Harold Rodman "Scrappy" Lambert (May 12, 1901 – November 30, 1987) was an American dance-band vocalist. From the late 1920’s and through to the 1940’s, he was one of the most prolific vocalists of the era rivaling the number of recording appearances made by the legendary Irving Kaufman. Scrappy’s vocals show up on hundreds of pop tunes of the era.
Scrappy’s childhood hometown was New Brunswick, New Jersy. In his junior and senior years (1922-1924) at Rutgers University, Scrappy was a college football cheerleader. Having entered Rutgers University with the nickname of ‘Scrappy,” the origin of which he no longer remembered, beyond the fact that it always signified his willingness to stand up for his rights. During college he played jazz piano with a group known as the Rutgers Jazz Bandits. In early February 1925 Scrappy and another collegiate vocalist Billy Hillpot (July 31, 1904-February 25, 1985) teamed to do an impersonation of two Smith Brothers - “Trade” and “Mark”, the Original Smith Brothers for Smith Brothers Cough Drops that originated at the time over radio station WEAF which later became the National Broadcasting Company (NBC).
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| Ben Bernies Orchestra 1926 |
In 1926 Ben Bernie discovered the Lambert-Hillpot duo and signed them as a specialty act with his orchestra. Shortly thereafter Scrappy’s career blossomed with daily recording sessions starting at 8 in the morning in midtown Manhattan sometimes paired with Billy Hillpot. For most dance and jazz songs of this period the orchestra would provide a musical intro, followed by the vocalist’s refrain, and ending instrumentally with the orchestra. Such was the characteristic of most of Scrappy’s appearances on 78rpm’s during that time. Scrappy and Billy were with the Ben Bernie Orchestra from 1926 until 1928.
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| Scrappy with Frank Burns |
"Cheerio, Cherry Lips, Cheerio", a 1929 vocal that Lambert recorded under the name Gordon Wallace, has been the closing theme of Dr. Demento's weekly radio broadcast since the early 1970s. Throughout his productive career Scrappy sang vocals with the best bands of the Jazz Age - Red Nichols, Nat Shilkret, Jack Pettis, Goofus Five, Frankie Trumbauer, Arthur Schutt, Adrian Schubert, Ben Selvin, Sam Lanin, Bob Haring are just some of the many orchestras Scrappy recorded with.
Although he had a contract with Brunswick Records Scrappy recorded for some of the “cheaper” labels like Domino, Harmony, Gennett, Vocalion, Paramount, and OKeh and ofter under various pseudonyms like Burt Lorin, Glen Burt, Buddy Blue, William Brown, Harold Clarke, and so on. One interesting pseudonym used by Scrappy was “Rodman Lewis” where Rodman was taken from his middle name. His recording of "Borneo" with Frankie Trumbauer's Orchestra is still a favorite with jazz enthusiasts. He had the perfect romantic voice for radio and was often referred to as a "one take" singer in recording studios.
In the 1930’s Scrappy and Billy Hillpot could be found on the radio reprising their Trade and Mark comedy routine on the new upstart radio network NBC. Scrappy also did a stint with the famous Jazz Age group The Revelers replacing Franklyn Baur. Later Scrappy appears with the Showboat Four in Maxwell House’s Show Boat on radio. Also in that same weekly radio show was Annette Hanshaw. This group lasted until 1943 when MCA offered Lambert a job overseeing their radio department in Beverly Hills, California. This marked the end of his singing career, and he worked for MCA until 1948 after which he became a talent agent on his own. One of his clients was Robert Young. Scrappy and he had a close relationship until Young was working on the TV series, Marcus Welby, M.D., some 20 years later. Besides working as a talent agent, he also worked in oil and real estate. After leaving that business, he retired back to his home town, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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| Pearl Harris |
Scrappy was married several times, once to a Radio City Rockette, and to Edna Johnson, of Newark, New Jersey, who had been a model and an actress. This marriage ended on December 1, 1931 after Edna had filed for divorce in Reno, Nevada. Another marriage was to Pearl Rebecca Harris, who was a very successful Broadway dancer, model, actress, a newspaper celebrity in comic strips and a fund-raiser for charitable causes. In the early 1940’s Scrappy and Pearl moved to California. The couple later divorced and Pearl became the proprietor of a gift and antique shop on Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills, California.
On April 16, 1968 Scrappy Lambert and former Las Vegas showgirl Elaine Viken are married in Los Angeles. Elaine will remain with Scrappy until his death. He passed away of cardiac arrest at the age 86 years old in Palm Springs, Riverside, California on November 30, 1987. He was cremated and his ashes were returned to the family.
(Edited from The Jazz Age, Wikipedia & Know Old Time Radio)
