[Dixielandjazz] Dick Robertson + Peanut vendor

[Stan Brager]

Anton;

I've got to agree with you about the Kenton version of "Peanut Vendor". It
was the first one I heard and nothing has topped it for me. Armstrong's
version sounds as if he really didn't have any choice in the matter (a
common occurrence). Listening to his vocal at the end, I came away with the
feeling that he wanted this cut to be rejected. Ellington, though, is a
different matter. There are 2 versions; the early '30 Decca cut which has
some nice Barney Bigard clarinet answering the trumpet and the late 50's
version which seems to have borrowed some of Kenton's cascading trumpets. I
like the 50's rendition. After Kenton, my favorite is the Henry King
recording which I discovered years ago when I purchased someone's collection
of 78s. I've never heard the Red Nichols side.

Stan
Stan Brager  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Anton Crouch [mailto:anton.crouch at optusnet.com.au]
> Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2009 8:16 PM
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Dick Robertson + Peanut vendor
> 
> Hello all
> 
> Good one, Bill!
> 
> The "Peanut vendor"/"Is that religion?" issue is interesting for a
> couple of reasons.
> 
> 1. When the Don Azpiazu band (from Cuba) opened in New York in April
> 1930 it made an enormous impression with El manisero (The peanut
> vendor)
> - the song was a hit and every Tom, Dick and Harry took it up. What
> stands out, from the evidence of recordings, is how lumpy most of the
> American performances were. Red Nichols' effort was a good one but we
> had to wait for Stan Kenton to show us how it could be done as jazz.
> The
> best that can be said of Ellington's effort is that it is better than
> Louis Armstrong's.
> 
> 2. The latest edition of Brian Rust's "Jazz records" continues the
> error
> of showing Frank Marvin as the vocalist on "Is that religion?"
> 
> All the best,
> Anton
> 
> > Dear John,
> > Found it!
> > Your friend's reference to Cadence Magazine set me thinking again.
> > I 'googled' Cadence with no luck but then wondered what other jazz
> mag
> > in 1979-80 would bother to record the death of singer/songwriter Dick
> > Robertson.
> > Jazz Journal? Probably, but no index available, although I have
> access
> > to the late Mike Sutcliffe's complete bound set up to 2007.
> > Laurie's Wright's 'Storyville' magazine? Possibly and I do have the
> > published Index, lovingly compiled by German enthusiast Bernard H
> Behncke.
> > Eureka!
> > Issue 87 (February-March 1980) page 106.
> > Another old friend and Ellington specialist Jerry Valburn, in
> commenting
> > about the identity of the vocalist and band for "Is That Religion/The
> > Peanut Vender" by Earl Jackson and His Musical Champions, recorded on
> 20
> > January 1931, wrote [in part]:
> > "I had a conversation with Dick Robertson last winter (at that time
> he
> > was not 'the late Dick Robertson' as reported in an earlier issue
> but,
> > sadly, he passed away on 13 July 1979). Dick remembered the session
> > welll, that it was Ellington, and that "Is That Religion" was one of
> his
> > favourite sides."
> > Very kind regards,
> > Bill.
> 
> 
>