Scatman Crothers was born Benjamin Sherman Crothers on May 23, 1910 in Terre Haute, Indiana. Songwriter (“Dearest One”), actor, composer, singer, comedian and guitarist who, after high school, appeared in nightclubs, hotels, films and on television. He made many records, including his own compositions. He joined ASCAP in 1959, and his popular-song compositions also include “The Gal Looks Good”, “Nobody Knows Why”, “I Was There”, “A Man’s Gotta Eat” and “When, Oh When”. Scatman Crothers died at age 76 of pneumonia and lung cancer at his home in Van Nuys, California on November 22, 1986.
Played drums and sang at this point in bebop compo in Chicago in early ’40s.dabbling in bebop, the new jazz style being pioneered by the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, by this time. In 1946, Crothers took over from Leo Watson as drummer of Slim Gaillard’s Trio in 1946 after settling in Los Angeles. Made a bunch of records starting in 1947, in 1948 Crothers was introduced to Phil Harris, a radio star and regular on Jack Benny’s program. He and Harris–like Crothers a native of Indiana–immediately hit it off. Together Crothers and Harris recorded a song called “Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy,” which they introduced on Harris’s NBC radio show The Phil Harris–Alice Faye Show. Crothers recorded two more hits later that year: “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and “Dead Man’s Blues.” He became a regular guest on Harris’s show, and the pair continued to collaborate on records and in films for years to come.