Benjamin Lothair Shook was a bandleader, singer, and composer. He and his band along with the bands of Theodore Finney and Fred S. Stone "monopolized" Detroit's "entertainment and social world to the almost complete exclusion of white performers.. up into the 1920s." [1]
He was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Benjamin M. Shook was his father. His family moved to Cleveland and he was part of the Young Star Quartette there. [2]
He attended Fisk University. The school's catalogue listed him as from Cleveland. [3]
He was a bandleader in Detroit. [1] He succeeded Thomas J. Finney as bandleader of the Finney Quartette. Later in his career he managed and performed with touring bands and owned a theater. [2]
A song he wrote was in In Dahomey.
Benjamin Lothair Shook was a bandleader, singer, and composer. He and his band along with the bands of Theodore Finney and Fred S. Stone "monopolized" Detroit's "entertainment and social world to the almost complete exclusion of white performers.. up into the 1920s." [1]
He was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Benjamin M. Shook was his father. His family moved to Cleveland and he was part of the Young Star Quartette there. [2]
He attended Fisk University. The school's catalogue listed him as from Cleveland. [3]
He was a bandleader in Detroit. [1] He succeeded Thomas J. Finney as bandleader of the Finney Quartette. Later in his career he managed and performed with touring bands and owned a theater. [2]
A song he wrote was in In Dahomey.