[Dixielandjazz] Re: Billy Banks Rhythmakers

[Jim Denham]

In message <1038434781.1113690.0@[144.135.24.138]>, Bill Haesler=20
<bhaesler@nsw.bigpond.net.au> writes
>Dear Jim,
>Further to your comment:
>>2. If Eddie Condon organised the band (as is said), why didn't he get the=
 guys
>together again, without Billy Banks or (even worse) Chick Bullock?<
>I have a reference that Irving Mills (remember him?) organised the Rhythma=
kers
>session to promote his new 'discovery' - Billy Banks.
>If Condon had organised the date, I am sure he would have mentioned it in =
his
>book 'We Called It Music'. Nothing there, that I can find, apart from the
>discography at the back of the book.
>Which incidentally includes Zutty as drummer on ALL sessions.
>Consistent with what we both agree on.
>Kind regards,
>Bill.
>

Dear Bill,

Many thanks for your typically erudite responses to my "Billy Banks" postin=
g,
especially the details of other Russell/Allen pairings over the years. Once=
 you
mentioned it, I realised that I have the 1957 TV show tracks ('Wild Man Blu=
es'
and 'Rosetta'). I'd love to hear the others you mentioned.

On the question of whether Irving Mills or Eddie Condon organised the
Rhythmakers sessions, I suspect that we're both right: Mills organised the
recordings in order to feature his 'discovery' Billy Banks, but I believe he
subcontracted the organisation of the band to Eddie, who hand-picked the
participants.

I'm glad we both agree about Zutty being the drummer on the first session, =
but
you may have seen that John Petters (who is well-qualified in these matters)
disagrees. Oh well: these little controversies all add to the spice of life.

A final point: I forgot to mention the mystery of the 'female' singer on 'M=
ean
Old Bed Bug Blues'. Was it Fats Waller singing falsetto, Billy Banks (who, I
believe, doubled as a female impersonator), Jack Bland (who, I recently lea=
rned
from the internet, also did female impersonations!)...or Una Mae Carlisle (=
who
was a prot=E9g=E9 of Fats' and NOT a female impersonator!).

All the best,

Jim Denham