John 'Knocky' Parker

[MomsMobley]

From Light Crust Doughboys to Doc Evans to Sleepy John Estes ("The Legend of..." lp on Delmark) to solo Jelly Roll Morton & Scott Joplin (which I've not heard)...

is it possible there's never been a Knocky Parker thread before? Any Chicagoans present at the Estes session or related gigs?

and what of Parker's other career as a Professor of English?

Dig, University of South Florida (Go Bulls!) even has a Knocky Parker Award for Creative Nonfiction Writing--

http://english.usf.edu/awards/

LIGHT CRUST DOUGHBOYS 'Tiger Rag'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_po4iAUw0Fg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiFZ1WeTwp0

Edited March 12, 2012 by MomsMobley

[AllenLowe]

I like Knocky - I have his James Scott LP and maybe his Scott Joplin, not quite sure - I also have a jazz/solo record he made (I think on Jazzology), as well as another with Omer Simeon. Fine player and, apparently, also a PHD (I think) - I might even have the Jelly Roll; I just have too many damn LPs to remember.

Edited March 12, 2012 by AllenLowe

[jeffcrom]

I'm not a Knocky Parker expert at all - I have a couple of albums (a trio with co-leader Omer Simeon on clarinet and a Tony Parenti album from the 1960's) and a few scattered tracks on various albums. I somehow had a negative impression, remembering his playing as being kind of heavy-handed. Well, I've got the Parker/Simeon album on right now, and it's wonderful. Parker has a clean touch - firm, but not heavy-handed at all. What was I remembering? Was I thinking of Wally Rose?

I just found online (and sprung for) the Doc Evans album Jazz at Carleton with Parker on piano. I've been wanting to hear that one, since I'm married to a Carelton College alumna. I'll spin that Parenti album soon, as well.

And Mr. Parker's Light Crust Doughboys feature "Knocky, Knocky" from 1938 is pretty damn good.

[MomsMobley]

ah, some questions answered!

dig the Rose Leaf Ragtime Club interview with... Knocky Parker!

http://www.roseleafragtimeclub.org/f/interviews/parker1.php

The Light Crust Dough Boys gig alone is fascinating; that he did other things-- + English PhD & professorship-- amazing.

Bill: Then, after the war, you really got into the jazz area more, didn't you? How did that happen?

Knocky: I don't know how, Zutty Singleton...Oh yes, I do too. On my two weeks holiday, the first year with the Doughboys, I spent in New Orleans and got a job there at the—some hot spot—the "Little Puppy," or something. There was a clarinetist, I think his name was Sid Arodin...

***

B: Since you brought up his name, did you know James P. Johnson?

K: Yes! Yes, very, very well. We two, for many, many occasions worked together at Bob Moss's concerts in New York. And, of the two of us, week after week, month after month, played together there and were good, good buddies...

... James P. was supposed not to drink, and his son was there along with him to see that James P. didn't drink. But the very first thing when the evening started, the son would get drunk, and that was it, you know, because he'd be the drunkest of them all. And poor old James P. would drink. I never saw him drink too much, but it was bad for his health for him to drink anything at all. I'm sure that's true, you know, it was injurious. He was on his last days. But he was a phenomenal virtuoso, a flawless technician and a superb artist.

I like Knocky - I have his James Scott LP and maybe his Scott Joplin, not quite sure - I also have a jazz/solo record he made (I think on Jazzology), as well as another with Omer Simeon. Fine player and, apparently, also a PHD (I think) - I might even have the Jelly Roll; I just have too many damn LPs to remember.

Edited March 13, 2012 by MomsMobley

[jeffcrom]

I'm in the middle of my first spin of an album a picked up a few weeks ago - Knocky Parker and his Backwoods Boys, Audiophile AP-84. I picked this one up mostly because one of my favorite New Orleans clarinetists, Raymond Burke, is present. But the album looked so weird that I've been scared to play it. It purports to be a "skiffle" record, with an instrumentation of clarinet, harmonica, piano, banjo, tuba, and drums.

Well, it's kind of corny at times, but it's also a lot of fun - and Raymond Burke (who is not present on every track) wails. It took me about halfway through the first side to realize that the harmonica player, listed as "Del McClinton," was indeed young Delbert McClinton.

And Ewing Nunn, who ran Audiophile records, was a recording genius. Audiophile's records are some of the best-sounding I've heard. This probably isn't recognized by most jazz collectors, because Audiophile's output was skewed toward Dixieland and traditional jazz. Doc Evans made many records for Nunn, and the Olympia Brass Band's Audiophile album is still the best-sounding New Orleans brass band record out there.

I have one or two colored-vinyl Audiophiles, but my copy of this one is oe black vinyl, not the red swirl shown in the picture.

Edited July 3, 2012 by jeffcrom

[jeffcrom]

I'm playing Knocky Parker and his Backwwods Boys again, and I like it even more this time. Probably not for everyone, though - the tuba and banjo require a certain suspension of disbelief. But I like tuba and banjo, and these guys are good - the banjoist, Smokey Montgomery, was Knocky's colleague in the Light Crust Doughboys. I think that this was Delbert McLinton's recording debut, and he sounds good. And Raymond Burke still wails.

[AllenLowe]

according to Al Rose (who is not always reliable) Knocky had a PHD and actually wrote his thesis on some aspect of American music. I should track it down one of these days (or, really, some of these days...)

Edited September 27, 2012 by AllenLowe

[Teasing the Korean]

He taught English at the University of South Florida. I have friends who took his class. Not sure what his specialty was. Apparently, he had a piano in the classroom, even though it was an English class. I was told that if the discussion was going nowhere and the students seemed bored, he would just go over to the piano and play Scott Joplin to wake them up.