The Resume

(August 26, 1901-June 8, 1972)
Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Blues/jazz singer
Vocalist with the Count Basie Orchestra (1935-48)
Songs include 'Going to Chicago,' 'Harvard Blues,' 'Sent For You Yesterday' and 'I Left My Baby'
Appeared in the film 'The Learning Tree' (1969)

Why he might be annoying:

His short height and large girth earned him the nickname 'Mister Five by Five.'
He had trouble getting in and out of cars.
He slapped his girlfriend upside the head when she ignored his demand that she return to their hotel room. ('She left me not long after that.')

Why he might not be annoying:

When Otto Preminger told him, 'You're the shortest, fattest man I've ever seen,' he responded, 'And you're the tallest, baldest man I've ever seen.'
He performed with Benny Goodman at the Brussels World Fair (1958).
His last record, 'The You And Me That Used To Be,' was named Downbeat magazine's Album of the Year (1971).
Count Basie said that he 'never had an equal' as a blues singer.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Black Heavyweights
• Blues Musicians
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 41]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [August] (Ranked: 8261901)
• I am an Okie
• I am on a U.S. Postage Stamp [R-T]
• I Died in 1972 (Ranked: 70)
• I Have Leukemia
• I Performed at 'From Spirituals to Swing'
• I Sing About Chicago
• Jazz Artists
• Look at Me, I'm Postage
• Profiles 32501-32750 (Ranked: 32564)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 18 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying