[78-L] now Books

[Taylor Bowie]

Wow...both of these sound like "must have" or at lest "must read" books. 
Who was the "Phil" who got socked by Al Philburn?  Was it the piano player? 
I seem to remember that Phil Wall(?) replaced Schutt in the Specht band.

There is still that one copy of the Specht book for sale  on line 
(autographed) but I don't want to spend that much on it.  So I'll end up 
waiting and then the one will sell and I'll really be out of luck.

In 1940,  my not-quite 18-year old Dad made a tour of one-nighters here in 
Washington State and Oregon with the Henry King band.  Even when I was a 
little kid I was fascinated with this and would ask him for stories...but it 
was a pretty calm tour,  with no fights,  nobody quitting or getting fired, 
just playing music night after night in  dance halls,  hotels and clubs 
around the Northwest.  My dad was not a regular member of the band,  but got 
the job through a friend in Local 76,  which my dad had just joined.

Henry King is still one of my favorite bands,  but that's because I like the 
sound!

Taylor


>
> Now, to something more interesting, at least to me.
> I got 2 books on interlibrary loan last week.
> "Sylvester Ahola, Gloucester Gabriel" by Dick Hill
> and
> "How They Became Name Bands" by Paul Specht.
>
> As some of you may remember, I have been gathering data for a bio of Lou
> Calabrese.
> The Hill book renders detailed descriptions of life as a musician in the
> 20's in the Boston/New York area. Lou was a part of this and Hoolie and
> Lou were close until Hoolie left Specht in  Februrary 12, 1927. There
> are really good descriptions of recording in the acoustic days,
> indicating the Lou was in on that too. It adds a lot of flesh to this
> era. Fascinating!
>
> "Work was hard, the travel tiring, and rows between members of the band
> were commonplace. Al Philburn gave his notice to Paul Specht, with
> Hoolie following suit the next day. An extract from Hoolie's diary
> emphasizes the tension that existed: 'August 21. Big night at the
> 'Igloo.' Johnny Morris was going to beat up Phil. What a night. Al
> Philburn socked Phil.'"
> So, I guess this stuff happens.
> Anyways.... At the end of the book, there is a picture of the the later
> Specht band including Hoolie and Lou. It's the only one I have seen so
> far. A great find. Most other pics I see are earlier.
>
> I found only one direct reference to Lou in the Specht book, but it did
> give me a lot of insight as to how Lou became versatile and durable. I
> now have a good idea how Lou obtained his business acumen and his
> technique. The book has a lot of self aggrandizement in my opinion, but
> I think Lou adhered to Paul's philosophy pretty close throughout his
> career. I also enjoyed his tribute to Dr. Lee DeForest. "Dr. Lee de
> Forest (sic) - inventor, 'the greatest musician of all times, because
> his 'instrument'. the AUDION tube, has performed the miracle of bringing
> the soul of music to the civilization of this world via the RADIO.'" One
> must agree that the invention of good amplification was key to moving
> the technology of radio, electric recording, sound film, and live
> performance off the stage and eventually into our living rooms.
>
> Along with other causes, it led to the eventual demise of loud, strident
> instruments such as the banjo and the tuba and the rise of guitar and
> stand up bass. Despite Lou's talents, he knew that his musical career as
> on the line when the role of the banjo changed.
>
> I found these books invaluable.
>
>
> -- 
> Mark L. Bardenwerper, Sr. #:?)
> Technology, thoughtfully, responsibly.
> Visit me at http://www.candokaraoke.com
>
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