Jan. 3, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 1/3/25 Edition

Show Notes
Transcript

On this week's Make Believe Ballroom broadcast on member-supported Jazz 90.1 in Rochester, NY, and other fine radio affiliates across the United States as well as in the United Kingdom – some great nicknames of prominent band musicians and vocalists along with their music, a look at a long forgotten Carnegie Hall concert - this and many more great records to enjoy on the show!

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It's make Believe ballom time.

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Put all your cares away. All the bands are here

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to bring good cheer your way.

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It's make believe ball and time and free to everyone.

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It's no time to friend your Dalis said bombs.

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Close your eyes.

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And as you lie in your solitude, your favorite.

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Bands are on this dance and.

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Mister Miller, but you're in the wood.

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Its make Believe ballroom time.

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We are a sweet romances you make believe.

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Come on, Joe, last dance Last.

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Hi, folks, I'm Jeff Presler, turning on the lights of

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the make Believe Ballroom and welcoming you into my crystal

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studio for another program of the great big band hits

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of the nineteen thirties and nineteen forties, whether one of

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my longtime listeners or new lists there on public, community

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or university radio stations across the US as well as

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in the United Kingdom. Please grab your dance ticket. It's

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free and let's listen to some wonderful big band jazz, swing,

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blues and boogie woogie classics. Hello World, and from coast

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to coast on stations like Jazz ninety point one WGMC

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in Rochester, New York. Another fine radio affiliates, Welcome to

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the Make Believe Ballroom, the one, the only, the original

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Make Believe Ballroom, broadcasting almost continuously since nineteen hundred and

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thirty five. And let's see if I can pick a

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winner from my playlist to get things underway today. As

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I peruse the list, I see right here a winner

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indeed that I will pick, because who can ever go

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wrong with the great Artie Shaw?

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Do Do Do Do Do do?

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You're a lucky guy when you consider the highest biller

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can't buy the gleam in your eyes. You're lucky guy.

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Thank you luckiest time. You got a honey who wants

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no money. She'll take you just as you are. Thank

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you luckiest time. Hey fella, save fella. Don't realiz it's faded,

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you raided. Open up your eyes.

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You're lucky guy.

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You're just beginning, so have your ending and let your

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troubles go ride.

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No one can nine. You're lucky guy.

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You're a lucky guy. Artie Shawn is orchestra vocal by

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Tony Pastor from a nineteen thirty eight radio remote and

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a great way to start the proceedings on this week's

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Make Believe Ballroom, Folks, let me play one more than

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a segment from an idea I had earlier today.

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I got the world on a string, sitting on a rainbow,

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got the string around my finger.

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What a world?

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What a life?

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I'm in love.

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I got a song that I sing. I can make

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the rainbow, and it's time.

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I'm move my finger.

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Fucking me? Can't you see?

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I'm in love? Life is a beautiful thing. Long as

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I hold the string. I'd be a silly solwan soul

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if I should never let it go. I got the

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world on.

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A string, sitting on a rainbow, got the string around

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my finger.

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Won a world? Won a line?

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Bather did.

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Lund game one of fudd We directed the unking of

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the Lundon.

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Did the one not?

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What a wonderful recording we just heard the first time

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ever recording of the great American standard I've Got the

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World on a String, presented to us on Brunswick Records

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Cab Callaway and his orchestra. Vocal by Cab, recorded in

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New York City, November the ninth, nineteen thirty two. That

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was a great record. I'm Jeff Presler, and you're listening

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to the Make Believe Ballroom and now Friends as promised

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a segment from a thought. I don't get very many

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of those, but from a thought I had earlier in

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the day. I was listening to some music and the

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artist whose record I was playing had a nickname, and

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that got me to thinking just how many big band

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artists did indeed have nicknames? So I scrambled around to

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come up with several recordings from band leaders, musicians, and

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vocalists who did indeed possess interesting nicknames. So the first

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record I will play was recorded by dipper Mouth. Who

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is dipper Mouth attatatas dipper Mouth Blues? A song first

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recorded by King Oliver's Creole Jazz band in nineteen twenty three.

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It's most often attributed to Joe. As a matter of fact,

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he had a nickname. I think it was King Joe

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King Oliver, though some have argued that Louis Armstrong was

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in fact the composer. This is partially because dipper Mouth,

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in the song's title, was also a nickname of Armstrong's.

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The version we just heard was a Decca recording from

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August the seventh, nineteen thirty six, that featured Louis along

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with Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra, so early on. Armstrong

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was also known as dipper short for dipper Mouth, and

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many feel that was a direct reference to the piece

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dipper Mouth Blues that we just listened to. Of course,

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Dippermouth was a secondary name for Louie. We all know

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him by his most endearing name, which was Satchmo or

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satch And it's really interesting how that nickname came about.

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The nicknames Satchmo and satch are short for satchel mouth.

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The nickname origin for Louie is historically not definitive. The

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most common tale that I've personally read in different books

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about Louie is the story of Armstrong, as a young

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boy in New Orleans, dancing on the streets for pennies.

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He scooped the pennies off the street and stuck them

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in his mouth to prevent bigger children from stealing them.

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For the term satchel mouth, Louis Armstrong, different mouth, satch Mo,

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satch What if you want to call him one of

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the greats of all time? Let's go now to another nickname.

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I ask you who was smack.

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Anything anything Anything?

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How was Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra with Jangled Nerves

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recorded in Chicago once September the fourth, nineteen thirty six.

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The Great Fletcher Henderson, the legendary composer, band leader, arranger,

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pianist and composer, was indeed referred to as Smack. And again, folks,

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no definitive answer here, so I will have to go

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to a consensus from articles I have read in biographical

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information on Fletcher Fletcher Henderson and the origin of the nickname.

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Most repeated is that he got that moniker because of

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smacking sounds he made with his lips when someone spoke,

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and the same smacking sound repeated when he sat down

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to eat. That the most plausible explanation I can find

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of why Fletcher Henderson was called Smack. Let's look at

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another nickname, and with this vocalist, I am going to

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give you her real name, and then the stories concerning

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her nickname or names. Her real name was Eleanora Fagins.

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Every time rains, it rains pennis for heaven. Don't you

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know each plag contains pennis for heavens. You find your

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forte and bonneys all over town. Be he is sure,

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then your Unbrella, he is upside to train them for

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a package job. Sunshine and flowers. If you want the

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thing you love, you my slave shower. So when you

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hear I.

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THENNA, don't run under the tree.

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They're the Pennies from Heaven by You.

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And recorded November the nineteenth, nineteen thirty six in New York,

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New York, the Wonderful tune Pennies from Heaven and Again Friends.

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I had to rely on various sources to piece together

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the vocalist's nickname and stage name. Eleanora Fagin was her

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legal name, but Eleanora took her father's last name, which

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was Holiday. He had left the home when Eleanora was young,

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and she added the nickname Billy. Now I'm not sure

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where the Billy handle exactly comes from. I do know

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her good friend, saxophonist Lester Young called her Lady Day

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because of his tremendous respect for her and because he

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thought of her as every inch a lady. And of

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course I am talking about Billy Holliday. And now, folks,

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if I may take a moment, I'd like to talk

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to you about my companion program to the make Billy

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Ballroom The Milkman's Matinee, which is a weekly show of

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three overnight hours of the greatest music from the nineteen thirties,

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forties and fifties, as I open it up to also include,

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in addition to a big band jazz and swing, some

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early rock and roll, and do wop, a little country,

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some blues, western swing, basically an eclectic mixture of music.

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Your station might already feature the Milkman's Matinee as a

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post midnight feature. If not, just put Milk Band's Mattinee

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in the search on your favorite podcast platform, whether that

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be Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or in all of them, and

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there you can hear past shows. Same true with this

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very Make Believe Ballroom. Once we play the programs on

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the radio, they then go into a podcast archive, the

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Make Believe Ballroom and Milkman's Matinee both in podcast form

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for your enjoyment. And now, folks, how about another nickname

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from the big band era, and I offer you a

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record by not one person, but two people who shared

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the nickname Mister and Missus.

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Swing Fall in Love.

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Fall in love, says my heart. It's roommates, take a change,

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says my arm. But each time that I.

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Almost in your arms, this old.

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School teacher brain of mind keeps ringing false alarms. Then

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my head rules instead, and I'm wise.

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To the scheme of that gleam in your eyes, so

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I kiss and rather was the moment where apot, oh,

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you fool, that was love, says my.

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Heart on Brunswick I just played, Says my Heart, Recorded

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in New York City, April the nineteenth, nineteen thirty eight.

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I attributed the song to Mister and Missus Swing, and

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the nickname Mister and Missus Swing, as I mentioned, is

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unique because it refers to more than one person. It

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was bestowed on Red NorVa and Mildred Bailey because there

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was no more swinging I meaning in a musical sense

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couple than they were during their marriage, producing numerous hit records.

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I think they were married in the early thirties, and

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if I recall a divorced right around nineteen forty, mister

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and Missus Swing, Red Norvo and Mildred Bailey. Let's play

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another one, this one a vocal by mister five by five.

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Mama, don't you beg your daddy.

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Horn no dim range, Mama, don't you beg your daddy

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morn dim rain, cause Mama, you already got.

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The best ay everything.

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I've seen you riding rod in a brand new car.

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I've been you ride.

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A round and a brand new car.

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I know you couldn't by.

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You're not used to Cabby.

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Now, get up, get up, get up, get a woman,

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Get up off your big bad rusty dust. Don't get me,

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get up, Get up, Get up, woman, Get up off

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your big bad rusting dust.

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Get up, Ma mo, get up before you get to rusty.

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Now you've got the very bad beath of every thing.

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Yeah, baby, you've got the bath every thing. You better lose.

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That yam bathing, all that brow up bred mama bo,

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you're letting me go away.

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On Columbia Records from nineteen forty three, Rusty Dusty Blues

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by camp Aasi and his orchestra and the vocalist known

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as mister five by five due to his portly build.

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I'm talking about Jimmy Rushing and folks have many more

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nicknames to share with you, but I will have to

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do that on a future show because I have another

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segment I want to share with you, as well as

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fulfill a few listeners' requests. To request a song, you

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can email me at Jeff at MakeBelieve Ballroom Radio dot com.

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That's Jeff at MakeBelieve Ballroomradio dot Com and the segment

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I want to present next deals with two groundbreaking Carnegie

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Hall concerts. If you recall, the also groundbreaking Benny Goodman

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concert in Carnegie Hall took place in January of nineteen

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thirty eight, The first of the two concerts I will

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discuss took place in December of that same year, nineteen

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thirty eight. But more about that in the moment. But first,

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since I played a song by mister five by five, Jimmy,

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why don't I play a record about mister five by

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five himself?

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Well, twirl my turban man a life you call mister

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five by five. He's one of those big fat balls

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and boys, solid avenue bars. Mister five five five, it's

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five feet tall anyside. Why he don't need you no

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more from hair to too than it do from side

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to side. Mister five by five got fifty chains and

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a line of child. He's a mellow old cast, a

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real handfast he be mister five bye five.

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That man really jump it for a bad man.

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The only trouble is no way of knowing whether he's

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coming on or cohen. Mister five by five slightly flop

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on his water side. He don't shake it no more

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from hair to toll, andy to from side to side.

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Fat man?

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Can we really jump it for a fat man?

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Boys the troubles.

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There's no way of.

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Knowing whether he's coming on or going. It's the five

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five five. He might be tall and he's five. Why

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he's not mad?

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No more from head to damp than it do.

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From side to side.

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Mister five by five.

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Mister five by five by Freddie Slack and his orchestra,

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vocal by Ela May Morris, with a cameo in there

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by Johnny Mercer. This song was a tribute to the

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real life mister five by five, Jimmy Rushing, whose music

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we just played a little while ago. The recording reached

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number one on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues charts, as well

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as becoming a top ten pop song for Capitol Records

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in nineteen forty two. Mister five by five, Folks, I

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told you before five by five that I wanted to

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discuss two groundbreaking concerts, and in order to set the stage,

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I want to now talk to you about John Hammond.

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John Hammond a man who was brought up in tremendous

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privilege to an extremely wealthy New York family. John Hammond,

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and we've discussed him before on The Make Billy Ballroom

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was a diehard music lover, but he had this unique

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ability to spot talent and launch careers. So for over

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fifty years, John Hammond's understanding of the potential of great

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musicians and vocalists put Billy Holiday, Count Basie, and Charlie

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Christian on the musical map, not to mention much later

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in Hammond's life Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, as well

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as a host of others. I think he also introduced

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Aretha Franklin. Now John Hammond. Even with his privileged upbringing

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and never having to want for anything, was a or.

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He was a rapid defender of social justice and racial equality.

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Beginning in the early nineteen thirties. He funded recording sessions

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out of his own pocket. He handed over cash for

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train and plane tickets, and he was rarely, if ever

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paid back since everybody, I guess knew about his privilege. Hammond, though,

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provided the money many up and coming musicians needed to survive.

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In nineteen thirty eight, not even thirty years old at

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the time, Hammond introduced an event he named from Spirituals

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to Swing. John produced the thirty eight concert and another

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one in thirty nine that really went against all odds

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by assembling a concert concept that, for the first time

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ever traced the evolution of African American music from spiritual

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and blues to boogie wooge, and and he brought this

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music from dance all to concert hall and certainly to

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the world's greatest concert hall at that time, Carnegie Hall.

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In addition to being musically revolutionary, these concerts were among

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the first to present integrated bands such as Benny Goodman's

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to an integrated audience, exposing African American music for the

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first time to many who witnessed those two concert events.

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So let me honor John Hammond by playing some of

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the music that was recorded for posterity from both the

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nineteen thirty eight and nineteen thirty nine concerts. Although the

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music was multi faceted, I'm going to follow the form

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out of the ballroom, and I'm going to stick with

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songs that lean towards the music I normally play on

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the program, am And for the sake of authenticity and

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to bring you my listeners into Carnegie Hall for the music,

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I'm gonna have to trade off a little bit of

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sound quality in order for you to feel like you

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were seated in Carnegie Hall.

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Oh, between the time between between betting, between the time

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became between between beta, the turn between the ten between

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the taint.

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Between the.

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Tatta became the table to.

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Ta, folks.

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I just played two from Spirituals to swing first ever

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tub by Count Basie and his Orchestra. Then I played

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I've Got Rhythm by the Benny Goodman Sextet, which at

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that concert featured Benny on the clarinet, Charlie Christian the

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electric guitar, Lionel Hampton on the vibes, Benny's good friend

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Fletcher Henderson playing the piano, Ladie Bernstein on the bass,

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and Nick Fatul playing the drums. And of course that

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Benny Goodman six stat the first integrated band of musicians

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where black and white musicians played at the same time

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on the same stage. Let's keep the concert going, Let's.

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Dot you do get hold, but did your mother?

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And then.

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Set a bad.

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Back stop.

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Because as bum bum bum bus.

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In that set.

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First I played way down Yonder in New Orleans by

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the Kansas City six, So I would assume that number

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was from the nineteen thirty nine concert. When they had

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time off from the Count Basy Orchestra in the late thirties,

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the Count's rhythm musicians formed a small ensemble which they

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called the Kansas City Five, with trumpeter Buck Clayton, drummer

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Joe Jones, bassist Walter Page, rhythm guitarist Freddie Green, and

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Eddie Durham's electric guitar. Eddie served with his guitar as

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a replacement for Count Bassi's piano. Now, when Lester Young

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joined the band in nineteen thirty nine on clarinet and

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tenner sax, it became the Kansas City Six, And that's

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why I am assuming it's from the thirty nine concert.

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Then I played Lux Lewis, the great pianist and composer,

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Al Ammins, the legendary pianist and one of the forefathers

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of boogie woogie, Pete Johnson, another great American boogie woogie

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and jazz pianist, along with Walter Page, the jazz multi

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instrumentalist and bandleader. He was playing the bass and Joe Jones,

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who spent so many years as the jazz drummer for

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Count Basie. Those five legends playing three different pianos with

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the song appropriately titled Cavalcade of Buggie and Friends. I

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am totally out of time, so why don't I conclude

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by playing from Spirituals to Swing the nineteen thirty nine

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Grand Finale, where many of the artists who perform jammed

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with Lady be Good. So until next week.

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This has been Jeff Bresler.

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Saying it is unthing ything.

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Do it do pet.

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Pet it at.

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Cock, attract, tract, contact.

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Him, Stack Star pres