This is an album I’ll definitely be keeping and coming back to whenever I want to feel good.
Retrospective RTS 4436
Ivie Anderson (vocals) with
Duke Ellington (p) & his Famous Orchestra: Rex Stewart (cnt) Arthur Whetsol, Cootie Williams, Freddy Jenkins (tp) Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton (tb) Juan Tizol (vtb) Barney Bigard (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Otto Hardwick (as,cl) Joe Garland, Ben Webster, Pete Clark (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,as) Fred Guy (g) Wellman Braud, Billy Taylor Sr., Hayes Alvis , (b) Sonny Greer (d); and others
Compiled by Ray Crick
Audio restoration & remastering by Martin Haskell
Full track listing and personnel at the end of the review
There is a lot more here than a selection of Dukeish songs including “It Don’t Mean A Thing”. There’s a great feel for the kind of music well-heeled whites heard in the 20s and 30s when slumming it at the Cotton Club in Harlem and watching the carefully graded show cast of all-black musicians and comedians and light-skinned chorines and singers. Setting aside issues of social rightness and wrongness, it must have been a wonderful music experience to be one of slummers. This compilation of 54 tracks from 1932 to 1946 opened my ears to Ivie Anderson’s extraordinary range of singing styles, from little girl lost to life-hardened torching, with a bit of Eartha Kitt, a touch of early Ella, a hint of Anita O’Day and some bluesy belting all in the mix.
There are a lot of surprises along the way. I had always thought of Sonny Greer as a small man at the back of the Duke Ellington band swamped by a huge paraphernalia kit. But on several tracks here (Alabamy Home and Swingtime in Honolulu) he gives a masterclass in how to hard-swing a band with what sounds like a pair of brushes on a cardboard box.
Ivie Anderson, who was born in 1905 and died far too young in 1949 because of chronic asthma, was working with Earl Hines at Chicago’s Grand Terrace Ballroom when Duke heard and hired her in 1931. “It don’t mean…” was her first recording with him in 1932 and she stayed with the band for 11 years before asthma forced her into going solo and opening her Ivy’s Chicken Shack restaurant in Los Angeles.
Although it’s good to have all the old favourites like Mood Indigo and I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good, with solos from the Duke, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Lawrence Brown, Rex Stewart and Ben Webster, I got more from some of the tracks that were new or newer to me.
All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm was used in the Marx Brothers movie A Day At The Races, with the studio recording billing Ivie as backed by ‘Ivie Anderson and billing her Boys From Dixie’. Duke strides gloriously on Get Yourself A New Broom. If you can ignore the dubious lyrics, Cotton makes a lovely ballad, as does the better known There’s a Lull in My Life.
The second CD starts at 1938 and goes on to feature Duke’s legendary 1940s band. Their Stormy Weather came originally from the Cotton Club Parade review of 1933. The update here is gut-wrenchingly good.
The backings are not all Ellington. Excellent (as usual) sleeve notes from Digby Fairweather point out that the two Gotham Stompers tracks from 1937 rely on musicians from both Ellington’s and Chick Webb’s bands – including Chick. The odd and poppy Mexico Joe puts Ivie with the who-he Ceele Burke. An I Got it Bad and a Sunny Side of Street credit Ivie’s All Stars with Willie Smith instead of Hodges and a young Charles Mingus on bass. Her last tracks, recorded in 1946, the decidely non-woke Empty Bed Blues and Big Butter and Egg Man, are credited to a sextet led by pianist Phil Moore and featuring Lucky Thompson on tenor. But surely that’s a big band I can hear in the studio, too?
Likewise, the two cute tracks by Harold Arlen, Raising the Rent and Get Yourself a New Broom, both from the Cotton Club Parade of 1933 revue, sound surprisngly similar. But who cares when they sound so nice anyway.
Along the way there’s Ivie’s take on the fun tune Five O’Clock Whistle, a plaintive Rocks in My Bed, a few dance-hall pot-boilers like I Don’t Mind, the hot and swingy You Gave me the Gate and I’m Swinging, a catchy novelty Hayfoot, Strawfoot and a corking Watermelon Man (the one by Duke not the other by Herbie Hancock).
This is an album I’ll definitely be keeping and coming back to whenever I want to feel good.
If you enjoy this music be sure to check out the sadly neglected 1984 Francis Coppola movie The Cotton Club, with Richard Gere playing some of his own cornet. After listening to the Ivie Anderson CD I hunted out my DVD copy of the movie – which came with a Daily Mail newspaper in that happy period when free CDs and DVDs were often stuck to magazine cover pages.
DISC ONE (1932-1938)
Duke Ellington (p) & his Famous Orchestra: Rex Stewart 10-19 (cnt) Arthur Whetsol, Cootie Williams, Freddy Jenkins – 1-7 (tp) Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton – 1-6,10-19 (tb) Juan Tizol (vtb) Barney Bigard – 1-2,6-19 (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Otto Hardwick – 10-13, 17-19 (as,cl) Joe Garland – 3-5, Ben Webster – 11-12, Pete Clark – 14-16 (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,as) Fred Guy (g) Wellman Braud – 1-10, Billy Taylor Sr. – 10-13,15, 17-19 Hayes Alvis – 11-12,14-19 (b) Sonny Greer (d)
1 IT DON’T MEAN A THING (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) (Duke Ellington – m; Irving Mills – w; 1932) – No.6 hit
Matrix no.: B 11204-A (original record no.: Brunswick 6265), location: New York, recording date: 2nd February 1932 3:10
2 I’VE GOT THE WORLD ON A STRING (Harold Arlen – m; Ted Koehler – w; Cotton Club Parade Of 1932, revue) W 265051-2 (Columbia CB 625), New York, 15th February 1933 3:18
3 HAPPY AS THE DAY IS LONG (Harold Arlen – m; Ted Koehler – w; Cotton Club Parade Of 1933, revue) B 13306-A (Brunswick 6571), New York, 9th May 1933 2:42
4 RAISING THE RENT (Harold Arlen – m; Ted Koehler – w; Cotton Club Parade Of 1933, revue) B13307-A (Brunswick 6571), New York, 9th May 1933 2:49
5 GET YOURSELF A NEW BROOM (And Sweep The Blues Away) (Harold Arlen – m; Ted Koehler – w; Cotton Club Parade Of 1933, revue) B 13308-A (Brunswick 6607), New York, 9th May 1933 2:34
6 I’M SATISFIED (Duke Ellington – m; Mitchell Parish – w; 1933) – No.11 hit
B 13800-A (Brunswick 6638), New York, 15th August 1933 3:02
7 EBONY RHAPSODY (Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, 1846; arr. Arthur Johnston – m; Sam Coslow – w; Murder At The Vanities, 1934 film) 79155-2 (Victor 24622), Los Angeles, 12th April 1934 3:24
8 TROUBLED WATERS (Arthur Johnston – m; Sam Coslow – w; MurderAt The Vanities, 1934 film) 79211-2 (Victor 24651), Los Angeles, 9th May 1934 3:26
9 MY OLD FLAME (Arthur Johnston – m; Sam Coslow – w; Murder At The Vanities, 1934 film) 73212-2 (Victor 24651), Los Angeles, 9th May 1934 3:16
10 LET’S HAVE A JUBILEE (Alexander Hill – m; Irving Mills – w; 1934)
C 885-3 (For Discriminate Collectors FDC 1003), Chicago, 9th January 1935 2:52
11 COTTON (Rube Bloom – m; Ted Koehler – w; 1935) – No.4 hit E 17974-1 (Brunswick 7526), New York, 19th August 1935 3:05
12 TRUCKIN’ (Rube Bloom – m; Ted Koehler – w; 1935) B 17975-1 (Brunswick 7514), New York, 19th August 1935 2:56
13 ISN’T LOVE THE STRANGEST THING? (J. Fred Coots – m; Benny Davis – w; 1936) – No.12 hit B 18734-1 (Brunswick 7625), New York, 27th February 1936 3:07
14 LOVE IS LIKE A CIGARETTE (Walter Kent – m; Richard Jerome – w; 1935) – No.8 hit B 18738-1 (Brunswick 7627), New York, 28th February 1936 3:01
15 KISSIN’ MY BABY GOODNIGHT (Pete Wendling – m; Mack David &
George W. Meyer – w; 1936) B 18739-1 (Brunswick 7627), New York, 28th February 1936 3:16
16 OH, BABE, MAYBE SOMEDAY! (Duke Ellington, 1936) B 18740-1 (Brunswick 7667), New York, 28th February 1936 2:48
17 SHOE SHINE BOY (Saul Chaplin – m; Sammy Cahn – w; Connie’s Hot Chocolates, 1936 revue) B 19562-2 (Brunswick 7710), New York, 17th July 1936 3:09
18 IT WAS A SAD NIGHT IN HARLEM (Al Lewis & Helmy Kresa) B 19563-1 (Brunswick 7710), New York, 17th July 1936 3:05
19 I’VE GOT TO BE A RUG CUTTER (Duke Ellington, 1937) with vocal trio: Rex Stewart, Harry Carney & Hayes Alvis M 179-1 (Master 101), New York, 5th March 1937 2:34
The Gotham Stompers: Cootie Williams (tp) Sandy Williams (tb) Barney Bigard (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as) Harry Carney (bar) Tommy Fulford (p) Bernard Addison (g) Billy Taylor Sr. (b) Chick Webb (d)
20 MY HONEY’S LOVIN’ ARMS (Joseph Meyer – m; Herman Ruby – w; 1922) M 301-1 (Variety VA 629), New York, 25th March 1937 2:47
21 WHERE ARE YOU? (Jimmy McHugh – m; Harold Adamson – w; Top Of The Town, 1937 film) M 304-1 (Variety VA 541), New York, 25th March 1937 2:55
Duke Ellington (p) & his Famous Orchestra: Rex Stewart (cnt) Arthur Whetsol, Cootie Williams (tp) Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton (tb) Juan Tizol (vtb) Barney Bigard (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Otto Hardwick (as,cl) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Fred Guy (g) Billy Taylor Sr., Hayes Alvis (b) Sonny Greer (d)
22 THERE’S A LULL IN MY LIFE (Harry Revel – m; Mack Gordon – w; Wake Up And Live, 1937 film) – No.12 hit M 379-1 (Master 117), New York, 9th April 1937 2:57
Ivie Anderson & her Boys From Dixie: Rex Stewart (cnt) Cootie Williams, Wallace Jones (tp) Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton (tb) Juan Tizol (vtb) Barney Bigard (cl,as) Otto Hardwick (as,bassax) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Harry Carney (bar,cl) Duke Ellington (p) Hayes Alvis (b) Fred Guy (g) Billy Taylor Sr. (b) Sonny Greer (d)
23 ALL GOD’S CHILLUN GOT RHYTHM (Bronislaw Kaper & Walter Jurmann – m; Gus Kahn – w; A Day At The Races, 1937 film featuring Ivie Anderson) – No.14 hit – with vocal trio of Harry Carney, Rex Stewart & Hayes Alvis M 520-1 (Variety VA 591), New York, 8th June 1937 2:25
Duke Ellington (p) & his Famous Orchestra: Rex Stewart (cnt) Cootie Williams, Arthur Whetsol 24, Wallace Jones 25-26 (tp) Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton (tb) Juan Tizol (vtb) Barney Bigard (cl) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Otto Hardwick (as,cl,bassax) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl,as) Fred Guy (g) Billy Taylor Sr., Hayes Alvis – 24-25 (b) Sonny Greer (d)
24 ALABAMY HOME (Duke Ellington & Dave Ringle, 1937)
M 521-1 (Brunswick 8001), New York, 8th June 1937 2:41
25 IF YOU WERE IN MY PLACE (What Would You Do?) (Duke Ellington – m; Henry Nemo & Irving Mills – w; The Cotton Club Of 1938, revue)
M 770-2 (Brunswick 8093), New York, 24th February 1938 2:53
26 SWINGTIME IN HONOLULU (Duke Ellington – m; Irving Mills & Henry Nemo – w; The Cotton Club Parade Of 1938, revue) M 809-1 (Brunswick 8131), New York, 11th April 1938 2:52
DISC TWO (1938-1946)
Duke Ellington (p) & his Famous Orchestra: Rex Stewart (cnt) Cootie Williams, Wallace Jones (tp) Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton (tb) Juan Tizol (vtb) Barney Bigard (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Otto Hardwick (as,cl) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Fred Guy – 1-5 (g) Billy Taylor Sr. (b) Sonny Greer (d)
1 YOU GAVE ME THE GATE (And I’m Swingin’) (Duke Ellington – m; Irving Gordon, J.B. McNeely & Jimmy Farmer – w; 1938) M 832-1 (Brunswick 8169), New York, 7th June 1938 2:20
2 ROSE OF THE RIO GRANDE (Harry Warren & Ross Gorman – m; Edgar Leslie – w; 1922) M 833-1 (Brunswick 8186), New York, 7th June 1938 2:57
3 WHEN MY SUGAR WALKS DOWN THE STREET (Jimmy McHugh – m; Gene Austin – w; 1924) M 835-1 (Brunswick 8168), New York, 7th June 1938 2:34
4 WATERMELON MAN (Duke Ellington, 1938) M 844-1 (Brunswick 8200), New York, 20th June 1938 2:34
5 LA DE DOODY DOO (Duke Ellington – m; Eddie Lambert & Stephen Richards – w; 1938) M 847-2 (Brunswick 8174), New York, 20th June 1938 2:26
6 IN A MIZZ (Charlie Barnet & Haven Johnson, 1939) WM 1038-A (Brunswick 8405), New York, 12th June 1939 3:06
7 I’M CHECKIN’ OUT, GO’OM-BYE (Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn, 1939) WM 1039-A (Columbia 35208), New York, 12th June 1939 2:22
8 A LONELY CO-ED (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn & Edgar Leslie, 1939) WM 1040-A (Columbia 35240), New York, 12th June 1939 3:12
9 YOU CAN COUNT ON ME (Robert Maxwell & Josef Myrow, 1939) WM 1041-A (Brunswick 8411), New York, 12th June 1939 2:54
The Famous Duke Ellington Orchestra: Rex Stewart (cnt) Cootie Williams, Wallace Jones (tp) Tricky Sam Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown (tb) Barney Bigard (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Otto Hardwick (as,cl) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Billy Strayhorn (p,vcl) Billy Taylor, Sr. (b) Sonny Greer (d)
10 KILLIN’ MYSELF (Billy Strayhorn, 1939) WM 1106-A (Columbia 35640), Chicago, 16th October 1939 2:25
Duke Ellington (p) & his Famous Orchestra: Rex Stewart (cnt) Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams – 11-17 (tp) Ray Nance – 18-20 (tp,vln) Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton (tb) Juan Tizol (vtb) Barney Bigard (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Otto Hardwick (as,cl) Ben Webster (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Fred Guy (g) Jimmy Blanton (b) Sonny Greer (d)
11 SOLITUDE (Duke Ellington – m; Eddie De Lange; Irving Mills – w; 1934)
WM 1135-A (Columbia 35427), New York, 14th February 1940 2:57
12 STORMY WEATHER (Harold Arlen – m; Ted Koehler – w; Cotton Club Parade Of 1933, revue) WM 1136-A (Columbia 35556), New York, 14th February 1940 2:30
13 MOOD INDIGO (Duke Ellington & Barney Bigard – m; Irving Mills – w; 1930) WM 1137-A (Columbia 35427), New York, 14th February 1940 2:42
14 SO FAR, SO GOOD (Jimmy Mundy & Eddie White – m; Jack Lawrence – w; 1940) 044891-1 (Victor 26537), Chicago, 6th March 1940 2:52
15 ME AND YOU (Duke Ellington, 1940) 049017-1 (Victor 26598), Chicago, 15th March 1940 2:53
16 AT A DIXIE ROADSIDE DINER (Joe Burke – m; Edgar Leslie – w; 1940) – No.27 hit 054607-1 (Victor 26719), New York, 22nd July 1940 2:47
17 THE FIVE O’CLOCK WHISTLE (Josef Myrow & Gene Irwin – m; Kim Gannon – w; 1940) 053429-1 (Victor 26748), Chicago, 5th September 1940 3:17
18 CHOCOLATE SHAKE (Duke Ellington – m; Paul Francis Webster – w; Jump For Joy, 1941 revue) 061318-1 (Victor 27531), Los Angeles, 26th June 1941 2:51
19 I GOT IT BAD (And That Ain’t Good) (Duke Ellington – m; Paul Francis Webster – w; Jump For Joy, 1941 revue) – No.13 hit N.B. Duke Ellington also plays celeste 061319-1 (Victor 27531), Los Angeles, 26th June 1941 3:17
20 JUMP FOR JOY (Duke Ellington – m; Paul Francis Webster – w; Jump For Joy, 1941 revue) 061340-2 (Victor LPM 6702), Los Angeles, 2nd July 1941 2:56
The Famous Duke Ellington Orchestra: Rex Stewart (cnt) Wallace Jones (tp) Ray Nance (tp,vln) Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton (tb) Juan Tizol (v-tb) Barney Bigard (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as) Otto Hardwick (as,cl) Ben Webster (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Billy Strayhorn (p) Fred Guy (g) Jimmy Blanton (b) Sonny Greer (d)
21 ROCKS IN MY BED (Duke Ellington; Jump For Joy, 1941 revue) 061685-1 (Victor 27639), Los Angeles, 26th September 1941 3:04
Duke Ellington (p) & his Famous Orchestra: Rex Stewart (cnt) Wallace Jones (tp) Ray Nance (tp,vln) Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton (tb) Juan Tizol (v-tb) Barney Bigard – 22 (cl,ts) Chauncey Haughton – 23 (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as) Otto Hardwick (as,cl) Ben Webster (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Fred Guy (g) Junior Raglin (b) Sonny Greer (d)
22 I DON’T MIND (Duke Ellington – m; Billy Strayhorn – w; 1942) 071891-2 (RCA Victor 20-1598), New York, 26th February 1942 2:49
23 HAYFOOT, STRAWFOOT (Paul McGrane – m; Ervin M. Drake & Harry Lenk – w; 1942) 074781-1 (RCA Victor 20-1505), Chicago, 28th July 1942 2:31
Ceele Burke & his Orchestra: personnel unknown
24 MEXICO JOE (Leon Rene – m; Johnny Lange – w; 1943) – No.16 hit
3113-A (Exclusive 3113), Los Angeles, 1945 2:38
Ivie Anderson & her All Stars: Karl George (tp) Willie Smith (as) Gene Porter (ts) Buddy Collette (bar) Wilbert Baranco (p) Buddy Harper (g) Charles Mingus (b) Booker Hart (d)
25 I GOT IT BAD (And That Ain’t Good) (Duke Ellington – m; Paul Francis Webster – w; Jump For Joy, 1941 revue) BW 203 (Black & White 771), Los Angeles, January 1946 3:15
26 ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET (Jimmy McHugh – m; Dorothy Fields – w; Lew Leslie’s International Revue, 1930) BW 204 (Black & White 771), Los Angeles, January 1946 2:44
Phil Moore (p) & sextet: Karl George (tp) Willie Smith (as) Lucky Thompson (ts) Irving Ashby (g) Lee Young (d)
27 EMPTY BED BLUES (J.C. Johnson, 1928) BW 482 (Black & White 824), Los Angeles, October 1946
28 BIG BUTTER AND EGG MAN (Percy Venable, 1926)3:00 BW 484 (Black & White 824), Los Angeles, October 1946 2:35
