Henry Busse was born in 1894 in Magdeburg, Germany. In his early life in Germany, he studied violin but had to change to trumpet after he broke a finger and it was set improperly. He played in his uncle's brass band but hated the work and finally, after many attempts, managed to run away to a German port in 1912 at age 18 where he boarded a ship to America. He jumped ship in New York City and managed to get work on a ship headed to California. He got a job with film maker Mack Sennett's Studios and in 1916 was one of the Keystone Cops and also played trumpet in a movie theater pit band. Take a close look at some of the old Keystone Cops silents and you might see Henry. In 1917 he played in the Frisco Jass Band, then formed his own group~Busse's Buzzards which strangely morphed into the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in 1918. Busse was co-leader with Whiteman but because of Busse's limited English, Whiteman became the face of the band.
Busse faced heavy discrimination because of his German accent after WWI. Busse was invaluable to the Whiteman Orchestra and was earning $350.00 per week while star vocalist Bing Crosby was pulling down $150.00. Busse was concertmaster of the orchestra when it toured Europe in the 1920s. Busse also played alongside Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and later with Ray Bolger at the Chez Paree which was owned by Al Capone.
In 1928, after finally learning and mastering English, he started his Shuffle Rhythm Band which had great success in the 1930s - 40s. In 1935, he married Lorayne Brox of the famous Brox Sisters. Busse and his band were in two movies, Starlit Days at the Lido with Clark Gable and Lady Let's Dance.
One of the reasons that Busse went on a European tour with Whiteman's is that he had partied too much one night at the Hotsy Totsy Club and ended up married the next morning. He skipped around Europe for the next 18 months so he could evade arrest and alimony payments while lawyers were getting his marriage annulled. He performed until his death in 1955 at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis where he was playing for an undertaker's convention. It was said that he was a very likable person and had close friendships with Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, Irving Berlin, George Raft, Ginger Rogers, and Edward G. Robinson.
Music:
Huckleberry Duck composed by Raymond Scott. The dancers were uncredited but appear to be Frank Veloz and Yolanda Casazza.
Along the Santa Fe Trail, composed by Will Grosz with lyrics by Al Dubin. This was most likely played in the Vitaphone as Warner was about to release it's movie of the same name starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Ronald Reagan December 1940, one month after this Vitaphone was released to theaters. The vocalist is not credited but is most likely Don Borden.
Wang Wang Blues composed by Henry Busse, Gus Mueller and Buster Johnson. The song was first recorded in March 1920 by Paul Whiteman's Ambassador Hotel Orchestra and Busse was part of that orchestra.
Henry Busse and His Orchestra, Vitaphone Melody Master Series 141A. One 300 meter reel with RCA sound system released November 30, 1940.
The film was given good reviews for its use of shadows and other lighting techniques by director Jean Negulesco.
