BACK TO AB FABLE
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS TO AB FABLE CD LINER NOTES
AND OTHER LINER NOTES BY ANTHONY BARNETT INCLUDING
MOSAIC VERVE STUFF SMITH
FROG EDDIE SOUTH
JAZZ ORACLE EDDIE SOUTH
SOUNDIES EDDIE SOUTH
HEP STUFF SMITH
Small or obvious typos are generally not noted
Last updated March 2024
––
ABCD2-004/5 Stuff Smith and
Robert Crum, Complete 1944 Rosenkrantz Apartment
Transcriptions
Crum did not follow Smith to New York in the autumn of 1944. In fact,
he arrived in New York from Chicago in late spring or early summer, well before
Smiths August arrival.
read: . . . Gold Seal with ex-Joe Venuti
drummer and Louis . . ., not Gold Star with Louis . . .
––
ABCD1-006 Ray Perry, Complete 1944 C. W. French and 1945 Rosenkrantz Apartment Transcriptions
Lewis Porter has kindly identified the tenor sax soloists as follows:
Sweet Georgia Brown: 1st solo Nicholas;
2nd solo Heffron; mostly Heffron in closing ensemble
I Surrender Dear: Nicholas
Undecided: 1st solo
Nicholas; 2nd solo Heffron (from 4:28);
closing ensemble prob. Heffron 1st chorus; Nicholas
more dominant 2nd chorus
read: Wilson Ernest[ine]
Myers, not Ernest Wilson Myers
read: How High the Moon, not High High the
Moon
read: Sherman Freeman, not Jeremy Freeman
read: That year [1946], and again in 1947 and 1949–1950, he recorded boppish alto with Illinois Jacquet.,
i.e. add: and 1949–1950
read: A two-title recording on violin and alto of a trio including Jaki Byard is currently unlocated., not No other recordings are known.
Ray Perry did not die in the fanciful way we reported. He died of Brights
disease, or glomerulonephritis. We are grateful to his daughter Jule Byrd and grandson Alton Byrd for setting the record
straight, and we offer them our apologies.
We describe our c.1941 liner photo of Perry as showing him playing a
Vega electric violin. This may not be true. The 1941 Down Beat ad to
which we refer does indeed show him playing a Vega, but that is the Vega
stick-like instrument known from a 1939 Vega catalogue (which also includes a
different photo of Perry.) In our liner photo he is playing a conventionally-shaped violin with a pickup. We do not know
whether or not this is an instrument personalized for him by Vega.
––
ABCD2-007/8 Stuff Smith, 1944–1946, Studio, Broadcast, Concert
and Apartment Performances
disc 1
tracks 15 / 16 read: 12 78 V-Disc, not 10 78 V-Disc.
Of the four Mildred Bailey shows on which Stuff Smith was a guest, two complete
dress rehearsals are known to be extant: 1 September 1944; 24 November 1944.
Had we known in time, the 24 November 1944 dress rehearsal for Humoresque
could have been included, alongside the 1 September 1944 dress rehearsal Bugle
Call Rag which is included.
Also missing from the CD is a newly located part of a lost 26 August 1944 Rosenkrantz apartment session with Robert Crum. It is
possible that the part that is still missing includes Jimmy Jones. Rosenkrantzs files give Jones for this session but the
lacquer correctly gives Crum. The located part is included in limited edition
not-for-sale advance subscription bonus CD AB Fable XABCD1-X013 Bownus 2005 Almost Like Being in Bop where Jones is incorrectly given.
disc 2
tracks 1 / 2: newly located incomplete dub lacquers incl. the beginning and
ending of Fugue in Swing nevertheless include a more complete spoken intro
and suggests that this intro may possibly be spoken not by Crum, but by
mc Barry Ulanov.
Two further released titles from St Louis, December 1946, have come to light on
78 Town and Country 503 Take a Walk matrix 509 / Wont You Take a Lesson in
Love? matrix 511. Only one example of the disc is currently known. CD release
scheduled 2008.
––
ABCD1-009 Eddie South Solo, Trio and Orchestra, 1940–1947
tracks 19 / 20: the date is very late 1945, not
?October 1946. It is now known that the film was first released at least
as early as 31 March 1946.
read: Zigeuner in Rhythm, not
Ziguener. Konrad Nowakowski points out that although the published sheet
music reproduced on our back liner reads Tzigane in
Rhythm this may have been a publisher decision and South may well have
preferred the form Zigeuner in Rhythm since this is
how the mc introduces track 12, as well as this being the form found in the
Columbia ledger for track 4. If so, our CD should be titled Zigeuner
in Rhythm. However, track 18 is introduced by the mc as Tzigane in Rhythm.
read: cut in Columbus, Ohio, not Cincinnati
a second copy of 78 Franwil 1012 / 1013 has come to
light
read: pressed in 1947, not in the early 1950s
––
ABCD1-010 Ginger Smock, Los Angeles Studio and Demo,
1946–1958
Ginger Smocks 1947 interview in which she said she had recorded for
Exclusive is still not proven as this newly discovered session is for
Excelsior. Possibly, but by no means certainly, the Exclusive citation was in
error. Unfortunately, the Excelsior labels and discographies were listing her
as E. Colbert [Emma Colbert—Colbert being her name from a brief marriage]
and discographies were giving her instrument as clarinet, although the labels
give electric violin, which is how we came to overlook the following session,
nevertheless inexcusably. This session predates her RCA Victor 1946 session
previously cited as her first – research assistance courtesy Dieter Salemann; Klaus Teubig.
JOE ALEXANDER WITH RED CALLENDER QUINTET
Joe Lutcher (br), Ginger Smock [as E. Colbert] (el vn), Willard McDaniels (pn), Red Callender (sb), Lucky Enois (dm), Joe Alexander (vc)
Los Angeles, July or August 1946
a OR 172 A I Woke Up with a Teardrop in My Eye (Ren, Jeffries) –
Alexander (vc)
b OR 173 B Donkey Serenade (Friml, Stothart) –
Alexander (vc)
78 Excelsior OR-172/173 (a,b)
CD AB Fable ABCD2-019/20 (a,b) Blows n Rhythm
NOTE A / B do not represent takes, only discs sides, each one of which has a
different number.
Ginger Smock is present on John Erby and John Costa, Jrs 78 label A Natural Hit! 103 and 105, as well as 104 by
Ray Wheaton which we describe, though do not include
for space reasons, but date incorrectly. It was apparently released September
1949, not late 1948, though September is a little early for a Christmas
coupling. 103 is, in fact, different takes of our unidentified demo tracks
11, 12 and explains why Smock thought, incorrectly, that the vocalist might be
Wheaton. Extraordinarily, a copy of 103 came to light in a London junk shop in
March 2006. 105 came to light autumn 2011. The following discographical
detail is mostly, but not totally, contained in Bob Eagle, Re-Discovered:
Arranger, Composer, Teacher and Master Musician John Erby,
The Singing Pianist, Record Research, 121 (New York, March, 1973), 1,
3-5, and should be used to amend all relevant incorrect information in our
liner. John Erby and Monette
Moore were earlier briefly married – research assistance courtesy Derek Coller; Konrad Nowakowski; Howard Rye.
RAY WHEATON WITH THE HARMONY GIRLS
Ginger Smock (vn), Nina Russell (og),
John Erby (celesta on (AN-5) only, pn on (AN-6) only, ar), Ray
Wheaton (vc)
Los Angeles, released September 1949
a AN-5-8 This Christmas I Give Love (Costa, Erby)
b AN-6-2 I Offer You (Erby)
78 A Natural Hit! 104 (a,b)
– released – Smock released copy viewed
MONETTE MOORE THE SALESLADY OF SONGS AND HER SALESMEN WITH THE HARMONY GIRLS
Tee Davis (ts), Ginger Smock (vn),
Nina Russell (og), Jerome Tyrone Parsons (pn), Addison Farmer (sb), Freddie
Baker-Jackson (dm), John Erby
(md), James Ross (ar), Monette
Moore (vc)
Los Angeles, released July 1949
c AN-7-2 Show Girl Blues (Moore, Costa, Erby)
d AN-8-2 Thats My Specialty (Erby)
78 A Natural Hit! 105 (c,d)
– released – released copy viewed
JEROME TY PARSONS WITH HIS RHYTHM-ITES
Ginger Smock (vn), Jerome Tyrone Parsons (pn, vc, ar),
Tee Davis on (f) only (celesta), Addison Farmer (sb),
Freddie Baker-Jackson (dm)
Los Angeles, released 1949
e AN-9-1 I Couldnt Take It – CD released test
f AN-9-2 I Couldnt Take It (Costa, Erby) – 78
released
g AN-10-1 Guess Id Better Knock on Wood – CD released test
h AN-10-2 Guess Id Better Knock on Wood (Erby)
– 78 released
78 test (e,g) – Smock damaged test viewed
78 A Natural Hit! 103 (f,h)
– released – released copy viewed
CD AB Fable ABCD1-010 (e,g) Ginger Smock –
uses the damaged 78 test takes because the 78 release was not known at the time
CD AB Fable ABCD2-019/20 (f,h) Blows n Rhythm
track 20 read: Brazil [aka Aquarelo do Brasil], not [Aquarelo do]
Brazil
tracks 25 / 26 add: ? (sb)
track 27 read: ? (sb)
read: Joe Pass was a Las Vegas colleague. , not
LA colleague.
––
ABCD2-011/12 I Like Be I Like Bop and accompanying booklet
Almost Like Being in Bop herewith termed ALBB [not to be confused with
the title of CD XABCD1-X013 which also carries the title Almost Like Being in
Bop]
A bop-inflected recording, including an electric
violinist, which has come to light since the release of this CD. It is included
on ABCD2-019/20 Blows n Rhythm released 2008 (see the liner note there
for contextual information and see also corrections to the liner note below)
and should be considered an essential addition to I Like Be I Like Bop:
AL FATS THOMAS [aka ALLEN THOMAS] AND ORCHESTRA
Herbie Francis (tp), prob.
Dave Bubba [Bubber] Thomas (ts),
Jimmy Lane (vn), Maceo
Owens [aka Sheikh Al-Hajj Hazziez aka Maceo Hazziez] (pn), prob. George Barkley (sb)
poss. Ernie Harewood (dm),
Al Fats Thomas (md, composer)
Cleveland, prob. before 13 June 1952
a U7443 Dog Days
78/45 Checker 759 (a)
CD AB Fable ABCD2-019/20 (a) Blows n Rhythm
NOTE Thomas is known to have been something of an amateur trombonist, which
instrument is not present here. He surely acts only as (md) on this composition
of his. A voice calls what I had thought sounded
like Go Baker after (sb) solo. Coupling U7442
Baby Please No No is Thomas (vc)
with rhythm. Research assistance courtesy Robert L. Campbell,
John Richmond, Arne Neergaard.
All refs. to
the suggestion that the true title of the Jack Carman composition played by Hodeir could be Tom Paine Was Here are in error. The
correct title is indeed John Payne Was Here, confirmed by a brother of Carman
and published sheet music.
––
disc 1
track 3 personnel add: J. C. Heard (dm)
track 8, header read: Ginger Smock with Vivien Garry Quintet
track 12, track listings read: Wilks Bop, not
Wilks Bob
track 15, Minoration
performed on DuMont WGN-TV This Is Music, 17 January 1952. Johnnie Pates own lacquer, with
this information on the label, is now in the AB Fable Archive, coupled with
Pate (sb) and Claude Jones (pn)
playing Perdido.
track 22: Pulse is the correct title. Case Ace is
one of several broadcaster announcement errors – research assistance
courtesy Ben Bierman. Jack McKinney reveals in IAJRC
Journal, 39/2 (May 2006) that he is the source of the Handy aircheck.
track 24 – see ALBB p32 fol.
track 25 personnel read: Julio Bella (vn), Billy Marr (pn), Andy Hallup (sb), Billy Kallao (dm) [Marty Kallao (gt) plays on some of the
other LP Fortune tracks] – research assistance Lauren Slepsky,
cousin of Bella and granddaughter of Hallup; Kevin
Coffey – see also ALBB p33 fol.
disc 2
track 13, matrix no. read: K431, not K531
track 19: Dieter Salemann tells us that the
announcer whose voice we edited out is, in fact, Helmut Zacharias himself,
confirmed by Coco Schumann. Accordingly, we should not have edited him out.
Also, Amiga was an East German label and should not be designated [DR].
ALBB
p6: When the alternate take of Caravan by Gillespie incl. Smith was first
released on LP considerable obfuscation was caused. It is not, after all,
rejected assumed take 1 but take 6, the last take. The original 78 released take
is, in fact, mainly take 4 but with the tag ending of take 6 grafted on to
replace a breakdown in take 4 during the recording of the tag ending. This
makes a nonsense of our long-held belief that Smiths solo had yet to find the
resolution of the searing master take since the searing resolution took place
before the LP released alternate take. This is an example of how a seemingly
informative liner note is not at all accurate and also posits the question: how
much editing in the form of patching in, grafting on and the like took place
during the 78 era, both before and after the development of tape –
research assistance courtesy Chris Sheridan whose definitive Gillespie
discography is nearing completion.
p12: Ray Perry did not die in the fanciful way we
reported. He died of Brights disease, or glomerulonephritis. We are grateful
to his daughter Jule Byrd and grandson Alton Byrd for
setting the record straight, and we offer them our apologies.
p16: We have been rightly admonished by Vincent Pelote in ARSC Journal for describing Ginger Smocks
bop-inflected swing as the first hard bop violin on record. We wanted to
distinguish the Vivien Garry session on which she plays from Joe Kennedys
self-described light bop. Kennedy is a cool player on his 1946 session. Smock
is a hot, tougher, player.
p16: We describe our c.1941 liner photo of
Perry as showing him playing a Vega electric violin. This may not be true. The
1941 Down Beat ad to which we refer does indeed show him playing a Vega,
but that is the Vega stick-like instrument known from a 1939 Vega catalogue
(which also includes a different photo of Perry.) In our liner photo he is
playing an onventionally-shaped violin with a pickup.
We do not know whether or not this is an instrument personalized for him by
Vega. Accordingly, our conjecture that Ginger Smock may have been the first to
record jazz on a solid- or tune-body, in her case a stick-like Rickenbacker,
would be wrong if Perry played the stick-like Vega on his Hampton recordings,
though he may not have.
p17: We wrote: Apparently, nowhere else in Europe
during this period [late 1940s–early 1950s] . . . is there a discernable
trace of bebop violin. We are glad we wrote Apparently, because it is not
quite true. Hans Westerberg has told us about Finnish violinist and alto
saxophonist Kalevi Viitamki.
Viitamki was dedicated to playing bebop in the late
1940s. In Helsinki in 1948 and 1949 he recorded two titles, Groovin High and Northwest
Passage, with his accordionist brother Kauko Viitamki. Unfortunately, from our point of view, he played
only alto sax on these recordings. Later, he abandoned bebop and found his
heart in swing and popular music. He recorded his own album, Grand Old Swing,
mostly on violin, but also on alto and baritione sax,
in Helsinki in 1997.
Moving on to the mid 1950s, Dieter Salemann has drawn
our attention to Polish-born German violinist Helmut Weglinski
who made several bop-inflected recordings, in particular, of relevance to us,
in 1955–1956, including Esquire Bounce, one of which should have found
a place in I Like Be I Like Bop.
And on 13 November 1956 Australian-born Don Harpers cocktail-bop Im Easy,
from his four-title debut UK session, including trombonist George Chisholm,
could well have found a place.
Also, the Italian Fred Buscaglione, who found success as a novelty singer,
recorded jazz as a bass player and once only as a violnist,
even though violin was his first instrument. His one violin recording is his
composition Dixieland 53, which, despite its title, is firmly in a bop vein.
Recorded in Turin, 17 January 1956 by Fred Buscaglione
e i Suoi Asternovas, it is rereleased on CD Riviera [IT] RJR CD 019 Jazz al Nord: Jazz in Italy in the 30s, 40s
& 50s
p19 where appropriate add: Bacsik, uncredited, plays lead violin with The Hungarian Gypsy
Orchestra on the 1966 New York Audio Fidelity album Nora Kovach and Istvan Rabovskys Zigani Ballet.
p28 read: with Stuff Smith on a 1950 telecast., not
. . . a late 1940s telecast.
pp31, 60: There were, in fact, nine, not eight, titles
recorded by Vinnie Burke with Gerry Mulligan incl. Dick Wetmore, though only
eight were originally scheduled for unreleased LP World Pacific WP1252 Stringtime. All nine titles have now been released,
five for the first time, on 3CD Mosaic Select MS021Gerry Mulligan.
p32: The scheduled title of the unreleased Dave
Coleman Transition LP was These Things by Dave Coleman. Apparently it
was to contain four extended compositions. All but Backstreet are reputed to have been erased.
p33: Julio Bellas real name was William Julius Margitza, as was his father Bela Ziggys. He was born Pittsburgh, 18 July 1934 and died
Dearborn, Michigan, 16 April 1988. A cousin is tenor saxophonist Rick Margitza – research assistance courtesy Bellas
cousin, Lauren Slepsky; Kevin Coffey.
p38: Bacsiks year of birth
is confirmed as 1926, though he liked to tell people he was ten years older.
p39: It is understood that Bacsik
himself was not a father. The loss of two sons could refer to the children, fathered
by another, of a companion of the time with whom he
had taken up in France or it may have been a fanciful story.
p39: Bacsiks concert on
violin and guitar at Salle Walgram, Paris (photos are
extant) on the same bill as Grappelli was 1963, not
1964; Bacsik appeared with his own group; it is not
known for certain whether Bacsik and Grappelli also played together on stage or were simply on
the same bill; they are, however, known to have played together in some
informal situation or other. An earlier concert with Bacsik
on guitar, tracks of which have been released, appears to date from 1962 at Antibe.
pp53–54: Regarding Paul Whitemans notional 1938
All-America Swing Band, the following year, in association with votes cast by
radio editors, Whiteman ousted Al Duffy, and Stuff Smith was after all
sitting alongside Venuti, South and Malneck.
p54: Smiths 1940 Body and Soul aircheck
is now released on CD ABCD1-015 Stuff Smith Tenor Sax Septets
1937–1942
p55: Bruce Hinkson worked in African-American concert
orchestras in New York. He took solos with huge orchestras led by pianist Barry
Harris at Symphony Space Theatre, New York during the 1980s. The violinist and
tenor saxophonist was one and the same. He is believed to have been born 3
August 1911 and to have died 19 February 1995. Research
assistance courtesy Gayle Dixon, Alan Lucas for Barry Harris.
p58: read Django . . . CD Gitane, not LP Barclay
p60: Stringsville . . . CD Collectables
p60: Nimitz . . . CD Fresh Sound
p61: read: CD Dreyfus, not Drefus
p62: read: Bird and Dizzy: A Musical Tribute, not A Tribute
p74: read: Geg Di Giacomo,
not Giacome
p74: Bacsik also doubled on bass
––
XABCD1-X013 Bownus 2005 Almost Like
Being in Bop
tracks 1–2, read: Robert Crum (pn) – John
Levy emphatically confirms not Jmmy Jones
– date may be 5 August 1944
Wetmore does not play his composition Blues for Esquire but Kenny Burrells
composition Blues for Skeeter
Trinidad Road March by The Charmer is understood to have been recorded c.15
January 1956, not 1954
read: Thank you, Charlie, not Hallo, Charlie
read: Dominique Chanson (fl on (8) only, ts on (9) only), not other way round
––
ABCD1-014 Ray Nance 1940–1949 Non-Ducal Violin Featuring Ben
Webster
tracks 2–8: location is very likely Dunbar Hotel. The presence of
Fred Guy (gt) has been questioned, in particular by
Ellington specialist Bjarne Busk: The CD with a.o. the private recordings from
1941 with Ben Webster on clarinet together with Nance, Blanton, Greer and a
guitarist is out now on AB Fable ABCD1-014. The notes say that the guitar
player almost certainly is Fred Guy. It may be so, and it would be
interesting to see the indications that lead to this conclusion. / If this is
Fred Guy on the guitar, these recordings are the only recorded examples of solo
playing by him, except a few recorded breaks with Duke Ellington. He plays
intro on most of the titles, and a long solo on Swingin
in 4. / Ken Steiners original research of the Ellingtonian
movements in these days gave me the idea that the guitarist might be someone
else, namely Alvin Junior Raglin, who of course later
became Blantons successor in the Ellington band. / Junior Raglin
lived on the West Coast at that time, and the article that Ken Steiner found
and brought to our attention is Ken Freeman, Music and Musicians, California
Voice (28 November 1941), p 5, where Raglins
joining the Ellington orchestra after Blanton is reported, together with a
review of the same Junior Raglins fine solo guitar
playing on an earlier date, apparently around June 1940 at a jam session at
Friscos Dawn Club. / It would be fine if further research could lead to an
affirmation of the identity of the guitarist on these sensational recordings,
Fred Guy or Junior Raglin or somebody else. AB reponse: Because even the solos are all only chorded we
firmly believe the guitarist is Guy. Henrik Wolsgaard-Iversen, of the Ben Webster Foundation, adds: I
remember that Ben once talked about Freddy Guy and said: Oh, Freddy, he could
play a lot of guitar—but Duke never used him as a soloist, preferred the
horns . . . There has also been some suggestion that (sb)
is Junior Raglin. However, Brooks Kerr played the
relevant tracks to Leonard Gaskin on 11 April 2006. Here is Gaskins response,
relayed courtesy Steven Lasker: Blanton but
under-recorded. I detect the diatonic system peculiar to him which he
invented. Dan Morgenstern recognizes Greer as the voice that encourages Play
it Ray on track 6. Our claim that these are the only known clarinet
recordings by Webster is not quite right; also extant
are a couple of other home recordings from a different session, though probably
roughly contemporary.
track 12: in fact, Nance also plays (tp) momentarily at the very end
photo: a crop of the Apollo session photo first appeared in Esquires 1945
Jazz Book
sheet music folio: Nances Modern Rhythm Choruses, No. 2 was published by
Robbins rather than Miller. It is possible that both were
published by both and/or that Robbins took over Millers publications.
Examples of the Nance in the AB Fable Archive read Miller for the original
(first) series and Robbins for the new (second series). Format is similar and
ads for the complete series by Star-Soloists are identical in both examples.
acknowledgements: read Henrik
Wolsgaard-Iversen, not Iwersen
––
ABCD1-015 Stuff Smith Tenor Sax Septets 1937–1942
Our set is not as complete as we thought: 78 tests of unissued take 2s of all
four titles at the second Varsity session have come to light and are now in the
AB Fable Archive. They are now released for the first time on ABCD2-019/20 Blows
n Rhythm.
Crescendo in Drums is also extant among the William Savory
airchecks by Smith with Jonah Jones, Ben Webster,
Clyde Hart, Cozy Cole from Randalls Island Stadium Carnival
of Swing 29 March 1938 now housed at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem
Track 1: We strongly suspect that Carl O. Seaman is an IM error for Carl
Hogan, who recorded with Louis Jordan, but he is anyway unlikely to be the
guitarist here.
Track 12 read: Gettin in the Groove (Cooper) [aka
Ready, Get Set, Jump aka Ready, Set, Jump (Cooper, Raye)],
not In a Little Riff (Smith)
Kjell Svahn tells us that
the tune we titled In a Little Riff is not a Smith original but is, in fact,
Gettin in the Groove by Al Cooper first recorded
by Coopers Savoy Sultans in 1938. Later recordings, incl. ETs, of the same
composition by, for example, Tiny Bradshaw, Dardanelle, Tony Pastor are
variously titled Ready, Get Set, Jump and Ready, Set, Jump credited, where
credit is given, to Al Cooper and Don Raye, the
latter presumably lyricist.
read: Only Jonah Jones remained from the old band. (i.e. delete: . . . and bassist John Brown . . .)
read: Cole recorded the tune first, with Calloway on 17 July 1939. . ., not
1938
Al Casey in his 1962 interview with Sanley Dance
reprinted in The World of Swing, says: [. . .] Charlie Christian was my
god. [. . .] I didnt start all the single-string
stuff I do now until after Fats [Waller] died [in 1943]. Caseys 1942 airchecks with Smith show that he was, in fact, playing in
this way at least a year earlier.
The photo of the Smith band with Ben Webster in which we question the identity
of the pianist is confirmed as showing Sammy Price, not Clyde Hart.
Location is probably Hi-Ho Club or possibly
Merry-Go-Round, New Jersey, c.autumn 1938.
––
ABCD1-016 Rex Stewart and Stuff Smith
Take a Walk turns out to date from much earlier than we thought. Smith
first recorded his composition, with vocal, in December 1946 for the St Louis
Town and Country label. Only one example of the disc is currently known.
We are informed that Stewart and Smith were sitting on the floor throughout
this session.
We are informed that the sessions actually took place in a neighbors
house, rather than St Onges own house but we do not
have clear confirmation.
__
XABCD1–X017 is the CD insert with the book Listening for Henry
Crowder—see www.abar.net/crowder.htm for corrections
––
ABCD1-018 Professor Visits Harlem
read in the credits for assistance: Nick Dellow [not
Dick Dellow] who is correctly credited in the liner
note itself. Our apologies.
It is probably of interest to note that Vladimir [aka Wladimir
Ed] Selinski is a violinist with Red Nichols on some
1930–1931 recordings.
As we well know, Paul Nero was not Russian-born. He was German-born of Russian
parents.
Also inexcusably, we have mis-spelt Poul Olsens name as Olson (we have been reading too much
American poetry) on the front and in the liner note. His name is spelt
correctly in the liner discography and back inlay track details.
Photo credit to New Friends of Rhythm read: Laura Newell [not Newall]. She is credited correctly in the track personnel.
Track 1: Dinah: Nick Dellow now thinks that the second violin may probably be
a viola played by Bert Powell, Sidays colleague in
the Jack Payne orchestra at the time.
Tracks 6, 7 by Strings in Swingtime were also
released on 78 Vocalion [EN] S149.
Track 8: Sophisticated Swing is composed Parish, Hudson [not Singing
Strings].
Track 14: I Love Coffee[, I Love Tea] is a
traditional song of no known authorship of which Java Jive was just one
adaptation.
Track 15: Opus III is in fact theme from Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
by Saint-Sans. Our thanks to Robert Haydon Clark of Academy
Violins, Lewes (our home town) for setting us straight. Indeed, when the
same ensemble released the same arrangement (it does appear to be a different
take or new recording) in 1946 or later on ET Lang–Worth it was correctly
titled and credited. One source states that the Five Shades were active
1939–1942 but we believe they continued, or reprised, later in the 1940s.
Track 18 read: Leon Frengut (vl)
[not Frengott]
Track 21: Ol Man River is, of course, composed
Kern [not Foster, as given on and copied from LP label]. Our thanks to Andrew Homzy and Jay
Shulman for pointing this out.
Track 23: Registered composers of Thats Earl, Brother; are Gillespie, Brown,
Fuller [not just Gillespie] but Gillespie discographer Chris Sheridan
believes it is Gillespie, Fuller.
Joe Roland note: it is the Savoy issues
of Half Nelson which edit out the drum intro, not the Mercer 78.
––
ABCD2-019/20 Blows n Rhythm
disc 1
track 23: 78 Continental 10009 was indeed
released, a year after the album, in May 1947. At the same time 10008 was
rereleased outside the album – research assistance courtesy Han Enderman
disc 2
tracks 3, 4: Delete [South, Reinhardt]. Secondary sources who
co-credit the composition to Reinhardt are in error. South is the sole composer
tracks 17, 18: The pianist on Dog Days is Maceo
Owens, who later became Sheikh Al-Hajj Hazziez aka Maceo Hazziez, [not Nate Spencer] who played in Cleveland
with, for example, Howard McGhee. Maceo Hazziez authored a book entitled The Book of Muslim Names
(1976, repr. 2005). He studied Arabic and became
Secretary at Imam W.D. Muhammads Mosque No. 7 in New York City. Delete the
suggestion that the personnel is drawn in full or in
part from what was or became the Nate Spencer Orchestra. Of the instrumentalists
only the violinist is known for certain to be present on both track 17 and 18.
He is now believed hto be Jimmy Lane, a jazz
violinist active in Cleveland in the early 1950s, incl. with Johnny [Hammond]
Smith, who had also played in New York and Chicago. In the track 17 annotation
read U7442 Baby Please No No [not U7742]. It
is now known that Thomas sometimes played trombone but he appears to have been
something of an amateur. Is he the trombonist with the Nate Spencer Orchestra
on blowing My Horn. Nate Spencer, as well as being
a pianist and orchestra leader, was associated with managing Cleveland clubs.
Previously suggested Rae Carlson is not one of the musicians. She is confirmed
as a vocalist who worked with Thomas in Cleveland. Research
assistance courtesy John Richmond, Arne Neergaard, Dr
Abdul Salaam.
pp10, 19: Claude Williams: we are mistaken in our
belief that there are no commercial recordings of the period with Williams on
violin. On 26 February 1951 he recorded four titles with the Austin Powell
Quintet, on two of which he plays violin (and guitar on the other two): 78
Decca 48206; 45 Decca 9-48206 Some Other Spring coupled with All This Cant
Be True. They can be heard on youtube (not 1952 as
given by some). These should have been included in place of our 1971
substitution, though we do not regret the exciting latter.
p12: On Uptown Jive by The Variety Boys
HR took on board ABs suggestion that at one point the words Southern Jive
are sung. Kevin Coffey quite rightly points out that close listening reveals
that the words are in fact This Uptown Jive and that nowhere is there
Southern Jive.
pp16–17: Jimmy Baby Face Lewis was a close
friend of, for example, Miles Davis and Thelonious
Monk. He was a regular performer at venues including the Apollo and Cotton Club
in New York. He was the grandfather of renowned percussionist Mingo Lewis. We
hope to post further information in due course—research assistance
courtesy Eugene Hayhoe.
p18 read: not long after he [Otto] had appeared at the
Cotton Club with Earl Hines [not, at the Apollo]—AB, not HR, is
responsible for this misinformation.
––
ABCD1-021 Eddie South Dark Angel Album Sets
There are now strong grounds to revise our opinion that the 1946-released Pilotones probably do not include the 1945 WOR Feature
session. Billboard (May 19, 1945): [. . .]
its said that plans are now under way for Pilot Radio Corporation, a Long
Island firm, to make a deal with WOR Feature Records [. . .] Its not known
whether this means that the WOR Feature label will be changed to Pilot
[. . .] but that may come. Billboard (12 November 1949): The entire [Pilotone] catalogue was produced by Nat Abramson, head of
the WOR Artists Bureau. It is also confirmed that Pilotone
owned their own recording studio as well as pressing plant. This now suggests
that the three string section titles may have been recorded at WORs Broadway
studio, shortly before July 1945, and the quintet titles either there or at Pilotones Long Island studio, at an unknown later date
before November 1946, around which time the album was released.
Pilotone put its recording operation up for sale in
November 1949, not in 1948.
The cymabalon player on tracks 17–20 on the
Gold Seal session is surely Richard Marta. Billboard (22 November 1947)
identified him in reviewing Shandor at The Golden
Fiddle, New York, 12 November 1947.
Gold Seal of Chicago was owned by Leonard Klein but
there is evidence to suggest that Gold Seals recorded in New York or area were
released by a different company. Labels are different. More research is needed.
The caption to the photo of Souths Cafe Society Orchestra contains an error.
It is not exactly the personnel that recorded the 1940 Columbia album, on which
the bassist is Ernest Hill. It is, however, the exact personnel that
participated in the 1940 Ginny Simms OKeh session, on
which the bassist is Doles Dickens.
78 Okeh 6087 Ginny Simms, unlike her other disc with
South does not identify South on the labels. The labels read only Vocal with
Orchestra.
––
AB Fable ABCD1-022 Joe Bushkin and Stuff
Smith
Jet Magazine (2 April 1964) reported Smith still under treatment in the
Knickerbocker Hospital, Manhattan. Even allowing for late reporting this throws
into question the chronology of his 23 March 1964 MGM-Verve recording with Ray
Nance, suggesting that it took place before hospitalization. In which case,
Smiths non-participation at Bushkins 20 March 1964
Town Hall concert was not occasioned by his hospitalization. As an aside, ten
years earlier, Jet (16 December, 30 December 1954) reported Smiths
hospitalization at Sydenham Hospital, Manhattan.
The Ampeg Baby Bass ad cutting depicting Whitey
Mitchell has not been found in Down Beat. Its source is, therefore, not
currently known—perhaps Metronome.
__
AB Fable ABCD1-024 Stuff Smith Lucidin
Orchestra
Three photo credits to Clyde Harts scrapbook, courtesy David Berger should
be amended as follows:
Clyde Harts scrapbook
Copyright 2010 Courtesy of the Milton J. Hinton Photographic Collection
courtesy David Berger, Holly Maxon
On p.3, track 22 is given in error as Its De-Losvely
instead of Its De-Lovely
In the acknowledgements for assistance read K Nowakowski
[not K Nowakowki]
The idea that Chick Webb took over the Lucidin program slot derives from a report found by Stuart
Nicholson (Ella Fitzgerald biographer) in Metronome,
apparently issue of January 1937, in
which Helen Oakley writes: Chick has been asked by the sponsors of the Lucidin program to take over for Stuff Smith and the boys,
and the new program will commence on March 11th, three times a week,
at 6.45 pm over WMCA. This never happened. A plausible explanation: Lucidin Eye Lotion was a product of, or was quickly
acquired, by Pearson Pharmacol Co. Inc. It appears to
have been discontinued under the Lucidin name some
months after its launch in 1937, after the Stuff Smith–Ella Fitzgerald
January to March 1937 WMCA broadcasts, apparently in favor
of Pearson product Eye-Gene Eye Drops, which was being advertised at least by
September 1937 in Life magazine. Why was Lucidin
dispensed with? A toxic colorant found in plants, in particular madder Rubia tinctorum,
is named lucidin. Realization of an
inappropriate name would surely have been reason enough.
__
AB Fable XABCD1-X025 Baby, Aintcha
Satisfied?
The violinist on Baby, Aintcha Satisfied? is not Atwell Rose. He is Bill Brower
– thank you Steven Lasker: The California Eagle (1/15/37, p10;
courtesy of Nick Rossi) reported that much credit is due Vernon Gower for his
bass playing and also Bill Brower (ofay) violinist who played some fine fiddle
on these recordings.
Track 9: Both Foyd
E. Sharp and Lionel de Leon are real pianists. One or the other is the probable
accompanist to Heifetz. Emanuel Bay is unlikely to be the pianist.
—
Mosaic MD4-186 The Complete Verve Stuff Smith Sessions
This release has been withdrawn because of insoluable
licensing difficulties. Examples turn up occasionally at auction. Corrections
were originally posted on the Mosaic website where they are no longer available.
Only corrections of substance are included here.
Smith with Morton 1928, not 1923
1953 WMGM airchecks eminate
from LOnyx Club, not Birdland
78 Town & Country Nights Falls Again coupled Up Jumped the Devil was
recorded December 1946, not 1949. Two further titles from the same St
Louis session have come to light: Take a Walk coupled with Wont You Take a
Lesson in Love?
Time and Again recorded by Kenny Preston with Dud Bascomb
is not Smiths composition of the same title but an entirely different
composition
The location of the 1951 Dizzy Gillespie Dee Gee
session was Chicago, not New York
The 1957 session with Oscar Peterson did find partial stereo release on two
Verve tapes. Some titles on the tapes were never released on the LP while some
on the LP were not on the tapes.
Watcha Gonna Do . . .: Smith registered his composition at Library of Congress
in 1961 under the title Whatcha Gonna
Do When You Dance Past Forty-Two, Dad?
Henri Chaixs 1968 LP is entitled Remembers the
Greats, not Salutes the Greats; it was released on Philips, not
Polydor
––
Frog DGF36 Eddie South: Black Gypsy: The Complete Victor, Gramophone
and ARC Recordings, 1927–1934
12 March 1929 dating error
read: 22 February 1929, not 12 March 1929 – the error is
ubiquitous but the EMI matrix ledger gives 22 February
read: Sterling Conaway (cornet –1 [as well as guitar]), not
Possibly Arthur Briggs
27 September 1931
read: Stanley Wilson (tenor gt), not Everett
Barksdale (bj)
It has quite logically been suggested that Nino (which means Baby) and
twenty-year-old Cuban Sergio Barreto, now known
conclusively to be the drummer brought back from Europe by South, are one and
the same.
read: Marchta (A Love Song
of Old Mexico) (Schertzinger), not Marcheta (Shertzinger)
read: Se va la vida, not
vido. It also appears that the composers are Edgardo Donato, Mara Luisa Carnelli (aka Mario Castro), not Melfi
read: Mama yo quiero un novio, not una novia. Composers Ramn Collazo, Roberto Fontaina, not
Fontane, Callayo.
3 May 1933
read: (Denniker), not Dennicker
12 June 1933
read: (Gordon, Revel), not Reel
23 November 1934
read: At the Ball, Thats All (J. Leubrie Hill), not
At the Ball (Unknown . . .)
Zinky Cohn (pn) may be a
more likely contender than either Spaulding or Smith, neither of whom seems
likely, but the truth is whoever it is is
speculation.
––
Jazz Oracle BDW8054 Eddie South: 1933 Cheloni
Broadcast Transcriptions
disc 3, track 3: Throw a Little Salt on the Bluebirds Tail: composers:
(Robin, Whiting). From Fox film Handle with Care. Sheet music publ. Movietone Music Corp., New York (1932)
p.2: South and his musicians, incl. Cuban drummer Jos Isidro Sergio Barreto, returned to USA on SS Leviathan sailing
Cherbourg, 28 August 1931, arriving New York, 3 September 1931. The drummer in
the two photos is therefore pretty conclusively Barreto.
It has also quite logically been suggested that Nino (which means Baby) and
twenty-year-old Sergio are one and the same. Research
assistance courtesy Kevin Coffey, Hans Pehl, Howard
Rye.
p.4: According to The Metronome (October 1931),
23, Souths September opening personnel at the new Rubaiyat
on St Clair, the near north side, was King, South, Spaulding, Sterling Conway [sic:
Conaway], Jerome Burke [sic: Bourke] percussionist de luxe. Various other reports of the venue give Wilson, and
the other drummers, so there seems to have been quite a bit of toing and
froing. Research assistance courtesy Steven Lasker.
p.15: An uncropped original
print of the 1931 South International Orchestra photo has come to light
revealing that it was taken by, though not necessarily at, Maurice Seymour
Studios, Chicago.
pp.16, 34 Program 7: Vas Villst
du Haben?
King and ensemble do indeed sing in German, of a sorts, as announced, and
English, not in Yiddish as given in error in the liner notes. Confusion
arises because of what looks like Yiddish orthography in the title line, Vas villst instead of Was willst,
of this composition by Bryan and Monaco (New York, Walter Donaldson, 1932)
featuring English lyrics with single German expressions. The orthography of the
title line probably simply shares Yiddish orthography in the wish to ensure for
native English speakers the pronunciation of a German instead of an English
w. In sum, the orthography in the sheet music, and presumably on most record
labels, is impossible in German but possible in Yiddish, whereas there is
nothing Yiddish either in what King and ensemble sing or in the published sheet
music. Nevertheless, anyone coming across the cover of the sheet music would
reasonably assume that it was Yiddish—see published lyrics, and the South
version, fol.
The South version surprises not only because they sing it almost entirely in
German, not in English as in the published sheet music, but also because of the
introduction and the second chorus following the instrumental solo. The
introduction is the melody and the first words of the song Ach [or Oh] du lieber Augustin, which is
Viennese. This introduction has nothing to do with Vas Villst
Du Haben? itself. The Augustin
song, or rather the story behind it, known to everyone in Vienna, is a sort of
hymn to the Viennese character: you fall into a pit filled with the bodies of
plague victims but if you are drunk enough it will not harm you. Just dont
take it all too seriously—see adapted Wikipedia entry, fol.
After the Augustin introduction they go into a
rendition of the first set of chorus lyrics in the sheet music, with Fritzie and Mitzie dancing, but
translated into German. However, after the instrumental solo, instead of the
second set of chorus lyrics in the sheet music—which includes the
un-Viennese pumpernickel [the sheet music prints pumpernickle],
pretzels and pickle apparently fed to the children—they enter a Viennese Gasthaus: Vas villst du haben, mein Herr? is what the
waiter now asks, and the ensemble vocal answers Ein
Wiener Schnitzel. The sweetest music to mein ear
[the sheet music reads my] is no longer the question Vas villst
du haben? as in the sheet music, apparently from a
childs perspective, but the answer Ein Wiener
Schnitzel. This is repeated with Ein grosses Helles, which is beer. Fritzie
is no longer dancing. Instead, she arrives with the schnitzel, which makes her
the waitress.
The question arises how the South orchestra came to sing it in German at all
and how it came to be about Vienna, not only with the unexpected Augustin introduction but also with the Wiener
Schnitzel. The idea of changing it into a conversation with the waiter is also
a departure from the published sheet music. It sounds very much as if they are
making fun of the American novelty song. Whether South and his musicians
concocted their version or found it in an earlier written or recorded version
cannot quite be substantiated but all the indications point to it being
uniquely theirs. It appears very unlikely that there was ever a German version
of the lyrics, published or recorded, because only very simple things appear in
German while the rest is in English with German pronunciation. There are also
several grammatical inaccuracies. Certainly, someone decided to turn the
published song into an excursion to Vienna, a city which
South, King and Spaulding knew very well indeed. It should also be noted that
this song, with its Viennese Augustin introduction,
opens a program that includes another Viennese song Liebe
Was Es Nie, which has a
genuine German-language original, which King choses to sing, although it is
announced under the title of its published English version: Take Me in Your
Arms.
*
Vas Villst Du Haben?
words by Al Bryan, music by James V. Monaco (New York, Walter Donaldson, 1932),
courtesy example in the Konrad Nowakowski
archive.
What a lovely night tonight,
Dont you think so Lena?
Look at Fritzie holding Friedas hand!
Make it one big night tonight,
Lets get happy, Lena,
Never mind the music of the band
Vas villst du haben?
My heart is throbbin,
the sweetest music to my ear is
vas villst du haben!
Vas villst du Heinie?
Ask your Maedchen kleinie,
the sweetest music to my ear is
vas villst du haben!
Oompapapa, Oompapapa,
Papa look at Fritzie,
My papapa, Your papapa,
Dancing with his Mitzie.
Just let the bubbles,
Drown all your troubles,
The sweetest music to my ear is
Vas villst du haben! haben!
Plenty noise and plenty fun,
Gets good friends together,
Makes the world one happy family!
Let it rain and let it pour,
Never mind the weather,
If the food is good and music free.
Vas villst du haben?
etc
Come on Lena, Come on Lena,
Have some pumpernickle [sic],
Pass the pretzels, Wilhelmina,
Have a sour pickle.
Just let the bubbles,
etc
*
Vas Villst Du Haben? sung
by Clifford King and ensemble with Eddie South (1933) – transcribed more
or less as pronounced incl. ungrammatical usages
piano intro: melody of Ach, du lieber Augustin
ensemble: Ach du lieber Augustin
Augustin Ah
ensemble:
Oompa oompa oompapa
Oompa oompa oompapa
Oompa oompa oompapa
Oompa oompa oompapa
Vas villst du haben?
Mein Herz ist
trobbin
Du schweetest music to mein
ear ist
Vas villst du haben!
Vas villst die Heinie?
Frag dein Mdchen kleinie
Du schweetest music to mein
ear ist
Vas villst du haben!
Oompapapa oompapapa
Papa schau auf Fritzie
Mein Papapa dein Papapa
Tanzt mit de Mitzie
Joost let your bobbels
Drownd all your troubles
Du schweetest music to mein
ear ist
Vas villst du haben!
Vas villst du haben?
instrumental solo
spoken: Vas villst DU haben
mein Herr?
ensemble: Ein Wiener
Schnitzel!
Du schweetest music to mein
ear ist
ensemble: Ein Wiener Schnitzel!
spoken: Vas villst DU haben mein Herr?
ensemble: Ein grosses Helles!
Du schweetest music to mein
ear ist
ensemble: Ein grosses Helles!
Oompapapa Oompapapa
Papa hier kommt Fritzie
Mein Papapa dein Papapa
Kommt mit die Schnitzeln
spoken: Vas villst DU haben
mein Herr?
ensemble: Ein grosses Helles!
Du schweetest music to mein
ear
ensemble: One glass of light beer!
*
Adapted entry from Wikipedia: Oh [often Ach], du lieber
Augustin is a Viennese folk song. In 1679 the bubonic
plague became epidemic in Vienna. Lieber Augustin was a popular street musician who, according to
legend, late one night when he was drunk, fell into a pit filled with the
bodies of plague victims. Augustin did not contract
the disease, which may have been because of the influence of the alcohol. The
story lives on in the song Oh, du lieber Augustin with lyrics and melody by Marx Augustin (1679):
Oh, du lieber Augustin, Augustin, Augustin,
Oh, du lieber Augustin, alles ist
hin.
Geld ist weg,
Mdl ist weg,
Alles hin, Augustin.
Oh, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist
hin.
Rock ist weg,
Stock ist weg,
Augustin liegt im Dreck,
Oh, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist hin.
Und selbst das reiche Wien,
Hin ists
wie Augustin;
Weint mit mir im gleichen
Sinn,
Alles ist hin!
Jeder Tag war ein Fest,
Und was jetzt? Pest, die Pest!
Nur ein gro
Leichenfest,
Das ist der Rest.
Augustin, Augustin,
Leg nur ins Grab dich hin!
Oh, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist
hin!
*
p.34 Program 7 read: Liebe, not
Libe; read: Markusch, not
Markush
––
Soundies SCD4120 Eddie South: The
Dark Angel of the Fiddle
Recording date is November 1944, not September 1944
__
Hep CD1085 Stuff Smith, The Complete 1936–1937 Sessions
True take 1 of Ise a Muggin
[Part 2] Musical Numbers Game was indeed withdrawn soon after release in USA.
Both takes show take 1, the withdrawn true take 1 apart from the matrix number,
the false take 1 as a suffix to the matrix number.
Jonah Jones on the background to opening at the Onyx in John Chilton, Hot
Jazz, Warm Feet (London, Northway, 2007): All of us except Stuff were
sceptical about going to New York but he was very eager and knowing we were
doubtful he went ahead and started fixing a new line-up consisting of New
York-based musicians, but word of this reached the New York bookers and they
came down hard and said, We want the regular band from Buffalo. Next thing I
know a tough-looking little guy calls on me. Id never seen him before and Ive
never seen him since. He looked straight at me and said, It would be very good
for you to go and play in New York, and very, very bad for you to stay here in
Buffalo. It was a threat but I wasnt worried, I thought Ill go down to the
musicians union and theyll sort all this out. So in all innocence I went to
the Union in Buffalo and said, Some guy is pressurising me into going to New
York. The union guy looks at me and gives a sickly sort of smile and says, I
think you better do what the man says. It was like a bad movie. It was all
sewn up that I was going to New York, so I did. This throws rather a
different light on Smiths efforts to recruit new musicians.
––