Fred Lowery

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Fred Lowery was the most successful professional whistler of the 1940s and 1950s.Lowery's place among whistlers is rather like that of Art Tatum's among pianists.Lowery's technique was so advanced and sophisticated that there really was no comparison. "People sometimes ask me what attributes make a great whistler," he once wrote. "Well, I think they're really just the same as for any other musician. He needs musical sense--good phrasing, good timing, good improvisational instincts--and mastery over his instrument, which in this case is his whistle." Blinded by scarlet fever at the age of two, he was sent to the Texas School for the Blind in Austin when he was seven. He was inspired to take up whistling seriously when his fellow students encouraged him to demonstrate his ability for Ernest Nichols, who put on his act of imitating bird calls for the school. The enthusiastic reception led him to practice seriously, and a music teacher encouraged Lowery to develop the talent as his way of making a living in the sighted world. Lowery had the good fortune to come into his prime during radio's golden age, since his act was entirely audio in its effect, and the medium was constantly in need of new material. Whistling was then accepted as a novelty musical act, and Lowery was certainly not the only whistler to be heard on the airwaves. His whistling, however, was far more than just a novelty, and he was quickly picked up by Dallas station WFAA where he quickly became one of the st

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albums

Walking Along Kicking the Leaves

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Whistle A Happy Tune

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Where Southern Soul Began 1954-1962

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Phonoanomalies for Hi-Fi Bugs

A Family Christmas

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Walking Along Kicking the Leaves...

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Holiday Freakout

Whistles Your Gospel Favorites

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XMAS Delights B (Jesus side)

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Columbia 78 RPM

Whistle a Happy Tune!

FaLaLaLaLa.com 2004 ADVENTure In Carols

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