Johnnie "Scat" Davis

Johnnie "Scat" Davis (b. Brazil, May 11, 1910 – d. Pecos, Texas, May 28, 1983) – Trumpeter, singer, and comedian. Born into a musical family, Johnnie’s grandfather, John Davis, was a director of the Royal British Navy Band, and his grandfather and father led the Brazil Concert Band (possibly the oldest continously-active community band in the country, 1863- ). At age thirteen, Johnnie played with the Brazil Band, and, for several of his teen years, he played trumpet in the theaters and ballrooms of Terre Haute. After graduating from Brazil High School, he joined Jimmy Joy’s Orchestra in Louisville, and employment in Cleveland and New York City soon followed. In the mid-1930s, Davis made it to Hollywood, where he joined Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians and developed a reutations as a fine scat singer. It was only fitting then that he would become famous for his vocal rendition of "Hooray for Hollywood" (with the Benny Goodman Band) in the movie Hollywood Hotel (1937). (Davis made fourteen other appearances in motion pictures.) After a stint with Bob Crosby’s band, Davis formed his own big band in 1939. Although his own talents were well received, the group didn’t have much staying power. In the early 1950s, he led a small ensemble, which appeared on Detroit’s WXYZ TV. Later, he headed up a group in Texas, where he retired in the late 1960s.