Born in Viroqua, Wisconsin, he learned to play drums as a boy. Later he took up xylophone and at 13 changed to piano. He studied with a local teacher throughout high school. At 17 his parents moved to Chicago where he continued his musical training. He met Rosy McHargue, a well known clarinetist, who took him to hear many leading musicians including Bix Beiderbecke and Earl Hines. His first job was with Johnny Tobin at the Beach View Gardens. He later moved to Los Angeles where he worked with Henry Halstead, Earl Burtnett and Lennie Hayton, before joining Ben Pollack in 1934.
He played with the Jimmy Dorsey Band in the 1930s and was a charter member of the Will Bradley Orchestra when it formed in 1939. Known to bandmates as "Daddy Slack," he played the piano solo on Bradley's recording of "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", one of the early white boogie-woogie hits and a classic of the Big Band era.
After forming his own band in 1942 and signing with the newly-founded Capitol Records, he recorded three songs at the third Capitol recording session on May 21, 1942. His recording of "Cow Cow Boogie," sung by the 17-year-old Ella Mae Morse, was the second record Capitol issued on July 1, and by July 25 it had reached number 1 on the hit parade. It was Capitol's first gold single.
T-Bone Walker was a member of Slack's band from 1942 to 1944 and Slack later accompanied Walker on his first solo recording for Capitol, Mean Old World. This band also had a hit with "Strange Cargo."
Slack continued to record with Capitol until at least 1950, recording some 80 tracks for the label.
Slack also recorded as an accompanist for Big Joe Turner, Johnny Mercer, Margaret Whiting, and Lisa Morrow.
In the original version of the song "Down the Road a Piece", recorded in 1940 by the Will Bradley Orchestra, Slack is mentioned in the lyrics:
If you wanna' hear some boogie then I know the place
It's just an old piano and a knocked-out bass.
The drummer-man's a guy they call 8-beat Mack
You remember Doc and old "Beat Me Daddy" Slack.
Man it's better than chicken fried in bacon grease
Come along with me boys, it's just down the road a piece.
"Eight Beat Mack" refers to drummer Ray McKinley, and "Doc" refers to the band's bass player, Doc Goldberg.
His 1955 album Boogie Woogie on the 88 featured a horn section including jazz musicians Shorty Sherock and Herbie Harper among others, and with arrangements by Benny Carter.
He also co-wrote the 1945 classic "The House of Blue Lights" first recorded with singer Ella Mae Morse, and later by Chuck Miller, The Andrews Sisters, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Cow Cow Boogie
Freddie Slack Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I met a cowboy ridin' the range one day
And as he jogged along I heard him singing
A most peculiar cowboy song
It was a ditty, he learned in the city
Comma ti yi yi yeah
Comma ti yippity yi yeah
Get along, get hip little doggies
Get along, better be on your way
Get along, get hip little doggies
And he trucked them on down the old fairway
Singin' his cow cow boogie in the strangest way
Comma ti yi yi yeah
Comma ti yippity yi yeah
Singin' his cowboy song
He's just too much
He's got a knocked out western accent with a Harlem touch
He was raised on local weed
He's what you call a swing half breed
Singin' his cow cow boogie in the strangest way
Comma ti yi yi yeah
Comma ti yippity yi yeah
Get along little doggie, better be on your way, your way,
Get along little doggie
And he trucked them on down the old fairway
Singin' his cow cow boogie in the strangest way
Comma ti yi yi yeah
Comma ti yippity yi yeah.
Yip yip singing his cowboy song
Yip yip as he was joggling along
Yip yip he sings with a harlem touch
Yip yip that guy is just too much
Singing his cow cow boogie in the strangest way
Comma ti yi yi yi yi yi yeah.
The lyrics of Freddie Slack & His Orchestra's Cow Cow Boogie describe a cowboy song that the singer heard while out on the plains near Santa Fe. The cowboy's tune is highly unusual and the singer notes that it has a peculiar quality to it. The song is described as a ditty that was learned in the city, with the catchy refrain "Comma ti yi yi yeah, Comma ti yippity yi yeah". The cowboy is singing to his herd of "little doggies", urging them to get along and be on their way. The singer observes that the cowboy has a "knocked-out" western accent with a Harlem touch, likely referring to the combination of western-style singing with the influence of African American jazz music that was popular at the time.
The song's lyrics celebrate the figure of the cowboy and his nomadic lifestyle, and they evoke the vast expanses of the American West. The cowboy is portrayed as someone who has absorbed different cultural influences and melded them together into a unique expression of his own identity. The song's blend of country-western and jazz influences is typical of the swing era, and it reflects the cross-cultural currents that were shaping American popular culture in the 1940s.
Line by Line Meaning
Out on the plains down near Santa fe
I encountered a cowboy riding in the range near Santa Fe
I met a cowboy ridin' the range one day
I stumbled upon a cowboy traversing the range
And as he jogged along I heard him singing
While he was jogging, I listened to him singing
A most peculiar cowboy song
The cowboy was singing a strange song
It was a ditty, he learned in the city
It was a song he picked up in the city
Comma ti yi yi yeah
A nonsensical refrain
Comma ti yippity yi yeah
Another nonsensical refrain
Get along, get hip little doggies
Move along little cows
Get along, better be on your way
It's better for you to move on
And he trucked them on down the old fairway
He escorted them down the old golf course
Singin' his cow cow boogie in the strangest way
He sang his cow cow boogie peculiarly
He's just too much
He's exceptionally talented
He's got a knocked out western accent with a Harlem touch
His western accent is heavily influenced by Harlem music
He was raised on local weed
He grew up consuming local food/ resources
He's what you call a swing half breed
He's a mixed-race person who enjoys swing music
Get along little doggie, better be on your way, your way,
Move along little cow
Yip yip singing his cowboy song
He enthusiastically sings his cowboy song
Yip yip as he was joggling along
He juggles (sings while keeping pace with the cow) as he jogs
Yip yip he sings with a Harlem touch
He sings in a Harlem-influenced style
Yip yip that guy is just too much
He's an exceptional performer
Singing his cow cow boogie in the strangest way
He sings his cow cow boogie in a peculiar manner
Comma ti yi yi yi yi yi yeah.
The repetitious refrain ends the song
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Don Raye, Benny Carter, Gene De Paul
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jubalcalif9100
Heavens to Murgatroid ! THANKS so much for uploading his bodacious "blast from the past" ! Boogie Woogie at its best ! Perfect combo: Ella's singing and Freddie's piano ! And of course the rest of the band were strictly from wowsville too ! CHEERS !! :-)
@fromthesidelines
Recorded on May 21, 1942.The song was intended to be introduced in Abbott & Costello's "Ride 'Em, Cowboy"- performed by Ella Fitzgerald- but was cut from the film before its release. It was also the centerpiece of a 1943 Walter Lantz "Swing Symphony" cartoon of the same name.
@ChromaticHarp
Thanks for posting this record! I’ve been looking for it....
@the78prof72
My pleasure....glad that you found it.
@chipchopbarbershop8426
Makes me feel like a cowboy
@swingman5635
@@chipchopbarbershop8426 A hep cowboy,to be sure....
@mgconlan
I love Ella Mae Morse and have loved this record since I discovered a copy (along with two other singles featuring Morse with Freddie Slack) in my grandfather's collection. Jazz great Benny Carter co-wrote this song but I notice he did not get label credit (though he did on later editions of the record and he publicly defended the song against critics who said it was stupid). Ella Mae Morse can legitimately be claimed as the first white woman rock singer, even though there's a clip of she singing this song wearing a dress that looks like she's got bull's-eyes on her breasts.
@29Fiorello
HA - my once-upon-a-time favorite song.
@charlesrussell6201
House of Blue Lights is my fav Ella Mae Morse
@TheLeonhamm
Very nearly Perfect Pop. Yippy-Tilly-Eye-Aye! ;o)