Slim Gaillard

Happy Birthday, Bulee "Slim" Gaillard...January 4, 1916-February 26, 1991...Best known as the first half of the comic jazz duo Slim and Slam, Gaillard's performing career spanned over 50 years and included tap dance, guitar, piano and vocals, movies, television and touring shows. He was also a master of languages and in addition to speaking 8, he also wrote a dictionary for his own made up language he called "Vout".

His date and place of birth and parental lineage are all up for debate. He could have been born in Cuba, Pensacola, Florida or Alabama to a Greek father and an Afro-Cuban mother or a German father and an African-American mother but we do know he grew up in Detroit and moved to New York City in the 1930's. He occasionally went to sea with his father who worked as a steward on cruise ships and at the age of 12 was accidentally left onshore on the Island of Crete. He worked for a while on the island until he could make his way back to Detroit.

Back in Detroit he worked in a slaughter house, for Ford Motor Works, as a boxer, trained as a mortician and worked as a rum-runner for the Purple Gang during the late 20's and early 30's. He eventually put his musical talent to work in a vaudeville act playing guitar and tap dancing at the same time. In 1936 he teamed up with bassist Slam Stewart as 'Slim and Slam', a novelty jazz act.

The duo achieved national fame with their song "Flat Foot Floogie" in 1938, which was soon covered by the Benny Goodman Orchestra and Fats Waller. They appeared in the now iconic film "Hellzapoppin'" in 1941 but WW2 broke the team up with Gaillard serving in the Air Force and Stewart serving in the Army. 1945 found Gaillard playing with bassist Bam Brown in Hollywood and another giant hit, "Cement Mixer (Putty-Putty).

Gaillard made several movies in the late 40's and early 50's and played Birdland with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. As interest in musicians of the big band era waned, Gaillard played mostly in and around New York City. In 1958 he toured and recorded with Stan Kenton. In the early 60's he worked as a hotel manager in San Diego before buying an orchard near Tacoma, Washington. But it was apparently hard to stay away from the spotlight and Gaillard returned to Los Angeles in the late 60's, playing in local clubs and eventually landing jobs on television.

He appeared in 'Mission Impossible', "Marcus Welby, M.D.', ,Along Came Bronson', 'Charlie's Angels' and 'Medical Center' and 'Roots:The Next Generation'. In 1970 he was briefly reunited with Slam Stewart at the Monterey Jazz Festival and in 1982 he was convinced by Dizzy Gillespie to make a tour of Europe. The tour was a big success and Gaillard made London his new home base. He also recorded again after a 24 year hiatus. In 1986 he appeared in the film "Absolute Beginners" singing the song 'Selling Out' and in 1989 he was the subject of a multi-part BBC series, "The World of Slim Gaillard". He died of cancer in London at the age of 75.