[Dixielandjazz] Ralph Pollock

[Anton Crouch]

Hello Ingemar Wagerman

I can't be of much help with Ralph Pollock, but the following may be of
some use:

Most of the 1920's Columbias recorded in New Orleans (and other "field"
locations) were issued in either the 14000-D "race" series or the 15000-D
"country" series. The fact that the Pollock sides were issued in the 4
digit "domestic" series suggests that the band was white and "popular" in
nature. Even though the sides are not given in any jazz discographies we
can't conclude, however, that they are of no jazz interest. We'll have to
wait until one in our midst finds a copy of Columbia 1197-D.

A clue to the nature of the music may lie in the issues spanning the
Pollack disc: 1195-D is by Rube Bloom; 1196-D is by Ruth Etting; 1198-D is
by Moran and Mack (The Two Black Crows); 1199-D is by Lee Morse.

The entry for the sides in Brian Rust's Columbia Master Book, volume 3
shows that "Why should I say that I'm sorry?" has no vocal and that Pollock
is the vocalist on "An old guitar and an old refrain".

For the discographically-inclined DJMLers (all 5 of us), I can report that
there is a typo in Rust's CMB3, page 200. Rust gives 1198-D as the issue
for "An old guitar and an old refrain", ie that the two Pollock sides were
issued on separate discs. This is clearly wrong.

All the best
Anton