The Mystery Song

Today I offer up another set of classic Ellington tunes, including several which usually find their way into those "best of" compilations. Personally however, I never get tired of hearing Ivie Anderson's performance on It Don't Mean A Thing along with Cootie Williams' trumpet. It has to be one of the most recognizable songs that conjures up vivid images of Prohibition and the Roaring Twenties. Included in the personnel are Johnny Hodges and Barney Bigard. Vocalists are Frank Marvin, Sonny Greer, Ivie Anderson, Cootie Williams, and Bing Crosby. Track 1 was issued as Earl Jackson and His Musical Champions, tracks 2-11 as Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, and the last 8 tracks as Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra. Enjoy. +

Tracks

01. Is That Religion?
02. Creole Rhapsody (Pt. 1)
03. Creole Rhapsody (Pt. 2)
04. Limehouse Blues
05. Echoes Of The Jungle
06. It's Glory
07. The Mystery Song
08. Moon Over Dixie
09. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
10. Lazy Rhapsody
11. Mood Indigo - Hot And Bothered - Creole Love Call
12. Blue Tune
13. Baby, When You Ain't There (f. Cootie Williams)
14. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo - Lots O' Fingers - Black And Tan Fantasy
15. Dinah (Sonny Greer & Cootie Williams)
16. Bugle Call Rag
17. St. Louis Blues
18. Creole Love Call
19. Rose Room

Rent Party Blues

The economy stinks, people are losing their homes - but the bankers are doing just swell. Eighty years later and it smells like a Depression to me. It's a wonder that we don't have rent parties again. I seem to have neglected much of my Duke Ellington collection for some reason, I know not why. I hope this entry rectifies this oversight somewhat. This is another fine set by the good folks at Classics, and since there's little that I could say about Duke Ellington that others haven't said, here's something from Allmusic.com about this particular set. "Despite the rise of the Depression, Duke Ellington's orchestra was able to continue a hectic recording schedule, cutting the 23 selections on this CD (which are all master takes) within a four-and-a-half-month schedule. Some of the numbers are remakes or pop songs of the era (though those are usually excellent) and there are vocals by Irving Mills, Frank Marvin, and Dick Robertson that are not up to the level of Ellington's instrumentalists, but there are also such gems along the way as "When You're Smiling" (featuring Freddy Jenkins' trumpet), "Maori," "Sweet Jazz of Mine," "Jungle Nights in Harlem," and particularly "Shout 'Em Aunt Tillie." Scans are included. Now shout 'em, Aunt Tillie, let's throw a rent party. Enjoy. +

Tracks

01. When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)
02. Rent Party Blues
03. Jungle Blues
04. Sing, You Sinners
05. St. James Infirmary
06. When You're Smiling
07. Maori (A Samoan Dance)
08. Admiration
09. The Mooche
10. Ragamuffin Romeo
11. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
12. Double Check Stomp
13. My Gal Is Good For Nothing But Love
14. I Was Made To Love You
15. Double Check Stomp
16. Accordion Joe
17. Cotton Club Stomp
18. Sweet Dreams Of Love
19. Jungle Nights In Harlem
20. Sweet Jazz O' Mine
21. Shout 'Em, Aunt Tillie
22. Sweet Mama
23. Hot And Bothered

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)