[Dixielandjazz] Sidelining for movies

[Don Ingle]

Under union agreements with SAG, only AF of M musicians were used in band
scenes, and did a visual "lip synch"with their horns while the music was
played back as they were being filmed. A gig call to work in this manner was
called "Sidelining."
I did several sideline calls in the early '60's, thanks to family friend
Paul Mertz who worked as a contractor. Indeed we sat around for hours
waiting to finally do a one minute on-camera shot.
I was on a break from Chicago and working with Rosie McHargue and got a
sideline call in a promotional film featuring Phil Harris.
I was sitting in Phil Harris's dressing room with Harris and some other
players waiting to go back on for filming when someone came in to ask if we
had a radio on. Why, asked Harris? "Because someone just said that Kennedy
had just been shot in Dallas."
Talk about knowing where you were, who you were with, and what you were
doing at some traumatic moment in history!
Don Ingle