Okeh 8571 – Troy Floyd and his Plaza Hotel Orchestra – 1928

Posted on March 18, 2016 by R. Connor Montgomery

The Lone Star State in the 1920s was home to a host of fantastic territory jazz bands, such as those of Alphonso Trent, Eddie Fennell and Sugar Lou Morgan, Fred Gardner, Jimmie Joy, and Le Roy Williams. One of the most outstanding of these territory bands, both in musical virtuosity and history, was that of Troy Floyd. Floyd’s eleven piece orchestra played at the Plaza Hotel in San Antonio, and gigged on-the-side at the Shadowland, a notorious speakeasy and one of the most successful jazz clubs in Texas.

Troy Floyd was born around San Antonio, Texas on January 5, 1901, and learned to play the saxophone and clarinet. He organized his first group, a sextet, in 1924. The group expanded over time, and by 1928, Floyd’s orchestra was playing at the Plaza Hotel and broadcasting on KTSA. Floyd’s band made two released records, both featuring one song broken up into two parts, plus an unissued recording of “Wabash Blues” on two of Okeh Records’ field trips to San Antonio. Floyd’s band holds special significance in Texas’ musical legacy, for, in addition to its own merit, it helped to launch the careers of at least two musicians of note; in the 1930s, New Orleans born trumpeter Don Albert started his own Texas-based swing band, and banjoist J.H. Bragg founded a jazz group of his own, both of which made several records with Vocalion in the 1930s. Troy Floyd disbanded his orchestra in 1932, and later worked as a pool hall operator in San Diego, California, where he died on July 16, 1953.

Okeh 8571, part of their legendary race series, was recorded March 14, 1928 in San Antonio, Texas. The personnel features future band leader and trumpet virtuoso Don Albert and Willie Long on trumpets, Benny Long providing unique solos on trombone, Troy Floyd and N.J. “Siki” Collins on clarinet and alto sax, Scott Bagby on clarinet and tenor sax, John Henry Bragg on banjo, Allen Vann on piano, Charlie Dixon (a different one from Fletcher Henderson’s banjoist) on trombone and tuba, John Humphries on drums, and the bellowing Kellough Jefferson singing the vocal refrain.

The title of “Shadowland Blues” refers to the San Antonio speakeasy of the same name, though the lyrics, sung by Kellough Jefferson, make no reference to the club. This amazing territory band recording is characterized by what has been called the “gut bucket” trombone playing of Benny Long, which some have said mars the performance, but I disagree, I think it gives it a unique and rural character, as opposed to homogenized classically-trained, Whiteman-esque jazz.

A two-parter, they play “Shadowland Blues (Part 1)” on the first side…

Shadowland Blues (Part 1), recorded March 14, 1928 by Troy Floyd and his Plaza Hotel Orchestra.

…and “Shadowland Blues (Part 2)” on the back.

Shadowland Blues (Part 2), recorded March 14, 1928 by Troy Floyd and his Plaza Hotel Orchestra.

Updated with improved audio on July 9, 2017, and again on June 11, 2024.

Okeh 05694 – Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys – 1940

Posted on March 6, 2016 by R. Connor Montgomery

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.

Vocalion 02621 – W. Lee O’Daniel and his Light Crust Doughboys – 1933

Posted on March 2, 2016 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.

1933 Sheet music for Beautiful Texas, words and music by W. Lee O’Daniel.

On March 2, 2016, Texas celebrates the 180th anniversary of its independence from Mexico, and the creation of the Republic of Texas. After ten years as an independent nation, and a hot button issue in United States politics, Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state. To celebrate and remember the occasion, here’s two fiercely Texas-themed tunes by the Fort Worth-based Light Crust Doughboys, under the leadership of W. Lee O’Daniel, the radio advertising director for Burrus Mills, makers of Light Crust Flour and future Governor of Texas.

Vocalion 02621 was recorded on October 10, 1933 at Vocalion’s studio in the Furniture Mart Building at 666 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, the first recorded (but not first issued) sides at the Doughboys’ first Vocalion session, and only second overall session, after their 1932 Victor session, which yielded one disc. The band members on these sides include Herman Arnspiger and Leon Huff on guitars, Clifford Gross on fiddle, Sleepy Johnson on banjo and fiddle, Leon McAuliffe on steel guitar, and Ramon DeArman on string bass.

Guitar player Leon Huff sings lead vocal on W. Lee O’Daniel’s song, “Beautiful Texas”, proudly boasting of “about six million people who’re glad that they’re here to stay.” A truer song has never been written.

Beautiful Texas, recorded October 10, 1933 by W. Lee O’Daniel and his Light Crust Doughboys.

On the reverse, the Doughboys play an instrumental number, “Blue Bonnet Waltz”, taking its name from the official flower of the State of Texas.

Blue Bonnet Waltz, recorded October 10, 1933 by W. Lee O’Daniel and his Light Crust Doughboys.

Updated with improved audio on July 11, 2017.

Okeh 41440 – Fred Gardner’s Texas University Troubadours – 1930

Posted on February 21, 2016 by R. Connor Montgomery

In my never ending hunt for Texas jazz records, this one by Fred Gardner’s Texas University Troubadours is a necessity. Unfortunately, the only copy I was able to get my hands on is in rather rough condition. I think it’s still enjoyable, but it’s no prizewinner by any stretch of the imagination. Years ago, an English magazine misidentified the cornet on these records as that of the legendary Bix Beiderbecke, in what they credited as a band organized by British saxophonist Freddy Gardner, who was alleged to have been vacationing in Texas at the time. In actuality, the cornet player on this and the other record from this session was Tom Howell, and the leader was an entirely different Fred Gardner.

Cornetist Thomas Alva Howell, Jr., born in 1906, and his brother Lee learned to play by ear, and attended the University of Texas together beginning in 1921, where they played in the Howell Brothers Moonshiner Orchestra. They later joined Steve Gardner’s Hokum Kings, which recorded in 1930 under the direction of saxophonist Fred Gardner in San Antonio for Okeh Records. Howell and his brother also played in Sunny Clapp’s Band o’ Sunshine and can be heard playing on two of their San Antonio recorded sides from 1929, as well as singing on one of their Victor records.

Okeh 41440 was recorded on June 9, 1930 in San Antonio, Texas. Judging by the personnel, the band was something of a family affair, and features leader Fred Gardner on clarinet and tenor sax, Tom Howell on cornet, Lee Howell on trombone, Steve Gardner on clarinet, Chester Seekatz on clarinet and alto sax, Tommy Howell on piano, Bill Lewis on banjo and guitar, John Gardner on tuba, and Jay “Bird” Thomas on drums and vocals.

Gardner’s Troubadours play W.C. Handy’s classic song “Loveless Love” (a re-working of the traditional “Careless Love”) slow and with a steady beat, and it doesn’t disappoint, serving as an outstanding example of Texas-area territory jazz, with a fine vocal to top it off.

Loveless Love, recorded June 9, 1930 by Fred Gardner’s Texas University Troubadours.

A bit worse for wear, Glen Caraway, Louis Andre, and Bob Miller’s blues song “Papa’s Gone” is played hotter and more uptempo than the previous side, with a great bounce, and is one of my favorites. Originally a blues song performed by the likes of Rosa Henderson, this number seems to have been something of a standard in Texas jazz in those days, as it was recorded by at least four Texas-based bands in the 1920s and 1930s: first by Jimmy Joy’s St. Anthony Hotel Orchestra as “Mama Will Be Gone” in 1924, then by Eddie and Sugar Lou’s Hotel Tyler Orchestra as “Sweet Papa Will Be Gone” in 1929, then this one in ’30, and finally (or not?) by the Nite Owls in 1937.

Papa’s Gone, recorded June 9, 1930 by Fred Gardner’s Texas University Troubadours.

Updated with improved audio on July 11, 2017 and on May 23, 2024..

Photographs: Two Forgotten Vaudevillians

Posted on February 12, 2016 by R. Connor Montgomery

Many of the stars of vaudeville days went on to immense success, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Bob Hope, and the Marx Brothers, many more were huge stars in their heyday, but today are all but forgotten, like Joe Frisco, Gallagher and Shean, and Nora Bayes. Countless others however, never made it so big, they were perhaps locally or regionally famous, and faded into obscurity once their short time in the limelight had passed. Today, we’ll dig two forgotten entertainers of the 1920s out of the annals of time and bring them back to the public eye once again. Those two are Violet Goulet and Mlle. Flo LeRoy.

Violet Goulet, as her photograph would suggest, played violin, and was billed as “violinist de luxe” for an appearance in Madera, California. She seems to have been most active, and indeed quite busy, around 1920, appearing on stage first as part of an act called the Six Serenaders, then striking out on her own as a solo act. She toured on the Pantages theater circuit, and appeared in shows at the Alhambra Theatre in El Paso and the Grand Theatre on San Antonio in 1920.

Mademoiselle Flo LeRoy, “mystic revealer,” made her mark on this world a few years after Goulet, but also seems to have had a longer career, with most information I can find on her dating to the latter part of the 1920s, the earliest reference I can being 1924 and the latest 1930. LeRoy was a clairvoyant, and her act billed her as a “mystic marvel” or “mental wizard”, revolving around her making predictions about the futures of her audience members. Her appearances would appear to have been limited to our southern states, mostly Texas, and her home was located in Dallas.

Unfortunately, I cannot find any information on the early or later lives of these two, and there’s precious little on their professional lives. If anyone else out there happens to have any information about either of them, I would be thrilled to hear it, and will update this article should any new information arise.

An autographed photograph of violinist and vaudevillian Violet Goulet. Circa early 1920s.

Mlle. Flo. LeRoy