Johnny Long Orchestra Scrapbook, 1931-1990

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Summary

Creator:
Dale, C. Shelby
Abstract:
Johnny Long was a native of Newell, North Carolina and a student at Duke University from 1931 to 1935. In 1931, Long and ten other Duke freshmen formed the Duke Collegians Orchestra, later the Johnny Long Orchestra. Long and the Orchestra recorded several hits and performed at jazz venues around the country. Long continued to perform until his death in 1972. The scrapbook contains photographs, clippings, gig posters and advertisements, album liner notes, and other assorted memorabilia related to the Duke Collegians and the Johnny Long Orchestra and other big bands from North Carolina with inclusive dates 1931-1990.
Extent:
1.5 Linear Feet
1 Item
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
UA.30.01.0060
University Archives Record Group:
30 -- Student and Alumni Papers and Materials
30 -- Student and Alumni Papers and Materials > 01 -- Individuals

Background

Scope and content:

The scrapbook, created by C. Shelby Dale (Duke '35), bass player and original member of the Orchestra, contains material pertaining to the career of Johnny Long with the Duke Collegians and the Johnny Long orchestra with the inclusive dates 1931 through 1973. Material includes photographs, clippings, gig posters and advertisements, album liner notes and other assorted memorabilia. Additional material also covers reunions of the surviving members of the Duke Collegians and the careers of other big bands and band leaders such as Les Brown and His Band of Renown (formerly the Duke Blue Devils), a 1936 graduate of Duke; Jelly Leftwich, the first Director of Duke's Department of Music and conductor of the Duke University Club Orchestra; Hal Kemp, leader of the Carolina Club Orchestra formed while a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Joseph Franklin "Sonny" Burke, a 1937 graduate of Duke and leader of the Duke Ambassadors.

Biographical / historical:

Johnny Long was born September 12, 1914 in Newell, North Carolina to Curtis W. and Connie Gardner Long. According to popular legend, at the age of two, imitating an older cousin, Long put his right hand into a hog's mouth in an attempt to feed him and in the process received a damaging bite. Consequently, when Long picked up the violin as a teenager, it was the beginning of his career as one of the few accomplished left-handed violinists.

After finishing school at Charlotte Central High in 1931, Long came to Duke University and shortly thereafter formed the Duke Collegians with ten other freshmen. In addition to being the nightly entertainment at University Unions, the Duke Collegians played gigs throughout the triangle and were the summer house band at White Lake Beach, North Carolina. After graduating in 1935, the Duke Collegians became known as the Johnny Long Orchestra. In 1942, the orchestra played an extended engagement at the Roseland Ballroom and the New Yorker Hotel in New York City. They also performed dates at other well-known jazz locations such as Frank Dailey's in Newark, New Jersey, the William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the College Inn and Trianon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois. The band's first label release was Just Like That in 1937 on Vocalion Records, a label owned by American Record Coporation (ARC). The band signed to Decca Records in 1939 and released several hit songs including In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town , written by Long, and covers of My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time and Poor Butterfly. At the height of the band's popularity they played President Franklin D. Roosevelt's birthday party on February 13, 1942, an event attended by Roosevelt. Long also starred as himself in the 1941 Oscar nominated film Beauty and the Beach.

During the decline of the Big Band era Long continued to play with his own band through 1967 and fronted other bands thereafter until 1972. In 1970, Long enrolled at Marshall University to complete his degree, which, due to his commitment to the orchestra, he never completed at Duke. On October 31, 1972 Long passed away in Huntington, West Virginia at the age of 58 and is buried in his hometown of Newell, North Carolina.

Acquisition information:
The Johnny Long Orchestra Scrapbook was received by the University Archives as a gift in 1992.
Processing information:

Processed by Josh Larkin Rowley, May 2009

Encoded by Josh Larkin Rowley, May 2009

Accession UA92-65 is described in this finding aid.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the University Archives to use this collection.

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Johnny Long Orchestra Scrapbook, Duke University Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.