Shelton Brooks

Shelton Brooks was raised in Detroit and began his career as a ragtime piano player, initially entertaining the public in Detroit's cafes and nightclubs, then expanding his territory to include Chicago. It was right around 1909 that Brooks began to compose his own material. By this time he had also developed into an accomplished vaudeville entertainer. Brooks toured the United States of America, Canada, and the British Isles. His act was largely based upon a gift for mimicry; he apparently did such a convincing Bert Williams imitation that Williams himself is said to have remarked: "If I'm as funny as he is, I got nothin' to worry about." Shelton Brooks established himself as a songwriter in the following manner: he had been walking around captivated by a melody in a minor key that had been dancing around between his ears, but could not come up with any words to go with the tones he kept hearing. One day, seated at a restaurant, he found himself listening in on a heated disagreement between a black woman and her male companion. Sharply warning him not to abandon her, the lady spoke these words: "...some of these days, you're gonna miss me, honey." Stunned, Brooks realized that her phrase matched his tune perfectly. The rest of the song then wrote itself through him. He went out and got it printed up, then took the score directly to Sophie Tucker, who, according to Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, was often remarkably helpful to aspiring Afro-American composers. Tucker got right behind the song, in fact she was already performing it the very next day! Ultimately the tune became so closely associated with her that she made it into her theme song and even copped the title when she published her autobiography. "Some of These Days" was published in 1910 and eventually sold more...