Ricko Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 More fascinating Armstrong-stuff from Chris. First, George was close with Eli's Chosen Six (I think he wrote about them somewhere...maybe in the afterword to the Mosaic Condon booklet?) so that has to be the Dick Voigt in question. Regarding the issued repertoire, as Dan questioned, here's how it went down. By the time of George and Glaser's correspondence, all the recording for "Ambassador Satch" had been done. George recorded an entire concert in Amsterdam, an after hours session in an Italian movie theater in front of a small group of Italian fans and a studio session in Hollywood in January 1956. "Sleepy Time" was recorded at the Amsterdam concert and held off of "Ambassador Satch," perhaps because of the Decca restriction. However, George got around this the following year by issuing it at the start of the "Satchmo the Great" album, the official soundtrack of the Edward R. Murrow film. "Tin Roof Blues" was also recorded at the concert but Decca recorded and released TWO versions of the tune that same year, once in the studio and once live at the Crescendo. They issued the Crescendo version and sat on the studio until it eventually came out on an LP. However, Glaser must have won that battle as "Tin Roof" appeared on "Ambassador Satch," marking two major live releases of the tune within about a year. "Someday You'll Be Sorry" was recorded at the after hours Milan session but this time Decca must have put its foot down. They had a studio version of it from 1953 and they issued a live performance of it also from the Crescendo Club. It eventually was added to the 2000 reissue of "Ambassador Satch" on Sony, but George lost that battle in 1956. Thus, they must have worked it out on a case by case basis and George only won with "Tin Roof Blues." However, I sometimes wonder if George won a little bit when it came time to Decca's "Autobiography" project at the end of 1956. For all the great tunes in that massive set, Decca didn't record any of the material George produced from 1954 to 1956, including old hits like "St. Louis Blues," "Ain't Misbehavin,'" "Blue Turning Grey Over You," "Squeeze Me," "Keepin' Out Of Mischief," "West End Blues," "Tiger Rag" and "Muskrat Ramble" (though the set did include a live version of that last tune from 1947). Very interesting stuff...more, Chris, more! Ricky Riccardi dippermouth.blogspot.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 The thought plickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted November 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Coming soon, Mrs. Cudahy has her way and Helen does a jazz narrative. But first, a little diversion. Some of us have been enjoying photos from Life magazine on another thread, so isn't it a coincidence that I came across an issue of Life in my apartment. It is the November 10, 1941 issue and it is no coincidence that that was the week I arrived in New York on this freighter, the SS Godafoss: If you squint, you might be able to see me (Gunnar Albertson) listed among the aliens on the ship's manifest As I have mentioned in another thread, I think, our convoy was attacked by U-Boats and one of the U.S. Navy ships, the Reuben James, was sunk with a loss of 100 lives. Woody Guthrie wrote a song about it. Be that as it may, my ship, the Godafoss, brought me back to Iceland in June of 1944 and was sunk 5 months later... Getting back to Life, as it were... Gene Tierney was on the cover... and while there is a story inside about U-Boat attacks on the North Atlantic, our not-so-pleasant adventure was covered in the following issue (mainy because of the Reuben James, of course). Inside this issue are also reminders of past insensitivities... and great-looking gas-guzzling cars... Why was that ride not 30% smoother? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 did you guys see this? im a little worried... Oscar Films Louis Saturday, Nov 29, 2008 6:01AM Louis Armstrong's life story is the subject of a new major motion picture and the executive producer is his former manager, Associated Booking Corp.'s Oscar Cohen. The film, starring and directed by Forest Whitaker, is the first to be authorized by the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation. Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ron Bass of "Rain Man" fame is also on board. It is unclear when the film is slated for production. Cohen will share his personal accounts of Armstrong's life in biographical form, according to a statement. After getting his start as an office boy in the late 1940's, Cohen followed the singer throughout his career to become Satchmo's road manager and later his manager after the death of Joe Glaser. Glaser formed Associated Booking Corp. with Louis Armstrong in 1940. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted November 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Yes, I have seen that—the exploitation continues, shamelessly. Glaser owed everything to Louis. Correct me if I'm wrong, Ricko. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnhrtg Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Thank you very much for this wonderful thread, Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jostber Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 I go with Louis. Playing live in Australia is much better than hanging out at celebrity weddings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricko Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Wow, I didn't go on the computer for about a day and I'm still catching up on these treasures. Here's some relevant info/comments/nothingness: *The Oscar Cohen/Forest Whitaker film news broke in early October. A couple of weeks earlier, Charles S. Dutton announced that he is co-producing with Quincy Jones a six-hour miniseries on Armstrong's entire life for HBO that will be written and directed by Jon Sayles. Sayles's involvement immediately made it exciting and HBO usually does very well with extended mini-biopics, such as the multi-award winning "John Adams." However, Dutton said they are getting the rights to about 15 songs...in six hours...which, to me, sounds like a joke. However, since the Whitaker announcement, I haven't read any more about the Dutton/Quincy experiment. Whitaker's been gaining speed but it is going to be a standard biopic for the big screen and boiling Armstrong's life down to about two hours is a little ridiculous. Stay tuned... *Regarding Glaser, Chris said that Glaser pretty much owed everything to Louis and that's one million percent correct. People sometimes like to make Glaser the bad guy for working Pops too hard but as I wrote elsewhere, Armstrong wanted it that way. But it's not like Glaser was living the high life when Armstrong hired him. Both of them were at rock bottom. Glaser was big in the Capon syndicate in the 20s but he was arrested and put on trial twice, once for beating a woman and once for sleeping with an underage girl (the legendary Sidney Korshak got Glaser off and later came to collect his repayment by privately taking over Associated Booking in 1962 with no questions asked). When the depression hit and prohibition was repealed, Glaser was down and out. Meanwhile, Armstrong was big in the early 30s but not huge. He was a big seller for OKeh and that label and Victor waged a vicious bidding war for Armstrong's services in 1932. Time magazine profiled Armstrong that year and he also appeared in "Rhapsody and Black and Blue" as well as the Betty Boop cartoon. He even made it to Europe. But, he also was constantly on the run from the mob, he couldn't appear in New York and Chicago, he once had gangsters threaten him at gunpoint in his dressing room. He wasn't in any major motion pictures and he couldn't really hold a band of his own together either. His lips blew out on him, he ran out of money, he had a terrible fallout with his hood manager Johnny Collins and he had to lay low in Europe from end of 1933 to the beginning of 1935. When he was ready to come back to America, he had nothing. But he always liked Glaser and knew that Glaser could make his mob-past disappear. Glaser had never managed a band but threw everything into and the rest is history. By the end of 1935, Armstrong had a band, was making headlines in New York and recording pop songs for Decca. The next year, his name was above the title in "Pennies From Heaven," the start of a major motion picture career. In 1937, he took over the Fleischmann's Yeast Show, breaking down more barriers and creating some incredible music, as can be heard on the recent CD of these performances. Because the Decca period has been so neglected (Mosaic to the rescue!), people forget about these years in Armstrong's career but he was huge and it all had to do with Glaser's maneuvers. Hell, the history books like to talk about the sensation Benny Goodman had at the Paramount in 1937 but no one talks about the fact that two weeks later, Armstrong played the Paramount and obliterated Goodman's record. Glaser was in the money, Pops's troubles were behind him and they all lived happily ever after. So the fact is that both men needed each other both men made the other a helluva lot of money. Whatever Glaser's flaws were (and God knows he had 'em), that cannot be denied. *Regarding Chris's letters, it was interesting to see that Decca granted permission for "Someday You'll Be Sorry" to be released because as I wrote yesterday, it didn't make the final cut on "Ambassador Satch," not being released until 2000. *If you'd like to sample the Armstrong/Woody Herman tour, Armstrong's set from the Grand Rapids, Michigan show was released on the GHB label as "Jazz Is Back In Grand Rapids," a solid example of the All Stars of the period (my favorite edition) that includes a final jam on "The Saints" with Herman's entire band. (Columbia recorded the Carnegie Hall concert and used "Mack the Knife" from it on the "Satchmo the Great" LP but the rest of it is still stuck in the vaults. I've heard it and it's a very good show with a loving atmosphere, including some humorous shout-outs to "Mr. Glaser" in the audience.) *I don't think I have to point it out, but the whole Helen Hayes/Medina Tempo show was issued decades later on Columbia as "Chicago Concert." Hayes's narration has been edited out but it's a terrific night with the group. Though Avakian had his complaints about the repertoire, it's the kind of show that you can look its two discs of content, and grasp just what a large band book the group had at this point. I mean, just look at the omissions: "Jeepers Creepers," "Blueberry Hill," "Kiss to Build a Dream On," "La Vie En Rose," "C'est Si Bon," "Someday," "Ole Miss," "Muskrat Ramble," "Tin Roof Blues," "St. Louis Blues" and so on and so forth. The price of the CDs have gone through the roof but you can download both discs at Amazon for $16.99. *Indeed, the All Stars headed to Australia, missing Kelly's wedding. While there, they appeared on the Ampol Show, turning in some of their most scorching performances of the period, while Pops indulged in some very funny dialogue with the show's host, Jack Davey. The entire show was uploaded on a blog and can be downloaded and listened to here: http://ade42.blogspot.com/2008/08/louis-ar...ited-ampol.html Keep those cards and letters coming, Chris! Yours in Pops, Ricky Riccardi dippermouth.blogspot.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Back to Helen Hayes... That's an interesting memo, Chris. I assume the handwritten note at the bottom is the response by Conklin, throwing the ball back to Avakian. Concklin's name's slightly familiar, but I can't place it. Who was he at Columbia those days? MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricko Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 That's an interesting memo, Chris. I assume the handwritten note at the bottom is the response by Conklin, throwing the ball back to Avakian. Concklin's name's slightly familiar, but I can't place it. Who was he at Columbia those days? MG Jim Conkling was president of Columbia Records in the 50s. Ricky Riccardi dippermouth.blogspot.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fer Urbina Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Thank you, Randy. Since the note I posted is dated 1967 and this item is dated 1968, I can only assume that The Mystique folded and the Earth opened up, as it were... It actually does look as if it opened up indeed, see here Wonderful, wonderful thread, sir (I just discovered it). MANY THANKS FOR THIS. F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 That's an interesting memo, Chris. I assume the handwritten note at the bottom is the response by Conklin, throwing the ball back to Avakian. Concklin's name's slightly familiar, but I can't place it. Who was he at Columbia those days? MG Jim Conkling was president of Columbia Records in the 50s. Ricky Riccardi dippermouth.blogspot.com Thanks Rick - I thought Lieberson was the president of Columbia. What was his job, then? MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted November 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 (edited) Lieberson was the head of the entire record division, not just Columbia. Fer Urbina: "It actually does look as if it opened up indeed, see here" Sure did! Thanks. Edited November 30, 2008 by Christiern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Lieberson was the head of the entire record division, not just Columbia. Ah, including Epic, OkeH and the Columbia Record Club? MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted November 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 (edited) I recall having lunch with Lester Wunderman, who was said to have invented the club. I'm not so sure that the club came in under Lieberson. Edited November 30, 2008 by Christiern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Now I really am on pins and needles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted December 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Back from the DEEP-Z dive... That's DEEP and I... And here are DEEP and Z... We had a good time, as usual. Back to Glaser, et al in a moment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted December 2, 2008 Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 Back from the DEEP-Z dive... That's DEEP and I... And here are DEEP and Z... We had a good time, as usual. Back to Glaser, et al in a moment... ...And a great time was had by all ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted December 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 Back to letters and memos of yore... Coming up: Edward R. Murrow and ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricko Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Crazy stuff, Chris. I knew Avakian wanted Armstrong at Columbia but I never knew what kind of contract they were willing to offer him. Five years exclusivity with a $250,000 advance? How could Glaser not jump on that? I know he was offended by the "Faithful Hussar" flap but also, Armstrong's popularity was at an all-time high and I think Glaser wanted to test the free agent waters, to use a sports term. Thus, Columbia albums in 1956, Decca in 1957 and 1958, Verve in 1956 and 1957 and Audio Fidelity in 1959 and 1960. That's four different labels in the same period of time Armstrong would have been exclusive to Columbia. The mind boggles because I know Avakian had some wonderful ideas for Pops (such as the album with the Ellington Orchestra that I mentioned earlier) but then we wouldn't have gotten the Autobiography or the Verve material. Please keep 'em coming, Chris, because I know the end is near (Columbia recorded the London trip for "Satchmo the Great," the June 1 Helen Hayes concert, Armstrong's Newport set in July and a date at Lewisohn Stadium the following week and that was IT) and I can't wait to see how the relationship officially broke down. Ricky Riccardi dippermouth.blogspot.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serioza Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Amazing documents and pictures Chris. Thank you for sharing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Five years exclusivity with a $250,000 advance? How could Glaser not jump on that? But wasn't it spread over ten years according to some formula that was to be discussed later? There was talk about the spread being heavily back-loaded. And that musicians' fees etc would come out of it. It still seems like a too large chunk of money, though, considering that Columbia only got two weeks on the pop charts with "Satch plays Fats". Don't know what Columbia's hit singles record was in 1955 - doesn't appear that he had any hit singles in 1955 but AMG is not too reliable. He had 3 hit singles (pop) in 1956: "Blueberry hill", which I think was on Decca, and got to #28; "Now you has jazz" (Capitol? - thought that was Bing) #88; and "Mack the knife", on Columbia, which was the biggest at #20. One hit album and one hit single seems like not a great return to me. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted December 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Bear in mind that an artist like Armstrong is no flash in the pan. His recordings have great shelf value and artists of that stature will, in the long run, outsell the overnight superstars. In the business, they used to call good jazz recordings "catalog items," meaning that they could stay in there and sell slowly but surely, year after year. Remember. too, that this is 1956, a few years prior to the entrance of the Clive Davises—accountants and attorneys whose judgement barely took artistry into consideration, people whose obsession with the bottom line started the record/music industry's downward slide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Bear in mind that an artist like Armstrong is no flash in the pan. His recordings have great shelf value and artists of that stature will, in the long run, outsell the overnight superstars. In the business, they used to call good jazz recordings "catalog items," meaning that they could stay in there and sell slowly but surely, year after year. Remember. too, that this is 1956, a few years prior to the entrance of the Clive Davises—accountants and attorneys whose judgement barely took artistry into consideration, people whose obsession with the bottom line started the record/music industry's downward slide. I do agree. But Columbia had 16 LPs on the pop chart in 1955. And "Satch plays Fats" was definitely a "smallie". Herman - 3 herds - #11 - 2wks Brubeck - Storyville - #8 - 6 wks Doris Day - Young at heart s/track - #11 - 6 wks Brubeck - Brubeck time - #5 - 22 wks Carmel Quinn (who?) - Arthur Godfrey presents - #3 - 10 wks Michel Legrand - Holiday in Rome - #5 - 16 wks Doris Day - Love me or leave me s/track - #1 - 28 wks (19 @ #1) Various - I like jazz - #5 - 10 wks Michel Legrand - Vienna holiday - #13 - 2 wks Les Elgart - Dancing sound - #15 - 2 wks Ray Heindorf & Matty Matlock - Pete Kelly's blues - #9 - 8 wks Armstrong - Satch plays Fats - #10 - 2 wks Paul Weston - Mood for 12 - #15 - 2 wks Norman Luboff - Songs of the west - #14 - 3 wks Andre Kostalanetz - Meet A K - #4 - 11 wks Brubeck - Red hot & cool - #7 - 3 wks How much were they paying Brubeck, Herman or Michel Legrand? No flash in the pans, these. In fact only one flash in the pan in the whole load of them. I mean, I raised this because GA and JG keep on at each other about chart action and how popular Louis was at the time but really, there ain't a great deal of it. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Carmel Quinn was a singer on the Godfrey tv show which was watched regularly by millions of our citizens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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