Uploaded December 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
At the Darktown Strutters' Ball
Words and music: Shelton Brooks
Six Brown Brothers
Recorded May 9, 1917
Victor 18376
Alec Brown (bar. saxophone) /Fred Brown (alto saxophone) /Tom Brown (alto saxophone) /Vern Brown (bass saxophone) /William Brown (tenor saxophone) /Harry Fink (bar. saxophone)
Six Brown Brothers were a popular sextet of saxophonists. Originally, the group was composed primarily of male siblings who worked under the leadership of their brother Tom. They recorded for the Emerson, Columbia, and Victor record companies. The group's wide-ranging repertoire included ragtime, marches, operatic arias, and comical-novelty selections such as "Chicken Reel." The sextet's rich and harmonious timbre blended the sounds of the saxophone family from soprano to baritone, supported by the buoyant rhythm of the bass saxophone. This is the earliest recording of "Darktown Strutters' Ball" although the Original Dixieland Jazz Band would record it three weeks later.
Shelton Brooks's most famous song was "Darktown Strutters' Ball" but he also achieved fame for writing the words and music to "Some of These Days" which became the theme song for singer/entertainer Sophie Tucker.
At the Darktown Strutters' Ball
Words and music: Shelton Brooks
Six Brown Brothers
Recorded May 9, 1917
Victor 18376
Alec Brown (bar. saxophone) /Fred Brown (alto saxophone) /Tom Brown (alto saxophone) /Vern Brown (bass saxophone) /William Brown (tenor saxophone) /Harry Fink (bar. saxophone)
Six Brown Brothers were a popular sextet of saxophonists. Originally, the group was composed primarily of male siblings who worked under the leadership of their brother Tom. They recorded for the Emerson, Columbia, and Victor record companies. The group's wide-ranging repertoire included ragtime, marches, operatic arias, and comical-novelty selections such as "Chicken Reel." The sextet's rich and harmonious timbre blended the sounds of the saxophone family from soprano to baritone, supported by the buoyant rhythm of the bass saxophone. This is the earliest recording of "Darktown Strutters' Ball" although the Original Dixieland Jazz Band would record it three weeks later.
Shelton Brooks's most famous song was "Darktown Strutters' Ball" but he also achieved fame for writing the words and music to "Some of These Days" which became the theme song for singer/entertainer Sophie Tucker.
