Six Minutes With Satch: I Ain't Got Nobody / Rockin' Chair
When we last left our hero, Louis Armstrong had separated from the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra and was now being booked by Tommy Rockwell as a single, fronting and recording with Luis Russell's dynamic band. We heard a taste of what they were capable of on "St. Louis Blues" on Friday and we'll continue in that mode this week.
After pushing Armstrong on OKeh's pop series for the last several releases, Rockwell went back to the race side for today's entry. "I Ain't Got Nobody" was one of two ancient numbers Louis and Luis recorded at their December 10 session. There's another great vocal, more of that earth-shaking rhythm section and a typically shouted affair by trombonist J. C. Higginbotham, but the highlight is the trumpet chorus where Louis and Henry "Red" Allen trade so seamlessly, it's almost impossible to tell when one ends and the other begins, and who is playing when. I tried my best years ago at annotating it but listening again now, I'm not so sure I had it right. Any guesses out there?
But the flip side was something completely different: Hoagy Carmichael's brand new composition, "Rockin' Chair." How new was it? According to alto saxophonist Charlie Holmes, Hoagy brought in the lead sheet to the December 13 "St. Louis Blues" date and asked Louis if they could record it. Louis apparently took a look at it, said, "Sure," and called Luis Russell over. Russell put together a sketch and they were off and running! An alternate take does survive and has some rough moments, leading credence to Holmes's story, but everything was smoothed out for the master. Armstrong's closing trumpet work is wonderful but the main event is the vocal, shared by Armstrong and Carmichael, the first integrated vocal duet on record. Armstrong doesn't do much more than repeat Carmichael's lines but he must have had an idea that this was a showstopper. By the summer of 1930, he was doing it at Sebastian's Cotton Club with young Lionel Hampton and later related that the audiences were "holding their sides" from laughing so hard at their antics.
More than any other song from this period, with the exception of "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" from 1931, "Rockin' Chair" had incredible longevity, surviving the big band era and becoming a staple with the All Stars, even performed with Tyree Glenn in Carmichael's role at Armstrong's final public performances in 1971. But it all started here with OKeh 8756!
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Otis Johnson, Henry “Red” Allen (tp), J.C. Higginbotham (tb), Albert Nicholas, Charlie Holmes (as, cl *), Teddy Hill (ts, cl *), Luis Russell (p), Will Johnson (g), Pops Foster (b), Paul Barbarin (d).
OKeh recording session - New York City, NY December 10, 1929
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Otis Johnson, Henry “Red” Allen (tp), J.C. Higginbotham (tb), Albert Nicholas, Charlie Holmes (as), Teddy Hill (ts), Luis Russell (p), Will Johnson (g), Pops Foster (b),
Paul Barbarin (d, vbs), Hoagy Carmichael (voc).
OKeh recording session - New York City, NY December 13, 1929
YouTube links:
After pushing Armstrong on OKeh's pop series for the last several releases, Rockwell went back to the race side for today's entry. "I Ain't Got Nobody" was one of two ancient numbers Louis and Luis recorded at their December 10 session. There's another great vocal, more of that earth-shaking rhythm section and a typically shouted affair by trombonist J. C. Higginbotham, but the highlight is the trumpet chorus where Louis and Henry "Red" Allen trade so seamlessly, it's almost impossible to tell when one ends and the other begins, and who is playing when. I tried my best years ago at annotating it but listening again now, I'm not so sure I had it right. Any guesses out there?
But the flip side was something completely different: Hoagy Carmichael's brand new composition, "Rockin' Chair." How new was it? According to alto saxophonist Charlie Holmes, Hoagy brought in the lead sheet to the December 13 "St. Louis Blues" date and asked Louis if they could record it. Louis apparently took a look at it, said, "Sure," and called Luis Russell over. Russell put together a sketch and they were off and running! An alternate take does survive and has some rough moments, leading credence to Holmes's story, but everything was smoothed out for the master. Armstrong's closing trumpet work is wonderful but the main event is the vocal, shared by Armstrong and Carmichael, the first integrated vocal duet on record. Armstrong doesn't do much more than repeat Carmichael's lines but he must have had an idea that this was a showstopper. By the summer of 1930, he was doing it at Sebastian's Cotton Club with young Lionel Hampton and later related that the audiences were "holding their sides" from laughing so hard at their antics.
More than any other song from this period, with the exception of "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" from 1931, "Rockin' Chair" had incredible longevity, surviving the big band era and becoming a staple with the All Stars, even performed with Tyree Glenn in Carmichael's role at Armstrong's final public performances in 1971. But it all started here with OKeh 8756!
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Otis Johnson, Henry “Red” Allen (tp), J.C. Higginbotham (tb), Albert Nicholas, Charlie Holmes (as, cl *), Teddy Hill (ts, cl *), Luis Russell (p), Will Johnson (g), Pops Foster (b), Paul Barbarin (d).
OKeh recording session - New York City, NY December 10, 1929
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Otis Johnson, Henry “Red” Allen (tp), J.C. Higginbotham (tb), Albert Nicholas, Charlie Holmes (as), Teddy Hill (ts), Luis Russell (p), Will Johnson (g), Pops Foster (b),
Paul Barbarin (d, vbs), Hoagy Carmichael (voc).
OKeh recording session - New York City, NY December 13, 1929
YouTube links:
Comments