10 African-American Female Early Jazz Musicians

I discussed here, "Music In, 2024, Batch 3", having this post include European-American female singers from the 1920s to the 1950s as well as African-American. But given that is February, African-American History Month, I will do the post on African-American early female musicians. All were singers, a few were also pianists, 2 were songwriters. I will list them in order of year of birth.

5 of these musicians I knew before I started building the Jaz Dumoz songbook, currently at ~250 songs, in 2020. 5 were pleasant discoveries.

Note, the post linked to above wound up starting with a discussion of the European-American female early jazz musicians in my music collection and/or in the Jaz Dumoz songbook. So with this post, everybody is covered.

For each of these musicians, I will include a link to their page in the DAHR - Discography of American Historical Recordings - hosted at UC Santa Barbara. That will give you a feel for when they recorded.

---

1. Ethel Waters (1896-1977).
   
   Somewhere I read that she was the 1st African-American female who was a big musical star. Of songs she popularized, I have recorded "stormy weather", "taking a chance on love", and "there'll be some changes made".

   She was the female lead of the charming movie "Cabin In The Sky", 1943. That is such a fun movie, but you have to buy it. I don't remember how much is was, but it was totally worth it! I've watched it more than once.

   I have not purchased any albums of her music.

   Here's her main page at DAHR, 121 tracks. There are a few other pages with name variations, another 5 tracks. The listing is missing all the songs mentioned above.

2. Adelaide Hall (1901-1993).
   
   I stumbled upon Adelaide in the 1st Fats Waller biography I read. She was a pianist - and a tap dancer? - as well as a vocalist but normally performed just as a front woman, and had 2 pianists travelling with her band. She was down a pianist in Toledo, OH and was pointed at local up-and-comer Art Tatum. She hired him, & Tatum traveled with her to NYC, & the rest is history. Tatum IMO is the greatest "jazz" pianist of all time.

   She also did a really odd, soprano, growling scat singing ?!?!? Almost sounds like a kazoo?!?!?

   I bought a double album of her tunes, 52 tracks, reviewed here, "Music In, 2024, Batch 3", which we've already encountered.

   Songs we overlap on: "sophisticated lady" - oddly, she does a bridge & last verse with totally different lyrics than the canonical version?!?!?; "i got rhythm"; "truckin'" - ooh, an Intro I hadn't heard before, + a tap dancing solo; "i can't give you anything but love" - ooh, with Fats Waller on organ & patter, recorded in London, 1938; "all the things you are".

   She is probably my least fav of these singers. I find her warbly soprano annoying at times.

   She moved to London in 1938 (& recorded a couple of songs with Fats Waller on organ & patter) & lived out her life there. Per Wikipedia:

   Hall entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2003 as the world's most enduring recording artist, having released material over eight consecutive decades.

   Here's her main page at DAHR, only 10 tracks???

3. Ivie Anderson (1905-1949)
   
   I stumbled on Ivie when "it don't mean a thing (if it ain't got that swing)" came up in my list to be worked up. Duke Ellington wrote the song in 1931, and Ivie had just joined his band as the singer. She was the 1st person to perform the song, which was a big hit. She was Ellington's singer until 1942. Her asthma forced her to quit, and killed her at the early age of 44.

   She has a really strong voice. Her personality shines through in this video of "all god's children got rhythm", from the 1937 Marx Brother's movie "A Day At The Races". I recorded this arrangement of this song, it was fun.

   I found a 50 track compilation of her music: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra Feat. Ivie Anderson, "The Ivie Anderson Collection 1932-46", I think reasonably priced, reviewed here, in "Music In, 2024, Batch 2".

   We also overlap on "truckin'", "did anyone ever tell you?", "stormy weather", and "on the sunny side of the street".

   Here's her page on DAHR, only 13 tracks?!?!? I wonder why these are so imcomplete? Their entry for "Fats Waller and His Rhythm" appears to be pretty inclusive, 307 tracks.

4. Cleo Brown (1909-1995)
   
   This is pretty much what all the images of Cleo looked like. When I saw this one, I had to include it, so Cleo gets 2 pix.
   
   I stumbled upon Cleo, who was also a piano player, working up a Fats Waller song in 2021. I wrote her up as an addendum to my "My Fats Waller Project" post. I'm going to copy that here. She got religion, became a nurse, & retired from music in the 1950s but went back to it later.

   An early Music In note, when I was looking for the video for "you got me under your thumb", I came across the Cleo Brown version - it had a very tasty intro. Cleo was known as the "female Fats Waller". She was 3 (OR 5) years younger, born 1907 (or 1909) vs 1904 for Fats. Her skimpy Wikipedia article says in 1935 she took over for Fats as pianist for the WABC orchestra in NYC.

   It seems like most of her stuff is on this 27-track album, "Here Comes Cleo". Only $9.49 Amazon download, quel bargain! I've really enjoyed it. Favs: "you got me under your thumb", "my gal mezzanine", "when hollywood goes black and tan", "who's that knockin' at my heart?".

   I found her the last week of African-American History Month & thought, "How appropriate & fortuitous!". Touted on Twitter, crickets :-(

   Oooh, just found another album of hers, "1935-1951", 27 tracks, 18 in common w "Here Comes Cleo", only $3.99!!! Snappin' that up right now! 9 new tracks for $3.99 a great bargain!

   [Note, the bolded text above used to be links to MP3 album downloads on Amazon, but, they are broken. I tried to restore them, I couldn't break through Amazon's attempts to sign me up for their unlimited music service. Can you say, enshittification?]

   I've worked up 2 more of her songs I mentioned as favs:"my gal mezzanine" and "who's that knockin' at my heart?".

   Here's her DAHR page, 19 tracks.

5. Maxine Sullivan (1911-1987)
   
   I stumbled on Maxine working up "keepin' out of mischief now", done by Fats Waller and many others. I found a 24 track compilation of her music titled "Supposin'", reviewed here. It doesn't appear in her Wikipedia discography. One of her 1st hits was "Loch Lomond", ("you take the high road, & I'll take the low road") so, sadly, she kind of gravitated to schmalzy stuff. :-(

   She had a period where she did a lot of Andy Razaf and Fats Waller songs, several of which are in this compilation. There are plenty more tracks of her music out there, but, having started with this compilation, I would probably wind up with dups, annoying. Plus the schmaltzy stuff. Still, I got that goin' for me.

   She has a great voice, I think maybe 2nd only to Ella. Per Wikipedia, she was performing up until just before her death at age 75.

   She showed up in the 2nd Fats Waller biography I read, in a random anecdote where Fats showed up & insisted on accompanying her at 1 of her gigs.

   We also overlap on "ain't misbehavin'" and "honeysuckle rose", from her Andy & Fats period. She has some weird non-canon lyrics.

   Here's her DAHR record.

6. Una Mae Carlisle (1915-1956)
   
   Una Mae was a force of nature. Plus a protégé of Fats Waller on piano. Plus a songwriter.

   In late 1932, Fats Waller moved his family to Cincinnati, so he could perform on clear channel radio station WLW, which pretty much reached coast to cost. For his 1932 christmas show, he recruited 17 YO singer/pianist Una Mae Carlisle, from nearby Xenia OH, who had won a talent contest. She became a regular on the show through 1933.

   She almost stole my review of the 1st Fats Waller biography I read. She was definitely an alpha type personality. So it's totally appropriate that her Wikipedia article identifies her as:

   • "the first black woman to have a composition appear on a Billboard chart" ["walkin' by the river"]
   • "first black American to host a national radio show".

   I mean, who knew? I 1st encountered her in the DAHR database page for Fats Waller & His Rhythm, as a vocalist with Fats on the song, "i can't give you anything but love", recorded 1939-11-03. [That database page also lists a 1937-10-07 recording of "call me 'darling'" with singer Dorothea Driver, to whom I can find no other references.] Una had recorded 6 tracks in London & 2 tracks in Paris before that collaboration with Fats. She is on record as to how that boosted her career in the US.

   Here's her DAHR page - 33 tracks. Hmmm, nothing before ICGYABL with Fats. Ah, Here's a more complete track list than DAHR.

   I 1st found 5 of the London tracks on Amazon, reviewed here, "Music In, 2024, Batch 3". Then I found an 8 song album from 1941 on Apple. Then I hit paydirt, 3 "In Chronology" CDs, 70 tracks total, I think her whole catalog, reviewed here, "Music In, 2024, Batch 4". She died young, age 40.

   I've recorded "t'ain't yours" - I love this video!

   I am working up "you made me love you" (with a tasty intro) and "don't try your jive on me". Interesting, she recorded a pretty fast version of DTYJOM at her 1st session, in London 1938-05-20. 3 months later, on 1938-08-21, also in London, Fats recorded the same song, but at a slower tempo, and on organ. I'm working up Una Mae's version!

   Our 1st artist, Ethel Waters, I have heard of my whole life. The next 5 were all new to me. These last 4 are all well-known performers.

7. Billie Holiday (1915-59).
   
   Famously nicknamed Lady Day, she was a songwriter as well as a vocalist. She is a well-known cultural icon; she has been the subject of several movies.

   She is not 1 of my favorites of this group. I had the bad luck to have the 1st (and only) album of hers I bought be her last one, "Lady in Satin", released in the year before her death. Her voice had gotten thin and reedy.

   The Jaz Dumoz songbook overlaps with her on "i cover the waterfront", "them there eyes", "you go to my head", "god bless the child", and "spreadin' rhythm around", which Fats Waller also did. She co-wrote "god bless the child".

   Here's her DAHR page, 198 tracks.

8. Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)
   
   Ella is my favorite vocalist, female or male, of all time. At her peak, the timbre and tone of her voice were just perfect IMO.

   She had a troubled childhood and adolescence, with some trouble with the law. Music was her salvation. I remember a story from somewhere, where Chick Webb had been told to find a new singer for one of the big NYC clubs. He came back with Ella & was told, no good, she's not pretty enough. He threatened to quit if she were not the singer, and won out. Ella later took over his band after his death.

   Ella was incredibly prolific, several dozen albums. I have 9 of her albums - 3 with Louis Armstrong, with Duke Ellington, with Count Basie, with Joe Pass, the Johnny Mercer songbook. She is tagged to 16 songs in the Jaz Dumoz songbook, but, like Frank Sinatra, I only tagged her to a song if it was strongly associated with her - or - if she did an intro. Ella liked intros, if a song had 1 she probably did it.

   Here's one: "i got rhythm", with a totally odd intro. Here's another, with a more standard Cole Porter intro: "it's de-lovely".

   3 more songs: "in a sentimental mood"; "i'm beginning to see the light"; and one of her great duets with Louis Armstrong: "they can't take that away from me".

   Here is her DAHR page, 349 entries, wow!

9. Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990)
   
   Sarah was a pianist as well as a vocalist. She started her career with Earl Hines big band, which featured Billy Eckstine as vocalist. She has such a beautiful voice.

   I have 2 of her albums, 1 with virtuoso guitarist Barney Kessel and a bass player, "Sarah + 2".

   I was exposed to her via her version of "when sunny gets blue". I did an arrangement, but my guitar teacher Ricky Howard's arrangment was much better. That is 1 of my fav songs. I also do her version of "sophisticated lady", which I like because she starts the song with the bridge & the last verse, which puts the song title in the 7th line rather than the 14th.

   Wow, her DAHR page has only 2 songs???

10. Dinah Washington (1924-1963)
    

    I like her voice - it's kind of 1/2-way between Ella or Sarah and Billie.

    She started her career in Chicago - "By 1941–42, she was performing in such Chicago clubs as Dave's Café and the Downbeat Room of the Sherman Hotel (with Fats Waller).". Wow, she was married 6-9 times! She did a few songs with very suggestive lyrics.

    I 1st intersected with her on her last hit, "september in the rain", 1961. This song was the 2nd of my COVID #SongOfTheDay songs, currently at 229 songs. Her 1st pop hit in 1959, was "what a diff'rence a day made" - originally a 1934 spanish-language song by a female Mexican songwriter.

    Her DAHR page has only 1 song???

That completes the list!

4 out of 10 died young, in their early 40's. Billie had drug problems, Dinah accidentally OD'ed on prescription drugs. Ivie and Una Mae had bad luck.

---

When I started this post, I had the idea of linking the songs to both these great artists and the Jaz Dumoz recording. I decided against that - giving the ladies their due is much more appropriate!

But, the Marketing Director (me) for Jaz Dumoz insisted on some tie-in.

So, here is a YouTube playlist of Jaz Dumoz performing most of the songs listed above - 30 great songs! I'm sure I don't do them justice, but I try to perform them with respect and affection.

10 African-American Female Early Jazz Musicians

Music In, 2024, Batch 3

Featuring, some big collections from African-American female singers of the 1920s-1950s.

I was going to do a post of all the (African-American) female singers I have discovered. I wondered, where are the European-American female singers?

OK, 1 of the 1st artists I discovered from the 1920s-1940s was Annette Hanshaw (1901-1985). I heard a song of hers ("would you like to take a walk") on NPR on the car radio waiting for someone at an airport. I remember the song from a Merry Melodies cartoon where a bear is singing the song trying to persuade prey animals to go for a walk with it (not in the video). I bought a CD of hers. I do 3 songs off of it:

1. "let's fall in love" 1933
2. "would you like to take a walk?" 1931
3. "i've got a feeling i'm falling", 1929

I think I read that she retired from music in the mid-late 1930s &, with her husband, purchased & managed an hotel in upstate New York. That's not in her wikipedia article, not sure where I got that from - probably the album notes. I gave the CD to my mother-in-law after I ripped it.

Interesting, "would you like to take a walk" was composed by Harry Warren, who had no playlist on the Jaz Dumoz YouTube channel. Turns out he wrote 5 of the songs in the Jaz Dumoz book. I have updated the metadata & given him the proper props. I did the same for a frequent lyricist of his Al Dubin.

Another European-American female singer, Ruth Etting (1896-1978), has furnished 2 intros to songs I do. She was played by Doris Day in the fictionalized biographical movie "Love Me or Leave Me", 1955. Songs we overlap on:

1. "all of me", 1931.
2. "whose honey are you?", 1935

I've run across Jo Stafford (1917-2008) too, but we seem to overlap on only 1 song, "i remember you", 1941.

A couple years ago, based on a recommendation of my friend & fellow performer Tom Cool (Yolton), I bought a couple of albums by Blossom Dearie (1924-2009), both reviewed in this blog. She was a great singer & pianist, but her singing style, very soprano and warbly, sadly approached being self-parody.

I think I was soured on European-American female early pop singers by Julie London (1926-2000). I loved her 1st album, "Julie Is Her Name", 1955 - I worked up "easy street" and "cry me a river" from that album - both hard songs, Barney Kessel guitar parts. But, I bought her 2nd album and her producers had had her do this very overly breathy ("sexy to somebody apparently") singing style, which I found very cheezy & offputting - it was way too close to self-parody. I'd forgotten about it, I was thinking about buying "Julie Is Her Name, Volume II", 1958, I listen to a track or 2, it is the breathy delivery, ugh.

She was a calendar/pinup girl during WWII. Also nurse Dixie McCall on the TV series "Emergency!", with her husband & arranger/ producer/ pianist/ songwriter (& composer of the song "(get your kicks on) route 66") Bobbie Troup, who played a doctor. Her 1st husband was Jack Webb of Dragnet & several equally execrable cop shows (and "Emergency!").

I've recently encountered some tune overlap with Peggy Lee (1920-2002) "i cover the waterfront". I think I might harvest some good tunes from her.

So when I do my post on early female pop singers, I will include all "races". I am undecided, should I mention the artist's "race"? The opportunies available to them were definitely affected by "race".
[Note, 2026-07-25. I have made a pass through the blog & changed most references to "black" to African-American & "white" to European-American. "Race" is not a biological, genetic, scientific concept. It really does not exist. It is a political concept invented to justify the arbitary enslavement of dark-skinned Africans for shipment to the Americas. I did not change references that were quotes (from Wikipedia).]

---

That certainly was a long aside. On to Batch 3:

• Lake Street Dive, "Good Together", 2024, 11 tracks, BandCamp. Nice tunes, a couple may be a bit trite, but, this band is now 20 YO, & most of the tracks work. The duets between lead singer Rachel Price & the keyboard player since 2017 Akie Bermiss definitely work. I liked "Seats at the Bar", this was my wife & my dining strategy for decades. We now follow the old folks' canon of going out to eat dinner at 5:00 pm.

  4 stars. This song is a bit of a stretch, but I could so hear Donna Summer singing it: "Dance With a Stranger".

• Asher White, "Home Constellation Study", 2024, 11 tracks, BandCamp. Very high & trebly vocals, very unthreatening. Catchy tunes, great beats. 4 stars. Here's "Theme From Leaving Philadelphia":

• Una Mae Carlisle And Her Jam Band, "Irresistable Masterpieces (Live)", 1944, 5 tracks. I am so enamored of Una Mae - she died of cancer, age 40, in 1956, I was 5 YO.

  In late 1932, Fats Waller moved his family to Cincinnati, so he could perform on clear channel radio station WLW, which pretty much reached coast to cost. For his 1932 christmas show, he recruited 17 YO singer/pianist Una Mae Carlisle, from nearby Xenia OH, who had won a talent contest. She became a regular on the show through 1933. Una Mae was a force of nature. She tried to steal my review of the 1st Fats Waller biography I read.

  I recorded my 1st Una Mae song December 16, 2024: "t'ain't yours", a snarky, feminist manifesto, FTW! Meanwhile, of these 5 tracks, 4 stars, I will be working up 4 ("hangover blues" didn't make the cut): "i would do anything for you", "love walked in", "mean to me", and the 1st track "don't try your jive on me":

• Pond, "The Weather", 2017, 11 tracks. Recommended by my young friend Chris Cooper. Australian, the co-band of Tame Impala, a definite fav of mine. A lot of the same sound == production values. I realized that their musical DNA probably goes back to Electric Light Orchestra by way of The Flaming Lips. I was concerned when the 1st track had kind of whiny glam rock vocals, but the vocals got better. 4 stars. Here's the title track.

• Bonnie "Prince" Billy, "High and High and Mighty", 2024, 2 (long) tracks, BandCamp. As much as I am fan of this Louisville favorite son, I could not get traction with these 2 very long songs. 2 stars.

• Criibaby, "when i'm alone i feel weightless", 2024, 12 songs, BandCamp. I was having trouble finding videos because I missed the "ii" in the name. One of those internet things, lots of "crybaby" and "cribaby". Very chill, high vocals over laid back instrumentals. The website states, gender neutral. I have 2 earlier EPs, this is the 1st LP. 4 stars. Here's the title tune.

• Allysha Joy, "the Making Of Silk", 2024, 11 tracks, BandCamp. Apparently her 2nd album, I blogged her 1st here. Neo-Motown from Melbourne, OZ, but more jazzy & world overtones. Very good stuff, 4 stars. Here's the 1st track, "your touch".

• "Ina Ray Hutton and her Melodears", eponymous, 1944, 24 tracks. Ina Ray Hutton was a female singer, tap dancer, and band leader. She led bands with male members, but this album is mostly her and her Melodears - an all-female big band. Weird, she sure looks "white", but her Wikipedia article says she was listed as "mulatto" in the 1920 census & as "negro" in the 1930 census. Whatever. She knows how to swing. She was married 5 times. 4 stars. Here's "truckin'" - note, this was really a popular song, I also have recordings of it by Fats Waller, Adelaide Hall, Duke Ellington featuring Ivie Anderson, & Jaz Dumoz.

• "Jelly's Last Jam", from the Broadway musical, which was a vehicle for Gregory Hines? 1992, 22 tracks. Reading Fats Waller biographies turned up some references to Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941), the New Orleans pianist who claims to have invented "jazz". This musical is somewhat of a biography, heavily themed around his denying he was "black" in favor of being "creole".

  Gawd, I so forgot how, for the last 4-5 decades, Broadway musicals have totally sucked. My wife & I were watching a movie about Bob Fosse which caused us to remember, we walked out of the theater 1/2-way through "Chicago" - we both got tired of waiting for a decent song. & we saw a production of "Hamilton" in Cincinnati, neither of us cared for it - so trite & formulaic. So, 2 stars for this album, & I will endeavor to remember, 0 love for Broadway musicals.

• Redeyes, "Slow", 2024, 11 tracks, BandCamp. I previously had 1 EP & 1 LP of theirs. Techno from Toulouse, France. This LP has lots of guest vocalists, a nice mix of tunes, all slow - the title was not a joke. 4 stars. Here's the last track, "Butterfly feat. Saint Harmony".

• James P. Johnson, "1921 - 1926 (Remastered)", 1926, 11 tracks. As I discovered in the 1st Fats Waller biography I read, James P. Johnson was Fats' mentor. He is considered "the father of Harlem stride piano". These songs are so easy to listen to. 4 stars. Although this blog has already linked to it, once again, here is his signature tune, "Carolina Shout":

• Kate Bollinger, "Songs From a Thousand Frames Of Mind", 2024, 11 tracks, BandCamp. It looks like I have 2 EPs of hers, this looks like her 1st LP. Laid back, dreamy female vocals over nice, catchy alternative rock tunes. I am, as always, a sucker for this stuff. Here's the cute 1st track, with what looks like the only "official video".

• Adelaide Hall, "A Centenary Celebration", 1945, 52 songs. I 1st encountered Hall in the Fats Waller biography: she brought Art Tatum to NYC as part of her band, where he blew away Fats Waller & his mentors James P. Johnson & Willie "The Lion" Smith.

  Her singing style is, soprano with LOTS of vibrato - warbly, maybe? So I load up these 2 CDs, start listening, the 1st 3 tracks ("creole love call", "this blues i love to sing", & "chicago stomp down") are all her scat singing in a soprano, warbly growl (with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1927-1928)?!?!? Somewhat reminiscent of a kazoo, which is definitely an instrument of which one needs only very small doses. I'm like, OMG, did I just buy 52 tracks of this? :-O

  But she does thereafter start singing more normally - if very high & warbly. Some of the songs are less warbly, & maybe more enjoyable to me.

  She moved to London in 1938 & never returned to the US. Included on these CDs are 2 tracks recorded in London in 1938 with her accompanied by Fats Waller on organ & smartass patter. She was definitely part of the crowd with which Fats hung out during his 1938 London soujourne.

  The album is historically interesting. There are BBC tracks in which she is introduced. There are a few short tracks recorded as promos for a German radio station.

  1 thing that was odd, she does "sophisticated lady", & does a 2nd verse & bridge with completly different lyrics than the canonical Ella / Sarah Vaughn version?!?!?

  So, 4 stars. Here's 1 of the tracks with Fats, "that old feeling":

  Quite a bit of music, FTW! Meanwhile, 12 albums in Q4 so far, 12 days left to go.

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.

Fats Waller

"Fats Waller", by Maurice Waller and Anthony Calabrese, Foreword by Michael Lipskin, 1977, 235 pages. Trade paperback.

• Foreword by Michael Lipskin (9 pages);
• 12 chapters;
• 22 page listing of Recording Dates and Personnel;
• 4 page listing of Fats Waller's Published Songs;
• 4 page listing of Fats Waller's Unpublished Songs;
• 1 page listing of Fats Waller's Piano Rolls (22 tracks);
• 12 pages of Song Arrangements: sheet music for 3 songs:
  1. ain't misbehavin'
  2. anita - Fats' 2nd wife, mother of 2 of his 3 kids. Beautiful tune, in my list.
  3. got religion in my soul - apparently unpublished? Antitheist hackles raised?!?!? Never before with Fats ?!?!? But. Fats dad was a deacon, Fats was religious in principle, but statisically, not so much so. Still, Don't gimme dat ol time religion, it ain't NOWAY good enough for me.
• 4 pages of 2 column Index.

I have been a Fats Waller fan for over 50 years. I was turned on to Fats in 1970 by Del Hilgartner, founder, leader, keyboard player, lead vocalist, blues harpist for Blue-Eyed Boy, Mr. Death, 5 piece rock band. I was lead guitarist, 1st harmony vocalist.

I 1st posted about My Fats Waller Project 2021-03-09. I have used that post as a status page that is updated every time I add a Fats song. Started with 14, up to 42 now, woo-hoo!

Here is my Fats Waller playlist on YouTube, the 42 Fats songs I have recorded (as of 2024-10-08).

I started a post "A Tale of Two Guitarists" (Al Casey & James Smith) over on my Jaz Dumoz Music Blog. Conventional wisdom is that Al Casey was the guitarist for Fats Waller & His Rhythm for its whole lifetime, 1934-1942. But, in my project, I went through the track listing for the 3 RCA Victor Vintage Fats albums I bought in 1970, and in ~1/3, 1935-08-02 thru 1936-02-01 the guitarist is James Smith. Horribly unsearchable name, no web page, no pix for James Smith?

Anyway, while trying to figure out the chronology of these 2 guitarists, I thought, "I should read a bio of Fats." So, I did, yay!

This book is an easy read, & very informative. This review/precis will be a list of the things I enjoyed the most, in no particular, I think, vaguely chronological order.

• Fats was born 1905-05-21, in NYC, and grew up in Harlem.

• Fats got his start professionally playing organ or piano in theaters for silent movies. He would learn how to play songs by playing them on a player piano slow and moving his fingers to match the depressed keys. Between 1923 & 1927 Fats recorded 22 piano rolls. I've had an album with 13 of these for years.

  Fats had formal piano lessons as a child, and as an adult had lessons from a classical pianist. [Couldn't find the name scanning the index - I miss my eBook!]

  Rent parties were also an early source of income. These typically had several pianists who would put on a "cutting contest", trying to outplay each other. George Gershwin (1898-1937) liked to go to rent parties. He and Fats became lifelong friends.

• Fats 1st met & played with Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) in 1923. Fats 19 YO, Louis 22. They became fast friends, and were always looking for chances to play together. It seemed like a lot of these happened in Chicago where Louis was based at the time.

• In Chicago, in 1926, Fats was kidnapped by minions of Al Capone & taken to play at Capone's birthday party.

  Frightened, Dad began to pound the keyboard with somewhat less than his usual gusto, but when he saw the enthusiastic response from Scarface and his buddies, he really began to swing it. In fact he swung it so hard, Capone kept him there several days, shoving hundred dollar bills into his pocket whenever he played a request, and filling his glass with vintage champagne whenever Dad (frequently) emptied it. After the birthday party was over, three days later, the thugs returned him to Chicago several thousand dollars richer.

• Also in Chicago, in 1930, outside the theater where Fats was playing, his wife Anita was almost kidnapped by thugs mistaking her for a showgirl. A doorman told them who she was & ran them off, but, gawdam, that was total PTSD shit for poor Anita. :(
  Fats wrote this song for her, the mother of 2 of his children: Anita.

• Fats also had a son by his 1st wife Edith, who divorced him after 2 years over his musician's lifestyle. Per Maurice, Fats frequently got "amnesia" with regard to his alimony payments when he was on the road. Fats was jailed a couple of times for getting behind on alimony payments, once being fetched back to New York from Chicago.

• Over the last decade or so, I had created a "genealogy" of jazz pianists:

  Jelly Roll Morton (1890–1941) ⇒
  Fats Waller (1904-1943) ⇒
  Art Tatum (1909-1956) ⇒
  Oscar Peterson (1925-2007)

  OK, 1st, Jelly Roll ⇒ Fats:

  Fats was mostly NYC, Morton was mostly New Orleans. Per the book they never met. They were supposed to play on a bill together in 1930, to display contrasting styles, but Morton was a no-show. So, no.

  Fats' predecessor, his mentor, was James P. Johnson, (1894-1955), generally considered the father of Harlem stride piano, which was perfected by his greatest student, Fats Waller.

  
  Johnson also acted as a father figure to Fats, whose father, a trucker & a church deacon, was initially dismissive of Fats' music. & Johnson's wife Lil was a mother figure to Fats, whose mother died when he was 15 YO.
  [I bought 11 tracks, 1921-1926, of Johnson's music on Amazon, for $10.39! Nice!]

  Other early influences:

  • Willie "The Lion" Smith, 1893-1973. Another early stride giant - Del also pointed me at him, but I just recently bought some tracks, &, I far prefer Fats. After being originally unimpressed with Fats, The Lion helped him find some of his first gigs and was a lifelong friend;

  • Clarence Williams (1893/1898-1965) - "an American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist, theatrical producer, and publisher." He encouraged Fats to start recording & publishing his music, and in the summer of 1923, his band recorded several songs written by Fats, so Fats' 1st composing credits. 19 YO.

    Wow, from the Wikipedia article:

    Two of his 1924 recording bands, "The Red Onion Jazz Babies" and "Clarence Williams' Blue Five" featured cornetist Armstrong and soprano saxophonist Bechet, two of the most important early jazz soloists, in their only recordings together before the 1940s.

    What a lineup! Armstrong & Bechet! !!! ??? !!!

  • Andy Razaf (1895-1973). Fats' most well-known & prolific collaborator. He composed the lyrics to some of Fats' biggest hits. From Wikipedia:

    Razaf was born in Washington, D.C., United States. His birth name was Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo. He was the son of Henri Razafinkarefo, nephew of Queen Ranavalona III of the Imerina kingdom in Madagascar, and Jennie Razafinkarefo (née Waller), the daughter of John L. Waller, the first African American consul to Imerina. The French invasion of Madagascar (1894-95) left his father dead, and forced his pregnant 15-year-old mother to escape to the United States, where he was born in 1895.

    Man, was european colonialism some of the worst shit in all of history, or what? I am a francophile, but WTF could make them think they had the right to invade Madagascar?!?!?

    Gawd, I love that name! 7 syllables, 1, 6 syllables! It just rolls off of the tongue! Seriously, speak it out loud.

    Andy was a poet, his name is a poem, & I believe that poetry works much better when spoken aloud.

    Andy saw Fats win a piano contest in 1923. He approached Fats, they hit it off, and a great songwriting duo was created!

  • Spencer Williams (1889-1965) "was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer." It's interesting to me that with the popularity of "cutting contests", multiple pianists would frequently work together.

  • J.C. Johnson (1896-1981) was a pianist & songwriter who collaborated with Andy Razaf as well as Fats.

  Back to my genealogy, Jelly Roll ⇒ Fats: No way.

  But the next, Fats ⇒ Art Tatum, largely correct!

  Art arrived in NYC in 1932 from Toledo OH, as the accompanist of singer Adelaide Hall (1901-1993). [Note, just ordered on Amazon "Centenary Celebration" by Adelaide Hall, 52 tracks, $12.12, FTW!] People told Fats he had to check out the new kid. Fats did & was greatly impressed. So he recruited James P. Johnson & Willie "The Lion" Smith to join him in a cutting party with the new kid. In 1932, Art is 23 YO, Fats is 28, James P. 38, Willie 39. [The book says Art is 18???]

  James P. and Dad were eager to do battle with Tatum at the piano, so they searched for a club with a suitable instrument, eventually chosing Morgan's, a small Harlem bar. ...

  Pop urged Art to take the stool and show off his stuff. Art played the main theme of Vincent Youmans' big hit, 'Tea for Two', and introduced his inventive harmonies, slightly altering the melodic line. Good, but not very impressive. Then it happened. Tatum's left hand worked a strong, regular beat while his right hand played dazzling arpeggios in chords loaded with flatted fifths and ninths. Both his hands then raced toward each other in skips and runs that seemed impossible to master. They crossed each other. Tatum played the main theme again and soared to an exciting climax.

  [Art Tatum is the king of the arpeggio! Make sure and follow the links to the 2 songs he did. Unbelievable virtuosity.]

  Reuben Harris looked around at the open-mouthed faces of Harlem's Waller, Willie "The Lion", and James P. Jimmy took the stool and played "Carolina Shout" as if his hands were possessed by a demon. But it wasn't good enough. Next Dad toook over and played his own specialty, "Handful of Keys." The crowd cheered when their hometown boy finished, but it appeared as Tatum still had a slight lead. Tatum followed Dad and had the place jumping with "Tiger Rag". James P. had one last trick up his sleeve, his brilliant version of Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude". Dad told me he never heard Jimmy play so remarkably, but the performance fell short. Tatum was the undisputed king. In comradeship the four threw their arms affectionately around each other and Tatum was duly toasted.

  James P. remembered the occasion and commented, "When Tatum played 'Tea for Two' that night I guess that was the first time I ever heard it really played."

  [Note, I added the links to the videos of the songs mentioned. Kind of fun, to reproduce the songs as they were played that night. Sadly, I could find no recording of James P. Johnaon playing Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude", so I included some rando's version. Imagining this song being played by the father of Harlem stride piano is left as exercise to the reader!]

  Art was quoted saying that the biggest influence on his style was Fats. He learned as Fats did, from piano rolls of James P. Johnson - and Fats.

  There are several stories of the times Fats paid respects to The King, Art Tatum.

  Back to my genealogy, Art => Oscar : Peterson was a Canadian, born in Montreal, which is a jazz city. [Here I am sitting with Oscar Peterson at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada, 2021-08-19.]

  
  Plus he was a later generation, born 16 years after Art. Reading through his Wikipedia article, I was thinking this would be a dead end, but, starting the section titled "Musical styles & influnces":

  Peterson was influenced by Teddy Wilson [(1912-1986)], Nat King Cole [(1919-1965)], James P. Johnson, and Art Tatum, to whom many compared Peterson in later years. After his father played a record of Tatum's "Tiger Rag", he was intimidated and disillusioned, quitting the piano for several weeks. "Tatum scared me to death," said Peterson, adding that he was "never cocky again" about his ability at the piano. Tatum was a model for Peterson's musicianship during the 1940s and 1950s. Tatum and Peterson became good friends, although Peterson was always shy about being compared to Tatum and rarely played the piano in Tatum's presence.

  Wow! So in addition to blowing away Fats, The Lion, and James P., Art Tatum also blew away the next generation, Oscar Peterson.

• Fats really didn't like boogie woogie. I am defining that as playing dominant 7th or 9th chords & adding 6s over the 5s, & maybe also adding 3's over the 1, or maybe playing scales - a staple of rock-n-roll & blues shuffles. Here's a random sample from YouTube! Not bad!

  Here's Fats' words from a New York Times interview shortly before his death:

  "That's music," he said after he had finished [playing "Tea for Two"]. "Subdued and not blantant. None of this boogie woogie stuff that's just monotonous. Boogie woogie is all right if you want to beat your brains out for 5 minutes. But for more than that you got to have melody. Jimmy Johnson taught me that. You got to hang onto the melody and never let it get boresome."

  Interesting, "Up Jumped You With Love", the last song Fats sang on a recording with His Rhythm, 1942-07-13, has an instrumental break & last verse that are very boogie woogie. I worked up the song a few months ago & noted how odd that was. I cannot immediately recall any other song where Fats plays boogie woogie licks like in this song.

  So the choice is between playing boogie woogie I IV Vdom7 or playing 'Rhythm' (I got rhythm) - I vi ii Vdom7. Also, boogie woogie is the flat tire beat, which is triplets. You go to a blues festival, 1/3 of the songs will be flat tire beat shuffles.

• Una Mae Carlisle (1915-1956) was quite a character. I 1st came across her name on the UCSB DAHR - Discography of American Historical Recordings - page for Fats Waller and His Rhythm. She is listed on the recording of "i can't give you anything but love", 1939-11-03:

  Una Mae Carlisle; Fats Waller and his Rhythm
  Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet (take 1); with male vocal solo (take 2)

  Fats' manager decided that for Fats to get national airplay, he should move to Cincinnati OH & play on WLW, 1 of the strongest radio stations in the USA. After a demo or 2, Fats was given a 2 year contract. The Waller family moved to Cincinnati, OH late in 1932. The regular show gave Fats a chance to grow confident in his singing, and to start his smart-alec patter when he found the lyrics just a bit too trite. The show lasted through 1933.

  Meanwhile, Una Mae Carlisle was growing up (17 YO in 1932) in Xenia, OH - near Dayton, not far from Cincy. She was a piano prodigy, performing publicly since she was 3 YO. She won a vocal contest & impressed Fats into inviting her to come to Cincy to play in his 1932 Xmas programs. She was still in high school, her parents were against it, but sent a sister along to chaperone. It didn't go well.

  In short order Una Mae became Dad's shadow. Everywhere he was, she was close behind. Pop taught her to drink and to stay up late and party. Their relationship soon went far beyond the protégé-master level. Una Mae moved into a boarding house just across the street from where we were living, and when Christmas vacation ended, she refused to return to Xenia or school. Her mother came to town to fetch her but, after Una Mae carried on, vehemently, Mrs. Carlisle returned home without her. The only consession Una Mae would agree to was to move across town to live with friends. If Mrs. Carlisle was unhappy, my mother [Anita] was no more pleased with the turn of events. And when Una Mae became a regular on the show, Mom started talking about how she'd prefer to go back to New York and place me in a Harlem school. [And shortly thereafter did so.]

  Fats' show was a monster hit, so they decided to take it on the road for the summer. Meanwhile, I think Una Mae was just a bit too intense for Fats - damn, Una Mae was close to a force of nature, what a talented woman! - & he was trying to figure out how to dump her. They bought a car together to drive to a gig in Louisville (80 miles SW of Cincy), Fats leaves without her, she takes the train & finds him, & that was a scene - Una Mae stepping in front of the car.

  She eventually went her own way &, per her Wikipedia page, had a great career.

  • Her 1941 song "Walkin' By The River" made her "the first black woman to have a composition appear on a Billboard chart".
  • She had her own radio show, The Una Mae Carlisle Radio Show on WJZ-ABC, making her the "first black American to host a national radio show".

  I've only been able to find 5 tracks of her music on Amazon, "Una Mae Carlisle And Her Jam Band", 1944. Oh, another 8 on Apple. She also has 2 numbers in this incredibly good/bad movie, "Boarding House Blues" (1948). This movie will get its own post.

  Here's an incredibly detailed & good article about her. I lifted this photo & caption from there.

  

  She appears in the book 1 more time, in London in 1938. Fats was there with a big (24 pc) band, & had bought the whole band tickets to a benefit concert, & was supposed to deliver them to the band at the stage door. On his way there he runs into Una Mae, who was living & performing in London at the time.

  She told him that she had been feeling very poorly and they began to talk.

  Fats spent the rest of the day with her. His bandmates did talk their way into the benefit concert.

  She died in November, 1956, only 40y 10m old. She outlasted Fats, tho, who only lived to 39y 7m. But they both beat George Gershwin, who died at 38y 10m. The good die young. :(

• After Cincinnati, Fats moved back to Harlem to be reunited with his family. He was hired by WCBS in NYC.

  Columbia had Dad working regularly, appearing on many programs, particularly "Harlem Serenade". He was a name now, recognized all over the country, and Victor was ready to deal. Pop was offered a Victor recording contract wihch guaranteed him three percent on all records, plus a one hundred dollar advance for each selection, whether it was issued or not.

  Fats put together his band carefully. The guitar player, Al Casey (1915-2005), was an 18 YO high schooler, a cousin of The Southern Suns, with whom Fats had worked. More on him below.

  On 1934-05-16, Fats Waller and his Rhythm recorded their 1st 4 tracks. From then to their final recording date 1942-07-13, per the DAHR database, they recorded 307 tracks. A handful of tracks with other vocalists:

  1. With Herman Autrey 1935-08-20, "Loafin' time";
  2. With Dorothea Driver 1937-10-07. "Call me 'Darling'". Googling this woman's name returns only this record in the DAHR database. No record of this recording. I worked the song up anyway, as part of my 1937-10-97 project - I have recorded the other 6 songs from this recording session, once I record CMD I will create a blog post about these 7 songs. I luv the DAHR database. There are a couple of other Fats Waller and His Rhythm sessions where I'm doing most of the songs, so it seems appropriate to fill those out & post about them. Nice 1/2 set lists. On my TODO.
  3. With Una Mae Carlisle, 1939-11-03, "I Can't Give You Anything But Love". See above. I just found this video of hers from 1946, "T'ain't Yours". She is 31 YO, saucy, sassy, confident, joyful, goddam, how alluring! Playful, like Fats! & I luv her bad teeth! & her piano solo makes you remember, she was a protégé of Fats Waller! But, gawdam, dat rook rike trouble to me!!!

     She is referenced as "the 'Walkin by the river' girl", so here's that tune. Nice, going in the list!

  4. With the Deep River Boys, a gospel/barbershop quartet, 1942-07-13, Fats Waller & His Rhythm recorded their final 4 tracks:
     1. By the light of the silvery moon, w the Deep River Boys.
     2. Swing out to victory
     3. Up jumped you with love. The last song Fats sung with His Rhythm. Already mentioned, + & - now.
     4. Romance a la mode, w the Deep River Boys. In the list, will get to it soon. Oh boy, a "romance as food" song, I can pair it with "you're my dish" and "you go to my head".

  For most of this period, Fats was RCA Victor's top recording artist. Fats sold well with European-Americans as well as African-Americans. Here's a pic from YouTube, I can't get over the faces of the people. Adulation? Worship? Love?

  

• Al Casey (1915-2005) was the guitarist at the creation of Fats Waller and his Rhythm, 1934-05-16. He was from Louisville, KY (like me, yay!!!) & met Fats when he was still in high school at DeWitt Clinton in NYC. Fats told him to finish school - he could play on the recording sessions in NYC & tour with them in the summer.

  Oddly, for several of my early favorites, he was not the guitarist. The guitarist was James Smith, who is completely lost in internet anonymity. Per the appendix of this book, he played for Fats in recordings from 6 sessions, 1935-06-24 to 1936-02-01 - 41 tracks. Al is back 1936-04-08.

• Fats made 4 "soundies" (primordial music videos) in 1941. They are all so excellent, although I've never been a fan of "your feet's too big". Al Casey gets some screen time. I posted at 1 point I thought he might be James Smith - when I thought the video had been recorded in 1935-36 as some of the songs 1st were. The book sez, the 4 soundies were recorded in 1941.

  These are all so fun, I'm going to inline them all here.

  ain't misbehavin'

  I've been trying to identify the 5 dancers that appear in these. So far, 2 names, Paulene Myers & Vivian Brown. I don't think that the woman who sings in this one is Myra Johnson. I think Myra Johnson is the larger woman who appears in "the joint is jumpin".

  honeysuckle rose

  Al Casey gets some good screen time for his tasty solo. I have worked that solo up pretty much note for note.

  the joint is jumpin'

  This is such a fun song, when I recorded it I could not play it fast as Fats and his Rhythm.

  I'm pretty sure the woman who comes in with 2 attendants & sings at 1:22 is Myra Johnson. I grabbed a screen shot:

  
  In the summer of 1935, she & Fats were both playing Atlantic City. He liked her act & tried to get her to join his band. She didn't particularly want to work with another lead singer, but Fats talked her into it, and they developed some great duets, including 1 of my favs "two sleepy people". She toured with Fats on and off.

  The woman wrongly identified as Myra Johnson in "ain't misbehavin'" doesn't enter until 2:29 after the line "what is that that just walked in? Just look at the way it's twitchin'!" Some fine twitchin' indeed!

  I cannot get a name for this woman, who sings a lead on "ain't misbehavin'", which should give her a cred, yes? She is the star of this & "honeysuckle rose".

  LOL, I love the drummer, Slick Jones, in this one!

  your feet's too big
• As of 1936, Walter Winchell became a Fats fan and gave him lots of press.

  Winchell took a shine to my father and ofter referred to him as his favorite songwriter.

• Fats & Andy Razaf wrote the smash hit all-African-American musical "Hot Chocolates" in 1929.

• Fats was big in Europe, particularly England & Scotland. He recorded his London Suite in 1938. He also backed Adelaide Hall on organ on a couple of tracks, which I have, yay!

• 1942-01-14, Fats played Carnegie Hall, a lifelong dream. The 1st 1/2 of the program went well, but in the intermission, so many of his buds showed up backstage to toast his success, that Fats surprisingly drank too much & pretty much pooched the 2nd 1/2 of the concert. The reviews were scathing.

• In 1943, Broadway producer Richard Kollmar hired Waller to play a comic performer in the 1943 musical Early to Bed. When his classsical composer quit over artistic differences, Kollmar realized he had the perfect composer for the piece in Fats. But composing, performing, & gin proved to be to much for Fats, so his role became composer only. This was the 1st Broadway musical written for white folks by a African-American composer.

  [Boomer trivia, Richard Kollmar's wife was Dorothy Kilgallen, of "What's My Line" for decades. Small world ...]

• Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller died in Kansas City, on a train headed back to NYC, 1943-12-15, 39 years old, of pneumonia, probably assisted by Fats heavy drinking.

OK, done. 1 thing I will say about the book in general - it needed more dates. I spent too much time trying to figure out when a particular anecdote was taking place. I also really, really missed the features of an eBook.

I guess I'm kind of going whole hog here: I have 3 more Fats books on order:

1. "Ain't Misbehavin': The Story Of Fats Waller", by Ed Kirkeby (1891-1978), 1966, 276 pages. Kirkeby was Fats' manager, but he also was a musician and lyricist. He is credited as a collaborator for several songs, including "Up Jumped You With Love", the last song Fats sang on a recording with His Rhythm, 1942-07-13.
2. "Ain't Misbehavin'", by Thomas Fats Waller (Composer), 1983, 104 pages. It looks like this was published as a companion to the 1978 Broadway musical "Ain't Misbehavin'". 24 songs, not sure if it is just lyrics or charts too. I currently have only 1 Fats song that I think does not have the right lyrics: "Thief in the Night", the bridge.
3. "Fats Waller", subtitled "THE CHEERFUL LITTLE EARFUL", by Alyn Shipton, 2005, 194 pages. [Just arrived today, 2024-10-03.] "Alyn Shipton presents jazz radio programs for the BBC and is a critic for The Times in London. He is the author of several books on music, as well as a music publisher and editor."

Since Art Tatum & Una Mae Carlisle both tried to take over this post, I think we'll be seeing more of them in the future. I've stumbled across so many interesting (mostly female) singers from this period, I may do that as a post.

4th (and Final) Batch of 2021 Music In

Finally. I thought this would put the iTunes library on my PC over 22,000, came up a little short: 21,988 tracks.

• Juana Molina, "Segundo (21st Anniversary)", 2000 (reissued in 2021), 15 tracks, Bandcamp. Her 2nd album (duh). This is really interesting stuff - almost the coveted "Unclassifiable" genre - and easy to listen to. Her more recent stuff was billed as Argentinian punk. This is more indie rock, although it does get a little experimental at times. 4 stars. Here's "¿Quién?".

• Half Moon Run, "Inwards & Onwards", 2021, 6 tracks, Bandcamp. The 5th album I have by this Montreal band. They continue to remind me of The Jayhawks. Consistently strong tunes. 4 stars.
  1 song definitely had some issues. "Fxgiving" seems like an angry breakup song, with the catchy line "I don't celebrate fxgiving" - a clever way of saying "I don't give a f#k" - as the song's main hook.
  Here's "Nosebleeds".

• The Mountain Goats, "Dark in Here", 2021, 12 tracks, Bandcamp. This is basically 1 guy, John Darnielle, from California, supported by various collaborators over the years. He definitely has a distinctive voice and sound and is an excellent songwriter. Some somewhat experimental stuff on this album as well. 4 stars. Here's "When a Powerful Animal Comes". I like the simplicity, and the sax & bass doubling each other.

• Big Red Machine, "How Long Do You Think It's Going To Last?", 2021, 15 tracks, Bandcamp. I was thinking out of Cincinatti, but, no, Eau Claire, WI. A ton of guest artists, including Taylor Swift and Fleet Foxes??? A very good album, very nice tunes, quite a pleasant surprise. 4 stars. Here's the last track, "Brycie".

• Kaidi Tatham, "An Insight To All Minds", 2021, 15 tracks, Bandcamp. From Belfast UK. Jazz? Fusion? Hah, iTunes has Afro-Jazz, I'll go for that. Very good stuff. 4 stars. Here's the title track.

• Cleo Brown, "Here Comes Cleo" and "1935-1951", both 27 tracks. 18 in common, so I cut "1935-1951" down to 9 tracks. I was looking for the Fats Waller song "You've Got Me Under Your Thumb" and saw a version by her. It had an intro! Her Wikipedia article describes her as "The Female Fats Waller". In 1935 she replaced Fats as pianist for the WABC orchestra in NYC! A very distinctive singing style. I already blogged about this at the bottom of this post. An enthusiastic 4 stars.
  Here's 3 by Cleo: 1st, "You've Got Me Under Your Thumb", which led me to her.

  2nd, here's the catchy "When Hollywood Goes Black and Tan".

  3rd, here's "My Gal Mezzanine". Cab Calloway also did this song.

  I liked most of these songs a lot! This was a great find.

• Count Basie & Sarah Vaughan, eponymous, 1961, 14 tracks. Note, the metadata says that Count Basie doesn't actually play on this album. The album is Sarah Vaughan and the Count Basie Orchestra. Kind of like hers from the last post, songs not that great, and I'm not that big a fan of big bands, which this is getting to be. Also, she was experimenting with different scat singing styles and I thought some if it didn't work well. Still, such a voice, 4 stars. Here's "Until I Met You".

A couple of last minute additions:

• Adele, "30", 2021, 12 tracks. Amazing how everyone loves Adele. She is in the crossword puzzles, clue: Largest selling musical artist of the 21th century. Ha ha, yesterday as well, clue: Only person to ever appear on the cover of UK and US Vogue.
  Like all her other fans, I have a personal connection to her - I heard "Chasing Pavement" on a TV music video the 1st time I was in London, UK, on business (2008?), and so was an early adopter. 1 reason I think she is so popular is that her songs are easy and great fun to belt out - think Glee and karaoke.
  4 stars. Here's "Love is a Game".

• Sting, "Soul Cages", 1991, 9 tracks. Rick Beato has recently done 2 shows about String: 1st, "Why Sting is Uncopyable", 16 minutes; 2nd, "The Sting Interview", 59 minutes. The interview is also with Dominic Miller, who has been Sting's guitarist for 31 years. He mentioned his fav album with Sting was "Soul Cages", the 1st he did. I did not have it, so I acquired it. A nice album, 4 stars. Here's "All This Time", which I remember from when it came out in 1991.

Yay, relatively caught up, all but 3 albums purchased in the last couple of weeks, which I will consider the start of 2022.

Now to go back through the Bandcamp recommendation emails dating back to July.

My Fats Waller Project

[Updated 2026-09-10]
Latest recording, "squeeze me", 1939.

In the fall of 1968, I met Delbert Lionel Hilgartner III. He was a sophomore at MIT, I was just starting. Pi Lambda Phi frat.

Del was cool: 6'1", cowboy boots. He had spent his senior year in Davis, CA. The 3 years before that, he had lived in Tangiers, Morocco. His dad was stationed there for VOA (CIA?).

In prolly late 1970, he started the band "Blue Eyed Boy, Mr. Death". (Yeats?). He played keys (Hammond B3 w Lesley), blues harp, tambourine, and sang lead, harmony, & backup. I played mostly lead guitar, a little pedal steel, and sang harmony, lead, & backup. Randolph Axel Nelson (Randy at 1st, later Axel) played mostly rhythm guitar, + bass, bongos, & sang harmony & backup. Barry I. Levine played bass & sax & sang harmony and backup. John Broderick (J. the D.) drummed. Barry was in Del's year at MIT, Randy had been in mine but dropped out. J. the D. was a Boston townie, he'd graduated college & taught grade school I think.

We weren't bad - John sent around some recordings early last year (linked to in this post, which also talks about BEBMD & the other 2 bands I played in in Boston.). We gigged pretty steady, frats, sororities, some high schools, clubs, spring of 1971. Del graduated w a Humanities degree & moved to the Village to teach film at Cooper's Union. That ended BEBMD.

Del turned me on to North African music - I haven't collected much of that.

He also turned me on to Fats Waller. The king of stride piano in the late 1920's & 1930's. Great tunes, great lyrics, very upbeat. My wife described some of the songs as "playful", I agree.

In the late 1960's, I bought 3 RCA Victor Vintage Fats Waller vinyl LPs:

1. Valentine Stomp 1935
2. Fractious Fingering 1936
3. Smashing Thirds 1937

These albums also have some Fats solo piano pieces, mostly recorded in 1929.

I also bought "Classic Jazz Piano Styles" which had 4 tracks by Fats, 4 by Jelly Roll Morton, 4 by Earl Hines?, & 4 by ?.

A few months ago I started working up the Fats songs off of the 3 albums. I took a picture of the 3 albums' track lists. I highlighted my current status, what fun! iPad drawing tool intuitive!

I have recorded 11 Fats songs so far. Here's the link to my YouTube Fats Waller Playlist.

These 6 (green highlight) on the Playlist are from the 3 albums:

1. you’ve got me under your thumb by fats waller; cleo brown in C
2. what will I do in the morning? by fats waller in Bb
3. i’d rather call you baby by fats waller in Bb
4. got a bran' new suit by fats waller in Eb
5. spring cleaning by fats waller in D
6. i got rhythm by george gershwin; fats waller in G

These 5 are from other sources:

1. i’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter by fats waller in Bb
2. two sleepy people by fats waller; hoagy carmichael; frank loesser in F
3. i can't give you anything but love by fats waller; willie nelson in G
4. ain’t misbehaving by fats waller in Bb
5. tea for two by doris day; fats waller in F

Note, "i got rhythm" I don't do Fats' version, I do Ella Fitzgerald's. Fats also does "tea for two", I do the 1950's movie version. "ain't misbehaving" I did with Steve (Fuzzy) Konopka in "Steve & Chris".

Next up for recording (yellow highlight), "how ya baby?" in C. In process, I just worked up the chords for "how can i?" in D (red highlight) this morning. The song has a a red flag on it in OnSong - not ready to go. Easier chords than the prior 1.

And also in the pic, 9 blue highlighted possibles! I've been working the right column of 1937 songs, I think I'll switch to the left column of 1935 songs for a while. Next up, "thief in the night".

I have 14 total songs in OnSong under Fats: the 11 recorded, the 2 in process, and "if you're a viper", which is not 1 of my favs of his. If I record it it will be after the 9 possibles.

Odd that I didn't seem to like the 1936 album??? The other highlighted tunes have been on the hit parade in my head for 5 decades, I don't think any of the 1936 tunes made the cut.

For the last few of the greens I have worked up, I have added my chart to Ultimate Guitar. I've also added lyrics to AZLyrics. Yay for me, I'm performing a public service, capturing these great songs for posterity!

I R contributing to The Commons, FTW!

[Updated 2021-03-11]
Added "how ya baby?" by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2021-03-15]
Added "how can i?" by fats waller in D.

[Updated 2021-04-14]
Added "thief in the night" by fats waller in Eb.

[Updated 2021-04-30]
Added "let's sing again" by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2021-05-04]
Added "sweet thing" by fats waller in D.

[Updated 2021-05-28]
Added "spreadin' rhythm around" by fats waller in F.

[Updated 2021-06-12]
I wanted to capture this listing of the ~300 songs recorded by Fats Waller and His Rhythm.
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/105612/Fats_Waller_and_his_Rhythm

[Updated 2021-07-19]
Added "i've got my fingers crossed" by fats waller in G.

[Updated 2021-10-05]
Added "i've got a feeling i'm falling" by fats waller, billy rose, gene austin, annette hanshaw in D. I could not find a video of Fats singing this song, only of him performing it as a piano solo. I worked this version up from the Gene Austin 1929 recording.

[Updated 2021-10-07]
Probably Fats' best known collaborating lyricist was Andy Razaf (born Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo). Is that not a great name? Say it, 7 syllables, 1 syllable, 6 syllables, it totally rolls off of your tongue. The Wikipedia article says that he was a nephew of Madgascar royalty - a dynasty of almost 400 years, they must have had a some decent genes ;-P

[Updated 2021-11-24]
Added "honeysuckle rose" by fats waller, louis armstrong, andy razaf in F.

[Updated 2021-12-18]
Added "i'm crazy 'bout my baby (and my baby's crazy 'bout me)" by fats waller, louis armstrong, leon redbone in D.

[Updated 2022-06-28]
Added "until the real thing comes along" by fats waller, dean martin, frank sinatra in Eb.

[Updated 2022-08-26]
Added "sweet heartache" by fats waller in G.

[Updated 2022-09-21]
Added "you're my dish" by fats waller, jimmy mchugh in C.

[Updated 2022-10-07]
Added "the girl i left behind me" by fats waller in G.

[Updated 2022-12-19]
Added "dream man (make me dream some more)" by fats waller in Bb.

[Updated 2023-03-12]
Added "sing an old fashioned song (to a young sophisticated lady)" by fats waller in G.

[Updated 2023-06-30]
Added "it's a sin to tell a lie" by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2023-08-12]
Added "have a little dream on me" by fats waller, phil baxter, billy rose in C.

[Updated 2023-12-04]
Added "when somebody thinks you're wonderful" by fats waller in Eb.

[Updated 2024-03-27]
Added "keepin' out of mischief now" by fats waller, andy razaf in G.

[Updated 2024-05-17]
Added "lulu's back in town" by harry warren, fats waller in Eb.

[Updated 2024-05-20]
Here's the link to an interesting article about Andy Razaf and Fats.

[Updated 2024-05-23]
Added "hold tight" by fats waller, sidney bechet in Eb.

[Updated 2024-06-06]
Added "truckin'" by fats waller, ted koehhler in C.

[Updated 2024-07-03]
Added "the joint is jumpin'" by fats waller, andy razaf in Bb.

[Updated 2024-07-10]
Added "whose honey are you?" by fats waller, ruth etting, leon redbone in F.

[Updated 2024-07-16]
Added "a hopeless love affair" by fats waller, andy razaf in Eb.

[Updated 2024-07-27]
Added "don't let it bother you" by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2024-08-02]
Added "up jumped you with love" by fats waller in D.

[Updated 2024-08-08]
Added "everybody loves my baby" by fats waller in F.

[Updated 2024-09-03]
Added "jealous of me" by fats waller, andy razaf in F.

[Updated 2024-09-20]
Added "la-de-de la-de-da" by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2024-10-08]
Published a review/summary of "Fats Waller", by Maurice Waller, 1977.

[Updated 2024-10-17]
Added "lost love" by fats waller, andy razaf in F.

[Updated 2024-10-31]
Published a review/summary of the Fats Waller bio "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Ed Kirkeby, 1966. Kirkeby was Fats' manager from 1938-1943. The bio by Fats' son Maurice is better.

[Updated 2024-11-01]
Added "i used to love you (but it's all over now)" by fats waller in Ab.

[Updated 2024-12-11]
Added "did anyone ever tell you?", by fats waller, jimmy mchugh in C.

[Updated 2024-12-29]
Added "why do i lie to myself about you?", by fats waller, j. fred coots in Eb.

[Updated 2025-01-15]
Added "there'll be some changes made", by ethel waters, fats waller, una mae carlisle in Bb.

[Updated 2025-01-26]
Added "romance à la mode", by fats waller, the deep river boys in F.

[Updated 2025-03-11]
Added "a porter's love song to a chambermaid", by fats waller, james p. johnson, andy razaf in F.

[Updated 2025-03-26]
Added "sweet and slow", by fats waller, harry warren, al dubin in C.

[Updated 2025-04-10]
Added "don't try your jive on me", by una mae carlisle, fats waller in Ab.

[Updated 2025-04-25]
Added "you meet the nicest people in your dreams", by fats waller in Bb.

[Updated 2025-05-08]
Added "i wish i were twins", by fats waller, frank loesser, joseph meyer in Eb.

[Updated 2025-05-24]
Added "do me a favor", by fats waller in F.

[Updated 2025-06-11]
Re-recorded "ain't misbehavin'", by fats waller, andy razaf in F, to use the looper & play an improved solo.

[Updated 2025-07-04]
Added "then i'll be tired of you", by fats waller, yip harburg in C.

[Updated 2025-07-13]
Added "the more i know you (the more I love you)", by fats waller, j. fred coots, benny davis in Eb.

[Updated 2025-08-01]
Added "how can you face me?", by fats waller, andy razaf in C.

[Updated 2025-08-15]
Added "armful o' sweetness", by fats waller, alexander hill in Bb.

[Updated 2025-08-29]
Added "georgia may", by fats waller in F.

[Updated 2025-09-10]
Added "you're not the only oyster in the stew", by fats waller, harold spina, johnny burke in G.

[Updated 2025-09-27]
Added "night wind", by fats waller in F.

[Updated 2025-10-16]
Added "let's pretend there's a moon", by fats waller, russ palumbo in Ab.

[Updated 2025-11-01]
Added "i'm growing fonder of you", by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2025-11-13]
Added "believe it, beloved", by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2025-12-05]
Added "if it isn't love", by fats waller in F.

[Updated 2025-12-21]
Added "breakin' the ice", by fats waller in Eb.

[Updated 2026-01-09]
Added "i'm a hundred percent for you", by fats waller in Eb.

[Updated 2026-01-20]
Added "because of once upon a time", by fats waller in Ab.

[Updated 2026-01-28]
Added "i believe in miracles", by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2026-02-07]
Added "you fit into the picture", by fats waller in G.

[Updated 2026-03-06]
Added "nero", by fats waller, andy razaf in G.

[Updated 2026-03-29]
Added "i ain't got nobody", by fats waller, spencer williams in G.

[Updated 2026-04-15]
Added "blue turning grey over you", by fats waller, andy razaf in C.

[Updated 2026-05-18]
Added "what's the reason (i'm not pleasin' you)", by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2026-06-18]
Added "there's honey on the moon tonight", by fats waller, j. fred coots, haven gillespie, mack davis in Eb.

[Updated 2026-07-12]
Added "rosetta", by fats waller, earl hines in F.

[Updated 2026-08-03]
Added "pardon my love", by fats waller, oscar levant, milton drake in C.

[Updated 2026-08-13]
Added "(oh suzanna) dust off that old pianna", by fats waller in C.

[Updated 2026-09-10]
Added "squeeze me", by fats waller, clarence williams, andy razaf in G.

---

An early Music In note, when I was looking for the video for "you got me under your thumb", I came across the Cleo Brown version - it had a very tasty intro. Cleo was known as the "female Fats Waller". She was 3 years younger, born 1907 (or 1909) vs 1904 for Fats. Her skimpy Wikipedia article says in 1935 she took over for Fats as pianist for the WABC orchestra in NYC.

It seems like most of her stuff is on this 27-track album, "Here Comes Cleo". Only $9.49 Amazon download, quel bargain! I've really enjoyed it. Favs: "you got me under your thumb", "my gal mezzanine", "when hollywood goes black and tan", "who's that knockin' at my heart?".

I found her the last week of African-American History Month & thought, "How appproiate & fortuitous!". Touted on Twitter, crickets :-(

Oooh, just found another album of hers, "1935-1951", 27 tracks, 18 in common w "Here Comes Cleo", only $3.99 !!! Snappin' that up right now! 9 new tracks for $3.99 a great bargain!