[Dixielandjazz] Firehouse Five + Two (was Phil Napolen, and more)

[Stan Brager]

Marek;

>From the back cover notes to GTJ L-12010:

"ED PENNER learned to play the tuba between the two sessions, and played
bass sax only on "Everybody Loves My Baby".

The two sessions were May 13, 1949 and October 8, 1949.

Need anything else?

Stan
Stan Brager
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Marek Boym [mailto:marekboym at gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 6:00 AM
> To: Bill Haesler
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Firehouse Five + Two (was Phil Napolen,
> and more)
> 
> Dear Bill,
> On GTJ 33-1, in the lengthy liner notes, there is a reference to
> Penner's playing bass saxophone, and there is a picture showing him
> with that instrument.  Mrs. Harris and Rust in their "REcorded Jazz: a
> Critical Guide" (where the American issue is indeed refered to as GTJ
> 33-1) mention brass bass only.  On L-2 there is a personnel listing,
> and Penner is listed on tuba.
> That's all the Firehouse I have - I am not a great fan of the band.
> And I still prefer LPs to CDs; actually, at home I listen solely to
> LPs and tapes, leaving CDs for the car.  However, I have two CDs with
> sound so bland as to require extensive use of bass and treble
> controls; to these, I listen at home, as I do not know how to use the
> controls on my car CD player, and the large home speakers, too,
> improve sound.
> With kindest regards
> 
> On 31 May 2011 13:16, Bill Haesler <bhaesler at bigpond.net.au> wrote:
> > To Marek's final comment:
> >>> By the way, the FH5+2 have bass saxophone rather than brass bass.
> >> I replied
> >> Yes, Ed Penner did not start using tuba in [should have been
> 'until'] March 1951.
> >
> > Dear Marek (and all),
> > Our band's clarinet player, Jack Wiard, has just taken me to task
> over this one.
> > I used 1968 Jepson's discography to check your comment and it
> confirms your statement, hence my answer.
> > My Bruyninckx' discography also confirms Jepson.
> > I have an almost complete collection of the FH5+2 up to March 1960
> but, as my early LPs have been replaced by CDs,
> > I was unable to check the LP covers for instrumentation details (if
> any).
> > The YouTube Snader videos show Mr Penner on tuba. I have a separate
> file date as 15 March 1951 for these, so that does not help us much.
> > The next step was to use my ears.
> > There seems to be a bass on the first tune, "Firehouse Stomp" from
> the first session, 13 May 1949, but bass sax on "Blues My Naughty
> Sweetie..." (both takes), "Fireman's Lament"and "San".
> > For the second session, 8 October 1949, I hear "Brass Bell" (tuba),
> "Everybody Loves My Baby" (bssx), "Red Hot River Valley" (tuba),
> "Riverside Blues" (tuba).
> > Then to 18 February 1950. "The World Is Waiting...", etc. All tuba.
> > 20 July 1950. "Down Where The Sun Goes Down", etc. All tuba.
> > 10 October 1950. "12th Street Rag", etc. All tuba.
> > 9 March 1951. "Lonesome Mama Blues", etc. All tuba.
> > 12 June 1951. ""Show Me The Way To The Fire", etc. All tuba.
> > 20 May 1952. "Lonesome Railroad Blues", etc. All tuba.
> > >From here on, the discographal references to bass sax stop.
> > Phew!
> > Can someone please check the 1949-51 Good Time Jazz LPs  (10" L-1, 2,
> 6 &16 and 12" L-12010, 12011 & 12012) for me to see if there are any
> specific references to Ed Penner and bass sax.
> > If you don't agree with my above observations, at least you will
> (like me) have had fun relistening to this fine happy band of jazzmen.
> > Very kind regards,
> > Bill.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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