Last week I found this copy in the wild in a hoard of postwar pop. Tons of RCA Victors, red Columbias, black Deccas and Capitols – and then this! It’s so clean that I ended up not even running a declicking filter on it.
Cliff Jackson and his Krazy Kats recorded a number of HOT tunes for Grey Gull over the course of two months in early 1930, including the more well known “Horse Feathers” and “The Terror”. They also recorded some dance band numbers – including a waltz! I love this as it shows that working orchestras of the time had to be versatile in their repertoire to satisfy dancing audiences.
This tune was recorded in a marathon session in late February – where 12 matrices were cut resulting in 10 sides – all released on Grey Gull and on sister labels Radiex and Van Dyke. Most discs were credited to “Marvin Smolev and his Syncopators” but Van Dyke labels listed the band as “Newport Syncopators”.
Marvin Smolev was actually the songwriter of this tune – a fox trot ballad published in 1927 by himself and Berne Seaman. Not sure how the songwriter’s name became the psuedonym for the Krazy Kats, but Grey Gull worked in mysterious ways.
Here, it begins as an jaunty upbeat dance number – with some solo melodies performed that stick very close to the source material. That said, the arrangement and energy of the band is chef’s kiss. 👩🏻🍳😘🤌
Recorded in New York City on February 27, 1930.
Released as Van Dyke 81851, Grey Gull 1851, and Radiex 947.
Credits:
Cliff Jackson – piano, director
Melvin Herbert, Henry Goodwin – trumpet
Noisy Richardson – trombone
Rudy Powell – clarinet, alto sax
Earl Evans – alto sax
Horace Langhorn – tenor sax
Andy Jackson – banjo
Chester Campbell – tuba
Percy Johnson – drums
Also by Cliff Jackson and his Krazy Kats:
“The Terror”
https://youtu.be/04EbEgYkKbE
