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.
In their heyday, Don Albert’s orchestra was called “America’s Greatest Swing Band”, a title which they perhaps deserved. Today, their renown, however great it may have been in the 1930s, has faded.
Don Albert was born Albert Anité Dominique in New Orleans on August 5, 1908. He was the nephew of trumpeter Natty Dominique, and also reportedly a relative of Barney Bigard. Albert took up the trumpet to join in on the Crescent City’s famous brass bands, and was instructed on the instrument by Milford Piron, brother of the renowned bandleader Armand J. Piron. Sometime in the middle part of the 1920s, Albert relocated to Dallas, where he joined Alphonso Trent’s orchestra at the Adolphus Hotel (later the Gunter Hotel), with whom he toured across the southwestern United States. After departing from Trent, Albert joined Troy Floyd’s orchestra of the Plaza Hotel in San Antonio, with whom he remained until forming his own band in 1929. Initially calling themselves “Don Albert and his Ten Pals”, Albert’s new band played the Texas State Fair in 1929, and supplanted Floyd’s band at the Shadowland speakeasy in San Antonio. In the 1930s, Albert’s orchestra toured across twenty-four of these United States, and billed themselves as “America’s Greatest Swing Band”, but only recorded eight titles in one San Antonio session for the American Record Corporation. In the 1940s, Albert opened an integrated club, Don’s Keyhole, in San Antonio, which closed in 1948, at which point he returned to New Orleans for a short period. Once back in San Antonio, Albert opened another club, and following harassment from authorities, filed a restraining order against the city, taking his case all the way to the Texas Supreme Court and winning. Aside from his musical work, Albert was also employed as a civil servant at Fort Sam Houston from the late forties or early fifties until retiring in 1974. Don Albert retired from performance in the late 1950s, but continued to play sporadically for the rest of his life. He died in San Antonio on March 4, 1980.
Vocalion 3401 was recorded on November 18, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas. Don Albert directing Billy Douglas, Alvin Alcorn, and Hiram Harding on trumpets, James “Geechy” Robinson and Frank Jacquet on trombones, Herbert Hall on clarinet, alto sax, and baritone sax, Gus Patterson and Harold “Dink” Taylor on alto sax, Louis Cottrell on clarinet and tenor sax, Lloyd Glenn on piano, Ferdinand Dejan on guitar, James Johnson on string bass, and Albert Martin on drums.
The “big” sound of Albert’s “Rockin’ and Swingin'” exemplifies that of Texas jazz in the 1930s (compare to Boots and his Buddies’ “Rose Room”).
Rockin’ and Swingin’, recorded November 18, 1936 by Don Albert and his Orchestra.
On the other side, Merle Turner sings the vocal on this band’s swinging version of the seven year old (at the time of recording, that is) popular song from The Dance of Life, “True Blue Lou”.
True Blue Lou, recorded November 18, 1936 by Don Albert and his Orchestra.
In another entry in our series examining both the territory bands of the United States and music originating from the state of Texas, we look at Boots and his Buddies, one of the Lone Star State’s leading swing bands of the 1930s.
Clifford “Boots” Douglas was born in Temple, Texas, likely on September 7, 1906 or 1908. He began playing drums in his teenage years, and first played professionally in 1926 as a member of Millard McNeal’s Southern Melody Boys of San Antonio. Douglas formed his own band, called “Boots and his Buddies” (presumably deriving their name from the comic strip Boots and her Buddies) at some point in the first half of the 1930s, and played gigs around the state of Texas, occasionally venturing into neighboring states. Boots’ Buddies began recording in 1935 for RCA Victor, with their recordings issued on the Bluebird label. They continued to record until late in 1938. With Douglas arranging, they seem to have had a tendency to “borrow” music from others and play it under their own titles. Their regional popularity rivaled that of fellow Texas swing man Don Albert, and while their phonograph records gained them some greater recognition outside of their home state, they never were never widely known outside of Texas. Though the end of the swing era saw a steady decline in the band’s popularity, Boots and his Buddies were still playing through the end of the 1940s. In 1950, Douglas finally disbanded his Buddies and relocated to Los Angeles, California, where he worked for the county, still playing on the side. According to social security records, he died in 2000, at the age of either 92 or 94.
Bluebird B-6063 was recorded August 14, 1935 in San Antonio, Texas by Boots Douglas and his Buddies. The personnel consists of Thaddeus Gilders, Percy Bush, Douglas Byers, and L.D. Harris on trumpets, Johnny Shields on trombone, Alva Brooks and Jim Wheat on alto sax, Baker Millian on tenor sax, A.J. Johnson on piano, Jeff Thomas on guitar, Walter McHenry on string bass, and Boots Douglas on drums. It was the first issued record by Boots’ Buddies, and the first and third sides from his earliest session. This pressing dates to the late 1930s, early pressings would have appeared on Bluebird’s “buff” label. I purchased this copy from a local fellow in Arlington (the same guy that provided my Fred Gardner’s Texas University Troubadours record), it has likely spent its entire life in the state, since its arrival from the pressing plant.
First up is “Wild Cherry”. This side is pretty well beaten, but still plays well thanks to the high quality of these Bluebird records.
Wild Cherry, recorded August 14, 1935 by Boots and his Buddies.
On the other side, they play a sizzling rendition of “Rose Room” (which we last heard played by Duke Ellington’s band). This was Boots and his Buddies’ first recorded side. This may be the loudest side I’ve ever played, I had to turn the volume way down to transfer it properly.
Rose Room, recorded August 14, 1935 by Boots and his Buddies.
This record is a remarkable one for a number of reasons. One of those is that, being a Depression era release, it is quite scarce (and I don’t mean to sound braggadocious, I’m still surprised that I have it, myself). Another is that is one of a number of records of the 1920s and 1930s to feature black and white artists performing together, in this case Jimmie Rodgers with the Earl McDonald’s Louisville Jug Band. On the downside, this copy has certainly seen better days. The years have not been kind to it, and its sound reflects that. It’s still listenable, but has a layer of surface noise. Another bit worth mentioning is that the flip side of this record, which was released after Rodgers’ passing, features a recording by another blue yodeler who happened to be Jimmie Rodgers’ first cousin.
Both sides of Bluebird B-5942 were recorded on separate occasions. The “A” side was recorded on June 16, 1931 in Louisville, Kentucky, the “B” side was recorded January 28, 1935 in San Antonio, Texas. The personnel of the jug band on the first side includes George Allen on clarinet, Clifford Hayes on violin, Cal Smith on tenor guitar, Fred Smith on guitar and Earl McDonald on jug, the same basic group as the Dixieland Jug Blowers. One seller claimed that it sold a total of 2,757 copies, but I have no idea how they came up with that number and whether or not it’s accurate, though those numbers don’t sound out of line.
On the first side, the Blue Yodeler sings “My Good Gal’s Gone”, with outstanding accompaniment by Earl McDonald’s Louisville Jug Band. Though it was recorded in 1931, this 1935 Bluebird is the first issue of this recording. Takes “2” and “3” of this song exist, this one is the latter.
My Good Gal’s Gone, recorded June 16, 1931 by Jimmie Rodgers.
On the “B” side, Jimmie’s first cousin, Jesse Rodgers sings “Leave Me Alone, Sweet Mama” in a style that reminds me of Cliff Carlisle more than Jimmie. Jesse stuck around for quite a while, later dropping the “d” from his name to become Jesse Rogers by the end of the 1930s.
Leave Me Alone, Sweet Mama, recorded January 28, 1935 by Jesse Rodgers.
If there’s one thing I enjoy, it’s singing cowboys. Not those Hollywood type like Roy Rogers (not that I have anything against Roy, I like him too), but the handful of real life cowboys that made recordings of songs from right there on the range in the 1920s and ’30s. This record falls squarely into that category. This was one of my lucky finds from a little store out in Mineral Wells, Texas, along with some other fine rural selections. It’s likely been in Texas ever since it left the pressing plant in Camden.
Jules Verne Allen was born on April 1, 1883 in the charming little town of Waxahachie, Texas, he began working as a cowboy in the next decade, punching cattle from Montana to the Rio Grande. He served his country in the Great War, enlisting in the Army in 1917. For many years, Allen worked as an officer of the law, as a police officer and deputy sheriff in El Paso, and as a member of the legendary Texas Rangers. As a cowboy, he learned the traditional songs of the West, played on the guitar, and when the Western phenomenon swept the nation in the late 1920s, Allen began performing those songs on the radio for WOAI in San Antonio and WFAA in Dallas. Billed as “The Singing Cowboy”, he cut three sides for the Victor Talking Machine Co. on one of their field trips in El Paso in 1928, later making twenty more sides, of which all but one were issued. One of the most popular of the early singing cowboys, in 1933, Allen wrote Cowboy Lore, a book detailing the life of a cowpuncher. Continuing to perform on the radio into the 1940s, Allen died on July 10, 1945.
Victor 21470 was recorded April 21, 1928 by Jules Allen during one of Victor’s field trips in El Paso, Texas. These two are Allen’s debut recordings.
First up, Allen sings N. Howard Thorp’s classic cowboy song, “Little Joe, the Wrangler”.
Little Joe, the Wrangler, recorded April 21, 1928 by Jules Allen.
Next, Allen sings the Texas gambling song “Jack o’ Diamonds” in the old cowboy style rather than the blues style associated with the likes of Blind Lemon Jefferson. The last time we heard this tune, it was sung by TCU physics professor Newton Gaines, and to be honest, I believe ol’ Jules delivers a better performance.
Jack o’ Diamonds, recorded April 21, 1928 by Jules Allen.
