[Dixielandjazz] follow up to Steve Voce's note-- re Eddie Condon Gang-- especially Wild Bill Davison

[Steve Voce]

Anne was a film star in her early life before she met Bill. She had a 
huge sense of the dramatic, and that's the only reason she blamed the 
doctors for his death. She certainly changed Bill around. You never saw 
him with his hair not combed. She must have spent a fortune on the 
paperwork she mailed to every journalist whose address she could find. 
She'd also overwhelm one with phone calls, and I for one always tried to 
keep exposure to her to a minimum. While Bill was her obsession, she was 
good for him, although 'the Wild One' lost its meaning.

No doubt she added several years to Bill's life, and he seemed glad to 
acquiesce.

Steve Voce


On 25/07/2017 22:57, Norman Vickers wrote:
>
> To:  Musicians and Jazzfans list;  DJML
>
> From:  Norman Vickers, Jazz Pensacola
>
> Re:  Follow up to Steve Voce’s note re Eddie Condon Gang
>
> Voce wrote:
>
> Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2017 15:03:04 +0100
>
> From: Steve Voce <stevevoce at virginmedia.com 
> <mailto:stevevoce at virginmedia.com>>
>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Eddie Condon
>
> Message-ID: <b922c21e-95b2-2698-1b9e-c186e13344ba at virginmedia.com 
> <mailto:b922c21e-95b2-2698-1b9e-c186e13344ba at virginmedia.com>>
>
> Some of the most rare jazz film you'll ever see is in Mosaic's 'Jazz 
> Gazette' this week. During and after World War II there was a 
> bi-monthly US news film called 'The March Of Time', which chose a 
> different subject for each issue. On one occasion in 1946 the subject 
> was Eddie Condon's club in New York. Alas, the film never survived.
>
> But some of the practice sequences shot at the time have just emerged, 
> and Mosaic have put them up for us all to watch. The band is: Wild 
> Bill, Brad Gowans, Tony Parenti, Gene Schroeder, Condon, Jack Lesberg 
> and Dave Tough (the exact band that at that time recorded 
> 'Improvisation For The March Of Time' and 'Farewell Blues' for 
> Decca/Brunswick). This is I think the only film of Parenti, a fine 
> clarinettist indeed, and the wonderful Brad Gowans, who plays a 
> valide. This is a valve trombone with a slide, and it's fascinating to 
> watch him switching from valves to slide. Don't miss this!
>
> Steve Voce
>
> Norman responds with own anecdote—  Thanks to Steve Voce for his story 
> about Eddie Condon and gang.
>
> Of course, I never had a chance to meet  cornetist Wild Bill  
> Davison.  But I had read about his escapades—with the music, women, 
> and booze. I knew that he had been diagnosed as having an aortic 
> aneurysm and that because of his age and poor health, the prognosis 
> was grim.  But it was decided that surgeons would try to repair the 
> leaking aorta--- as the expression goes—chances slim to none.  Davison 
> apparently died on the operating table.
>
> Fast forward to the late  1990s.  I was in Los Angeles for a jazz 
> event.  Milt Hinton was being honored for his many 
> achievements—bassist, photographer and all around good guy.  I was in 
> company of jazz benefactor and author Floyd Levin who said he wanted 
> to introduce me to the widow Davison.  Anne  Davison, fifth and  last 
> wife, had made it her career to travel with Bill and try to keep him 
> out of trouble with women and minimize his drinking.
>
> She was an attractive woman in her 70s with gray hair and a black 
> sheath dress with one string of pearls—fashionable wear.  Floyd, using 
> my title said, “Dr. Vickers, I want you to meet Anne Davison.”   Mrs. 
> Davison greeted me with a smile and said, “ The doctors killed my 
> husband!” ( Wow!  I’ve never been greeted like this before. How does 
> one respond to that?) So, the best response I could come up with was, 
> “  I’m sorry to hear that Mrs. Davison; I wasn’t there!”    Then the 
> group of us moved on to other topic and the rest of the evening went 
> smoothly!
>
> Thanks for listenin’!
>
> Norman
>
> F.Norman Vickers
>
> 5429 Dynasty Drive
>
> Pensacola, FL 32504-8583
>
> Home 850-484-9183; cell 850-324-5022
>
> Jazz Society of Pensacola 850-433-8382
>
> www.jazzpensacola.com <http://www.jazzpensacola.com/>
>
> nvickers1 at cox.net <mailto:nvickers1 at cox.net>
>
> http://jazzpensacola.com/vickers/
>
> Member Jazz Journalists Association
>
>
>
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