king ubu Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Thanks for your post, Jim - we shall think about this, for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 - New Testament: the Clef/Verve Years - New Testament: the Roulette Years - Popular Times: the Reprise Years - Back to Basics: Granz & Pablo Might want to break these down/up some more, because there was another post-Roulette stint at Verve that kinda ran parallel to the Reprise years, and then that kind broke down into the Dot years (two albums w/The Mills Brothers here, btw, in addition to the instrumental ones), which kinda ran parallel to the years spent doing one(or two)-offs for various medium (ABC Command, for example)-to-smaller (Flying Dutchman, Groove Merchant, MPS, etc)-to-smallest labels (Happy Tiger!), both with and without various singers such as Bing Crosby, Kay Starr, and Jackie Wilson. The Pablo years were defintiely a return to stability as far as label affiliation goes, and it had been a long stretch in between. Seeing as how those years found the band sorta wandering in the desert labelwise, maybe you could call them the Blazing Saddle Years. the idea is just to get a handle on the years, not necessarily the labels. The first installment of the new testament band is what came after the war simply. The Roulette Years era would then be sort of the high point of that particular band, maybe the "Atomic Age" would be a better label. After that came the popular "Reprise" times that are often a bit looked down upon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swinging Swede Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Here's the current proposal for the structure of the biography in several "eras". If you have any other and/or better propositions, please let me know! So: - Childhood/Youth - Early Years: Blue Devils, Bennie Moten - Barons of Rhythm: The Old Testament - War Years: Radio Days - The Hard Years - New Testament: the Clef/Verve Years - New Testament: the Roulette Years - Popular Times: the Reprise Years - Back to Basics: Granz & Pablo What do you think about this? feedback wanted! Not bad, but I agree with JSngry about the post-Roulette/pre-Pablo era. Those years were messy label-wise in that Basie seemed to jump between labels for almost every new album. And there actually were more albums for Verve than for Reprise anyway, so it shouldn’t be called "the Reprise Years". But stressing the “popular” aspect is right, since there were a lot of "commercial" oddities during those years (Beatles, Bond etc.). I’m not sure either why the war years should be considered Radio Days more than other periods. I must also mention that the terms “Old Testament” and “New Testament” refer to Basie’s first and second big band during their entire existences, and not just the first years of each. Maybe it wasn’t intended, but it can look that way from the listing above. These are just minor objections regarding the names of the eras, and they can be changed at a later time anyway. The basic structure seems fine to me. A couple of possible additions, though: Since the Count Basie Orchestra still exists, and has recorded over 10 albums since Basie’s death, one could consider adding a chapter about the orchestra’s doings after his death. Also, while the two years between his big bands when Basie led a smaller group may be a relatively short period, it was a significant departure. The band included many modernists and Basie himself was apparently content with it. One could consider making that an era of its own, albeit a brief one. OK, you asked for feedback so there you have some! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swinging Swede Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 The first installment of the new testament band is what came after the war simply. Maybe that was a typo, but it was still the Old Testament band after the war. The Roulette Years era would then be sort of the high point of that particular band, maybe the "Atomic Age" would be a better label. “Atomic Age” is excellent. Or maybe "Atomic Era" or "Atomic Years". Something with “Atomic” in it at any rate, since that is how the Roulette era has come to be referred to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted June 9, 2004 Report Share Posted June 9, 2004 thanks for the feedback; we'll work on those names a bit then. They'll do fine as working names if we get rid of the label names. We referred to the war as radio days as there was a record ban and most if not all of the stuff from the discography is related to broadcasts (and v-discs). Indeed typo, or rather too sharp a shortcut. We all agree there was a period where it all settled down to explode into Atomic proportions during New Testament times right? Now to put some concrete years with the eras... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted June 9, 2004 Report Share Posted June 9, 2004 Swede, thanks a lot! You've given us some food for thought ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 A couple of years ago, I had some dealings with a jazz fan in Canada named John Tracey who is an expert on Basie (his handle is basie nut) and has everything issued by him and probably a lot of what's been written about him. At my suggestion, he joined the old BNBB and participated in some Basie threads but didn't join this Board, to my knowledge. If you want his email, please send me a pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Just in case - I take care of this! No need to contact Brad! Thanks! ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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