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who's Babs Gonzales?


chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez

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"Babs was a hip guy" - Joe Albany

he was one of the few singers that other jazz musicians seemed to like - has an interesting autobiography, if you can find it - not a great singer, but some nice ideas, and is on the first recording session Sonny Rollins ever made, I believe (Professor Bop, I think, reissued on Blue Note) -

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Babs was a very fun scat singer. I agree that his autobiography "I Paid My Dues (good times...No bread A story of jazz") is a very great read. "eccentric" doesn't come close!! The bk. is kinda hard to find, Norton Records had found a cache of them somewhere, about 8 years ago, and were selling them for $20.00 a pop, in new condition. By the way it was published by the "Expubidence Pub. Corp." Ha Ha!!

-----HB

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Marcello, I fully understand why Lorraine Gillespie didn't welcome Babs as a visitor--he could be (and often was) a bit too much.

Horny, my copy is a Lancer Book, also published in 1967.

My other book has dedications to his mother, Lottie Brown, and Josephine Baker, who died two days apart whilst the book was in its last stages. The publication year is 1975 and, as you can see below, there was no typesetting involved, just typewritten pages, with corrections.

Babspages.jpg

Edited by Christiern
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Professor Bop is my favorite - as I mentioned, Sonny Rollin's recording debut -

"take a song like auld lang syne

than you add a bebop line -

don't call a cop -

call Professor Bop"

(I'm forgetting a few words here but you get the idea) -

That's the song I always associate with Babs. I think J.J. Johnson is on that recording too.

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