Billy Daniels – September 12, 1915

Darling, down and down I go
‘Round and ’round I go
In a spin, lovin the spin that I’m in
Under that old black magic called love – lyrics from Daniel’s trademark song, That Old Black Magic

William Boone Daniels was born in Jacksonville, Florida. His mother, Hattie Mae Boone, was a schoolteacher, organist, and descendant of Daniel Boone. His father Augustus William Daniels was a postmaster and notary. Daniels’s background is Portuguese, Choctaw, and African-American.

In 1920, Augustus Daniels, a mail carrier, lived at 1775 Florida Avenue in Jacksonville with his wife Hattie, and sons William, Bernard, and Virgil.

Many of the neighbors worked as laborers. A few held jobs such as butcher, laundress, carpenter, and cigar maker. All except one West Indian (the butcher), were from the deep south.

Later life

Billy was drawn to entertainment at an early age, singing in street groups and church choirs, and performing as a teenager on local radio stations.

He took up pre-law at Florida State Agricultural & Mechanical College (formerly State Normal College for Colored Students), but dropped out to help support his family.

He later moved to New York (as a stowaway on a freighter from Jacksonville) to begin his singing career. He entered a singing contest and finished second, three spots higher than another competitor, Ella Fitzgerald. He was hired as a singing waiter at The Hotcha Club and while waiting on bandleader Erskine Hawkins, impressed him enough to be hired away to sing with Erskine’s Bama State Collegians. After two years with Erskine, Daniels went off on his own, teamed up with pianist Benny Payne, and made his name. He first sang That Old Black Magic, which became his theme song, in Atlantic City in 1948. His recording of the song sold nine million copies.

He worked in the New York City club scene for over 40 years but also toured in Europe and Australia (where he toured with the Andrews Sisters). He gave eight command performances for Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and performed for the troops in Vietnam.

Full details of his career can be found on Encyclopedia.com.

He appeared in movies and TV shows, and in 1952, The Billy Daniels Show became the first sponsored TV program to be headlined by an African American. He also appeared in plays on Broadway and the West End. He toured with Pearl Bailey in an all-black version of Hello Dolly, and even recorded an album at Abbey Road Studios.

Daniels was married 4 times and had two children. He died of stomach cancer in 1988.

Other happenings on September 12, 1915

• Belgium fighter pilot Jan Olieslagers forced down a German Aviatik while flying a Nieuport named le Demon (“The Demon”), becoming the first Belgian pilot to score an aerial victory.
• Fearing growing public backlash for bombing civilian targets in London, Chief of the German General Staff General Erich von Falkenhayn issued a statement that restricted German Army airships to bombing London’s docks and harbor works.
• Sports club El Porvenir was formed in Lanús Partido, Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a wrestling club but added association football to the organization in 1918.
• The sports stadium Hammarby was opened in Stockholm as the home field for the recently formed Hammarby Association football team.
• Died: Lyman U. Humphrey, American politician, 11th Governor of Kansas (b. 1844).

Tomorrow – The first U.S. bacteriologist

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Sources

• Wikipedia.org
• Ancestry.com
• Onthisday.com
• Picryl.com
• Youtube.com