Shelton Brooks

Songwriter ("The Darktown Strutters Ball", "Some of These Days"), composer, pianist and author. He was a pianist in Detroit, Michigan cafes, and then a vaudeville entertainer in the USA and Canada for 45 years. In 1923, he traveled to Europe with the troupe of Lew Leslie's "Blackbirds", and did a command performance for King George and Queen Mary. He wrote songs for Nora Bayes, Al Jolson, and Sophie Tucker, and appeared for two years in Ken Murray's "Blackouts". Joining ASCAP in 1929, his other songs include "All Night Long", "Jean", "Walkin' the Dog", "You Ain't Talkin' to Me", "Honey Gal", and "If I Were a Bee and You Were a Red, Red Rose".