Shelton Brooks facts for kids

Shelton Brooks (born May 4, 1886 – died September 6, 1975) was a talented Canadian-American musician. He was a composer of popular music and jazz. Brooks was famous for his ragtime and vaudeville style. He wrote some of the biggest hit songs in the early 1900s.

Early Life and Musical Start

Shelton Brooks was born in Amherstburg, Canada in 1886. His father was a preacher. Shelton taught himself to play music on the church's pump organ. In 1901, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan. There, Brooks became well-known for his music and comedy. Even though he never learned to read music, people loved his bold style. It was very different from the strict music of the time.

A Busy Career in Music

Brooks was a singer, a piano player, and a performer. He often performed in vaudeville shows. He was especially good at imitating the famous Bert Williams. Brooks also had a very successful career writing songs.

First Big Hit Song

His first big hit was "Some of These Days". He managed to get this song to the famous singer Sophie Tucker in 1909. Sophie Tucker loved the song so much that she used it as her main theme song. She performed it regularly for the next 55 years!

On Stage and Radio

In the 1920s, Brooks starred in several musical comedies. He was part of Lew Leslie's Plantation Revue in 1922. After his partner Florence Mills passed away in 1927, he stopped performing on stage. Instead, he started a nightclub act. In the 1930s, he even had his own radio show on the CBS network. He also helped create music for the 1932 film Harlem Is Heaven. In the 1940s, he often appeared in Ken Murray's "Blackouts." This was a long-running show that celebrated burlesque. It played in both New York and Los Angeles.

Brooks also recorded music with other singers. He played the piano and sang with vocalists like Ethel Waters and Sara Martin.

Famous Songs by Shelton Brooks

Shelton Brooks wrote many popular songs. Here are some of his well-known works:

• "Some of These Days" (1910)
• "At the Darktown Strutters' Ball" (1916)
• "I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone" (1913)
• "Every Day"
• "Somewhere in France" (1917, with William Vaughan Dunham)
• "Swing That Thing"
• "That Man of Mine"
• "There'll Come a Time" (1911)
• "Honey Gal, You Aint Talkin' to Me" (1910)
• "If I Were a Bee and You Were a Red, Red Rose"
• "Jean" (1911, popularized by Isham Jones in 1919)
• "Tell Me Why You Want to Go to Paree (You Can Get the Same Sweet Loving Here at Home)" (1919)
• "You ain't no place but down South" (1912)
• "All Night Long" (1912)
• "Walkin' the Dog" (1916)

See also

In Spanish: Shelton Brooks para niños