As we here in the States are giving our thanks and digesting our bountiful dinners this Thanksgiving, it seems an opportune time to share a few words spoken by some voices from the past. A one-of-a-kind glimpse into a different time, courtesy of one family and their home record lathe.
This Motorola Home Recording Disc was cut on December 1, 1942 and November 22, 1944, likely somewhere in Texas, as that’s where I found it.
On “Thanksgiving 1944”, we are granted the opportunity to listen in on a family get-together taking place during the War, seventy-two years in the past. As they record their voices for posterity, they have apparently just finished off “a regular Samuel Gordon Thanksgiving dinner.”
Thanksgiving 1944, recorded November 22, 1944 by Mother.
On the other side of this home recording, cut two years before the first, Mother recounts “When Norman Left Home” for Officer Candidate School. Alas, this side doesn’t play quite as well as the other one.
When Norman Left Home, recorded December 1, 1942 by Mother.
October 10 marks ninety-nine years since the birth of Thelonious Monk, and what better way to commemorate that event than with the first recording of his famous “‘Round Midnight”, performed by Cootie Williams and his Orchestra. (Please do not confuse that photograph of Cootie Williams on the left of the page with Monk, it is not.) I will admit that while I usually tend to prefer earlier music, this is one of my favorite records.
Cootie Williams, 1940s. From Esquire’s 1944 Jazz Book.
Thelonious Sphere Monk was born on October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. From 1922, the Monks lived in New York City, where Thelonious was exposed to jazz music. He taught himself to play piano when he was six years old, and accompanied a touring evangelist in his teenage years. In the 1940s, Monk played at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem, and was with Lucky Millinder’s orchestra for a period in 1942, and Cootie Williams’ in 1944. He made his first recordings as bandleader in 1947 for Blue Note. With a unique approach to music, and life, Monk’s work lacked public appeal initially, and his recordings sold poorly for some years, though he was regarded highly by fellow musicians and jazz aficionados. In 1951, police confiscated his cabaret card, and he was unable to play in nightclubs until he regained it in 1957. Eventually, Monk became regarded as one of the greats of jazz music, having composed such standards as “‘Round Midnight”, “Straight, No Chaser”, and “Blue Monk”. Monk left the music scene in the 1970s, and died in 1982.
Hit 7119 was recorded October 22, 1944 in New York by Cootie Williams and his Orchestra. The band features Williams, Ermit V. Perry, George Treadwell, Lammar Wright, and Tommy Stevenson on trumpet, Ed Burke, Ed Glover, and Robert Horton on trombone, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Frank Powell on alto sax, Sam “The Man” Taylor and Lee Pope on tenor sax, Eddie de Verteuil on baritone sax, Bud Powell on piano, Leroy Kirkland on guitar, Carl Pruitt on bass, and Sylvester “Vess” Payne on drums.
First, Cootie and the band play the first ever recording made of Thelonious Monk’s famous “‘Round Midnight”, claimed to be the most recorded standard composed by a jazz musician.
‘Round Midnight, recorded October 22, 1944 by Cootie Williams and his Orchestra.
Next up, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson shouts the blues on “Somebody’s Gotta Go”.
Somebody’s Gotta Go, recorded October 22, 1944 by Cootie Williams and his Orchestra.
I was finally able to get a computer working to transfer my records, after the one I was using kicked the bucket, so I’m now able to post this iconic record of the 1940s. Consider it an encore to yesterday’s performance. However, I must ask one kind favor from all of you people, if you think this audio has a sort of high-pitched tone or crackle (other than the record’s own noise) in the background, or otherwise sounds inferior from my usual transfers, please tell me, so I can take action in bringing it back up to par should it be necessary.
Decca 8659 was recorded on March 15, 1944 and October 4, 1943, respectively. Recordings made in 1943 are fairly uncommon, as the American Federation of Musicians began a strike that resulted in a recording ban on July 31, 1942, and lasted through most of 1943. Decca had only settled with the union the month before this recording was made.
First up, it’s Louis Jordan’s take on Johnny Mercer’s World War II classic, “G. I. Jive”.
G. I. Jive, recorded March 14, 1944 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
Next is Jordan’s famous “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t (Ma’ Baby)”, another classic song of that era, and carried on to many in younger generations by way of the 1946 Tom and Jerry cartoon Solid Serenade.
Is You Is or Is You Ain’t (Ma’ Baby), recorded October 4, 1943 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
Well, I had planned to put up “G.I. Jive”, backed with “Is You is or is You Ain’t (My Baby)” for Louis Jordan’s birthday today, but tragically, my transferring computer met its untimely demise. Since I haven’t been able to repair it or procure a functioning replacement, here’s the only Louis Jordan record I already had transferred, it’s a good one, too.
Louis Thomas Jordan was born July 8, 1908 in Brinkley, Arkansas, his father was a music teacher and bandleader with the famous Rabbit Foot Minstrels. He learned to play clarinet as a child and played in his father’s band. Jordan majored in music at Arkansas Baptist College, and eventually made his way to New York, where he played with Clarence Williams in 1932. In 1936, Jordan began playing in Chick Webb’s orchestra at the Savoy Ballroom, sometimes performing as a vocalist. He was kicked out of the band in 1938 for attempting to poach members for his own band. That same year, he started the band that would become his famous Tympany Five, which first recorded for Decca as “Louie Jordon’s Elks Rendezvous Band”. During and after World War II, Jordan and his Tympany Five became a driving force in the development of the jump blues and rhythm and blues genres, as well as one of the top-selling “race” artists. Changing tastes in the 1950s brought about a decline in his popularity, though he continued to record and perform into the 1960s. Louis Jordan died from a heart attack in 1975.
Decca 23741 was recorded June 26, 1946 in New York City by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
The classic “Let the Good Times Roll” is credited on the label as being composed by Spo-de-ode and Fleecie Moore. Spo-de-ode was a pseudonym for the song’s co-writer, Sam Theard, who was also responsible for “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You” fifteen years earlier (though the authorship of that song was contested by Cow Cow Davenport). Fleecie Moore was Louis Jordan’s wife, who was credited in order to circumvent his contractual restrictions on publishing songs.
Let the Good Times Roll, recorded June 26, 1946 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
On the reverse, Louis sings another classic, “Ain’t Nobody Here but Us Chickens”. This song was popularized in the latter day by its inclusion in the video game L.A. Noire.
Ain’t Nobody Here but Us Chickens, recorded June 26, 1946 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
I just found out that today (March 6) is the birthday of the late, great Bob Wills. Now, I’m not about to let the 111th anniversary of the day that such a hero of Texas’ music was brought into this world fall by the wayside, so I’ve hastily put together this tribute. What better way to pay respects to the King of Western Swing than with one of his most famous records.
James Robert Wills was born near Kosse, Texas, where he picked cotton on the family farm and learned to play the fiddle and mandolin, following in his father’s footsteps, who was the champion fiddler of the state of Texas. The Wills later relocated to a farm near the little town of Turkey, Texas, which now bills itself as Wills’ home. At sixteen, Bob hopped a freight train and left home to become a professional entertainer, but returned home in his twenties to become a barber. In Fort Worth, Wills added the blues to his repertoire, and made his first recordings in Dallas with Herman Arnspiger in 1929, though they were not issued. Wills cut his first issued record in Dallas in 1932 with the Light Crust Doughboys, featuring Milton Brown’s vocals. In the early 1930s Bob Wills formed his famous Texas Playboys and toured the nation, becoming one of the leading music stars of the era, and an originator of the western swing genre. Wills continued to perform until a stroke in 1969, despite the diminishing popularity of western swing. Wills died May 13, 1975 in Fort Worth, Texas. He is honored every year with the annual Bob Wills Fiddle Festival and Contest in Greenville, Texas.
Okeh 05694 was recorded April 16, 1940 at the Burrus Mill in Saginaw, Texas (near Dallas, which is indicated by the matrix numbers with a “DAL” prefix”). The Texas Playboys consist of Bob Wills, Jesse Ashlock, and Lewis Fierney on fiddles, Herman Arnspiger and Eldon Shamblin on guitars, Leon McAuliffe on steel guitar, Johnnie Lee Wills on banjo, Son Lansford on bass, Al Stricklin on piano, and Smokey Dacus on drums. We heard a few of those musicians with the Light Crust Doughboys seven years prior to this record.
Tommy Duncan sings the vocal on the famous “New San Antonio Rose”. The old “San Antonio Rose” was just an instrumental of the same tune.
New San Antonio Rose, recorded April 16, 1940 by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
Bob takes the fiddle on the eponymous “Bob Wills’ Special”, a low-down old fashioned western swing riddled with those hollers that Wills specialized in.
Bob Wills’ Special, recorded April 16, 1940 by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
