The Life and Times of Ernie Andrews
How one man dominated Central Avenue with an unmistakable velvety voice.
Ernie Andrews reign in the company of a few whose enduring voice hovered all around the famed Los Angeles Central Avenue jazz scene. Also was known as a charismatic Central Avenue jazz-blues singer with an unmistakable velvety voice. He worked with stars but never quite hit the starlight as others did.
Given this situation, Ernie owed his big break to the iconic film star Betty Grable and his music teacher, the famed New Orleans jazz trumpeter Bunk Johnson.
Andrews earned the name “Crown Prince of the Blues” after performing in the post-WWII music clubs up and down Central Avenue that included many of the renowned great jazz musicians such as Charlie Parker, Erroll Garner, and many many others. His career emerged as he performed all around the Los Angeles community for jazz and R&B fans.
His vocal talent made way for him and by his late teens, he connected with songwriter Joe Greene. Upon Andrews’s request for a recording session, Greene wrote: “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.”
Another prominent break happened after bandleader Harry James who was married to Grable asked him to join the Harry James Orchestra in 1959 and went on to tour for a decade nationally and internationally.
