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Home , Andy Kirk (musician), Charlie Christian, Dave Tough, Deep Deuce, Don Byas, Eddie Durham

Charles Henry “Charlie” Christian (July 29, 1916 – In a 1978 interview with Charlie Christian biographer March 2, 1942) was an American swing and guitarist. Craig McKinney, Clarence Christian said that in the 1920s and '30s Edward Christian led a band in Christian was an important early performer on the electric , and a key figure in the development of and City as a pianist and had a shaky relationship with trum- peter James Simpson. Around 1931, he took guitarist . He gained national exposure as a member of the Sextet and Orchestra from August “Bigfoot” Ralph Hamilton and began secretly schooling the younger Charles on jazz. They taught him to solo on 1939 to June 1941. His single-string technique, com- bined with amplification, helped bring the guitar out of three songs, "Rose Room", "Tea for Two", and "Sweet the rhythm section and into the forefront as a solo instru- Georgia Brown". When the time was right they took him ment. John Hammond[1] and George T. Simon[2] called out to one of the many after-hours jam sessions along Christian the best improvisational talent of the . "", Northeast Second Street in Oklahoma In the liner notes to the 1972 Columbia Solo Flight: City. The Genius of Charlie Christian, writes that, “Let Charles play one,” they told Edward. “Ah, nobody “Many critics and musicians consider that Christian was wants to hear them old ,” Edward replied. After one of the founding fathers of bebop, or if not that, at some encouragement, he allowed Charles to play. “What least a precursor to it.”[3] do you want to play?" he asked. All three songs were big Christian’s influence reached beyond jazz and swing. In in the early and Edward was surprised that Charles 1990, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of knew them. After two encores, Charles had played all Fame. Christian was raised in and was three and “Deep Deuce” was in an uproar. He coolly dis- missed himself from the jam session, and his mother had one of many musicians who jammed along the city’s [7] "Deep Deuce" section on N.E. Second Street. In 2006 heard about it before he got home. Oklahoma City renamed a street in its Bricktown enter- Charles fathered a daughter, Billie Jean Christian, born tainment district Charlie Christian Avenue. December 23, 1932, by Margretta Lorraine Downey of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They never married. Billie Jean (Christian) Johnson died 19 July 2004.[8] 1 Early Life Charles soon was performing locally and on the road throughout the Midwest, as far away as and . By 1936 he was playing Christian was born in Bonham, Texas, but his family and had become a regional attraction. He jammed with moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma when he was a many of the big name performers traveling through Ok- small child. His parents were musicians and he had two lahoma City including and . It brothers, Edward, born in 1906, and Clarence, born in was Mary Lou Williams, pianist for " and His 1911. All three sons were taught music by their father, Clouds of Joy", who told John Hammond Clarence Henry Christian. Clarence Henry was struck about Charlie Christian.[9] blind by fever, and in order to support the family he and the boys would work as buskers, on what the Christians called “busts.” He would have them lead him into the bet- ter neighborhoods where they would perform for cash or 2 National Fame goods. When Charles was old enough to go along, he first [4] entertained by dancing. Later he learned guitar, inher- In 1939, Christian auditioned for John Hammond, iting his father’s instruments upon his death when Charles [5] who recommended him to bandleader Benny Goodman. was 12. Goodman was the fourth white bandleader to feature He attended Douglass School in Oklahoma City, and black musicians in his live band: the first was Jimmy was further encouraged in music by instructor Zelia N. Durante, for whom Achille Baquet, a light-skinned black Breaux. Charles wanted to play tenor in the clarinetist who could pass as white, played and recorded school band, but she insisted he try instead.[5] in Durante’s Original New Orleans Jazz Band (1918– Because he believed playing the trumpet would disfigure 1920); the second was violinist Arthur Hand, who led his lip, he quit to pursue his interest in baseball, at which , which from 1922-1925 included he excelled.[6] light-skinned black trumpeter Bill Moore, who was billed

1 2 3 STYLE AND INFLUENCES

that year Goodman led a sextet with Charlie Christian, , longtime trumpeter , former tenor saxophonist and later drummer . This all-star band dominated the jazz polls in 1941, including another elec- tion to the Metronome All Stars for Christian. , who replaced in the first sextet, filled the piano chair in Basie’s absence. In 1966, 24 years after his death, Christian was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1989, Christian became one of the first inductees into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

Benny Goodman on clarinet 3 Style and Influences

as The Hot Hawaiian. The third was , whose band from 1925-1928 also featured Bill Moore. Good- man became the fourth by bringing Teddy Wilson in on piano in 1935, and on in 1936. Goodman hired Christian to play with the newly formed Goodman Sextet in 1939. It has been often stated that Goodman was initially uninterested in hiring Chris- tian because the electric guitar was a relatively new in- strument. Goodman had been exposed to the instrument with and among others, none of whom had the ability of Christian. There is a re- port of Goodman unsuccessfully trying to buy out Floyd Smith's contract from Andy Kirk. However, Goodman was so impressed by Christian’s playing that he hired him instead.[10] There are several versions of the first meeting of Chris- tian and Goodman on August 16, 1939. The encounter that afternoon at the recording studio had not gone well. Christian recalled in a 1940 Metronome magazine article, “I guess neither one of us liked what I played,” but Ham- mond decided to try again—without consulting Good- man. (Christian says Goodman invited him to the show that evening.)[11] He installed Christian on the bandstand for that night’s set at the Victor Hugo restaurant in Los Angeles. Displeased at the surprise, Goodman called Rose Room, a tune he assumed Christian would be un- familiar with. Unknown to Goodman, Charles had been reared on the tune, and he came in with his first chorus of about twenty, all of them different, all unlike anything Goodman had heard before. That version of Rose Room lasted forty minutes. By its end, Christian was in the band. In the course of a few days, Christian went from making $2.50 a night to $150 a week.[12] Christian was placed in Goodman’s new sextet, which in- cluded Lionel Hampton, Fletcher Henderson, Artie Bern- stein and . By February 1940 Christian dom- The ES-150 was the first electric guitar played by Charlie inated the jazz and swing guitar polls and was elected to Christian. the Metronome All Stars. In the spring of 1940 Good- man let most of his entourage go in a reorganization Christian’s solos are frequently referred to as horn-like, move. He retained Charlie Christian, and in the fall of and in that sense he was more influenced by horn players 3

such as and [13] than by early ing multiple solos, Christian shows much the same im- acoustic guitarists like and jazz/bluesman provisational skills later captured on the Minton’s and Lonnie Johnson, although they both had contributed to Monroe’s recordings in 1941, suggesting that he had al- the expansion of the guitar’s role from “rhythm section” ready matured as a musician.[19] The record- instrument to a solo instrument. Christian admitted he ings include "Stardust", "Tea for Two", and "I've Got wanted his guitar to sound like a tenor saxophone.[14] Rhythm", the latter a favorite piece of bop composers and French guitarist had lit- jammers. tle influence on Christian, but he was obviously familiar More of the unrestrained Christian is apparent in record- with some of his recordings.[15] Guitarist ings of the partial Goodman Sextet made in March 1941. recalled hearing him play Django’s solo on "St. Louis With Goodman and bassist absent, Chris- Blues" note for note, but then following it with his own [15] tian and the rest of the Sextet recorded for nearly 20 min- ideas. By 1939 there had already been electric gui- utes as the engineers tested equipment. Two recordings tar soloists—Leonard Ware, , trombon- were released from that session years later: Blues in B and ist/composer (“Topsy”) had recorded with Waiting for Benny, which showed hints of bop jam ses- Count Basie's Kansas City Six, Floyd Smith recorded sions. The free flow of these sessions contrasts with the “Floyd’s Guitar Blues” with Andy Kirk in March 1939, more formal recorded after Goodman had using an amplified lap steel guitar, and Texas Swing pio- arrived at the studio. Other Goodman Sextet records that neer was using amplified electric guitar foretell bop are “Seven Come Eleven” (1939) and “Air with . Mail Special” (1940 and 1941). Guitarists who followed Christian and who were influ- An even more striking example is a series of recordings enced by him include Oscar Moore ( trio), made at Minton’s Playhouse, an after-hours club located , , , George Benson, in the Hotel Cecil at 210 West 118th Street in , , , , by Columbia student Jerry Newman on a portable disk , , and . Tiny recorder in 1941. Newman captured Christian, accom- Grimes, who made several records with Art Tatum, can panied by on trumpet, Kenny Kersey on piano often be heard quoting Christian note-for-note. and on drums,[20] stretching out far beyond Christian paved the way for the modern electric gui- what the confines of the 78 RPM record would allow. His tar sound that was followed by other pioneers, includ- work on Swing to Bop, a later Esoteric Records company ing T-Bone Walker, , Cliff Gallup, Scotty re-title of Eddie Durham’s Topsy, is an example of what Moore, Franny Beecher, B.B. King, , Carlos Christian was capable of creating “off the cuff.” Santana and . For this reason Christian was [16] His use of tension and release, a technique employed by inducted in 1990 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lester Young, Count Basie[21] and later bop musicians, is Christian’s exposure was so great in the brief period he also present on “Stompin' at the Savoy”, included among played with Goodman that he influenced not only gui- the Newman recordings. The collection also includes tarists, but other musicians as well. The influence he recordings made at Clark Monroe’s Uptown House, an- had on “Dizzy” Gillespie, , Thelonious other late-night jazz haunt in the Harlem of 1941 that in- Monk and can be heard on their early "bop" clude Oran “Hot Lips” Page. Other recordings include recordings “Blue'n Boogie” and "". Other tenor sax man Don Byas. The Minton’s recordings were musicians, such as trumpeter , cite Chris- long rumored to feature “Dizzy” Gillespie and Thelonious tian as an early influence. Indeed, Christian’s “new” Monk, but that has since been proven untrue, although sound influenced jazz as a whole. He reigned supreme in both were regulars at the jam sessions, with Monk a reg- the polls up to two years after his death.[17] ular in the Minton’s house band.[20] Earth/’s first manager Jim Simpson de- Kenny Clarke claimed that Epistrophy and Rhythm-a- scribes the band’s first song, “A Song for Jim” as an “ab- Ning were Charlie Christian compositions that Christian solute Charlie Christian takeoff.”[18] played with Clarke and at Minton’s jam sessions. The Rhythm-a-ning line is heard on Down on Teddy’s Hill, and behind the introduction on Guy’s Got To 4 Bebop and Minton’s Playhouse Go from the Newman recordings, but it is also a line from Mary Lou Williams' Walkin' and Swingin'. Clarke said Christian first showed him the chords to Charlie Christian was an important contributor to the Epistrophy on a ukulele.[22] These recordings have been music that became known as “bop” or "Bebop". Pri- packaged under a number of different titles, including vate recordings made in September 1939 in Minneapolis, After Hours and The Immortal Charlie Christian. While Minnesota by Goodman aficionado Jerry Newhouse cap- the recording quality of many of these sessions is poor, ture the newly hired Christian while on the road with they show Christian stretching out much longer than he Goodman and feature Goodman tenor sax man Jerry could on the Benny Goodman sides. On the Minton’s and Jerome and then local bass man . Tak- 4 6 DISCOGRAPHY

1994. The location of the historical marker and head- stone was disputed and in March 2013, Fannin County, Texas, recognized that the marker was in the wrong spot and that Christian is buried under the concrete slab.[28]

6 Discography

Charlie Christian Avenue in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Monroe’s recordings, Christian can be heard taking mul- tiple choruses on a single tune, playing long stretches of melodic ideas with ease.[23] Christian was just as adept with understatement as well. His work on the Goodman sextet sides Soft Winds, Till Tom Special, and A Smo-o-o-oth One, show his use of very few, well placed melodic notes. His work on the Sextet’s recordings of ballads Stardust, , Proposed grave site for Charlie Christian at Gates Hill Cemetery, Poor Butterfly, and On the Alamo as well Bonham, Texas as his work on Profoundly Blue with the Ce- leste Quartet (1941) show hints of what was later called [21][24] cool jazz. Although credited for very few, Chris- 6.1 As leader tian composed many of the original tunes recorded by the Benny Goodman Sextet.[25] Although Christian never recorded professionally as a leader, compilations have been released of his sessions as a sideman where he is a featured soloist, of practice and 5 Health and Death warm-up recordings for these sessions, and some lower- quality recordings of Christian’s own groups performing [29] In the late 1930s Christian had contracted tuberculosis[26] in nightclubs, by amateur technicians. and in early 1940 was hospitalized for a short period in which the Goodman group was on hiatus due to • Electric (Uptown Records, 2011, UPCD27-63), Goodman’s back trouble. Goodman was hospitalized with the Benny Goodman Sextet and the Charlie in the summer of 1940 after the band’s brief stay at Christian Quartet Santa Catalina Island, California, where the group stayed [22] when on the west coast. Christian returned home to • Charlie Christian with the Benny Goodman Sextet Oklahoma City in late July 1940 before returning to New and Orchestra (Columbia lp CL652-195?) York City in September 1940. In early 1941, Christian resumed his hectic lifestyle, heading to Harlem for late- • Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian night jam sessions after finishing gigs with the Goodman (Columbia, 1972) Sextet and Orchestra in New York City. In June 1941 he was admitted to Seaview, a sanitarium on Staten Island in • Solo Flight (live performances as member of the New York City. He was reported to be making progress, Benny Goodman Sextet, Vintage Jazz Classics, and Down Beat magazine reported in February 1942 that 2003) he and Cootie Williams were starting a band.[27] After a visit that same month to the hospital by tap dancer • Genius of the Electric Guitar (Columbia, 1939–1941 and drummer Marion Joseph “Taps” Miller, Christian de- recordings) clined in health and died March 2, 1942. He was 25 years old. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Bonham, • Guitar Wizard (LeJazz, 1993 Charly Holdings Inc.) Texas, and a Texas State Historical Commission Marker and headstone were placed in Gates Hill Cemetery in • Live At Minton’s Playhouse 1941 5

6.2 As sideman [14] Amy Lee, “Charlie Christian Wanted to Play Hot Tenor!", 1940, Metronome With [15] , “Inside Jazz”

• The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (Bluebird, [16] “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee”. Rockhall.com. 1937–1949 [1995]) Retrieved 2012-03-02.

[17] Wayne Goins and Craig McKinney, A Biography of Char- Appearances on recordings by , Benny Goodman, lie Christian: Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing, pp. 327-28 Lionel Hampton, Fred Astaire, Eddy Howard, Edmond Hall, Metronome All Stars 1940-1941, Kansas City Six [18] Black Sabbath FAQ, Martin Popoff; Backbeat Books, with and Lester Young, Helen Forrest. 2011.

[19] Columbia G 30779

7 Filmography [20] “Leo Valdes”. Home.roadrunner.com. Retrieved 2012- 03-02. • 2005 Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian [21] “Centlivre, Kevin “Revisiting Charlie Christian"". • 2007 Charlie Christian- The Life & Music of the Leg- Blogs.myspace.com. 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2012-03- endary (Grossman Guitar Workshop) 02. [22] Peter Broadbent, “Charlie Christian, Solo Flight - The story of the Seminal Electric Guitarist” 8 Notes [23] Spring, Howard (1980) The Improvisational Style of Charlie Christian [1] Hammond, John; Townsend, Irving. John Hammond on Record: An Autobiography. New York: Ridge Press, [24] World Book Encyclopedia, Article “Jazz” 1977. ISBN 0-671-40003-7 [25] Chris Albertson, liner notes Columbia G 30779 [2] George T. Simon “The Big Bands” November 1971 ISBN 0-02-872430-5 [26] Wayne Goins and Craig McKinney, “A Biography of Charlie Christian: Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing” pp. 344 [3] Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian, Columbia G 30779 [27] Wayne Goins and Craig McKinney, A Biography of Char- lie Christian: Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing, pp. 327 [4] Wayne Goins and Craig McKinney, “A Biography of Charlie Christian: Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing” pp. 7 [28] “Burial Info for - Charles Christian”. TXFannin. Re- trieved 2014-03-16. [5] Amy Lee, “Charlie Christian Tried to Play Hot Tenor!" Metronome, 1940 [29] Liner notes from G 30779 [6] Wayne Goins and Craig McKinney, “A Biography of Charlie Christian: Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing” pp. 12-15

[7] Wayne Goins and Craig McKinney, “A Biography of 9 References Charlie Christian: Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing” pp. 18-20 • Broadbent, Peter (2002) Charlie Christian, Solo [8] Wayne Goins and Craig McKinney, “A Biography of Flight - The story of the Seminal Electric Guitarist Charlie Christian: Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing” pp. 20, ISBN 978-1-872639-21-5 Hal Leonard, pub. 399 • [9] “Laurie E. Jasinski, “Charles Henry Christian”, ''The Centlivre, Kevin (1994) “Interview with Jerry Handbook of Texas’' (Online)". Tshaonline.org. Re- Jerome” trieved 2012-03-02. • Centlivre, Kevin (1999) “Revisiting Charlie Chris- [10] Wayne Goins and Craig McKinney, A Biography of Char- tian” lie Christian: Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing, p. 137 • Feather, Leonard (reprinted 1977) Inside Jazz Da [11] Amy Lee, “Charlie Christian Tried to Play Hot Tenor!", Capo, pub. ISBN 0-306-80076-4 Metronome, 1940 • Goins, Wayne E. and McKinney, Craig (2005) A Bi- [12] Liner notes “Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Chris- tian”, Columbia 30779 ography of Charlie Christian, Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing ISBN 0-88946-426-X [13] Wayne Goins and Craig McKinney, A Biography of Char- lie Christian: Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing, pp. 369, 373- • Lee, Amy (1940) “Charlie Christian Tried to Play 374 Hot Tenor!" Metronome 6 10 EXTERNAL LINKS

• McKinney, Craig Charles Christian: Musician

• Savage, William W., Jr. (1983) Singing Cowboys and All That Jazz: A Short History of Popular Music in Oklahoma University of Oklahoma Press, Nor- man, Oklahoma, pp. 48–51, ISBN 0-8061-1648-X

• Spring, Howard (1980) The Improvisational Style of Charlie Christian York University

• Valdes, Leo (1997) Solo Flight: The Charlie Chris- tian Newsletter Leo Valdes, pub.

10 External links

• Charlie Christian Photo Gallery

• Charlie Christian at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame • Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Christian, Charlie • Deep Deuce History and photos

• Charlie Christian Memorial at Find-a-Grave • Charlie Christian, a biography by C.J Shearn 7

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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11.2 Images

• File:--GatesHillChristian-−.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/--GatesHillChristian-$-$.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Template:I took this photo Original artist: Kevin Centlivre • File:Audio_a.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Audio_a.svg License: Public domain Contributors: • 'A'_(PSF).png Original artist: 'A'_(PSF).png: Pearson Scott Foresman • File:BennyGoodmanStageDoorCanteen.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/ BennyGoodmanStageDoorCanteen.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Stage Door Canteen film Original artist: Film screen- shot • File:CharlieChristianAve.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/df/CharlieChristianAve.JPG License: PD Contrib- utors: I created this work entirely by myself. Original artist: Erviltnec (talk) • File:Charlie_Christian.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Charlie_Christian.jpg License: CC-BY-SA- 3.0 Contributors: Den engelske Wikipedia Original artist: Leo Valdes • File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contribu- tors: ? Original artist: ? • File:Gibson_ES-150.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Gibson_ES-150.png License: CC BY-SA 2.5 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Thomas Despoix • File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: This file was derived from Wiki letter w.svg: Wiki letter w.svg Original artist: Derivative work by Thumperward

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