[Dixielandjazz] Stock arrangements and recordings

[Chris Tyle]

Steve wrote:
> This ties back to the "Recreated recordings" thread too.  But, I guess I can address this to Sheik and to Chris Tyle specifically...
>
> I just bought Chris' "Sugar Blues" album, the tribute to King Oliver, yeah it's 12 years late but at least I have it.   ;) 
>
> Marty Eggers suggested to me that at least the  chart of "Aunt Hagar's Children Blues" was a stock.  I've not heard an Oliver recording of it (actually, I have very few Oliver recordings any more--I've lost so doggone many CDs over the years   ;(   )  but that certainly seems possible.  I really like Marty's use of the bow, and the tango rhythm in the bass/drums (Hal Smith).  (Marty gave credit to the arrangement for the cool feel!)  
>
> But, to get to the question--Were the "stocks" the creation of some publishing house lackey, working off the original published sheets, or were they based on the recordings by whomever popularized the tune, or were they the charts used in the recording?
>
> Since the ragtime band I play with uses a lot of stocks reworked for our instrumentation, I'm curious as to the origin of them.
>
> thanks!
>
> steve
>   
First I'd like to mention that most if not all the King Oliver 
recordings can be heard at redhotjazz.com, including the Oliver Dixie 
Syncopators recording of Aunt Hagar's.

We used just a few stock arrangements for the Oliver recording. The 
point of the recording was not really a recreation; it was to play 
certain tunes to try to capture them in the style of Oliver Creole Jazz 
Band, circa the time with Louis et. al. I picked several tunes that the 
band was known to have recorded that were not released, i.e., "When You 
Leave Me Alone to Pine," "If You Want My Heart (You Got to 'Low it, 
Babe)," and I also picked tunes the band was known to have played but 
didn't record, "Oh, How I Miss You Tonight," "Royal Garden," etc.

According to the liner notes for the session, "Maryland" and "Eccentric" 
were stocks, but I remember "Oh How I Miss You" as being a stock also. 
The rest of the arrangements were by John Gill.

Now, to answer your specific questions, most were written by an arranger 
hired by the publishing company. (I think the word "lackey" is a bit 
inappropriate here. Most of the arrangers were very skilled musicians.)  
I know composer Joe Jordan did some stock arrangements, as did Charles 
"Doc" Cooke.

There are examples of 1920s and 1930s bands working from stocks, but 
editing them - adding solos, etc. There are some stocks that are based 
on recordings, but I think most were written and then recorded.

That being said, your ragtime stocks were most likely published that 
way, not taken from recordings.

Cheers,
Chris Tyle