Brother Bones

Who was Brother Bones?

Brother Bones was an American whistling and bone playing recording artist from Montgomery, Alabama. Born Freeman Davis, his 1949 recording of the 1925 standard "Sweet Georgia Brown," became internationally famous after being adopted as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in 1952. Notably, the bass line for this track uses the Novachord a very early electronic synthesizer more prominently featured on the B side of the record. Despite the success of this record, Brother Bones himself remained relatively unknown.

Another of his recordings, "Black Eyed Susan Brown", was sampled in the De La Soul song, "Pease Porridge", on their 1991 album, De La Soul is Dead.

"Sweet Georgia Brown" was used in the Vauxhall Meriva television advertisement in the UK.

He died in June 1974, in Long Beach, California, at the age of 71.