Duke's "Old Man Blues"

[Chuck Nessa]

This has always been in my top 10 favorite Ellington recordings. Tonight I listened to Duke and Bechet play the piece. It is wonderful in both recordings. There are multiple versions by Duke's band in 1931, and Bechet recorded it in 1940. A great performance by the Ellington band was caught on film for an Amos & Andy feature in the '30s. The clip from this film shows up in jazz documentaries all the time, but LISTEN. Freddy Jenkins is a STAR!

Thank you God for the documentation of stuff like this.

[jazzbo]

I'll agree with you Chuck, this is a great piece, and Freddy Jenkins was a wonderful player.

[Harold_Z]

Yeah...OK...Freddie's the cat fannin' himself 'cause the shit got so hot! I remember that clip. I always thought it was Whetsol!

I scoped this thread and headed for my system. WHAT A GAS...I heard Bechet's version and also two Duke versions - one on Columbia (was it originally on Columbia?) and the Victor version. Freddie a star? He should be. Tricky's in there too and so is Barney.

[Chuck Nessa]

Harold, the Columbia version was first an Okeh, and Whetsol was way too "smooth" to "fan himself".

In August of '30 the band went to the West Coast for some gigs and to make an appearance in the aforementioned film. While there, Victor recorded the band on Aug 20 and 26. They did 3 takes of OMB on each date - 5 of them have been issued.

Okeh recorded the tune 2 months later, in inferior sound.

I have always thought all the Victor performances were better (by far). They just sound more sophisticated/lively/finished to me. The solos by Carney and Hodges (on soprano) are good examples of this as is the execution of the band. The Okeh, though later, sounds like an earlier, unsettled performance.

By the way, I was really impressed you went to your collection to check it out. Maybe you'll do it again to argue with me.

[Chuck Nessa]

Then you really need to see the film clip.

[EKE BBB]

Complete sesionography of "Old man blues" in 1930:

Early August 1930. Los Angeles.

RKO's Hollywood Studios. For the RKO film "Check And Double Check."

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: Freddie Jenkins, Arthur Whetsel, Cootie Williams, t; Joe Nanton, tb; Juan Tizol, vtb; Barney Bigard, cl, ts; Johnny Hodges, as, ss, cl; Harry Carney, bs, as, cl; Duke Ellington, p; Fred Guy, bj; Wellman Braud, b; Sonny Greer, d.

RKO M11:1 Check And Double Check [film soundtrack] (Ellington-others)

RKO M11:1a When I'm Blue [Check And Double Check] (Ruby-Kalmar)

RKO M11:1b The Mystery Song [Check And Double Check] (Ellington-Mills)

RKO M11:1c East St Louis Toodle-Oo [Check And Double Check] (Ellington-Miley)

RKO M11:1d Three Little Words [Check And Double Check] (Ruby-Kalmar) [The Rhythm Boys, vocal]

RKO M11:1e Old Man Blues [Check And Double Check] (Ellington)

August 20, 1930. Los Angeles.

RCA-Victor recording session at the Hollywood Studios.

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: Freddy Jenkins, Arthur Whetsel, Cootie Williams, t; Joe Nanton, tb; Juan Tizol, vtb; Barney Bigard, cl, ts; Johnny Hodges, cl, ss, as; Harry Carney, cl, as, bs; Duke Ellington, p; Fred Guy, bj; Wellman Braud, b; Sonny Greer, d.

61011-2 Pirate MPC-509 M11:2 AT2:16 RCA:4/10 Ring Dem Bells (Ellington-Mills) [Cootie Williams, vocal]

61011-3 Victor 20-1532 M11:3 C30v2:3 RCA:4/11 Ring Dem Bells (Ellington-Mills) [Cootie Williams, vocal]

61012-1 Up-to-Date 2008 M11:4 AT4:25 RCA:4/12 Old Man Blues (Ellington)

61012-2 Bluebird B-6450 M11:5 AT2:17 RCA:4/13 Old Man Blues (Ellington)

61012-3 Up-to-Date 2008 M11:6 RCA:4/14 Old Man Blues (Ellington)

61013-1 RCA 63386 M11:7 RCA:4/15 Three Little Words (Ruby-Kalmar) [Emmanuel Hall's Qt, vocal]

August 26, 1930. Los Angeles.

RCA-Victor recording session at the Hollywood Studios.

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: Freddy Jenkins, Arthur Whetsel, Cootie Williams, t; Joe Nanton, tb; Juan Tizol, vtb; Barney Bigard, cl, ts; Johnny Hodges, cl, ss, as; Harry Carney, cl, as, bs; Duke Ellington, p; Fred Guy, bj; Wellman Braud, b; Sonny Greer, d.

61013-5 Victor 22528 M11:8 C30v2:7 RCA:4/16 Three Little Words (Ruby-Kalmar) [The Rhythm Boys, vocal]

61011-6 Victor 22538 M11:9 C30v2:5 RCA:4/17 VD:3/9 Ring Dem Bells (Ellington-Mills) [Cootie Williams, vocal]

61012-4 Jazz Archives 21 M11:10 RCA:4/18 Old Man Blues (Ellington)

61012-6 Victor 23022 M11:11 C30v2:4 C30v2:6 RCA:4/19 Old Man Blues (Ellington)

October 30, 1930. New York.

Okeh recording session.

The Harlem Music Masters: Freddy Jenkins, Arthur Whetsel, Cootie Williams, t; Joe Nanton, tb; Juan Tizol, vtb; Barney Bigard, cl, ts; Johnny Hodges, cl, ss, as; Harry Carney, cl, as, bs; Duke Ellington, p; Fred Guy, bj; Wellman Braud, b; Sonny Greer, d, chimes.

404519-A Odeon 36166 M12:2 C30v2:18 EsCo:1/5 Ring Dem Bells (Ellington-Mills) [Cootie Williams, vocal]

404520-E Odeon 36166 M12:3 C30v2:19 Three Little Words (Ruby-Kalmar) [irving Mills, vocal]

The Harlem Footwarmers:

404521-B Okeh 8869 M12:4 C30v2:20 Old Man Blues (Ellington)

404522-B Okeh 8840 M12:5 C30v2:21 Sweet Chariot (Ellington-Mills) [Cootie Williams, vocal

[Harold_Z]

Chuck...I just gave another listen to the Okeh and Victor versions that I have - not hard to do. It's very enjoyable material. Yeah, Hodges and Carney are heard to bettter advantage on the Victor. Harry gets a full 32 bars on the Victor that he doesn't get on the Okeh. (Brain wasn't going the other night...I'd have realized the Columbias were Okeh)

The differences are interesting - to really get into them you need a score card. A lot of things are changed or moved around. For instance, Dig Barney behind Tricky on the first Bone solo early in the Victor - the same thing happens towards the end of the Okeh. Now I'd be interesting in hearing the alternates (which I don't have yet) to see if they changed parts around at the same session.

[JSngry]

Is Freddie Jenkins the cat who wore gloves as part of his "uniform"? Not heavy gloves, but lightweight, "dressy" gloves?

The reason I ask is because a few years ago I was hanging with some cats in Johnny Taylor's road band, and part of their uniform was women's gloves with the fingers cut off/out. I saw this and immediately thought of Jenkins (I think?). When I asked them why/how they came to this addition to their on-stage apparel, the trumpet player said, with typical chitlin'-circuit directness, "B*tches love 'em".

So much for elegance...