Broadway 8114 – Harkins and Moran – 1927

Posted on November 3, 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.

I’ve been featuring a lot of jazz recently, and I think it’s about time for a change of pace, so today I offer this old time country record for your enjoyment.

When I bought my VV 4-4 Victrola a while back, along with it came a collection of about sixty or seventy records in the Victrola’s original albums. Most of these records were standard popular fare of the 1920s: Gene Austin, Waring’s Pennsylvanians, and plenty of waltzes. However, as I flipped to the last couple of pages in one album, I discovered three records on the Broadway label, which are always fun to find. One of them was a popular song pairing, the other two were old time fiddle records.

This one, Broadway 8114 is credited to “Harkins and Moran”, an alliterative pseudonym for actual artists Sid Harkreader, fiddle and Grady Moore, guitar. It was recorded in June of 1927 at the Chicago studios of the New York Recording Laboratories (of Paramount fame). It was also issued on Paramount 3023, and “John Henry” was issued on Herwin 75532 with different backing.

The duo’s fine rendition of the old folk song “John Henry” is marred by a large edge flake that necessitated a small amount of audio restoration, but I think it cleaned up fairly well. The same set of lyrics was sung by Harkreader’s associate Uncle Dave Macon in his memorable rendition.

John Henry, recorded June 1927 by Harkins and Moran.

On the flip side, Harkreader and Moore play the classic “Old Joe”, a track that was featured on Volume 2 of Yazoo’s compilation, “Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be: Early American Rural Music”. Real fine fiddle music.

Old Joe, recorded in June 1927 by Harkins and Moran.

Old Joe, recorded June 1927 by Harkins and Moran.

Updated with improved audio on July 20, 2017.

Victor 20415 – Jelly-Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers/Dixieland Jug Blowers – 1926

Posted on October 20, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

October 20, 1890 is one of several possible birth dates for famed jazz pianist and composer Ferd. “Jelly Roll” Morton, the others being September 20, 1885, September 20, 1889, and September 13, 1884. For the sake of this post, happy 125th birthday, Jelly Roll. For the occasion, I present one of his finest recordings.

One of the most interesting and storied characters in jazz, Jelly Roll Morton, born Ferdinand LaMothe, later Mouton after his mother remarried, started out playing piano in the Storyville “sporting houses” of his home town of New Orleans before taking off to tour around the United States, working in minstrel shows and vaudeville, as well as reportedly a gambler, pool shark and pimp. He first recorded in 1923 for Paramount, and recorded with a number of different groups until he was signed to Victor in 1926, with whom he remained until he was abruptly dropped in 1930. The Depression years proved difficult for Morton, who was robbed of royalties by his publisher, Walter Melrose. He was recorded again for the Library of Congress in 1938 and began recording again around then. Blaming his declining health on a voodoo spell, Jelly Roll Morton died in Los Angeles, California in 1941.

Victor 20415 was recorded December 16 and 11, 1926 at the Webster Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Jelly Roll side features George Mitchell on cornet, Kid Ory on trombone, Omer Simeon on clarinet, Jelly Roll Morton on piano and also singing the vocal, Johnny St. Cyr on banjo, John Lindsay on string bass, and Andrew Hilaire on drums. The Dixieland Jug Blowers side features Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Lockwood Lewis on alto sax, Freddie Smith on banjo, Cal Smith on tenor banjo, Curtis Hayes on guitjo, and Henry Clifford and Earl McDonald on jugs.

First up, Jelly Roll’s Red Hot Peppers play one of their all-time greatest sides, King Oliver’s “Doctor Jazz Stomp” (and boy does it stomp), recorded on the December 16 date.

Doctor Jazz, recorded December 16, 1926 by Jelly-Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers.

On the flip side, the Dixieland Jug Blowers with Johnny Dodds on clarinet play “Memphis Shake”, recorded on the December 11 date.

Memphis Shake, recorded December 11, 1926 by the Dixieland Jug Blowers.

Updated with improved audio on June 6, 2017.

Vocalion 03405 – Victoria Spivey and Chicago Four – 1936

Posted on October 15, 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.

On this day, October 15, in 1906, blues singer Victoria Spivey was born into a musical family in Houston, Texas. Her father was a railroad flagman and singer, and her brother and sister also sang professionally. She began a successful recording career in 1926 with “Black Snake Blues” on Okeh Records, and made a film appearance in King Vidor’s Hallelujah in 1929. Victoria Spivey continued to have a successful career in music throughout the 1930s and well into the 1960s until her death in 1976.

Remarkably, Vocalion 03405 was also recorded on this day, October 15 in 1936, Spivey’s thirtieth birthday, at Vocalion’s Chicago studio. Although different sources offer different personnel listings for Spivey’s accompaniment on this record appears to consist of the outstanding lineup of Lee Collins on trumpet, Arnett Nelson on clarinet, J. Harry “Mr. Freddy” Shayne on piano, and John Lindsay on string bass.

“Hollywood Stomp” is an excellent upbeat jazz song with a fine hot backing that harkens back to the times that preceded the swing era.

Hollywood Stomp, recorded October 15, 1936 by Victoria Spivey and Chicago Four.

“Detroit Moan” is one of my personal favorites of the female blues genre, and features excellent performances by the backing musicians, not to mention Miss Spivey’s singing.

Detroit Moan, recorded October 15, 1936 by Victoria Spivey and Chicago Four.

Updated with improved audio on November 16, 2016.

Columbia C-40 – From Austin High Comes Jazz – 1940

Posted on October 1, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

“From Austin High Comes Jazz” by Bud Freeman and his Famous Chicagoans. Cover art by Alex Steinweiss.

In the early 1920s, a group of five students from Chicago’s Austin High School got together to form a jazz band. The original group consisted of Jimmy and Dick McPartland on cornet and banjo, respectively, Frank Teschemacher on alto saxophone and violin, Jim Lanigan on piano, and Bud Freeman, the greenhorn of the bunch, on C-melody saxophone. Drummer Dave Tough joined in later on, and guitarist Eddie Condon recorded with the band as “McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans” in 1927. This group became quite popular, and, among other bands, helped to bring jazz music to the toddling town of Chicago. Eventually, the musicians went their separate ways, off to greater success in different orchestras and bands. Frank Teschemacher died tragically in a car accident in 1932, days away from his 26th birthday.

Nearly two decades later, Eddie Condon brought together a different group of leading jazzmen, many of whom had no real connection to Chicago, under Bud Freeman’s name to record a session at Columbia Records. The group, which performed live under the name “Summa Cum Laude Orchestra” , included the likes of Condon and Freeman, as well as jazz greats Jack Teagarden, Pee Wee Russell, and Dave Tough of the original Austin High Gang. This 1940 session resulted in the release of an album titled From Austin High Comes Jazz, annotated by record producer John Hammond, proclaimed in the liner notes as “America’s Greatest Jazz Authority”. The annotation notes Benny Goodman as a member of the Austin High Gang, but he was not connected to my knowledge, though he did play with some of the musicians later on.

All eight sides of Columbia C-40 were recorded July 23, 1940 and include the fine musicianship of Max Kaminsky on trumpet, Jack Teagarden on trombone, Pee Wee Russell on clarinet, Bud Freeman on tenor sax, Dave Bowman on piano, Eddie Condon on guitar, Mort Stuhlmaker on string bass, and Dave Tough on drums.

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Paramount 12872 – Blind Lemon Jefferson – 1929

Posted on September 24, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

A crop of the only known photograph of Lemon Jefferson, as was pictured in the Paramount Book of Blues.

On this day, we celebrate the probable birthday of the great blues man Blind Lemon Jefferson, so for this momentous occasion, I present to you a great treasure of the Old Time Blues collection, which happened to have been recorded on Lemon’s thirty-sixth birthday.

Lemon Henry Jefferson was born most likely on September 24, 1893 (though, as is so often the case with early blues people, this date is disputed), one of seven children born to a family of poor sharecroppers in Coutchman, Texas (or “Couchman” as the locals seem to spell it, though the former is correct according to the Texas Almanac), near Tehuacana Creek and about five miles west of Streetman, in Freestone County. He was blind from infancy, though the full extent of his visual impairment is debatable—some, including Victoria Spivey, have suggested that he may have had limited sight, and he was reputed to have been able to fire a gun with considerable accuracy. Lemon took up the guitar in his teens and played at picnics and rent parties, or “booger roogers” as he called them, in East Texas. He later took up in Dallas, and in the 1910s worked frequently in Deep Ellum, often playing with fellow musicians such as Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter and Alger “Texas” Alexander. In late 1925 or early ’26, a time when most of recorded blues consisted of the vaudevillian variety of women singing with a jazz band backing, Blind Lemon traveled to Chicago to record for Paramount records. Between 1926 and 1929, Jefferson recorded around a hundred songs for Paramount, and made one additional record with Okeh. In addition to recording, Lemon also gigged all around the southeastern United States, along the way meeting other blues musicians like King Solomon Hill, who would later record as “Blind Lemon’s Buddy”. Blind Lemon Jefferson died under mysterious circumstances in Chicago at 10:00 AM on December 19, 1929, Paramount paid for his body to be shipped back to Texas, where he was buried in the Wortham Negro Cemetery.

Paramount 12872, featuring “Bed Springs Blues” and “Yo Yo Blues”, was recorded September 24, 1929—Lemon’s birthday—in either Chicago, Illinois, or Richmond, Indiana. This proved to be Blind Lemon Jefferson’s final recording session. The condition’s pretty rough on this one, but I think the music still comes through. Now, two years after my original posting, a new Grado cartridge has facilitated a much finer quality of transfers than my originals. Though still plagued by some groove stripping and plenty of pops and clicks, they are now much crisper and clearer, and those pesky skips have been all-but-eliminated.

First, Lemon’s “Bed Springs Blues” provides an excellent demonstration of Lemon’s unique style of playing guitar. “Tell me why do them springs tremble so on your bed, baby!”

Bed Springs Blues, recorded September -, 1929 by Blind Lemon Jefferson.

Bed Springs Blues, recorded September 24, 1929 by Blind Lemon Jefferson.

On the flip, Lemon performs his own “Yo Yo Blues”. A number of songs carrying the same title were recorded around the same period—most notably by Barbecue Bob—opening with “got up this morning, my yo-yo mama was gone,” but Lemon’s is a different song, instead starting with “I would go yo-yoin’, but I broke my yo-yo string.”

Yo Yo Blues, recorded September -,1929 by Blind Lemon Jefferson.

Yo Yo Blues, recorded September 24, 1929 by Blind Lemon Jefferson.

Updated with improved audio on July 28, 2017, and again on February 21, 2023.