I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed
LP RCA Vintage Series LPM 525
I have a strong impression that a 1930s Fats Waller recording session was a hilarious affair. No arrangements, not any unusual instrumentation that called for extra efforts from the studio men and easy money for the musicians.
Everything depended on the good spirit of Fats himself, and to get in a good mood he needed to drink. And so there may often be a crossed line where the party gives too much effect on the precision in the music and when Fats vocalizing starts to express contempt rather than get inspiration from the song in question.
It could be the subject of analysis from session to session and be commented on in the liner notes, but I’ve not seen that yet, and if I think about it one more time, it’s better not to do it.
Let’s just say that Fats and his buddies, or rhythm, or whatever they’re called, made piles of records more or less swinging. In this case it’s more, and I especially dig Gene Sedric’s clarinet.
As usual, you can depend on Herman Autry to add some excitement to the last chorus with his trumpet. James Sithe, Charles Turner, and Yank Porter are handling the rhythm instruments guitar, bass, and drums, respectively, in this recording from November 1935.