The record changer (Jan-Dec 1949)

II behind HI the cobwebs carl kendziora The mail is beginning to come in a bit faster now, so let's first cover the information sent in bv readers. Here's more on the Operaphone 31161 {Blacksmith Rag— Alabama Jazz Band) which we mentioned in the May column. A card from Robert McGarvey informs us that he has also noted the tailgate on the disc and that, for even better work, he has Slim Trombone by the Jazzaza Jazz Band on Operaphone 31107 which has the best tailgate he ever heard and which, in his opinion, even sounds like early Ory ! McGarvey also states that there is a remarkable off beat bass drum in the hack which sounds more like a torn torn. Then Bill Stamm also writes about a pair of titles by the Jazzaza Jazz Band on Operaphone 31110. The coupling is At the J ass Band Ball and Alcoholic Blues. Bill can't give any details about the musical content since he got the data from a sale list and doesn't have the record himself. This brings to mind the idea of trying to investigate the Operaphone catalog with the possibility of turning up an "item" or two. Will anyone with any titles and band names for any other Operaphone issues please send in the .data? Paul B. Sheatsley confirms our suspicion, voiced in the May column, that the Kansas City Five's Dark' Gal Blues (3W27)/Get It Fixed (31831) on Perfect and Pathe, is also on Ajax. The Aja.v number is 17128. Paul agrees with Index to Jazz, which calls these a Bob Fuller group. Ed Crowder has dumped a controversy right in our laps: one which will put our readers to the test. It seems that Ed and Happy Ruggles have been debating for two years on the identity of the sax soloist on the Arcadian Serenaders' You Gotta Know How (9409) /Angry (9414) on Ok 40517. Ed claims that the sax is Frankie Trumbauer, and he is backed up by Bud Hassler, who played sax in Tram's band at the Arcadia in St. Louis; Carl Karbach, vicepresident of the St. Louis Musicians Union, who played with Tram around St. Louis; and Bonnie Ross, who played sax in Tram's band on the road for two years and is one of his closest friends. They all say it is positively Trumbauer, but Tram himself wrote Happy and stated he's not on the record. Mr. Crowder is a close follower of Trumbauer and heard his band around St. Louis (before he became famous) at least three times a week. So Ed has heard plenty of Trumbauer and wants to know who it could be if it isn't Tram. Since the three men backing Ed up were Tram's closest imitators and yet maintain it is Tram and not any of them, he seems to have a case. Can anyone be of help in this matter? Label of the month : Federal, marketed by the Federal Record Corporation, Albany, N. Y. In the accompanying cut one side of Federal 5343 is pictured. The disc couples Old-Fashioned Love (3-2236) by the Miami Beach Orchestra and 1'v.e Got a Song for Sale (2-2196) by Lanin's Roseland Orchestra. This latter side is of interest to Red Nichols fans, as it is a Sam Lanin item, with the red-head. Does anybody have any information on the sources of Federal's masters? Especially tie-ins with other labels. We have no data on this label's affiliations or operations. Somehow the picture of our label of the month managed to sneak by last month without any accompanying mention in the col umn. Our label last month was Harmograpli, marketed by the Harmograph Talking Machine Company, St. Louis, U. S. A. This label was a member of the Paramount pool along with National, Puritan, Claxtonola, Triangle, Broadway etc. The particular one we used last month was Harmograph 2539 which couples The Dark-Town Flapper's Ball (1338) and Triflin' Blues (1339) sung by Gladys Bryant accompanied by Porter Grainger and Bob Ricketts on pianos. Another possible Whoopee Maker item has turned up. On Cameo 9105 we find Audition Blues (3705) as played by Bob Haring and his Orchestra, with the composer credit going to one George Terry. There are solos on alto, clarinet, and both open and muted trumpet. The open horn could possibly be McPartland and the clarinet, although not sounding particularly like Goodman, is not indisputedly not Benny. Any opinions ? We ran across two fine reissues on the Gothic label the other day and thought they'd be worth mentioning, as they represent some of the best early white jazz. Both are on red vinylite. Gothic 509 couples Wolverine Blues and Weary Blues by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings from Ge 5102, while Gothic 510 couples Dipper Mouth Blues and Panama by Johnnie Miller's New Orleans Boys, with Sharkey Bonano and Sidney Arodin, from Co 1546-D. _ Another oddity which is worthy of investigation is OA 4310 which is by Tim Brymn and his Black Devil Orchestra. One side is Wang Wang Blues and the reverse is a tune which has eluded us so far. The label on this side is identical with the other side and so nothing can be obtained from it. This is interesting early jazz. It's not a great record, but worthy of attention, and there's a good clarinet to be heard on it. A check of the record number on Arnold Stilwell's fine record dating chart gives us 1921 as the approximate date for the item. In the October 1948 issue of this magazine a Chick Bullock record — / Can't Get Mississippi Off My Mind (10770) /You Rascal You (10769)— Pe 15506— was listed (Continued on Page 15)