Now if you got a lovin' man you gotta love him while you can
Perhaps he'll have to do his share to help defend this dear old land.
They're drafting many men right now to give democracy a hand,
Before they call your man I'll say, these words you ought to understand.
When Uncle Sam calls out your man
Don't sigh, don't cry, because you know he can't refuse.
To hold him back might make him slack.
Just say you got those draftin' blues.
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The man who would become identified with the Kansas City style of of jazz actually began life in New York. Count Basie was born in 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey, and learned piano from his mother and, later, Fats Waller. He began playing in vaudeville and then a series of touring jazz bands. In 1927, he got stranded in Kansas City when the band he was touring with broke up. After playing with Walter Page and Bennie Moten, he started his own big band in 1937. A radio broadcast brought him to the attention of promoter John Hammond who brought him back to New York and stardom. Basie was influenced by ragtime and stride style piano playing and developed a spare, swinging style all his own. He died in 1984.
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