Variety (Dec 1939)

^^cdacsdaji December 6, 1939 MUSIC—DANCE BANDS VARIETY 41 Bnishoff to Shaw's Satevepost Blast Arlie Shaw's blast against the dance band business in last week's Satevepost aroused little trade resentment among booking organiza- lions or even among music publishers whom he likewise made his target. It the reaction wasn't outright indifference or a 'so what?', it expressed the view that the retired leader was just an overly wrought up maestro, who just had to blow off steam. The booking offices, which Shaw in his article rfefers as the 'Big Four,' scouted as silly his Indictment that a newcomer must contend with'insuperable odds, pointing out that his own swift rise to the lop refutes his own argument. As for the publishers, their general attitude is that Shaw had contributed little to their business but eccen- tric antics that nearly bordered on insolence, and that the old American way of fighting to the; top must prevail in the band business, the same BS any other field. It has been denied that Shaw owns a piece of Lincoln Music Co., Ihrougb his attorney, Andy Weinberger. Inside Stuff-Music Joan Edwards on Own Joan Edwards, who wants a com- mercial on her own, is leaving Paul Whiteman's orchestra at the New Yorker, and Clark Deniiis has al- ready left. The maestro had wanted Miss Edwards to fill in by playing the piano between vocal solos. Bob Crosby is being mentioned to follow Whiteman into the Hitz hotel after Jan. 4 where the latter has been doing big business ever since opening there. A.F.M. Expected to Sidestep Ruling In Ofaerstein-MiUer Disc Dispute EX-SHAW LADS UNDER AULD Millon Berle wHo, two days previously, on. Thanksgiving night, had m.c.d the Paul Whiteman anniversary party, pinch-hitled again, the ensuing ■Saturday night when the maestro was called to Denver by the serious ill- ness of his father, Wilberforce J. Whiteman, superintendent of music of the Denver public schools. Being a Sat. nite and business extremely heavy, Ralph Hitz called on Berle to bridge the gap. Whiteman has since returned, his father being in better shape. Whiteman's 20th anniversary parly at the New Yorker Thanksgiving right (F.D.R.'s) which Hitz hosted, was a turnawjaj'-proposition. Chiefly Invitation, with the hostelry head doing the invTtmg, it was gayly paced by Berle and riot to lachrymosely keynoted as sometimes fealuces such occasions. A large easel over the bandstand, rigged up by Western Union, enlarged the many congratulatory wires froni all parts of the country as they came in to the dean of jazz, so that the customers read a who's who of names in the arts and world aflairs who thus transmitted their greetings. - Nice touch of the evening was Whiteman's intro of his veteran musicians. Otherwise the show ran off according to standard including Maurice and Cordoba, recently added ballroomologists. and Whiteman's own specialists —Joan Edwards, the Modernaires, Charlie Teagarden, Goldie, Roy Bargy, Mike Pingatore, et al. Current rage on the disks Is Johnny Messner's recording of 'She Had tc Go and Lose It At the Astor,' by Don Raye and Hugh Prince who, as . Raye, Prince and Clark, have been doing this doggerel for four years in ' the sawdust joints. Tune was accepted by Lou Levy, head of Leeds Music, ' 18 months ago, and has been dormant since until Messner, making his first waxings for Eli Oberstein's new U. S. Record Co., turned out this ditty on the Varsity brand, a 35c disk. At this writing, it's sold 100,000 and is headed for a 250,000 record sale, but orders are far behind due to the peculiar merchandizing arrangement whereby Varsity is tended through some 40 franchised distributors: Further highlighting the tune is an alleged squawk from the Hotel Astor (N. Y.) management to which Oberstein and Leeds Music have replied that there are any number of Astor hotels in the country, in addi- tion to one in London, and besides which the tune isn't bawdy or salacious, unle.<:s the auditor wants to think that way, 'She Had to Go and Lose It At the Astor' pars the freak click of 'Old Man Mose,' another oldie, as done by Patricia Norman with Eddy Duchin (Brunswick) and more recently the manner in which Bonnie Bailey warbles 'Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, How You Can Love,' a tune first copyrighted in 1917, but which she, with Orrin Tucker's band,- re- vived on the Vocalion records into a big seller. The publishers are doing a not too quiet burnup by the growing ten- dency among band leaders and also some vocal artists to own, control or have financial Interests in music publishing firms. The established pubs see in this a hope that the coin-machines will prove a large source of revenue, via the campaign long in work whereby the National Asso- ciation of Performing Artists, as the interpreter, might have a partici- pating interest in the wax works, and collect a regular source of revenue. While the pubs have been cooperative with NAPA, now they see it in a new light, and. take the attitude that the copyright owner alone can have full control of any song material, and it doesn't rest well with them to have the recording artist (who might also be in the music publishing biz) getting it both ways. Ben Cutler, maestro at the Rainbow Room, N. Y.. last week addressed ' another circular letter to publishers' contactmen, stating that he was sorry , his- suggestion about wearing evening toggery, when visiting him at the : class nitery, had been misunderstood. The letter stated that it had been ; merely a request and that officials of the contaclmen's union had assured j him that there was nothing in it that wasn't acceptable to the union. The ! suggestion about smoking cigars. Culler added, only applied to coming into and leaving the Rainbow Room. ■ New band under Jimmy Mundy, former arranger for Benny Goodman, 1 Gene Krupa, et al., drew the ire of local 802 of the AFM anent traveling j bands last week. Mundi's crew is composed of out of town men and when he sought permission to do a one-nighler at Kelly's Stable.«, replacing the Savoy Sultans, who were to fill a dale elsewhere, the union cracked down and told him to get out of town. Another old-timer that has been getting altention from dance band leaders with the result that sheet buyers are beginning to ask for it over the counter is 'Ma, He's Making Eyes at Me.' U was co-avi"..ored by Sid *-lare and the late Con Conrad. Mills Music, Inc., has the copyright. y- S. Record is now recording at its own plant, the old Brunswick site, whereas its Initial releases were done at the Muzak plant. . Music Notes '»Ky Gayles, contact man for ^ercer-Morris, knocked himself out last week when he ran into the neavy glass door, which is without "."]?'J""es (making it almost in- visible) at Donohue's Cedar Grove, tf.^'**^^" ^'""t converting his score |or the Paramount cartoon, 'Gul- ini?f* J'*''''^' a symphony «"'t€ of four movements. cli^S ^'"'^^ and L. Wolfe Gilbert n the Edward "man picture, 'My Son, My Son.' SlgMond Krnmcold completed scoring job on 'Opened by Mistake' Paramount Soap for Phil Stewart Hollywood, Dec. fl. Phil Stewart's 'Dealer in Dreams' has been taken for sponsorship by L. A. Soap Co.- Inspirational pro- gram goes ftVe time.-: a week in quar- ter-hour doses over Columbia's Pa- cific network. Soap putfil al.'M spreads along the coast "Toin Brenneman's 'Spelling Bee Liner,' currently heard only on KNX. JOE SANTLEY OFF BERLIN Joe (Banjo) Santley has resigned as profe.<:sional manager of Irving Berlin, Inc., and his ,po.st wjll be taken over by Charlie' Warren. The latter holds a similar title with Mer- cer & Morris, Inc. Murray WIzel, wh(. )< War- ren's a.<:<iistant, will become M, & M.'s professional head. Former Artie Shaw • orchestra, now a cooperative organization under the leadership of Georgie Auld, tenor sax, will be replaced at the Pennsylvania Hotel, N. Y., Fri- day (8) by Will Osborne's outfit Auld shifts to the Roseland Ball- room, N. Y. Dec. 15 for four weeks Osborne stays at the Perm until Jan. 3. . . . Auld last week assigned the ex- Shaw outfit to General Arhusement, who handled it before. So far there are no recording commitments, though the group had been working for Victor. Shaw's last platter for Victor was released this week. Changes made or to be made, in the Auld bunch include a swap of femme vocalists with Benny Good' man. (See separate story). Ronny Perry returns from Woody Her- man's band. Jivers' Spleen Upper bracket band leader last year loaned a newcomer to the maestro field $7,000. The debt was paid several months later but the loaner was dissatisfied. He told the borrower that he was under the impression that he was also to get a piece of the band, but the other leader, who had already begun to click, re- torted that there was nothing ^doing. The lender shortly after- - -tyards organized a band around one- of his own men and in- structed him to copy the style of the borrower's band and to make sure that he played him arrangement for arrangement. The graduate from the lend- er's band has sought several times to try to develop a style of his own, but on each occasion he has been cautioned to stick to the original instructions, or else. 11-YEAR OLD PIANIST ENCORES UNEXPECTEDLY RUBINOFPS 1-NIGHTER IN TUCSON NETS $700 Tucson, Dec. 5. Rubinoff, assisted by Jacques Fray and Mario Braggiotti, played a one- nighter here tonight (5) in opposi- tion to Eve Li.3allienne and her troupe, touring for Fortune Gallo out of New York. Both concert and play , did capacity, sold out well in advance. Rubinoff did his stuff at the Uni- versity of Arizona Auditorium at $1.10 and $1.65 prices, sponsored by the Lions C^lub of Tucson. Rubinoff's end was over $700 for the one-night- er. Fray and Braggiotti at the twin pianos filled the interludes. Unlike 'Golden Boy,' which was a flop here. Miss LeGallienne proved socko, sold out three days before her appearance here. Pre-Xmas Not So Forte Pre-Chrislmas band bookings are behind the same period of former years in volume. Nonie of the agen- cies can give a sound rea.son for buying being slower during the month or two of hoarding before the holidays. Fairly obvious rea.';on is the fact that most of the good bands hole up in some location job at a hotel, etc., at this time. Piqued at having her ability at the piano drowned out by the full NBC symphony orchestr.i, with which she was sitting in, an 11-year-old key- board protege upset the whole eve- ning's schedule at the musicians' union benefit at Madison Square Garden, New York, last week,, with an unscheduled encore. Youngster, Teresa Stern, finished the selection with the band, took her bows, then turned to her keyboard and pounded out the unlooked-for solo to prove herself. Upset things all the way down the line to the popular band list and including radio broadcast schedules. In order to partially make up for the "time lost, concert cellist Feur- man was forced to confine his bit to one number instead of two. Inci- dent burned Frank Black, who was directing the. band, plenty. On occasions such as this, with some popular bands leaving local location jobs to come in to play a set, fairly strict time schedules have to b' maintained, for obvious reasons. Crews going off and on and arriving at set times eliminates confuision and sends 'em back to their jobs as quickly as possible. Youngster's .spur-of-the-moment act jazzed up the routine and forced radio stations WQXR and WNEW to revise plans. Former aired NBC's lon{,hair outfit and latter picked up pop groups. Executive board of the' American Federation of Musicians will most likely refuse to intervene in the contract controversy between Glenn Miller and Eli Oberstein, general manager of United States Record Corp. In that event the issue will have to go to the courts for adjudi- cation. Oberstein, who filed charges with the AFM against Miller, claims that he holds a contract which compels the bandman to work for the U- S. Record Corp. RCA Victor also claims that it has Miller under commit- ment. Miller contends that he sig- natured a document that Oberstein handed him in the belief that it In- volved a Victor obligation. Ober- stein was formerly Victor recording manager. Ob'ersteln-Shaw Settle Suil against Artie Shaw by Ell Oberstein, now at the head of U. S. Records, was settled last week with a cash consideration to Oberstein and a retraction by Shaw of the answer he had submitted to Ober- stein's charges. Latter had claimed in his suit that he had advanced Shaw cash and considerable advice while he (Oberstein) was recording director for Victor Records. Shaw filed a retraction of his coun- ter charges which was worded 'I, Artie Shaw, publicly retract accusa- tions I made in answer to Eli Ober- stein's suil...answer to suit inspired by impulse I now regret:. .realize Oberstein did not coerce me nor compel me to enter into contract with him,;.it was at my request he ■ rendered me invaluable services I which are basis of his suit. ..have come to settlernent and compensated him for his efforts by payment of several thousands of dollars.' Both siidcs have different versionj of what the cash settlement amounted to, Oberstein has said that he lent Shaw $6,000 in $1,000 installmentj while Shaw was at the Lincoln Hotel, N. Y. last year. Says the settlement amounted to $8,000. On the other hand, Shaw's side says the peace- maker amounted to $2,000, payable $500 down and $25 a week, latter to begin when Shaw resumes work. GIRL SINGERS SHIFT Band Bookings Helen Forrest to Goodman, Barbara Busb to Osborne, Olhcrs Messner Blames Song Piuggers for Messin' His Personal Welfare Hal Kemp, Dec. 15, U. of Mary- land, College Park, Md.; 16, Rider College, Trenton, N. J. Shep Fields, 15; Paramount thea- tre, Springfield, Mass.; 22, Adams theatre, Newark. Dick Stabile, Dec. 8-16, RaJ'mor B., Boston. Cab Calloway, Jan'. 14. Che.^lnut Street Hall, Harrisburg, Pa. Al Donahue, Dec. 15, Valencia B., York, Pa.; 22, Astor Hotel, N. Y.; 25, Greenwich (Country Club, Green- which, Conn.; Jan. 2, Allenlpwn, Pa. Claude Hopkins, Dec. 10, Roseland B., Brooklyn, n! Y.; Jan. 1, Youngs- town, Ohio. Glenn Miller. Dec. 23, Mohawk Armory, Mohawk, N. Y. Mai Hallet, Dec. 17, County Cen- ter, While Plains, N. Y. Slim Gaillard, Dec. 8, Iwo weeks, Joe's Casino, Newcastle, Pa. Jimmy Dorsey, Dec. 20, Louisville, Ky.; 25, Grand Rapids; 27, Para- mount theitre, Anderson, Ind. Lonnie Mclntyre, Dec. 28, Country Club, Cleveland, Ohio. Will Osborne, Dec. 10, Worcesltr, Mass. Femme band vocalist situation underwent a shakeup in the past two | weeks with a flock of changes and | one straight swap. Latter was shifl | of Helen Forrest from George Auld i (ex-Artie Shaw) band to Benny ! Goodman, while. Kay Foster, Good- \ man vocalist, came to Auld. Carol [ Kay replaced Mary Ann McCall with i Woody Herman, Miss McCall shifting to Charlie Barnet. Judy Ellington, Barnet's ex, almost went over to- Herman but instead joined Tommy . Reynolds with Larry "Taylor, another Barnet ex, Barbara Bush who had been with j Charlie Barnet for few days after Mary Ann McCall left, goes over to Will O.sborne. Dorothy Claire joined , the new Bobby Byrne oulllt, being with Bob Crosby at one lime. Tommy Dorsey recently dropped Edylhe Wright for Anita Boycr and II.tI . Kemp in currently audilionin.n In re- place Nan Wynn. i In making suchi changes a band . has to take cognizance of the key a.' prospective newcomer .lings in or j costly changes in arrangements. Would be neces.sary. Often it's the ' reason for a vocalist .'ioundin.ij good ' with one outfit and bad with an- other. Johnny Messner, ill with grippe' that kept him off the stand last Thursday (30) for the first time in 15 years, used the occasion to write to all music publishers in New York and blame their contact man for his condition. He complains that the piuggers are continually bothering him, even at home, and asks that they re.strict their activities to Tues- day nights. Declaring that his illne.ss has him feeling 'like hell,' the McAlpin ma- estro wrote: 'It seems that from Tuesday to Saturday and even Sun- days on occasion, the contact men visit Ihe hotgl and with their con^ linual pounding and pressure have helped to wear me to a frazzle. Even on my day off, Monday, a great many of the boys have telephoned me, although I think calling anyone al his home is abusing the privilege.' $3,000 CLAIM AGAINST ELLA FITZGERALD ORG Irving Mills is publishing 'I'll Be a Fool Again,' by Al SIcgel, and 'Chula Chihuahua,' by Jules Slyne, George R. Brown and Nick Ca.Mle. Songs were written for Waller Wanger's 'The House Acro.<.« the Bay.' Birmingham, Dec. 5. Suit .seeifing $3,000 damages for breach of contract has ■ been filed, here by Robert P. McDavid III against Ella Fitzgerald, the Negro singer and orchestra leader, and the cs'uitc of the late Chick Webb, leader. AI.>;o named defendants are Moe Gale, Consolidated Radio Artist.';, Inc., and the X Corp., operating the Chick Webb Orchestra and the Ella Fitzgerald Orchestra. McDavid's complaint alleges that the Webb orchestra failed to appear in Birminghani to 'fill a contracted engagement June .17 after his death and that EUa Fitzgerald and the or- ■chc.<:lra failed to appear here Nov, 24 tor a contracted engagement. The complaint shows that Webb was guaranteed $750 for the first ap- pearance, of which $375 had been deposited, plus 50% of the receipts. Guarantee for the Nov. 24 appear- ance was $350, plus 50% of the re- i:( '-ys above $800.