— A Brief Biography —

In 1937, 21-year-old Dallas Bartley stepped off the bus in Chicago. The move from Springfield was a daunting prospect, but as he writes in his brief autobiography, he realized "he only possessed a one way ticket .... and decided that he would have to make the best of it." It wasn't long, however, before Bartley began making a name for himself as a bass player and composer. During his career, Dallas Bartley worked with a number of notable musicians of his time. He performed with Earl Hines, Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington. His songs were recorded by Dinah Washington and Ray Charles, among others.

Bartley was born in Cave Springs, Missouri, in 1916 and attended Springfield schools. Though Springfield schools had no music program for African-American students, Bartley did manage to learn to play the violin, guitar and piano. His family later moved to Tulsa, where he learned to play the string bass. He came back to Springfield in 1934 to complete his education at Lincoln High School. With some of his classmates, Bartley formed a combo called the Lincolnites. The group performed around the Springfield area until the members graduated in 1935.

Bartley continued to study music before making the move to Chicago. There, he worked as a bus boy in a restaurant until he got up enough nerve to join the American Federation of Musicians. He soon signed on with pianist Tommy Rigsby's group and later with the King Kolax band.

In 1940, Bartley joined Louis Jordan and his group, the Tympany Five. While with the group, Dallas composed "Small Town Boy" and collaborated on "Early in the Morning," two songs recorded and made popular by Louis Jordan. Bartley's talent and stage presence made him a hit with the audience. In 1943, however, tired of the many one nighters and the hazards of the road, Bartley left the Tympany Five.

Out on his own, Bartley formed the Small Town Boys. In the next few years, he recorded such songs as "The Band That Really Comes On," "Cryin' and Singin' the Blues," and "All Ruzzit-Buzzit."

Dallas Bartley had a career that took him all across the country, from New York's Apollo Theater to clubs up and down the West Coast. However, due to physical difficulties and the stress of playing one-night gigs, Bartley returned permanently to his hometown in 1969. In the last decade of his life, Bartley played in clubs around the area, including the Riverside Inn, where he began his musical career in the 1930s.

He also continued to actively share his love of music with other people. In his mid-50s, he enrolled in music theory courses at Missouri State, played in the Missouri State band, and worked closely with students. In his efforts to promote jazz in this area, he put his talent toward founding the Springfield Jazz Society, organized an annual salute to Duke Ellington at Silver Springs Park, and was the business agent for the local musician's union.

In 1979, at age 63, Dallas Bartley passed away unexpectedly during a hospital stay. At his funeral, Dr. Katherine Lederer was called on to give the eulogy. In it she stated:

There are musicians who put the word 'jazz' in front of the word 'musician' and call themselves jazz musicians. But that doesn't make them real. Dallas was real. It's one thing to talk the talk; it's quite another to walk the walk. And Dallas Bartley was real.

 

This online exhibit is from the
Special Collections and Archives Department,
Missouri State University
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This exhibit was last updated on May 18, 2006 .