[Dixielandjazz] Barber in the charts

[Bert Brandsma]

There are some more nice things to be said about the Chris Barber hit recording of Petite Fleur.
First of all, it was Chris, who gave Monty Sunshine the Bechet recording and asked him to learn it, so they could record it a couple of days later.So, Monty did that and they came to the recording studio... they started it and it was all wrong.... what had happened was that Monty's record player was too fast, so he learned it in Ab minor, instead of G minor.There was no way possible for Monty to do it in the original key at the spot, so bass and guitar went up half a tone, and they recorded that, in 1956 allready.
At first not too much happened, but suddenly in 1959 it was released in Germany and it became a number 2 in the charts there.Then the USA military people that still were many in Germany at that time picked it up, took it to the USA and there it was on place 5 in the charts.In the UK it was on place 3.
It is correct that Chris is not playing on the record of  Petite Fleur, but he does on the reverse side of the record: Wildcat Blues, where he plays double bass.I have the honour of playing Wildcat Blues as my feature solo number almost every concert with his band these days and have to tell you one thing, Chris knows the music so well and has such a fantastic beat on the bass, one would wish that many "real" bass players would learn something from that!
The Chris Barber band still plays Petite Fleur in Ab minor, not very easy on clarinet! Chris said to me that it just might have been the key change that made it so big, it's a bit more brilliant, he thinks.
kind regards,
Bert Brandsma


> However, as you have mentioned, although under Barber's name, "Petite
> Fleur' was not by the whole band, but rathe by Monty Sunshine with
> rhythm - another factor that made me forget it.  Some time ago Bob
> Wilber complained that in Europe (but not in France, although he did
> not mention it), when a Bechet song became a hit, it was not the
> Bechet performance but the Barber one.
> Cheers
> 
> On 9 March 2013 14:10, Jim Kashishian <jim at kashprod.com> wrote:
> >
> > Marek wrote:
> >>I don't know whether Barber ever had anything in the
> >> charts...........
> >
> > He certainly did...at least in the U.S.  His Petite Fleur hit every jukebox
> > in the U.S. in the late 1950's.  It was pure jazz, though.
> >
> > Curiously, Chris Barber didn't play on that recording....it was of course
> > Monty Sunshine on clarinet.  Originally, I thought Chris was a clarinetist
> > as the single came up only as "Chris Barber's Jazz Band.   :>
> >
> > Jim
> >
> >
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