Variety (March 1959)

MUSIC P^SUETT Wednesday, March 11, 1959 Postscripts on Jukebox Probe; See Copyright Bill Gains; Other Laws Moot Washington, March 10. —----- disposes. esS exp ° ses ’ JUS “ ee DePt | Atlantic Ups Stereo $1 This paraphrase of the famous The price of stereo has gone ada*e might fit the ultimate out- up at Atlantic Records. Label come of the Senate jukebox hear- has hiked its stereo line from “ings after the dust kicked up by $4.98 to $5.98. splash newspaper coverage has According to Nesuhi Erte- settled gun, price boost is due to disk- At this stage, after a little over ery's investment in research two weeks of hearings, there's no and new equipment, indication that any remedial legis- lation‘aimed at the jukebox in- f CWf CCTI nCD VC ACf AD dustry will emerge from Congress. LCllUdrLiliI/LiIV I lUv/il (The jukebox copyright bill’s con- nnn TDTAI TUIC IffAUTU nection with the rackets inquiry rKt,-lKlAL IllUPIln lies only in probability the publici- Annther rmjnd of nr p_trial exam ty will spur its chances of passage.) Another round of pre trial exam- Congressional circles are of the nations, involving the operation of mind that—at least on the Federal the American Society of Corn- level—it’s up to the Justice Dept, posers, Authors & Publishers, is to follow up the disclosures of the ( j ue to s ^ ar t the middle of this I Inside Stuff-Music “Stagger Lee,” the current Lloyd Price click on the ABC-Paramount label, follows in the “Tom Dooley” groove as an adaptation of an old folk song. The current version of “Stagger Lee,” which also has been* known under the titles of “Stacker Lee” and “Stack O’Lee,” among other variations, is a rewrite ,by Price and his manager, Harold Lo¬ gan, of a song that’s about 100 years old. It also was adapted into a blues number by jazz performers, Johnny Dodds and his combo hav¬ ing waxed it in the 1930s. In the . same decade, folksinger Woody Guthrie recorded it on the Decca label and Furry Lewis did it for Brunswick in the Alan Lomax recorded thesaurus of American folk music. The current version has a new verse by Price and Logan and hence was copyrightable. Sheldon Music, a BMI affiliate, publishes. Although the ABC-Par disk has gone well over the 1,000,000 marker, the sheet music sales on the tune have not yet hit 50,000. As its industrial exhibit for this month, the East River Savings Bank at Rockefeller Center is focussing on the musi? business in the win¬ dow gallery with a display of rare manuscripts and first editions of serious and popular compositions. Exhibit, borrowed from the Broad¬ cast Music Inc. archives, includes a first edition copy of “The Star- __Spangled Banner,” plus manuscripts of “Dixie,” “America," “Old TPmTFVR T.ATVTN Mother Hubbard” and numerous pop w r orks such as “The Ballad of xv .. Davy Crockett,” “Deep In The Heart of Texas,” “Tennessee Waltz” Epic album release ‘Cocktail M others. ancing going strong- New Epic Album release: 1 "Dancing at the Mardi Gras.” Robert Herridge’s first taped show for his new series for CBS Films “Another winning and danceable will stress the current "jazz scene. Lined up for the initialer are Ben tckage-^-strong chart contender Webster (tenor sax), Buck Clayton (trumpet), Vic Dickenson (trom- » awA onn bone), Jo Jones (drums), Milt Hinton (bass) and Hank Jones (piano) fvtentiv enfovabie. Shouid^e an- in the first group. Second group features Billie Holiday and Mai Wal- Epic album release “Cocktail Dancing” going strong. New Epic Album release: "Dancing at the Mardi Gras.” McClellan Committee w’itn a wave j n ^e case of publisher packaged-strong chart contender Webster (tenor sax), Buck Clayton (trumpet), Vic Dickenson (trom- of grand jury probes and indict- jj ans Lengsfelder against the fo y, Lanin,’’—Billboard . bone), Jo Jones (drums), Milt Hinton (bass) and Hank Jones (piano) ments of culprit ringleadersin Soc iety in N.Y. Supreme Court. s i S ten7h'% t i3ovable aiie ‘?hould <i be C an- in the first group. Second group features Billie Holiday and Mai Wal- jukebox-com machine hooliganism Lengsfelder, who is suing other winner*for Lan n"—Variety dron (piano) while the third group will spotlight Miles Davis (trum- it't hnnpd that state and local a CP a td —-r ,__/._ t..i:_ ajj _ jukebox-coin machine hooliganism Lengsfelder, who is suing other^ winner*for\anin ”—VarietV dron (piano) while the third group will spotlight Miles Davis (trum- Also, it’s hoped that state and local aSCAP primarily to -change its ■ ■ -- ■ —- pet), John Coltrane (tenor sax). Julian Adderle (alto sax), Philly Joe prosecutors will be busier in tne we ighted vote system, was granted lf -» , Jones (drums), Paul Chambers (bass) and Red Garland (piano), fight to root out the criminal m the the right by Judge Irving Saypol AgAf W V Mgpf Morefc lX - jukebox industry. to interrogate AECAP execs + cn ■ Guild f . Authors «ft rs . Caroline K. Simon, New York’s new Secretary of State and the Cleveland Snag concerning the & composers is holding a special first woman to hold such office by appointment (of Gov. Nelson A. At least two Federal grand juries a d membership in New York March Rockefeller), is a theatre and music enthusiast. One of her uncles was have been impanelled to look into Weinstein & Leyinson firm is legal EdTson to expTain the late Leo Feist, music publisher. Mrs. Simon is a lawyer and a labor leaders and racketeers m_the re ^J GA p e “f sf ^lso i nvolved in the the operation of itl new royalty former member of the State Commission Against Discrimination. She Slo m T^ hl ofhe^m°cTe^and C ^ ' cofle^tio'a^ncy. * > was Republican candidate for Borough President of Manhattan last fall, eentlv hit a roadblock when a of the 33 ASCAP tunesmiths | Agency, which centralizes all Fpdpral District judge questioned I against Broadcast Music Inc.! publisher payments to writers who Jerry Simms, who is being primed for a pop promotion push by vL-hpther the Justice Dept, was en-! Although not a party to this suit, j have authorized AGAC to collect RCA Victor, is taking a three-week hiatus from his job at the Bond eaeed in a “fishing expedition” and i ASCAP has been required to de-; for them, was iaunched at the out- Clothing Store on Times Square to get in on the drive for his first rpfUpd to issue blanket subpoenas j liver data ‘t°- both sides. 1 set of this year. Victor release, “Dancing Partners” and “Dancing With A Memory.” former member of the State Commission Against Discrimination. She was Republican candidate for Borough President of Manhattan last fall. refused to issue blanket subpoenas for union records. Justice officials are still pondering the question of an appeal. Hard to Indict How, far Federal sanction — whether criminal or antitrust — can go in curing the ills of the j jukebox business is an open ques-; tion. Indictments are getting dif- j ficult to obtain; convictions more ; so. Teamsters boss James R. Hoffa,; under expert legal counsel, has so . far fended off efforts to jail him. j And his predecessor, Dave Beck r was nailed on income tax evasion ; —one of the lesser charges aired j (Continued on page 6b) j HETAIL ALBUM BEST SELLEBS - PWRIETY --- Survey of retail album best sellers based on reports from lead ing stores and showing comparative ratings for this week and last. 2-Vol7Agesof Jazz’Set j National In the Works as Metro-J j L “* Latches on to Pace in D.C. ; ' Concurrent with the month-long j 1 * jazz celebration now underway in j Washington,Metro-Jazz is prepping! 2 2 “The Seven Ages of Jazz,” a two-j volume package produced and nar- | 3 3 rated by Leonard Feather hnd un- j -—- der the musical direction of Dick j 4 A 7 Hyman. The album is a live re- j - cording of a concert staged by; Feather and Hyman in Walling- 4B ” ' ford. Conn., last September. “Seven Ages of Jazz” has been 6 5 selected as the title of a display of memorabilia at the Library of Con- 7 g i gress. Highlight of the commemo- -- ration in the capital is a concert g with an all-star cast to be present- --- ed March 16 as a “Jazz Jubilee” at the Sheraton-Park Hotel for the _ 9 benefit of the: Friendship Settle¬ ment House. V [ 10A 18 The MetroJazz album features Buck Clayton, Willie (The Lion) iob 10 Smith, both of whom will appear - at the Washington bash. Also fea- jo 4 tured on the LP are Billie Holiday, -- Maxine Sullivan, Brownie McGhee, Coleman Hawkins, Don Elliott, George Auld, Milt Hinton and Don Lamond. . 14 15 20th-Fox Label Going 1 -^- On Jazz Kick in March 16 24 The 2Qth-Fox disk label is jump- 17 ing into the jazz sweepstakes this month with a “Premiere of Jazz” jg 23 album schedule. - Spearheading the drive will be a 1Q 11 special two-pocket album featuring _— z± the late Tommy Dorsey. Package will be given the same merchandis- 20A 25 ing treatment as 2Qth’s previous Glenn Miller LP special. 20B 19 Following the Dorsey push will j - be “The Wizard of the Ragtime 2 2A 22 Piano” with Eubie Blake and an - assist from Noble Sissle; “Sweet Swingin’ Stuff” with Stuff Smith;! 22B • • “Music of the Early Jazz Dances” • with Claude Hopkins; “Piano Pat- 1 22C 17 terns” with Cecil Lloyd, and. “Drums of Africa” featuring native j 25 drummers from the Belgian Congo. 1 —— _ amm ^ Artist, Label, Title HENRY MANCINI (Victor) Peter Gunn (LPM 1956). FRANK SINATRA (Capitol) Come Dance With Me (W 1069). FLOWER DRUM SONG (Col) Original Cast (BL 5350)... KINGSTON TRIO (Capitol) The Hungry i (T 1107)... JOHNNY MATHIS (Columbia). Open Fire, Two Guitars (CL 1270)_ MITCH MILLER (Columbia) -- Sing Along With Mitch (CL 1160). SOUTH PACIFIC (Victor) Soundtract (LOC 1932). . MITCH MILLER (Columbia) Still More Sing With Mitch (CL 1283) GIGI (MGM) Soundtrack (E 3641).. KINGSTON TRIO (Capitol) Kingston Trio (T 996) .. ROGER WILLIAMS (Kapp) Near You (KL 1112).. MITCH MILLER (Columbia) More Sing With Mitch (CL 1243) .... ELVIS PRESLEY (Victor) For L. P. Fans Only (LPM 1990)...... RAY CONNIFF (Columbia) Broadway in Rhythm (CL 1252). DUANE EDDY (Jamie) “Twangy” Gmtar (LP 3000) . RICKY NELSON (Imperial) Ricky Sings Again (LP 9061)_ JOHNNY MATHIS (Columbia) Johnny’s Greatest Hits (CL 1135)...... PLATTERS (Mercury) Remember When (MG 20410) .... _ VAN CLIBURN (Victor) Tchaikovsky (Concerto (LM 2250) .... MUSIC MAN (Capitol) Original Cast (WAO 990).. NICHOLS & MAY (Mercury) Improvisations in Music (MG 20376) .. SOUTH TACIFIC (Columbia) Original Cast (B 2579-80) .. FOUR LADS (Columbia) 4 Lad’s Greatest Hits (CL 1235) ...... NAT KING COLE (Capitol) Welcome to the Club (W 1120). SLEEPING BEAUTY (Disneyland) Soundtrack (WDL 4018) ..