[Dixielandjazz] The Loudest Trumpet/King Oliver

[D and R Hardie]

Dear Len
Thanks for the information. I knew I heard it somewhere.
  regards Dan Hardie
On Friday, July 25, 2003, at 08:45  AM, Len Nielsen wrote:

> Hi Dan
>
> Since no one else has replied to your post I will give you what little 
> information I have on the subject. The information comes from the 
> liner notes with the CD..King Oliver..The New York Sessions 
> (1929-1930).
>
> The notes are written by Steven Lasker who is described as a 
> discographer, researcher and collector with special emphasis on the 
> works of Duke Ellington.
>
> There are 16 RCA Victor sides included in this CD and there were an 
> additional half dozen sessions done at Victor under the name of Oliver 
> where other trumpeters substituted for Oliver. One of these, Louis 
> Metcalf stated that Oliver was unable to play as he "was having so 
> much trouble with his teeth. He tried hard on the run through, but his 
> teeth couldn't stand the pressure of the mouthpiece. The pain was so 
> intense he had to quit, so I played his part as well as my own".
>
> Lasker says that Oliver's nutrition was bad ( I believe I have seen 
> interviews elsewhere, where it was stated that Oliver liked sugar 
> sandwiches) and that he was overweight and smoked heavily. He had 
> neglected dental hygiene and had advanced pyorrhea or periodontitus 
> and after describing the effects of this Lasker said that Oliver 
> eventually lost all his teeth. "In the late twenties, it probably 
> caused him pain every time he put horn to mouth. (Pianist Don Frye 
> recalled that Oliver recorded "Too Late" over and over agian until he 
> got it right, and the strain was such that Oliver was on the verge of 
> tears by the end".
>
> Lasker says that it was evident from 1926 on, that the pain caused 
> Oliver to fluff occasional notes.
>
> Lasker cites Laurie Wright's revised edition of Walter Allen and Brian 
> Rust's 438 page bio-discography of "King" Oliver as a source for his 
> notes.
>
> Len Nielsen
> Victoria Canada
>
>
> Dan Hardie writes
> The King Oliver question is a great puzzle and the various 
> contributors from the list about that are probably better informed 
> about that than I am. I have always guessed that Oliver had tooth 
> problems and I wonder how much better Bunk Johnson would have played 
> with  his own teeth. Interviews with early musicians suggest he played 
> like Bobby Hackett in 1908. Oliver's Dippermouth Blues solo does not 
> sound like a player over the hill to me, but his solos with Jelly Roll 
> Mouton appear like those of a man having trouble playing the 
> instrument. Does anyone know about that?
>
>
>
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