Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism

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Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism Page 66

by Thomas Brothers


  206“it was all mixed together”: Kenney 1993, 105.

  207“The records I made” … revisiting that atmosphere: Ory: Shapiro and Hentoff 1955, 109. Dodds 1992, 40. Armstrong IJS 1954, 61.

  207the differing business plans: On the interest in race record labels in having original material, see Kenney 1999, 133; Hennessey 1973, 60.

  208familiarity with the tunes from the Dreamland: It is impossible to pin down the dates precisely, but all five did work there at some point in the winter of 1925–26; see Ory 1950a, 17.

  208Armstrong uses the main pitches: A good analysis of the solo, with emphasis on Armstrong’s use of St. Cyr’s tune, is in Anderson 2007, 67–69.

  209This is eccentric … like petrified wood: Calloway 1976, 58. Manone 1948, 68.

  209From the first … vocal on Heebie Jeebies: Jasen and Jones 1998, 295. Johnny Dodds (WRC n.d.) said that “OKeh asked Louis to sing and that’s why he did,” which suggests that his singing had already been well received in public performance in Chicago. See Tucker 1991, 155, for discussion of Georgia Grind, compared with performances by Ellington, Perry Bradford, and Thomas Morris and His Seven Hot Babies. For a good summary of African-American speechlike singing, see Givans 2004, esp. 190–91.

  209Cornet Chop Suey … the home boy they once knew: Bigard IJS 1976; Frazier HJA 1972. Laplace 1988, 13; Davison CJA 1981.

  210Kid Ory is listed … played somewhere: Armstrong WRC 1954; Armstrong IJS 1965. Bigard (1986, 11 and 38) claimed that Ory could not read at all, which would place him in the vast majority of uptown African-American musicians from New Orleans. Preston Jackson (2005, 97) said that Ory was Armstrong’s “idol on the trombone,” and that when Jackson played with Armstrong in 1931, Armstrong tried to get him to imitate Ory. Trummy Young, who played with Armstrong in the 1950s, also closely attended to Ory’s style, and with great admiration; see Dance 1977, 225. “Dixieland style is punch,” said Young. “It’s got to come on out. It’s got to build… . I don’t think anyone really knows it outside of Ory.”

  211Muskrat Ramble was paired … “(meaning) ‘money’”: Armstrong WRC 1939. Armstrong 1936, 84. Defender, June 12, 1926, p. A6. Armstrong 1999, 132.

  212In one of several … one observer: Origins of scat: Brothers 2006, 94–95 and 331. Miller HJA 1959. Armstrong 1945, 11. Anderson 2007, 52. Red Happy Bolton: Russell 1994, 58 and 163–64. Manuel Manetta said that Bolton was a few years older than Armstrong; Manetta WRC 1968. On Bolton as dancer: St. Cyr HJA 1958.

  212Many signs … to indicate it: Armstrong, Lillian 1963. Ory CJA n.d. Bocage HJA 1960. For suggestions that scat had a more serious purpose, see Gabbard 2008, 105; Edwards 2002.

  213Humor aside … “into my voice”: Talking blues: Williams, Mayo WRC 1970. Johnson: Dorsey, Thomas CJA n.d. Armstrong: Scrapbook 6, LAHM.

  214What distinguishes Armstrong’s … a supposed mistake: Atkins borrowed heavily from Heliotrope Bouquet by Scott Joplin and Louis Chauvin (1907); Anderson 2007, 55; Collier 1983, 172. “The Heebie Jeebies”: quotation from OED Online, “Heebie Jeebies,” citing Weekly Dispatch, May 8, 1927.

  214The phrase “heebie jeebies” … a couple of happy minutes: Atlantic City: Smith 1964, 40. Appel 2002, 40; Defender, June 27, 1925, p. 16; Washington Post, Feb. 27, 1925, p. 10; Afro-American, Nov. 14, 1925, p. 16. The meaning of “heebie jeebies” was close to this definition of jazz from F. Scott Fitzgerald (1993, 42): “The word jazz in its progress toward respectability has meant first sex, then dancing, then music. It is associated with a state of nervous stimulation, not unlike that of big cities behind the lines of a war.”

  214Atkins and Barbarin … brought them to the studio: Atkins knew Armstrong: Mason HJA 1960; Armstrong 1954, 186. Material from John Steiner’s interview with Boyd Atkins, including a questionnaire filled out by Atkins, is in CJA, John Steiner Collection, box 78, folder “Boyd Atkins.” Armstrong supplied: St. Cyr HJA 1958; St. Cyr WRC 1969.

  215There seems to be no doubt: Armstrong 1999, 131–32.

  215“There’s fourteen million Negroes”: Bradford 1965, 114–29.

  215If the scatted … heard on radio: Kenney 1999, 121; Banks 1980, 227. Scrapbook 83, LAHM. Kenney 1993, 124.

  216he was singing Heebie Jeebies: Megaphone: Scrapbook 83, LAHM; Armstrong 1971, 91. Defender, April 17, 1926, p. 6; Ory and Manetta HJA 1958; Russell 1994, 181.

  216On May 1 … crowed an OKeh ad: “big feature”: Defender, June 12, 1926, p. A6; Miller 1946, 32; Kenney 1999, 121; Kenney 1993, 124. Contract: a newspaper clipping in Scrapbook 83 (LAHM) provides the following information: (1) that Armstrong had just completed a five-year contract with OKeh; (2) that OKeh (now absorbed into Columbia Phonograph Co.) was suing to stop him from jumping over to Victor, claiming rights to the option of an additional year; (3) that this was taking place while Armstrong was performing at Sebastian’s Cotton Club in California. The clipping probably dates from the spring of 1932, when Armstrong returned to the Cotton Club; the Amsterdam News (April 13, 1932, p. 7) reported that he had just finished a five-year contract with OKeh. Armstrong made his final recording for OKeh on March 11, 1932. His next recording after that was for Victor, Dec. 8, 1932. Peyton: Defender, June 12, 1926, p. A5. Defender, June 12, 1926, p. A6. Kenney 1993, 124; Defender June 19, 1926, p. 6; Scrapbook 83, LAHM.

  217“We didn’t rehearse much”: Russell 1994, 181.

  217The Zulu theme was perfect: Defender, Oct. 30, 1926, p. 6. Lillian Hardin is credited as composer of King of the Zulus, and she notated the lead sheet in her tidy script. Interestingly, the title “Chief Bonco Boo” is crossed out on the lead sheet and “The King of the Zulus” entered below it, suggesting that the Zulu title was an afterthought. See also Anderson 2007, 100 and 231. LAHM owns a lyric sheet for “‘King of the Zulus’—Blues,” with verse, interlude, and chorus.

  217In July, Percy Venable … Armstrong’s scatted dance: “The backward”: Afro-American, Dec. 26, 1925, p. 5. Calloway’s account of his first exposure to Armstrong (Calloway 1976, 58) places the event in summer 1927, and he is indeed documented in Chicago then (Light, June 4, 1927, p. 21). But the pieces he names fit summer 1926 better, suggesting that there may have been a trip to Chicago before he toured with the review Plantation Days. Earl Hines’s discussion (Dance 1977, 49) of Calloway’s first visit to the Sunset implies that he was not yet a professional singer. “All of”: Calloway 1976, 58–59. “All the way”: Leonard 1987, 94.

  218Summer contracts were … did it in scat: On the sheet music, see Anderson 2007, 52–54. Contractual information on the “orchestral roll” and piano rolls on file at LAHM. Sheet music for Heebie Jeebies at WRC; Washington Post, Feb. 26, 1928, p. F6. Ethel Waters advertised in Afro-American, Sept. 18, 1926, p. A6; Alberta Hunter advertised in Amsterdam News, Oct. 27, 1926, p. 13.

  218OKeh’s coordinated strategies … “stop in Africa”: Miss Tweedie: Sheet music, WRC. “spent a lifetime”: Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 25, 1928, p. A6; see also Washington Post, Feb. 26, 1928, p. F6.

  220But the tune continued … “Heebee Jeebees [sic]”: Bojangles: My placement of this event in January 1927 is based on Robinson’s presence at the Palace at that time; Defender, Jan. 1, 1927, p. 7. Quotation: Scrapbook 83, LAHM. October: Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 29, 1927, p. 10. Peyton: Defender, Dec. 31, 1927, p. 6. Alhambra: Amsterdam News, Aug. 14, 1929, p. 8.

  220“Aw, I am paid to entertain the people”: King 1967, 68.

  Chapter 6: Melody Man at the Sunset Café

  222Armstrong’s wife had … “fire me”: “Look out”: Armstrong, Lillian CJA 1960. “I would”: Jones and Chilton 1971, 92.

  222In early April … “us young fellows?”: Offer: Defender, April 10, 1926, p. 6. Hines remembered: Dance 1977, 45; Hines, Foster, and Deppe CJA 1961.

  222Here is another … bad behavior eventually: “I loved”: Armstrong 1966, 35. Singleton IJS n.d.; Armstrong 1966, 35.

  223Armstrong started … every week, as usual: Wright 1987, 51, has Ory joining Oliver’s Plantation band in late 1925, but by Ory’
s account (Russell 1994, 181; Ory and Manetta HJA 1958; Ory 1950a, 17), he worked at the Dreamland and then left when Louis did. On Ory at the Dreamland, see also Mitchell HJA 1959. “new departure”: Defender, July 30, 1921, p. 7. Noone WRC 1938; Cheatham IJS 1976; Dance 1977, 48.

  223His friends Buster Bailey, Rudy Jackson, Honoré Dutrey, and Andre Hillare: Armstrong 1999, 72 and 75; Jackson HJA 1958; Russell 1994, 112.

  223Armstrong’s arrival … Duhé’s band in 1919: Defender, Sept. 12, 1925, p. 6; Jan. 30, 1926, p. 6; Jackson 2005, 57; Shapiro and Hentoff 1955, 84. Wright 1987, 48; Shoffner CJA 1958; Jackson 2005, 70; Shoffner HJA 1959.

  224“The mammoth King Oliver”: Wright 1987, 60.

  224the 30-minute radio broadcasts: Howard CJA n.d.

  225Management at the Plantation … tapping a cymbal: The Plantation probably took its name and inspiration from the eponymous club in New York City, for which we have more information about the imaginative attempt to create an atmosphere of slavery. Wright 1987, 59; Russell 1999, 92: Frances Oliver WRC n.d.; Erenberg 1981, 254. Nicholas WRC 1970; Russell 1999, 321.

  225Jazz around 35th and Calumet … Peyton in the Defender: Jackson 2005, 70. “Close your”: Condon 1947, 131; Ramsey 1939, 135. Defender, April 17, 1926, p. 6.

  225“All the white people, all the night lifers”: Armstrong 1966, 35.

  225The white draw … on their days off: Wright 1987, 51–54 and 60.

  226African-American men acted as guides: Kenney 1993, 19.

  226“Outside the cabaret Negroes loiter in doorways”: Variety, April 21, 1926, p. 45. Raid: Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 1, 1927, p. A5.

  226“He had all the black guys”: Hinton COHP 1971.

  226Rivalries for turf control: “Buddy”: Freeman 1974, 5. Ory HJA 1957; Dance 1977, 33 and 47.

  227But it was also … the music business: Dance 1977, 172; Hinton IJS 1976; Washington COHP 1971; for an opposing view, see Kellery 1989, 91; Vincent 1995, 69. Armstrong 1966, 35. “this is”: Dance 1977, 61. Greer: Sylvester 1956, 45.

  227Armstrong developed … secure their property: Cheatham: Deffaa 1990, 18. Dodds, John Jr. CJA 1969. Most of: Ory HJA 1957; Cheatham IJS 1976. Hines: Dance 1977, 61; Hines COHP 1971.

  228integration was one of the things that made Chicago’s South Side cabarets different: Pianist Willie “The Lion” Smith (1964, 127): “there was a lot more mixing of the races in Chicago at that time than there was in New York.” See also Kenney 1993, esp. chap. 1.

  228Evidence of black patronage … “the dancers frolic”: Reeves 1961; Cheatham IJS 1976; Dance 1977, 52; Davison IJS 1980; Oliver WRC; Hinton IJS n.d.; Hinton IJS 1976. Cotton Club: Amsterdam News, July 6, 1927, p. 2; see also Light and Heebie Jeebies, Jan. 15, 1927, p. 25, for an article on the Jazzland Cabaret in Los Angeles, which had just converted from integrated to segregated patronage. Defender, July 10, 1926, p. 6.

  228Buster Bailey explained … “Old Colored Joe up there?”: Shapiro and Hentoff 1955, 115. Courier, Feb. 5, 1927, p. A2. Armstrong, LAHM Tape 96.

  229places of white privilege: Wright 1987, 54 and 59–60; Hines COHP 1971; Dance 1977, 45; Armstrong 1966, 35.

  229a system of thought known as “primitivism”: I have been influenced in this section by Togorvnick 1990; Clifford 1988; Leonard 1962; Levine 1988.

  229Even the most informed and sympathetic observers: Togorvnick 1990, 85–104.

  230novelist Mary Austin explained: Austin 1926, 476.

  230“a new genre, characterized by an improvement in technique”: Sudhalter 1999, 34.

  231“a sort of primitive abandon”: Tichenor 1930, 485.

  231The dominating side … social dynamics of the Sunset: Shapiro and Hentoff 1955, 116–17; Davison IJS. Dominique: Russell 1994, 150; Steiner, box 82; Dominique WRC 1952; Dominique CJA 1952.

  232“vicarious bohemianism”: Erenberg 1981, 177, 127, and 139.

  232“Black men with white girls”: Vincent 1995, 73.

  232The coveted tables were right next to the stage: Erenberg 1981, 125.

  233“A whole race” … sexual liberation was all about: Fitzgerald 1993, 42. Carmichael 1999a, 75. Allen 1931, 88–122; Taylor 1993, 51–52; Albertson 2003, 47; Jablonski 1961, 55; Erenberg 1981, 196.

  233Light-skinned female singers … “who is the wriggliest”: Jackson 2005, 72; Calloway 1976, 59. Scrapbook 83, LAHM.

  233Mae Alix: Dance 1977, 49 and 143; Barker IJS, 5–19.

  233Twenty-four chorus girls … a lot of skin: Wright 1987, 59; Dance 1977, 45 and 48; Shapiro and Hentoff 1955, 108. Preston Jackson (2005, 70) gave this description of the Plantation: “The show would last an hour and a half or maybe two hours … the show girls would come out and dance ten or twelve choruses, then take an encore and come back and do about seven or eight more… . Jobs like the Plantation and the Sunset wore a trumpet player out. There was no 45 and 15 like now, but just one intermission a night.” Hines: Dance 1977, 48; Shapiro and Hentoff 1955, 108.

  234The first option … “extreme ‘Jazz Dances’”: Anderson 2007, 53. “Hip dancing”: Wright 1987, 59. “Supremacy”: Levin 1985, 201.

  235The Mess Around … dance of the day?: Defender, Aug. 28, 1926, p. 8; Anderson 2007, 83–85, with lyrics from the song by Barbarin and Armstrong; Stearns and Stearns 1994, 107.

  235Heebie Jeebies scored an interview: Scrapbook 83, LAHM.

  235“Black Bottom” was slang: Moton 1929, 118.

  235the Black Bottom drew white attention: Stearns and Stearns 1994, 106; Atlanta Constitution, July 11, 1926, p. 4.

  236One can only … session on November 27: Afro-American, Sept. 11, 1926, p. 4. Los Angeles Times, Sept. 29, 1926, p. 8. Romania: Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 7, 1926, p. 7.

  236Several videos show … police reports, anyway: Kenney 1993, 70. Erenberg 1981, 250; Dixon 2000, 104.

  236In December 1926 … a public nuisance: Courier, Jan. 1 1927, p. 5. Glaser: Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1926, p. 1; Courier, Jan. 1, 1927, p. 1. Chicago Tribune, Jan. 12, 1927, p. 14.

  237Venable designed a new show: Courier, Feb. 12, 1927, p. 3.

  237Armstrong himself was one … trumpeter Bobby Williams (thin): Armstrong 1966, 35. The date February 1927 is based on a story from the Light, Feb. 19, 1927, discussed below; characterizations from CJA Steiner, box 78, folder “Louis Armstrong”; Armstrong gives a similar account in Shapiro and Hentoff 1955, 111. Johnson: Williams 1979, 56.

  237I know of no video … “good instrumentalist”: Brothers 2006, 141 and 231; St. Cyr HJA 1958. Smith 1964, 160.

  238“If you’ve been” … decades of his career: Glason: Snyder 1989, 109; also Smith 1964, 117–18. Abbott 2005.

  238The thrill for slumming whites … wrote Variety: “Slumming”: Levin 1985, xiv, 170, 199; Woll 1989, 116. “white reform”: Wright 1987, 72; also Vincent 1995, 75. Reeves 1961, 8. Hines: Dance 1977, 45. “grenades”: Smith and Haskins 1983, 59; Preston Jackson in Jones 1988, 134; Heebie Jeebies, Nov. 7, 1925, p. 26. Prostitutes: Kenney 1993, 23. Wright 1987, 59, quoting Variety, April 21, 1926.

  238The list of white … “all over my face”: List drawn from Howard HJA 1957; Armstrong LAHM 1967; Armstrong 1946; Russell 1994; Shapiro and Hentoff 1955; Condon 1947; Davison IJS 1980; Jackson HJA 1958; Jones 1988; Hines COHP 1971. Freddy Goodman: Dance 1977, 194–95. Sylvester 1956, 51. Hines: Dance 1977, 48. Freeman 1970, 17. Armstrong 1999, 112.

  239“It has been the custom”: Defender, Oct. 23, 1926, p. 6.

  239But his words … “Makes me feel good”: Spanier: Hubner 1944, 7. Davison IJS 1980. Armstrong 1966, 57.

  240“To me there’s more natural suggestion”: Mezzrow 1946, 27, 111, and 210.

  240Mezzrow’s extreme position … Tichenor put it in 1930: “negroization”: Douglas 1995. “stir the savage”: Clark 2001, 34. Erenberg 1981, 140. Tichenor 1930, 485.

  241“I say the Negro is not our salvation”: Seldes 1957, 98.

  242Percy Venable wrote a comic tune: Armstrong and Mae Alix also performed the song at the Vendome (Dance 1977, 143). In September 1926, the Sunset revue was c
alled Joymakers (Heebie Jeebies, Sept. 4, 1926, p. 15). Big Butter was part of a cluster of pieces composed by Venable (most likely for the Sunset) and recorded by Armstrong in November 1926: Sunset Café Stomp, You Made Me Love You (not to be confused with the song of the same title by Monaco and McCarthy), and Irish Black Bottom.

  243Revues helped cabarets … social dance segment: Dominique: Russell 1994, 150. Armstrong (IJS 1965) said that the Sunset had two shows per night. Jackson 2005, 70.

  243Light classics … “Get rid of it!”: Four weeks: Ory HJA 1957. Peyton: Ory HJA 1957; Russell 1994, 150. Barbarin: Shoffner CJA 1958 and Shoffner HJA 1959; see also Burton HJA 1959; Bigard 1986, 27. Hines’s weak reading skills—if he was, indeed a weak reader; reports are contradictory—may have placed him in the same position at the Sunset, for there were apparently two pianists there when Armstrong joined. On Hines as a shaky reader, see Russell 1994, 148; for the contrary view, Dance 1977, 134 and 149. Penalties: Singleton CJA n.d.; Natty Dominique in Russell 1994, 150; see also Hines, Foster, and Deppe CJA 1961.

  243The Sunset hired Venable … “put on something, you know”: Venable: Defender, Feb. 14, 1925; Dance 1977, 45–57; CJA box 87, folder V; Light, March 12, 1927, p. 21. Hines: Dance 1977, 45–46 and 57. Budd Johnson IJS. Sadly, Venable died early, his death perhaps brought on by drug addiction. Drug addiction: Budd Johnson IJS; early death: Freeman 1974, 15.

  244In spite of this lack … begun the previous April: Peyton: Defender, July 3, 1926. “With all”: unidentified clipping, Scrapbook 83, LAHM.

  245Big Butter … first eight-bar phrase: Budd Johnson (IJS) reported that Armstrong was still playing Big Butter and Egg Man in his 1933 band. Since the philosophy of the New Orleanians was to stick with successful solos, it is likely that he was playing the same solo then that he played in 1926. Schuller 1968, 103–4; see also Hodeir 1956, 57.

  245banter back and forth: Dance 1977, 48; Armstrong 1966, 35.

  245The phrase “big butter and egg man” … $1,000 in a single night: Harker 2008; Berliner 1993, 101; Erenberg 1981, 200. Berliner 1993, 101; George S. Kaufman wrote a play titled Big Butter and Egg Man, which opened on Broadway in September 1925.

 

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