William “Washboard Bill” Cooke was born in Dupont, a small town in Flagler County. One of his first memories was of peering out his bedroom door to watch the music that came from the juke joint his mother ran in the room below. At that time, there was no local school for African American children, and at age six he began working for 25 cents a day at a local sawmill. Later, when times became bad, he, his mother, and siblings lived in an abandoned box car. Eventually they moved to his grandfather’s farm in Sanford. During the depression of the l930s, Cooke left home and led the life of a hobo for ten years.
Cooke became interested in percussion music while working in a Harlem nightclub during the l940s. However, following the minstrel tradition, he developed a talent for playing two washboards with attached cymbals and cowbells rather than choosing the drums. He subsequently formed a popular band and worked as “Washboard Bill.” Musicologist David Holt said “guys like Bill grew up and learned their music before radio and TV so you could easily trace what he does back to the 1830s in the minstrel show days.”
During his years in New York, Cooke maintained his links with Florida, generally spending his winters in West Palm Beach. Between 1947 and 1963 his group, the West Palm Beach Washboard Band, regularly performed at the railway station, and also played at the estates of such luminaries as the Rockefellers and Kennedys. In 1973 Cooke moved permanently to West Palm Beach, and continued to play at events in Florida and throughout the country until his death.
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Blues musician, storyteller and downtown West Palm Beach fixture William E. "Washboard Bill" Cooke died Sunday.
Born in 1905 in a small sawmill town near St. Augustine, Mr. Cooke rode the rails as a hobo, played New York clubs with his own band, and recorded with greats such as Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
Mr. Cooke had been suffering from colon cancer, longtime friend and collaborator Bill Owens said.
The two shared a breakfast of pancakes, ham, eggs and coffee on Friday, Owens said. But Mr. Cooke couldn't eat or talk much because of the effects of the disease.
"I felt so bad for him because his body was aching all over," Owens said.
Mr. Cooke once said he earned his nickname in 1946 while working at a bar in Harlem. He nailed together two old washboards with cymbals and cowbells and took the contraption out on a street corner.
He was an instant hit, he recalled.
"I made more money in an hour than I made at that bar job in a whole week, so I quit," he said.
Mr. Cooke began spending winters in Palm Beach County and, in 1973, settled permanently in West Palm Beach.
For years, he set up his washboard and memorabilia in front of his Datura Street home and entertained whoever happened to be there with stories and songs:
"What's the use of getting sober if you've gotta get drunk again?" he sang one day back in 1988. "Come on 'round to my place, baby; ain't nobody home but me," he continued, plucking his ukulele.
Mr. Cooke later moved his show to a spot across from the Comeau Building on Clematis Street.
West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel said she remembered meeting Mr. Cooke a couple of times.
"He was sort of a fixture around here. He was a colorful character," she said.
In 1992, Mr. Cooke was awarded the Florida Folk Heritage Award by the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
In 1999, he was chosen for Kodak's "Photo of the Century," a promotion in which 100 Americans born on the Fourth of July posed for a picture at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Mr. Cooke is survived by two adult daughters, Owens said. Funeral arrangements are pending and are being handled by Stevens Brothers Funeral Home in West Palm Beach.
To make sure Mr. Cooke is not forgotten, Owens said, he is working to build a museum and school in West Palm Beach that will memorialize old Florida blues musicians such as Washboard Bill and teach young people about their music.
Cooke became interested in percussion music while working in a Harlem nightclub during the l940s. However, following the minstrel tradition, he developed a talent for playing two washboards with attached cymbals and cowbells rather than choosing the drums. He subsequently formed a popular band and worked as “Washboard Bill.” Musicologist David Holt said “guys like Bill grew up and learned their music before radio and TV so you could easily trace what he does back to the 1830s in the minstrel show days.”
During his years in New York, Cooke maintained his links with Florida, generally spending his winters in West Palm Beach. Between 1947 and 1963 his group, the West Palm Beach Washboard Band, regularly performed at the railway station, and also played at the estates of such luminaries as the Rockefellers and Kennedys. In 1973 Cooke moved permanently to West Palm Beach, and continued to play at events in Florida and throughout the country until his death.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Blues musician, storyteller and downtown West Palm Beach fixture William E. "Washboard Bill" Cooke died Sunday.
Born in 1905 in a small sawmill town near St. Augustine, Mr. Cooke rode the rails as a hobo, played New York clubs with his own band, and recorded with greats such as Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
Mr. Cooke had been suffering from colon cancer, longtime friend and collaborator Bill Owens said.
The two shared a breakfast of pancakes, ham, eggs and coffee on Friday, Owens said. But Mr. Cooke couldn't eat or talk much because of the effects of the disease.
"I felt so bad for him because his body was aching all over," Owens said.
Mr. Cooke once said he earned his nickname in 1946 while working at a bar in Harlem. He nailed together two old washboards with cymbals and cowbells and took the contraption out on a street corner.
He was an instant hit, he recalled.
"I made more money in an hour than I made at that bar job in a whole week, so I quit," he said.
Mr. Cooke began spending winters in Palm Beach County and, in 1973, settled permanently in West Palm Beach.
For years, he set up his washboard and memorabilia in front of his Datura Street home and entertained whoever happened to be there with stories and songs:
"What's the use of getting sober if you've gotta get drunk again?" he sang one day back in 1988. "Come on 'round to my place, baby; ain't nobody home but me," he continued, plucking his ukulele.
Mr. Cooke later moved his show to a spot across from the Comeau Building on Clematis Street.
West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel said she remembered meeting Mr. Cooke a couple of times.
"He was sort of a fixture around here. He was a colorful character," she said.
In 1992, Mr. Cooke was awarded the Florida Folk Heritage Award by the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
In 1999, he was chosen for Kodak's "Photo of the Century," a promotion in which 100 Americans born on the Fourth of July posed for a picture at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Mr. Cooke is survived by two adult daughters, Owens said. Funeral arrangements are pending and are being handled by Stevens Brothers Funeral Home in West Palm Beach.
To make sure Mr. Cooke is not forgotten, Owens said, he is working to build a museum and school in West Palm Beach that will memorialize old Florida blues musicians such as Washboard Bill and teach young people about their music.
William “Washboard Bill” Cooke was born in Dupont, a small town in Flagler County. One of his first memories was of peering out his bedroom door to watch the music that came from the juke joint his mother ran in the room below. At that time, there was no local school for African American children, and at age six he began working for 25 cents a day at a local sawmill. Later, when times became bad, he, his mother, and siblings lived in an abandoned box car. Eventually they moved to his grandfather’s farm in Sanford. During the depression of the l930s, Cooke left home and led the life of a hobo for ten years.
Cooke became interested in percussion music while working in a Harlem nightclub during the l940s. However, following the minstrel tradition, he developed a talent for playing two washboards with attached cymbals and cowbells rather than choosing the drums. He subsequently formed a popular band and worked as “Washboard Bill.” Musicologist David Holt said “guys like Bill grew up and learned their music before radio and TV so you could easily trace what he does back to the 1830s in the minstrel show days.”
During his years in New York, Cooke maintained his links with Florida, generally spending his winters in West Palm Beach. Between 1947 and 1963 his group, the West Palm Beach Washboard Band, regularly performed at the railway station, and also played at the estates of such luminaries as the Rockefellers and Kennedys. In 1973 Cooke moved permanently to West Palm Beach, and continued to play at events in Florida and throughout the country until his death.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Blues musician, storyteller and downtown West Palm Beach fixture William E. "Washboard Bill" Cooke died Sunday.
Born in 1905 in a small sawmill town near St. Augustine, Mr. Cooke rode the rails as a hobo, played New York clubs with his own band, and recorded with greats such as Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
Mr. Cooke had been suffering from colon cancer, longtime friend and collaborator Bill Owens said.
The two shared a breakfast of pancakes, ham, eggs and coffee on Friday, Owens said. But Mr. Cooke couldn't eat or talk much because of the effects of the disease.
"I felt so bad for him because his body was aching all over," Owens said.
Mr. Cooke once said he earned his nickname in 1946 while working at a bar in Harlem. He nailed together two old washboards with cymbals and cowbells and took the contraption out on a street corner.
He was an instant hit, he recalled.
"I made more money in an hour than I made at that bar job in a whole week, so I quit," he said.
Mr. Cooke began spending winters in Palm Beach County and, in 1973, settled permanently in West Palm Beach.
For years, he set up his washboard and memorabilia in front of his Datura Street home and entertained whoever happened to be there with stories and songs:
"What's the use of getting sober if you've gotta get drunk again?" he sang one day back in 1988. "Come on 'round to my place, baby; ain't nobody home but me," he continued, plucking his ukulele.
Mr. Cooke later moved his show to a spot across from the Comeau Building on Clematis Street.
West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel said she remembered meeting Mr. Cooke a couple of times.
"He was sort of a fixture around here. He was a colorful character," she said.
In 1992, Mr. Cooke was awarded the Florida Folk Heritage Award by the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
In 1999, he was chosen for Kodak's "Photo of the Century," a promotion in which 100 Americans born on the Fourth of July posed for a picture at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Mr. Cooke is survived by two adult daughters, Owens said. Funeral arrangements are pending and are being handled by Stevens Brothers Funeral Home in West Palm Beach.
To make sure Mr. Cooke is not forgotten, Owens said, he is working to build a museum and school in West Palm Beach that will memorialize old Florida blues musicians such as Washboard Bill and teach young people about their music.
Cooke became interested in percussion music while working in a Harlem nightclub during the l940s. However, following the minstrel tradition, he developed a talent for playing two washboards with attached cymbals and cowbells rather than choosing the drums. He subsequently formed a popular band and worked as “Washboard Bill.” Musicologist David Holt said “guys like Bill grew up and learned their music before radio and TV so you could easily trace what he does back to the 1830s in the minstrel show days.”
During his years in New York, Cooke maintained his links with Florida, generally spending his winters in West Palm Beach. Between 1947 and 1963 his group, the West Palm Beach Washboard Band, regularly performed at the railway station, and also played at the estates of such luminaries as the Rockefellers and Kennedys. In 1973 Cooke moved permanently to West Palm Beach, and continued to play at events in Florida and throughout the country until his death.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Blues musician, storyteller and downtown West Palm Beach fixture William E. "Washboard Bill" Cooke died Sunday.
Born in 1905 in a small sawmill town near St. Augustine, Mr. Cooke rode the rails as a hobo, played New York clubs with his own band, and recorded with greats such as Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
Mr. Cooke had been suffering from colon cancer, longtime friend and collaborator Bill Owens said.
The two shared a breakfast of pancakes, ham, eggs and coffee on Friday, Owens said. But Mr. Cooke couldn't eat or talk much because of the effects of the disease.
"I felt so bad for him because his body was aching all over," Owens said.
Mr. Cooke once said he earned his nickname in 1946 while working at a bar in Harlem. He nailed together two old washboards with cymbals and cowbells and took the contraption out on a street corner.
He was an instant hit, he recalled.
"I made more money in an hour than I made at that bar job in a whole week, so I quit," he said.
Mr. Cooke began spending winters in Palm Beach County and, in 1973, settled permanently in West Palm Beach.
For years, he set up his washboard and memorabilia in front of his Datura Street home and entertained whoever happened to be there with stories and songs:
"What's the use of getting sober if you've gotta get drunk again?" he sang one day back in 1988. "Come on 'round to my place, baby; ain't nobody home but me," he continued, plucking his ukulele.
Mr. Cooke later moved his show to a spot across from the Comeau Building on Clematis Street.
West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel said she remembered meeting Mr. Cooke a couple of times.
"He was sort of a fixture around here. He was a colorful character," she said.
In 1992, Mr. Cooke was awarded the Florida Folk Heritage Award by the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
In 1999, he was chosen for Kodak's "Photo of the Century," a promotion in which 100 Americans born on the Fourth of July posed for a picture at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Mr. Cooke is survived by two adult daughters, Owens said. Funeral arrangements are pending and are being handled by Stevens Brothers Funeral Home in West Palm Beach.
To make sure Mr. Cooke is not forgotten, Owens said, he is working to build a museum and school in West Palm Beach that will memorialize old Florida blues musicians such as Washboard Bill and teach young people about their music.
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Age 97
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