Wigwam Blues
CD Sensation 8 05455 15164 8
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” McKenzie, born in St. Louis around the turn of the century, and the story goes like this:
McKenzie had broken both arms in his activity as a jockey and had a new job as a hotel bellhop. To kill time he used to play hits of the day using a comb and tissue paper. A passerby was Dick Slevin, who did the same with the aid of a kazoo and who knew a banjo player by the name of Jack Bland. The three got together and started to have success as a novelty group, and when they were in Atlantic City, they met and added guitarist Eddie Lang.
The result of their efforts is surprisingly good, as is this tune, made up by themselves and recorded under the alternative name McKenzie’s Candy Kids. It’s not a 12-bar blues but has a common 16-plus-two-bar structure. The rhythm is good, and they get two distinctly different sounds out of their respective melody “instruments” and make good collective improvisation.
Furthermore, we hear a pre-Armstrong scat chorus by McKenzie himself.