[Dixielandjazz] More on Red Nichols' Youtube Vitaphone item.

[Fr M J (Mike) Logsdon]

After obvious notice of Red's ceasing to play yet his cornet continues 
to play (1929 Milli Vanilli), I examined the short a little more 
closely.  Now, to begin with, Condon's vocal could easily be 
lip-synched.  But he did it wonderfully.  BOTH times.  And it's after 
the second time I noticed that as he was sitting back down and grabbing 
his banjo, he began strumming at exactly the moment the strumming began 
on the film.  So, if he, too, was faking it, he faked it to perfection.

Which leads me to conjecture:  That, if the whole schmeer was 
dub-synched, it was so ONLY AFTER it was actually recorded beforehand as 
afterward filmed.  In other words, everyone knew their moves, in 
particular Condon, who knew that he was to pick his banjo up at a 
particular time and start strumming at a particular time, etc.  The only 
thing left to explain is Red's pointless non-playing cornet playing.  My 
only guess is, "Aw schidt! Did I do that?!"

Conjecturally your'n,
-- 
Etc,

Fr M J (Mike) Logsdon, Vicar-general
North American Old Roman Catholic Church (Utrecht Succession)
Archdiocese of California
www.naorc.org