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

[rahberry at comcast.net]

Charlie Campbell is still around, shows up occasionally at  
Pier 23 and always dances while there. 
I think he recently had a birthday party. 
  -- Rae Ann 

http://www.youtube.com/SFRaeAnn 
http://www.clintbakerjazz.com/raeannslist.html 
http://www.craigventresco.com 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Robertson" <jdrobertson at att.net> 
To: rahberry at comcast.net 
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com> 
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 5:28:59 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific 
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Duff Campbell's Revenge - who wrote it? 

Duff Campbell's real name was Charles Campbell.  A couple of years ago 
he was still with us at 90+, the San Francisco Trad Jazz Foundation 
threw a big party for him.   Don't know now. 

Don Robertson 
Napa, CA 

Daniel Augustine wrote: 
> 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" 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
> 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 
> **--------------------------------------------------------------------** 
> **  Dan Augustine  --  Austin, Texas  --  ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu 
> **     "I always keep a supply of stimulant handy in case I see a 
> **      snake, which I also keep handy." -- W. C. Fields 
> **--------------------------------------------------------------------** 
> 
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