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~ Entertainment
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Having played in
front of every United States President from
Woodrow Wilson thru President Ford , these House
of David Bands & Orchestras were known
around the globe as some of the most talented
and entertaining musicians ever to walk the
stage. In the 1920's and early 30's, the New
York Times along with several other large
publications around the country called the House
of David Band one of the top two bands in all of
America! All being original House of David
colony members, these self taught musicians were
capable of playing numerous instruments, and
eventually became world class entertainers,
performing before political party national
conventions, and having been visited by the
likes of Joe Louis (who not only fought at the
House of David Park, but who also had a
travelling baseball team that played against the
House of David Baseball Teams); the Marx
Brothers (who even acted as House of David
members in a movie they made); Jack Dempsey (who
fought there for his World Boxing Title); Floyd
Fitzsimmons (who actually built a training camp
for Joe Louis right there on the House of David
Grounds); Babe Ruth (who put on fake beards and
did exhibition games with the House of David
Baseball Teams after he had left the major
leagues); along with countless other famous and
not so famous people. Traveling the world by
train, bus, and boat, the House of David Bands
were managed by two different people -- the
orchestras by Manna Woodworth -- and the bands
and talent shows by "Chic" Bell. The
House of David Museum has literally hundreds of
photographs, postcards, movies, musical
instruments (made by House of David) and tapes
of these famous musicians on display. |
The following text courtesy of The Israelite House Of
David Website
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Music was a fact of everyday life for House of
David Israelites. It was a part of their
personal life and integral to their worship.
It was used for social functions and commercial
enterprise. Their music reflected their
heritage and expressed their religious values.
It enabled personal growth and the achievement
of communal goals.
Almost
every Israelite was involved in some form of
musical expression. Adults played in
Men’s Bands and Lady’s Bands. Children
played in children’s bands. Israelites
sang in ones, twos, threes, fours, and fives and
in larger choral groups. They formed
comedy musical acts, string bands, marching
bands, jazz bands and dance orchestras.
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By
the early 1920’s popular music in the United
States was undergoing a Jazz revolution.
It appears that the twenty-piece House of David
road band was playing Jazz no later than 1919.
Late in 1920 the band reorganized as two ten
piece bands to focus exclusively on playing
Jazz. Gone were the big brass band and the
marches. This new arrangement usually
consisted of two coronets, two saxophones, two
trombones, a tuba, a banjo, a piano and drums.
It was optimized for playing early Jazz, now
known as "Classic" or "Hot"
Jazz.
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For over a half century the music of the House of
David provided entertainment to the public and made
the Israelites famous in the process. The
colony’s music industry was a major component of
their economic success, which in turn had a
significant impact on the development of
Southwestern Michigan. During the first half
on the twentieth century the fame of the House of
David was based as much on it’s musical talents as
on any other facet of its organization
Click
for Stage Section of the Eden Springs Virtual
Tour
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The House of David Blues was published in 1923 by a
writing team headed by Elmer Schoebel.
Together they wrote many of the most popular Jazz
tunes of that era. In a 1968 interview
Schoebel related that a representative from Robbins,
a New York music publisher had found them in a
Chicago café and charged them with writing a tune
that would capitalize on the publicity about the
House of David at the time. Schoebel claims
the House of David Blues was written in one hour.
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