Stomp Off 1001 - Dickbaker.org

New Orleans wiggle; by Peter Bocage andA. J. Piron, of U.S.; pf. Clarence Williamsblues ed. © Jan. 21, 1924; 2 c. Jan. 19; E578996; Clarence Williams music pub. co.,New York.Not sure what to make of this Jan. 21copyright. It doesn’t mention lyrics, andnothing on the sheet music says anythingabout it’s being a “blues edition.” I lookedback through 1925 without finding a follow-uprereg.This one pains me: (a) I feel that thepublished sheet music is the gold standard ofauthority; (b) the record and the sheet musicwould have been released in the same year(recorded 12/11/23, so couldn’t have been outuntil 1924), and (c) the sheet music clearlysays by Bocage, Piron & Williams on bothcover and copyright page. And yet, strangely,Williams didn’t copyright the version hepublished with lyrics.I’ve argued against this in the case of manyTin Pan Alley ragtime songs, but I guess I’lljoint Erdos in his proclivity toward declaringWilliams a later lyricist that we need notinclude. The push of a feather would take meover the line toward including him.New Tulsa Blues, The(see Tulsa Blues)New Twister, The (Teddy Krise–Ralph Lillard)New Orleans Classic Jazz Orch 1223Rec.Little Molers, 9/1/27, OKeh 40984, Vocalion3074, Parlophone R-3441 et al.Original Wolverines, 10/12/27, Brunswick3707, Vocalion 15635 et al.NO Owls, 10/26/27, Columbia 1547-D.Alabama Red Peppers, 1/20/28, Cameo 8132,Lincoln, 2786, Romeo 555.Confirmed by 10/8/27 copyright reg.New Vine Street Blues (Bennie Moten–Count Basie)Keith Nichols & the Blue Devils 1387Here we go again (see [New] Moten Stompand [New] Tulsa Blues above.Rec. by Moten as Vine Street Blues 11/29/24,OKeh 8194; composer credit is “BennieMoten’s Kansas City Orchestra.” Then as NewVine Street Blues 10/24/29, Victor 23007,Bluebird B-6710; composer credit is BennieMoten-Count Basie according to Victor Projectand RHJA.No copyright reg. of either title 1924-31.I’m not as sure that these are really similar--arrangements are quite different to my ears.Queried Nichols 8/7/13, but he’ll be onvacation until Sept. 8, unwired except for cellphone. [Never responded, but I decided notto repeat question--see final 12/28/13 notehere.]But after all this I began to have secondthoughts. You certainly cannot argue thatwriting an arrangement of an old song for yourband that differs in many places from theoriginal gives you the right to affix “New” toand imply that it’s yours--it’s just what jazzbands do. You’d think a bandleader nuts if heintroduced every tune in a concert of jazzstandards as the “New” this and the “New”that, or even if he introduced every tune as“Our version” or “Our arrangement” of thosetunes. That part of it is given, unless they’replaying off a transcription of the originalrecording without changing a note.But what about a bandleader/composer(specifically, Bennie Moten) who writes anupdated arrangement for a tune he recorded afew years before and decides to call it the“New” Moten Stomp or “New “ Tulsa Blues?You could argue that it’s his right to do so if hethinks it’s substantially different. (Or the callmay have been made by a record companythat worries that potential buyers will presumethat the 1927 Tulsa Blues is just a reissue ofthe 1924 Tulsa Blues and not buy it.)In the case of Moten’s updating his owncompositions, I’m ambivalent.But a couple of cases stand out, such asMoten writing Moten Stomp with ThamonHayes, then later recording a “New”arrangement and leaving Hayes off the credits.That seems simply unethical.Especially egregious is Clarence Williamsrecording Tom Delaney’s song at a hottertempo without the vocal, calling it the “NewDown Home Blues,” and not putting Delaney’sname on the record, thus implying that it’sWilliams’s creation.12/28/13 revisit: Since we don’t have anyrecordings that we’ve called Vine Street Blues,we don’t—for now—have to agonize overwhether the “New” version is substantiallydifferent from the old version. Nichols clearlyemulated the 1929 “New” version, whichclearly credits Moten-Basie on the label, solet’s just stop there.New York Hippodrome, The(John Philip Sousa)Chrysanthemum Ragtime Band 1047Copyright reg. has The:New York (The) hippodrome; march by JohnPhilip Sousa, of U.S.; piano. © Sept. 28,1915; 2 c. Sept. 28, 1915; E 372557; T. B.Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, New York.No The on cover, but copyright page has it, atleast the 1915 piano version pub. by samepublishers mentioned in copyright.New York Rag (Dave Dallwitz)Dave Dallwitz JB 1112Nickel in the Slot (Zez Confrey)David Thomas Roberts 1132ASM, 1923, Leo Feist; w. Leo Wood/m. ZezConfrey. Cover has subtitle (Drop a Nickel),but it’s not on (c) page. Blurb on cover is“Also published as a piano solo.” I’m torn:Generally, I’ve argued that the public of theday thought of “ragtime” as a song genre, andin many cases it appears that the songwritersworked jointly on a composition that came outas a song, but then also did a piano soloversion at the same time. Which drove which?But in this case, (a) I have never heard lyricssung to this piece, and (b) Perfessor BillEdwards’s description of it gives us an out,implying that the lyrics were written just tocash in on an already popular piece:“[Confrey’s] recording, released concurrentlywith the music, displays . . . his flawlesstechnique. . . . It was popular enough that itwas released as a song also, with lyrics byLeo Wood, composer of ‘Somebody Stole MyGal.’”Niddapark Strut (Reimer von Essen)Jazz Classics CD 1061Von Essen is the clarinet player.Night in Tunisia, A (Dizzy Gillespie–Frank Paparelli)Les Rois du Fox-Trot 1429CD said just Gillespie.From Wikipedia:"A Night in Tunisia" is a musicalcomposition written by Dizzy Gillespie andFrank Paparelli in 1942 while Gillespie wasplaying with the Earl Hines Band. It hasbecome a jazz standard.It is also known as "Interlude", under whichtitle it was recorded (with lyrics) by SarahVaughan (from the EP "Hot Jazz (album)",1953) and Anita O'Day. Gillespie himselfcalled the tune "Night in Tunisia", althoughthe song is usually titled "A Night in Tunisia".It appears as the title track of 30 CDs and isincluded in over 500 currently available CDs.In January 2004, The Recording Academyadded the Dizzy Gillespie & his Sextet’s1946 Victor recording to its Grammy Hall ofFame.Not in 1942-43 copyright books. Online 78says Boyd Raeburn 1945 record with Dizzy ontrumpet titled “Interlude (Night in Tunisia).”Composer Paparelli-Gillespie-Laveen. OK,found published copyright sheet, m. DizzyGillespie-Frank Paparelli/w. Raymond Leveen,