I, Bunny Berigan

Buuny Berigan, in the drivers seat, clowning with relatives.

He loved Louis Armstrong. He was one of two upper midwest virtuoso trumpet players whose initials were "BB"...the other being Bix Beiderbecke. Both hit the big time. Both were the model for the "young man with a horn" fable...you know it: young man spurns convention by falling in love with jazz, he goes to the big city, finds fame, finds booze, booze wins. Bunny lasted longer than Bix, but in the end, his personal endless reboot loop - alcohol, fatigue and a worried mind did him in.
He was born in Hilbert, Wisconsin and raised in Fox Lake. The early 30's found him in New York City, gigging in a succession of successful big bands and doing a great deal of session work. He was a part of the legendary 1935 Benny Goodman tour that was credited with launching swing music across the nation. The following year his trumpet solo on the Tommy Dorsey hit "Marie" was a big time knockout when such things mattered, and he could sing too. In 1937, Berigan put together a band to record under his name and cut the Ira Gershwin/Vernon Duke composition, "I Can't Get Started." His memorable trumpet solo and vocals made the song one of the biggest sellers of the year and gave Berigan something that every band leader of the era needed...a hit theme song. He led his own band for three years while continuing to make records and weekly radio appearances.
"Berigan was known to fret over a business sense that wasn't quite equal to his musical talent. Already a heavy drinker, the business stress of bandleading drove Berigan to drink even more heavily. Nevertheless, musicians considered him an excellent bandleader."
In 1940, he disbanded his orchestra, rejoined Tommy Dorsey for awhile and then formed a smaller and easier to manage touring band. While working an endless stream of one nighters, he collapsed and was hospitalized with pneumonia. At a hospital in Pittsburgh, doctors made a further discovery - he had advanced cirrhosis of the liver. Bunny Berigan died at age 33 on june 2, 1942.
"No one ever played like he played”, said Joe Aguanno, a trumpeter who worked with the Berigan band in 1939-40. "The sound was so rich and so soulful. There's something that us trumpet players used to hear in Bunny. When he would attack a certain note, it would sound . . . it makes you cry. The sound that came out of Bunny's horn was just like the type of person he was. He was such a fine, lovable guy... a big man, nice-looking."
Bunny's home town, Fox Lake, Wisconsin, celebrates him every year with with an annual Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee.