Ain't Misbehavin'

"Ain't Misbehavin'", subtitled "The Story of Fats Waller", by Ed Kirkeby in collaboration with Duncan P. Schiedt and Sinclair Traill, 1966, 248 pages. Trade paperback.

• 17 chapters. I think the 1st 13 chapters were mostly written by the collaborators in 3rd person. Then Ed Kirkeby takes over (when he becomes Fats' manager in 1938) and the last 4 chapters are written with him in 1st person;
• 16 pages of photos - nice! A large % of the people mentioned have a pic;
• 16 page listing of "The Music of Thomas "Fats" Waller; A Selective Discography by the "Storyville Team""; very comprehensive, & includes all personnel.

My review/precis of "Fats Waller" by his son Maurice listed the date of this book - the Kirkeby book - as 1975, gotten from ??? Meanwhile, the copyright in this soft cover trade paperback is 1966 - 11 years before Maurice Waller's 1977 book. Overall, I think Maurice's is the better piece of work. This 1 seems to get bogged down a couple of times~2x.

Ed Kirkeby (1891-1978) was Fats Waller's manager from 1938 until Fats' death in 1943. He 1st met Fats in 1935 as an A&R man for RCA Victor. Kirkeby was also a musician, band-leader, lyricist, and record producer. Fats' career had been greatly aided by Phil Ponce, his prior manager, but by 1937 or so Phil was getting old & was having health issues, so a new manager was needed, and Kirkeby got the gig.

Like the 1st Fats bio I posted about, I'm just gonna make a bulleted list of new things I found interesting.

• In London in 1938, Fats hung out & performed with Adelaide Hall, who had brought Art Tatum to New York. He also hung out with his old friend Spencer Williams, and ... Django Reinhart! No mention if Fats & Django played together.

• In Chapter 16, it's mentioned that Fats insisted on accompanying Maxine Sullivan at the Famous Door on 52nd St. in New York. I discovered Maxine's music working up "keepin' out of mischief now" - she had a nice intro for the song. I got 24 tracks of her music, & she does several other Fats' songs as well.

• Cab Calloway (1907-1994) was a buddy of Fats.

• Kirkeby's story of Fats' run-in with Una Mae Carlisle when he was supposed to be delivering tickets says that she was in the hospital. I wanted to review this, but I couldn't find it skimming [missing an eBook] :-(

• Kirkeby tells a completely different story of Fats' Jan 14, 1942 Carnegie Hall concert:

  This was the very first time a solo jazz artist had played Carnegie Hall, and Fats really came into his own. The reviews were terrific, and Fats got a tremendous ovation from the capacity crowd of 2,800 enthisiasts who jammed the hall.

  ??? Quite a different tale than the other bio. Saving face, maybe? I skimmed the 3rd bio I have looking for a tie-breaker, couldn't find mention of the Carnegie Hall concert. [Gawdammit, I miss my eBooks! I love books, but, it is much harder to create these reviews/precis from hardcopy books.]

• Kirkeby was white, & he numerous times expresses his outrage at Jim Crow and segregation problems Fats' band had on the road, not just in the South, but in the North & the mid-West as well.

• Finally, the most important new factiod! A FFTKAT!

  During prohibition, like most folks Fats drank bathtub gin. Post-Volstead, Fats drank Old Grand-Dad bourbon. Being from KY, my primary liquor is necessarily bourbon. I stock Maker's Mark, a top-shelf wheated bourbon. My dad was a (cheap) bourbon drinker, I remember Old Crow, which I tried recently. Maybe Old Grand-Dad too?

  Somewhere in Kirkeby's narrative, he mentions Fats drinking 100 proof Old Grand-Dad. I'm thinking, that's not right.

  Meanwhile, my bourbon-drinking mind wants to try the Old Granddad. &, if it's good, & cheaper than Maker's, maybe I'll stock it? To channel Fats? [LOL]

  So I look for it in Total Wine (which has incredible pricing on Maker's Mark, buy 2 1.75l bottles for $37.99/each. Incredible! Liquor Barn in Lexington is at $47.99). They have 1.75l of 86 proof Old Grand-Dad for maybe $30? I don't remember, because what caught my eye was a 1/5 of 100 proof for $32.99. Here's a pic on my liquor shelf.

  

  It's actually been moved to my freezer. Very good on the rocks.

  Note the spelling too. I had it as Granddad, the label is clearly GRAND-DAD !

  Channeling Fats ...

Well, 2 down 1 to go. The newer bio by an English author appears to be organized rather differently than these 1st 2. I think it will be a while before I get to it.