This transcript of the radio show is an approximation of what I said in the show. The real spoken parts may differ slightly.
And today a dive to the year war broke out - 1939. That is - in Europe when Hitler invaded Poland. America wouldn't be involved until 1941 and that means that there was no sign in everyday life - and neither in music - of war activities. These rather were the last years of the Great Depression and African American music mostly sung about the hardships of these days.
For today records from Decca's race series - the African American division of the label and I start with a blues of Peetie Wheatstraw. On Decca 7578 here is Little Low Mellow Mama
7578 - Peetie Wheatstraw - Little Low Mellow Mama
7583 - Johnny Temple - Grinding Mill
The Grinding Mill - that was Johnny Temple. Now Temple had his most succesful years just before the war, backed up by the Harlem Hamfats, the house band of Decca's Chicago-based race music, who'd disbanded by the end of '38. Now judging by the style I suspect that it's still Odell Rand, the clarinettist of the Hamfats, that backs up Temple on this one, but I don't have session information to confirm that.
The Grinding Mill is one of these not-so-explicit sexual blues that were extremely popular in the thirties. Most of the Decca blues are pretty urban by nature. Like the next one, the Double-Crossing Papa where Rosetta Crawford sings about the cheating of her man, and she can easily outdo him on that. Here is on Decca 7584 Rosetta Crawford.
7584 - Rosetta Crawford & Her Hepcats - Double Crossin' Papa
7586 - Roosevelt Sykes - 44 Blues
(jingle)
7588 - Blue Lu Barker - Georgia grind
7592 - Jimmie Gordon - St. Peter's Blues
Three in a row - before the jingle you got Roosevelt Sykes with the 44 Blues on Decca 7586 and then New Orleans blueswoman Blue Lu Barker with the Georgia Grind on 7588. And finally you got the St. Peter's Blues of Jimmie Gordon, and unlike most bluesmen he was a studio man rather than someone to play the local joints. He made over sixty recordings for Decca to fill the need of jukebox supply.
Now the jukebox was what a lot of these records ended up. They aimed at the African American public and their economical situation in the late thirties didn't leave much to spend on records or a phonograph to play them. They weren't heard on the radio either - it wasn't until the late forties that Rhythm & Blues was played on air.
For the juke joints though, the phonograph provided a cheap alternative to a live musician, even the ones that played for a drink, a meal and a night's stay. It may be silly thinking afterwards, but the American Federation of Musicians back then had very strong reasons to fight against the recording of music - especially in a time where unemployment figures were sky-high. Two large strikes - the '42-'44 and the '48 strike were held, officially for other reasons, but AFM chairman Petrillo always made clear that he'd held the practice of recording music responsible for the unemployment among musicians. In a time, now, where technological advance is going so fast that everyone knows fighting it is useless - I guess back then they've thought that they would stand a chance.
Of course, the AFM had more to fight than these windmills - like the bad payment musicians got from the record companies. Head of Decca's race music department J. Mayo Williams wasn't better than the rest of them. Most black musicians were pretty unfamiliar with their rights and Williams held the practice to provide free liquor with the sessions, hoping that it would be easier to get them to waive their rights.
Next the pretty unknown Tiny Mayberry with a strong blues of disappointment in the ones she loved. On Decca 7593 here's the Mailman Blues.
7593 - Tiny Mayberry - Mailman Blues
7602 - Ollie Shepard - Shepard Blues (Pig Latin Blues)
The Shepard Blues also known as the Pig Latin Blues, of Ollie Shepard and his Kentucky Boys - a name that would well suit a country band but instead these are real good urban blues. These pre-war years were Shepards' best and in 1939 he'd moved from Chicago to New York where he recorded for Decca and later for Okeh.
Next Bill Gaither, also known as Leroy's Buddy. Gaither did over a hundred sides for Decca and Okeh, often with pianist George 'Honey' Hill of whom you hear "Boogie Woogie" - yes, that's the obvious title of this piano play - in the background. Here's the Right Hand Friend.
7606 - Bill Gaither- Right Hand Friend
7608 - Georgia White - Fire In The Mountain
Fire In The Mountain - you heard Georgia White on Decca 7608 and this was just one of the over one hundred sides she did for Decca. Now that's a typical thing you see in these early years of Decca's Rhythm & Blues catalog. The roster of artists isn't that large and you see, through the years, the same musicians come along, but they all must have done numerous endless sessions in the studios. Great stuff of course for compilers of re-issue CDs and many a Decca artist have made it to a CD box of the Document series, that tries to make comprehensive anthologies titled Complete recorded works of otherwise long-forgotten musicians.
Well, one of the cats for whom this wasn't the situation, is Louis Jordan. Through the late thirties he made just a limited amount of records until he was placed on Decca's sepia series, a line of issues of musicians that had potential to cross over to the mainstream audience. Well for Jordan we know that was a good decision. Yet in the start of his recording career his uplifting jump blues already did well. Here is, still on the race series, number 7609, At the Swing Cat's Ball.
7609 - Louis Jordan - At the Swing Cat's Ball
7614 - Fat Hayden - Voo Doo Blues
The Voo Doo Blues - that was Fat Hayden, an absolute obscure bluesman, like if the encyclopedia of blues doesn't have it, it don't exist. In the Decca catalog his name comes up just once, with this one and on the flip the intriguing title Brownskin Gal Is The Best Gal After All.
Next Trixie Smith with her last single - No Good Man and she's accompanied by Red Allen on the trumpet and Sydney Bechet playing the clarinet.
7617 - Trixie Smith - No Good Man
7618 - Rosetta Howard - Men Are Like Street Cars
Men are like street cars - according to Rosetta Howard and the accompaniment is Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Buster Bailey on the clarinet and on the piano Lil Armstrong. One of these many dirty blues of the thirties - compared to this decade each next one got more decent. Like so many of the Decca artists, all of Rosetta's recordings have been re-released on the Document series for her blues with the Harlem Hamfats, and an Austrian release ded her later material.
Next Frankie 'Halfpint' Jaxon - he was a blues singer but even more a comedian and vaudeville artist and his comedy is clear in this song - Callin' Corrine. He earned his nickname for his height - or rather the lack of it, he was 5'2 only. Apart from his own shows, he appeared in two 1929 movies including St. Louis Blues featuring Bessie Smith after her huge hit of 1925 with Louis Armstrong on the trumpet. He'd worked with Smith before on the musical revues that she did with Ethel Waters. From the thirties he was often heard on radio in Chicago and surroundings with his band the Quarts of Joy. For Decca he did a lot of songs with the Harlem Hamfats but by '39 this studio band had been disbanded.
Listen to Callin' Corrine.
7619 - Frankie 'Halfpint' Jaxon - Callin' Corrine
7626 - Lee Brown - I Can Lay It on Down
7630 - Skeets Tolbert & his Swing Gents - The Stuffs Out
Skeets Tolbert and his Swing Gents, a modest swing band of the late thirties with The Stuff's Out. His Decca recordings from around 1940 weren't overly succesful and that makes that this clarinettist and sax player is mostly forgotten. Tolbert apparently didn't get a place on Decca's main series where most of the swing bands were.
Before that you got the obscure Lee Brown on Decca 2626 with I Can Lay It On Down and with these two I end this episode of the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman. As always you can leave your questions and comments with me and write me at rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com. And on my web site you can read back what I told you today, review the play list and see what'll be on next week. A google search for the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman is the easiest wat to get there.
As for now time's up so I hope to see you next time here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman. Have a great and rocking day.