Jon Hendricks question

[Jim R]

I need some help with a puzzler. I heard something yesterday on one of the local public-supported FM stations which I haven't been able to sort out. There was a set of tunes that began with the unmistakable voice of Jon Hendricks singing the Grofe/Adamson standard "Daybreak". My memory (not to be trusted) tells me that he then moved into Grofe's "On The Trail", with no break in-between. A two-song medley, as it were. I was out and about in the car when I heard it, and when I got home I checked to see if I had the recording. I don't. So, I googled to see what album it came from, and found that "On The Trail" is listed as a track on the TELL ME THE TRUTH album. I don't see it listed anywhere as a medley, however, and I can't find any reference to a Hendricks recording of "Daybreak".

So, does anybody have TELL ME THE TRUTH? If so, was "On The Trail" actually a medley of those two songs?

[medjuck]

Are they both from The Grand Canyon Suite?

[Jim R]

GCS dates to 1931, while "Daybreak" (written with Adamson) dates to 1942. Interesting connection though, with Grofe as well as the theme of GCS, which included "Sunrise".

[mikeweil]

Your ears are working okay, Jim, but the liner only mentions "On The Trail" in the tracklist - it also says the lyrics are by Jon Hendricks - can that be correct?

[marcello]

I have a LP of Tell Me The Truth.

Daybreak isn't on it but On The Trail is. It say "Lyrics by Jon Hendricks".

It also has a fabolous version of Blues For Pablo, one of Hendricks' best recordings. A work of art.

I knew Jon's brother Jimmy very well. I remember him telling me that Jon had lyrics for Blues For Pablo, but he wouldn't record it until both Pablo Casals and Pablo Picasso passed on.

When they did, he did.

[Jim R]

Your ears are working okay, Jim, but the liner only mentions "On The Trail" in the tracklist - it also says the lyrics are by Jon Hendricks - can that be correct?

Thanks Mike. So, "On The Trail" does begin with at least some of the theme of "Daybreak"? (marcello seems to contradict that... ). If so, odd that it wasn't listed as a medley. Also odd is the fact that it was only about 36 hours ago, and I've already forgotten what lyrics I heard. I thought I heard the original lyrics to "Daybreak" (with which I'm pretty familiar, thanks to Chet and others), but I could be wrong. Frankly, I'm not as familiar with the history of "On The Trail". I know it as an instrumental only... so maybe the credit to Hendricks was for "On The Trail" lyrics only. At any rate, I'm going to find that album and buy it.

[marcello]

I have not listened to the record lately, so it may start with Daybreak, but it isn't listed on the album.

Edited February 17, 2007 by marcello

[Jim R]

I have not listened to the record lately, so it may start with Daybreak, but it isn't listed on the album.

Right- as I said in my opening post, my google search revealed that "On The Trail" was a track on the LP, but there was no mention of "Daybreak", and I couldn't find a Hendricks album anywhere with "Daybreak" on it. Thus my question as to whether it was a medley, with "Daybreak" (and Adamson) uncredited.

[mikeweil]

I've never heard "Daybreak" outside of Hendricks' LP, so I cannot tell whether it's from Grofe's Suite. I wanted to say he starts out singing "Daybreak .... etc." like you described, out of tempo, before the band sets a groove for "On the trail".

Edited February 17, 2007 by mikeweil

[Jim R]

I've never heard "Daybreak" outside of Hendricks' LP, so I cannot tell whether it's from Grofe's Suite.

Nah, as I said, they were apparently written 11 years apart.

I wanted to say he starts out singing "Daybreak .... etc." like you described, out of tempo, before the band sets a groove for "On the trail".

Yeah, that's pretty much how I remember it. The theme/chorus for "Daybreak" is pretty simple, short, straightforward, so it made for a good intro. JH really caressed it... Chet's statement of the theme was a bit more trite, imo (but still nice). That was on Pacific Jazz, btw, as well as the title track of one of his Steeplechase albums.