[78-L] Jack Denny ~Joseph C Smith

[Taylor Bowie]

I think Ryan has the little page of info and photos of Smith on his web 
page...some interesting candids and others.

I know for a fact that Smith was leading a band in New York as late as 1941, 
because I saw him in a listing of night spot entertainment in a 1941 (Nov.) 
issue of The New Yorker.  As I recall he was playing at some semi-upscale 
hotel...seems to have been the "relief" band there.

Harold notes that the "early" dance band period on record is very 
interesting.  I agree,  and have in recent years been spending more time 
with and more money on acoustic stuff than I used to.  Not only Smith,  but 
early Paul Biese,  Art Hickman, Green Brothers, etc. all from 1920 or 
before,  as well as the later acoustic stuff of Krueger,  Lopez, Selvin, 
Oriole,  Jones, Haring, etc. etc.  Life did not begin for dance bands with 
electric recording.  And Jules Levy Jr. was a great trumpet!

Taylor B


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harold Aherne" <leotolstoy_75 at yahoo.com>
To: <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] Jack Denny ~Joseph C Smith


This could be the clip whereof you speak, a 1933 Vitaphone short subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIYPNoJKbNE

His orchestra does sometimes border on salon music, and the lack of brass
in the 1932-33 band is rather atypical. But I enjoy the soft, even pensive 
tones of
Denny's unit, particularly in "Goodnight My Love" from 13 Apr. 1932 (Vic 
22983).

I'm an inveterate Joseph C. Smith fan. His recordings of "Smiles" and "Tulip 
Time",
among others, rank among my very favourite recordings, perhaps because
I find the late 10s and early 20s such an interesting time. The best of his 
Victor
discs might be "Rainy Day Blues" (Vic 18561, 23 Apr 1919), and I think his
"Three O'Clock in the Morning" from January 1922 might be a notch above
Whiteman's.

-Harold

--- On Thu, 1/22/09, Taylor Bowie <bowiebks at isomedia.com> wrote:

From: Taylor Bowie <bowiebks at isomedia.com>
Subject: [78-L] Jack Denny ~Joseph C Smith
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Date: Thursday, January 22, 2009, 2:48 PM

Two questions.

I love sweet bands and can listen for hours to stuff which would make a  lot
of jazz or swing fans scream in agony or from boredom (Orville Knapp,
George Hamilton, Paul Pendarvis, etc.).  But I just can't get into Jack
Denny...the records I've played just sound so damn dead.  I have a video
someplace of him and the band with Paul Small singing and it's just
horrible...Denny reminds me of some sort of Halloween vampire or something.

Does anyone have a fave or two by Denny which they could mention so I can
give him another chance?

Also...who knows anyting about those last records in Rust by Joseph C
Smith,  which were made in Canada?  I've never seen them but I kind of like

some of his earlier American sides...maybe a little too polite for some
tastes.

Taylor B

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