Billy Tipton Plays Hi-Fi Piano L 1534

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VERY RARE...RARE..ALBUM... One Of Only Two Albums Recorded by Billy!!! Tops Records Ultraphonioc High Fidelity L1534 USA 1956 CONDITION: Visually inspected and cleaned only with a static cloth to determine condition. I have not played the record. COVER: has medium overall wear with slight ringwear and a 1" original price sticker on right, top, back cover. LABEL: is in excellent shape, clean with no fade, a black Tops label with white lettering. VINYL: is shiny with minimul visible scratches and wear and should play well. AN INTERESTING STORY OF THE ARTIST THAT MAKES THIS ALBUM ATTRACTIVE TO COLLECTORS AND MUSIC LOVERS ALIKE !!!!! Tipton, Billy (1914-1989): Spokane's Secretive Jazzman The otherwise low-key life story of Billy Tipton -- an obscure jazz pianist who worked out of Spokane, Washington, for 40 years – took a startling plot twist upon his death on January 21, 1989. A few days later, the director of the Ball & Dodd Funeral Home informed his stunned wife and children that the deceased musician had actually been a woman. The discovery that Tipton had successfully masqueraded as a man for more than 50 years was initially a local “human interest” news item, but one with enough lurid mystery that it subsequently sparked international headlines, TV news coverage, magazine essays, a biography, and countless academic and bar-room gender identity debates. Dorothy Lucille Tipton was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but when her parents divorced at age four, she was sent to live with an aunt in the great jazz town of Kansas City, Missouri. While attending Southwest High School, she studied piano, took up the saxophone, and, already influenced by the jazz culture there, began calling herself “Tippy” Tipton. But as a female she was denied the chance to join the school band. After rejoining her mother in Oklahoma, Tipton began courses to complete her senior year in September 1932, and while attending Connors State College High School she was finally allowed to join the boys in a school band. Tipton -- who’d begun dressing and grooming herself in a man’s fashion around 1934 in order to fit in with the “look” of the all-male bands -- found some work playing in smoky Oklahoma honky-tonks like the Green Lantern, and then on the road with the Banner Playboys who featured that regional popular blend of swing jazz and country music known as “Western Swing.” Eventually she decided to permanently take on the role of a male musician -- “Billy Lee Tipton” – and then took the daring ruse a big step further by coupling with a girlfriend who was soon calling herself “Mrs. Tipton” -- a title that five different women would hold over the following years. "HI FI PIANO" In 1951 Tipton eased into a cushy Elks Club solo-piano gig in Longview, Washington, but soon formed his own trio by recruiting Kenny Richards (bass) and Dick O’Neil (drums), and began a work association with Sobol. By 1954 the Billy Tipton Trio -- which now included Ron Kilde (bass) -- was playing upscale venues like Spokane’s Ridpath Hotel and Davenport Hotel. The band also continued to travel a lot, and it was while doing a show at King’s Supper Club in Santa Barbara, California, in 1956 that a talent scout for the Los Angeles-based budget label, Tops Records, discovered them. After signing a contract, and doing some recording sessions (in June and July) at the Hollywood studios of Capitol Records, two albums -- Sweet Georgia Brown and Billy Tipton Plays Hi-Fi on Piano -- were issued in early 1957 and included versions of such classics as: “What’ll I Do,” “The Man I Love,” “Willow Weep For Me,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” and “Don’t Blame Me.” (Note: On some undetermined date Tipton also recorded a single for Spot Records -- a different version of "Sweet Georgia Brown," backed with Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing They Call Love?") ***Our thoughts and prayers go to the family, friends and loved ones in Japan!! read more

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