Born in Oklahoma, as a child he moved with his family to Springfield, MO, in 1914. Wrightsman's father was a musician and his first gigs were with his dad's band. He left home at 16 to play in a band at a hotel in Gulfport, MS. Wrightsman then played in bands around Oklahoma before landing a job as a staff musician at Oklahoma City radio station WKY in 1928. In 1930, he moved to New Orleans and played with bandleader Ray Miller. He traveled to the West Coast with Henry Halstead in 1933; there he played with various bands. He moved to Chicago in 1935-1936 to play with Ben Pollack for a time, before becoming ill and going back to California in 1937. In Los Angeles, he played with Santo Pecora, then worked freelance and from the late '30s, he played in the Hollywood studios. Inspired in large part by an association with Spike Jones, Wrightsman ventured into the realm of musical parody; in 1941, he played and recorded with the Jones band that evolved into the City Slickers. Wrightsman left when the band moved too far afield of jazz. During the '40s, he played mainstream jazz and pop with -- among others -- Artie Shaw, Wingy Manone, Eddie Miller, Rudy Vallée, and Nappy Lamare. He played with Bob Crosby from 1950-1951; later in the decade, he played and recorded with Matty Matlock, Pete Fountain, and the Rampart Street Paraders (featuring a young George Van Eps on guitar); also, Ray Bauduc, Wild Bill Davison, and Bob Scobey. He played on the soundtracks to the Red Nichols biopic #The Five Pennies and the Jack Webb film #Pete Kelly's Blues. Wrightsman played with Fountain a great deal during the '60s and continued working in TV and film. He moved to Las Vegas in the late '60s, where he backed Wayne Newton and Flip Wilson, among others. ~ Chris Kelsey, Rovi