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Bobby Sharp

Sharp was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1924. His family had settled there because Kansas was, during slavery times, a free state. Sharp’s great-grandmother was a slave and he remembers her telling him stories about lying on the floor while cannonballs blasted through the cabin. The Great Depression soon followed, and Sharp’s parents sent him to live with relatives in Los Angeles while they went to New York to seek their fortune.

Sharp’s father was a concert tenor who won several small roles in Broadway shows but never hit it big. However, their social life was rich; they lived in an apartment building in Harlem with fellow residents Duke Ellington, Walter White, Roy Wilkins and artist Aaron Douglas. It was the peak of the Harlem Renaissance, and poet Langston Hughes was a family friend; Orson Welles had recently staged his famous Black Macbeth at the nearby Lafayette Theater.

Young Bobby stayed in Los Angeles with his pious grandparents and great-grandmother until he was 12, when he begged his parents to let him come to New York. Some family friends drove him cross-country in 1936, and he arrived in the midst of a cocktail soiree in his parents’ apartment on Sugar Hill.

Sharp attended high school in the Bronx and took his first job as an office “go-fer” for the Rockefeller Foundation. When World War II began Sharp joined the Army, was sent first to Ft. Dixon, New Jersey, then joined the 372nd Infantry regiment stationed in New York City, guarding the city and ports. Eventually he was transferred to Breckenridge, Kentucky, where he served until being discharged in 1944. While in the Army, Sharp had begun to sing a bit, “just for kicks,” he says. With the help of the GI Bill he chose to go to music school.

His mother was not happy with his decision. “She wanted me to be a psychiatrist,” Sharp says. “She didn’t want me to get into the music business. She saw what it did to my father.” But Sharp took the advice of a family friend, well- known arranger Sy Oliver, who recommended that Bobby study music theory and composition.

Sharp attended the Greenwich School of Music in 1946, followed by the Manhattan School of Music in 1948. He also took piano. “I just wanted to play chords and get sounds,” he said. Songwriting turned out to be his forte, often combined with his vocals. In 1956 he cut a single in the Wing label, called “Baby Girl of Mine;” it was later covered by Ruth Brown, who sang it as “Sweet Baby of Mine.”

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Multiple Reviews

Poignant Records Presents Bobby Sharp and Natasha Miller

Read "Poignant Records Presents Bobby Sharp and Natasha Miller" reviewed by Jim Santella


The San Francisco Bay area is home to Poignant Records, the brainchild of Natasha Miller. Like many smaller, independent labels, this one provides a window to the creative spirits of those among us who deserve greater recognition. It doesn't come easy, and nothing in this world is automatic; but we're fortunate to have 'em.

Bobby Sharp The Fantasy Sessions Poignant Records 2006

Bobby Sharp sings his songs with the feelings ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby Sharp

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby Sharp

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bobby Sharp's birthday today!

Sharp was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1924. His family had settled there because Kansas was, during slavery times, a free state. Sharp’s great-grandmother was a slave and he remembers her telling him stories about lying on the floor while cannonballs blasted through the cabin. The Great Depression soon followed, and Sharp’s parents sent him to live with relatives in Los Angeles while they went to New York to seek their ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby Sharp

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby Sharp

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bobby Sharp's birthday today!

Sharp was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1924. His family had settled there because Kansas was, during slavery times, a free state. Sharp’s great-grandmother was a slave and he remembers her telling him stories about lying on the floor while cannonballs blasted through the cabin. The Great Depression soon followed, and Sharp’s parents sent him to live with relatives in Los Angeles while they went to New York to seek their ...

Obituary

"Unchain My Heart" Songwriter Bobby Sharp Dies At Age 88

"Unchain My Heart" Songwriter Bobby Sharp Dies At Age 88

Source: Natasha Miller

Bobby Sharp, 88, of Alameda, passed away on Monday, January 28. His passing marked the end of a life filled with generosity toward friends, colorful storytelling about mid-century times in Los Angeles, New York, and California, and a long songwriting career highlighted by his 1961 hit, “Unchain My Heart." Bobby was born in 1924 in Topeka, Kansas, and after spending his early years in Lawrence, Kansas, moved to Los Angeles to live with his grandparents. His parents, Louis and Eva, ...

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Performance / Tour

Bay Area Vocalist Natasha Miller Sings the Bobby Sharp Songbook at Kuumbwa in Santa Cruz 3/8/07

Bay Area Vocalist Natasha Miller Sings the Bobby Sharp Songbook at Kuumbwa in Santa Cruz 3/8/07

Source: Marshall Lamm Promotions & Public Relations

BAY AREA VOCALIST NATASHA MILLER PLAYS KUUMBWA MARCH 8 (Oakland, CA) - Bay Area jazz vocalist Natasha Miller performs at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, CA on Thursday, March 8 at 7:00pm. Miller will perform material from her two CDs devoted to the songbook of 83-year-old Bobby Sharp plus new originals penned by Miller. The group includes Josh Nelson on piano, Dan Feiszli on bass, Jeff Marrs on drums, and Adam Theis on trombone. Miller's latest CD, Don't Move, ...

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