[Dixielandjazz] Performance Order of St Louis Blues

[Steve Barbone]

Is there any real difference what order one plays the sections of this tune?
Past artists seem to have done it differently.

Check out Bessie Smith, backed by Louis Armstrong, Jan 1925 at: (scroll down
to the "S" tunes to <St Louis Blues>) This was done before Louis Armstrong's
take on the tune with his own band.

http://www.redhotjazz.com/bessie.html

She starts with "I hate to See", goes to the Spanish Tinge bridge, and then
to the out chorus (which, BTW, Handy borrowed from another of his tunes)
Lyrically it seems to make the most sense, at least to me, when done in this
order. But if you are not singing it, why not start with the Spanish Tinge
section? Your choice will be right either way.

You can hear her take on the tune in its entirety there, 3 min 07 sec.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

PS: Different takes of the tune include:

*    1920 Marion Harris
*    1921 Original Dixieland Jazz Band
*    1922 W. C. Handy
*    1925 Bessie Smith, backed by Louis Armstrong on cornet and Fred
     Longshaw on harmonium. One of the most famous versions.
*    1929 Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra with Henry "Red" Allen
*    1930 Rudy Vallee, Cab Calloway, the Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters
*    1935 Bob Wills
*    1939 Benny Goodman
*    1940 Earl Hines rendition "Boogie Woogie On The St. Louis Blues". Hines
     can be heard on the recording saying, "Aw, play it till 1954", the year
     the original copyright was to expire.
*    1943 Glenn Miller "St. Louis Blues -- March" as played by the U.S. Army
     Air Force Band, of which Miller was the commander.
*    1949 Art Tatum
*    1954 Louis Armstrong recorded the song numerous times, including a
     hard-rocking version on his album Louis Armstrong plays W.C. Handy.
*    1985 Doc Watson recorded the song on the album "Pickin' the Blues" and
     has played his version for many years.


Other recordings include Louis Prima, Artie Shaw, The Esquire Boys, and "The
Merri Men" (a spin-off group from Bill Haley & His Comets). It was also
recorded on piano rolls.

It also has been used in the Malcolm McLaren song "About Her" from the
soundtrack of the motion picture Kill Bill Vol II. The song covers both "St.
Louis Blues" and a Zombies song "She's Not There".