Cab Calloway: Early Life, Rising Career, Post Career/ Legacy
Introduction
Early life
To begin, Cab Calloway was born Christmas day in 1907 to Martha Reed and Cabell Calloway. The family lived in Rochester, New York before relocating to Baltimore. Growing up, Cab did well in school, especially with physical activities. “He excelled at sports in high school and played basketball with the Negro Professional Basketball League on the ‘Baltimore Athenians’ ” (Who is Cab Calloway, n.d, pg.2). In contrast to his parents, Calloway took an interest in singing. He had been doing solos in his church while his mother was teaching and father was pursuing law. Although the dramatic difference, people still expected better of him. “It was assumed that he would follow in his father’s footsteps and study law” (Cab Calloway, 2003, pg.1). Surprisingly, his parents embraced his singing ability
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He developed his own style in singing, as well as composed his most popular song ‘Minnie the Moocher.’ “Calloway was one of the first performers to make deliberate use of scat singing in his act, ‘Minnie the Moocher, his best-known song, is one such composition” (Cab Calloway, 2003, pg.1). He would scat sing when he forgot the lyrics to his songs and the crowds would go wild. Thanks to his success with this style of singing, ‘Minnie the Moocher’ sold millions worldwide. Calloway’s stardom soared in the 1930’s and 40’s with him appearing in multiple films like ‘Stormy Weather.’ He also popularized the jitterbug with compositions such as ‘Jumpin’ Jive.’ Along with all the fame, he found time to write a book called the Hepster’s Dictionary which sold two million copies. He was even recognized in George T. Simons book The Big Bands. “The esprit de corps of the Calloway band was tremendous, and the great pride that the musicians possessed as individuals and as a group paid off handsomely in the music they created” (Cab Calloway, 2003,