[78-L] Reuss was Etri was Christian

[Julian Vein]

On 23/12/13 18:16, Joe Scott wrote:
> Thanks Warren.
>
> For anyone who's interested in these pioneers, it's worth knowing that something George Barnes, Eddie Durham, Les Paul, and T-Bone Walker unfortunately had in common is that they told stories about their chronological primacy that conflict pretty glaringly with other sources. In the case of Barnes, he gave an interview to the WPA on May 10, 1939 (e.g., in connection with the fact that horn players influenced his own guitar playing, "You know I never heard any guitar solos until a year ago," & "I played in my first orchestra a year and a half ago") that conflicts with inflated claims he made when he was much older. Similarly, T-Bone's stories varied, but he once mentioned that the first electric guitarist he ever heard was Les Paul, which is more likely to be true than his claim to have been playing electric guitar well before 1939. His wife's recollection involving him learning to play electric guitar right about 1940 is probably correct.
>
> Joseph Scott
> ===============
Barnes is rumoured to have accompanied various blues singers for 
Bluebird and Vocalion around 1938. I heard a story about Blind John 
Davis appearing in France in the early 1950s and the audience expecting 
him to be playing electric guitar, when in fact it had been played by 
Barnes on record and Davis had played piano!

He contributes two great performances on Louise Massey's "Billie Boy" 
and "Polly Wolly Doodle". He's also on a Squirrel Ashcraft private 
recording of "I Know That You Know", which also contains a brilliant 
bass sax solo by Spencer Clark.

      Julian Vein