[Dixielandjazz] How did key tunes get into the standard dixieland repertoire? (Marty Nichols)

[Marek Boym]

I've heard "I'm looking over a 4-leaf clover"  countless times, and
have numerous recording thereof by jazz bands from all over the world.
Why some tunes remain popular and others not - a good question!  Whit
bands of the twenties recorded so many good tunes ("Feeling no pain,"
"Fresman's hop," "That's no bargain," etc.) that gardly get played
anymore!
As to others - well, for one, the "revivalist" public wanted to hear
only certain tunes, but not others.
According to jazz history, when Kid Ory came out of retirement, he
wanted to have a "modern" band, which really meant - playing "modern"
(i.e. - current) tunes, but his public wanted what it considered "true
New Orleans repertoire."  So that's what he gave them!
At present, that's what the public recognizes and wants to hear.  As
one person on this or another jazz list put it: "If they are bored
playing the unpteenth version of Royal Garden Blues, they should
quit."
Cheers

On 08/09/2007, dwlit at cpcug.org <dwlit at cpcug.org> wrote:
> By "standard Dixieland repertoire" I mean today's most commonly played tunes.
>
> Let's ignore the 40s New Orleans and West Coast revivals, which
> immeasurably broadened the possibilities. Or, we can take individual
> revival tunes with early origins--eg Maryland my Maryland, 1919 March. We
> know they were old tunes, but how did Bunk, etc., reacquaint themselves
> with them?
>
> Actually, my initial concern was tunes such as "When you're smiling",
> which dates from 1928. Perhaps Armstrong's record was the jazz spark,
> perhaps Noone's. How widely was Coon Sanders Orch. listened to by jazzers?
> If the tune was popular, why don't we have more records of it?
>
> It's not enough to identify the tunes as pop tunes. "I'm looking over a
> 4-leaf clover" was recorded by Goldkette and Al Jolson, but not picked up
> by jazzers, yet it was a well-known "sing-along" tune even in the 50s.
>
> I've sort of backed into the question because when I can, I like to
> "justify" playing a tune or putting it into one of my books by naming a
> famous jazz figure who recorded it.
>
> The tunes are a basic part of the history of jazz, and jazz is part of the
> history of many pop tunes: who played what, where, when and why? Dan Hardy
> investigates some of this in his explorations of Buddy Bolden's music.
>
> --Sheik
>
>
>
> > Hi Gang. How did key pop tunes come into the standard Dixieland
> >  repertoire?
> > Who introduced 'em, or made 'em popular enough so that dixielanders
> adopted 'em? <snip>
> > --Sheik"
> >
> >
> > As I see it, many of the tunes in the Dixieland repertoire WERE the
> popular tunes of the day. Others were written specifically, such as the
> original raft of tunes by the ODJB. Eddie Condon used a lot of popular
> tunes - Bing Crosby hits etc. What amazes me is how long they have
> survived as Dixieland standards, especially as some of them are not that
> good.
> > Graham Martin
>
> > http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>
>
>
>
>
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