Les Brown

Lester Raymond Brown (March 14, 1912 – January 4, 2001) was an American jazz musician who for more than six decades (1938–2000) led his big band, later called Les Brown and His Band of Renown.

Biography Brown was born in Reinerton, Pennsylvania. Brown attended college at Duke University from 1932 to 1936. The band had nine other number-one hit songs, including "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (1949).

Les Brown and the Band of Renown performed with Bob Hope on radio, stage and television for almost fifty years.

Brown and the Band were also the house band for The Steve Allen Show (1959–1961) and the Dean Martin Show (1965–1972). Brown and the band performed with virtually every major performer of their time, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. The annual Les Brown Big Band Festival, started March 2006 in Les' hometown, features area big bands preserving the songs of the big band era. At the 2012 festival celebrating the 100th birthday anniversary, the town of Reinerton renamed the street near Les' birthplace to Les Brown Lane. In 2013 his hometown of Reinerton, PA adopted as the town's official slogan: Reinerton: The Town of Renown in honor of Les and his band.

Les Brown Sr. died of lung cancer in 2001, and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. He was survived by his wife Evelyn, son Les Jr., and daughter Denise. He was 88 years old at the time of his death.

His grandson, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, co-created the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law.

Brown was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

Les Brown Jr. In 2001, Les Brown Jr. (1940–2023), became the full-time leader of the Band of Renown. It performed throughout the world and had a regular big band show in Branson, Missouri. Brown Jr. also hosted a national radio show on the Music of Your Life network. Brown Jr. was a television actor in the 1960s (Gunsmoke, General Hospital, The Baileys of Balboa, Gilligan's Island), a rock musician and producer who worked with Carlos Santana, and a concert promoter for many country music artists including Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn. In 2004, Brown Jr. received the "Ambassador of Patriotism" award from the POW Network. Brown Jr. died from cancer at his home in Branson, Missouri, on January 9, 2023, at the age of 82.

Discography YearAlbumPeak positionsUS 200 1947 Sentimental Journey 5 1949 Les Brown & His Orchestra, Vol. 2 — 1950 Dance Date With Les Brown 4 I Don't Knowwith Connee Boswell — Marthawith Connee Boswell — 1951 Over the Rainbow 10 1953 Les Dancewith Lucy Ann Polk, and The Rhythmaires — Concert at the Palladium Vol. 1 & 2 15 1954 Live at the Hollywood Palladium — Le's Dream — 1955 The Cool Classics — 1956 Dancer's Choice — 1957 Les Brown & His Band of Renown — Swing Song Book — 1958 Concert Modern — 1959 Live at Elitch Gardens 1959 — The Les Brown Story: His Greatest Hits in Today's Sound — Stereophonic Suite for Two Bands(with Vic Schoen and His Orchestra) — 1961 The Lerner and Loewe Bandbook — 1963 Play Hits From The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Others — 1966 A Sign of the Times — 1976 Today — 1977 Goes Direct to Disc — 1986 Digital Swing — 1994 Anything Goes —1995 America Swings — Bandland / Revolution in Sound — 2001 Radio Days Live — 2003 Sentimental Thingwith Bing Crosby & Billy Eckstine — 2005 Palladium Concert 1953(reissue) — 2006 The Les Brown All-Stars — 2016 The One and Only —

Musical short films Spreadin' the Jam (1945), dir: Charles Walters Les Brown (1948) (10 min), dir: Jack Scholl Les Brown and His Band of Renown (1949) (15 min), dir: Will Cowan Art Lund-Tex Beneke-Les Brown (1948) (10 min), dir: Jack Scholl Connee Boswell and Les Brown's Orchestra (1950) (15 min), dir: Will Cowan Crazy Frolic (1953) (19 min), dir: Will Cowan Dance Demons (1957) (14 min), dir: Will Cowan Rockabilly Baby (1957) (81 min), dir: William F.Claxton

Television Bob Hope Show (1945), NBC Radio Bob Hope Show (1959–1966), NBC The Steve Allen Show (1958–1960), NBC The New Steve Allen Show (1961), NBC Hennesey (1962), CBS Hollywood Palace (1964), NBC Bob Hope Thanksgiving Show (1964), NBC Dean Martin Show (1965), NBC Dean Martin Summer Show (1966), NBC Rowan and Martin at the Movies (1968), NBC Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968), NBC Dean Martin and the Golddigger's (1968), NBC The Christmas Songs (Mel Torme, host)(1972), PBS Bob Hope Special: Joys (1976), NBC The Good Old Days of Radio (1976), NBC Doris Day's Best Friends (1985), NBC Ooh-La-La, It's Bob Hope's Fun Birthday Special from Paris (1981), NBC Biography: Doris Day "It's Magic" (1985) Rocko’s Modern Life