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Captain Howdy

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Posts posted by Captain Howdy

  1. Swing Bands: Who should I listen to next?

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    1 hour ago, JSngry said:

    I blame progress. When I was coming up, I'd read the books and magazines, and listen to the old folks, and I'd hear all these names, only some of whom were in the record stores, and, you know, there was NEW stuff happening all the time, so, you know, you get a mental notepad and it's full of all these names, and it's like, ok, I might want to get to that at some point, and some point could be years, decades wven, and that was ok because there was all sorts of other stuff happening in real time, having a "things to get to" list was ok, because it was a given that you couldn't get to it all at once, especially if you want to be a Modern Man Of What's Happening Now, right?

    But now, geez, now it's like there's a "canon" and there's these notions that you gotta know it all and you gotta know it ASAP, and all these completionist anxiety takes root, people start collecting, not for enjoyment but out of guilt, and you know, a thread come up with like 15 or 20 names and it's like ARRRRGHHHHH INFORMATIONAL OVERLOAD, and just stop it y'all, just stop it. You got time, and when you finally do run out of time, it's not like the fate of your eternal soul is going to be affected by whether or not you got around to McKinney's Cotton Pickers or not. It's not an imposed test, it's an self-assignment to be completed at your own pace.

    Yeah, there's more music in the air (past, present, and future) that you or me or anybody else in the world can get to, Ever,

    This reminds me of the mid '80s when I was in college and my friend and I joked that every music review we read cited either The MC5 or James Brown as an influence on every new record released. These claims always seemed somewhat dubious to me since who had ever heard The MC5 or James Brown? I was vaguely aware of James Brown, had probably heard "Sex Machine" in a commercial or somewhere, but who was The MC5? Today James Brown's complete singles have been re-released, and you can instantly hear The MC5's complete oeuvre on Spotify for free. What a world, what a world.

  2. Swing Bands: Who should I listen to next?

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:

    @Captain Howdy: As you say you like the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra and have checked out Lucky Millinder, then by all means do check out the Buddy Johnson Orchestra too. His Decca recordings fit your time frame (his Mercury recordings not quite so, and they got their share of pop-ish vocals too).

    I've heard Buddy Johnson too. I've been listening to a lot of early R&B so I came to Hawkins, Millinder, Andy Kirk, and Johnson from that direction. I was listening to them as proto-R&B however, so I guess I'll have to go back and listen again as jazz since aside from Hawkins they didn't really make much impression.

    I suppose what I was vaguely asking in my OP had to do with the canon and the ranking order. In my mind at least at the top sits Duke, the Count, Benny, and Artie. Those are the giants of the era. Who's next? 

    22 hours ago, Brad said:

    I guess the question is how much do you want to immerse yourself?

    "Immerse" doesn't seem like the right word. I'd like to take a top-down approach from most important to less important, if that's possible. I want to take them one or two at a time, not immerse myself in hundreds of bands at once. 

  3. Swing Bands: Who should I listen to next?

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    >>Is it a matter of "historical listening", i.e. listening to all varieties to cover the field in full (as a matter of "essential educational" listening), or do you already have preferences from what you so far have listened to?

    Yes, "essential education" is a good way to put it. I have formed preferences but they shouldn't really influence your recommendations at this point. Benny is my favorite but I like Duke, the Count, Artie, and Erskine Hawkins. Tommy Dorsey has too many corny vocals and yet I enjoy listening to him, at least once. I didn't like Harry James. I generally don't like vocals. 

    >>It depends on what you mean by "big band": how many brass and reeds satisfy you? 

    I can't make any rules. It depends on the band and the music. If it's good it's good.

    >>It also depends on what you mean by "need to hear."

    "essential education"

    >>To understand where all these guys came from, the twenties and early thirties are important.

    I don't dig that style. I might get there eventually, but not today.

    >>Cab Calloway
    >>Lucky Millinder

    I don't like Cab's vocals but I have heard the Millinder band. 

    5 minutes ago, JohnS said:

    I'm not a big band man but as well as Lunceford you might like to give Erskine Hawkins a go.  

    Yes, I have heard Erskine Hawkins and quite enjoyed it, except for some of the early vocals.

  5. Any Idea Who's In This Lucky Millinder Band (1948?)

    in Discography

    Posted

    On 6/22/2017 at 7:26 PM, Spontooneous said:

    Thanks, Captain.

    The tenor who doesn't get a solo sure looks like Bull Moose Jackson.

    It is indeed. Out of curiosity I tracked down the movie this was taken from. https://www.amazon.com/Black-Big-Bands-Cab-Calloway/dp/B00YSP2LKA

    Here are the personnel for the Millinder band:

    BOARDING HOUSE BLUES (1948) (excerpts) Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra: 
    Personnel (prob.): John Bello, Harold Johnson, Archie Johnson, Leon Meriam (tp), Alfred Cobbs, Gene Simon, Frank Mazzoli (tb), Burnie Peacock, Sam Hopkins, George Nicholas (as), Clarence "Bullmoose" Jackson, Sam "The Man" Taylor (ts), Ernest Purce (brs), Sir Charles Thompson (p), Bernard Mackey (g), Jerry Cox (b), Panama Francis (dr), Lucky Millinder (dir/vo). 
    "Unidentified title" (2:28) 
    "Sweet Slumber" (3:56) (Lucky Millinder) vocal by Paul Breckenridge 
    "Let It Roll" (2:39) (Berry) vocal by Annastine Allen 
    "I Love You, Yes I Do" (3:27) (Andy Gibson) vocal by Clarence "Bullmoose" Jackson 
    "Do The Hucklebuck" (3:27) (Andy Gibson/Roy Alfred)  

    Note that Annisteen Allen's name is misspelled.

  8. Any Idea Who's In This Lucky Millinder Band (1948?)

    in Discography

    Posted · Edited by Captain Howdy

    If anyone is still interested I can post the scans from the Chronological Classics for 1943-47 and 1947-50 which include discographies. If you have a preference, let me know where you'd like me to upload them, as it seems they're too large to attach here.

    I tried uploading to archive.org but it's not cooperating. 1947-50 is up there, at least for the moment, but 1943-47 never showed up.

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