The Nighthawks Orchestra/Band [1] was a musical group formed in the early 1920s by Carleton Coon [2] and Joe Sanders [3]. Originating in the Plantation Grill at the Muehlebach Hotel, the Nighthawks gained world-wide fame as WDAF broadcast their shows on the radio throughout the Western Hemisphere.
They made records on the Victor label and traveled to engagements all over the Midwest, garnering a loyal following, and finally ended up in New York City. Unfortunately, Carleton Coon died in 1932 and the original group fell apart.
Fred Edmiston, in The Coon-Sanders Nighthawks: The Band That Made Radio Famous, gives a complete history of the orchestra, “the band whose gay, saucy, and bustling music, and carefree and extravagant musicians symbolized the era between World War I and the Great Depression.” Edmiston’s collection [4] of material that relates to the publication of the book is part of the Missouri Valley Special Collections.
Three other collections in the Missouri Valley Room, the Harvey Rettberg papers [5], Clyde Hahn scrapbooks, and the Joe Sanders collection [6], provide a rich resource for information on the Nighthawks.
For more information search the Local History Index [7].
Librarian Sara Nyman
April 2006
<< Return to all Kansas City FAQs [8].
Links:
[1] http://www.kchistory.org/u?/CoonSanders,474
[2] http://www.kchistory.org/u?/CoonSanders,488
[3] http://www.kchistory.org/u?/CoonSanders,459
[4] http://localhistory.kclibrary.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Local&CISOPTR=37845
[5] http://www.kchistory.org/u?/Local,36898
[6] http://localhistory.kclibrary.org/u?/Local,37155
[7] http://www.kchistory.org/cdm4/explore.php?page=localhistoryindex
[8] http://www.kclibrary.org/kchistory/kansas-city-faqs