Johnny Hodges' birthdate?

[ghost of miles]

Hey folks, is it a Hodges centennary this year or not? Various books/resources list his birthdate as either July 25, 1906, or July 25, 1907... any Ellingtonian experts out there who know for sure?

[ghost of miles]

Living Era seems to think it's this year.

[J.A.W.]

Leonard Feather/Ira Gitler's 1999 Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz gives 7/25/1906 as his birthday, but that's the only one. All my other reference books and record guides say 7/25/07.

Edited June 7, 2007 by J.A.W.

[ghost of miles]

Leonard Feather/Ira Gitler's 1999 Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz gives 7/25/1906 as his birthday.

Yep, as does the new edition. Grove (and yes, I know it's unreliable) says 1907.

Edited June 7, 2007 by ghost of miles

[J.A.W.]

Leonard Feather/Ira Gitler's 1999 Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz gives 7/25/1906 as his birthday.

Yep, as does the new edition. Grove (and yes, I know it's unreliable) says 1907.

I edited my post before I saw your second post - all my other reference books and records guides etc. say 1907.

[J.A.W.]

AMG (yep, it's unreliable), Wikipedia (probably even more unreliable) and downbeat also say 1907. Edited June 7, 2007 by J.A.W.

[ghost of miles]

AMG (yep, it's unreliable), Wikipedia (probably even more unreliable) and downbeat also say 1907.

Hadn't checked the AMG one yet--thanks much, J.A.W. I may e-mail our old MIA friend Mike Fitzgerald and see what he recommends re: making a final determination.

[J.A.W.]

AMG (yep, it's unreliable), Wikipedia (probably even more unreliable) and downbeat also say 1907.

Hadn't checked the AMG one yet--thanks much, J.A.W. I may e-mail our old MIA friend Mike Fitzgerald and see what he recommends re: making a final determination.

You're welcome. Please post Mike's reply, I'd like to know as well.

[catesta]

According to Encyclopedia Britannica it is July 25, 1906

[J.A.W.]

Leonard Feather/Ira Gitler's 1999 Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz gives 7/25/1906 as his birthday.

Yep, as does the new edition.

Do you know if the new edition is just a reprint or an updated/enlarged version? According to Amazon the 2007 edition does have more pages.

[ghost of miles]

The publisher's note at the beginning of the 2007 paperback states:

This 2007 edition of The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz does not update or, for the most part, correct information in the body of each entry. However, in the headings of many biographies there are corrections and updates pertaining to birth places and dates, death places and dates, and nomenclatures.

And I now have it on very good authority that Hodges was born in 1907--so this year is his centenary.

[J.A.W.]

The publisher's note at the beginning of the 2007 paperback states:

This 2007 edition of The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz does not update or, for the most part, correct information in the body of each entry. However, in the headings of many biographies there are corrections and updates pertaining to birth places and dates, death places and dates, and nomenclatures.

And I now have it on very good authority that Hodges was born in 1907--so this year is his centenary.

Thanks for the info!

[RDK]

The publisher's note at the beginning of the 2007 paperback states:

This 2007 edition of The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz does not update or, for the most part, correct information in the body of each entry. However, in the headings of many biographies there are corrections and updates pertaining to birth places and dates, death places and dates, and nomenclatures.

And I now have it on very good authority that Hodges was born in 1907--so this year is his centenary.

Either way, it's worth celebrating again!

[brownie]

Wikipedia may give 1907 as Hodges' birthdate in one place, it also says 1906 in another:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_25

Wikipedia France also says 1906.

I'ld be tempted to go with that year.

In the liner notes by Stanley Dance to the two Mosaic Hodges sets, Dance gives 1907 as Hodges' birthdate but goes on to say that Hodges was 13 when he was introduced to Bechet.

Bechet was in England in 1920. He had left the USA on June 1919 and only came back in November 1922.

I rest my case! 1906 it should be

[catesta]

This is interesting...

The New York Times obituary says 1906, but the Social Security Death Index says 1907.

John

HODGES SS#111-07-0409 25 Jul 1907 May 1970 NY

It is quite possible there was a reporting error along the way.

Edited June 8, 2007 by catesta

[ghost of miles]

This is the info from Johnny Hodges' birth certificate, posted by Paul Combs at the New England jazz site:

Cornelius Hodges

born: July 25, 1907

father: John H. Hodges, born in Virginia

mother: Katie Swan, born in Virginia

residing at 137 Putnam Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts

[brownie]

Can't argue with a birth certificate

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Is that photo really Johnny Hodges? :Looks more like Buster Keaton to me.

MG

[Chuck Nessa]

Hodges.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Thanks Chuck.

MG

[flat5]

The English bandleader Johnny Keaton.

Looks like it's been a hard days night.

Edited May 28, 2013 by flat5