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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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KELLEY, Peck

(b John Dickson Kelley, 1898, Houston TX; d there 26 Dec. '80) Pianist, leader. Legendary musician who led Peck's Bad Boys in '20s; musicians who passed through incl. Jack Teagarden, Pee Wee Russell, Louis Prima; legendary because he refused offers from other bandleaders, rarely left Houston, playing long residencies there through mid-'50s. Teagarden's brother Charlie said that he 'was very advanced, more like Art Tatum than a stride pianist'. He finally recorded '57 and the results were issued after his death: two-disc Peck Kelley Jam with Dick Shannon Quartet on Commodore.