University of Missouri-Kansas City Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections NOT TO BE USED FOR PUBLICATION TABLE OF CONTENTS Biographical Sketch …………………………………………………………………… 2 Scope and Content …………………………………………………………………… 4 Series Notes …………………………………………………………………………… 5 Container List …………………………………………………………………………… 7 Series I: Biographical Information …………………………………………… 7 Series II: Correspondence …………………………………………………… 7 Series III: Professional Papers …………………………………………… 7 A. Contracts …………………………………………………………… 7 B. Other …………………………………………………………… 8 Series IV: Programs …………………………………………………………… 9 A. Basic Programs …………………………………………………… 9 B. Souvenir Programs …………………………………………… 9 Series V: Journals …………………………………………………………… 10 Series VI: Miscellaneous …………………………………………………… 10 Series VII: Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On: My Life in Music …… 11 Series VIII: Music Manuscripts …………………………………………… 12 A. Early Original Compositions …………………………………… 12 B: Recorded Compositions and Arrangements …………………… 13 C: Miscellaneous Album Sessions …………………………………… 25 D: Non-Studio Recorded Compositions and Arrangements …………… 26 E: Jingles and Commercials …………………………………………… 29 F: Miscellaneous Manuscripts …………………………………… 31 Series IX: Photographs …………………………………………………… 35 Addendum I …………………………………………………………………… 36 Addendum II …………………………………………………………………… 37 Addendum III …………………………………………………………………… 41 MS149-Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham Collection 1 University of Missouri-Kansas City Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections NOT TO BE USED FOR PUBLICATION BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band played in the Kansas City blues style at its best. Jeannie Cheatham’s musical style was shaped in the church choir in Akron, Ohio. She began to study piano when she was five and went on to play in the school band. She and Jimmy Cheatham taught at the University of Wisconsin before moving to San Diego in 1978. Jimmy Cheatham retired as Professor Emeritus status in 1993 from the University of California at San Diego as Professor of Music. Jimmy was such a valuable resource, however, that UCSD officials hired him back immediately to continue in his role as Jazz Ensemble Director. In 1993, Jimmy and the UCSD Jazz Ensemble were selected by the San Diego Music Awards Committee for Best Jazz Ensemble. The Cheathams and the Sweet Baby Blues Band were voted as the Best Jazz Band in the area by the same group. Jimmy taught Improvisation and Black Music History and was the Director of UCSD’s Jazz Program during his active teaching years. Over the years, he played bass trombone with Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Thad Jones and Ornette Coleman, and was Musical Director for Chico Hamilton. He arranged all the songs for the Sweet Baby Blues Band and co-wrote with his wife, Jeannie, most of their original songs. Jeannie performed with Big Mama Thornton off and on for ten years. She was featured with Thornton and Sippie Wallace in the award-winning PBS television special “Three Generations of the Blues.” In 1984, she toured with Cab Calloway. Prior to that, she was on the road accompanying blues greats such as T-Bone Walker, Joe Williams, Al Hibbler, Dinah Washington, Odetta and Jimmy Witherspoon. In 1990, she appeared with Marian McPartland on the popular radio series Piano Jazz. The Cheathams toured Europe, performing at the Nice Festival and the North Sea Jazz Festival, among others. Down Beat magazine, reviewing North Sea, wrote, “And there was no better way to end the night than joining Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band for a 3 a.m. sing along of “Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On.” Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band performed at the Long Beach Blues Festival and the Long Beach Jazz Festival, the San Francisco Blues Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival and the Fujitsu Concord Jazz Festival. They have also appeared in a jazz festival in New Zealand. They played to packed houses at Catalina’s and Birdland West in Los Angeles and Long Beach, respectively; the Horton Grand in San Diego, the Great American Music Hall and Kimball’s East in the San Francisco area, Jazz Alley in Seattle and the Four Queens in Las Vegas. The band delighted Johnny Carson when they appeared on “The Tonight Show” that closed the 1988 series. Jeannie was nominated in 1988 and 1993 by the W.C. Handy Blues Music Awards for Traditional Female Artist of the Year. In 1989, their album “Back to the Neighborhood” was nominated for a Handy Award. Her and Jimmy’s song “Blues Like Jay McShann” was nominated by the W.C. Handy Blues Music Award Committee for Song of the Year in 1992. MS149-Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham Collection 2 University of Missouri-Kansas City Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections NOT TO BE USED FOR PUBLICATION The motto of the Sweet Baby Blues Band was “Nobody goes home feeling bad.” And nobody ever did. Source: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=1317 MS149-Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham Collection 3 University of Missouri-Kansas City Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections NOT TO BE USED FOR PUBLICATION SCOPE AND CONTENT The Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham Collection was gifted to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library by Jeannie Cheatham in February 2009. The collection documents the personal and professional lives of Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham. Also highlighted is the history of the Sweet Baby Blues Band, which was birthed by the Cheathams in 1983. Included are biographical information, correspondence, contracts, programs, album covers, music manuscripts, miscellanea, and several hundred photographs. Probably the most captivating element of this gift is the manuscript materials relating to Jeannie Cheatham’s autobiography, Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On: My Life in Music. The papers document the step by step process, from her handwritten drafts to the culmination of a final bound manuscript. It begins with the intriguing tale of the small girl from Bina Ave. in Akron, Ohio and chronicles the amazing journey of Jeannie Cheatham to where she is today. Another jewel of the collection is an album of tributes and testimonials from former students of Jimmy Cheatham on the occasion of his 80th birthday, lauding his impact on their lives. Several addendums to this collection have been received from Jeannie Cheatham since the original donation. Addendum I was gifted in June 2010 and March 2011, and consists of miscellaneous items including letters of appreciation, a mayoral proclamation, books and media. Addendum II was gifted in September 2015 and consists of additional music manuscripts, fragments and notes. Addendum III was gifted and subsequently processed in May 2018, and consists of miscellaneous items including information on Jeannie Cheatham's book, interview transcripts and a certificate of recognition. Sound recordings from this collection are housed separately in the Marr Sound Archives. MS149-Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham Collection 4 University of Missouri-Kansas City Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections NOT TO BE USED FOR PUBLICATION SERIES NOTES Series I: Biographical Information Series I is located in box 1, folders 1-5, and box 4; and contains miscellaneous biographical information about Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham. Included are biographies; obits; astrological data; awards and materials relating to Jimmy Cheatham’s role as a College Instructor. Box 4 holds an album of testimonials and tributes to Jimmy Cheatham. Series II: Correspondence This series is found in box 1, folders 6-9 and holds correspondence which dates from 1975 through 2006. Letters are sorted in reverse chronological order. Correspondence from Maxine Harvard was segregated to folder 8 and cards and notes were placed in folder 9 in no particular date order. Personal and professional mail was not separated since those aspects of the Cheatham’s lives were so intertwined. Series III: Professional Papers Series III is divided into two sub-series. Sub-series A is found in box 1, folders 10-14, and contains contracts which date from 1962 through 1995. Folder 13 holds business relating to ASCAP, while folder 14 includes information regarding copyright registration. Sub-series B covers various other aspects of the Cheatham’s professional activities. In folder 15 there are miscellaneous items such as press releases; statements, etc. Folder 16 has materials with which to assemble press kits for promotional distribution. Folder 17 contains color reproductions of record album covers with liner notes and lists of songs. Folders 18-20 contain performance event information and itineraries. Series IV: Programs Series IV is divided into two sub-series. Sub-series A is located in box 1, folder 21, and contains basic programs that do not contain extraneous information or advertising. Sub-series B is classified as souvenir programs and can be found in box 1, folders 22-25. These programs are more elaborate, containing advertising and other material such as informational data on performers. The programs are not organized chronologically, but rather sorted to accommodate the varying sizes. Series V: Journals This series contains an array of journals and newsletters and is located in box 1, folders 25-27. There are several trade journals, but also entertainment magazines, some of which contain articles and reviews focused on Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham. Series V is sorted in reverse chronological order and care has been taken to target the location of writings