Ain't Misbehavin': The Story of Fats Waller

by Ed Kirkeby

Once the king of the blues-derived "stride" school of jazz piano, Fats Waller earned his reputation as the most perfect of all jazz pianists with impeccable time keeping, instrumental mastery, the intensity of swing, and melodic gift. He arrived on the scene just as jazz was flowering nationwide, and he reaped a harvest of fame and fortune through his piano rolls, recordings, and much-lauded European tours. His death . . . in 1943, marked the end of the swing era. This informal narrative of Waller's life and music—a moving memoir of a musical genius and an outstanding human being—was written by Fats' personal manager. Reviewing Fats' brief but stellar career, Kirkeby reveals a life that was filled with paradoxes, and a man who moved with ease from a middle-class churchgoing home to New York's speakeasy subculture. Kirkeby details Waller's collaboration with lyricist Andy Razaf; his friendships with James P. Johnson, Willie "the Lion" Smith, and Duke Ellington; and his successful forays into films and Broadway musicals, including Hot Chocolates and Stormy Weather (with Lena Horne). He also weaves in his own personal memoir and includes a selected discography listing the most representative Waller recordings.

Genres: Biography, Jazz, Music

276 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 1975

About the author

Wallace Theodore "Ed" Kirkeby was an American bandleader, vocalist, manager, and salesman, best remembered as the manager of Fats Waller. He was one of the first recording managers at Columbia Records to record jazz and organized the California Ramblers to record it.

Reviews

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes “Ain’t Misbehavin’” was written and composed by Thomas “Fats” Waller, as well as many others like “Honeysuckle Rose”, "(What did I Do to be So) Black and Blue”, “Squeeze Me”... Many of these songs were collaboratively written with Andy Razaf.

Fats Waller was a “bon vivant” and he did everything to excess – food (he weighed over 300 lbs), drinking, partying, performing, and music. He rose to great heights in the 1930’s and 1940’s. He was right up there with Louis Armstrong. He died in 1943 at the age of 39. From reading this book I gather that the people around him really didn’t care about his health – and his lifestyle. They just wanted performances with exhausting road trips. And of course Fats Waller himself did little to put restrictions on his tremendous intake of food and liquor.

Fats toured Europe and was treated like royalty, and he didn’t have to face the segregation and discrimination that he sometimes experienced in his own country.

The author knew Fats, he was his manager at the end of his career, so we are provided with a personal portrayal of him as well as many other musicians. We also get a great representation of this truly exciting time era in Harlem and New York City from the 1920’s onwards where the jazz world was constantly evolving. Fats Waller would often move from one house or venue and jam with other artists (called rent parties). The Harlem Renaissance was in full swing and the author takes us through it!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSNPp...

[Michael Felner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read for anyone wanting to learn about the great Fats Waller, or any of the other great jazz musicians that laid the foundation in the 20s-30s. However, most of the book reads like a listing of chronological events that produces a choppy feel. Fats did this. Then he went here. Then, Fats did that. The break comes towards the end when the author, Ed Kirkeby, starts telling the story firsthand because he became Fats' manager. The biography has more of a feel to it then, but unfortunately it was the culmination Waller's career, and the end of his life.

[Steve Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good account of Waller’s career, particularly the last years when the author served as Waller’s manager. Given the hectic, unrelenting pace Waller and author Kirkeby kept up, traveling by bus and train across the country chasing gigs and one nighters, it’s no wonder Waller’s health began to fail. To believe Kirkeby, they were on their final trip home to New York and putting traveling behind them when Waller suddenly took ill and died onboard the train. One has to wonder if manager Kirkeby didn’t work his client just a little too hard.

[BarbaraW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing how prolific a song writer he was. Gave away a lot of material so the volume without this was huge. Sad ending as he practically wire himself out. Worth listening to his music also.