Background
Barbour was born in Long Island, New York started off as a banjoist with Adrian Rollini in 1933 and then Wingy Manone in 1934.
Barbour was born in Long Island, New York started off as a banjoist with Adrian Rollini in 1933 and then Wingy Manone in 1934.
He switched to guitar in the middle of the decade and played with Red Norvo in 1935-1936. He found much work as a studio musician and played in ensembles with Teddy Wilson and Billie Holiday (1937), Artie Shaw (1939), Lennie Hayton, Charlie Barnet (1945), Raymond Scott, Glenn Miller, Lou Holden, and Woody Herman (1949). He also recorded with André Previn in 1945.
Soon after they moved to Los Angeles, Johnny Mercer put them to work as a songwriting team, and they wrote a number of Lee"s hits, such as "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Maine)" and "lieutenant"s a Good Day".
The couple had a daughter, Nicki, in 1943. Dave Barbour and His Orchestra had the best-selling version (United States of America) of the peppy song "Mambo Jambo."
Barbour"s remaining career was far less successful than Lee"s (who would marry three more times).
His songwriting royalties sustained him, as the tunes he co-wrote with Lee were covered by many hitmakers of the 1950s. He acted in the films The Secret Fury and Mr.
Music, and occasionally performed, including with Benny Carter in 1962.
He died in 1965 of a hemorrhaged ulcer in Malibu Beach, California, aged 53.
He played with Benny Goodman in 1942, and while a member of Goodman"s ensemble, he fell in love with lead singer Peggy Lee, and the pair quit the group to marry in 1943.