Make Believe Ballroom - 6/7/24 Edition

WEBVTT

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It's make Believe Ballroom time. Put
all your cares away. All the bands

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are here to bring good cheer your
way. It's make Believe ball on time

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and free to everyone. It's no
time to friend your Dalis said Bob yours.

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Close your eyes and visualize in your
solitude. Your favorite bands are on

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this dance and mister Miller, but
you're in the mood. Its make Believe

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Ballroom time. We are a sweet
romance. As you make leave ballroom,

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come on Jo, last dance,
last, Hello world, and thanks for

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joining me on yet another edition of
the Make Believe Ballroom broadcasting today on Members

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supported Jazz ninety point one in Rochester, New York, and later archived in

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podcast form. The original Make Fully
Ballroom broadcast almost continuously since Martin Block first

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took to the airwaves at WNEW Radio
in New York City back in nineteen thirty

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five. And let's get things underway
by me letting you know that a few

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weeks back I received a few email
comments on how much many of you enjoyed

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hearing Bob Crosby and his orchestra playing
Swinging at the Sugar Bowl. So why

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not get things underway today with a
Crosbie Encore. I want a suit suit

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with a red fleet with a drape
shape and of stuff. Come to look

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sharp enough to see my sonny Gal. I want to re sleep with a

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ripe stripe and a dressed best with
a glad glad in the latest bad see

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my sonney Gal. I want to
look keen and my dream we'll say you

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don't look like the same bowl,
So keen that she'll scream. Here comes

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by walking rainbow. So make a
suit suit with a reed cleet with a

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drape shape and of stuff. Come
to look sharp enough to see my sonny

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Gal. A zoot suit for my
Sunday Gal. Bob Crosby and his orchestra

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with a nappy Lemaire vocal recorded on
Decker Records back in nineteen hundred and forty

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two. One more now from our
record library than a group who never appeared

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here on the make Follie four row. There's a change in fashion that shows

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us in the Lennox Avenue close,
mister dude has disappeared with his flashy tie.

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You're seeing the Harlem. That's why
what the well dressed man will design

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when he's strutting down the street with
his sweety pie. Let me catch you

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about it. I mean sun tan, shade of green or an olive dress

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color skin. That's what the well
dressed man in the Harlem will wear,

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dressed up, you know, d
with a tin hat overseas. That's what

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the well dressed man in the colemn
will wear. Top hat, white tie

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and tails, no more gone.
They'd been put away till after the ball

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If you bottom know, take a
look at brown bomber shoes. That's what

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a well dressed man in the hall
on glass welthy pop, white tie and

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no more. They've been going away
to have the wall recorded. On July

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the thirtieth, nineteen forty two,
that was Fats Waller with the Victor First

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Nighter Orchestra, And that's what the
well dressed man in Harlem will wear.

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The First Nighter Orchestra was actually a
Victor Records in house musical ensemble who performed

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on their own or as in the
record we just heard, as a backup

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there for the great Fats Waller.
I'm Jeff Wrestler, and you're listening to

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the weekly edition of the Make Believe
Ballroom here on member support of Jazz ninety

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point one. I promised a few
minutes ago that I would play some music

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from a group that has never appeared
before on the Make Believe Ballroom. And

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I've played literally hundreds and hundreds of
records of music from the nineteen thirties and

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nineteen forties on the show. And
how I overlooked these guys is beyond me.

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Put on your own grandpones, this
ribbon hon it, it's show domino

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of other right on over on that
bol where th on your phone red by

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Blue Bred on it it jo to
the shame. He's the older of you

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do I'm stolen wedding day then there, Madam La, don't go to presday

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from back in nineteen thirty nine on
Bluebird Records. That was put on your

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old gray bonnet with a nice updated
version of an old standard that was originally

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written in nineteen nine and performed for
their debut performance here on the Make Believe

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Ballroom by the Wonderful Four Cleps.
The Four Cleps were a group based out

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of Chicago, and the group consisted
of a drummer and vibraphonist William Marshall,

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pianist James Marshall, guitarist Johnny Happy
Green, and bassist, Melvin Chappie Chapman

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all four of them, though William
Marshall, who you just heard, was

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the lead singer. Many of their
recordings had no vocals. They were purely

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instrumental. Happy Green was the group's
leader and musical director. The Four Cliffs

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recorded for the Chicago division of RCAA
Victor's subsidiary Bluebird Records, between nineteen thirty

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nine and nineteen forty five, and
a song titled Dig These Blues was their

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best known recording as far as posterity
is concerned. Technically, the Four Cliffs

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were rhythm and blues artists, but
what they played was sort of a millannge

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of different entertainment styles. Let me
now play for you. As I had

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just mentioned their most popular record,
Dig the Blues, that a kind of

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fisting as n of things. Let
me listen I left then that was a

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jumping instrument by the Chicago quartet The
Four Clefts recorded on December fifth, nineteen

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forty Dig These Blues, And I
am pleased, ladies and gentlemen that for

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the first time ever from the Crystal
Studio or the Make Believe Ballroom, I

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was able to introduce to you the
music of the four Clefts, And I

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must say about the Four Clefts that
these guys showed that during the big band

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area didn't need full orchestra to swing
it out. I'm really impressed the Four

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Clefts. If any of you have
a favorite band or vocal group that you

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haven't heard played here on the Make
Believe Ballroom, let me know in the

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Crystal studio and I will certainly remedy
that. And the prescription for that remedy

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is Jeff at Make Believe Ballroom Radio
dot com. Jeff at Makebelie Ballroom Radio

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dot com. And in a few
short moments a spin of the wheel as

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we've is it Ralphie from Canarsi's record
club list. It appears from the first

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few tunes I've played for you today
that I'm sort of sticking around the nineteen

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forties. So how about one by
Freddie Slack and then Ralphie didn't That was

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a war tuned by the great boogie
pianist and orchestra leader Freddie Slack Furlough Flinging,

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recorded on Capitol Records in February of
nineteen hundred and forty four. I'm

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Jeff Bressler sitting behind the microphone here
in the Crystal Studio bringing you this week's

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edition of the Make Believe Ballroom over
Jazz ninety point one and also offered to

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you in podcast form. The best
way to enjoy past broadcasts is by going

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to www dot Make Believe Ballroom Podcast
dot com. Www Dot MakeBelieve Ballroom Podcast

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dot com and on that site we
have well over one hundred past broadcasts.

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And when I get my next big
burst of energy, I'm going to post

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another batch. You could also sign
up for our mailing list. There we

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sporadically send emails out to our listeners
Make Believe Ballroom Podcast dot com. And

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now I am getting ready to bring
you another selection from the Ralphie from Canarsi

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Record Club list. Many of you
know the story. Back in nineteen thirty

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five, Ralphie Carbone and his wife
Rose started a record club in the living

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room of their Canarsi, Brooklyn home. The club met every other week up

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until the nineteen seventies, sharing potluck
suppers. I'm sure there were Italian pot

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lucks, socializing and initially listening to
new records from the Big Band era,

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and as the years went by,
listening to old records from the Big Band

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era. And over the decades,
Ralphie and the gang compiled a very long

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list of their favorite hits, all
ranked, and the list over the decades

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grew too well, over seven hundred
songs. And almost every week here on

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the ballroom, I have the pleasure
to spin our virtual wheel here in the

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crystal studio, where I have downloaded
a random number generator. So I hit

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the virtual wheel simultaneously hitting the number
generator, and we see where it lands,

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then match that number to the corresponding
number on Ralphie's list, and then

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play that tune for you. Not
as complicated as I'm making it seem,

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So let's spind to show you that
it's certainly an easy process. And the

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wheel lands on number one seven six, And let's find that tune one seven

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six a classic for cab callaway,
Mini the Moocher, Monk's uses stor rebounds,

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Mindy the Moucher. She was a
red hot Ugi couture. She was

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the roughest, dubbest frail. But
Minnie had a heart as big as of

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whale, Oh do you hold?
Do you? And the hide behind a

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D d hey d hay oh ho. She messed around with a blood name

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smokey. She loved him so he
was cookie. He took her down to

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town town and he shot to kick
the gong around at the head, the

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head Yo yo yo yo yo ay
ye ya ye ya yea. She had

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a dream about the King of Sweden. He gave her thing that she was

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needing. He gave her as of
gol, a diamond car with the last

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hardy ay ay adia hey hey he
who He gave her in townhouse that is

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raising horses eat meal. She ate
whats a dance in Carson had a million

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dollars worth of Nicholson's time. She's
starting round a color all the millious times.

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Hi, dear de yeah, friends, you just listened to Minnie the

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Moocher. A remastered two thousand and
two version originally issued on Brunswick Records.

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Cab Calloway and his orchestra vocals by
Cab and the Band recorded in New York

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City March the third, nineteen hundred
and thirty one, and the song obviously

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became a huge hit, and it
solidified Cab Calloway's status as a prominent musical

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entertainer of the time from the early
thirties way into I guess the nineteen seventies.

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Now, besides, it's a catchy
tune in the upbeat rhythm we just

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heard. Many the Moocher certainly carried
a deeper meaning that reflected in its lyrics

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the struggles and aspirations of African Americans
during the era of the early nineteen thirties.

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Many the Moocher Ralphie's record club list
number one hundred and seventy six.

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And as some of you might know, and I set this up while we

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were playing MANI the Moocher. Let
me just get to the right spot here.

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Blanche Callaway, who was a popular
singer and the band leader during the

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nineteen thirties, was the older sister
of cav Callaway and actually worked by side

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with him for a while. Blanche
Calloways claim to fame was that she became

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the first female to lead an all
male orchestra. You might recall a few

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weeks back, I played a couple
of records I think by Andy Kirk and

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his Clouds of Joy, And as
the story goes, back in nineteen thirty

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one, the same year that Many
the Moocher came out, while performing at

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the Pearl Theater in Philadelphia as a
singer Blanche was being listened to in the

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audience by Andy Kirk, who was
very impressed. Kirk, almost on the

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spot, then asked her to sing
with his outfit with the Clouds of Joy

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while touring with the orchestra. After
singing for them for a little while,

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Blanche quickly found herself the featured attraction. Watching her popularity sore, she made

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an attempt to steal leadership of the
group from Andy Kirk, and when Andy

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figured this mutiny out, he quickly
dumped Blanche from the orchestra. She was

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still determined to sing with an orchestra
have her own orchestra. Blanche found an

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ally in Andy Kirk's trumpet player Edgar
pudd'nhead Battle, and he helped her put

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together a group called Blanche Callaway and
Her Joy Boys. The band at times

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included some real talent like Ben Webster
and Cozy Cole. The band later changed

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its name to Blanche Callaway and Her
Orchestra. So Blanche was the first black

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woman to front an all male orchestra
and it was certainly considered to be one

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of the best African American outfits in
the entire country. The group toured and

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recorded exclusively for RCA Victor, but
due to financial issues, whatever those financial

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issues might have been, the band
unfortunately disbanded in nineteen thirty eight. For

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you, now here is one of
my favorite Blanche Callaway records that the change

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them. I Got a Swing Blanche
Callaway and her Joy Boys, recorded on

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the Victor label in nineteen thirty five. I'm Jeff Bresler in the Crystal studio

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when you're listening to the original Make
Believe Ballroom broadcast pretty much continuously since nineteen

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thirty five and today on the airwaves
via member supported Jazz ninety point one in

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Rochester. Last week, friends,
I told you the story of Benny Goodman's

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first appearance at the Paramount Theater in
New York City, and I mentioned that

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the Swing era officially started thanks to
Benny Goodman at the renowned Palomar Ballroom in

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California in nineteen thirty five. So
with that, a story about the final

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days of the Palomar in just a
few minutes. But first, let's look

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at the record list for today and
find one to play right now for you

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good folks. Well, let's see
here. You know, we just heard

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from Cab Callaway's sister Blanche. Now, how about one from another female band

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leader? As I look for that
record, and here it is, and

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now here for you. Louis Armstrong's
first wife, Lil Armstrong, like Lenny

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was Lenny. She makes all cats
in the ballroom stop. Just look at

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that silent grace. How that yell
keeps up that face. Now Lena,

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like Lenny was Lindy House, she
won't even stand. Let me call the

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cops. Just look at it,
twinkling a rye ah. How that dress

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quibbles around upside. Now I can
cleaning like cleaning with cleand the house makes

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all the cats in the bottom stuck. Look at him throw out bringer in

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now the way them cats dances are
sin. You just listened to Lindy Hop

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by Lil Armstrong and her Swing Orchestra, recorded on Brunswick Records back in nineteen

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thirty eight. Friends, Last week, I mentioned how Benny Goodman kickstarted his

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band to higher elevations by playing a
series of Fletcher Henderson arrangements at the Palomar

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Ballroom in California. That performance,
on August the twenty first, nineteen thirty

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five, has been referred to as
the official start of the swing era.

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Now The Palomar Ballroom was built ten
years prior to that, in nineteen twenty

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five in Los Angeles, California.
It was originally named the El Patio Ballroom

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and was located on the east side
of Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, between

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Second and Third Street. It boasted
being the largest and most famous dance hall

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on the West Coast. The building
was quite magnificent, done in a Moorish

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style. It featured a large mezzanine, a balcony, and get this,

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seventy five hundred square foot patio.
Dance floor of that size was able to

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accommodate four thousand couples at once.
Admission was forty cents for gentlemen and twenty

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five cents for ladies. Opening night
of the Palomar was attended by twenty thousand

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people, including many of Hollywood's silent
screen stars of the era. The dance

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hall was then renamed Rainbow Gardens by
a real estate developer by the name of

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Raymond Lewis. He purchased the property, he made some enhancements for whatever reason.

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He added an indoor miniature golf course, and he changed the name of

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the venue to the Palomar Ballroom.
And it soon became a prime venue for

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the well known bands that were rapidly
gaining popularity across America. The ballroom hosted

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big band legends like Tommy Dorsey,
Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Glenn Gray,

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Jimmy Dorsey, and I Think Kay
Kaiser played at the Palomar a number

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of times. Nightly radio broadcasts on
local Los Angeles station KFLJ attracted large crowds

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to the dining, dancing, and
entertainment center of the West. By nineteen

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thirty nine, the Palomar had been
remodeled, a modern cooling system was installed,

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cocktail lounges and soda fountains were added, and the dance floor believe it

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or not, was enlarged even more
than the supersized initial version that it was

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the original nineteen twenty five that Exotic
moorished. The corps that I had mentioned

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a little while ago, though,
was left untouched. An advertisement announcing the

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gala reopening in nineteen thirty nine predicted
a premier audience of more than twenty thousand

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persons, the expected audience to be
on hand for the gayest of all openings

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in nineteen thirty nine. Admission charges
were seventy five cents for gentlemen and forty

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cents for ladies. On Sunday nights, especial dinner dance ticket costs a steep

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dollar and twenty five cents. It
included a reserve table in the posh palm

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lined Palomar Terrace for the entire evening, not just snacks or dervs. But

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for the dollar twenty five you got
a seventh course dinner, the floor show

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and dancing until two am. And
if you really wanted a splurge, valet

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parking was fifteen cents extra. Now. Fortunately, the same year the Palomar

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was remodeled, it was the same
year the Palamar burned to the ground on

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October the second, nineteen thirty nine. Fortunately nobody was injured. And also

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unfortunately, though Charlie Barnett and his
orchestra were on stage when the fire began,

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and they quickly vacated the premises.
After that, almost the next day

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a fast string of events took place. Let me play Charlie Barnett's most famous

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hit, Cherokee, and then the
story of what happened after the Palomar fire.

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Then the only name non that was
Cherokee. Charlie Barnett and his orchestra

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recorded on Bluebird Records in nineteen thirty
nine. So before we heard Cherokee,

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I told you the story of the
Palomar and the ruinous fire of nineteen thirty

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nine that totally destroyed the venue,
the fire spreading quickly while Charlie and his

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orchestra were performing. Charlie Barnett was
I'd have to say three things. He

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was really well liked by all.
Might be making a mistake. He was

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well liked by all. That was
one of the three things, but perhaps

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not so well liked though by his
eleven wives. And that's the second thing.

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And the third thing was Charlie was
very wealthy. Charlie was born into

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a family that was closely tied to
the New York Central Railroad. Charlie was

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brought up on Park Avenue in New
York City. Barnett was an outspoken admirer

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of both the Count Basie and Duke
Ellington. As a matter of fact,

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Ellington recorded the Charlie Barnett composition in
a miss. Now though, back to

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the fire. So Barnett and the
band stood outside the Palomar and looked on

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in disbelief, as not only was
the venue burning to the ground, but

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the band's instruments, all their equipment, notes, and arrangements at that time

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simultaneously were also being reduced to ashes. Well. The next day, Count

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Basie, who was in Los Angeles
and would have been the next act booked

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00:47:51.760 --> 00:47:57.280
into the Palomar after Charlie. Well. He lent Barnett some of his charts

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and a few instruments, and Charlie
was able to also obtain through his charm

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00:48:04.400 --> 00:48:09.280
other instruments and equipment from other bands
who were playing in the Los Angeles area.

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Well, folks, just a few
weeks after that massive fire was Charlie

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not only picking up his ballroom engagements
once again, but he was also recording

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records back in the studio. One
of those records was titled Oh What You

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Said, also known as are We
Burnt Up? And about halfway through this

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00:48:35.199 --> 00:48:39.599
record, friends, you will hear
the band chant oh palamar O Palomar,

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are we burnt up? All to
pep. Didn't you need to me?

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I wish up, my wish up, my wish up, my wish,

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00:50:55.079 --> 00:51:02.719
bird up my way up, our
way, bird up our way, bdout

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00:51:06.199 --> 00:51:16.920
Oh bar oh pa oh malamar oh
malh mah malamar, burn up our wayherd

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00:51:17.000 --> 00:52:07.800
up our way, verd up our
paurdu So that was Charlie Barnett and Oh

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00:52:07.960 --> 00:52:15.280
what you said, also known as
are we burnt up? And friends,

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00:52:15.440 --> 00:52:20.440
we are burning out Because this week's
edition of The Make Believe Ballroom is coming

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00:52:20.519 --> 00:52:24.320
to an end. I'm going out
with one of the two big band eras

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00:52:24.440 --> 00:52:30.000
songs specifically written about the Make Believe
Ballroom, this very show, and this

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00:52:30.199 --> 00:52:37.239
one recorded by the one and only
Charlie Barnett. If you'd like to contact

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me, I'm Jeff at MakeBelieve Ballroom
Radio dot com. That's Jeff at MakeBelieve

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00:52:40.480 --> 00:52:45.800
Ballroom Radio dot com and as I
mentioned earlier in the program, to hear

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00:52:45.960 --> 00:52:54.079
past shows, www dot MakeBelieve Ballroom
Podcast dot com, www dot MakeBelieve Ballroom

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00:52:54.159 --> 00:52:59.679
Podcast dot com, or you can
hear the show on your favorite podcast,

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00:52:59.800 --> 00:53:04.440
pro Fighter. So until next week. Here on Jay's ninety point one from

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the Crystal Studio. This has been
Jeff Bresler Last dance. You imagine our

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00:53:16.880 --> 00:53:25.400
hall room. Here's your make me
the ball Room last dance, raw Man

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00:53:28.000 --> 00:53:35.760
at the tip of your fingers while
the melody leers. Let's dance, dance,

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00:53:36.039 --> 00:53:40.400
dance, just started swaying while the
band is playing. Music is worth

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00:53:40.480 --> 00:53:49.079
your wise Let this station give you
dancipation. Simply turn the die and keep

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00:53:49.159 --> 00:53:53.840
on dancing. Though you've only a
small room. Make it your ballroom.

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00:53:55.239 --> 00:55:22.599
Last dance. Just keep on dancing, though you've only a small room.

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Make your ballroom. Let's die.