Champion S-16443 – Luke Baldwin – 1931

Posted on August 4, 2017 by R. Connor Montgomery

One of the outstanding folk song spinners of the 1930s was the “Dixie Songbird”, Bill Cox. In spite of his innocuous nickname, Cox’s repertoire consisted largely of topical songs about hot-button issues of the day, including “The Trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann” (about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping), “The Fate of Will Rogers and Wiley Post”, and “N. R. A. Blues”.

William Jennings Cox was born in Eagle, West Virginia on August 4, 1897. In his youth, he took up the harmonica, and guitar, both of which he came to play with proficiency. In 1927, Cox reportedly made his professional debut on WOBU radio in West Virginia, performing as the “Dixie Songbird,” a moniker which he retained throughout his musical career. Two years later, in 1929, Cox ventured to Richmond, Indiana to cut his first records for the Starr Piano Company, manufacturers of Gennett Records (and their subsidiary labels such as Champion, Supertone, and so forth). Like many of his contemporaries, his earliest recordings were covers of songs by Jimmie Rodgers, but he soon branched out into making renditions of old folk songs and his own original compositions. Cox continued to record for Gennett until around 1931, and after an apparent hiatus, resumed his recording career in 1933 for the American Record Corporation, with whom he remained until he retired from recording. On many of these records, he was accompanied by fellow West Virginian Cliff Hobbs. Under the ARC, Cox’s records were issued on Conqueror, Perfect, Melotone, Oriole, Banner, Vocalion, and later Okeh. After retiring from recording in 1940, Cox fell on hard times, and was discovered destitute and living in a converted chicken coop in 1966. The following year, he recorded an album that would be his swan song. Bill Cox died on December 10, 1968.

Champion S-16443 was recorded on August 17, 1931 in Richmond, Indiana by Bill Cox, released under the pseudonym Luke Baldwin. He is accompanied by his own guitar. It sold a total of only 301 copies! It was also issued on Superior 2833 (which appears to have sold only 55 copies, if my interpretation of George Kay’s Superior Catalog is correct, and if it is indeed accurate), and later reissued with the sides split up, with “In 1992” on Decca 5497 and Champion 45093, and with “I Found You Among the Roses on Champion 45106 and Montgomery Ward 4942.

Cox plays harmonica on own composition “I Found You Among the Roses”, set to the tune of Edward B. Marks and Joseph W. Stern’s “My Mother Was a Lady”, or at least Jimmie Rodgers’ recording of it, which is likely where Cox found his inspiration. Please note that this is an entirely different song than the 1916 George B. Pitman song of the same name as recorded by the Carter Family.

I Found You Among the Roses, recorded August 17, 1931 by Luke Baldwin.

On the “B” side, Cox predicts the future on “In 1992”, a novelty song penned by musical duo Arthur Fields and Fred Hall.

In 1992, recorded August 17, 1931 by Luke Baldwin.

Updated with improved audio on May 8, 2018.

Timely Tunes C-1585 – Henny Hendrickson’s Louisville Serenaders – 1931

Posted on June 10, 2017 by R. Connor Montgomery

Another entry in Old Time Blues’ continuing series on the territory jazz bands that once dotted the United States, we look upon the obscure history of Henny Hendrickson’s Louisville Serenaders.

Details about the Louisville Serenaders are scarce, it would appear that the band made little mark on history. They were led by reed man Clarence “Henny” Hendrickson. In spite of their name, they did not hail from the vicinity of Louisville, Kentucky, but rather toured the Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey area. The same stunt was pulled by Johnny Hamp’s Kentucky Serenaders, who also hailed from Pennsylvania. Perhaps the Louisville Serenaders chose their name in an attempt to emulate the successful Victor recording orchestra (purely speculation). In any event, they had three sessions for the RCA Victor Company in Camden, New Jersey in 1930 and ’31, yielding a total of fourteen sides, eight of which were released. Half of those were issued on the Victor label, while the other half appeared on their short-lived budget label Timely Tunes. No sides from their first session on July 21, 1930 were issued, while all of those recorded at their second and third sessions, on June 10 and 17, 1931, were. Among those sides are a memorable rendition of “I Ain’t Got Nobody” and a peppy version of Harold Arlen’s “Buffalo Rhythm”. I can find no information concerning the life and times of bandleader Clarence “Henny” Hendrickson.

Timely Tunes C-1585 was recorded on June 10, 1931 at Victor’s church building studio near their Camden, New Jersey headquarters. Among the Louisville Serenaders are Herb Facemyer and an unknown player on trumpets, Johnny Lingo on trombone, Clarence “Henny” Hendrickson on clarinet, soprano sax, and alto sax, Don Shook on alto sax, Eddie Friebel on tenor sax, Bill Wallace on piano, Wyatt Haynes on banjo and guitar, Art Maxwell on tuba and and unknown drummer. The trio that sings on both sides is made up of Facemyer, Maxwell, and Friebel.

The first song which the Serenaders will serenade us with is Cliff Friend and Dave Dreyer’s “I ‘Wanna’ Sing About You”.

I “Wanna” Sing About You, recorded June 10, 1931 by Henny Hendrickson’s Louisville Serenaders.

Next, they play a mighty fine rendition of the old classic “I Ain’t Got Nobody”.

I Ain’t Got Nobody, recorded June 10, 1931 by Henny Hendrickson’s Louisville Serenaders.

Victor 22866 – Blanche Calloway and her Joy Boys – 1931

Posted on February 9, 2017 by R. Connor Montgomery

Blanche Calloway, late 1920s or early ’30s. Pictured in Of Minnie the Moocher and Me.

We last heard from Cab’s underappreciated sister Blanche Calloway the previous time we celebrated her birthday, with her “There’s Rhythm In the River”/”I Need Lovin'” with Andy Kirk’s band. Now the time of year has come around once again that we celebrate the birthday of the late Blanche with her music. As I’ve already gone in to some detail on Blanche’s life in the aforementioned post, I won’t rewrite my biography of her here.

When the band calling themselves “Blanche Calloway and her Joy Boys” began recording for the RCA Victor Company on March 2, 1931, it was essentially as a pseudonym for Andy Kirk’s Twelve Clouds of Joy, fronted by vocalist Blanche. Not long after that session, before their next, Blanche tried to take over leadership of the Twelve Clouds of Joy for her own. Andy Kirk however, would have none of that, and so Blanche was left to put together a band of her own, and that she did. With Kirk band trumpeters Edgar Battle and Clarence Smith still along, Blanche assembled a new “Joy Boys”, with a few future swing era stars—Cozy Cole and Ben Webster most notably—sitting in along the way. The new Joy Boys, with occasional changes in personnel, continued to record into the middle of the 1930s, cutting seventeen sides for Victor in 1931, four for the American Record Corporation in 1934, followed by a fifth unissued recording the next year, and four more for Vocalion in 1935. The organization come to an end in 1936, when Blanche and a band member were locked up for disorderly conduct in Yazoo, Mississippi after trying to use a whites only restroom, and another bandmate ran off with all their money.

Victor 22866 was recorded on November 18, 1931 at the Church Building studio in Camden, New Jersey. It sold a mere 3,233 copies. Blanche’s Joy Boys are made up of Henry Mason, Clarence E. Smith, and Edgar Battle on trumpets, Alton Moore on trombone, Ernest Purce on clarinet and alto sax, Leroy Hardy on alto sax, Charlie Frazer on tenor sax, Clyde Hart on piano, Andy Jackson on banjo, Joe Durham on tuba, and Cozy Cole on drums.

First, Blanche sings one of her characteristic songs, her own composition, “Growling Dan”, featuring a mention of her brother’s famous Minnie the Moocher.

Growling Dan, recorded November 18, 1931 by Blanche Calloway and her Joy Boys.

On the flip, she sings a blues song popularized by Bessie Smith, the Clarence Williams and Hezekiah Jenkins composition, “I Got What it Takes (But it Breaks My Heart to Give it Away)”.

I Got What It Takes (But it Breaks My Heart to Give it Away), recorded November 18, 1931 by Blanche Calloway and her Joy Boys.

Romeo 5109 – Gene Autry & Jimmy Long – 1931

Posted on September 30, 2016 by R. Connor Montgomery

Singing cowboy and twentieth century superstar Gene Autry was born on this day 109 years ago on the twenty-ninth of September, 1907. To commemorate the occasion, presented here is Autry’s first big hit record, featuring his early duet partner Jimmy Long.

Gene Autry and Jimmy Long pictured on the cover of their Cowboy Songs and Mountain Ballads song folio.

Gene Autry was born Orvon Grover Autry on September 29, 1907 in Grayson County, Texas, near Tioga. After high school, he worked as a telegraph operator for St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, and would sing and play guitar on slow days. After losing that job, Autry sang on Tulsa’s KVOO, and when Will Rogers encouraged his singing career, he went to New York for an audition with the Victor Company, which wound up producing one record with Jimmy Long and Frankie Marvin on steel guitar. After Victor, Autry recorded for Columbia, which yielded several releases on their budget labels, in the style of the famous singing brakeman Jimmie Rodgers. After Columbia, he recorded for Gennett and the American Record Corporation, staying with the latter for many years. In 1934, he was “discovered” by Nat Levine of Mascot Pictures and made his motion picture debut in In Old Santa Fe, becoming the original singing cowboy of the screen. Before long, Autry became the top singing cowboy on film until he was surpassed by Roy Rogers, and his blue yodeling style was replaced with a more Western repertoire. He had hit records with “Silver Haired Daddy of Mine” in 1931 (and again in ’35), “Back in the Saddle” in 1939, and the Christmas classics “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. During World War II, Autry served in the Army Air Corps. In the 1950s, Autry appeared in his own television program, and became involved in baseball. He retired from show business in 1964, having made over one-hundred films and over six-hundred records. Autry died of lymphoma on October 2, 1998. He is the only person thusfar to be awarded stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in all five categories.

Romeo 5109 was recorded on October 29 and 30, 1931 in New York City by Gene Autry and Jimmy Long. In addition to Autry’s guitar, the pair are accompanied by Roy Smeck on steel guitar.

Sentimental to the point of sappiness (and truly a piece of Americana) “Silver Haired Daddy of Mine” was Gene Autry’s first big hit, and one of his most enduring songs, making its biggest success in 1935 when Autry sang it in Tumbling Tumbleweeds.

Silver Haired Daddy of Mine, recorded October 29, 1931 by Gene Autry & Jimmy Long.

Following the same formula as the previous, on the flip, they perform “Mississippi Valley Blues”.

Mississippi Valley Blues, recorded October 30, 1931 by Gene Autry and Jimmy Long.

Okeh 41577 – The Charleston Chasers – 1931

Posted on August 20, 2016 by R. Connor Montgomery

Jack Teagarden in marching band uniform. From Jazzmen, 1938, photo by Charles Peterson.

Jack Teagarden in band uniform. From Jazzmen, 1939, photo by Charles Peterson.

August 20 marks the day that we pay homage to that great trombone man from down in Texas, Jack Teagarden, who was born on that day in 1905. In celebration of the occasion, here is a record that holds great significance in the development of swing music. It is credited by Benny Goodman himself as the record that really saw him come into his own element, well on his path to becoming the King of Swing.

Jack was born Weldon Leo Teagarden in the small town of Vernon, Texas. His father was an oilfield worker who played cornet in a brass band, and his mother played ragtime piano and church organ. Jack took up the baritone horn, soon switching to trombone, his brothers Charlie and Clois chose trumpet and drums, respectively, and sister Norma learned piano. In 1921, Teagarden joined Peck Kelley’s band in Houston, and was offered a position in Paul Whiteman’s band when the famous bandleader was passing through, though Jack opted to remain in Texas. He made it to New York City in 1926, where he recorded with the orchestras of Ben Pollack, Roger Wolfe Kahn, and various bands organized by impresario Irving Mills, as well as numerous jazz bands led by the likes of Eddie Condon, Red Nichols, Hoagy Carmichael, and Louis Armstrong, establishing himself as the finest jazz trombonist of the age (and perhaps of any age), and a popular blues vocalist on the side. In the early 1930s, Teagarden played with Benny Goodman’s orchestras, helping to percolate the early inklings of swing at its best, but in 1933, he signed a contract with Paul Whiteman’s orchestra for five years, preventing him from leading his own band as the swing era kicked off soon after. Despite having fairly little opportunity for solo work with Whiteman, Teagarden was able to get in a bit of side work during that time, and started his own band after parting ways with Whiteman in 1939. Though his orchestra lasted until 1946, it found little in the way of success. After World War II, Teagarden played with Louis Armstrongs All-Stars, and toured internationally more than once, remaining a mainstay in the jazz scene until his death from pneumonia in 1964.

Okeh 41577 was recorded February 9, 1931 in New York City by the Charleston Chasers, under the direction of Benny Goodman. It is a dub of the original issue on Columbia 2415-D (why they dubbed it, instead of master pressing, I couldn’t say, but I’m sure someone could.) The almost unbeatable band features Charlie Teagarden and Ruby Weinstein on trumpets, Jack Teagarden and Glenn Miller on trombone, Benny Goodman on clarinet, Sid Stoneburn on alto sax, Larry Binyon on tenor sax, Dick McDonough on guitar, Arthur Schutt on piano, and Harry Goodman on string bass. Jack Teagarden sings the vocals on both sides. Unfortunately, some dumbbell thought it was a bright idea to carve an “X” into both labels.

Besides perhaps Louis Armstrong, “Basin Street Blues” is associated with no musician more than Jack Teagarden, who performed and recorded it a number of times. It was in fact Teagarden and Glenn Miller who were responsible for adding the opening verse, “Won’t you come along with me. / To the Mississippi,” to Spencer Williams’ famous song.

Basin Street Blues, recorded February 9, 1931 by the Charleston Chasers.

Also quite associated with Teagarden is W.C. Handy’s “Beale Street Blues”, which he recorded again soon after for Vocalion with Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang’s All-Star Orchestra.

Beale Street Blues, recorded February 9, 1931 by the Charleston Chasers.