[78-L] Melvin Marvin

[Steven C. Barr]

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From: "Ray Kilcoyne" <kil at roadrunner.com>
> From: "Tyrone Settlemier"
>> I'm holding a 16" lacquer aircheck from WOR, dated Feb 13, 1941.  It's by
>> the Melvin Marvin orchestra.  A sweet/novelty band.  Who is this?  I seem
>> to have misplaced my copy of Simon, I don't recall this leader being
>> mentioned.
> Simon does mention him, barely, at the end under "Still more bands playing
> during the 1935 to 1946 period".  He lists about a hundred bands and
> mentions Mel Marvin and his Take It Easy Music.
>
Well, having been in the current equivalent of this "fad" for almost 30
years....I have this to say!

>From the late 'teens until c.1950, almost EVERY young person (mostly
guys back then) wanted to (1) learn how to play an instrument well
enough to join a dance/"jazz" band...and (2) find enough "kindred
spirits" to assemble a working such group!

The advent of "rock'n'roll" (and as well its later version, "rock!") made
this much easier. All one needed to do was to be able to play a handful
of chords on an electric guitar (or, possibly, an electric bass guitar...or
keep more-or-less time on a drum kit...or possibly a tenor saxophone?!)
and zip-zam-goddam, one was a MUSICIAN!!

Note that those first few decades required a LOT more musical skill...
simply knowing the I-IV-V7 on one's electric guitar was nowhere
NEAR enough!!

I wasn't there (I'm not THAT old?!) but I suspect there were a LOT of
"musicians" who were trying to pretend they were "great," while
simply able to play along with familiar chord progressions?!

Steven C. Barr