FATS WALLER – 1939 | The Classics Chronological Series – 973 (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This is worth having just for the sake of the "London Suite," a set of six piano impressions conceived, composed and recorded in England during the summer of 1939. The music is as much about Fats Waller's Harlem as it is about that older metropolis on the other side of the Atlantic. There are gentle moments of deep reflection, a bluesy portrait of the red light district and a healthy dose of full-tilt Harlem/London stride piano at its hottest. It's a musical lexicon of the artist's every mood. "Piccadilly" runs like hot butter. "Chelsea" is precious as dew clinging to long blades of sweet grass. The beautiful "Soho" seems like an ennobled version of "Stompin' at the Savoy." "Bond Street" is more working class, almost as if patterned after the rhythms of feet on pavement. "Limehouse" is all delicacy, and "Whitechapel" disarmingly somber. Fats finished up his English adventure with two performances on pipe organ, then attempted a quick tour of mainland Europe. Passing through Germany, he stepped off the train for a beer and met up with a team of goose-stepping Nazis! Re-boarding as swiftly as possible, Fats could not be persuaded to budge from his seat until the locomotive had escorted him permanently off of German soil. Waller was well-informed: "That rascal Hitler don't like my kind of music!" Back in New York, Americans were consuming his records as fast as he could make them. Fats said that he heard the melody he used for "Honey Hush" in bird songs at dawn after staying up all night walking through London. "Anita" was written in honor of his beautiful wife. He poured equal amounts of humor and musical dexterity into "What a Pretty Miss" and especially "You Meet the Nicest People in Your Dreams." The session of August 10, 1939 is notable for a sultry version of Waller's early hit, "(When You) Squeeze Me," and a splendid ensemble setting of "Bond Street" from the "London Suite." It would have been wonderful if they'd adapted all six movements for this band, but there wasn't time. And Fats didn't even make it to the age of forty. "Abdullah" is a fine example of Tin Pan Alley's penchant for ethnic confusion; the subject of this song was apparently the "king of Amazoola" who "took a trip to Honolulu" where, of course, he became infatuated with a Polynesian woman named Lulu. Luckily, Fats and His Rhythm make wonderful sense out of this inane exercise. Three sides cut on November 3, 1939 round off this chronology nicely: "It's You Who Taught It to Me" begins with a strange group vocal, while "Suitcase Susie" depicts a young lady who traveled extensively and then "married the guy next door." "Your Feet's Too Big" is deservedly famous, but seems to have been made after the version used in a short film. Anyone who listens to both renditions will agree that on this Bluebird recording, Fats appears to be trying to re-create the spontaneously clever things he said on the film soundtrack, right down to the pedal extremities being "obnoxious" and that famous last line: "one never knows, do one?" arwulf arwulf  
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FATS WALLER – 1939-1940 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1002 (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Back in the 1920s and early '30s, Fats Waller sold a lot of songs for next to nothing. Much to his consternation, some of these melodies turned up later as hugely successful hits with other peoples' names attached. He adamantly insisted that he'd written both "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," gorgeous tunes that do seem to be cut from the same fabric as "Honeysuckle Rose," "My Fate Is in Your Hands," and "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now." Bearing this in mind, Waller's magnificently cynical duet with Una Mae Carlisle is not only one of the most skillfully humorous records he ever made, but might also have served as a sort of artistic vengeance upon Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. In any case, Una Mae has a wonderfully sultry voice and Fats is remarkably funny. "The Darktown Strutters' Ball" features a non-electric taxi cab horn and a very hot band, goaded by Waller's shouting and piano plunking. "Swinga-Dilla Street" demonstrates his mature bouncing Hammond organ style. "At Twilight" was composed by Thomas and Anita Waller. It is romantic, soft, and lovely, like something from Duke Ellington. "Black Maria," that cheerful ode to a paddy wagon, swings hard. Rosy and idyllic, "Mighty Fine" is most memorable for its interesting punch line: "Exuberance is the spontaneity of life." Waller's band had already recorded two excellent versions of "The Moon Is Low" in 1939. The first 1940 take is a nice hasty jam, but nothing could top what they'd done with it a few months earlier. Unissued until the 1970s, "The Moon Is Low, Pt. 2" uses the Hammond organ in place of piano. Fats slips into in a strange key at one point, which is probably why this take was rejected. "Fat and Greasy" is a remake of a nasty tune recorded in 1935 by Waller's big band. This version actually includes the verse, for what it's worth. It's kind of strange to hear Fats making fun of obesity. "You Run Your Mouth" is famous for its prickly assertiveness. This is much better than the sloppy, apparently inebriated second take. Fats makes all kinds of weird noises with his lips during "Eep, Ipe, Wanna Piece of Pie," a very funny song for children or twisted adults. "My Mommie Sent Me to the Store" is even better, with a hilarious vocal exchange between the bandmembers and their fearless leader. Does the word "rye" refer to bread or liquids? Only mother knows for sure. "Dry Bones," cast in a minor mode, is wonderfully spooky and expertly timed. It's much better than anyone else's version of this old song. Deep in the throes of his own theater of the absurd, Fats invokes "fine neck bones and rice" with almost religious fervor. arwulf arwulf  
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