Sidewalks Of Cuba

A short set this time, with more bio than music. Henry Busee was born in Germany in 1894, ran away from home, worked his way westward, and eventually landed in California. In 1916 he formed Busse's Buzzards, a hot jazz band1, toured the country, and gained a reputation as a cornetist. Joe Venuti was one of his band mates. You can listen to their recording of Milenberg Joys here at the Red Hot Jazz Archive, it is also included in the download. Either way, I recommend checking out the Archive as they have a lot of information and a lot of great music to hear. In 1919 he had his first big break when he joined Paul Whiteman's outfit. Busse became a star with Whiteman (earning more than Bing Crosby), and co-wrote hits such as Wang Wang Blues and Hot Lips. Busse stayed with Whiteman until 1928 when he left to form his own band. Busse hit his peak in 1930-45, playing dance music before the war and swing during it. His music was often berated by Downbeat magazine, which called his a "sweet" or "Mickey Mouse" band. Despite this, the band enjoyed relative success over the years. His personal life wound up in gossip columns when he partied one night with a woman at the Hotsy Totsy Club and woke up married. (That bathtub hooch will do it every time!) He sought an annulment and during the 18 months to unwind the legal tangle, he toured Europe and staved off arrest for nonpayment of alimony. In 1935 he married Lorayne Brox, of the famous Brox sisters. At one point he played with Ray Bolger at the Chez Paree, a night club owned by notorious gangster Al Capone; Busse ran the house band there and worked for Capone. Henry Busse and his Orchestra continued to record and perform up until his death in 1955. Busse died at an undertaker's convention at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee while he was playing with the Shuffle Rhythm Band. (Well, if you have to go, there's no better place!) The recordings here are from an aircheck he did from the Hollywood Palladium on April 29, 1948. Enjoy.+

Tracks

1. On The Sunnyside Of The Street
2. A Fellow Needs A Girl (v. Phil Gray)
3. Tennesee (v. Betty Taylor)
4. At A Sidewalk Penny Arcade (v. Phil Gray
5. Jealousy
6. Medley
  a. Love Is Fun
  b. I'm In Love (v. Betty Taylor)
  c. Bride And Groom Polka
7. Laroo Laroo Lilli Bolero (v. Phil Gray)
8. Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
9. Sidwalks Of Cuba / Closing

Strange As It Seems

Back to the Chronological series, this time for the earliest recordings of one of, if not the, greatest jazz pianists ever. "This comprehensive CD contains Art Tatum's very first recording (a broadcast version of "Tiger Rag"), four selections in which he accompanies singer Adelaide Hall (along with a second pianist) and then his first 20 solo sides. To call his virtuosic piano style remarkable would be a major understatement; he has to be heard to be believed. His studio version of "Tiger Rag" may very well be his most incredible recording; he sounds like three pianists at once." (Scott Yanow, allmusic.com) Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Tiger Rag
2. Strange As It Seems
3. I'll Never Be The Same
4. You Gave Me Everything But Love
5. This Time It's Love
6. The For Two
7. St. Louis Blues
8. Tiger Rag
9. Sophisticated Lady
10. Moonglow
11. I Would Do Anything For You
12. When A Woman Loves A Man
13. Emaline
14. Love Me
15. Cocktails For Two
16. After You've Gone
17. Ill Wind
18. The Shout
19. Liza
20. I Would Do Anything For You
21. When A Woman Loves A Man
22. After You've Gone
23. Star Dust
24. I Ain't Got Nobody
25. Beautiful Love

Scatter-Brain

This seems like a good follow-up to the last radio-based post. I can only imagine how cool it must have been to be able to hear weekly live broadcasts of one's favorite band. Let the radio warm up, find the station, and it's almost like being there. Nobody does that these days, alas. Fortunately for us, many radio band remotes survive to this day and we can hear the real thing still. Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, the Dorseys, and many more ... so much great music. Although their 78 rpm recordings are essentially live recordings (no dubs, remixes, edits, etc.), it's different playing in front of a crowd of fans with expectations and reactions. These recordings give us the chance to see just how good the musicianship was, and Benny Goodman ran one of the tightest groups. Goodman went to Hollywood in 1936 to take advantage of a huge West Coast fan base that developed through East Coast broadcasts (9:30 pm) of Let's Dance. He joined CBS' Camel Caravan in 1936, with recordings existing from 1937 until late 1939 (this collection), as well as a couple more featuring Bob Crosby and his Orchestra into 1940. The show switched networks to NBC in March, 1939. Enjoy. +


Tracks

Benny Goodman and His Orchestra: Ted Pearson (announcer), Benny Goodman (cl),  Jimmy Maxwell, Johnny Martel, Ziggy Elman (trumpet), Red Ballard, Vernon Brown, Ted Vesely (tbn), Toots Mondello, Buff Estes (as), Buss Bassey, Jerry Jerome (ts), Fletcher Henderson (pn), Arnold Covey (g), Art Bernstein (bs), Nicky Fatool (d), Mildred Bailey (v).


Benny Goodman Sextet: Benny Goodman (cl), Lionel Hampton (vib), Fletcher Henderson (pn), Charlie Christian (g), Art Bernstein (bs), Nicky Fatook (d).

The Camel Caravan. November 4, 1939, NBC.

1. Introduction
2. Down By The Old Mill Stream
3. What's New
4. I Didn't Know What Time It Was (vocal, Mildred Bailey)
5. Bolero
6. Shivers (sextet)
7. Love Never Went To College
8. Scatter-Brain (vocal, Mildred Bailey)
9. Roll 'Em
10. Closing


The Camel Caravan. November 18, 1939, NBC.

11. Introduction
12. Scatter-Brain
13. Lilacs In The Rain (vocal, Mildred Bailey)
14. In The Mood
15. South Of The Border (sextet)
16. Swingin' A Dream (vocal, Mildred Bailey)
17. Boy Meets Horn (featuring, Ziggy Elman)
18. Oh Johnny Oh! (vocal, Mildred Bailey)
19. Sing, Sing, Sing (featuring, Lionel Hampton, drums)
20. Closing

On The Air

I've been a bit busier with other things of late, so here's a short one today, just fifteen tunes from Alice Faye radio performances.Although there are no liner notes, most (if not all) of these were culled from recordings of The Fleischman's Yeast Hour. Faye landed her first radio gig with Rudy Vallee's show, and sang there from 1932-1934 - several times without any billing at the beginning of the show. But that was Rudy for you, I guess. Faye also cut several 78s, which I hope to get to in the not too distant future. As I'm away from my cd collection at the moment, the images come from an ebay site. Enjoy. +


Tracks

1. Hats Off / Mimi / The Scat Song (December 29, 1932)
2. Sittin' Up, Waitin' For You (November 9, 1933)
3. You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me (May 11, 1933)
4. Gather Lip Rouge While You May (November 16, 1933)
5. Weep No More My Baby (January 4, 1934)
6. You Can't Play My Ukulele
7. You've Got Everything (October 26, 1933)
8. Dinah (sung with the Mills Brothers, November 30, 1933)
9. Young And Healthy/Oooh, I'm Thinking (May 4, 1933)
10. Old Man Harlem (May 4, 1933)
11. My, Oh, My (June 1, 1933)
12. Happy As The Day Is Long (June 15, 1933)
13. I've Got The World On A String (February 9, 1933)
14. You're An Old Smoothie (sung with Rudy Vallee)
15. Shuffle Off To Buffalo (April 6, 1933)

Where Is Mr. Volstead?

Hi All,

Please make a note of this blog address: http://whereismrvolstead.blogspot.com.

This blog here is a pre-emptive measure now that a craven coward has decided to attack my blog. It doesn't matter that the music is public domain, all it takes for RS or MU to remove the links is one anonymous complaint.

Now, the sniveling coward has threatened to have Blogger shut me down (despite claiming to "like" my blog). LOL.

Therefore, this new blog will exist to let people know where the blog is. Rest assured, the Page Mr. Volstead blog will continue to share this great (public domain) music from the Prohibition era (and the 30s-40s).

So please bookmark this blog address, or add it to the blogs you follow. If forced to move, I'm all set.

Cheers, and enjoy the music.

Chester Proudfoot

Salt Water Cowboy

Here is one that I promised a while back. This is another collection of popular tunes from the World War II era, this time including 'Salt Water Cowboy' which had caught my ear when I first heard it sung by Connie Haines on the Abbott & Costello radio program. It is typical for the period, and like much of the content may not be "politically correct." Included are Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Doris Day, Kate Smith, Harry James, Cab Calloway, and many more. Enjoy. +



Tracks

1. We Did It Before (And We Can Do It Again) - Clyde Lucas And His Orchestra
2. Miss Vivian Blane Introduces "The Air Battle" - Vivian Blane
3. Hip Hip Hooray - Nat King Cole Trio
4. There Won't Be a Shortage of Love - Dolly Dawn and Her Dawn Patrol
5. We Must Be Vigilant (American Patrol) - Chico Marx And His Orchestra
6. Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition! - Kate Smith
7. In My Arms - Eddie Cantor
8. Uncle Sam Blues - Eddie Condon and His Jazz Concert All-Stars, Hot Lips Page
9. Ev'rybody Ev'ry Payday - Barry Wood
10. You Can't Get That No More - Louis Jordan
11. Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer - Bea Wain
12. Rosie the Riveter - Allen Miller and His Orchestra
13. Johnny Zero - Marion Hutton and The Modernaires#
14. A Fellow on a Furlough - Glenn Miller and His Army Air Force Band
15. Johnson's G.I. Blues - Private Frankie Johnson
16. Why Do They Call a Private a Private? - Ethel Merman
17. Lili Marlene - March Of The Orchestra And Chorus
18. The Fuehrer's Got the Jitters - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra
19. Salt Water Cowboy - Doris Day with Les Brown and His Orchestra
20. Banzai Bugle Bit - Bob Hope with Harry James
21. Buy, Buy, Buy Bonds - Bing Crosby with Harry James and His Musicmakers
22. The Quicker I Gets to Where I'm Goin' (The Sooner He'll Be Seein' Me) - Pearl Bailey
23. Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag (And Smile, Smile, Smile) - Bob Crosby and His V-Disc Bob Cats
24. I Was Here When You Left Me - Louis Prima and His Orchestra
25. They're Either Too Young or Too Old - Joan Edwards
26. Buy a Piece of the Peace - Frank Sinatra
27. I Don't Want to Change the Subject (Victory Bond Song) - Georgia Gibbs