Anson Weeks and His Orchestra

b. 14 February 1896, Oakland, California, USA, d. 7 February 1969, Sacramento, California, USA. Weeks began leading a dance band in the mid-20s and achieved great popularity in 1928 during an engagement at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco. Thereafter, he worked at many of the best hotels in New York, Chicago and New Orleans, introducing the band with his own composition, ‘I’m Writing You This Little Melody’, and the slogan ‘Dancin’ with Anson’. The musical policy he operated was geared strictly for dancing and he was largely indifferent to passing vogues such as the swing era. Among the musicians who played in the band was Xaviar Cugat, while his singers included Bob Crosby and Tony Martin. Weeks continued to lead his band through the 50s and 60s, still blithely ignoring musical fads and fancies, and was still working when he died in Sacramento.