[Dixielandjazz] Duff Campbell's Revenge - who wrote it?

[Daniel Augustine]

Ric--
     Turk wrote it.  Here's the story, from Bob Krenkel via Tommy Loy:

"Bob Krenkel, transplanted Chicoan & big fan of Turk's sent this to me.
Other listmates have asked that it be re-posted.
Glad to oblige...
		Tommy Loy

> Here is the story:
>
> Duff Campbell was a big fan of Turk Murphy, his band and music.  It
> seems that Duff made a trip to New York, and while there stopped in at
> Condon's.  Eddie was at the club that night, and Duff decided to
> introduce himself.  Part of the introduction was how he was a big  
> fan of
> Turk Murphy.  Well Condon, in his typical rare (and probably  
> inebriated)
> form, responded by pontificating about the inadequacies of Turk -- how
> he and his music were like dinosaurs, antiquated, etc.  Well, this
> shattered Duff, and upon returning to San Francisco, he related the
> incident to Turk.  Turk laughed it off, and asked Duff not to take it
> personally; after all, Condon was just being Condon!
>
> A while later, Turk was contacted by George Avakian of Columbia
> Records.  Avakian had produced several of Turk's albums for Columbia  
> and
> was also a fan.  Avakian informed Turk that he was producing an album
> entitled Eddie Condon's Treasury of Jazz, which was tied to an  
> anthology
> being published by Condon at that time.  Eddie Condon would assemble  
> the
> band and the theme would be tunes of various personalities covered in
> the book such as Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Bix, and Benny  
> Goodman to
> name a few.  Avakian, being a fan of Turks, wanted Turk included, and
> asked him if he could send Condon a tune to use in the album.  Turk
> responded, "Better that that, I'll write one!"  He wrote it with with
> twists and turns, put it in Db, and titled it "Duff Campbell's  
> Revenge."
>
> The following is an excerpt from the liner notes of the album, written
> by Condon:
>
>    "If we had been able to cover all the personalities and chapters in
> the book without doing a tune of Turk Murphy's, we'd have gladly  
> ducked
> the toughie in this collection, but the Bald Eagle that presides over
> the Columbia eyrie insisted that the discipline was good for us.  It's
> called Duff Campbell's Revenge and The Head explained something about
> the meaning of the title but we were too busy digging the manuscript.
> Turk and his boys rehearsed this tune, and they know it inside out.   
> We
> rehearsed it and we still don't.  Frankly, the band staggered through
> this one; it's a jawbreaker, and if you don't believe it, listen to  
> the
> general struggle.  I am very fond of Turk -- there's a piece about him
> in the book -- but he gave us a severe penance on this one."
>
> A final note -- On the Condon recording, they play it in Eb.
>
> Hope this explains.
>
> Regards,
>
> Bob"
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From: "Ric Giorgi" <ricgiorgi at sympatico.ca>
Date: February 28, 2009 5:25:05 PM CST
To: ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Duff Campbell's Revenge - who wrote it?

Oh Great List - can anyone tell me who wrote Duff Campbell's revenge
please? It seems to be credited to Turk but I seem to recall a
discussion here that mentioned it being written by someone else.

Ric Giorgi
Toronto
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**  Dan Augustine  --  Austin, Texas  --  ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu
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