It's 10 Minutes Till the End (Will You Give Me a Handy)

#aiart #aimusic #bigband #crooner #50s #1950s #50smusic

The Craig Stellar Band was assembled just before the beginning of World War 2 in 1940 in Newark by Craig Stellar and trumpet player Jacob Russet as they were first called in the Peacetime Draft. They assembled with other musicians and became part of a military band and saw little service until 1942. they were rounded into the same battalion and served in North Africa and into Southern Italy where several of the band mates would get Purple Hearts and two would unfortunately be KIA. Craig himself would be captured by in late '43 after a mine would throw him from the Jeep he was driving on a road near Rome.

After the War, the group would come back together and start their own tour until settling into a theater in Newark where they would sing bawdy songs and old soldier songs until the mid 50's. The song here, "It's 10 Minutes Till the End" was a song written after the Hydrogen bomb test.

Unfortunately, several of the band members, including Jacob and Craig, were accused of being communist sympathizers. The band broke up soon afterwards.