Dan Burley
Encyclopedia
Dan Burley was an American pianist and journalist. He appeared on numerous network television and radio shows in the US
and had two radio shows of his own on WWRL
Radio in New York.
He was editor of many African American
publications such as the New York Age
, the Amsterdam News, and the magazines Ebony
and Jet
. He also appeared in five films, performed with Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Milton Hinton, Lionel Hampton, Leonard Feather, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and wrote music for Lionel Hampton
and Cab Calloway
.
Baptist
minister, died while preaching at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Texas when Dan was 3 years old. His mother, Anna Seymour, an educator, (born in Georgia
), re-married and in 1915 moved to Chicago
and became involved with politics on the Southside
within the Republican Party
of Ruth Hanna McCormick
, Charles Dineen and Willan Hale (Big Bill) Thompson. His mother taught under Booker T. Washington
at Tuskegee University
and was the first African American woman to teach at a school then called "Armour Tech", later the Illinois Institute of Technology
.
Burley attended Wendell Phillips High and was president of the school paper and on the High School football league. He also played basketball, fulfilled his love of writing, worked as a paper carrier for the Chicago Daily Defender
as a teenager and played boogie-woogie
piano. While attending Phillips, Burley developed friendships with Lionel Hampton
, Milton Hinton, Louis Jordan
, and Langley Waller, who later all moved from Chicago to New York City to work in the music, writing and entertainment industries.
who also owned the Pittsburgh Courier
, in which Burley had a syndicated column, and who co-owned The New York Age with Burley after he moved to New York.
After moving to New York City
he became theatrical editor of the Amsterdam News. From 1936-1937 Burley worked as a writer on the paper: three years later he became the managing editor, a position which he held for over twelve years. He became the managing editor of the New York Age, which he co-owned with S.B. Fuller. He was an editor of Ebony magazine from the late 1930s. While in New York, Burley married his first wife, Gustava McCurdy, the first black woman to sing the national at Madison Square Garden
. Gustava, at the age of 35, developed cancer
and died.
He reputedly coined the word bebop
and was the creator of The Harlem Handbook of Jive
, which sold more than 100,000 copies It was published in 1941 and reprinted 1944. Burley's handbook brought mentions from H.L. Mencken, Gertrude Stein
, Danton Walker, Winchell and others. The Handbook of Jive was translated into French, Italian, Spanish and Norwegian.
During World War II
he served as a war correspondent and led a Special Service USO Unit in China
, Burma, North Africa
, Egypt
and India
. Composed of Henry Armstrong, Kenny Washington, Jow Lillard, and Bill Yancy it was rated No. 2 (behind the Bob Hope
show) by Variety Magazine.
From 1947 Burley was writer for Elijah Muhammad
, published as Mohammad Speaks, so helping establish press exposure for the Black Nation of Islam. The forward of the publication Message to the Black Man was written by Burley, who got involved through S.B. Fuller, the only owner that would accept the articles, in the Pittsburg Courier.
Fuller entrusted Burley with editing the work, knowing the controversy of the material. He edited Mohammad Speaks until his death in 1962. He himself was not a Muslim nor a member of the Nation at any time but was friends with Malcolm X
, who had columns in several publications under different names, as did Burley. Later Malcolm X contacted Burley's former classmate Langley Waller in New York City
as a printer of journals and papers in New York. Mr. Waller had a press he was willing to sell to Malcolm, but instead Lerner of Chicago printed the paper.
Burley returned to Chicago with his second wife Gladys. Their only child was D'Anne Elizabeth Burley. Her father had taken the prototype magazine Jet
to Johnson Publications in Chicago. After a dispute Johnson took on the magazine and made Burley managing Editor of Jet and associate editor of Ebony Magazine from 1951. made Burley managing editor of Jet and associate editor of Ebony in the 1950s until his son Robert succeeded him. The columnist Walter Winchell
became a good friend of Burley's along with Dorothy Killgallen, Ed Sullivan, Bill Corum, Hy Gardner, Earl Wilson. Burley contributed his works to Esquire Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post
, Pic, Crisis, Interracial Review and The Catholic Press.
He began to add publications to his syndicated arena; Tan, Life, Look and Sepia among them. Gladys helped with editorial work and management out of their apartment in Lake Meadows, a complex into which the Burleys were among the first families to move: Burley sat on the board, partly because his mother had owned a property at 31st Street/King Drive which was used for the development. He managed and edited The New Crusader with Mr. Lavalle, and wrote syndicated columns in both black and white publications.
playing has been said to have influenced Humphrey Littleton's Bad Penny Blues
and hence the Beatles song "Lady Madonna
. His group Dan Burley & his Skiffle Boys, founded in 1948, may have given rise to the 1950s British genre name skiffle
.
Burley recorded with Leonard Feather
and Tiny Grimes
in 1945 and with Lionel Hampton
in 1946. That same year, he put together Dan Burley & His Skiffle Boys, an ensemble that included Brownie McGhee
and his brother Stick as well as Pops Foster
among its members. Burley also recorded with Hot Lips Page, Tyree Glenn
, and Baby Dodds
during the course of his career.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and had two radio shows of his own on WWRL
WWRL
WWRL is a radio station in New York City, broadcasting at 1600 kHz AM owned by Access.1 Communications. Since September 1, 2006, its format has been progressive talk radio...
Radio in New York.
He was editor of many African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
publications such as the New York Age
New York Age
The New York Age was a black newspaper from 1887 to 1953, and was one of the most influential black newspapers of its time.The paper had it origins as the weekly New York Globe , an African-American newspaper, that was published weekly from at least 1880 to November 8, 1884...
, the Amsterdam News, and the magazines Ebony
Ebony (magazine)
Ebony, a monthly magazine for the African-American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945...
and Jet
Jet (magazine)
Jet is an American weekly marketed toward African-American readers, founded in 1951 by John H. Johnson of Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago, Illinois...
. He also appeared in five films, performed with Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Milton Hinton, Lionel Hampton, Leonard Feather, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and wrote music for Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
and Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
.
Early life
Dan's father, Rev. James Burley, an EvangelistEvangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister, died while preaching at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Texas when Dan was 3 years old. His mother, Anna Seymour, an educator, (born in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
), re-married and in 1915 moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and became involved with politics on the Southside
South Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
within the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
of Ruth Hanna McCormick
Ruth Hanna McCormick
Ruth Hanna, Ruth Hanna McCormick or Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms was a United States Representative from Illinois.-Life:Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms was the daughter of Mark Hanna and the wife of Sen...
, Charles Dineen and Willan Hale (Big Bill) Thompson. His mother taught under Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
at Tuskegee University
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
and was the first African American woman to teach at a school then called "Armour Tech", later the Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
.
Burley attended Wendell Phillips High and was president of the school paper and on the High School football league. He also played basketball, fulfilled his love of writing, worked as a paper carrier for the Chicago Daily Defender
Chicago Defender
The Chicago Defender is a Chicago based newspaper founded in 1905 by an African American for primarily African American readers.In just three years from 1919–1922 the Defender also attracted the writing talents of Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks....
as a teenager and played boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
piano. While attending Phillips, Burley developed friendships with Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
, Milton Hinton, Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
, and Langley Waller, who later all moved from Chicago to New York City to work in the music, writing and entertainment industries.
Journalism
By 1929 Burley was the sports editor for the Daily Defender with a featured column syndicated throughout the country. He also wrote for the Chicago Bee, owned by S.B. FullerSamuel B. Fuller
S. B. Fuller was an American entrepreneur. He was founder and president of the Fuller Products Company, publisher of the New York Age and Pittsburgh Courier, head of the South Side Chicago NAACP, president of the National Negro Business League, and a prominent black Republican.S.B...
who also owned the Pittsburgh Courier
Pittsburgh Courier
The Pittsburgh Courier was an American newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which was published from 1907 to 1965. Once the country's most widely circulated Black newspaper, the legacy and influence of the Pittsburgh Courier is unparalleled.A pillar of the Black Press, it rose...
, in which Burley had a syndicated column, and who co-owned The New York Age with Burley after he moved to New York.
After moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
he became theatrical editor of the Amsterdam News. From 1936-1937 Burley worked as a writer on the paper: three years later he became the managing editor, a position which he held for over twelve years. He became the managing editor of the New York Age, which he co-owned with S.B. Fuller. He was an editor of Ebony magazine from the late 1930s. While in New York, Burley married his first wife, Gustava McCurdy, the first black woman to sing the national at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. Gustava, at the age of 35, developed cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and died.
He reputedly coined the word bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
and was the creator of The Harlem Handbook of Jive
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
, which sold more than 100,000 copies It was published in 1941 and reprinted 1944. Burley's handbook brought mentions from H.L. Mencken, Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
, Danton Walker, Winchell and others. The Handbook of Jive was translated into French, Italian, Spanish and Norwegian.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he served as a war correspondent and led a Special Service USO Unit in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Burma, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Composed of Henry Armstrong, Kenny Washington, Jow Lillard, and Bill Yancy it was rated No. 2 (behind the Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
show) by Variety Magazine.
From 1947 Burley was writer for Elijah Muhammad
Elijah Muhammad
Elijah Muhammad was an African American religious leader, and led the Nation of Islam from 1934 until his death in 1975...
, published as Mohammad Speaks, so helping establish press exposure for the Black Nation of Islam. The forward of the publication Message to the Black Man was written by Burley, who got involved through S.B. Fuller, the only owner that would accept the articles, in the Pittsburg Courier.
Fuller entrusted Burley with editing the work, knowing the controversy of the material. He edited Mohammad Speaks until his death in 1962. He himself was not a Muslim nor a member of the Nation at any time but was friends with Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
, who had columns in several publications under different names, as did Burley. Later Malcolm X contacted Burley's former classmate Langley Waller in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as a printer of journals and papers in New York. Mr. Waller had a press he was willing to sell to Malcolm, but instead Lerner of Chicago printed the paper.
Burley returned to Chicago with his second wife Gladys. Their only child was D'Anne Elizabeth Burley. Her father had taken the prototype magazine Jet
Jet (magazine)
Jet is an American weekly marketed toward African-American readers, founded in 1951 by John H. Johnson of Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago, Illinois...
to Johnson Publications in Chicago. After a dispute Johnson took on the magazine and made Burley managing Editor of Jet and associate editor of Ebony Magazine from 1951. made Burley managing editor of Jet and associate editor of Ebony in the 1950s until his son Robert succeeded him. The columnist Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...
became a good friend of Burley's along with Dorothy Killgallen, Ed Sullivan, Bill Corum, Hy Gardner, Earl Wilson. Burley contributed his works to Esquire Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
, Pic, Crisis, Interracial Review and The Catholic Press.
He began to add publications to his syndicated arena; Tan, Life, Look and Sepia among them. Gladys helped with editorial work and management out of their apartment in Lake Meadows, a complex into which the Burleys were among the first families to move: Burley sat on the board, partly because his mother had owned a property at 31st Street/King Drive which was used for the development. He managed and edited The New Crusader with Mr. Lavalle, and wrote syndicated columns in both black and white publications.
Musical career
Burley started his music career by playing Chicago "House Rent Parties" Blues cafes, socials and clubs. His barrelhouseBarrelhouse
Barrelhouse can refer to:*A "juke joint", a bar or saloon. Originates from the storage of barrels of alcohol.*An early form of jazz with wild, improvised piano, and an accented two-beat rhythm ....
playing has been said to have influenced Humphrey Littleton's Bad Penny Blues
Bad Penny Blues
"Bad Penny Blues" is a trad jazz piece written by Humphrey Lyttelton and recorded with his band in London on April 20, 1956.- Popular success :It was originally released as Parlophone ER 4184 and became a hit record in Britain at the time....
and hence the Beatles song "Lady Madonna
Lady Madonna
"Lady Madonna" is a song by The Beatles, primarily written by Paul McCartney . In March 1968, it was released as a single, backed with "The Inner Light." The song was recorded on 3 and 6 February 1968 before the Beatles left for India...
. His group Dan Burley & his Skiffle Boys, founded in 1948, may have given rise to the 1950s British genre name skiffle
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
.
Burley recorded with Leonard Feather
Leonard Feather
Leonard Geoffrey Feather was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.-Biography:...
and Tiny Grimes
Tiny Grimes
Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He was a member of the Art Tatum Trio from 1943 to 1944, was a backing musician on recording sessions, and later led his own bands, including a recording session with Charlie Parker...
in 1945 and with Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
in 1946. That same year, he put together Dan Burley & His Skiffle Boys, an ensemble that included Brownie McGhee
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
and his brother Stick as well as Pops Foster
Pops Foster
George Murphy "Pops" Foster was a jazz musician best known for his vigorous playing of the string bass. He also played the tuba and trumpet professionally....
among its members. Burley also recorded with Hot Lips Page, Tyree Glenn
Tyree Glenn
Evan Tyree Glenn was an American trombone player.-Biography:...
, and Baby Dodds
Baby Dodds
Warren "Baby" Dodds was a jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana."Baby" Dodds was the younger brother of clarinetist Johnny Dodds. He is regarded as one of the very best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era, and one of the most important early jazz drummers...
during the course of his career.