Tag: 1925

From the Record Shelves #377 – Oh, How I Miss You Tonight – It’s nice to hear tunes that have been used a lot in the New Orleans Revival in their original 1920s versions, straight and including the verse. Here it is: The Benson Orchestra of Chicago plays one such number on a very early electrical recording (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #375 – Who Takes Care of the Caretakers Daughter – Whitey Kaufman’s Original Pennsylvania Serenaders play a tricky arrangement well executed with an especially enjoyable brass section to begin with. The slap tongue bass clarinet is another feature as is a (…) 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

From the Record Shelves #344 – Red Man Blues – Here’s another fine jazz recording to remember, enjoy, and celebrate because of its 100th birthday this March. Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra was well recorded in their hometown by Victor in 1925, with portable equipment. The violin player Armand Piron (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #343 – My Good-For-Nuthin’ Man – When we look at the record production from March 1925, a hundred years ago, we find Clara Smith in there with a couple of recordings. She made many interesting and good ones in her recording career that spanned over eleven years (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #339 – Papa De-Da-Da – Step into the time machine and travel back a century. On March 4 in 1925, a band under the leadership of Clarence Williams was in the studio to record and promote one of his own compositions (in partnership with Spencer Williams). His wife, Eva Taylor (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #338 – My Gal, My Pal – This was recorded in March 1925, a hundred years ago, but it still hasn’t reached its “best before date” limit. The lively performance was recorded in Buffalo, New York, with portable recording equipment and released on Okeh. The band that managed (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #275 – I Ain’t Gonna Play No Second Fiddle – Before leaving New York for Chicago at the end of 1925, Louis Armstrong had one last session. The leader was the very busy pianist, composer and manager Perry Bradford, who called his studio band (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #10 – Dinah – Here is a jam on Dinah. The tune is from Akst-Lewis-Young and was published in 1925. Ethel Waters sang it, and Jean Goldkette’s Orchestra made an instrumental record. Other memorable versions are the ones of Bing Crosby with (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #182 – Oh Me! Oh My! – Sometimes a collector or a specialist comes up with recorded evidence that jazz was everywhere, thus debating if New Orleans really was the birthplace of jazz. But in any case, the city had more jazz than anyplace else (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #170 – The Co-Ed – It’s interesting to reflect over how quickly the musicians and the bands influenced each other within the fast developing early jazz idiom. Here we have a group from New Orleans that under the name Crescent City Jazzers (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #166 – Lazy Woman’s Blues – I used to transcribe what Louis Armstrong played and then go to our rehearsal place a few houses down the street and practice it. There is a lot to learn from those tracks; Armstrong’s choice of notes (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #90 – Careless Love. First I must make a bit boring comment on sound and transfers of original 78 rpm records. Once, my girlfriend wanted me to place a bid on an 78 auction because she wanted to have a Bessie Smith Record (…) read more and listenread more and listen