[78-L] Fiend and the Jazz Hounds

[David Lewis]

Roger Wade wrote: David, I think you must be off by a year on the composition date for Hal Mooney's "Swamp Fire". Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra recorded it in New York on March 11, 1935 for their Brunswick 7414 release. >>> Roger, Very well; I didn't know there was a Nelson version and was going by Hal Kemp's. But Ellington himself -- via a recording credited to Barney Bigard -- did not get around to "Caravan" until December 1936. I guess the chart may have been around earlier, and Ellington didn't do very much in 1935 as his mother died and he took most of the year off. However it's hard to imagine that a local band would record it before Ellington did. Ot maybe it's not the same "Caravan" that we know?

Uncle Dave Lewis
uncledavelewis at hotmail.com