Monte Mountjoy: Taking Care of Business On Drums

Hal Smith: Brother Kevin, after we wrote about the great Fred Higuera, we decided to take a listen to some recordings by another West Coast drummer: Monte Mountjoy.

Although many of his recordings (and film appearances) are not currently online, there are enough examples of his terrific drumming available on YouTube and the Internet Archive, so we can talk about those!

As a quick background: John Melvin Mountjoy was born in Roundup, Montana, in 1912. And grew up in Decatur, Illinois. “Monte” began his musical career as a teenager. The first “name” band he worked with was the Tiny Hill Orchestra. In 1941 he moved to the West Coast, where he played with Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Spade Cooley, Johnny Tyler, the Firehouse Five Plus Two, Johnny Lucas and his Blueblowers, Wild Bill Davison, Red Nichols, Pete Daily, and Jack Teagarden. He moved back to Decatur in 1962 and worked with Gene Mayl’s Dixieland Rhythm Kings, Smokey Stover and led his own band called “The Misfits.” He passed away in 1994.

Let’s start with a couple of sides by Tiny Hill and his Orchestra, from 1939. This orchestra was very popular all across the Midwest for many years. On “Angry” we can hear the bandleader’s vocal and his trademark soft-shoe beat on the guiro. Monte Mountjoy is not front and center, but you sure can hear his solid afterbeat on the snare. On “My Best Girl” he has a brief drum break—straightforward and uncomplicated—the way Monte always played! He also plays some nice “4-1s” on the tom-tom, some good fills and a humorous coda. What are your impressions of the drumming on these sides, Brother?

Kevin Dorn: This band is not as raucous or loose as, say, the Firehouse Five or Bob Wills’ band, so there is perhaps not as much opportunity for the drums to stand out. But Monte is doing exactly what’s called for and doing it extremely well. He was one of those drummers who was always at the service of the music. What stands out to me most here is his beautiful two-beat feel, which would serve him so well throughout his career, both in jazz and Western swing. I also love those “4-1” accents and I think the feeling of those accents is something that every great traditional jazz drummer has in their playing. Even if they’re not actually playing it, that “4-1” feeling is always there. It’s really something to take note of. Overall, what I hear on these recordings is a swinging and supportive drummer who can take care of business!

HS: “Taking care of business” should have been printed on Monte’s cards! That’s exactly how he played, in every situation. You mentioned Western Swing, and Monte Mountjoy’s drumming in that genre was being praised as soon as his first recordings with Bob Wills were released. Let’s listen to three by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, from 1945. First is “Roly Poly.” Monte lays into the afterbeats starting with the introduction and never lets up! On “Stay A Little Longer,” Monte and bassist Ted Adams are swinging right off the bat until bandleader Wills and his fiddle enter after an odd number of bars. (I asked former Wills cornetist Danny Alguire how the Texas Playboys handled those dropped beats. He told me “You just got used to it.”) “I’m So Glad I Met You” was not issued at the time, since there was a little too much hilarity in the studio after the “loudmouth” was passed around. Fortunately, the recording survived; the only example of Monte taking a solo with the Texas Playboys!

KD: “Roly Poly” and “Stay A Little Longer” are Western Swing classics and I think Monte’s drumming is really the gold standard for that style. These recordings show how effective “simple,” straightforward time can be. “Simple” should not be confused with “easy.” There is nothing easy about maintaining a groove like this and there’s nothing to hide behind when playing this way. Many very accomplished drummers would not be able to do this sort of thing. Even if they could played the notes, it wouldn’t feel right.

I’m just guessing based on how he played, but I get the feeling that Monte loved playing in this style as much as he loved playing jazz. I think this is very inspirational for drummers like us, Brother Hal, who also love and play these styles. There are other favorite drummers of ours who ventured outside of jazz, for example the great Cliff Leeman who recorded with Bill Haley and Buddy Holly. I love that music as well, but I know that Cliff didn’t. As great as he played on those recordings, his heart wasn’t in it. He was a professional doing a job. But Monte sounds like he’s really expressing himself.

“I’m So Glad I Met You” has some great drumming, with more cymbal work than we’ve heard from Monte so far. He gets a variety of sounds from the hi-hat and his off-beat rimshots remind me of Dave Tough and Sid Catlett. I also love how he incorporates the cowbell into his fills. The cowbell ending, such a staple in traditional jazz, shows again how everything is connected.

Do you happen to know if Monte enjoyed playing Western Swing as much as it sounds like he does?

HS: As far as I know, he really liked playing that style and Bob Wills appreciated Monte’s musicianship and his solid beat. After leaving Wills, Monte played and recorded with other Western groups including Johnny Tyler’s and the “King Of Western Swing”—Spade Cooley. Here’s one of those Spade Cooley recordings from 1947: “Boggs Boogie,” featuring steel guitarist Noel Boggs. I hear those Tough/Catlett-style snare drum accents and a generally enthusiastic performance on the drums. What do you hear on this one?

KD: Monte is really driving things along with the brushes on this recording, isn’t he? He gets a strong quarter feel going and I love the way he accents around the melody and the phrases by the other instruments. It’s so effective and helps to shape the music. His accents almost become part of the melody. He’s mixing things up a lot, as opposed to some of the earlier recordings, but the solid feeling of the groove never suffers. He’s constantly changing the rhythms and accents he’s playing and he’s commenting on what’s going on around him. This is a great lesson. Sometimes playing a straight groove without a lot of variation is the best thing for the music, sometimes a lot of interaction is what’s needed to make things work. A great drummer like Monte knows how to make these choices.

HS: You’re exactly right. I can’t think of even one recording where Monte made the wrong choice of what to play. Let’s move on to a band that Monte worked with, off and on, for almost seven years: The Firehouse Five Plus Two. Between 1949 and 1956, Monte was the drummer on the majority of FH5+2 recordings. He also appeared with the band on radio, television and movies and on six short “telescriptions” for the Snader company in 1951. These are especially informative since the performances are live, rather than lip-synched. There is a lot to hear and see as well. First, notice the equipment: small-size bass drum, relatively small cymbals and no woodblock or cowbell! Technique-wise, there are full-sounding press rolls and energetic rim accompaniment to the piano and banjo solos. Also, when Monte plays ride cymbal, he frequently plays all four beats on the snare drum with his left stick. And he pedals the hi-hat on all four beats too! Wayne Jones used to play the hi-hat in 4/4, but I never got to ask him whether he might have picked that up from watching Monte. In any case, I am anxious to know what you see and hear in these performances…

KD: He indeed has an unusual and minimal setup with no floor tom and no bottom head on the small tom! The small bass drum reminds us again that there are no rules in this music. You mentioned Wayne Jones and he used a small bass drum as well. With traditional jazz, people usually think large bass drums and small cymbals, but of course there are many notable exceptions to this.

I love the way Monte plays the ride cymbal. There’s no wasted motion and only his wrist seems to move. Occasionally I saw him using a sideways motion with his left stick on the snare drum, almost like he was playing brushes. He also sometimes seemed to be playing a continuous roll with his right hand on the snare. The four beat hi-hat was very interesting and it seemed like he wasn’t closing the cymbals very tightly. It looked like he was loosely splashing them together, as opposed to the tight “chick” sound that is more common.

He also seemed to hamming it up less than the other musicians. Someone has to drive the bus! We’re very lucky to have this footage of Monte, especially since (as you pointed out) they’re playing live and not miming to what they had previously recorded.

HS: I also heard that continuous roll—particularly behind the cornet on “Brass Bell.” There is some Swing Era drumming too: the breaks on “South” and the open-and-closed hi-hat on the beginning of “Red Hot River Valley.” (Other FH5+2 drummers played a “horse’s hoof” effect on the blocks).

Did you see the big smile when he played behind Danny Alguire’s cornet chorus on “Firehouse Stomp.” Gene Mayl, who worked frequently with Monte in the 1960s and 1970s, said that Monte once told him, “They were the ‘Firehouse Five.’ We were ‘the two.’” Monte and Danny definitely had a Western Swing kinship going.

While he was based in Los Angeles during the 1950s, Monte was kind of a “house drummer” for the Good Time Jazz label. Besides the Firehouse Five, he also recorded with Paul Lingle, Wally Rose, and the very popular Banjo Kings. Let’s listen to the Banjo Kings’ version of “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now?” where Monte really had to be on his toes to catch the variety of beats and tempos!

KD: Yes, this one is almost like playing a show! We hear Monte do a number of things on this recording that we haven’t heard him do so far in the tracks we’ve discussed. He plays a great Rhumba-like Latin beat and gets a beautiful tone from his drums. I love the crash at the end, which sounds like a riveted Chinese or Swish cymbal that he wasn’t using on the Firehouse Five video. But what stood out for me the most was the uptempo brush playing near the end. Every note was perfectly articulated, which is hard to do with brushes at a tempo like that. It really sounded great, especially with the warm tone of his snare drum. What do you hear in this recording that stands out to you?

HS: Monte sounds very comfortable with the Latin Beat and you’re right; the brush playing is outstanding. That’s the same sound he gets on the four Good Time Jazz sides he recorded with Wally Rose. Here’s Wally’s version of “Euphonic Sounds,” from 1951…

KD: I love the instrumentation of just drums and piano and Monte provides great support here, laying down a steady quarter note brush pattern for Wally Rose to play over. We’ve heard Monte sound great when he’s really mixing things up and also when he’s playing a more or less unchanging rhythm, and this is an example of the latter. Again, he always knew the right thing to do for the music. There’s a brief section where he throws in more accents and plays with the rhythm a bit, and that section really stands out because he’s playing so straight the rest of the time. What do you think of his playing here?

HS: I am sure that Wally appreciated the understated accompaniment. This is a good example of Monte’s musicianship: playing steady, uncomplicated time but adding accents at just the right spots to decorate the performance.

You know, we still haven’t heard Monte Mountjoy “unleashed” in a swinging, hot jazz band. Let’s take a listen to what he was capable of in that kind of setting—on “Hindustan,” a 1954 recording by Johnny Lucas’ Blueblowers, featuring pianist Jess Stacy.

KD: What a great recording! I really love what Monte does here: the hard driving press rolls, the closed hi-hat behind the piano solo, and then finally the ride cymbal with a wonderful heavy backbeat. The fact that this is the same drummer as on the previous duo recording shows Monte’s versatility. He really could do it all. There’s also a very nice four bar tag that incorporates the cowbell. Just beautiful drumming on this and I like that Monte chooses when he’s going to play a fill. He doesn’t always fill at the end of every chorus, even when he’s moving from one part of the drumset to another. Sometimes NOT playing a fill is the most swinging thing a drummer can do! This is another aspect of Monte’s playing that reminds me of the great Wayne Jones. What do you hear in this recording, Brother Hal?

HS: You’re right; Wayne also used fills sparingly. Sometimes, less is more! Monte’s backbeat really shifts the gear into overdrive on those last two band choruses! I like the ride cymbal sound too. In those telescriptions with the Firehouse Five, we could see his cymbals set up horizontal, rather than tilted towards the drummer. In my experience, the cymbals—especially smaller, thinner ones—ring out more when you play them that way. I think he probably had the same cymbals set up the same way on this session.

Monte made records during the 1970s where he cut loose as we hear on “Hindustan,” but unfortunately none of those albums are available online to share. There is a DVD of Monte’s appearance on Art Hodes’ Jazz Alley TV show in 1968, and one performance from that session is on YouTube. Let’s watch Monte with a high-powered band on “I Found A New Baby.” Note the larger ride cymbal and the metal Premier snare drum (what a great, resonant sound)! There is a drum solo, a drum bridge and a tag—plus some swinging tom-tom rhythms, cowbell accents and a very quick triplet figure on the snare near the end of the song. Monte really played all the right stuff on this one, didn’t he?

KD: He absolutely did! What a swinging performance! It really shows Monte’s versatility. This is all hi-hat and ride cymbal, no press rolls or rims, and he sounds like an Eddie Condon drummer. The fact that he could play like this and also sound so great with the Firehouse Five and then equally great playing Western Swing is very impressive. He does it all while remaining himself. I don’t think he’s a chameleon, I think he’s just letting different sides of his playing come to the foreground depending on who he’s playing with. Would you agree?

I love how he incorporates the cowbell and I also love how he splashes the hi-hat on 2 and 4 during his solo. Nick Fatool would often do this and I think it’s a really nice effect that keeps the sound of the cymbals going when playing on the drums. Another thing that stood out to me is the stick shot (striking one stick with the other) that he plays during the bass solo. Overall, just fantastic drumming!

Hal, I know that you have sometimes used a very large ride cymbal. Was Monte an influence in that regard?

HS: Yes, indeed! I used an oversize K. Zildjian Contstantinople cymbal with some Western Swing bands and it sounded terrific! I certainly agree that Monte did not consciously change his style in different settings. He always made the bands and soloists swing with a wonderful time feel, a driving beat and straightforward rhythm. It’s too bad that the rest of this tv program is not available online, but at least our readers can buy the DVD!

Let’s wrap up our conversation with an appearance by Monte in a reunion of Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys, recorded in 1976. Merle Haggard is the fiddler and leader and the sidemen are some of the best that Wills ever had. We can see (and hear) that huge ride cymbal and the perfectly-tuned Premier snare throughout this short performance. Listen to those triplet fills on “Ida Red,” Monte and Ted Adams reprising their 1945 introduction to “Stay A Little Longer” (on “Roly Poly”) and watch all the musicians grinning. I’m sure they were happy to be reunited with so many A-list Western Swingers, but this rhythm section was giving them even more to smile about!

KD: There’s definitely a lot to smile about in this video! First of all, that has to be the biggest ride cymbal I’ve ever seen. I wonder how Monte carried it around?! The hi-hat cymbals look to be unusually large as well. Whether it’s that small bass drum with the Firehouse Five or the huge ride cymbal here, Monte definitely did his own thing! He seemed to favor minimal setups, but he could do so much without a lot of extra cymbals or drums.

He gets a really strong quarter feel on the hi-hat, as opposed to only playing the standard “ride” beat. He mixes in more quarter notes than I think most drummers would and it sounds great! I noticed he also plays some fills where he moves his left hand over to play the hi-hat while his right hand moves around the drums. Again, not something most drummers would do. Another thing I noticed is when he’s playing a backbeat or accents on the snare drum with his left hand, he’ll often press the stick gently into the head as opposed to letting it bounce immediately off. Jake Hanna was fond of this technique as well and I think it gets a great sound. As you mentioned, the Premier drums sound so good!

Brother Hal, it has been such a pleasure discussing this wonderful and underappreciated drummer with you! I hope we can talk again soon about more drummers we love who deserve greater recognition!

HS: Thank you for this most enjoyable conversation and your terrific insight regarding Monte Mountjoy’s drumming. I look forward to our next collaboration a.s.a.p.!