[78-L] Victor 27485, the Sidney Bechet 'one man band' record.

[David Lewis]

The existence of the Bechet "one man band" record had an unintended consequence; it created a major headache for William Russell when he travelled to LA to record Dink Johnson for American Music in 1947. Dink had heard the Bechet and told his friends that one day he would make a record like that, so when Russell contacted Dink to record naturally Dink expected to do this as part of the recording project. Russell did achieve the piece -- called "Rag Bag Rag" -- using two disc cutters, but it consumed 2-3 days of the session and was a major pain owing to bad takes and thread tangle. He left some detailed diary entries of the experience, and I concur with Russell that we would have more from Dink Johnson on record if they hadn't been mired in that art project. The resultant track is funny and totally different from anything else, but I would trade it to have more piano solos from Dink.

 

When Slim Gaillard did "Genius" in 1951 he did it the right way; with tape, in a proper studio and a decent engineer. 

Uncle Dave Lewis uncledavelewis at hotmail.com


 		 	   		  
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