Certainly one of the most amazing and sometimes tragic stories in American musical history that is seldom told. Cecil Gant came out of nowhere that afternoon in 1944 in downtown Los Angeles. He was a largely unknown singer-pianist in the wartime army when the opportunity came for him to perform at a war bond rally. He made a favorable impression, enough so that he had a chance to put some tunes on record. ...show more

Certainly one of the most amazing and sometimes tragic stories in American musical history that is seldom told. Cecil Gant came out of nowhere that afternoon in 1944 in downtown Los Angeles. He was a largely unknown singer-pianist in the wartime army when the opportunity came for him to perform at a war bond rally. He made a favorable impression, enough so that he had a chance to put some tunes on record.

A recording of his tune "I Wonder" was released on the small independent Gilt Edge label. He was billed as Pvt. Cecil Gant, The "GI Sing Station". What happened next was unforeseen and unprecedented.

The record sold, and sold, and sold-in huge quantities. The numbers will never be known but by some estimates the amount may have reached well over a million. The story of meeting the demand is the stuff of legends. It required clandestine record pressing plants in residential neighborhoods, all manner of secret deals for the supply of shellac (a must for the production of 78 rpm records) which was subject to severe wartime restrictions, and the itinerant record sellers up and down the west coast operating from trunks of cars and roadside stands. ...show less