Bluebird B-5587 – Riley Puckett – 1934

Posted on June 29, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Please note: this article dates to Old Time Blues’ first year and does not meet the standard of quality to which more recent postings are held. Thank you for your understanding.

At one of my regular haunts the other day, I happened upon this exceptionally fine copy of what may be considered the great country singer Riley Puckett’s best record. As it happens, some of Puckett’s relatives in Georgia are close family friends of mine, so I thought it might be nice to whip up a quick post for this fine disc.

George Riley Puckett was born in 1894 in Dallas, Georgia. He was struck blind after a doctor threw salt in his eyes attempting to treat an infection. Around the time of his early performances, he was dubbed “The Bald Mountain Caruso.” Rising to become one of the most popular country musicians of the era, Puckett recorded both solo and with a number string bands, most notably Gid Tanner’s Skillet Lickers, from 1924 until 1941. He died of blood poisoning in 1946.

On Bluebird B-5587, Riley Puckett plays guitar and sings two of his finest songs, accompanied by the Skillet Lickers’ Ted Hawkins on mandolin. Both sides were recorded March 29, 1934 at the Texas Hotel in San Antonio, Texas.

On side “A”, Riley soulfully sings and yodels Carson Robison’s humorous tale of salvation on the wonderful “I’m Gettin’ Ready to Go”.

I’m Gettin’ Ready to Go, recorded March 29, 1934 by Riley Puckett.

On the “B” side, Puckett delivers a marvelous performance of one of his most famous songs, “Ragged but Right”.

Ragged but Right, recorded March 29, 1934 in San Antonio by Riley Puckett

Ragged but Right, recorded March 29, 1934 by Riley Puckett

Columbia A3943 – Clara Smith – 1923

Posted on June 26, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

This particular record is one of a group that got me started in collecting, a group originally owned by my great-grandmother and her father. I believe this one in particular was my great-great-grandfather’s, and like many from that bunch, it has seen better days. If you ever wondered whether a white family from Texas in the 1920s would buy vaudeville blues records, there’s your answer.

This record also has the great distinction of being the first record by “Queen of the Moaners” Clara Smith. Smith, of no relation to Bessie or Mamie, was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1893, and most details regarding her early life remain a mystery. In the late 1910s, she toured the TOBA circuit in vaudeville before moving to Harlem in 1923, where she began recording with Columbia Records. While in vaudeville, Smith gave a young Josephine Baker her first break in 1920, and she was good friends with Bessie Smith until a night in 1925 when Bessie got drunk and beat her up. Clara Smith continued to record until 1932, and died of a heart attack three years later in 1935.

Columbia A3943, made several months before Columbia’s race series began, was recorded exactly 92 years ago on June 26, 1923 and features “I Got Everything a Woman Needs” and “Every Woman’s Blues” performed by Clara Smith with piano accompaniment by the great Fletcher Henderson. Rejected takes of these tunes were recorded a month earlier on May 31.

First up, Clara moans Stanley S. Miller’s “I Got Everything a Woman Needs”, about Emmaline down in South Caroline who was “a vampire through and through.” This is the sixth take of the recording, the only one issued, according to the DAHR.

"I Got Everything a Woman Needs" recorded by Clara Smith, June 1923.

I Got Everything a Woman Needs, recorded June 26, 1923 by Clara Smith.

On the flip, Smith sings “Every Woman’s Blues”, also written by Miller. This one is take five out of six, also the only one issued.

Every Woman’s Blues, recorded June 26, 1923 by Clara Smith.

Spotlight: Vernon Dalhart

Posted on June 22, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Dalhart in 1927, from the Cover of "My Blue Ridge Mountain Home"

From the 1927 cover of “My Blue Ridge Mountain Home”

One of the most popular recording artists in his day, and one of the least appreciated today, is classically trained tenor-turned-country singer Vernon Dalhart. The first million-selling country artist, whose records enthralled the listeners of the 1920s, and sometimes annoy record collectors today because of their prevalence, a testament to his popularity.

The man who would become internationally famous as Vernon Dalhart was born Marion Try Slaughter II in the town of Jefferson, Texas on April 6, 1883 (some sources say 1881), son of Robert Marion “Bob” and Mary Jane Slaughter. Growing up on a ranch outside town, Try, who went by his middle name, learned to play the harmonica, kazoo, and Jew’s harp. The Slaughters, living up to their name, had a reputation as violent people, and when Try was ten in 1893, his uncle, also named Bob, shot his father following a dispute in the alley behind the Kahn Saloon in Jefferson.

Continue reading →

A Bluebird Dance Band Double Feature – B-5268 & B-5269 – 1933

Posted on June 20, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Please note: this article dates to Old Time Blues’ first year and does not meet the standard of quality to which more recent postings are held. Thank you for your understanding.

To break the monotony of all the jazz and blues, here’s a bit of a departure from the style of music I’ve been featuring here for the past couple weeks, two early 1930s dance band records on Victor’s Bluebird label.

In the early days of the Victor budget label, Bluebird featured, in addition to some great jazz and country, many excellent dance bands, which played the popular tunes of the day. These two records, the consecutively numbered Bluebird B-5268 and B-5269, feature some of the popular hits of 1933, by Sam Robbins and Reggie Childs’ orchestras.

The first of the two is Bluebird B-5268, recorded on November 22, 1933 by Sam Robbins and his Hotel McAlpin Orchestra, and featuring on the “A” side the “down home” Billy Hill hit “The Old Spinning Wheel”.

The Old Spinning Wheel, recorded November 22, 1933 by Sam Robbins and his Hotel McAlpin Orchestra

They back it up with Zez Confrey and Byron Gay’s “Sittin’ on a Log (Pettin’ My Dog)”, both sides performed in a sweet style with a smooth sax section that puts one in mind of Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians.

Sittin’ On a Log (Pettin’ My Dog), recorded November 22, 1933 by Sam Robbins and his Hotel McAlpin Orchestra

The second disc, Bluebird B-5269, features Reggie Childs and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra (I presume he took over for Ben Bernie), playing Mack Gordon and Harry Revel’s “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?”, from Sitting Pretty, with vocals by Don Howard, a performance that has long been one of my favorites in that genre.

Did You Ever See a Dream Walking, recorded November 27, 1933 by Reggie Childs and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra

On the other side, a real tour de force on “Many Moons Ago”, another Gordon and Revel tune, with a vocal by Duke Durbin. Both sides were recorded on November 27, 1933, five days after the previous record.

Many Moons Ago recorded November 27, 1933 by Reggie Childs and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra.

Updated on April 28, 2018.

Vocalion 1245 – “Pine Top” Smith – 1928

Posted on June 17, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

Please note: this article dates to Old Time Blues’ first year and does not meet the standard of quality to which more recent postings are held. Thank you for your understanding.

Last Thursday, June 11, marked the 111th birthday of boogie woogie pioneer Clarence “Pine Top” Smith, who was born on that day in 1904. While Smith was not the first pianist to play in that style, his “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie” is believed to be the first recorded song to use the term “boogie woogie” in its title*.

Clarence Smith was born in Troy, Alabama, and got his nickname from his childhood fondness for tree-climbing. In 1928, Cow Cow Davenport recommended him to Vocalion Records, and he recorded eight sides with them in three sessions in December 1928 and January 1929. On March 15, 1929, Pine Top Smith was shot dead at the age of 24 during a fight in a dance-hall a day before he had a recording session scheduled. Whether or not the bullet was intended for him is disputed.

On the first side of Vocalion 1245, Pine Top Smith plays his famous “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie”, take “A”, with his spoken instructions to dancers, recorded December 29, 1928 in Chicago, his first recording session. Just the sort of a performance that you’d hear at a 1920s rent party.

Contrary to what he might have had us believe, Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins was not the originator of “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie”, he got his name from playing Clarence Smith’s composition, which Smith claimed he came up with at a house-rent party in St. Louis, Missouri. It also made a hit in 1938 when it was recorded by Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra as simply “Boogie Woogie”. Please read Mr. Brad Kay’s comment for a definitive explanation.

Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie, recorded December 29, 1928 by “Pine Top” Smith.

On the flip, Pine Top sings on another fine boogie woogie number, “Pine Top Blues”, take “B”, recorded on the same day, which lifts some of its lyrics from other popular blues songs of the day.

Pine Top Blues, recorded December 29, 1928 by “Pine Top” Smith.