[Dixielandjazz] Source for picture of Louis Armstrong'sOriginalAll Stars

Fri Jul 15 10:51:47 PDT 2005

Fred;

Certainly Wilson is correct when he points to the Town Hall concert as the
de facto beginning of Louis Armstrong and The All-Stars. In a similar
fashion, we can also point to the earlier Esquire concert as being the start
of the All-Star grouping. Even earlier, there are the excellent Armstrong
1940 recordings with Sidney Bechet, Luis Russell, Claude Jones, Zutty
Singleton and others. All of these can be claimed as the "original all star"
configuration.

However, when we look to what was the permanent all star group under
contract to Louis Armstrong (and his management) and when we realize that
this was the organization which was to be taken out on the road, we must
then revert to the group which played Billy Berg's club in August 1947.
Remember, Joe Glasser was initially against Louis playing the Town Hall
concert. The idea for the concert is credited to Ernie Anderson who hired
the players for this one event, arranged for the hall, saw to the publicity
and had a tough time convincing Joe Glasser that Louis should play there.
Furthermore, Sidney Bechet was supposed to be on the bill but he never
showed up.

The playbill for the Town Hall concert states that this would be "A Midnight
Variety Concert Starring" and then there's a picture of Louis Armstrong
playing a flugelhorn or cornet (I'll make you a copy if you wish). No other
names are given other than Fred Robbins the MC and producer Ernest Anderson.
(source: French RCA CD of the Town Hall concert liner notes. That CD is
named "Louis Armstrong At Town Hall" with no mention of the all stars.)

Yes, the seeds for the All-Stars came earlier than the Billy Berg club date.
The seed for the Benny Goodman trio is said to have come from a party at Red
and Mildred Norvo's apartment around 1933-34. Glenn Miller fronted and
recorded with the Bob Crosby band several years before he formed his own
band. Yet, few look to those recordings as the original Glenn Miller
orchestra.

Regarding your question about RCA Victor issuing a recording from the
concert under the credit of "Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars", this was a
bit of press agentry inasmuch as that group really never existed as such
(see the Glenn Miller example above). As you pointed out, the players
included Bobby Hackett, Peanuts Hucko and Bob Haggart who were never part of
Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars.

Consider what would have happened to Armstrong's career if the Town Hall
concert were not successful.

To sum up, your question asked about Louis Armstrong's original All-Star
band. If you're looking for the band which was organized under Louis
Armstrong's leadership and management, the answer is sometime around August
1947.

So far no one has come up with the picture which was your initial request.
I've searched my stuff with no success to date.

Stan
Stan Brager

PS: I've just looked at the liner notes for the MCA (Decca) recording of
"Satchmo At Symphony Hall" recorded on November 30, 1947. It says that the
play bill reads in part "by arrangement with Joe Glasser, Louis Armstrong
and his Concert Group, featuring Jack Teagarden, Sidney Catlett, Barney
Bigard, Dick Cary, Arvell Shaw, and Velma Middleton."

It's interesting that the All-Star moniker was not used.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Spencer" <drjz at bealenet.com>
To: "Stan Brager" <sbrager at socal.rr.com>
Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2005 8:08 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Source for picture of Louis
Armstrong'sOriginalAll Stars

> Dear Stan,
> The status of big, and small band jazz is described in Laurence Bergman's
> "Louis Armstrong. An Extragavant Life" (Broadway Books, 1997), and in the
> liiner note you mention by John S. Wilson (Time Life "Giants of Jazz"
> series,1987). However, to confuse things, Wilson's liner note has the
> heading "Pennies from Heaven. Louis Armstrong and His All Stars", recorded
> with Peanuts Hucko et al.on May 17,1947 at the Town Hall Concert. The
> question now becomes"when does a band become a band--with or without a
name,
> or with or without a recording?
> Incidentally, John S Wilson , who reviewed jazz for the New York Times and
> High Fidelity Magazine, wrote "The Collectors Jazz. Traditional and Swing"
> (1958,), and "The Collectors Jazz. Modern" (1959), both published by J. B
> Lippincott. In the former, he says under Louis Armstrong--"A concert held
at
> Town Hall in New York launched, in effect if not in actual fact, the small
> group with which he has been travelling throughout the world ever
since..."
> Does this answer the question or had he changed his mind in the 20 years
> between the book and the liner note, become careless, better informed,
more
> opinionated, or older? The pros and cons of these questions could be
> discussed ad infinitum.Who knows. I don't! Cheers
> Fred
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Stan Brager" <sbrager at socal.rr.come a band, when it first plays
> (perhaps ) or when it first recordss.>
> To: "Fred Spencer" <drjz at bealenet.com>
> Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 2:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Source for picture of Louis
> Armstrong'sOriginalAll Stars
>
>
> > Fred;
> >
> > To set the stage for the coming of the all star concept, let's remember
> > that
> > by 1946, the stature and the financial rewards of the big bands had
fallen
> > dramatically. Louis Armstrong was no exception to this phenomenon.
Satchmo
> > had appeared with small groups on V-Discs, Esquire concerts, Carnegie
Hall
> > and Town Hall. These engagements were merely one time shots and did not
> > represent themselves as Louis Armstrong organizations in any way. Louis'
> > organization consisted of an 16 piece big band.
> >
> > While the Town Hall concert featured many of the players who would later
> > become part of Armstrong's All-Stars, this was a concert with Louis with
a
> > group of jazz stars but without his regular band at the time.
Furthermore,
> > the Town Hall concert was produced by Ernie Anderson who hired the
> > players.
> > It wasn't until the concert was shown to be a financial success that Joe
> > Glasser (Louis' manager) decided to drop the band in favor of the
All-Star
> > concept. The rest is well-known.
> >
> > By the way, there were 2 drummers at Town Hall - Big Sid played the
first
> > half and George Wettling the second half.
> >
> > This information comes from Dan Morgenstern's liner notes to the RCA CD
> > "Pops: The 1940's Small-Band Sides", The Time-Life Giants Of Jazz -
Louis
> > Armstrong with "Notes on the music" by John S. Wilson, and the French
RCA
> > CD
> > "Louis Armstrong At Town Hall" with notes by Daniel Nevers and Iraskli
De
> > Davrichewi.
> >
> > Stan
> > Stan Brager
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Fred Spencer" <drjz at bealenet.com>
> > To: "Stan Brager" <sbrager at socal.rr.com>
> > Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 8:10 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Source for picture of Louis
> > Armstrong'sOriginalAll Stars
> >
> >
> >> Dear Stan,
> >> Yes, Dick Cary was first. Michael Meckina in "The Louis Armstrong
> >> Encyclopedia" ( Greenwood Press, 2004), says that the  All Stars first
> >> performed in a May 7,1947 Town Hall concert. However, although Louis
had
> >> assembled the band, he had a "stomach ulcer flair-up [sic]"  and Bobby
> >> Hackett was the leader. Meckina adds that the original (I assume at the
> > Town
> >> Hall) personnel was Jack Teagarden, Peanuts Hucko, Dick Cary, Bob
> >> Haggart,
> >> and Big Sid Catlett, but with no attribution of the source. All this
> >> seems
> >> somewhat dubious but...?
> >> There is a picture of the originals with Dick Cary and Velma Middleton,
> > "in
> >> concert in Boston, 1947", in "Louis Armstrong. A Cultural Legacy" (
> >> Queens
> >> Museum of Art and University of Washington Press,1994). I should be
most
> >> gratreful if you could send me the origin of your more believable
> >> information. All the best.
> >> Fred
> >> ----- Original Message ----- 
> >> From: "Stan Brager" <sbrager at socal.rr.com>
> >> To: <FOThree at aol.com>; <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> >> Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 3:29 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Source for picture of Louis
> >> Armstrong'sOriginalAll Stars
> >>
> >>
> >> > The original All Star line-up included Dick Cary on piano in lieu of
> > Earl
> >> > Hines. Their debut came on August 13, 1947 at Billy Berg's night club
> >> > in
> >> > Los
> >> > Angeles. The All Stars made their recording debut on October 16, 1947
> > and
> >> > cut 4 sides for RCA Victor:
> >> >
> >> > A Song Was Born
> >> > Please Stop Playing Those Blues, Boy
> >> > Before Long
> >> > Lovely Weather We're Having
> >> >
> >> > Soon after these recordings were made, Earl Hines replaced Dick Cary.
> >> >
> >> > Sorry I don't have the picture you requested.
> >> >
> >> > Stan
> >> > Stan Brager
> >> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> >> > From: <FOThree at aol.com>
> >> > To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> >> > Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 3:04 PM
> >> > Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Source for picture of Louis Armstrong's
> >> > OriginalAll
> >> > Stars
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >> Gentelmen:
> >> >> Can anyone refer me to a book that would have a picture of Louis and
> > his
> >> >> original all stars - Jack T., Barney, Earl Hines, Big Sid, and Arvel
> >> > Shaw -  with
> >> >> or without Velma?
> >> >> Fred Ollison
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Dixielandjazz mailing list
> >> > Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> >> > http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
>