Jazz nicknames - rationales?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Why was Sonny Stitt called 'String'?

Why was Eddie Ellington called 'Duke'? Wasn't Eddie good enough?

Why was Gene Ammons called 'Jug'? Was he a boozer?

I'd like to know, really. But let's not limit ourselves to those three; any explanations of jazz nicknames welcome.

MG

[BillF]

Milt Jackson's bags were said to be under his eyes.

Sonny Rollins (Newk) certainly did resemble the baseball player Don Newcombe.

I've no idea what Argonne "Dense" Thornton's IQ was.

As for Jelly Roll, I won't comment.

[Cyril]

Why was Gene Ammons called 'Jug'? Was he a boozer?

Yes, Gene was called 'Jug' because he could drink anyone under the table

[Chuck Nessa]

Stitt was called String (short for string bean) because he was so tall and skinny.

[BillF]

Why was Gene Ammons called 'Jug'? Was he a boozer?

Yes, Gene was called 'Jug' because he could drink anyone under the table

And there was Brew Moore ...

[Larry Kart]

'Earl Hines was christened with the nickname of “Fatha” by the MC of his radio show. Before a show the MC was found passed out drunk on a table. Earl lectured the MC about his drinking. At the start of the show the angry announcer, stinging from Earl’s fatherly advice, introduced Earl and his band saying “Here comes Fatha Hines out of the forest with his children.” Earl hated the nickname “Fatha” but it stuck.'

No need to ask about Fats Waller.

Billie Holiday dubbed Lester Young "Pres" because FDR was the most important man in America at the time, and she thought that Young was the most important musician.

'Dodo Marmarosa received the uncomplimentary nickname "Dodo" as a child because of his large head and short body.'

[johnblitweiler]

Bunk Johnson was full of it -- that must have been why he was called "Bunk."

It has been said that Franz Joseph Smith's first symphony was so unpopular that he went into haydn.

[Larry Kart]

Johnny Griffin was "The Little Giant" because he was short of stature but stood tall as a player.

[Cyril]

Johnny Griffin was "The Little Giant" because he was short of stature but stood tall as a player.

The same for 'Little Jazz' (Roy Eldridge)

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Thanks, all very interesting.

So why wasn't Eddie Ellington good enough?

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Hm - I forgot to ask when we met, but I've always wondered why Bennie Ross Crawford Jr was called Hank. Anyone know?

MG

[sonnymax]

Bad enough to be called "Fats" because of your weight, but Theodore Navarro was also nicknamed "Fat Girl", reportedly due to his cherubic face and high voice.

Ben Webster's bulging eyes earned him the nickname "Frog", but he was also called "The Brute", purportedly because he could become violent when drunk.

The staff at All About Jazz compiled a list of jazz nicknames and their origins in 2004: AAJ

Edited June 30, 2014 by sonnymax

[Larry Kart]

Lou Levy was "The Silver Fox" because he had white-silver hair while still fairly young and was such a fine/harmonically sophisticated (i.e. foxy) accompanist.

Conte Candoli was The Count because ...

Elmo Hope liked to tickle.

Illinois Jacquet's actual middle name was Illinois.

Shorty Rogers was no giant.

[Larry Kart]

Lucky Thompson -- "The nickname allegedly came from the embroidery on a jersey given to young Eli by his father."

[Larry Kart]

Zoot Sims -- "He quit high school after one year and began performing with Ken Baker in Los Angeles in 1940. Baker had a habit of placing funny nicknames behind the player’s music stands, and young John stood behind the one titled "Zoot."

Pepper Adams -- 'Adams attained his lifelong nickname of "Pepper" due to former St. Louis Cardinals star Pepper Martin signing on to manage and play for the hometown minor league team, theRochester Red Wings. Adams' classmates saw a resemblance between the two, and the nickname stuck.'

[paul secor]

'Dodo Marmarosa received the uncomplimentary nickname "Dodo" as a child because of his large head and short body.'

If you listen to Dodo Marmarosa's Uptown CD, he introduces it by saying, "This is Mike Marmarosa.", and he emphasizes Mike. Evidently, he got tired of being called "Dodo".

[Don Brown]

Billy Strayhorn was given the name Swee'Pea by the the guys in the Ellington band who thought he looked like the infant adopted by Popeye in the Thimble Theater comic strip. (Duke called Billy "Strays".)

Muggsy Spanier, who was a baseball fanatic, took his name from one of his idols, Muggsy McGraw.

There are two stories about how Johnny Hodges came to be called Rabbit. Some say it was because of the altoist's liking for lettuce, others claim it was because in profile he looked a bit rabbit-like. Hodges also had a second nickname - Jeep. This name came from yet another character in the Popeye comic strip. (The Ellingtonians were big comics fans.)

Chu Berry got his nickname from his bandmates who marveled at the tenorman's gargantuan appetite. Originally the nickname had been spelled "Chew".

Edited June 30, 2014 by Don Brown

[paul secor]

I've no idea what Argonne "Dense" Thornton's IQ was.

According to the (minimal) liner notes to his Progressive album, " ' Dense' was a nick-name analogous to 'Dizzy'. "

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Bad enough to be called "Fats" because of your weight, but Theodore Navarro was also nicknamed "Fat Girl", reportedly due to his cherubic face and high voice.

Ben Webster's bulging eyes earned him the nickname "Frog", but he was also called "The Brute", purportedly because he could become violent when drunk.

The staff at All About Jazz compiled a list of jazz nicknames and their origins in 2004: AAJ

Thanks - that's an interesting little list. No Hank/Bennie Ross Crawford in it.

Damn!

MG

[BeBop]

Why was Gene Ammons called 'Jug'? Was he a boozer?

Yes, Gene was called 'Jug' because he could drink anyone under the table

Rather sad that people cling to this "easy" notion. Jazz goes hand in hand with drug abuse and drinking copiously. Perhaps it's true, but the story I've consistently heard from people without an agenda to propagate stereotypes was that he got the name from Billy Eckstine when Mr. B was buying straw hats for the band, and even the biggest wouldn't fit "Jughead". (This story doesn't appear in the Eckstine bio, "Mr. B", but it's reported in Jet Magazine, back in 1969)

Perhaps it's a "cover story" for prodigious drinking. I rather hope not.

Edited June 30, 2014 by BeBop

[marcello]

Hm - I forgot to ask when we met, but I've always wondered why Bennie Ross Crawford Jr was called Hank. Anyone know?

MG

"Originally called Bennie Ross Crawford, Jr., he picked up the name “Hank” while in college, as he was said to play like another saxophonist named Hank O’Day."

[Balladeer]

Why was Gene Ammons called 'Jug'? Was he a boozer?

Yes, Gene was called 'Jug' because he could drink anyone under the table

And there was Brew Moore ...

Yes, Brew and Fru and..... The list of boozers is long in early bop.

Times have changed when you look at todays clean smart jazz cats

[Chuck Nessa]

Yes, jazz is now attracting the wrong crowd.

[clifford_thornton]

Hah, yes, one of my favorite lines in an interview I conducted was when Hamiet Bluiett said "they need to put the brothel back in it" (emphasis his). I guess he is of a similar mindset.

[Balladeer]

Yes, jazz is now attracting the wrong crowd.

I´m at present reading about N.Y. underground in the early Fifties, Beat generation

and "lost souls" like Tony Fruscella. Therefore I may be somewhat biased.

But my post wasn´t meant by no means as an evaluation,

sorry if it has come across that way!

Edited July 2, 2014 by Balladeer