Pee Wee Marquette

[Bright Moments]

I don't have scanner.

Some of them will be in my book.

so is the book out??

so is the book out?

[Big Beat Steve]

A large (2-page), striking pic of Pee Wee the Midget standing between Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing (or rather being lifted up by them) is in "The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock'n'Roll" (Jim Miller, ed., Rolling Stone Presse, Random House, 1976). He sure looks tiny next to Jimmy Rushing (but who wouldn't?). Hard to say if "he" was a "she", though.

[Bright Moments]

A large (2-page), striking pic of Pee Wee the Midget standing between Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing (or rather being lifted up by them) is in "The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock'n'Roll" (Jim Miller, ed., Rolling Stone Presse, Random House, 1976). He sure looks tiny next to Jimmy Rushing (but who wouldn't?). Hard to say if "he" was a "she", though.

please find that pic & post!!!

[Big Beat Steve]

Sorry, the book is right in front of me but I don't have a scanner (nor a digital camera - I still use my old Rollei) and besides, it's a huge coffee-table book and the pic is a 2-page spread (with Pee Wee fairly close to the spine, i.e. in the center of the pic).

But maybe somebody else out these has that book too. It was reprinted later in a smaller- sized edition.

BTW, if you want to see the other side of wee little Pee Wee , have a look at page 70 of Carole Reiff's "Nights In Birdland" (Simon & Schuster, London 1987), a book that I guess quite a few forumists own.

Edited February 2, 2008 by Big Beat Steve

[Bright Moments]

Sorry, the book is right in front of me but I don't have a scanner (nor a digital camera - I still use my old Rollei) and besides, it's a huge coffee-table book and the pic is a 2-page spread (with Pee Wee fairly close to the spine, i.e. in the center of the pic).

But maybe somebody else out these has that book too. It was reprinted later in a smaller- sized edition.

BTW, if you want to see the other side of wee little Pee Wee , have a look at page 70 of Carole Reiff's "Nights In Birdland" (Simon & Schuster, London 1987), a book that I guess quite a few forumists own.

what does it say?????????!!!!!!!

[Big Beat Steve]

Pleeeeze, just let your imagination run free.

Carole Reiff's book is a photo book too, so what the pic "says" is what can be gathered from a rather funny view of this character taken from the REAR.

Where are all those who own this book here anyway? Where is everybody? I realize lots of hardcore jazz fans would rather drop dead than buy a book where it says plainly on the cover it's all about "Rock'n'Roll" but there just GOT to be plenty of forumists who at least own Carole Reiff's book (it's a classic).

Edited February 3, 2008 by Big Beat Steve

[John L]

I recall that we had a thread a while back on a now defunct jazz BBS with the subject "whatever happened to Pee Wee Marquette?" There were some knowledgeable participants, and nobody could recall an obituary or any such information.

Is Pee Wee still alive?

Since I posted this four years ago, I met somebody who knows Pee Wee Marquette. Apparently he (she) is still alive in a retirement home in Florida. Maybe a GREAT opportunity for an autobiography ghost editor still exits.

[Bright Moments]

Pleeeeze, just let your imagination run free.

Carole Reiff's book is a photo book too, so what the pic "says" is what can be gathered from a rather funny view of this character taken from the REAR.

Where are all those who own this book here anyway? Where is everybody? I realize lots of hardcore jazz fans would rather drop dead than buy a book where it says plainly on the cover it's all about "Rock'n'Roll" but there just GOT to be plenty of forumists who at least own Carole Reiff's book (it's a classic).

well i scored a copy of the book - thanks steve!

[bichos]

photo of pee wee marquette and lester young together with guy warren:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1402/139471..._4040de726b.jpg

keep boppin´

marcel

[Chuck Nessa]

Only Mr Young looks relaxed.

Thanks for the shot.

[bertrand]

Pee Wee does look like a woman in that one...

I thought he/she was dead, but maybe not. I would not want to interview that creep.

Bertrand.

[Bright Moments]

Pee Wee does look like a woman in that one...

I thought he/she was dead, but maybe not. I would not want to interview that creep.

Bertrand.

creep? bertrand - tell us why you feel this way!

[brownie]

Anybody heard this CD...

...and where can it be obtained?

[Bright Moments]

[Late]

Pee Wee Marquette is frozen!

(Cryogenics on all the Pee Wee's.)

[Christiern]

But how tall was he?

just learned he was 3 feet 9 inches and born "william clayton marquette."

But how tall was he?

[Shrdlu]

Marquette was generally believed--by me and others--to be a male, but I have heard many people who worked with him/her say that this was a woman posing as a man. Not having seen Marquette sans clothes (tux or ridiculous Hawaii Kai costume), I cannot say for sure, but while it may be nothing more than a rumor, it surely is within the realm of possibilities.

Hmmmmm

Probably she was really Lorraine Gordon.

[paul secor]

Article on Pee Wee Marquette in the Mosaic Gazette today: http://dangerousminds.net/comments/half_a_motherfucker_the_legend_of_pee_wee_marquette

[BillF]

2 hours ago, paul secor said:

Article on Pee Wee Marquette in the Mosaic Gazette today: http://dangerousminds.net/comments/half_a_motherfucker_the_legend_of_pee_wee_marquette

Wonderful stuff! 

[Big Beat Steve]

On 22.1.2017 at 4:28 PM, BillF said:

Wonderful stuff! 

According to the book "The Hip - Hipsters, Jazz and The Beat Generation" by Roy Carr et al., the entire "half a motherfucker" story went like this (as told by Billy Eckstine): We had this little midget, Pee Wee Marquette, the emcee at Birdland, on tour with us. We were on the bus, and he kept stepping over Pres while Pres is shooting dice. "Lemme get out, Pres!" So finally Pres says, "Will you SIT DOWN, you half a motherfucker!"

 

Maybe someone recalls this: Sometime in the late 80s/early 90s you often heard some then-current black pop/funk/semi-jazz tune on the radio that had an (uncredited) announcement (apparently coming from a 50s recording) by the midget at the start of the tune: "And now we are proud to present a Blue Note recording star at Birdland tonight" (or something like this - might actually have been an excerpt from that announcement on the Art Blakey LP). I wonder how many of the average pop radio listeners who heard/bought this tune knew who that high-voiced character at the start of the tune really was ...

 

Edited January 24, 2017 by Big Beat Steve

[BillF]

3 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:

According to the book "The Hip - Hipsters, Jazz and The Beat Generation" by Roy Carr et al., the entire "half a motherfucker" story went like this (as told by Billy Eckstine): We had this little midget, Pee Wee Marquette, the emcee at Birdland, on tour with us. We were on the bus, and he kept stepping over Pres while Pres is shooting dice. "Lemme get out, Pres!" So finally Pres says, "Will you SIT DOWN, you half a motherfucker!"

 

Maybe someone recalls this: Sometime in the late 80s/early 90s you often heard some then-current black pop/funk/semi-jazz tune on the radio that had an (uncredited) announcement (apparently coming from a 50s recording) by the midget at the start of the tune: "And now we are proud to present a Blue Note recording star at Birdland tonight" (or something like this). I wonder how many of the average pop radio listeners who heard/bought this tune knew who that high-voiced character at the start of the tune really was ...

 

Horace Silver (who as a young man played with Pres) says in his autobiography Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty that Lester shouted, "Get away from me, you half a motherfucker!" when Pee Wee came cadging for tips. Of course, this doesn't contradict Eckstine's account; Pres possibly called PWM this on numerous occasions. 

[robertoart]

mmm...who didn't pay the piper,

Lou Ronaldson

Jimmy Swift

Frizzy Lefty

Barry Castle

New Setta Teeth

[Dmitry]

On 1/22/2017 at 10:53 AM, Big Beat Steve said:

Maybe someone recalls this: Sometime in the late 80s/early 90s you often heard some then-current black pop/funk/semi-jazz tune on the radio that had an (uncredited) announcement (apparently coming from a 50s recording) by the midget at the start of the tune: "And now we are proud to present a Blue Note recording star at Birdland tonight" (or something like this - might actually have been an excerpt from that announcement on the Art Blakey LP). I wonder how many of the average pop radio listeners who heard/bought this tune knew who that high-voiced character at the start of the tune really was ...

 

That was Us3, on a track Cantaloop. BTW, this was a Blue Note release. I bought it when it first came out, might still have it around.

 

Edited February 15, 2017 by Dmitry

[Dmitry]

Edited February 15, 2017 by Dmitry

[Big Beat Steve]

Exactly - that was the tune. Thanks, Dmitry.

Struck me as rather unusual at the time. I doubt many of those who bought the record at the time realized who that was.

I knew the name not only from jazz records but also visually - the book with this pic has been on my shelf since (about) my 18th year.