Al "Jazzbo" Collins
| Al "Jazzbo" Collins Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
Albert Richard Collins January 4, 1919 Rochester, New York |
| Died | September 30, 1997 (aged 78) Marin County, California |
Albert Richard "Jazzbo" Collins (January 4, 1919 – September 30, 1997) was an American disc jockey, radio personality and recording artist who was briefly the host of NBC television's Tonight show in 1957.
Born in Rochester, New York in 1919, Collins grew up on Long Island, New York. In 1941, while attending the University of Miami in Florida, he substituted as the announcer on his English teacher's campus radio program, and decided he wanted to be in radio. Collins began his professional career as the disc jockey at a bluegrass station in Logan, West Virginia; by 1943, he was at WKPA in Pittsburgh, moving in 1945 to WIND in Chicago and in 1946 to Salt Lake City's KNAK. In 1950, he relocated to New York where he joined the staff of WNEW and became one of the "communicators" on NBC's Monitor when it began in 1955.
Collins made several appearances on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen in the early 50s (and even briefly took over the show after Allen's departure; see below). In 1953, Allen adapted several nursery rhymes (including Little Red Riding Hood) into jazz-flavoured recitations, with Collins on vocals and Lou Stein on piano.
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