Year: 2025

From the Studio #85 – A Precious Little Thing Called Love – The tune that comes from my studio today was written by Lou Davis and J. Fred Coots. I first heard it by McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, and later I discovered the one by Annette Hanshaw, among other vocal versions (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #84 – ’Leven thirty Saturday night – This nice little song that I have recorded now was written by bandleader Earl Burtnett and two others and was published in 1929. I first heard it in an English version by Ambrose and his Orchestra, and later I’m also digging it by Fess Williams. (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #83 – I’ll Never Be the Same – I associate this song mostly with Venuti-Lang and Billie Holiday in two very different versions. It was written by Matty Malneck and Frank Signorelli, and it was originally an instrumental with the title Little Buttercup. Gus Kahn wrote the lyrics that (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #82 – I’m Sorry I Made You Cry – The jazz heroes Jack Teagarden and Eddie Condon are the main responsible ones that transformed this sentimental ballad into a possible jazz vehicle and inspired me and others to play and sing it. “I’m sorry, dear, so sorry dear I’m sorry I made you cry (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #352 – Cross Words Between My Sweetie and Me – If I should celebrate the centenary of this record that I heard so many times, it would be with a light cocktail or a glass of champagne. I really enjoy listening to what was going on in a New York studio on March 30, 1925 (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #351 – Red Hot Henry Brown – Attempting to attract more record buyers, the early jazz studio groups took on names of southern states or towns, although they lived and worked in New York. The Tennessee Tooters that recorded for Vocalion between 1924 and 1926 was one of them (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #350 – She’s Crying for Me – This is the swan song of the fabulous New Orleans Rhythm Kings. On March 26, 1925, a hundred years ago, the band that made it great in Chicago and influenced many white musicians had since long split up, and most of the members had returned (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #349 – Wigwam Blues – This is, to the day, a centennial recording. On March 24, 1925, the group with the fancy name Mound City Blue Blowers had returned from a tour in England and recorded in New York for Vocalion. The central figure in the little band was William “Red” (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #348 – Nights When I Am Lonely – When Victor made a field trip to New Orleans to record, they found, among others, three young, musically very skilled sisters that sang in close harmony. If they had lived in New York, their career might have been set off from then, but (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #347 – Get It Fixed – The tune was recorded on this day a hundred years ago, on March 20, 2025. Rosa Henderson was born as Rosa Deschamps in Henderson, Kentucky, in 1896 and started her career about 1913. She married an associate in vaudeville named Douglas (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #346 – Railroad Blues – When Louis Armstrong got the job as a soloist in New York with Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra, he took a leap on his way to stardom. He may not have felt at home like he did in New Orleans or with King Oliver in Chicago, but his qualities became evident (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #345 – I Had Someone Else Before I Had You – A hundred years from today, but backwards, we had March 16, 1925; that was a Monday. A group including Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, and Adrian Rollini cut a record of a pop tune. The idea of forming this studio group came from (…) read more and listenread more and listen