HIGHLIGHTS IN THIS ISSUE:

Jim Cullum talks about

Woody Herman part of 1945 in review

Obscure Kitty Kallen lyrics revealed

FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID Atlanta, GA Permit No. 2022 JUMP NEWSLETTER

VOLUME 104______BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

JIM CULLUM TALKS professional musician. ABOUT BOBBY HACKETT His early career involved playing guitar and violin in hotel ballroom bands in Providence, Boston and Syra­ The Background cuse, but by 1933 he was play­ ing cornet with a trio at Jim Cullum, of RIVER- WALK Boston’s Crescent Club. By public television fame 1936 he was specializing on was a friend of Bobby comet, and by the next year Hackett’s and as such was had moved to New York City. able to give us some valuable He was almost immediately insights into Hackett’s per­ in demand in the new York sonality and background. We Studios, but his bread-and- intersperse his comments with butter jobs were with society additional biographical in­ bands such as Lester Lanin formation about Hackett's and Meyer Davis. He worked varied career and remarkable briefly with Horace Heidt and achievements. led his own group at Nick’s and the Famous Door on 52nd The Story street.

BBJ: Cornetist Bobby Even though Bobby Hackett Hackett was one of appeared often in studio ses­ those performers loved by sions arranged by jazz critic everyone, not only for his cor­ Leonard Feather and fre­ net virtuosity but for his gentle quently with , demeanor. Over the years he played nearly every kind what was to become his most visible performance in of music including small group dixieland, Big Band those years was a salute to at Benny swing and romantic easy-listening music. It was Bobby Goodman’snowlegendary January 16th, 1938Camegie Hackett’s solo horn on the romantic string-filled al­ Hall concert. He also performed the comet solo on the bums by that brought him to the atten­ Andrews Sisters first record hit, BEI MIR BIST DU tion of the general public, but he was in demand long SHON, although not given label credit. What was it before that, nearly from the time he began his profes­ about the Hackett sound creating such a demand for his sional career. It all began in his native Providence, work in the New York Studios? . JC: His sound was j ust a very pretty, simple sound. In his early years Bobby Hackett displayed a proclivity One of the things that was so beautiful about it for music, playing guitar, banjo, ukulele and violin. was the perfect intonation and the vibrato....and the When he was twelve his brother-in-law gave him a degree of edge you get on the sound....that little iden­ comet. It was only two years later he quit school to be tifying characteristic. His tone is one of his greatest a full-time musician, playing guitar with a combo in a assets. I think he slowly developed that tone when he Providence Chinese restaurant. Thus, starting at age 14 first started out, before he got so into the Armstrong in 1929, Bobby Hackett began a life-time career as a influence, he was so into....he was seen as the new VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

Beiderbecke. ....all the trumpet players got mad at me because they had to play it! BBJ: What kind of a man was Bobby Hackett per­ sonally? BBJ: Even though the Hackett comet is most-re­ called in the STRING OF PEARLS recording, JC: He was a very nice, soft-spoken man; he was he also has created memorable solos in such Miller very kind. He took life as it came, not what you recordings as RAINBOW RHAPSODY, could call a businessman at all. He was very gentle and DREAMSVILLE, OHIO, and had a deep voice; sounded kinda’ like a gangster when RHAPSODY IN BLUE. you talked to him, but he was an easy goin’ guy. BBJ: Earlier, ’s influence was men­ BBJ: In 1939 a booking agent talked Hackett into tioned. Explain that. forming his own Big Band with arrangements wrapped around Hackett’s horn. The idea was for the JC: He brought his own special magic to it. He Hackett Big Band to tour hotels and ballrooms on the didn’t just copy Armstrong, in fact he embel­ East Coast. There were positive reviews about the lished Armstrong. He played with more notes and more band, but somehow it never caught the imagination of fluidity than Armstrong, but the basic underlying con­ the public. Hackett disbanded after six months, thou­ cept had mostly come from Louis’ early playing. sands of dollars in debt. BBJ: How was Bobby Hackett able to play so many A legendary solo developed when Bobby Hackettjoined different kinds of music? the orchestra in 1941. He played both comet and guitar for Glenn Miller and when Miller JC: His approach was all the same. He had a legato recorded ’s STRING OF PEARLS he asked approach. Everything was a good idea. Every­ Hackett to solo. That solo has become a permanent part thing came from the idea source, it was not technique of the . driven, and to me that’s where you separate the men from the boys. He had fabulous melodic ideas. He JC: He plays a twelve bar chorus of the blues. It’s executed them flawlessly, but what drove the whole become a standard item... .it goes with the tune. thing was the idea. It’s a beautiful and well-conceived solo. And it’s just an interesting and pretty solo that fits up and down the BBJ: A prime value of the Hackett tone and impro- chords of the thing, twelve bars. It’s only twelve bars visational abilities was his work with vocal­ long. ists. He was skilled at pointing up the lyrics by filling the spaces between phrases without interfering or over­ BBJ: In an interview with jazz announcer Willis powering the words. He worked with scores of singers Conover, Hackett himself gave details about but his most visible example of this kind of vocal that now classic STRING OF PEARLS solo. accompaniment is probably ’s I’VE GOT A CRUSH ON YOU. BH: We were in and Jerry Gray brought in an arrangement, and I was reading, ad- Even with Bobby Hackett in demand in the studios, libbing, from the guitar part. And I came to a place having had his own band, being spotlighted with where it said “comet solo” and there was no melody Goodman and featured with Miller, his greatest public line. I just went by the names of the chords and I saw acclaim came when Jackie Gleason decided to record the chord progression Jerry had in mind. I just lucked an of romantic standards with Hackett’s trumpet up on a riff that seemed to fit so well that after we played and a background of lush strings. Gleason and Hackett it the first time Glenn Miller said, “Keep playing it that had known each other since 1942, when they met on the way, don’t change it.” It became a fairly well-known sound stage of the movie “.” Gleason solo through the years. It was printed in all the stock was portraying the bass player in the Miller band.

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bad about anybody. Musician friends knew this, and one asked him what he thought of Adolf Hitler. His answer was something like, “Well, he was the best at what he did.” A final word from Jim Cullum indicates his devotion to his craft.

JC: He was a very easy, gentle guy. I visited him at his house in Queens just after he made the great record of duets with B illy Butterfield. I remember the coffee table in his living room was entirely filled with comet mouthpieces standing on end. He had a retail business in New York City for a while called “Bobby Hackett’s Sound Stage” where he sold high- end stereo equipment. I went to visit him in his office; he had a really nice mahogany file cabinet. When he opened the drawer, I saw that the cabinet was filled with comets....there were no files in there!

BBJ: Robert Lee Hackett died in 1976. Bad health caused in part by his lifelong problems with alcohol had its effect. He was 61. He was inducted into Hackett’s friend cornetist Jim Cullum the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997.

JC: Gleason was, I guess, sort of a class B actor at Producer/writer Dave Riggs did research and this point. A young guy. He was so fascinated writing for a Bobby Hackett BBJ program from by Hackett. He was always into music and so he said which this combination interview-biography was to Hackett, “I’ve got an idea that I’d like to present you excerpted. with strings. Just comet with string background. I’m gonna’ work on it.” LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

BB J: Nine years later Gleason borrowed eight thou­ Letters to BIG BAND JUMP or the BBJ NEWS­ sand dollars, rented a recording studio and LETTER may be sent to the address below, or recorded eight romantic standards in slow, ballad style. e-mailed to: [email protected]. When you When finally decided to put out the e-mail, please give your name and address. All album, it sold a half-million copies right away and gave letters are answered, but the volume of mail birth to a spate of similar Gleason . Gleason sometimes delays a timely response. profited handsomely. BBJ NEWSLETTER JC: On the Gleason records he was paid at scale, Box 52252 so he never received royalty payments. Sev­ Atlanta, GA 30355 eral of those albums sold a million albums. “Music, Martinis and Memories” and “Music For Lovers Only.” The published letters have been edited for space But he was just hired to play, and of course those considerations, but the meaning has been preserved. records made his career, they put him in demand. Everybody in the country knew who he was and he even Gordon Crandall I still long for the good old became an international star, so it helped him even Surprise, AZ days of the Big Bands and though he wasn’t paid a lot for the Gleason records. those beautiful ballrooms that the kids don’t have today. I grew up in Chicago during BBJ: It was said Bobby Hackett never said anything the ’40s and ’50s and remember especially the gor- 3 VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

geous French décor of the Trianon Ballroom on the made our way to suburban Toronto to see the Casa Southside and the Arabesque trappings ala Spain in the Aragon Ballroom on the North side. Imagine this. There were four ballrooms in the vicinity of a mile, namely the Trianon, Casino Moderne, Pershing Hotel and the Grenada for over ’50s patrons.

A mile further west was another magnificent ballroom on White City Amusement Park. What a shame today. Instead of those palatial, elegant ballrooms and roman­ tic dance music, young people have to dance....or stand....in noisy, crowded go-go bars or loud stadia The Casa Loma rock concerts. Loma Castle, built by a wealthy Canadian financier and Does anyone remember the romantic music of Dick industrialist named Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. When he Jurgens big 16 piece band and crooner Eddy Howard went broke, it became a hotel. who made famous love songs such as MY LAST GOODBYE and CARELESS? After I returned from Our tour guide took us to the room that used to be the service in WWIII lost track of them. Are Jurgens and hotel ballroom and explained it was where the musi­ Howard still living today? cians that became the Casa Lomans played. Perhaps you already knew this, but the enclosed brochure will In 1986 Dick Jurgens sold the rights to his hand expand the story. name to bandleader Don Ring who still leads the Jurgens band today. Dick Jurgens died of cancer Our thanks to Mr. Brennan for expanding our in 1995. He was 85. His singer and guitar information on the source o f the Casa player, and later leader of his own orchestra, Loma Band name and for providing the photo of Eddy Howard, was a feature on the casino circuit the castle. during the '50s after the Big Bands faded. Eddy Howard died of a cerebral hemorrhage a few Jordan Lustig Program idea: What about song titles months short o f his 49th birthday in the spring o f Fairfield, CT with things in the sky or heavenly 1963. bodies, such as BLUE SKIES, MID­ NIGHT SUN, STELLA BY STARLIGHT, Etc? Michael Plescia I miss the show. It used to be Belmar, NJ on WOBM in Lakewood, New Every week or so someone writes to suggest a Jersey. Do you know of an­ city, state or nation basis for a program, but this other station I can get? is the first suggestion for heavenly bodies, and we ’ll certainly do it. The positive result of these BBJ was frequently pre-empted by sports events "title format” programs is they often yield a on WOBM and station management finally de­ more interesting variety of artists, for the style o f cided to simply drop it. Unfortunately there are the recording isn 7 tied to to the title, thus ex­ no stations in the area formatted to accept pro­ panding the music base. Your program idea is grams such as BBJ. scheduled for the weekend of June 24-25, noted in UPCOMING BBJ PROGRAM TITLES on pages John J. Brennan For many years I wondered 11 <£ 12. Hagerstown, MD where the Casa Loma was as in the Glen Gray Casa Loma Bud O’Hora Since radio stations do not Ochestra. A couple of years ago on vacation in Toronto, Scranton, PA publish their programs I have I found a brochure on Casa Loma. My family and I no way ofknowing ifand when 4 VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

I might be able to hear either of your programs. Can sion that produced SO RARE. Stabile’s sound is you please publish each year in one of your issues a similar to JD’s. listing of all stations and the time they play your program? For years we heard that Dick Stabile actually played the alto sax solo on SO RARE, but Jim We stopped doing the station listings (which were Miller, who led the Orchestra in in early issues) because the considerable space the ’90s assured us that wasn’t true. Jimmy involved deleted some of the articles with broader Dorsey was suffering from the cancer that would reader appeal. Lately stations change so fre­ claim his life when SO RARE was recorded in quently such lists would be meaningless within November o f1956, but recordedfour sides at that weeks. The good news is Mr. O ’Hora’s letter New York session with the Singers encouraged us to again contact Scranton ’s WNAK and top studio musicians. They were: SO RARE, which earlier cancelled BBJ as the result of a SOPHISTIC A TED SWING, IT ’S THE DREAMER consultant’s edict. WNAK since fired the con­ IN ME and MAMBO EN SAX. When SO RARE sultant but management (not the programming became a hit single, Fraternity Records needed people) opted to carry another two hour weekly other tracks to create an album. Shortly after program, even though BBJ was considered. It Jimmy Dorsey’s death, those additional selec­ seemed for a while BBJ would be re-instated, but tions featured Dick Stabile performing with the such is not the case. JD orchestra directed by Lee Castle. Mr. Sternbergh is correct when he says the session Marilyn Silberglied Is it possible to get the lyrics was completed with the alto sax played by Dick New York, NY from your theme song CUTE? Stabile. We were wrong about the Stabile sax I have tried to get being used on SO RARE. them with a Google search but to no Gerard Selman The song YOU DO, words by avail. West Palm Beach, FL and music by Josef Myrow was introduced Here they are: in the 1947 film “Mother Wore Tights” which starred Mind if I say Betty Grable and Dan Dailey. you’re cute? - In every way you ’re Mr. Selman 's letter is an expansion o f a question cute. - Those big about the song YOU DO posed by a reader in the brown eyes, - That last newsletter issue. classic nose, - That cool and BOOKS & RECORDS TO CONSIDER carefree pose. The “cute” Kitty Kallen (Second verse) I mean I like your BILLY ECKSTINE - I AIN’T LIKE THAT style, - That sly intriguing smile. - Your every Quadromania 222425-4444 mood, - Your attitude, - Add up to y o u ’re cute. This is an album from the strange apparently German- The Neal Hefti instrumental written for Count based record company mentioned in the last newsletter. Basie is the mid-theme for BBJ. Words were It contains a generous supply of both archival and more added after the success of the Basie version. The popular Eckstine recordings, all painstakingly restored most interesting vocal version is by Kitty Kallen. to sound absolutely wonderful, but as with the previous review (Lunceford last issue) there is little information G. Alan Sternbergh I read that Dick Stabile actu- or ‘heart’ involved. The four CDs cover the period Chambersburg, PA ally completed Jimmy Dor­ from 1944 to 1954 including the recordings made by sey’s parts in the record ses­ the Eckstine-led band with some duets with Sarah 5 VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

Vaughan, to the ■ . ■ ' • but noting solo period when uadroman ia| 4 Trimble’s back­ most of us became tí AlfiTT •*'£ ground as a link to acquainted with the the time past. After marvelous thus introducing Eckstine voice. himself to the reader, Behrens Seventy-seven goes on to write an tracks include such extremely varied popular Eckstine book that’s part a favorites as EV­ Billy Eckstine set series of lists, part ERYTHING I quiz show, part HAVE IS YOURS, movie references, BLUE MOON, CARAVAN, MY FOOLISH HEART part themes of the and I WANNA BE LOVED. As before, please be bands, part places a warned that if you’re looking for an information-filled student can learn album, this is not the one for you. Only the dates and swing, noted by Book cover the personnel are shown with no background stories or state. There are ref­ historical notes. If, however, you want excellent tech­ erences to web sites having to do with Big Bands nical work presented in a computerized impersonal (including BBJ’s site) and notations about prominent style, then this is an OK album. The sound is excellent. musicians who maintained ‘day’ jobs while playing at The eight page CD booklet is factual and cold. This night, or began second careers after they finished their album is, though, a spectacular bargain. musical endeavors.

Available at any large record store, or they can order it. Fun to read, difficult to categorize. Jack Behrens is Also available from BBJ Sales at 1-800-377-0022. obviously a fan and we ’re indebted to him for taking the time to note so much random information about the THE BIG BAND DAYS - bands, and to give us a fresh, more youthful perspec­ A MEMOIR AND SOURCE BOOK tive. John Behrens Available from: www.lstbooks.com or by phone at This 8.5 x 11 soft-cover book is entertaining and full of 1-800-839-8640. random facts about the Big Band Era written by a 170 pages plus index drummer who entered the business later. He is looking at the Big Bands from a younger perspective and as THE BIG BAND IN CONCERT - such tends to give a fresh approach to the way the music MAYHEM! is viewed from a zoomed-out time perspective. We Hindsight HCD 281 who lived in the Era tend to forget the way it’s viewed by generations who are looking back rather than look­ This single CD holds 15 tracks totaling just under forty ing at that time from the inside; inside experiences tied minutes of a ‘live’ dance band remote recorded in so inexorably to the music and the irreplaceable atmo­ stereo with crowd reaction and the enthusiasm repre­ sphere of the time. Behrens gives us that perspective, sentative of an audience-driven performance. The for he mentions his record collection dates back to 45s, collection is special because of the ‘live’ nature of the while the bulk of the Era was over by the time 45 s were CD, taken from a college appearance in 1953 and introduced by RCA Victor. including many top Hollywood sidemen.

The memoir part of the book recalls the author’s The theme, LEAN BABY, opens the CD, followed by experiences with the regional Dick Trimble Band, such Billy May sliding sax standards as CHARMAINE recalling not only his own experiences (after the Era) and FAT MAN BOOGIE, but also included are TOP 6 VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

HAT, WHITE TIE AND TAILS and EBB TIDE not ’40s made possible the precise synchronization of the offered with such verve on two channels, finally resulting in stereo recordings studio recordings. LITTLE transferred to LPs or to two track consumer tape. The BROWN JUG is given new idea of adding spaciousness to sound has continued to life, SOFTLY AS IN A develop with multiple tracks, especially useful in mo­ MORNING SUNRISE is tion pictures where sound effects are able to come from offered in a way Sigmund all directions, forexample. In recording, this ‘surround sound’ can result in a listener feeling the ambiance of Romberg never intended the room in which the performance was recorded. and LET’S PUT OUT THE LIGHTS AND GO TO But original monaural recording cannot be faithfully The Billy May album SLEEP makes the usually made into stereo anymore than coveted family photo­ vocal tune achievenew value. graphs from childhood can be made three dimensional. To attempt to do so would simply destroy the original If you’re a Billy May fan, this CD is a must. If you’re character and value of the archival photos. The same is not, it might be considered simply a duplication of true of equally coveted original recordings. They can some May recordings you already have. The power and be processed to remove tics and pops and reduce excitement of the music, however, lifts it far above the surface noise, but adding echo and splitting the highs ordinary. and lows as was vainly attempted forty years ago, simply destroys the original, sublimating the perfor­ Available directly from Hindsight at 1 -800-775-8467. mance with technical trickery.

Often listeners confuse frequency response, or crisp­ THE STEREO STORY ness to stereo. The recordings from the Big Band Era before tape and electronic advances were, for the most Every so often someone phones to ask if the original part, limited in the breadth of sound able to be captured recordings featured on BB J are available in stereo. The resulting in a less spacious sound. Monaural record­ short answer is they are not, for originals recorded ings today (if any were made) compared to the mono before the early 1960s were monaural, made before the recordings of yesterday would be considered by some stereo recording technique was in common use. In the listeners to be “stereo” because of this difference. earliest days of stereo there was an attempt to create a “stereo effect” from some of these mono recordings by There’s no question today’s recording techniques are splitting the frequency response and sending the bass to superior. Digital recording and reproductionvirtually one side and the treble to the other. Often reverberation eliminates background noise. Studios utilize more was added in an attempt to create depth. Those ideas didn’t acoustic reverberation; instruments or sections are last long for they destroyed the character of the originals. given their own microphones to capture each nuance of sound and overtones. As you know, stereo is the recording system using two separate channels in an attempt to duplicate the way our This is not to say today’s recording techniques are not ears hear a ‘live’ performance with sound from the left superior. They most certainly are and the recordings coming principally into your left ear and sound from made today are vastly superior in sound to the record­ the right into your right ear. Our two ears can determine ings of the ’30s and ’40s in many ways. We cannot, the direction and depth of the music, adding dimension however, duplicate an original performances by Tommy in sound similar to the way our two eyes see in three Dorsey, , or . dimensions. In the simplest terms, two microphones We cannot reproduce the verve and excitement of feeding two distinct recording channels can then record original recordings by Helen Forrest, Helen Ward. sound similar to the way we hear it with our two ears. Martha Tilton or Doris Day. T oday ’ s digitization of the When it is played back, the two channels are fed into originals have, though, allowed us to hear those origi­ two speakers, one on the left and the other on the right. nals with better frequency response and lower noise levels than were possible when they were recorded. While there was experimentation with stereo earlier, They’re not in stereo; but archival gems with the best tape recording which came into general use in the later reproduction possible in their original form VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

background music for the movie of the same name, 1945 IN MUSIC written by David Raksin. Johnny Mercer, who was This was a cross-over year in American music with the having a very good year, wrote the words. Appealing bands still working full-tilt, but the vocal recordings of to both swing and vocal fans was the ’s the bands the primary recordings. While a few years wild (for the time) take on CALDONLA, a rhythm and earlier listeners and record buyers were attracted to blues number written and introduced by sax man and instrumentals, most if not all of the 1945 hits featured singer Louis Jordan. singers. It was the year of SENTIMENTAL JOUR­ NEY and MY DREAMS ARE GETTING BETTER Not only was the music changing, but 1945 was the year ALL THE TIME both with the voice of Doris Day with WWII ended with victory in Eu­ . Helen Forrest and rope declared on May 8th and the had left Harry James and Japanese surrender on August 14. respec­ President Roosevelt began an un­ tively to go out on their precedented fourth term that year, own and was but didn’t live to see victory de­ a primary personality on clared, dying on April 12th at his the 1945 music scene. retreat in Warm Springs, Geor­ gia. It was the year a previously Even Benny Goodman little-known vice-president from sang, creating a two sided Missouri made the tactical deci­ recording of GOTTA BE sion to use the atomic bomb. It THIS OR THAT. The had been developed in a highly first side of this novelty secret operation unknown to lyric was by Goodman Harry Truman before he assumed himself, of all things, the presidency. It was a decision while the second side was purely instrumental. that would change the world These years later when the recording is played, only the forever.The young men would be coming home soon, vocal side is generally played. It was also a prime year and the national mood was optimistic. for Johnny Mercer who rose to the top of the charts with Johnny Mercer, , Perry Como, ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE, CANDY and AC-CENT-CHU-ATE THE POSITIVE, both lyrics Bing Crosby, DickHaymes, Jo Stafford, Helen Forrest, written by Mercer himself. the Pied Pipers and dominated the music scene in the middle of the ’40s, all singing on top- A few years before Stan Kenton had captured the swing rated recordings. It was indeed a year of change, both fans with his powerful new Big Band sound demon­ in music and in history; a year signaling the beginning strated with ARTISTRY IN RHYTHM and ART­ of the demise of the Big Band Era. ISTRY JUMPS, but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind it was the Kenton vocal recordings reaching the ears of a critical mass of the record-buying public. In 1945 it was June Christy’s TAMPICO.

Woody Herman appealed to the swing enthusiasts with his ‘first herd’ but when he switched from Decca to Columbia his very first recording became a million seller. It was LAURA with Woody himself singing the vocal. The musical theme for the song came from the The Andrews, Haymes & Stafford

8 VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

happened that Benny Goodman came in that night to SIDELIGHTS get to go with the Goodman Band on an important date in Washington, D.C. Goodman was (Humorous stories told by and about musicians) disappointed to hear Dave Tough was ill, but sat at the bar for a while listening to the small group, and then left. BASS PLAYERS The marriage was on the rocks. The couple hadn’t spo­ About an hour later the Hickory House phone rang with ken to each other in a meaningful way for years. When a call for the drummer. Shelly recounts the conversation: the kids went away to college, their parents filed for divorce. The kids begged their parents to see a mar­ “What’s your name, kid?” Goodman asked. riage counselor to give it one last try, hoping to keep “Shelly Manne, sir.” them together. During, the very first session, the “This is Benny Goodman.” counselor simply took a beautiful upright bass from his “Yes, Mr. Goodman!” closet and began to play. Immediately the troubled “You want to go on the road with my band?” couple began to talk to each other, discovered they had “Sure!” more in common than they thought and the marriage “Just be down at Grand Central Station at eleven was saved. The kids were amazed. “How did you do tomorrow morning with your cymbals. I’ve got the that?” they asked the marriage counselor. drums.”

He answered, “People always talk during bass solos!” Shelly said he must have been at the station about eight with his cymbals and his little suitcase. About two Dinah Washington hours later this young drummer who had been playing was at a hotel where drums professionally for just a year was joined by she heard society music coming from the ballroom. Cootie Williams, Geòrgie Auld, Charlie Christian, She asked someone who Helen Forrest and the entire list of legendary musicians. that was. She was told it He recalls being scared, for the Goodman band was on was Meyer Davis. She said, its way to play for March of Dimes President’s Ball. He “(Expletive.) That ain’t was sitting by himself when Goodman came over and Miles Davis!” asked: CAB CALLOWAY “What are you worried about, kid?” “Well, I haven’t seen the book or anything.” Cab Calloway was a “You’ve been listening to my music for years.” guest the White House dur­ ing the Nixon administra­ And Benny Goodman walked away, never saying an­ tion. President Nixon other word to the young drummer who played the job seemed especially warm for two or three days until Davey Tough rej oined the band. and cordial as he pumped Dinah Washington ERROLL GARNER A musician needs a good ear Cab ’ s hand. It happened to to play jazz well, but it’s be Duke Ellington’s birthday and President Nixon said, possible to be musically illiterate and still excel in jazz. “Mr. Ellington, it’s so good you’re here. Happy, happy A prime example of that is pianist Erroll Gamer who birthday. Pat and Ijust love your music.!” Cab smiled was able to hear a melody one time to know that piece and thanked him and quietly stepped on down the of music forever. It was a talent he had from early receiving line. childhood, so he never bothered to leam to read music. SHELLY MANNE The now famous drummer He was asked about that and his answer was classic: tells the story of his first big “Hell, man, nobody can hear you read!” break in the music business. Drummer Dave Tough was sick and Shelly subbed for him with Joe Marsala’s We're indebted to Bill Crow, author of “Jazz Anec­ small group playing at the Hickory House in NYC. It dotes” for giving us musicians' inside stories. 9 VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

HEADS-UP REQUEST REMINDER We trust you are, however, not typical. Also as usual, we implore you not to give up and look at the answers The next Big Band Jump request program is scheduled before you give it a genuine, heart-felt try first. Here for the weekend of 1 -2 July, 2006. There are three ways goes: to send your Big Band Era request. (1) By regular mail sent to: BIG BAND JUMP - PO Box 52252 - Atlanta, (1) Name the early portly violin-playing bandleader GA 30355 (2) On the internet on the specific request who was known as “Pops.” page by clicking on the request box at the web site: www.bigbandjump.com or (3) By toll-free phone at 1- (2) Name the first nationally-known bandleader 800-377-0022 where you can leave your name and phone number and we’ll return your call. In every who hired Frank Sinatra. instance, please give your name and the city and state where you live. (3) Name the two movies featuring the . RANDOM TRIVIA QUIZ (4) When it began in 1936 it was called “The Band The book titled “The Big Band Days: A Memoir and That Plays The Blues.” Name the band. Source Book” reviewed in this issue included a Big Band quiz. We’ve stolen some questions from that (5) A somewhat stylized early bandleader who quiz, put together by the author of the b o o k , Jack used the phrase, “Yousah, yousah” often. Name Behrens. The nice part o f ‘borrowing’ someone else’s him. quiz is the varied approach. The continuing problem, as before noted, is the level of difficulty. Some readers (6) Johnny Mercer was one of the founders of disdain certain quizzes because they’re so easy for which ’40s record label? them, others write to say the questions are too obscure. Perhaps this fresh source will bridge the gap between (7) A piano-player featured with Horace Heidt tough and easy. Some of the folks in the office, for who left to start his own band in the middle forties. example, couldn’t think of the answer to question five, He’d also written a hit for Glenn Miller. others thought question eight was overly simple.

Rather than a multiple- (8) Who was Doris Mary choice or matching quiz, Anne Kappelhoff? you have to come up with the answer from your cer­ (9) She was the girl singer ebellum. As usual, the with Anson Weeks’ Band answers are hidden in a before she married a west­ box elsewhere in this is­ ern movie star. Name her, sue. If you’ve listened to please. BB J for any length of time the chances are excellent (10) She and her sister sang you know the answers al­ ready, but as before noted, with Tony Pastor, and she it’s nearly impossible to starred with Bing Crosby assess the knowledge quo­ in the movie “White Christ­ tient of the typical listener The answer to question 5 in a 1934 mas.” She was a single or reader. Paramount Studio publicity shot singing star for six decades. Name the singer. 10 VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

UPCOMING BBJ PROGRAM TITLES May 27-28, 2006 When the Big Band Era is JAMES FAMILIAR recalled, Harry James is one May 6-7, 2006 (Repeat for new subscribers) AND OBSCURE of the key names that comes ARCHIVAL MUSIC The idea here is to seek out to mind. In this two hour recordings not session we re-introduce you to the often easy to find in the record stores, but those heard hits of the James band, but also seek frequently talked about by Big Band fans. out some of the band’s more obscure re­ For the most part these will not be the oft- cordings, both during the era and into the heard titles but instead the titles which ’50s and ’60s. There was a time, for should be heard and are not because exampl e, when James pared hi s band down they ’re eclipsed by their frequently played to a small group to play a lounge in Las more popular cousins. ’s Vegas. There were also seldom-heard POMPTON TURNPIKE is an example, LPs of beautifully crafted Neal Hefti com­ ’s MY HERO, Dick positions, many of which have been virtu­ Jurgen’s RAGTIME COWBOY JOE, ally lost in time. We tend to gravitate to ’s STAR DREAMS and the familiar to the detriment of perfectly Kay Kyser’s PUSHIN’ SAND are ex­ BBJ host Don Kennedy entertaining but more obscure recordings. amples of some of the records not played Both will be heard on this program. as often as they should be. June 3-4, 2006 A listener mentioned how May 13-14, 2006 The announcer on SENSUOUS SAXES/ much he disliked the sound of LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD dance band remote PRETTY PIANO a saxophone. Our response to PALLADIUM broadcasts would that listener was to compile a often identify the list of the prettiest sax recordings we could find; it is program as coming from the Hollywood Palladium. parts of that list making up the first hour of this Every top band performed there while the audience weekend’s program. Plas Johnson, Marshal Royal, enjoyed luxurious surroundings and the dancing com­ Charlie Bamet, Larry Elgart, and Johnny fort of a resilient floor. W e re-visit the sounds of music Hodges will all be represented creating sensuous saxo- by Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, , Jerry Gray, Buddy Rich, Tony Pastor, Ralph Flanagan and others as the clock spins back through time, capturing the mood and feeling of those late night broadcasts.

May 20-21, 2006 Two categories of THE SMALL GROUPS small groups will be heard in this program; the groups from within the band and the groups oper­ ating on their own. The Erroll Gamer Trio and The Three Suns are examples of small groups independent of a larger band. The Clambake Seven, Gramercy Five, Goodman’s Quartet and the Krupa Jazz Trio were all formed from members of the band. They’ll all be represented in this session along with Woody Herman’s Chips, the Crosby Bobcats, Ralph Sharon’s Trio, King Cole and Eddy Heywood. In auto fuel terms this Gerry Mulligan & Ralph Sharon program would be described as a ‘rich mixture.’ Sharon plays pretty piano 11 VOLUME 104 BIG BAND JUMP NEWSLETTER MAY-JUNE, 2006

phone sounds. To carry on the mood, we assembled sky itself will be the subject. We wonder, parentheti­ some equally appealing piano players, mostly with Big cally of course, if a title including the word “satellite” Bands but occasionally performing with just bass and would apply? Probably not. drums. Thornhill, Shearing, Basie, Carle, Cole and Sharon combine to demonstrate how pretty a piano can July 1-2, 2006 The date of this program be. REQUEST TIME should give you plenty of time to send in your requests, and June 10-11, 2006 One of our listeners you’re encouraged to do so. There are at least three DOUBLE THEMES suggested this pro­ ways to let us know what you’d like to hear, and we gram, consisting of encourage you to let us know in plenty of time. You can not only Big Band themes, but concentrating on the use the form on the web site atwww.bigbandjump.com, bands using two or more themes. In some instances the send your request by U.S. Mail to: BIG BAND JUMP bands changed themes when the American Society of - PO Box 52252 - Atlanta, GA 30355 or simply phone Composers, Authors and Publishers wouldn’t allow us toll-free at 1 -800-3 77-0022 and leave your name and their licensed compositions to be used on the air. Other number so we can return your call. In any event, please bands adopted as their new theme a successful record­ give your name, city and state. No need to include your ing. Some used separate opening and closing melodies. address, but we DO need your name, city and state. Whatever the impetus, this session will concentrate on This reminder will also appear in another location in the bands with multiple themes. We will, of course, this newsletter in case you don’ t happen to read this far. hear again the title generally connected to the band Come to think of it, we don’t need to say that if you followed by its musical twin or triplet. DIDN’T read this far!

June 17-18, 2006 This program will concentrate July 8-9, 2006 One of our listeners asked, THE NAME GAME on the stories behind the titles RARE AIRCHECKS “What are airchecks?” They of some Big Band recordings. were one-of-a-kind sixteen We’ve often told the story of ONE O’CLOCK JUMP inch disks made by radio engineers, usually at the re­ coming from an unnamed riff used to fill a ‘live’ radio quest of the bandleader or program sponsor. These program close to one o’clock. There are other more ‘airchecks’ were never meant to be heard by anyone obscure stories involving streets, cities and even band outside the station or network, but they’ve turned up in boy names used to fill the title line on a record label. storage places to preserve the sounds of ‘live’ radio The music resulting from these names (or is it the other broadcasts thought to be lost forever. This program is way around?) will, of course, form the reason for this made up of those until now private preservations of program. Name stories are no respecter of style or actual Big Band radio broadcasts of the ’30s and ’40s. tempo, so we could be subjected to a generous variety Goodman, Basie, Miller, Anthony, Shaw, Spivak, on this BIG BAND JUMP. James, May, Krupa and Cole are all involved in these lost musical moments. June 24-25, 2006 In accordance with a HEAVENLY BODIES suggestion from a lis­ ANSWERS TO RANDOM TRIVIA QUIZ tener, this session will concentrate on music titles referring to the sky, and (1) Paul Whiteman (2) Harry James maybe a higher entity. There ’ s been no final list yet, but the BBJ NEWSLETTER reader suggested quite a few (3) Orchestra Wives/ including BLUE MOON, MOONGLOW, SUN VAL­ (4) Woody Herman (5) Ben Bemie LEY JUMP, HOW HIGH THE MOON, STAIRWAY (6) Capitol Records (7) Frankie Carle TO THE STARS and quite a few others. The moon and (8) Doris Day (9) Dale Evans its ancillary qualities (glow, light, silver) seem to be (10) Rosemary Clooney involved a great deal in love songs, as are the stars. In any event, the bodies above and their qualities or the

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Our continuing back page girl singer photo tradition features Susannah McCorkle.