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Artist
Shep Fields & His Rippling Rhythm
12+ albums
1950s
about
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and his mother’s maiden name was Sowalski. He played the clarinet and tenor sax in bands during college. By 1933 he led a band that played at Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel. In 1936 he was booked at Chicago’s Palmer House, and the concert was broadcast on radio. A contest was held in Chicago for fans to suggest a new name for his band. The word “rippling” was suggested in more than one entry, and Fields came up with “Rippling Rhythm”. When he was at a soda shop counter, his wife was blowing bubbles into her soda through a straw and that sound became his trademark that opened each of his shows. In 1936 he received a recording contract with Bluebird Records. His hits included: Did I Remember?, Cathedral in the Pines and Thanks for the Memory. In 1937 Fields started a radio show called The “Rippling Rhythm Revue” with Bob Hope as the announcer. In 1938 he was in his first motion picture, The Big Broadcast of 1938. The group disbanded in 1953, and he moved to Houston, Texas where he worked as a disc jockey. He later started a talent agency in Los Angeles, and died in 1981 in Los Angeles. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
why this is interesting
# Shep Fields & His Rippling Rhythm This ensemble represents a fascinating moment when American dance bands were experimenting with novel textures and production methods. Fields's signature innovation—the rippling sound created by blowing air through liquid—emerged organically from everyday life yet became a distinctive sonic trademark that set his orchestra apart from countless swing contemporaries. The album captures a band that understood how personality and creative constraint could shape identity in an era of formulaic popular music. Beyond the gimmick lies genuine musicianship: inventive arrangements that balanced commercial appeal with genuine sophistication. For listeners curious about how dance bands thought beyond mere entertainment, or how American popular music borrowed from life's small moments, this recording offers rewarding