[Dixielandjazz] "Celery Stalks At Midnight" - Definative answer

[Betty/Betz Storey]

Definitive answer: CELERY STALKS AT MIDNIGHT

I'm sitting here with the original album on my lap. Album: Columbia Records, 

C-123, "Will Bradley and His Orchestra featuring Ray McKinley."  1940

Inside Cover: When boogie-woogie left the piano to become an orchestral form, it was Will Bradley who made it as popular as it is today. The records in this collection, as famous for their weird titles and wacky vocals as for instrumental work, represent the best of Bradley's collection. They feature one of the finest drummers in the business, Ray McKinley and the trombone playing of Maestro Will Bradley. But, Freddie Slack, the man who plays what is considered as the best piano boogie of any white man, is also there. Here is a hard-picked collection of some of the greatest boogie-woogie in recording history and will hold a place all its own in musical libraries.

Will Bradley was born in Newton, New Jersey and learned the complexities of the trombone at an early age. After a brief career in a vaudeville unit, Bradley joined a famous jazz band known as Hilt Shaw's Detroiters. Several months later Will went into radio with a vengeance, playing for all the big time shows under such famous leaders as Kostelanetz and Shilkret.

Shortly thereafter, Will Bradley decided to have a band of his own. Within six months from the time Will organized, he crashed the musical big-time by turning out the country's best selling record at the time , "Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar."

The numbers in this album made Will Bradley a national favorite, and here on the original sides are some of the best music to come out of the boogie form."

Each side is listed as a "fox trot." Vocal chorus by Ray McKinley

36956     BEAT ME DADDY EIGHT TO THE BAR (2 sides)

36957     SCRUB ME, MAMA, WITH A BOOGIE BEAT

              BOOGIE WOOGIE CONGA

36958     DOWN THE ROAD A PIECE

              CELERY STALKS AT MIDNIGHT

36959     FRY ME COOKIE, WITH A CAN OF LARD

              CHICKEN GUMBOOGIE

Hey, Sacramento, have a great Jubilee next weekend.   Betz Storey, San Jose