Big Beat Steve

Another detail: As also mentioned on Bill Crump's Wikipedia page, he was a member of the J. Frank Terry Chicago Nightingales territory band around 1934. A photo of this band (including 27-year old Crump) figures in the "Swing Out - Great Negro Dance Bands" book by Gene Fernett (first published in 1970):

Didn't the background story of Bill Crump get some mention here before? https://www.organissimo.org/forum/topic/82644-some-never-before-seen-photos-from-the-great-day-in-harlem”/#comment-1616133 A couple of years ago I found the below link on the internet that had the original publication of the research by Steve Siegel on Bill Crump: https://jazzbuffalo.org/2020/07/22/bill-crump-a-great-day-in-harlems-mystery-man/ All in all I feel Bill Crump totally deserves his place on that photograph as a represenative (along with Scoville Browne, in a way) of all those journeyman jazz musicians who staffed the countless bands that formed the basis of the entire jazz scene in clubs, stage shows, roadhouses and wherever ... and without whom it would have been far more difficult (and far less likely) to sustain a vibrant scene that allowed for interaction and interchanges among musicians as well as their audience in many ways and in that many places in all corners of the country and elsewhere. So it was quite fitting that he actually was a member of the Apollo house band (wonder how many budding stars he backed - if only briefly each time - at the Apollo talent shows)? And being a multi-instrumentalist is no mean feat either. There also is this person-by-person rundown of brief biographies of all those present here: https://harlem.org/index.html https://harlem.org/people/name.html Bill Crump is here (his entry reflects the findings of the above story of 2020): https://harlem.org/people/crump.html

I grabbed the RCA "Jazz Tribune" 2-LP set of this more on a whim at a clearance sale a couple of years ago and listened to it first in bewilderment, then in amazement. Best not to be taken in one go, but quite impressive. And it ties in nicely with interviews "accorded" by The Lion elsewhere. He was revered as a sort of "patron-saint" of early jazz by fans of more classic forms of jazz in France in his later days, and features on him as well as interviews with him (made during his stays in Europe) were published every now and then in the "Bulletin du Hot Club de Frane" run by Hugues Panassié. Even in their French translations his colorful character comes across very distinctly in his interviews and reminiscences, and they sure are entertaining reading.

What makes you think so?? What about the recordings of "Willie The Lion Smith & His Cubs" for Decca that he made between 1935 and 1937? Very nice small-band swing - more in the swing idiom than certain of his later somewhat more "old-timey" recordings where he gleefully relished his status as the grand old man of Stride piano - a role that suited this colorful character excellently. I have a selection of these "Cubs" small band sessions on an older Ace of Hesrts LP. But I gather you are more into digital reissues, so I would only be able to direct you to the 1925-37, 1937-38 and 1938-40 volumes of his works in the Chronological Classics series, for example.

Some fans of 50s Hillbilly music do. But his "Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" usually makes them cringe. Below is a feature from the April 1953 issue of Country Song Roundup.

To round off this discussion, the below might be of interest. While perusing my Down Beats, I found the below review of that disc (by Nat Hentoff) in the Dec. 29, 1954 issue: S So ... a Cool Yule and a New Year that's Way Out to everyone ...

Re- ex-library vinyls and their fate in the hands of library users, they are indeed likely to have been (ab)used a lot. But there are exceptions, like in Pim's case. At the recent annual clearout sale of ou local #1 secondhand record shop I picked up an ex-library copy of Vol. 1 ("Post-War Dance bands") of the "Polish Jazz 1946-1956" series (on Polskie Nagrania) from the 70s. I seemed to remember this one was still missing in my collection so at 1 EUR apiece you can take chances. As it turned out I do already have it so it went into a "spare items" corner. The vinyl really looks very, very clean and free from scratches and scuffs (maybe the sticker glued (again ...) to one of the labels helped as it says "Clean with antistatic cloth before use. Damaged records will have to be paid for in full"). Yet I cannot really see myself putting this up at fleamarkets to finicky punters who complain and whine about anything even if you price your items nicely. This LP had been part of the stocks of a "Scientific Library" in East Germany (long before the fall of the Iron Curtain) and the front cover is adorned with the "older generation" of library stickers - nothing attached with clear tape that might peel off but everything on paper and glued on for eternity: library catalog register number on thick paper, another paper sheet where a date is stamped on each time the item is borrowed from the library, and then another glued-on sticker that officially states the item was removed from the library stocks in 1990. One day I will continue peeling these stickers, though ...

@Kevin Bresnahan: As the contents of "Jazz Anecdotes" do not all come from the personal observations of Bill Crow (far from it ...) they are not really closely related. So IMO you can do as you prefer. But make sure you get the "Jazz Anecdotes - Second Time Around" edition. According to the preface, this is a revised and expanded edition of the original "Jazz Anecdotes" first published in 1990. @Mike Weil: Sound advice - plowing too hard through the "Jazz Anecdotes" in one go might be too much of a good thing. Better to take it in smaller instalments. Just like the "Good Vibes" autobio of Terry Gibbs - though his recollections of his time and work with Benny Goodman (aptly named "The Fog" or "El Foggo") are a hoot!

All 8 tracks are on Youtube. For the time being, that's good enough for me. Considering that this LP apparently has never been reissued, my guess is we will have to wait for the Andorrans to do a CD reissue. They have reissued Urbie Green stuff before.

Thanks for the reminder. I just tried and got the sound to work 👍. But the problem is just this: The (desktop!) PC I would be able to play this from is not near my living room or music rom but one flight down in my office. Inconvenient ... (no, no "smart"phone here for this ...)

Which is exactly what came to my mind when I wrote my reply ... But that 8-hours YT clip of department strore Xmas muzak had me wondering ... I've half a mind of downloading it for the upcoming season ... (my better half will be away for a couple of days, so ... )

Yes, that Yuletide record is very nice. Particularly at this time. (Though I am not sure I'd want to listen to ALL the 8 songs on Youtube in one go ). I had not been aware of the existence of this record before either. So thanks, TTK!

Thanks - those links make the Hoss Allen connection (via "Black" Nashvile) clear.

Amazing that they used Louis Jordan for that program as late as 1966. He was near the end of his recorded run and, alas, certainly past his public-appeal prime by that time. OTOH, TV host/(ex-)DJ Hoss Allen must also have been a bit past his most active prime by 1966. If my sources are correct his most important years were in the pre-R'n'R days. I am not familiar with that show and its place and status on TV of those days, but considering everything, maybe they catered to a somewhat older audience that still fondly remembered the likes of Louis Jordan? Anyway ... it's nice to see Louis Jordan in THAT context. "Caldonia" is taken at bit too fast a pace IMO but otherwise his set moves well and the modernized touches that his band comes up with fit in fine. Contrary to some of his very final recordings that somehow sound like not quite flesh nor fowl.

That cover photograph is odd ... and ill-suited ... This is a pic by renowned jazz photographer Susanne Schapowalow and shows trumpeter Fred Bunge in war-devastated Hamburg in 1949! Far outside the time frame of the record and showing a musican who did not figure on that release either (he had virtually left jazz by the period of the recordings and died in 1960 in a car crash). Reconstruction in Europe had progressed rather more by the late 50s /early 60s (and Germany, in partuicular - cf. the German "Wirtschaftswunder" period). So there would have been better period pics to illustrate the feel of the era, i.e. through 50s/late 50s modernism. What were you thinking, you artworkists?? Apart from that, Sonorama is an interesting label that goes where few others bother to tread.

Listening to this now: Some knowns, some unknowns, some discoveries, some early Ray Charles off the beaten tracks of the usual contents of reissue compilations. So overall a nice addition. Bought this 2-CD set yesterday at a local secondhand record shop at a price I couldn't resist - and which turned out to be significantly lower than the asking prices and median sales prices of European Discogs sellers.

Just checked my magazines (I have about 2 full years of Jazzfinder/Playback from 1948-50), and the below article must be the one from the Dec. 1948 Jazzfinder that is being referred to: I'll leave it to Oliver experts to interpret the contents. FWIW, the 1942 Down Beats are available on the Worldradiohistory website.

Thanks for alerting everyone of that link to a free downloadable online version. Quite convenient, so I downloaded the PDF (though I already have a printed copy of "Rust" - 4th ed., though). On a side note, I wonder, however, what the one who wrote the "presentation" of that opus (on the very same website) was thinking (if at all) ... OOP for 40 years?? That long, really? ... And then: "but Mr. Rust probably ended his discography in 1942 because this was the year he stopped writing the book?" Huh? Rust worked on his book MUCH later (as indicated e.g. by entries of collector LPs from the 60s or even 70s featuring previously unreleased pre-1942 jazz), and the focus on "early" jazz coincided broadly with his personal interests (an early edition of his discography had a cutoff date of 1931!). And as for the 1942 cutoff date here: Ever heard of the Petrillo ban? Which makes for a fairly "natural" cutoff if you have to limit the scope of your book. As for post-1942 discographies - "I don't know of such a book" .. Huh again ... When did the "Jepsen" hit the scene? 60 years ago, innit? And later on Brunyninckx, Lord, etc ... Not sure at all if such a clueless "promotional" text does the book made available there full justice ... As for the question on hand about the actual session dates, this has me puzzled too, and I'd like to see the booklet text too. Irakli did have some serious "scene credentials" as an active musician considered the ultimate "French Louis Armstrong idolizer". So at leat to me he seems like someone who knew what he had researched. But OTOH if the sequence of the matrix numbers says otherwise and points towards aDecember that seems to be some evidence too. Wondering what storng-enough proof one way or another will come up ...

Seeing what the "Down Beat Record Reviews" annuals (covering the 1956 to 1963 reviews publisahed in DB) seem to go for these days (several sold at $200+ in recent months) I figured I might as well bump my list again. Mine for sale (Vol. III, reviews from 1958. see opening post of this thread) admittedly is not in as-new condition but a good, clean reference copy (and priced at a fraction of eBay or Abebooks rates), and with that price difference even cross-border shipping might be worth it to someone ...

An interesting topic. Let us know what you think of the book when you've finished it (or in mid-course?). I wonder how such a subject can be treated at book's length without becoming repetitive and full of commonplaces that are not strictly linked to JAZZ LPs. But I'd like to see this a successful job.

My hunch was right: Fresh Sound (yes, them! 😄) DID include her too in their list of reissues of oft-overlooked 50s femme vocalists. So this might get you a little further ... (though they, too, seem to be unwaware of her activities after the 50s) https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/13553-lucy-reed-albums

Thanks, that's an interesting story. Like you, I wouldn't have been surprised if Littman had been reported dead before the end of the 50s. I remember reading a story about the tragic days in Paris in 1955 (cannot recall the source; this was well before the publication of Jack Chambers' book). The author claimed that one major reason why Twardzik fell back into his habit was that Peter Littman, an (I quote from memory) "incurable addict", was the worst possible travel companion for Dick Twardzik (even more so than Chet Baker, it seems) - as he made it all too easy for Twardzik to score again and get high and into the habit again. With the results we know ... So ... time to listen to the CD of the Holland Concerts by the Chet Baker quartet (of 17 and 18 Sept. 1955) now ...

I realize that and will remember your advice. But it's just this: I DON'T smoke, but I do lots of my own repairs and restoration work on my cars, so guess which mineral oil-based fluid is most easily within reach when the idea to remove such a sticker nuisance hits you at the most unlikely moment. (Just checked the last LP where I removed that sticker - and gluey-gooey layer underneath the sticker paper - with thinners. The spot would be nearly invisible if it hadn't been for my own impetuous attempts at peeling off the sticker BEFORE resorting to thinners - which resulted in two small spots where the top paper layer of the sleeve came off along with the sticker)

Boy, are you lucky that The Magnificent Goldberg (MG) no longer seems to frequent this place (which is very regrettable ...). No doubt he'd pull your ear and set you wise about "all organ players sounding quite the same". I am FAR from an expert on organ jazz, particularly of the Soul Jazz period (in which I have taken more than a passing iterest only in very recent years), but there ARE differences (stylistic and soundwise) between, say, Milt Buckner, Wild Bill Davis, Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Rhoda Scott, Jimmy McGriff et al. Whatever similarities there may remain certainly are mostly a matter of the instrument as such. At least if you do not listen closely.

I've sometimes used a drop of lacquer thinners with the results you describe (easily breaking the adhesive layer apart). But you need to be extra careful in order to apply it only to a record sleeve surface that is not easily affected by contact with thinners. So I would not recommend this as a general solution.