movies, including Stormy Weather (1943). More recently, Calloway played a thinly veiled version of himself in the 1980 blockbuster The Blues Brothers, dispensing fatherly advice to protagonists Jake and Elwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) as well as turning in a spectacular performance of "Minnie the Moocher" at the film's climax.

Although the single "Blues in the Night" was a major hit in 1942, Calloway found little commercial success after the Depression years. With the end of the big-band era after World War II, Calloway reluctantly disbanded his orchestra in 1948 and thereafter performed solo or as a featured guest in other groups. His love of entertaining led him to continue performing for fans until his death in 1994.

—Marc R. Sykes

Further Reading:

Calloway, Cab, and Bryant Rollins. Of Minnie the Moocher and Me. New York, Crowell, 1976.