"TOP TURNS" - TEDDY BROWN - THE WORLD'S GREATEST XYLOPHONIST - "BUFFOON" 1936 *****

"TOP TURNS" - TEDDY BROWN at his very best playing "BUFFOON".
The pianist is pretty good too !
TEDDY BROWN was born 25th May 1900 and died 29th April 1946.
He was an American entertainer who spent the latter part of his life performing in Britain.
He first played in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra but moved into the world of popular music in the late 1910's. He was percussionist with Julius Lemzberg's Riverside Theatre Orchestra
and his earliest recordings were with them playing Xylophone solos on Edison Records in 1919/20.
He was noted for his rotund appearance, approaching 400 pounds in weight.
In addition to Xylophone, Teddy played other percussion instruments as well.
Teddy arrived in London in 1926, formed his own orchestra playing at the Cafe de Paris.
He played other nighclubs including the Kit-Kit Club.
His custom-made Besson Xylophone has a five octave range, one more the usual.
In 1927 he made a short film for Lee De Forest's Phonofilm playing Xylophone.
He also made a film directed by a yound Alfred Hitchcock, titled "Elstree Calling".
Frpm 1931 Brown played on the radio, in films and on the variety stage,
and he appeared in the Royal Variety Performance in 1931.
He was associated with the Crazy Gang and was often a subject of their jokes.
He died of a heart attack in 1946, age 45, after appearing in a concert
at the Wolverhampton Hippodrome.
Presented by ComptonLodgeStudios Channel, with Grateful Thanks to British Pathe.