RED NICHOLS – 1929 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1332 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

By 1929, Red Nichols had been active as a recording artist for nearly eight years. He had been making a name for himself as a leader since 1925, usually in the company of a superhuman trombonist by the name of Miff Mole. While some folks might focus upon the presence of Jimmy Dorsey, seasoned early jazz addicts will also cherish the opportunity to commune with the spirits of Miff Mole, Vic Berton and Arthur Schutt. The first three selections reveal what these men were able to accomplish under optimal conditions,( i.e. without vocals or violins). The band is wonderful, especially when Adrian Rollini introduces "Allah's Holiday" with the bass saxophone or takes a weird solo during "Roses of Picardy" using an ebonite tube full of holes with a clarinet mouthpiece stuck in the end of it. This bizarre instrument was identified as the E flat "hot fountain pen." It has a reedy, often slightly congested sound. The Captivators session brings on a veritable sitz bath of early-'30s smooth dance band effects. The instrumental takes were shipped straight to Germany, while Scrappy Lambert's vocal tracks were foisted upon the American record-buying public. Glenn Miller sounds as though he's blowing his trombone into a wine bottle during the instrumental version of "I'm Marching Home to You." At their best these sides enable the listener to cultivate a pleasantly false sense of well-being. Miller, Jack Teagarden, Babe Russin and multi-instrumental Benny Goodman made for a perfectly reasonable Five Pennies until Scrappy showed up and started singing "On the Alamo." After he ran out of breath, they gagged the Lamb and recorded a perfectly good instrumental take. A 19-piece Five Pennies band -- including four violins -- deliberately created a movie soundtrack malaise before the arrangement kicked the band into a suitably rambunctious background for Teagarden's handsome vocal on "Sally, Won't You Come Back?." Two weeks later, swollen to 20 players with Lambert attached to its neck like a pilot fish, the band cut three more sentimentally disturbed numbers. On June 12 of 1929, Nichols carved his band down to 12 units. Apparently incapable of making more than a handful of records without singers, he now induced Red McKenzie to moan and groan his way through "Who Cares?." Fortunately, "Rose of Washington Square" came out as a hot instrumental, enabling the listener to enjoy the combined energies of Pee Wee Russell, Bud Freeman, Joe Sullivan and Dave Tough. By this time you might as well completely surrender to the pop music esthetic of mid- to late- 1929 and simply enjoy the lyrics to "I May Be Wrong, But I Think You're Wonderful." Lambert is, well, useful as a concise articulator of the words to "They Didn't Believe Me," one of the few songs Jerome Kern would be remembered for if he hadn't slept in and missed the boat when the Lusitania sailed off on its rendezvous with German torpedoes in 1915. If you forget that this is supposed to have something to do with jazz, it feels like a two-bit lieder recital. So what the hell. After all is said and done, it really is a lovely old tune. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist
1    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Alice Blue Gown    2:45
2    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Allah's Holiday    3:18
3    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Roses Of Picardy    2:38
4    The Captivators , Direction Of Red Nichols–    I'm Marching Home To You (Vocal) 3:08
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert
5    The Captivators , Direction Of Red Nichols–    I'm Marching Home To You (Instr.)    3:04
6    The Captivators , Direction Of Red Nichols–    Building A Nest For Mary (Vocal) 3:07
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert
7    The Captivators , Direction Of Red Nichols–    Building A Nest For Mary (Instr.)    3:06
8    The Captivators , Direction Of Red Nichols–    I Used To Love Her In The Moonlight (Vocal) 3:02
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert
9    The Captivators , Direction Of Red Nichols–    I Used To Love Her In The Moonlight (Instr.)    3:02
10    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Indiana 2:40
Arranged By – Glenn Miller
11    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Dinah    3:15
12    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    On The Alamo (Vocal) 3:04
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert
13    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    On The Alamo (Instr.)    3:05
14    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Sally, Won't You Come Back? 4:19
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert, Jack Teagarden
15    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    It Had To Be You 4:46
Arranged By – Arthur Schutt
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert
16    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    I'll See You In My Dreams 4:36
Arranged By – Glenn Miller
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert
17    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Some Of These Days 4:16
Arranged By – Herb Taylor, Red Nichols
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert, Jack Teagarden
18    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Who Cares?    3:17
19    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Rose Of Washington Square    2:51
20    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    I May Be Wrong, But I Think You're Wonderful 2:54
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert
21    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    The New Yorkers 3:05
Vocals – Red McKenzie
22    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    They Didn't Believe Me 2:55
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert
23    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Wait For The Happy Ending 2:39
Arranged By – Fud Livingston
Vocals – Scrappy Lambert
24    Red Nichols And His Five Pennies–    Can't We Be Friends? 2:56
Vocals – Dick Robertson
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Unknown Artist (tracks: 10 to 13)
Banjo – Tommy Felline (tracks: 18 to 24)
Bass – Art Miller (tracks: 4 to 13, 15 to 19), Jack Hansen (tracks: 20 to 24), Joe Tarto (tracks: 14 to 17)
Bass Saxophone, Instruments [Hot Fountain Pen] – Adrian Rollini (tracks: 1 to 3)
Clarinet – Fud Livingston (tracks: 1 to 3, 20 to 24), Pee Wee Russell (tracks: 18 to 24)
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Jimmy Dorsey (tracks: 1 to 3, 14 to 17, 20 to 24), Pete Pumiglio (tracks: 4 to 9)
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Benny Goodman (tracks: 9 to 13)
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Flute, Oboe, Bassoon – Alfie Evans (tracks: 4 to 9, 14), Arnold Brilhart (tracks: 14 to 17)
Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Jimmy Crossan (tracks: 4 to 9, 15 to 17)
Drums – Chick Condon (tracks: 4 to 9), Dave Tough (tracks: 18, 19), Gene Krupa (tracks: 10 to 13), George Beebe (tracks: 20 to 24), Vic Berton (tracks: 1 to 3, 14 to 17)
Guitar, Banjo – Carl Kress (tracks: 1 to 17)
Mellophone – Dudley Fosdick (tracks: 1 to 3)
Piano – Arthur Schutt (tracks: 1 to 17), Irving Brodsky (tracks: 20 to 24), Joe Sullivan (tracks: 18, 19)
Tenor Saxophone – Babe Russin (tracks: 10 to 13), Bud Freeman (tracks: 18, 19)
Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Oboe – Larry Binyon (tracks: 14 to 17)
Trombone – Bill Trone (tracks: 14), Glenn Miller (tracks: 4 to 24), Herb Taylor (tracks: 15 to 24), Jack Teagarden (tracks: 10 to 24), Miff Mole (tracks: 1 to 3)
Trombone [Either, Or] – Bill Trone (tracks: 10 to 13), Herb Taylor (tracks: 10 to 13)
Trumpet – John Egan* (tracks: 20 to 24), Leo McConville (tracks: 10 to 14), Manny Klein (tracks: 1 to 19), Red Nichols, Tommy Thunen (tracks: 15 to 24)
Violin – Henry Whiteman (tracks: 14 to 17, 20, 21, 23, 24), Joe Raymond (tracks: 14 to 17), Lou Raderman (tracks: 14 to 17), Maurice Goffin (tracks: 20, 21, 23, 24), Murray Kellner (tracks: 14 to 17)
Violoncello – Lucien Schmitt (tracks: 14 to 17)