DEMS BULLETIN
DUKE ELLINGTON MUSIC SOCIETY
04/1 April-July 2004
FOUNDER: BENNY AASLAND
HONORARY MEMBER: FATHER JOHN GARCIA GENSEL
EDITOR: SJEF HOEFSMIT
ASSISTED BY: ROGER BOYES
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THE INTERNATIONAL DEMS BULLETIN DUKE ELLINGTON MUSIC SOCIETY 04/1 April-July 2004 FOUNDER: BENNY AASLAND |
Voort 18b, 2328 Meerle, Belgium
Telephone: +32 3 315 75 83
Email: dems@skynet.be
SAD NEWS
Nell Brookshire
Ruth Ellington - Boatwright
DEMS Domesticities
A Brilliant Idea
NEW
FINDSThree Little Words
Interview in Paris
The BBC America Dances Story
The Complete Wellington concert
Early OKeh Sessions
04/1 DEMS 8
Willie Timner writes:
I am still trying to come clear with the studio locations for a
number of Ellington's recording sessions. Precious little
could I find for the earlier OKeh sessions.
1) 1Dec26: Gussy Alexander
S74430
acoustic
S74431
acoustic
S80235
electric
¿OKeh
Studios, at 145W. 45th Street?
¿What
does the prefix "S" stand for?
2) 3Nov27: Duke Ellington
W81775-A
W81776-B
W81776-C
W81777-C
¿OKeh
Studios, at 55th Street and 5th Avenue?
(electrical
recording procedure licensed by Western Electric,
designated
by the prefix "W").
For all the following OKeh recording sessions, I have the same
location as for session #2 above.
I have also heard that all OKeh recordings were done at their
Union
Square Studios, at 14th Street and Broadway.
If my memory does not deceive me, the information for session
#2 came from Steven Lasker and I picked it up from one of
the DEMS Bulletins. However, I could not find it
now. Could you give me some pointers?
DEMS responds:
We have only found the following: your question in Bulletin 97/3-16/4
about the location of the recording sessions in 1938 and 1939; Steven
Lasker's response to this question in 98/1-16/5; and your more
specific question about the period from 5Mar37 to 8Jun39 in
98/4-9/2.
Steven Lasker replies:
I've never before written anything in DEMS Bulletin about the
locations of OKeh's New York recording studios between 1926 and
1931, but will be glad to report what I've found on the subject
along with some observations and
opinions. First, some background, discographical
details being borrowed from standard reference works:
OKEH'S 70000, 80000 and 400000 SERIES MASTER NUMBERS
70000 series (1921 to 1926): In mid-1921, OKeh's
New York master numbers jumped from about S7997 (by
Joseph Samuels) to S70000 or S70001 (untraced by me; S70003 is
by the Norfolk Jazz Quartet). The 'S'
master number prefix is visible on most 70000 series recordings from
1921-24; I don't know what it designates. The 'S' is
omitted from most recordings made from July 1925 and thereafter,
the last reported use of the prefix being S73680 from 3oct25 (per
various OKeh 78s I've seen, and the listings found in Tom Lord's
"Clarence Williams" and Laurie Wright's
"OKeh Race Records 8000
Series"). The highest-numbered master reported in the
series is 74453, recorded by Esther Bigeou on or about 21Dec26
(see Storyville 81, afterthought 369).
Among record collectors and discographers, there has been some
controversy as to whether late 70000 series recordings are acoustical
or electrical. A notation found on the matrix card for
master 80258, "see 74453 acoustical," would seem to indicate that
OKeh considered the 70000 series to be acoustical until the very
end. Also note that an OKeh advertisement that appeared in
the 12Mar27 Chicago Defender states that
"Clarence Williams' Washboard Four have just made their first
electrically recorded OKeh Race Record," OKeh 8440,
coupling master numbers W80362/63, electrically recorded 29Jan27.
80000 series (1926 to 1928): The earliest masters in
this series, numbers 80001/02, were recorded 14Apr26 by Perry
Bradford and His Gang but never issued. Master 80028,
recorded 30Apr26 by Tom Brown and His
Merry Minstrel Orchestra, exhibits a different and arguably
inferior sound quality to that heard on contemporary 70000 series
masters. It was likely recorded by a primitive electrical
process.
Masters 80135/36, recorded 23Sep26 by Shelton Brooks,
80137/38, recorded 24Sep26 by The Goofus Five, and
80214/15, recorded 16Nov26 by Eva Taylor, are of significantly higher
fidelity and bear 'O-E' - presumably for 'OKeh Electric' -
stamped in the run-out. The highest-numbered O-E masters I
am aware of are 80228/29, recorded 30Nov26 by
Seger Ellis. The O-E masters are sonically boxy but
unmistakably electrical.
The Columbia Phonograph Company purchased the
OKeh-Odeon record division of the
General Phonograph Corporation effective
1Nov26. Columbia used the Western Electric recording
system, which was vastly superior to the O-E
process. Western Electric equipment was installed at
OKeh by 26Nov26, the date of master number W80226 by
The Arkansas Travellers, a recording audibly made with
Western Electric equipment. The master number written
in the wax includes the 'W' (for "Western Electric") prefix.
The highest numbered master in the series is W82099, recorded
by Jessie May Hill in Chicago on 27Dec27; the last
recording in the series is W81989, recorded by Emil Krogh in
New York on 3Jan28.
400000 series (1928 to 1933): OKeh started a new master
series at W400000 (by Vera Barczaniwa) on 9Jan28; it
reached master number W405183 (by Webb Whipple) on
30Mar32. Researcher James Parten reports that W405186
to at least W405200 are transfer numbers assigned in 1932 and 1933 to
recordings that originally bore Columbia or Harmony series master
numbers. 480000 series masters are dubbings of 400000
series masters. 490000 series masters were recorded for
issue on American Odeon and Parlophone. Many of these are
non-vocal versions of OKeh 400000 series masters.
LOCATIONS OF OKEH'S NEW YORK RECORDING STUDIOS
The October 1926 Manhattan telephone directory places OKeh's
main office at 25 West 45th Street, and their
distributing division at
15 West 18th Street. OKeh would keep an
office at 25 West 45th Street until sometime in 1931,
and I believe this was also the address of their studio in
1926. A second studio was added in January 1927, this
evidenced by a dramatic change in recording room acoustics, or "room
tone," heard on some - but not all - sides, and a letter dated 7Jan27
(and reproduced in the notes to Columbia Legacy C4K 63527, a
four-CD reissue of the Complete Louis Armstrong Hot Five
and Hot Seven Recordings) from Tommy Rockwell of OKeh's
recording department, who had recently transferred to the company
from Columbia Records. The stationery's printed
letterhead shows OKeh's address as
25 West 45th Street, but on Rockwell's letter "25"
is crossed out and "145" typed above it.
Collector Brad Kay and I recently listened to a sampling
of OKeh 78s from this period, and came to the following
conclusions:
Probably 25 West 45th Street (1918?-1927): The original
electrical recording room (which may or may not be the same room as
the old acoustical recording room) was medium-sized and partly
dampened. From our collections of OKeh 78s, the following
Western Electric system recordings were found to have been made
in this room: 26Nov26 (W80226 by The Arkansas Travellers);
24Dec26 (W80262/63 by The Goofus Five; also W80265/66 by
Sam Lanin's Melody Sheiks); 3Jan27 (W80276/77 by
Ted Wallace; these were the highest-numbered masters found with
hand-written matrix numbers); 26Jan27 (W80341 by Tom Stacks);
29Jan27 (W80362/63 by Clarence Williams); 4Feb27 (W80391/92/93
by Frankie Trumbauer); 8Feb27 (W80402/03 by
The Goofus Five); 10Feb27 (W80412/13 by Eva Taylor);
7Mar27 (W80501/02/03 by Miff Mole); 18Mar27 (W80644/45 by
Lizzie Miles); 31Mar27 (W80687 by Butterbeans and Susie); 9Apr27
(W80712/13 by Sara Martin); 13Apr27 (remake versions W80688E/89F
by Clarence Williams); 14Apr27 (W80728/29 by
Clarence Williams; also W80731/33 by The Goofus Five);
15Apr27 (W80737/38 by Sophie Tucker); 16Apr27 (W80739/40 by
Eva Taylor).
Probably 145 West 45th Street (1927): The new recording
room added by OKeh in January 1927 was large and acoustically
resonant. The piano, possibly an upright, was often
unusually distant from the microphone and, over the course of
May 1927, became progressively more out of
tune. The room tone and piano are so distinctive that
Brad has long called it "Riverboat Shuffle Hall" after the
Frankie Trumbauer record made there. Recordings from
our collections made in this room which, based on the address found
in Rockwell's letter, we suppose was located at
145 West 45th Street: 20Jan27 (W80314/16/17 by
Boyd Senter); 21Jan27 (W80324 by Boyd Senter);
24Jan27 (W80328/29 by Joe Venuti);
26Jan27 (W80338/39/40 by Miff Mole); 1Apr27 (W80692/93
by Eddie Lang).
Every New York OKeh recording we auditioned from the
period between late April 1927 and late August 1927 was
made in "Riverboat Shuffle Hall": 28Apr27 (W80940/41
by Eddie Lang); 4May27 (W81058/59 by Joe Venuti);
6May27 (W81063 by Butterbeans and Susie); 9May27 (W81071/72
by Frankie Trumbauer); 10May27 (W81073/74 by Sissle and
Blake); 13May27 (W81083/84/85 by Frankie Trumbauer);
31May27 (W80944 by Wilton Crawley); 4Jun27 (W80983 by
Wilton Crawley); 15Jun27 (W81015/16 by
The Goofus Five; also W81017 by Russell Gray);
17Jun27 (W81027 by Irwin Abrams); 21Jun27 (W81037/38
by Red McKenzie); 24Jun27 (W81108 by Art Kahn);
27Jun27 (W81115 by Art Kahn); 28Jun27 (W81118/19 by
Joe Venuti); circa 30Jun27 (W81127/28 by
Beth Challis); 10Aug27 (W81207/08 by
The Goofus Five); 12Aug27 (W81219 by
The Goofus Five); 25Aug27 W81273/74/75 by
Frankie Trumbauer).
Note: Masters W80517 to W80626 were recorded by a field unit
in Atlanta circa 14-22Mar27. Masters W80741 to W80833 were
recorded by a field unit in St. Louis between 25Apr27 and
3May27. Masters W80834 to W80932 were recorded at the
Consolidated Talking Machine Company,
227 West Washington Street, Chicago, between 5May27
and 20May27.
11 Union Square (1927-30): A new room, heard on OKeh's
New York recordings from at least 30Aug27 (W81296/97/98 by Miff
Mole) through at least 11Feb30 (W403755/56 by the Casa Loma
Orchestra) sounds larger than the one at 25 West 45th Street but
smaller than the one at 145 West 45th Street, and exhibits a degree
of liveliness in between the two. That the new room is at
a new location is confirmed by the Manhattan telephone directory for
summer 1927, which shows OKeh's recording studio at 11 Union Square
and their main office at 25 West 45th Street. A letter
dated 24Sep27 from the "OKeh Phonograph Corporation" is reproduced on
page 121 of Laurie Wright's "OKeh Race Records 8000 Series." The
stationery's printed letterhead places the "Recording Laboratory" at
11 Union Square. Both addresses, 11 Union Square and 25
West 45th Street, appear in the Manhattan telephone directories dated
winter 1927-28, summer 1928, winter 1928-29, summer 1929 and winter
1929-30. The Manhattan telephone directories dated summer
1930, winter 1930-31 and summer 1931 show Columbia Records' foreign
department at 11 Union Square, perhaps filling out the remainder of
OKeh's lease. (I have also seen the address cited as
11 Union Square West. Note that the "2002 National
Five-Digit ZIP Code & Post Office Directory" shows that Union
Square addresses are modified by "West," "East" and "South," while
New Yorker Tom Harris confirms that there actually are "Union Square
West" addresses.)
Probably 1819 Broadway/possibly 25 West 45th Street
(1930-31): A new recording room, heard on OKeh's New York recordings
from at least 1Mar30 (and W403791 by Carl Webster's Yale Collegians),
sounds smaller and a bit less lively than the one at 11 Union Square.
Brad detected a bass resonance inherent to each room, that in the new
room being about an octave higher than the one heard on recordings
made at 11 Union Square. Manhattan telephone directories
dated summer 1930 and winter 1930-31 each show two addresses for
OKeh, 1819 Broadway and 25 West 45th Street, the former being the
address of the Gotham National Bank Building, at Columbus Circle,
where the general offices and recording studios of Columbia and
Harmony Records had been located since about 1921. Which
address housed OKeh's studio isn't specified in the directories, but
1819 Broadway would seem the more logical candidate. Were
one a shrewd, hard-nosed executive at Columbia Records back in 1930
seeking to cut costs in the face of hard economic times, the thought
would doubtless occur that consolidation of Columbia and OKeh
recording studio operations at 1819 Broadway would lead to greater
efficiency among high-wage employees, some of whom could then be let
go to reduce overhead expenses.
55 Fifth Avenue (1931-34): The summer 1931 Manhattan
telephone directory places the general offices of both Columbia and
OKeh at 55 Fifth Avenue, where they shared a common telephone number
(TOmpkins 6-5200); 25 West 45th Street and 1819 Broadway are no
longer noted as addresses for either label. According to
"John Hammond on Record" (page 88), "In 1932 [...] Columbia's studios
were located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 12th Street." The
company's general offices and studios remained at 55 Fifth Avenue
until July 1934, when the labels were purchased and absorbed by the
American Record Corporation. Brad and I listened to
various OKeh 78s recorded in 1930-31 in an effort to date the move to
55 Fifth Avenue by reference to room tone, but could only conclude
that the recording rooms were of similar size, highly dampened and
comparably indistinct.
Gussie's first name was so spelled according to both OKeh's matrix
cards and the 27Aug27 Chicago Defender (national edition)
which on page six noted that she was from Kansas City and was the
"sister of Alberta Jones, the recording artist." Here is a recap of
the information from OKeh's matrix cards, which I inspected in
1987:
Gussie Alexander, contralto, acc. by piano and saxophone Duke
and Otto.
1Dec26
74430A They Say I Do
It rejected
74431A Drifting from You Blues rejected
74431B Drifting from You Blues rejected
Gussie Alexander, contralto, acc. by piano.
1Dec26
80235A Drifting from You Blues rejected
Gussie Alexander, contralto, acc. by piano.
21Jan27
W80322A They Say I Do
It rejected
W80323A Drifting from You Blues rejected
Note: The matrix cards for 74430 and 74431 omit letter
prefixes for these masters, which are described as "Recorded by D"
and "acoustical." The matrix card for 80235A shows the master to be
"Recorded by OKeh" and omits the 'W' (for Western Electric)
prefix.
OKEH, COLUMBIA AND DIVA/HARMONY/VELVETONE STUDIO LOCATIONS
WHERE GUSSIE ALEXANDER AND/OR DUKE ELLINGTON RECORDED, 1926-33
Probably 25 West 45th Street: 1Dec26 (OKeh session[s]).
Probably 145 West 45th Street: 21Jan27 (OKeh masters
W80322/23). (Note that masters W80317 from 20Jan27 and
W80324 from 21Jan27 were both recorded in "Riverboat Shuffle
Hall.")
11 Union Square: 3Nov27; 19Jan28; 10Jul28; 1oct28; 20Nov28;
22Nov28; 2Aug29; 20Nov29 (OKeh sessions).
1819 Broadway: 22Mar27; 4Apr29; 28May29 (Columbia sessions);
9Jan28; 3Apr30; 12Jun30 (Diva/Harmony/Velvetone sessions).
Probably 1819 Broadway/possibly 25 West 45th Street: 14oct30;
30oct30; 8Jan31 (OKeh sessions).
55 Fifth Avenue: 15Feb33 and
16Feb33 (sessions for English Columbia).
Duke's Itinerary
04/1 DEMS 9
6Nov33 to 8Nov33: Paramount Theatre, Amarillo,
Texas (per "Amarillo Daily News," 5Nov33 and 6Nov33); other
attractions billed: Ivie Anderson; Earl Tucker; Ford Marshall and
Jones ("Dancing, Singing and Comedy"); Sonnie [sic] Greer; Louis
Bacon ("Singer").
6Nov33: The Nat Dance Palace, Amarillo, Texas (per "Amarillo
Daily News," 5Nov33 and 6Nov33). Dance from 11 p.m. to 2
a.m.
Joe Showler
30oct36: Trianon, Terre Haute, Indiana (per "The Indiana
Statesman," 16oct36 and 28oct36).
Joe Showler
1Feb40: Here's an early gig by the Blanton-Webster band I
haven't seen listed in the references: the University of Wisconsin
Class of 1941's junior prom in Madison, Wisconsin. Four
bands played: "Duke Ellington's muted Harlem trumpets moaned in Great
Hall, Henry Busse banged out his renowned rhythm in the Council Room,
and Eddie Nelson's band played in the Tripp Commons. In
the Rathskeller, a crowd drank beer to the strains of Hal Klatz's
string trio. "The music was harmonious, not so the
bandleaders. Busse, who had not known that he was going to
get second billing, pouted all night, and made dark remarks about
being subordinated to Ellington. Busse worked hard,
however and kept the room fully as crowded as was Ellington's Great
Hall." 1,800 students attended the prom. The only other
description of Ellington is that the school president was "introduced
by a fanfare of trumpets and the rolling of a drum." ("Smoothies Rule
at a Prom Gone Sweet," Wisconsin State Journal, 2Feb40, p14).
Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra would open a week at the
State-Lake Theater in Chicago the following afternoon.
Ken Steiner
20May43: Jimmy Ryan's, 53 W. 52nd Street, New York
City. Surprise birthday party for Milt
Gabler. According to "The Jazz Record" (1Jun43p2):
"Highlight of the evening was the appearance of Duke Ellington and
several members of his band, who jammed a birthday greeting that said
more than words ever could. The DeParis Brothers band kept
things jumping. Included in the greeters were Eddie
Condon, Brad Gowans, Pops Foster, Frank Orchard, Red Norvo, Bobby
Hacket, Sgt. Joe Buskin, in New York on a few days furlough."
Steven Lasker