I had heard and owned some recordings by the “Dixie Daisies” over the years but didn’t really know anything about them until listening to this excellent compact disc. After first listening to it a couple of times, I thought to myself that they sounded like two different bands.
It’s a good thing I took the time to read the well-researched, thoughtful, and beautifully illustrated booklet enclosed (written mostly by Ralph Wondraschek, with additions by Randy Skretvedt and producer Bryan S. Wright), as the first thing one finds out is that the “studio name” of “Dixie Daisies,” was, in fact, used by two different bands. The first ten tracks are by a studio group drawn from Sam Lanin’s Orchestra. The rest of the 26 tracks are recordings by a studio group drawn from Arthur Lange’s Orchestra (the sessions were apparently arranged by band leader Bob Haring). All were recorded in New York, and all were released on the “Cameo” label.
Cameo was one of a number of budget or “dime-store” labels, which sold for very modest prices compared to the big names of the time (such as Victor, Columbia, Brunswick, etc.) So in fact, these recordings are invaluable from a historical perspective, as they are the “real McCoy” of early dance band records; that is, they are the type of recordings which the most members of the general public would have heard as they would not have been able to afford the more expensive records of the time. It therefore goes without saying that on occasion, some of the musicians were not the greatest who ever lived. A couple of the tracks on this CD has a clarinetist who occasionally makes up in enthusiasm for what he lacks in technique.
That being said, my favorites on this album are the first 10 tracks by the Sam Lanin alumni. Lanin was the one of the supreme band leaders of this time, and had some of the greatest popular music instrumentalists in the country in his “stable” at any given time. They are all flawless little masterpieces, these “Lanin” recordings. What is great about the booklet is that it talks in detail about many of these musicians. In particular, I enjoyed finding out about stellar trumpeter Jules Levy, whose playing I have long admired, but I knew nothing about him except his early death. In fact, I had never even seen a photograph of him before! It’s wonderful to finally be able to put “famous” names to mysterious faces.
Of the first 10 tracks, my favorites include:
“Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,” which features a slick arrangement and sweet little trombone glissandi at the beginning by Miff Mole, followed by a smooth saxophone solo, punctuated by call and response patterns between the sax and at least two muted trumpets (the booklet only mentions one—or perhaps it might be Mole’s trombone playing in a high register). This is followed by a smooth trumpet solo (using a lot of portamenti) going back and forth with the trombone, a few bars of “Spanish rhythms”, which is in turn followed by the obligatory “hot” chorus with (I presume) Levy playing with “flutter tongue” technique.
“Aggravatin’ Papa,” made famous by the jovial Sophie Tucker, which has a wonderful long solo by Levy, followed by a clarinet duo using lots of portamenti, concluding with another hot solo by Levy.
“Pipe Organ Blues” offers an unusual use of diminished chords in the opening passages, to the unexpected move to the flat sixth chord in some of the cadences, followed by a wistful short solo by Miff Mole (who is featured too rarely on these recordings) and punctuated by the use of the tubular bells—which one usually hears in high class bands such as Herb Weidoeft’s Cinderella Roof Orchestra, and the ending which completely eschews all the percussion instruments.
“Beale Street Blues” has a sprightly speed all the way through featuring trumpeter Levy playing over a stop-time background followed by a sweet sax solo with Levy playing quieter and adding support. Tremendous musicianship. Mention should also be made of the pianist, Harry Perrella, who also appears on a couple of Smithsonian-Folkways re-releases and was a superior novelty piano player as well. We hear a few breaks given by him which hint at his superior skills.
Of the “Arthur Lange” sides, my favorites are “Long Lost Mama” with the growling trumpet solo by Earl P. Oliver and a complimentary rollicking sax solo by Owen Bartlett; the comical “I’ve Got The Yes! We Have No Bananas Blues” which has nice duos punctuated with a lot of cymbal work; “Oh Sister! Ain’t That Hot!” where trumpeter Tommy Gott replaces Oliver and plays quite a hot solo, followed by saxophonist (probably Bartlett again) and then is followed by a violin duo, which was less common to hear in these earlier acoustic recordings; “The House of David Blues” with a brass duo starting the arrangement, followed by a saxophone duo accompanied by banjo, followed by a nice trombone solo doing a call and response with the trumpet. It also includes a great banjo solo towards the end.
Mention should also be made of the outstanding work by sound engineer Christian Zwarg, whose transfers leave just enough of the surface noise present so that it sounds a little bit like “tape hiss” from the 1960s and leaves us with some high frequencies. He excellently manages the noise, without interfering with any of the music.
I’ve listened to this disc multiple times and it seems to get better with every listening. I started off not being too sure about the musical quality of some of these records, but am now utterly convinced of their very essential nature. Kudos to Executive Producer Bryan S. Wright for bringing together these disparate elements (dime store records, outstanding musicians, excellent scholarship, wonderful engineering, amazing photos, beautifully written and designed liner notes) to create yet another outstanding addition to his catalogue and making these little gold nuggets available to the general public. Highly recommended.
Hotsy Totsy Town 1922-1923
The Dixie Daisies
Rivermont Records BSW-1172
Matthew de Lacey Davidson is a pianist and composer currently resident in Nova Scotia, Canada. His first CD,Space Shuffle and Other Futuristic Rags(Stomp Off Records), contained the first commercial recordings of the rags of Robin Frost. Hisnew Rivermont 2-CDset,The Graceful Ghost:Contemporary Piano Rags 1960-2021,is available atrivermontrecords.com.A 3-CD set of Matthew’s compositions,Stolen Music: Acoustic and Electronic Works,isavailable through The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana),sousa@illinois.edu.
