Imagine the exasperation of Charles Matson – his recorded output as a leader can be counted on two hands – and on both of his major Gennett sides they misspell his name as “Watson”!
I feel for you, Chas. They done you wrong.
The name “Ted Claire”, however, is correctly spelled – and is from a vaudeville performer whose relationship to Matson is unclear. Claire died in Chicago on December 9, 1960 and in his New York Times obituary, it notes he was a “former Broadway song-and-dance man” who was “a veteran of the Florenz Ziegfeld and Earl Carroll productions of the Nineteen Twenties and Thirties. He did comedy specialties in musicals and composed several show songs.”
So perhaps the Ted Claire Snappy Bits Band moniker was a lark – much like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Or perhaps Claire worked with Matson on aspects of his live show and the name was a tribute to him. I suppose we may never have an answer to that, and it’s just left to our imagination.
I’m also a little miffed that the Times gave Claire an obit – but not Matson. Seems like he is a good candidate for their “Overlooked” series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths went unreported in The Times.
In any case, “Four O’Clock Blues” begins with the tolling of a bell. Thankfully, the bell helped me get this track in tune, as it chimes in B flat throughout the tune. The clarinet and alto sax seem to be having the most fun on this one – and the ensemble playing is lively.
This one comes from the collection of Christopher from HeyPally – so I’ll give his excellent website a shoutout and link to his original post about this record in 2016:
http://www.heypally78rpms.com/2016/07/charles-matson-on-gennett-edison.html
Recorded in New York City on January 31, 1923.
Released as Gennett 5041.
Credits:
Charles A. Matson – piano, director
Unknown artists – cornet, trombone, clarinet, alto sax, banjo, drums, bell