Abe Lyman
Encyclopedia
Abe Lyman was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including Your Hit Parade
.
His name at birth was Abraham Simon Lymon. Abe and his brother Mike changed their last name to Lyman because they both thought it sounded better. Abe learned to play the drums when he was young, and at the age of 14 he had a job as a drummer in a Chicago café. Around 1919, Abe was regularly playing music with two other notable future big band leaders, Henry Halstead
and Gus Arnheim
in California.
In Los Angeles
Mike opened the Sunset, a night club popular with such film stars as Mary Pickford
, Norma Talmadge
, Charlie Chaplin
, Buster Keaton
and Harold Lloyd
. When Abe’s nine-piece band first played at the Sunset, it was a success, but the club closed after celebrities signed contracts stating they were not to be seen at clubs.
For an engagement at the Cocoanut Grove in The Ambassador Hotel on April 1, 1922, Abe added a violinist and saxophonist. Opening night drew a large crowd of 1500 guests in the Cocoanut Grove, plus another 500 more outside.
After the band cut their first record under the local label Nordskog Records
, they moved a year later to Brunswick Records
where they made many recordings. The Lyman Orchestra toured Europe in 1929, appearing at the Kit Cat Club and the Palladium
in London
and at the Moulin Rouge
and the Perroquet in Paris
. Abe Lyman and his orchestra were featured in a number of early talkies, including Hold Everything
(1930), Paramount on Parade
(1930), Good News (1930) and Madam Satan
(1930). In 1931, Abe Lyman and his orchestra recorded a number of soundtracks for the Merrie Melodies
cartoon series.
Notable musicians in the Lyman Orchestra included Ray Lopez, Gussie Mueller
, and Orlando "Slim" Martin.
During the 1930s, the Lyman Orchestra was heard regularly on such shows as Accordiana
and Waltz Time. Lyman and his orchestra sat in for Phil Harris on the Jack Benny program in 1943 when Harris served in the Merchant Marines.
When Lyman was 50 years old, he left the music industry and went into the restaurant management business. He died in Beverly Hills, California
at the age of 60.
Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade, is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During this 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or...
.
His name at birth was Abraham Simon Lymon. Abe and his brother Mike changed their last name to Lyman because they both thought it sounded better. Abe learned to play the drums when he was young, and at the age of 14 he had a job as a drummer in a Chicago café. Around 1919, Abe was regularly playing music with two other notable future big band leaders, Henry Halstead
Henry Halstead
Henry Halstead was a U.S. bandleader.Henry Halstead's Orchestra began in early 1922 and over the next 20 years Halstead's band engagements extended from coast to coast, including the Blossom Room at Hotel Roosevelt, New York City; the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California; the St...
and Gus Arnheim
Gus Arnheim
Gus Arnheim was an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being "I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s...
in California.
In Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Mike opened the Sunset, a night club popular with such film stars as Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, Norma Talmadge
Norma Talmadge
Norma Talmadge was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most popular idols of the American screen.Her most famous film was Smilin’ Through , but she also...
, Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
and Harold Lloyd
Harold Lloyd
Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....
. When Abe’s nine-piece band first played at the Sunset, it was a success, but the club closed after celebrities signed contracts stating they were not to be seen at clubs.
For an engagement at the Cocoanut Grove in The Ambassador Hotel on April 1, 1922, Abe added a violinist and saxophonist. Opening night drew a large crowd of 1500 guests in the Cocoanut Grove, plus another 500 more outside.
After the band cut their first record under the local label Nordskog Records
Nordskog Records
Nordskog Records was a small record label based in California in the early 1920s that produced some interesting historic recordings.Nordskog Records was founded by Andrae Nordskog of Santa Monica, California in 1922. The label's recording studio and factory were located in Los Angeles, California...
, they moved a year later to Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
where they made many recordings. The Lyman Orchestra toured Europe in 1929, appearing at the Kit Cat Club and the Palladium
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and at the Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge is a cabaret built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The closest métro station is Blanche.The Moulin Rouge is...
and the Perroquet in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Abe Lyman and his orchestra were featured in a number of early talkies, including Hold Everything
Hold Everything (1930 film)
Hold Everything is a 1930 early all-talking film. It was the first musical comedy film to be released that was photographed entirely in early two-color Technicolor. It was adapted from the DeSylva-Brown-Henderson Broadway musical of the same name that had served as a vehicle for Bert Lahr and...
(1930), Paramount on Parade
Paramount on Parade
Paramount on Parade is a all-star revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Victor Heerman, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H...
(1930), Good News (1930) and Madam Satan
Madam Satan
Madam Satan is a dramatic pre-Code musical film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille for MGM, one of the few DeMille made for the Culver City studio...
(1930). In 1931, Abe Lyman and his orchestra recorded a number of soundtracks for the Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
cartoon series.
Notable musicians in the Lyman Orchestra included Ray Lopez, Gussie Mueller
Gussie Mueller
Gustave "Gussie" Mueller was an early jazz clarinetist....
, and Orlando "Slim" Martin.
During the 1930s, the Lyman Orchestra was heard regularly on such shows as Accordiana
Accordiana
Accordiana was a musical radio series which was heard on CBS in 1934, airing at 8:30pm on Tuesday evenings.The 30-minute program featured soprano Vivienne Segal and tenor Oliver Smith....
and Waltz Time. Lyman and his orchestra sat in for Phil Harris on the Jack Benny program in 1943 when Harris served in the Merchant Marines.
When Lyman was 50 years old, he left the music industry and went into the restaurant management business. He died in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
at the age of 60.