Back to work tomorrow, and I’ve got quite a lot to sort out before we start back so I’ll be in the office this afternoon. No time for anything of any great consequence, therefore, so I thought I’d post this bit of music which some of you might find amusing and/or enjoyable.
I think I’ve written on this blog before that mathematical theorems and physical laws often have the wrong name associated with them. So it is with famous tunes. I’m in the mood to point this one out. The following track, called Tar Paper Stomp, was recorded by Wingy Manone and his Orchestra in 1930. The tune features a well-known riff that formed the basis of a much more famous and commercially successful recording made in 1939. In fact Glen Miller‘s hit was a second-order copy; he got the theme from a tune called Hot and Anxious recorded by Fletcher Henderson‘s Orchestra in 1931. There’s some debate who actually wrote it first – Fletcher Henderson’s brother Horace claimed to have done so – but Wingy Manone did receive an out-of-court cash settlement in return for not pursuing a copyright claim.
Anyway, in case you were wondering “Wingy” Manone’s nickname derived from the fact that he lost his right arm when he was run over by a streetcar as a child. Thereafter he wore a prosthetic limb, hence the name. It sounds a bit cruel, but he didn’t seem to object. In fact he was an extrovert showman, singer, comedian and all-round entertainer as well as a fine trumpeter. It can’t be that easy to play the trumpet with only one working hand – he seems to have used his prosthetic arm just for support, fingering the valves and holding the horn with his left. His style was firmly rooted in Dixieland; it may be a bit rough around the edges, occasionally downright raucous, but he certainly could play with a lot of gusto – his solo on this track is hugely enjoyable. In fact, I think this track makes Glen Miller’s In the Mood sound like a wet weekend in Stevenage.
I don’t have a personnel listing for this recording, but the tenor saxophonist sounds to me a lot like Bud Freeman. Although Benny Goodman played with Manone’s band around 1930 the clarinettist doesn’t sound like him to me. Could it have been Frank Teschmacher?
In the Dark 