Stomp Off 1001 - Dickbaker.org

1915; 2 c. July 24, 1915; E 363546;Waterson, Berlin & Snyder co., New York.Another case (we’ve seen ’em before) ofmiscommunication with, or artistic licensetaken by, cover artist. And, for what it’s worth,bandleader Bruce Vermazen called it “DownHome” in his liner notes.But since some people may know it by thecover title, I’ve put the [Back] there to explainit--See Ragtime Nightingale/Nightingale Rag.2013 review: Argh! that “fix” of adding [Back]in brackets is damned ugly, and could be readas “Down Back Home” as the alternativewording. I’ll leave it, must but hold my nose todo so.Down Home Rag (Wilbur Sweatman)Wally Fawkes & the Rhythm Kings 1060John Gill’s Original Sunset Five 1126South Frisco JB 1143Jacques Gauthé’s Creole Rice YBJB 1170Down Home JB 1190Chris Tyle’s NO Rover Boys 1235Bob Schulz & His Frisco JB 1288Hmmm. Dozens of recordings say Sweatman,but two-old Turk Murphy at the Roundtable LPand Six Brown Bros. on New World LP—saySweatman-Brown-Lewis (althrough Six BrownBros. on the well researched Archeophonesays just Sweatman). Where does that comefrom?Then at IN Harmony found the 1911 version,pub. Will Rossiter. By Wilbur C. S. Sweatman,no lyrics. Cover is red with drawing of cottonplant, with faces of black boy and girl on twoof the bolls.AND two copies of the 1913 version, alsopub. Rossiter, which has diffferent cover,drawing of white people at barn dance scene.There’s an inset photo of a performer whorecorded the song on each; one “originallyintroduced by Al Abbott,” the other is“originally introduced by Lee White of LeeWhite and Geo. Perry.” Credits now w. RogerLewis and m. Wilbur C. Sweatman.And aha: First copyright I could find wasDown home rag; words by Roger Lewis,music by Wilbur C. Sweatman. (c) Jan. 8,1913; 2 c. Jan.18, 1913; E 304091; WillRossiter, Chicago.Normally I argue for including the lyricist whenhe was in at the beginning or this close to thebeginning. But Lewis’s words are silly andsappy. I’ve never heard them sung, nor can Iimagine anybody singing them at the tempothat jazz and ragtime bands play this piece.And although the Six Brown Bros. play it at afairly stately tempo that might allow forsinging, there’s no vocal on their recording.We can safely ignore the lyricist on this one.2013 review: A bit of a mystery. Havecombed 1911 & 1912 copyright books, but nosign of this, even though Rossiter published itin that year--as noted, without lyrics, and byWilbur C. S. Sweatman. Then comes the 1913version by Wilbur C. Sweatman & RogerLewis, with lyrics, as shown in the copyright.The recordings: James Reese Europe andLondon Orchestra in 1913; Six Brown Bros. in1915; Wilbur Sweatman and Versatile Four(UK) in 1916. Alll issued after the 1913published song version, but all had onlySweatman on label as composer.Shall continue to rule that the song versionwas an effort to sell more copies that wasn’tborn out in the marketplace.Down in Honky Tonky Town(Chris Smith–Charles R. McCarron)Waldo’s Gutbucket Syncopators 1036Banu Gibson NO Hot Jazz Orch 1073New Orleans Rascals 1074Original Salty Dogs JB 1115South Frisco JB 1143John Gill’s Dixieland Serenaders 1304Heliotrope Ragtime Orchestra 1411ASM, 1916, Broadway Music.Down in Jungle Town (A MonkeyDitty) (Theodore F. Morse–Edward Madden)Down Home JB 1171St. Louis Ragtimers 1267Paris Washboard 1280Bob Schulz & His Frisco JB 1288Grand Dominion JB 1379New Century Ragtime Orchestra 1385Tom Stuip & Delirium Tremolo 1433ASM, 1908, F. B. Haviland; subtitle is on (c)page only, not cover.Down in Our Alley Blues(Duke Ellington–Otto Hardwick)Keith Nichols Cotton Club Orchestra 1320Rec. Ellington 3/22/27, Columbia 1076-D,4562.S&P confirms, as does 8/12/27 copyright reg.Down My Way (Jelly Roll Morton)Back Bay Ramblers 1374Rec. JRM aho 7/12/29, Victor V-38113.Victor Project and label confirm; typical forMorton, not copyrighted 1927-29.Down Where the Rajahs Dwell(Anton Lada–Will E. Skidmore)Dan Levinson’s Roof Garden JB 1380Rec. Louisiana Five, 11/19, Emerson 10116.Down where the rajahs dwell; jazzensation,words and music by Anton Lada and Will E.Skidmore [of U.S.] © Dec. 29, 1919; 2 c.Dec. 30, 1919; E 470037; Leo Feist, inc.,New York.Down Where the Sun Goes Down(Isham Jones–Verne Buck)John Gill’s Calif. Sunshine Boys 1156Smith–Tyle Frisco Syncopators 1211Red Rose Ragtime Band 1412Down where the sun goes down; words andmusic by Isham Jones and Verne Buck.[Words and melody only] © 1 c. June 13,1928; E 694417; Leo Feist, inc., New York.Down Yonder (Tiny Parham)Pam Pameijer’s New Jazz Wizards 1281Rec. Parham 11/4/30, Pirate MPC-505 (EP),which evidently was released in 1966 and wasreviewed in Storyville 5 (June 1966, p. 28).(Audrey has the complete set of Storyvilles,but alas that review doesn’t say anythingabout composers.)Strange--Red Hot Jazz Archive says Victorunissued (and credits Parham)--and in fact,four of the eight tunes made that day wereissued on Victor, so presumably it was indeeda Victor session. Alas, the Victor Projecthasn’t gotten that far, so they can’t help.No Parham in copyright books 1928-32, butperhaps that’s because it wasn’t issued at thetime.I guess we keep our Parham attribution.Seems like he rarely if ever recorded tunes byother composers.1/16/14: But wait. Haesler has been peckingaway at this one. He looked for Parhamcopyrights for every year from 1926 to 1932,confirms that there’s no Down Yondercopyrighted by Parham, but he did findDown yonder; by Hershal Brown, arr. byIrene Spain. [Melody only] © 1 c. May 31,1928; E 601972; Polk C. Brockman, Atlanta.and thenDown yonder; by Hershal Brown. [Melodyonly] © 1 c. June 13, 1929; E unp. 8228;Southern music pub. co., inc., New York.This tune recorded by Hershal Brown & HisWashboard Band Orchestra on Victor 21403on 2/24/28. There is no composer credit onthe Victor label, and oddly, the Victor Projectlisting for this recording doesn’t seem to haveaccess to the actual 78, but it lists thecomposer as L. Wolfe Gilbert based on“Meade.”Obviously, I look for the Brown recording orhis lead sheet for copyright and compare it tothe Parham recording.