Jimmy Rushing

James Andrew (Jimmy) Rushing (August 26, 1901 - June 8, 1972) was an American blues shouter from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in 1927, then joined Bennie Moten's band in 1929. He stayed with the successor Count Basie band when Moten died in 1935. When the Basie band broke up in 1950 he briefly retired, then formed his own group.

His build earned him a nickname and a signature song, "Mr. Five by Five" ("he's five feet tall and he's five feet wide"). His best known recordings are probably those of "Going to Chicago" with Basie and "Harvard Blues" with the famous saxophone solo by Don Byas. George Frazier, author of "Harvard Blues", called Rushing's distinctive voice, "a magnificent gargle".

Read full Bio