Boogie Woogie (album)
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''Boogie Woogie'' is a compilation album containing four 10-inch, 78 rpm records of
boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, but already developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually ex ...
music. The songs on the album were recorded over a period of three years from 1936 to 1939, then released in 1941 on this compilation album by
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
(C44). Artists featured on the album include
Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...
,
Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
,
Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fa ...
, and the three prominent boogie-woogie pianists of the time,
Albert Ammons Albert Clifton Ammons (March 1, 1907 – December 2, 1949) was an American pianist and player of boogie-woogie, a blues style popular from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s. Life and career Ammons was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were ...
, Pete Johnson, and
Meade Lux Lewis Anderson Meade "Lux" Lewis (September 4, 1905 – June 7, 1964) was an American pianist and composer, remembered for his playing in the boogie-woogie style. His best-known work, " Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded by many artists. Biog ...
.


Background

Boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, but already developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually ex ...
music was enjoying a surge in popularity in the 1930s and 40s. Record producer John Hammond invited Johnson and Turner to New York to appear at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
along with Ammons and Lewis in the first "
From Spirituals to Swing ''From Spirituals to Swing'' was the title of two concerts presented by John Hammond in Carnegie Hall on 23 December 1938 and 24 December 1939. The concerts included performances by Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson, ...
" concert held on December 23, 1938. Count Basie, who was leading a quintet and sextet as well as his big band, also performed at the concert. The boogie-woogie pianists were a sensation, igniting a boogie craze that would last for a decade. Earlier that year, Hammond had paved the way for Jazz performances at Carnegie Hall by organizing the appearance of the
Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...
orchestra on January 16, 1938, which featured
Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...
on trumpet. The day after the "From Spirituals to Swing" concert,
Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music during the 20th century. He was a musician, folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activ ...
recorded Ammons, Lewis and Johnson for the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
. On December 30, 1938, the three pianists cut the two-sided "Boogie Woogie Prayer" for
Vocalion Records Vocalion Records is an American record label, originally founded by the Aeolian Company, a piano and organ manufacturer before being bought out by Brunswick in 1924. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pi ...
; Lewis recorded "Bear Cat Crawl" on the same date, and Ammons recorded the flip side, "Shout for Joy", two days later. The December 30, 1938 session also yielded Turner and Johnson's first record, "
Roll 'Em Pete "Roll 'Em Pete" is a boogie-woogie song, originally recorded in December 1938 by singer Big Joe Turner and pianist Pete Johnson. The recording is regarded as one of the most important precursors of what later became known as rock and roll. "Rol ...
", backed with "Goin' Away Blues." Ammons and Lewis played "Roll 'Em" with Benny Goodman's band on the ''
Camel Caravan A camel train, caravan, or camel string is a series of camels carrying passengers and goods on a regular or semi-regular service between points. Despite rarely travelling faster than human walking speed, for centuries camels' ability to withst ...
'' radio program on January 3 and April 11 of 1939; Johnson did the same on January 31. On February 1, at John Hammond's suggestion, Ammons and Johnson each recorded a couple of sides (" Boo-Woo" and " Woo-Woo") for
Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History 1916–1929 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...
with trumpeter
Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...
, who had just left Goodman's band. Later that year, all three pianists were billed with James's own big band, featuring the then-unknown
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago. The earliest of the recordings, "
Boogie Woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, but already developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually ex ...
" by
Pinetop Smith Clarence "Pinetop" Smith (June 11, 1904 – March 15, 1929), was an American boogie-woogie style blues pianist. His hit tune " Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" featured rhythmic " breaks" that were an essential ingredient of ragtime music, but also ...
and recorded by
Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
, resulted after John Hammond had heard Basie's band over short-wave radio and went to Kansas City to check them out. Hammond invited the band to Chicago in October, 1936 to record four sides which were released on Vocalion under the band name of Jones-Smith Incorporated; the sides were "Shoe Shine Boy", "Evening", "Boogie Woogie", and "Oh, Lady Be Good". Though Basie had already signed with
Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
, he did not have his first recording session with them until January 1937.


Release

In December 1931,
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
, which owned the Vocalian label, licensed the label to
American Record Corporation American Record Corporation (ARC), also referred to as American Record Company, American Recording Corporation, or ARC Records, was an American record company in operation from 1929 to 1938, and again from 1978 to 1982. Overview ARC was crea ...
(ARC). ARC, in turn, was purchased by
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
, and Vocalion became a subsidiary of
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
in 1938. Though all four records in this album set were originally available as singles on the Vocalion or Brunswick labels, they each carry the Columbia label in this set. The album cover was designed by
Alex Steinweiss Alexander Steinweiss (March 24, 1917 – July 17, 2011) was an American graphic design artist known for inventing album cover art. Early life Born on March 24, 1917, in Brooklyn, Alex Steinweiss was the son of a women's shoe designer from Wars ...
.


Track listing

These songs were featured in a four-disc, 78 rpm album set, Columbia Album No. C44. Disc 1: (35958) Disc 2: (35959) Disc 3: (35960) Disc 4: (35961)


References

{{Harry James 1941 compilation albums Boogie-woogie compilation albums Columbia Records compilation albums