In the summer of 1956, the Billy Tipton Trio — a group based in Spokane, Washington — came to Los Angeles to record for the independent label Tops Records. They performed instrumental versions of jazz standards, primarily from the 1920’s and 1930’s. The recordings were later released on two albums: Sweet Georgia Brown (“a Masterpiece of Incomparable High-Fidelity Sound”) and Billy Tipton Plays Hi-Fi on Piano. During one session, which took place at a studio located at Capital Records, a woman happened to be hanging around the sound booth. She came up and told them, “Gee, you guys sound great.” It was Ella Fitzgerald.
I particularly like their version of George Gershwin’s “The Man I Love.”
While the albums did not sell poorly, Tipton faded into obscurity. He turned down a lucrative gig in Reno saying that he wanted to return to Spokane and settle down. And he proceeded to do just that. He married the last of his five wives (although the prior marriages were not official) and adopted three sons. He died in Spokane at the age of 74 in 1989.
Under ordinary circumstances, Tipton’s name may have been entirely forgotten. But something happened the day he died — something that shocked nearly everyone who had met him since his youth in the mid-West. The medic summoned to Tipton’s residence discovered
that he was actually a woman — at least from a biological point of view.
Tipton first donned male clothing in Joplin, Missouri around 1934, a time when the local jazz bands would only hire men. But the clothes were just the outermost layer. According to biographer Diane Wood Middlebrook, Tipton developed “the persona of an upbeat, sharp-dressing, warmhearted, good-humored, big-brother” who would defuse “conflict with a grin or a joke — a mean, coarse, sexist, homophobic joke if need be.” As for intimate partners, Tipton’s last wife maintained that they never had sex. But Tipton also managed to fool at least two of the others, including one who had reportedly worked as a prostitute. The feat was accomplished by claiming that a car accident had resulted in cracked ribs which required wearing a binding on the upper torso, by keeping the lights off, and by wearing a prosthesis.
It should be noted that just about everyone remembered Tipton with affection and high regard. He had his flaws but was basically a really good guy. Also a fine piano player. Listen again:
Should Tipton be celebrated as a pioneer who transcended society’s oppressive constraints? Or condemned for unethically deceiving others? What do you think?
The Dog Wants to Know.
I agree with you he’s a terrific pianist and I really enjoy listening to him. Feel kind of sad that he had to disguise who he was, a transgender male. Maybe he did it for the music but also because that was his true nature. I don’t think he was out to deceive others at all. He wanted to play music and that’s how he was able to do it and he took it beyond because without repeating myself too much, he was not born in the right body. What do you think?
I think there’s something ethically wrong about what Billy did, insofar at it involved misleading his intimate partners. But I’m reluctant to judge him harshly because his options, back in the day, were so limited. And I found it hard to read Middlebrook’s biography without wanting to give him a slap on the back and buy him a drink.