Six Minutes With Satch: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea / Kickin' the Gong Around

It's Louis-Goes-Cab day today in "Six Minutes With Satch"! Both of today's sides were recorded on January 25 and were written by the dynamite team of Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen for a Cotton Club revue, "Rhyth-Mania," which debuted in March 1931. Aida Ward introduced "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" in the show, but on record, that distinction went to another vocalist featured in the revue, the great Cab Calloway. I love Cab, honestly I do, but I find his vocal to be somewhat stiff on that one, not exactly swinging in his usual vein.

Then again, maybe I'm just prejudiced after having listened to Louis's versions for so long (yes, there's a terrific alternate take, but I'm only going to cover the master). I have a deep love affair with Louis's early 1930s OKeh recordings and to me "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" is near the top of the list, maybe topped by "Star Dust," "Lazy River" and not many others. This is prime stuff, vocally and trumpet-ly speaking.

The band takes the verse, which makes overt reference to "Kickin' the Gong Around," the other Koehler-Arlen tune recorded that day (more in a bit). Louis enters with a gentle "Oh" and proceeds to swing the hell out of the lyric. He shows off his range, too, going down low for the titular phrase. There's also a major trumpet aspect to his vocal; just listen to what he does with "more," the final note of the bridge, vocally glissing and bending it. After the bridge, he takes a few more liberties, delivering the line "But mama, I guess instead I love you" all on one pitch. With a closing wink at that "little devil you," the band plays a short interlude to allow Pops to get his chops in the horn and more importantly, to get a mute in there, too.

His muted opening could not be any more relaxed and swinging. But then, watch out for the double-timing! Dan Morgenstern likes to point out that this record must have been a favorite of Charlie Parker's; one listen and you can see why! Pops's double-timing is so smooth but he only does it in short bursts. Still, it's enough for critics of later Armstrong to grumble about Pops's abandoning of this aspect of his playing, since we all know that good jazz is only about how many notes you play.

But those who wish Louis would have remained lightening quick on his horn probably stop listening to this track at the bridge, which is completely made up of held, high notes, Armstrong flexing the chops. The two high notes he repeats at the end of the bridge swing with such an urgency, it's impossible not to feel that something major is about to happen. Louis uses his free sense of rhythm and floats downward until he finally pauses for a few second to take out the mute. That can only mean one thing: it's opera time! Armstrong announces his open-horn arrival with a two-note riff, repeated twice as he gets comfortable and finally settles to begin preaching over the riffing and swinging band. He's in complete command, throwing in a spine-tingling gliss at one point, and ending with his signature doddle-doddle-da-da lick that he loved so much (and played during the muted section, too). Bravo, Pops.

The other tune recorded that day, "Kickin' the Gong Around," also came from Koehler and Arlen's "Rhyth-Mania" and was also introduced by Cab Calloway. This was the period when Calloway was riding high off the popularity of "Minnie the Moocher," probably the greatest call-and-response song about drug addicts ever written. It only made sense for the sequels to be written. And in Arlen and Koehler, Cab had a helluva team to drum up those future scenarios for Minnie and all the other cokies. Though they later presided over "Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day" first up was "Kickin' the Gong Around," a slang term of the day for smoking opium which Cab recorded in 1931 and immortalized in the 1932 film The Big Broadcast. (Check it out on YouTube!)

This is really Cab's domain and if Louis's version isn't quite one for the time capsule like "Between the Devil," it's still a lot of fun, especially fun the vocal, where Armstrong can't resist chuckling over the subject matter of the tune and uttering a hilarious "Ohhh, Lord." The bridges in this song are the main event to me, the first trumpet one featuring some surprising low notes, the bridge in the vocal featuring some wild scatting after Louis's instruction to "Double it up, Gate," and the final bridge featuring some mightily swinging quarter notes and some passionate work in the upper register.

The final bridge--which, to me, always foreshadows something he would have played in the 1940s or 50s--is the highlight of the record but Louis still plays with authority until a cute arranged ending that finds him and the band creeping upward towards the finish line.

"Kickin' the Gong Around" might not be the greatest recording he ever made but it's still a good ol' good one for those two trumpet bridges and that contagious vocal. Ohhhh, lord, indeed!

LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Zilner Randolph (tp), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone, George James (as), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), John Lindsay (b), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL January 25, 1932


LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Zilner Randolph (tp), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone, George James (as), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), John Lindsay (b), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL January 25, 1932


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