Joe Haymes

Who was Joe Haymes?

Joseph Lawrence Haymes was an American jazz bandleader and arranger.

Born in Marshfield, Missouri, Haymes relocated with his family to Springfield, Missouri, after his railroader father was killed in an accident. Joe attended Greenwood Laboratory School in Springfield and was a drummer in the local Boy Scout Band; as a youth he also learned the piano. Entering Drury College in 1926, he played locally with his own dance band before being hired as arranger by Ted Weems in 1928 and leaving school. Haymes arranged the hit "Piccolo Pete", among many others, for Weems, setting a new, highly jazz-informed style for the orchestra.

Haymes struck out on his own again in 1930, leading a band in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Billed as "a Ted Weems unit", Joe continued to write Weems' arrangements. During 1931 vocal trio The Merry Macs toured with the band. Relocating to New York City by 1932, the Haymes orchestra was briefly one of the country's hottest dance bands, with a particular knack for jazz novelties and recording on all 3 major labels, but in late 1933 he sold the band to actor-leader Buddy Rogers, beginning a habit of selling orchestras to others.

Early in 1934, Haymes put together a swing group with assistance from arranger Spud Murphy, but after Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey split in 1935, Tommy arranged a deal with Haymes to take over the latter's group. Haymes himself hired several of Charlie Barnet's musicians for a new band, which recorded for ARC from 1935-1937 but was only modestly successful.