Stompin' At The Savoy: How Chick Webb Became the King of Drums
To young William Henry Chick Webb all the world was a drum He tapped rhythms on iron railings Tinkety tink He slapped rhythms on marble steps Thwapety thwap
He banged rhythms on garbage cans Boomedy boom And years later on May 11 1937 he hammered them on his sparkly drum set at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom in the biggest band battle of the century
William was born sometime in the early 1900s in East Baltimore Maryland He had challenges from the time he was very young William had an illness that affected his spine And one day he had a bad accident
He spied his grandmother coming down the street He raced down the stairs to see her and lost his footing Whomp He fell hard
