Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Bobby Tucker Papers

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.1141
Creators:
Tucker, Bobby, 1923-2008
Eckstine, Billy
Jones, Quincy, 1933-
Dates:
1883-2007, undated
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
36 Cubic feet
88 boxes
Repository:
The collection documents the life and musical career of Robert "Bobby" Tucker. The collection particularly emphasizes Tucker's close collaboration with Billy Eckstine over a forty-year period from approximately 1949-1990, and includes original orchestrations of arrangements by Tucker and other arrangers, a complete set of commercial recordings by Eckstine for which Tucker served as arranger, and ephemeral material including photographs, concert programs and news clippings.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection primarily documents the close collaboration between Tucker and Billy Eckstine over a forty-year period, circa 1949-1990. It articulates the growth and development of a working jazz master—Eckstine—and the diversity of the musical repertoire he performed as he cultivated new audiences throughout his career. The collection includes original orchestrations of arrangements by Tucker and other well regarded arrangers such as Billy Beyers, Quincy Jones, Bob Enevoldsen, Marty Paich, Sammy Nestico, and Artie Butler. All of these materials found their way into Eckstine's recording and concert repertoire, which is evidenced by the approximately twenty cubic feet of sheet music arrangements that form the bulk of the collection. They illustrate the pivotal role Tucker played as the arranger, who interpreted and adapted original compositions to suit Eckstine's vocal style and capabilities, resulting in one of the longest-running successful collaborations in modern American musical history.
In addition, the sheet music contains Tucker's arrangements for Quincy Jones's music score for the 1978 film The Wiz.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1: Professional Materials, 1883-1992, undated
Subseries 1.1: Music Scores, undated
Subseries 1.2: Published Sheet Music, 1883-1992
Series 2: Other Materials, 1940-2007, undated
Series 3: Audiovisual Materials, undated

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Robert Nathaniel "Bobby" Tucker Jr. was born in Morristown, New Jersey, January 8, 1923 and died there on April 12, 2007. He was an accomplished pianist, arranger, and accompanist. He began performing at the age of fourteen and later studied in New York at the Institute of Musical Art. In 1946, he became accompanist to jazz vocalist Mildred Bailey and later that year, to renowned jazz vocalist Billie Holiday, with whom he remained until 1949 and with whom he had a strong and enduring, platonic friendship. Tucker continued to make recordings with Holiday into the 1950s.
Beginning in 1949, Tucker embarked on a lifetime collaboration as accompanist and musical director for the great African American balladeer and recording artist Billy "Mr. B" Eckstine. After leading a highly-acclaimed band from 1944-1947, Eckstine returned to a career as a solo singer, becoming the country's most popular vocalist in 1949-1950 and signing a lucrative five-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Incorporated (MGM). Although his popularity waned after 1951, he continued to play in major nightclubs in the United States and abroad for the next several decades and to release several popular albums. As his piano accompanist for over forty years, Tucker helped build and sustain the singer's career, reinventing Eckstine as the nation's musical tastes changed, and the music industry evolved. During his stint with Eckstine, Tucker worked on concerts—planning, arranging music, transcribing, and transposing works for performances; on recordings—preparing written arrangements, working integrally with recording companies. Engagements included recordings and performances with the Count Basie Orchestra; recordings under the direction of Quincy Jones; performances in Las Vegas; and band tours of Europe, Australia, and Japan.
Tucker was a renowned piano accompanist, and while working for Eckstine he was eagerly sought out by other singers, including Johnny Hartman, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, and Sarah Vaughan. He also collaborated with other jazz accompanists such as Jimmy Jones, Jimmy Rowles, and John Malachi. In his autobiography, Quincy Jones says that Tucker inspired him to begin studying music after they met in Seattle, while Jones was touring with Billie Holiday. Jones attributed all of the success he garnered in his career to the core skills he developed as a result of Tucker's inspiration. Tucker worked with Jones to arrange and conduct the music for the 1978 film The Wiz, which received an Academy Award nomination for best original music score.

Administration

Author
Vanessa Broussard Simmons, Craig A. Orr and Rebekah Keel
Sponsor
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated to the Archives Center in 2008 by Tucker's widow, Irma J. Tucker.
Processing Information
Processed by Rebekah Keel, intern and Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist, 2015.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Preferred Citation
Bobby Tucker Papers, 1883-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Related Materials
Materials in the Archives Center
Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program Collection (AC0808)
Contains an oral history interview with Bobby Tucker, February 27-28, 2004

More Information

Other Finding Aids

Other Finding Aids
An inventory of the music manuscripts (Subseries 1.1) that was created by James Zimmerman, public program specialist; Malcolm Stokes, intern; and Zack Greenwald, intern. See repository for details.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Musical arrangers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Orchestrations Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Programs -- Concerts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sheet music Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clippings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Music -- 20th century -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pianists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Musicians -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tucker, Irma Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-3270
Fax Number: Fax: 202-786-2453
archivescenter@si.edu