Stomp Off 1001 - Dickbaker.org

and in parens), credits Raye-Shavers-Shaw,the other just the main title and credits justShaw. LC Sonic has another Artie Shawrelease of it, Gramophone B-8936, as WhyBegin Again (Pastel Blue) with Raye-Shavers-Shaw.Tommy Dorsey, as Why Begin Again (PastelBlue), 5/1/39, Victor 26246. LC SONICconfirms Pastel Blue in parens, credits Raye-Shavers-Shaw.LC SONIC has two other recordings of it asWhy Begin Again (Pastel Blue), both creditRaye-Shavers-Shaw--Dick Todd, 4/24/39, VicLewis and Jack Parnell’s Jazz Men, London1940.Strange copyright reg.:Blue dilemna [?]; melody Charles Shavers.© 1 c. Nov. 28, 1938; E unpub. 184238;Leeds music corp., New York.Well, this is a hell of a mess: Shavers writesand copyrights it as Blue Dilemma, butrecords it with John Kirby as Pastel Blue, withcocredit to Artie Shaw--and somehow Rustknows about the Blue Dilemma title. We’dpresume that Shaw made some additionssuggestionsbefore it got recorded, but therecording session preceded the copyright bya month.Then Shaw records it as Pastel Blue, creditShaw-Shavers, except the HMV releases call itWhy Begin Again (why?) and some come adda credit to Raye, whoever the hell he is. Thenthree other bands recorded it by the WhyBegin Again title, conceding on their labelsthat it’s really Pastel Blue, but also creditingRaye.1. Blue Dilemma -- it was never issued thatway, so we can ignore it.2. Why Begin Again -- clearly, we must addthis as an alternative title, since the Shawrecording went out under both titles andothers used it while conceding that it wasreally Pastel Blue. And in spite of Rust’srepeated use of the question mark, none ofthe labels had it.3. Raye: I was about to write that we don’treally know how, why or even when he gotinvolved, or even who he is. BUT then Idecided to look for that name in the copyrightbooks and found this:Why begin again; w Don Raye, m Artie Shaw& Charles Shavers. © May 18, 1939; E pub.77162; Leeds music Corp., New York.Don Raye was a very busy man at Leeds; he’son many of their publications in 1938 &especially 1939.So there’s the answer: Don Raye was broughtin to add lyrics to the tune that Kirby and Shawhad recorded as instrumentals. I suspect thatby the time HMV released its issues inEngland, the tune had turned into Why BeginAgain and they went ahead and used the newtitle and credits even though they werereissuing the Artie Shaw Pastel Blue/instrumental version.Pastime Rag No. 2 (Artie Matthews)Hall Brothers JB 1062ASM confirms.Pastime Rag No. 3 (Artie Matthews)Evergreen Classic JB 1202Evergreen Ragtime Quartet 1383Manhattan Ragtime Orchestra 1419Pastime Rag No. 4 (Artie Matthews)Dave Dallwitz Ragtime Ensemble 1098Yerba Buena Stompers 1375Pastime Rag No. 5 (Artie Matthews)South Frisco JB 1180Frank French & Scott Kirby 1306Paswonky (Fats Waller)Paris Washboard 1359Rec. Fats 6/8/36, Victor 25652, HMV BD-5354et al. Confirmed by 9/2/36 unpub. copyrightreg.Patrol Wagon Blues (Porter Grainger)Red Roseland Cornpickers 1101Kustbandet 1294Rec. Red Allen 7/15/30, Victor 23006 et al.Margaret Johnson, 7/30/37, ARC 7-10-64,Conqueror 8921, Vocalion 03677.Confirmed by 10/6/30 unpub. copyright reg.and Victor label.Patsy (Earl Burtnett–Dick Coburn–Dick Winfree)San Francisco Starlight Orchestra 1334ASM, 1924, Sherman, Clay; w. Coburn-Winfree/m. Burtnett.Pauvre Moquette (Emmanuel Hussenot)Orpheon Celesta 1095Peaceful Henry (E. Harry Kelly)Chrysanthemum Ragtime Band 1196Elite Syncopators 1286ASM, 1901, Carl Hoffman.Peaches and Cream (Percy Wenrich)Red Wing Blackbirds 1018ASM, 1905, Jerome Remick has a delectablesubtitle — (A Delectable Rag) — but only onthe cover.Pearls, The (Jelly Roll Morton)South Frisco JB 1035Don Ewell 1077Ray Smith 1162Jim Cullum JB 1254Chris Tyle’s Silver Leaf JB 1298Paramount JB of Boston 1340Red Rose Ragtime Band 1399Rec. JRM pno solo, 7/18/23, Gennett 5323.Again 4/20/26, Vocalion 1020, Oriole 1007,Brunswick 80067 et al. RHP, 6/10/27, Victor20948, Bluebird B-10252 et al.Confirmed by 8/20/23 copyright reg.Peek-A-Boo Rag (Charles L. Johnson)Dick Zimmerman 1049ASM, 1914, Forster.Peepin’ Blues (Lovie Austin)Art Hodes Blues Serenaders 1184Rec. Austin 4/25, Paramount 12277, Silvertone3572 (as Carolina Shuffle by the Hot Dogs), etal.Not in copyright books 1925-26, althoughmany other Austin pieces are there.Paramount label confirms Lovie Austin ascomposer. Detailed Tommy Ladnierdiscography confirms that Silvertone 3572appeared as Carolina Shuffle by The HotDogs, but I suspect it had extremely smalldistribution and can be ignored.Pegasus (James Scott)Matthew Davidson 1252Confirmed by 1920 sheet music reproduced inDover folio.Peggy (Bismer*–Buckley*–Head*)Kustbandet 1178Neely’s Royal Society Jazz Orch 12502013 review: For God’s sake, how could Ihave figured out that all three composernames were pseudonyms and not made anykind of notation to that effect here? I see: thetune list in 1250 spelled out the pseudonymsin detail: Bismer = John Nesbitt, Buckley =Dave Wilborn, Head = George Thomas (allmembers of the band). Presumably Neelyknew what he was talking about.Orig rec. was by McKinney’s Cotton Pickers,11/7/29, Victor V-38133, Bluebird B-10706 etal. Credit on Victor label is Bismer-Buckley-Head; Victor archives are no help: “Unverifiedcomposer information: Bismer; Buckley;Head.Composer information source: Disc label.”The 1/5/30 unpub. copyright reg. says just“melody by Bismer-Buckley-Head,” in itselfvery suspicious.Will try to query Neely, but it’s possible theinfo came straight from Erdos. But whence?No amount of googling on my part raised ahint. Neeley pleads ignorance, must askErdos.Pelican Drag (Harry Carney)Paris Washboard 1347