Friday, June 26, 2009

"I Hate Music!" June 26, 2009

(Week 167)

Well, not really. This RADIOLA! is an animadversion on too much of what our neighbors think is a good thing.

Tune in at 8 PM Eastern Friday to WHCL (with direct streaming here). This show will by uploaded to my Live365 station if I can get five minutes of quiet to hear myself think.

Irving Kaufman - Vo-Do-Do-De-O Blues (1927) - Harmony 424-H (Toast of New York)
King Radio - Neighbor (1936) - Calypso Carnival 1936-1941 (Rounder CD 1077)
Willard Robison (w/Ipana Troubadours) - Wake Up! Chill’un, Wake Up! (1929) - Columbia 1779-D
Lew Stone and his Band (AB v) - Mama, I Want To Make Rhythm (1938) - Living Era CD AJA 5435
Henry Allen and his NY Orch - Patrol Wagon Blues (1930) - Classics 540
Noble Sissle and his Swingsters - Jungle Drums (1938) - Mosaic Select 22
Six Brown Brothers - Bull Frog Blues (1916) - Those Moaning Saxophones (Archeophone ARCH 6002)
Lonnie Johnson-Eddie Lang - Bull Frog Moan (1929) - Mosaic MD8-213/5
Louis Armstrong and his Orch - That Rhythm Man (1929) - Hot Fives and Sevens (JSP 315/4)
Revelers - Strike Up The Band (1930) - Victor 22401
Tommy Dorsey and his Clambake 7 (Edythe Wright v) - Rhythm Saved the World (1936) - Victor 25314
The Tune Twisters - I’m Against Rhythm (1938) - Decca 78 (Toast of New York)
James P Johnson - You've Got To Be Modernistic (1930) - Snowy Morning Blues (Decca CD)
Frank Trumbauer and his Orch - Futuristic Rhythm (1929) - Bix-Tram-Tea Mosaic Box Set CD 3
Mills Blue Rhythm Band - Futuristic Jungleism (1931) - Hep CD 1008
D'oyly Carte Opera Co - So Please You Sir (1936) - Gilbert & Sullivan Historic Recordings (BOMC LP)
Eric Roberts - As Some Day It May Happen (1990) - The Mikado (CD 1) Sony Classical S2K 58880
Allan Sherman - Headaches (1963) - My Son The Nut (Warner Brothers LP)
Belle Baker w/The Virginians - I've Got The “Yes! We Have No Bananas” Blues (1923) - Victor 19135 A
Frank Crumit - What Kind of Noise Annoys an Oyster? (1930) - Pro Arte Digital CDD 3407
Henry Allen and his Orch. - He Ain't Got Rhythm (1936) - Vocalion 3432
Irving Mills and his Hotsy-Totsy Gang - Barbaric (1929) - Irving Mills Vol 2 (Sensation)
George Olsen and his Orch (Bob Rice, Jack Gifford, Bob Borger v) - Savage Serenade (1933) - Col. 2810-D
Cab Calloway and his Orch - Savage Rhythm (1937) - Vocalion 3796
Phil Spitalny and his Orch (Chick Bullock, v) - My Song (1931) - Banner 32282 (Toast of New York)
Arden-Ohman Orch (Frank Luther v) - The Cop on the Beat (1932) - Victor 24171 (Toast of New York)
Geraldo and his Orch (Al Bowlly v) - You’re a Sweet Little Headache (1939) - Al Bowlly Story Vol 3
Bing Crosby - Love Thy Neigbor (1934) - Chronological Bing Crosby Vol 14 (Jonzo JZCD-14)
The Lion - Love Thy Neighbor - Calypso Breakway 1927-1941 (Rounder CD 1054)
Slim and Slam - African Jive (1941) - Groove Juice Special (Columbia/Legacy CK 64898)
Henry King and his Orch (Joseph Sudy v) - Just a Quiet Evening (1937) - Decca 1178 (Toast of NY)
Mildred Bailey - It’s So Peaceful in the Country (1941) - The Rockin’ Chair Lady (Decca CD)
Washboard Rhythm Kings - My Silent Love (1932) - Washboard Rhythm Kings, Vol 2

6 comments:

Nick Dragos said...

Andy......

A superb playlist here!

Everything from Irving Kaufman to The Washboard Rhythm Kings! And, you threw in several of my all-time favs: Louis' "That Rhythm Man", Red Allen's "Patrol Wagon Blues", neat Mills Blue Rhythm Band stuff from 1931...

Hell, I'll even forgive you for tossing in Edythe Wright {I tend to focus on the solos when it comes to the Clambake groups...}!

As usual, Andy, an excellent job presenting fun, entertaining music that seems to completely ignored in almost every media market {it sure is here around Sacramento, California these days!}

Andy said...

Nick,

Thank you! This is another one of my "getting it off my chest" shows. And I had to pick good music to make my point!

Andy

3button Max said...

well done andy
have a soft spot in my heart for edythe wright-w/apologies to Nick-so many recordings I havent heard in years...

Nick Dragos said...

3Button......

No apologies needed whatsoever - I discovered over the years there are many folks with a soft spot in their hearts for Ms. Wright....

In the early 1990's, when I was in my second decade of hosting & producing a swing/classic jazz radio show, I presented a program featuring Tommy Dorsey. In the course of the program, I featured a set of The Clambake 7, which - since Edythe sang on virtually every one of their discs - featured her vocals.

The phones lit up. And kept ringing....

I forget the exact figures, but I started tracking the pro-Edythe and con-Edythe calls....about 60% were anti-Wright, but those expressing delight at hearing her on-air were especially pleased...

My feelings, after hearing all The Clambake Seven sessions, as well as many Edythe Wright's with the full Tommy Dorsey band, remain constant: she was beautiful, she was sexy, and, by 1939, could sing a bit - but a great vocalist? Nope...

When I posted these views on a Swing Music forum a few years ago, I ended up in a virtual fist fight with a couple of Wright devotees that grew fairly ugly...I could not believe it.

Will Friedwald, in his superb "Jazz Singing", wrote that Edythe improved throughout the late 1930's, but was no great shakes...that was the general consensus of the many jazz musicians I've interviewed or conversed with over the past three decades.

So...after I read your comment, I dug out a few CDs and listened again...didn't change my mind...
but, as The Ink Spots used to sing, "To Each His Own"...

3button Max said...

nick agreed -most assuredly Edythe wright was not a major jazz vocalist but at least people are listening .have valid opinions one way or the other-of course one gets a nice bit of solo work from Mince , Freeman and Erwin and TD while listening to the Clambake 7...

Nick Dragos said...

3bM,

Rest assured your opinions are most appreciated here! I certainly respect yours....

I have wondered from time to time why there is such a debate about Edythe...I cannot recall such fierce debate about another Big Band singer's talents as I've seen about Ms. Wright. My experience in entering such frays has been brutal - civility dissolved, hated exchanged within & outside of the various Swing online forums....all over the relative merits of a singer who was last heard from in the 1930's.

So, 3, enjoy all the Edythe Wright you like {and can find on CD}....

The rumors were quite common that Mr. Dorsey enjoyed Ms. Wright on a nightly basis...I know Mrs. Tommy Dorsey was - to say the very least - NOT a fan.