Benjamin L. Shook

Benjamin L. Shook
Born
Benjamin Lothair Shook

Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
OriginDetroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupations
  • Bandleader
  • singer
  • composer
Years active1920s
EducationFisk University

Benjamin Lothair Shook was an American bandleader, singer, and composer. He and his band, along with the bands of Theodore Finney and Fred S. Stone, "monopolized" Detroit's "entertainment and social world to the almost complete exclusion of white performers ... up into the 1920s."

Biography

He was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to Benjamin M. Shook and Elenora Wharton. His family moved to Cleveland and he was part of the Young Star Quartette there.

He attended Fisk University. The school's catalogue listed him as from Cleveland.

He was a bandleader in Detroit. He succeeded Thomas J. Finney as bandleader of the Finney Quartette. Later in his career, he managed and performed with touring bands and owned a theater.

A song he wrote was featured in the first full-length African-American musical In Dahomey and African Chief.

Songs

References

  1. 1 2 "Benjamin Shook". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
  2. 1 2 Abbott, Lynn; Seroff, Doug (September 18, 2009). Out of Sight: The Rise of African American Popular Music, 1889-1895. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-60473-039-5 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ University, Fisk (March 3, 1893). "Catalogue of the ..." The University – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Shook, Benjamin (composer) (January 1, 1903). "Dat gal of mine - African American sheet music 1883-1923". Library of Congress.[dead link]