Stomp Off 1001 - Dickbaker.org

John Gill reports 1/18/24 copyright deposit byLouis.Corrine Corrina (J. Mayo Williams–Bo Chatman)Acker Bilk & Ken Colyer 1119Magnolia Jazz Five/Jimmy Mazzy 1137Oops, not in Rust index! First copyright isCorrine Corrina; words and music by J. M.Williams and Bo Chatman, arr. by JamesAlston. [Words and melody only] © 27421 ©1 c. Dec. 5, 1929; E unp. 14071; State Streetmusic pub. co., inc., Chicago.But a later copyright adds the comma andanother lyricist:Corrine Corrina; w and m J. M. Williams andBo Chatman, additional lyrics MitchellParish, pf. sc. James Matté ; with ukulele arr.© Mar. 18, 1932; E pub. 29265; Gothammusic service, inc.This is presumably why you commonly see thetitle with and with out a comma, and seecomposers listed as Williams-Chatman orWilliams-Chatman-Parish. I guess we stickwith what we had, which confirms to originalcopyright.Corsica Rag (Joe Jordan)Terry Waldo 1002Johnny Maddox’s recording also creditsJordan, says 1909, but I couldn’t findcopyright anytime in 1908-10. PeacherineRagtime Orchestra YouTube recording of italso says Jordan 1909. I couldn’t find this inany collections, either—but in Googlingaround I found a zillion refs to it as being byJordan, and a couple of mentions of its neverhaving been published. We must trustMaddox on this: He knew Joe Jordan quitewellCosey Rag, The (Shelton Brooks)Down Home JB 1316ASM, 1911, Will Rossiter.Cotton Babes (Percy Wenrich)Elite Syncopators 1358Cotton babes; rag two-step, by PercyWenrich; for piano. © Dec. 7, 1909 ; 2 c.Dec. 7, 1909 E 219872; Jerome H. Remick &co., Detroit, Mich.Odd--the big collections had dozens of piecesby Wenrich, but not this one.Cotton Bolls (Charles Hunter)Tom Shea 1022David Thomas Roberts 1317Confirmed by my 1901 sheet music.Cotton Club Stomp [No. 2](Duke Ellington–Irving Mills)Lande’s Rhythm Club Orchestra 13272013 review: There as been a ton ofcontroversy and confusion over this title byDuke and “Keep Your Temper” by Willie theLion Smith. In the course of the year I’vecompiled voluminous notes by myself, BillHaesler, Vince Giordano and the news letter ofthe Duke Ellington Music Society. They run toseveral pages in this format so I’m just goingto recap them here and keep the full notes onfile for anybody who’s unsatisfied by therecap.First, the various recordings of the title are:Cotton Club Stomp [No. 1]Ellington’s first recording of the title was 5/3/29by DE & His Cotton Club Orchestra, Victor V-38079; Bluebird B-10242; HMV B-4872 et al.Ellington actually had recorded this same tuneon 4/12/29 as part of a medley (with MistyMornin’) titled “A Nite at the Cotton Club - Part1,” Victor 741029 (a later LP reissue, creditHodges-Carney-Ellington); and then again adecade later on 6/6/39 on Brunswick 8405.The 5/3/29 Victor and Bluebird labels creditRodgers-Carney-Ellington. But the 6/6/39Brunswick label has it corrected to Carney-Hodges-Ellington.Cotton Club Stomp [No. 2]Same title by the Jungle Band, 4/22/30,Brunswick 4887, 6813, 1186 et al. Brunswick4887, 6813 & 1186 credit Mills-Ellington (6813calls it by DE & His Famous Orch rather thanJungle Band).The numbers are arbitrary, assigned forconvenience’ sake in keeping them apart.First, they are different tunes with the sametitle; that alone was sure to cause a hugeamount of confusion. Second, at some pointearly on, listeners detected some similaritybetween Cotton Club No. 2 and Smith’s “KeepYour Temper,” and advanced the theory that itreally was “Keep Your Temper” incorrrectlylabeled. And in fact, some reissues of itcarried that “incorrectly corrected” title. As didSOS 1327. But later, serious musical analysisof the two tunes notes some similarities butagrees that they are not the same tune.Adding to the confusion was the fact that mostlabels of No. 1 carried the composer credits ofRodgers-Carney-Ellington, but that was a typo:Rodgers should have been Hodges (Johnny),and Victor shares some of the blame becauseit spelled the name Hodgers in its files!Cotton Pickers Ball (Elmer Schoebel–Billy Meyers)Les Rois du Fox-Trot 1407Isham Jones 10/11/23, Brunswick 2548 (labelsays Pickers’; credit is Schoebel-Meyers-Mills!Midway Dance Orchestra 10/18/23, Columbia51-D, Regal G-8149 (as Corona DanceOrchestra). Columbia label is Pickers’;credit is just Schoebel.Fletcher Henderson 1/29/24, Vocalion 14759(Vocalion label shows Picker’s, but can’tread credit on it; Red Hot Jazz ArchiveOnline 78 both credit only Schoebel [seecopyright below]).Guy Lombardo 3/10/24, Gennett 5417, Starr9536. Gennett label is Pickers, creditSchoebel-Meyers.Copyright isCotton pickers ball; melody ElmerSchoebel. of U.S. 21353 © 1 c. Nov. 16,1923; E 577112; Jack Mills, inc., New York.Then a month later:Cottonpicker's ball; w Billy Meyers, m ElmerSchoebel. of U.S. © 1 c. Dec. 13, 1923; E577836 ; Jack Mills, inc.. New York.And then four months later:Cottonpickers ball; w Billy Meyers, m ElmerSchoebel, of U.S. © Mar. 5, 1924; 2 c. Mar.13; E 586275; Jack Mills, inc., New York.Well, this is a conflicting mess. First, and Ithink easiest, is to reject Mills as a cocomposer,even though his name is on thevery first recording of the tune. He nevershows up in copyrights or on any laterrecordings.Next, Cotton Pickers or Cottonpickers? Sincethe first copyright and all the recordingspresent it as two words, I’m going to stick withthat option.Finally, that pesky apostrophe: Grammatically,Pickers’ is best; it’s on the first two records,but none of the copyrights. Picker’s (which iswhat’s on SOS 1407) is worst, as it takes morethan one cotton picker to have a ball (see“Darktown Strutters’ Ball”). So let’s be safeand stick with two of the three copyrights:Pickers. (Think of the VeteransAdministration.)Cotton Pickers Rag (William J. Braun)Lake Arrowhead Early JB 1365“Cotton Pickers Rag and Cakewalk” on 1365,but I found sheet music online (1900, LouisGrunewald). Cover has genre marker“Original Cakewalk”; (c) page isCotton Pickers RagCAKE WALKCotton Picker’s Scat (Don Redman–Bill McKinney)