[78-L] Good post from fnarf

[Jeff Sultanof]

Many Black bands could play like the sweet bands of the era. Students are
often surprised when I tell them that black bands could play waltzes and
tangos if they were requested - and they were! Sy Oliver told me that there
were many waltzes in the Lunceford book, and big band historian Jim Maher
was repeatedly reminding us that ANY band that could not play any type of
music was a rare occurence. So the fact that a black band like Hill's could
sound like a white sweet band is hardly news. Armstrong and Hampton are on
record that they loved the Lombardo band.

Record labels were not exactly going to waste their shellac on Lunceford
playing a tango, and even Benny Goodman only recorded one waltz during his
big band years.

Jeff Sultanof

On Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 6:49 PM, Taylor Bowie <bowiebks at isomedia.com> wrote:

> Hi Al,
>
> My point was that the Hill performance is in the style of many sweet bands
> of the era,  and better than many,  including much of the output of the
> bands you mention.  Also that there are not very many recordings of black
> bands of the era that are so close to standard pop stuff.
>
> Taylor
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "simmonssomer" <simmonssomer at comcast.net>
> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Sent: Sunday, April 12, 2009 3:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Good post from fnarf
>
>
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Julian Vein" <julianvein at blueyonder.co.uk>
> > To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> > Sent: Sunday, April 12, 2009 6:08 PM
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] Good post from fnarf
> >
> >
> >> Taylor Bowie wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>> One of my favorite mid-30s "sweet band" records is the Teddy Hill Orch.
> >>> version of Got Me Doin' Things,  with clipped muted brass,  hotel-band
> >>> tenor
> >>> sax (by Chu Berry!?!?!),  and a wonderful "business man's bounce"  from
> >>> the
> >>> rhythm section.   And a totally wonderful "sweet band" vocal from
> >>> trumpeter
> >>> Bill Dillard...I love his singing.  A great record by any measure,  and
> >>> it
> >>> makes me wish that other black bands had gotten more of a chance to
> >>> record
> >>> this kind of pop commercial arrangement...I'm sure they played them at
> >>> live
> >>> gigs.
> >>
> >>>
> >>> Taylor
> >> --------------------------
> >> That performance sounds more like Will Osborne to me. And didn't Berry
> >> admire Freddy Martin?
> >>
> >>      Julian Vein
> >
> > Hmmm. admittedly these distinctions (sweet or hot) are subjective, and
> > although the performance in question is not precisely "hot' ,...it is
> not,
> > in my opinion, anything close to  something played by a "sweet" or
> "hotel"
> > band. Hill had a swinging big band with a full and well articulated brass
> > section and good reeds.
> > Bill Dillard's vocal was no more "sweet" than thousands of
> run-of-the-mill
> > swing era big band vocals, By the mid and late thirties the "sounds' made
> > by
> > Guy Lombardo or Blue Baron and Tommy Tucker were those made by sweet
> > bands.
> > If you play a Teddy Hill record and compare to those bands I think you'll
> > gratefully  hear one hell of a difference.
> >
> > Al Simmons
> >
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