Blue Steele and His Orchestra recorded for the Victor Talking Machine Company between August 26, 1927, and May 16, 1930, resulting in 16 discs. His recordings, which sold fairly well, ranged from hot jazz to waltzes. Steele’s band played some of the best hotel venues, such as the Peabody in Memphis, the Muehlebach in Kansas City, the St. Anthony in San Antonio, and the Coronado in St. Louis, as well as the prestigious Graystone and Trianon Ballrooms. During his time in the music business he received many accolades. But that time, like his earlier years, was also cluttered with frequent fistfights and jail time.
In the 1960s, Blue decided to write an autobiography for publication or to produce it as a movie. Jeff Hopkins was confronted by 19 drafts, several versions of the same story, and a large number of missing pages. The missing pages do affect the flow and detail of the narrative. Jeff has done a remarkable job of piecing it together with an introduction to each of the 39 chapters and with the use of almost 500 footnotes to clarify and expand Steele’s commentary. (Jeff also wrote the liner notes for the Vintage Music Productions CD Blue Steele & His Orchestra: The King of Rhythm, VMP 0101.) All in all, Blue Steele was a fairly good writer.
The usual autobiography/biography of a musician has a single chapter devoted to their formative years. Mainly, the discussion is
