Phil Moore
Phil Moore (February 20, 1918 – May 13, 1987) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and band leader and he is mainly remembered for supporting singers like Lena Horne and Frank Sinatra. And in 1950, Moore was called upon to work with Marilyn Monroe as a vocal and talent coach and helped launch her singing career. In 1951 Moore took Dorothy Dandridge under his wing.
Christmas rap
In 1953 he released two beat era Christmas jazz songs: Blink before Christmas and Chinchy Old Scrooge. Chinchy Old Scrooge is Moore’s musical adaptation of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. The record was banned by Cleveland radio stations after the city’s Board of Education felt that the song was a “harmful influence” for children and radio officials radio officials in Pensacola Florida worried that Burley’s jive lyrics were naughty (Jet, 24 December 1953, p. 62).
Sources: Black Film Center Archive, Hip Christmas Music, Indiana University, Wikipedia
