Bob Chester

Tenor saxophonist and bandleader Bob Chester came from a wealthy family. His stepfather was head of General Motor’s Fisher Body Works. A Detroit native, Chester formed his first band in 1934, becoming popular on the hotel circuit in the East and Midwest. An April 1937 review of the band by Down Beat reported that “Chester has some nice vocals, but the band sounds dead—has sort of a flat sound. Band swings nice, however.”

In 1939, Chester formed a new orchestra whose sound was heavily influenced by Glenn Miller, a stigma that would forever haunt his reputation. After the band’s disastrous debut at the Detroit Athletic Club, Tommy Dorsey invited Chester to New York, where he and his manager, Arthur Michaud, helped him relaunch his career. With a Bluebird contract under his belt, thanks to Dorsey and Michaud, Chester took his orchestra on the road in summer 1939 to work it into shape, with hopes to earn bookings on the New York hotel circuit that fall. Initial female vocalist was Kathleen Lane, who had recently made a name for herself with Bunny Berigan. Trumpet player Al Stuart provided novelty vocals. When Lane left in September, Dolores “Dodie” O’Neill replaced her. The band’s star musician was young trumpet player Alec Fila, who had been “plucked” from the Juilliard School of Music.

Chester’s sound continued to be influenced by Miller, so much so that Down Beat sarcastically remarked, in their December 1, 1939, issue: “Bob Chester followed Lawrence Welk into the Nicolette hotel [in Minneapolis] for the Twin Cities’ first taste of Glen [sic] Miller.” A popular joke featured a perturbed Miller being told by a local, after arriving in a new city where Chester had played before him, “Gee, Mister Miller, your band sounds like Bob Chester.”

By early 1940, Chester’s band finally started to come into its own, though the Miller stigma remained. O’Neill stayed until November 1940 when she suddenly departed. O’Neill objected to Down Beat’s report that she’d walked out on Chester, saying instead that she had become suddenly ill and had to be rushed back to New York. She also denied reports that she and Fila, who had moved on to Benny Goodman by then, were engaged, though the couple quietly married in early 1941. In August 1941, Billboard reported that she’d left Chester because of the “stork.”

To replace O’Neill, Chester hired Betty Bradley. At the same time, he also brought in his first male crooner, Bill Darnell. When Darnell fell an early victim to the draft in March 1941, Bill Reynolds briefly sang before Bob Haymes, brother of Dick, took over. Jerry Scott replaced Haymes in November. Darnell was released from the army that same month, however, and put on reserve status due to his age.^[1] He returned to Chester’s band only for Pearl Harbor to happen soon after, which meant his recall by the army in January 1942. Chester then hired Gene Howard, a singer he’d heard over Nashville radio but had never seen in person. In April, Chester assembled a vocal quartet featuring Elise Cooper, initially called by the rather awkward name “Rhythmites” but later named both the “Rhythm Aires” and “Three Lads and Elise Cooper.” The three lads were Bob Gibbons and brothers Eugene and William Knaub, all from York, Pennsylvania. Gibbons also became the band’s guitarist.

By the end of 1941, Chester’s orchestra was rapidly becoming one of the local favorites in the New York area, setting up that September for a ten-week engagement at Log Cabin Farms in Armonk, New York, where they broke attendance records. They also proved popular in Chicago, breaking records at the Hotel Sherman’s Panther Room in May 1942. The band remained relatively unknown outside of the East and Midwest however. A trip to the West Coast in late 1942 resulted in poor draws at the Casa Manana in Culver City.

Though Chester’s band continued to improve musically into 1942, the bandleader struggled financially, not helped by Chester’s constant legal troubles. In December 1941, Michaud sued him for $10,000 in back commissions and loans, and Chester fired him as his manager, hiring Jack Philbin in January 1942. When Chester’s lawyer refused to accept notice of the lawsuit, Michaud made a failed attempt to attach Chester’s earnings from two theaters before filing a second $50,000 lawsuit for breach of contract. Before the action could be settled, Chester filed bankruptcy in August, listing liabilities of $23,223 and assets of $1,285. Among his creditors was Dorsey, who owned ten percent of Chester’s band.

Chester’s popularity began to wain in 1943, as did Chester’s health from non-stop touring and financial stress. In August, he suffered “lost equilibrium,” which Billboard explained was another term for a nervous breakdown, and spent a week in bed. At the end of that year, Bluebird dropped him from their roster of recording artists, and his wife, Edna, whom he had married in October 1939, filed for divorce soon after the birth of their daughter.

Bradley remained as the band’s female vocalist for four years, temporarily fronting the band in April 1944 when Chester fell ill. Howard had left by late February 1943, and the band was without a male vocalist until Russ Perkins joined in March 1944. Perkins was gone by April with Kirk Wood^[2] briefly taking his place. The band recorded four sides on the Hit Label before Wood left for Cincinnati radio station WLW in May. David Allen then became Chester’s new male singer. In August, Chester attempted to strengthen his band by offering singer Helen Forrest, with whom they had been touring theaters, fifty percent of the band’s profits if she would join the orchestra. Forrest declined.

Post-War Activity

In November 1944, Chester disbanded for what was announced as a month’s rest. Bradley decided to go solo, with Allen heading to Henry Jerome’s outfit. Chester confusingly seemed to reorganize several times over the next few months. In March, he attempted to break his contract with his booking agency. In April, he began to record on the Sonora label, with Lora Jamison and Larry Butler as vocalists, and in May the American Federation of Musicians briefly expelled him for failing to pay his personal manager. After quickly settling that debt, he organize another new band, announcing Margie Wood as female vocalist with Allen returning as male singer. Allen, however, was with Boyd Raeburn’s band at the time. Bob Anthony was vocalist in September, with Lou Gardner taking the spot in October and Larry Butler back in the band by November. Alan Foster replaced Butler in March 1947. Wood had left by February, with Linda Gray becoming female vocalist at some point after. Phyllis Lane had that role in June 1947. The band recorded on the Sonora label.

Chester disbanded again in late 1948 and returned to the Detroit area where he joined radio station WKMH in Dearborn as a disc jockey in October. Chester constantly received requests for two-beat jazz, and when he decided to return to the band business in mid-1949 he built his new orchestra around a light two-beat sound. Ballads still received the Miller treatment however. Alan Foster became the new band’s vocalist. They recorded on Columbia in 1950, the Regal label in 1950 and the RFD label in 1951, remaining active until at least 1952. An orchestra fronted by Chester recorded on the National Juke Box Music label in 1954. Eventually, Chester left the music business altogether and entered the automotive industry. Bob Chester died in 1966 at age 58.

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