Ukelele Ike

Clifton Avon "Cliff" Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971), nicknamed "Ukulele Ike", was an American musician, singer and actor, who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number one hit with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1929. He also did voices for animated cartoons later in his career, and he is best known as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney's Pinocchio (1940) and Fun and Fancy Free (1947), and Dandy (Jim) Crow in Walt Disney's Dumbo (1941).
Edwards was born in Hannibal, Missouri. He left school at age 14 and soon moved to St. Louis, Missouri and Saint Charles, Missouri, where he entertained as a singer in saloons. As many places had pianos in bad shape or none at all, Edwards taught himself to play ʻukulele to serve as his own accompanist (choosing it because it was the cheapest instrument in the music shop). He was nicknamed "Ukulele Ike" by a club owner who could never remember his name.
Edwards made his first phonograph records in 1919. He recorded early examples of jazz scat singing in 1922. The following year he signed a contract with Pathé Records. He became one of the most popular singers of the 1920s, appearing in several Broadway shows. He continued to record until shortly before his death in 1971 (heart attack brought on by arteriosclerosis)....(Read more)
==Links to Peel==
Cliff Edwards' recordings were valued by record collectors long after the era when they were made. A compilation LP of his more risqué material appeared in the 1970s on Yazoo Records, a label Peel followed which was mostly devoted to blues reissues. The LP sleeve was designed by the noted cartoonist Robert Crumb, an Edwards fan who also supplied some of the rare 78s reissued on the album.
Two recordings by Edwards were chosen to feature in the Peelenium. The second was in fact a medley of It Had To Be You and Paddlin' Madeline Home (the latter of which he had already recorded on its own in 1925), but was a release presumably to capitalise on his vocal fame from the Disney movies. He also appeared on the Pig's Big 78 twice, the first time with his original recording of Singin' In The Rain (due to its enduring popularity, re-released in 1949, twenty years after he recorded it).
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*Noneright|335 px
==Peelenium==
*Peelenium 1928: 'Just Like A Melody Out Of The Sky'
*Peelenium 1942: 'It Had To Be You / Paddlin' Madeline Home'
== Sessions ==
*None
== Other Shows Played ==
*20 July 1999: 'Just Like A Melody Out Of The Sky' Peelenium 1928
*25 August 1999: 'It Had To Be You / Paddlin' Madeline Home' Peelenium 1942
*06 September 2001: 'Singin' In the Rain' Pig's Big 78 2001
*30 September 2004: 'That’s My Weakness Now (10")' (Columbia) Pig's Big 78 2004
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
* Official site
* Other
Category:Artists