[Dixielandjazz] Muskrat Ramble name?

[James O'Briant]

Bob Romans wrote:

> I heard once that this tune was originally 
> "Muscat Ramble" after Muscatel wine that 
> the early jazzers drank in the jazz 
> clubs. True?

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it, including footnote numbers in
brackets which refer to sources of information:

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Muskrat Ramble" is a jazz composition written by Kid Ory in 1926. It was
first recorded on February 26, 1926 by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, and
became the group's most frequently recorded piece.[1] It was a prominent
part of the Dixieland revival repertoire in the 1930s and 1940s, and was
recorded by Bob Crosby, Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Muggsy
Spanier, Chet Atkins and Lu Watters, among others.[1] It is considered a
part of the jazz standard repertoire.[2][3] Owing to a misprint, the tune
was titled "Muskat Ramble" on its initial release.[1]

Ory has said that he originally composed the tune in 1921, and that the
title was made up by Lil Hardin at the recording session. Armstrong, on the
other hand, has claimed in an interview to have written the tune himself,
and that it was Ory who only named it.[1] Sidney Bechet has said that it was
originally an old Buddy Bolden tune called "The Old Cow Died and the Old Man
Cried".[4] 

NOTES:

^ a b c d e Anderson & Budds 2007, p. 74
^ Giddins 2004, p. 531
^ Bayles 1996, p. 227
^ Wintz & Finkelman 2004, p. 940

SOURCES:

Anderson, Gene Henry; Budds, Michael J. (2007). The Original Hot Five
Recordings of Louis Armstrong. Pendragon Press. ISBN 1576471209.

Bayles, Martha (1996). Hole in Our Soul: The Loss of Beauty and Meaning in
American Popular Music. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226039595.

Giddins, Gary (2004). Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century.
Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0195156072.

Wintz, Cary D.; Finkelman, Paul (2004). Encyclopedia of the Harlem
Renaissance. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1579584586.

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Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA
Tuba & Leader, The Zinfandel Stompers