Cecil Gant
Pictures
Listen to, buy or share
Buy
7digital
iTunes
Amazon
eBay
-
53,514
scrobbles
-
10,044 listeners
-
trainderails is listening to
Cecil Gant – I Wonder
Tags
Biography
Cecil Gant (April 4, 1913 - February 4, 1951) was an American blues singer and pianist.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Gant worked local clubs through the mid 1930s up until the Second World War, when he enlisted in the United States Army. Though his piano was blues-based, vocally he was a crooner of considerable cross-over appeal. He sang at a War Bond rally in Los Angeles, California, signed with the Gilt Edge record label, and recorded the self-penned ballad “I Wonder” late in 1944, billed as “Pvt. Cecil Gant.”
“I Wonder” reached number one on the Billboard Harlem Hit Parade (as the R&B chart was called then) and sold impressively nationwide. Gant then went on tour billed as “The G.I. Sing-sation,” dressed in Army khaki and breaking attendance records at major venues, attracting both black and white audiences. As well as singing in the dream vein of his hit, Gant could deliver a pleasant blues and energetic boogie-woogie; versatility shared by his West Coast contemporaries, Charles Brown and Ivory Joe Hunter. Gant had other releases on King Records (1947), Bullet Records (1948-49), Downbeat/Swingtime (1949), and Imperial Records (1950), but his moment of jukebox glory was gone. Some of his later recordings were rockabilly boogies utilising a Nashville studio guitarist, a few steps away from the soon-to-emerge rock and roll. However, he did not live long enough to see that new trend.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Gant worked local clubs through the mid 1930s up until the Second World War, when he enlisted in the United States Army. Though his piano was blues-based, vocally he was a crooner of considerable cross-over appeal. He sang at a War Bond rally in Los Angeles, California, signed with the Gilt Edge record label, and recorded the self-penned ballad “I Wonder” late in 1944, billed as “Pvt. Cecil Gant.”
“I Wonder” reached number one on the Billboard Harlem Hit Parade (as the R&B chart was called then) and sold impressively nationwide. Gant then went on tour billed as “The G.I. Sing-sation,” dressed in Army khaki and breaking attendance records at major venues, attracting both black and white audiences. As well as singing in the dream vein of his hit, Gant could deliver a pleasant blues and energetic boogie-woogie; versatility shared by his West Coast contemporaries, Charles Brown and Ivory Joe Hunter. Gant had other releases on King Records (1947), Bullet Records (1948-49), Downbeat/Swingtime (1949), and Imperial Records (1950), but his moment of jukebox glory was gone. Some of his later recordings were rockabilly boogies utilising a Nashville studio guitarist, a few steps away from the soon-to-emerge rock and roll. However, he did not live long enough to see that new trend.
Top Tracks
Top Albums
-
Cecil Gant: 1944-1945
4,539 listeners21 tracks
-
Wake Up Cecil Wake Up
114 listeners19 tracks
Released:
-
Cecil's Boogie: Classic Blues Sides
1,483 listeners5 tracks
Released:
-
Blues Crooner Cecil Gant
62 listeners18 tracks
Released:
Listening Trend
10,044listeners all time
53,514scrobbles all time
Recent listeners trend:
Start scrobbling and track your listening history
Last.fm users scrobble the music they play in iTunes, Spotify, Rdio and over 200 other music players.
Create a Last.fm profile
Listening Now
Top Listeners
-
Bekandov
Top Listener -
c221151
Top Listener -
JackYgrn
Top Listener -
juttailona
Top Listener
