# Lou Busch > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Lou_Busch > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Lou_Busch.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Busch > Source revision: 1347492989 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American songwriter (1910–79)}} {{More citations needed|date=February 2019}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Lou Busch | image = lbusch.gif | caption = Lou Busch | image_size = 110 | landscape=yes | background =non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = Louis Ferdinand Bush | alias = Joe "Fingers" Carr | birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|7|18}} | origin = [Louisville, Kentucky](/source/Louisville%2C_Kentucky), U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1979|9|19|1910|7|18}} | death_place = [Camarillo, California](/source/Camarillo%2C_California) | instrument = Piano | genre = [Jazz](/source/Jazz), [ragtime](/source/ragtime) | occupation = Musician, songwriter, producer | years_active = 1930–1979 | label = [Capitol](/source/Capitol_Records), [Warner Bros.](/source/Warner_Bros._Records) | associated_acts = }} '''Lou Busch''' ({{ne}} '''Louis Ferdinand Bush'''; July 18, 1910 – September 19, 1979) was an American record producer, musician and songwriter, best known for performing, as a pianist under the pseudonym '''Joe''' "'''Fingers'''" '''Carr'''. ==Biography== Busch (né Bush) was born and raised in [Louisville, Kentucky](/source/Louisville%2C_Kentucky) during the [ragtime](/source/ragtime) and early [jazz](/source/jazz) age. He quickly showed an aptitude for music, and by age 12 was already leading a ragtime and jazz band, Lou Bush and His Tickle Toe Four.{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceagepop.com/carr.htm|title=Joe "Fingers" Carr|website=Spaceagepop.com|access-date=19 February 2019}} At 16, he left school and home for a career as a professional musician, playing with the likes of [Henry Busse](/source/Henry_Busse), [Clyde McCoy](/source/Clyde_McCoy), and [George Olsen](/source/George_Olsen). After a few years on the road, his desire to learn more about music theory led him to study at the [Cincinnati](/source/Cincinnati) Music Conservatory in [Ohio](/source/Ohio) in the early 1930s.{{cite web|url=http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/joe_fingers_carr.htm|title=JOE "FINGERS" CARR|website=Rockabilly.nl|access-date=19 February 2019}} Following his musical-education break, Busch became the pianist for [Hal Kemp](/source/Hal_Kemp)'s "[sweet music](/source/sweet_jazz)" band for the remainder of the 1930s. He also honed his arranging skills, and was offered an arranging position when arranger John Scott Trotter left the band in 1936. He shared the position with another key arranger, [Hal Mooney](/source/Hal_Mooney); it was invaluable experience for them both. After Kemp died in a car crash in 1940 and the group disbanded, Busch and Mooney made their way to California to work as studio musicians and on whatever other gigs they could find. This was interrupted by [World War II](/source/World_War_II), where Busch spent three years in the Army. ===Capitol Records=== After his [tour of duty](/source/tour_of_duty), Busch returned to the music business. It was around this time that singer-songwriter [Johnny Mercer](/source/Johnny_Mercer) was recruiting artists and employees for his recently formed label, [Capitol Records](/source/Capitol_Records), and Busch was hired for the [radio](/source/radio) transcription service in 1946. He was in charge of production of promotional radio shows featuring Capitol artists for distribution to stations around the country. By 1949 he had been promoted to [A&R](/source/Artist_and_repertoire) man. One summer, Busch played piano for singer [Jo Stafford](/source/Jo_Stafford) and conductor [Paul Weston](/source/Paul_Weston) on the hit record "[Ragtime Cowboy Joe](/source/Ragtime_Cowboy_Joe)". The success encouraged both him and the label to release his own original single, "Ivory Rag", early in 1950. It was the first piece incorporated into the "Crazy Otto Medley" by German pianist [Fritz Schulz-Reichel](/source/Fritz_Schulz-Reichel), which was later associated with [Johnny Maddox](/source/Johnny_Maddox) in the U.S. In 1962, he formed Burning Bush Music ASCAP.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} His biggest hits from the 1950s include "Portuguese Washerwomen", "[Sam's Song](/source/Sam's_Song_(song))", a cover of [Del Wood](/source/Del_Wood)'s version of "Down Yonder", and [Bert Kaempfert](/source/Bert_Kaempfert)'s international hit "Zambesi". Some of the singles include his vocal backup group, the '''Carr Hops'''. Often overlooked are several mainstream and jazz sides he recorded as Lou Busch, featuring exciting band or orchestral arrangements. ===Warner Bros. Records=== Busch eventually left Capitol for [Warner Bros. Records](/source/Warner_Bros._Records) where he took on the same general responsibilities. Busch returned to arranging and conducting responsibilities again, one of the most notable being the musical force behind comic singer [Allan Sherman](/source/Allan_Sherman). On the Sherman records he was credited as "Lou Busch," musical director. Sherman explained Busch's choice to change the spelling of his surname: “Lou thought it would look fancier with a ‘c’ in it.”{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=George |title=Allan, the Folk Singer, First To Admit Singer He's Not |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49989605/democrat-and-chronicle/ |access-date=May 1, 2020 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |date=February 24, 1963 |location=New York, Rochester |page=6 B|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} A few later albums were released on the [Dot](/source/Dot_Records) label, and in the late 1970s he produced one more effort with friend and jazz pianist [Lincoln Mayorga](/source/Lincoln_Mayorga), complete with a couple of new tunes, ''The Brinkerhoff Piano Company''. ===Marriages=== He married actress and singer [Janet Blair](/source/Janet_Blair) in 1943; the union ended in divorce in 1950. He wed singer [Margaret Whiting](/source/Margaret_Whiting) in 1950,“Couple Wed Second Time.” Albany Times-Union, August 20, 1950. and their daughter was born in December 1950. That union also ended in divorce, in 1953.“Margaret Whiting Said She Had to Dodge Dishes.” Salamanaca (NY) Republican-Press, December 17, 1953. ===Death=== In the late 1970s, Busch did some live performances with Mayorga and others in Southern California. He died in [Camarillo, California](/source/Camarillo%2C_California), on September 19, 1979, as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile crash. He was 69 years old. He was interred in the Westwood Village Mortuary near [UCLA](/source/UCLA). ==Albums== {|class="wikitable" ! Album !! Record label |- |Parlor Piano |Capitol T-698 |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |''Bar Room Piano'' || Capitol |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |''Rough House Piano'' || Capitol |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |''And His Ragtime Band'' || Capitol |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |''And His Swingin' String Band'' [1958] || Capitol ST-1217 |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |''Plays the Classics'' || Capitol |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |''Mr. Ragtime'' || Capitol |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |''Fireman's Ball'' || Capitol T-527 |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |''Honky Tonk Street Parade'' || Capitol |- | |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |''The Hits of Joe "Fingers" Carr'' || Capitol |-bgcolor="#FFCCCC |''Joe “Fingers” Carr Goes Continental'' || Capitol |-bgcolor="#CCFFFF" |''The World's Greatest Ragtime Piano Player'' || Warner Bros. |-bgcolor="#CCFFFF" |''Brassy Piano'' || Warner Bros. |-bgcolor="#CCFFFF" |''The Riotous, Raucous Red-Hot 20s'' || Warner Bros. |-bgcolor="#CCFFFF" |''Together for the Last Time'' with Ira Ironstrings ([Alvino Rey](/source/Alvino_Rey)) || Warner Bros. |} ''This is Ragtime'' by Terry Waldo (Da Capo Press) page 211 {{ISBN|0-306-80439-5}} {{cite web|title=Last two albums were combined into one CD by Collectables Records in 2007 (COL 7869)|url=http://www.oldies.com/product-view/78692.html|website=Oldies.com|access-date=19 February 2019}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{Discogs artist|Lou Busch}} {{Margaret Whiting}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Busch, Lou}} Category:1910 births Category:1979 deaths Category:American jazz pianists Category:American male jazz pianists Category:Musicians from Greater Los Angeles Category:Road incident deaths in California Category:Ragtime composers Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Warner Records artists Category:Dot Records artists Category:20th-century American composers Category:20th-century American male composers Category:Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky Category:Jazz musicians from Kentucky Category:Songwriters from Kentucky Category:20th-century American pianists Category:American male songwriters Category:20th-century American songwriters Category:20th-century American male pianists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lou Busch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Busch) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Busch?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.