Stomp Off 1001 - Dickbaker.org

I never did any research on this one...itappears several times on Stomp Off, butalways as Fidgety Feet, so I've never tried anytitle reconciliation. Like you, I've many timesseen reference to the fact that it was retitledfrom "War Cloud," but never tracked down thehistory of that.Arhoolie 1058, "New Orleans RagtimeOrchestra," lists it as "War Cloud," and thenotes say, "'War Cloud,' better known as'Fidgety Feet,' dates from 1917. An official ofthe Victor Talking Machine Company madethe title change in 1918 since he saw the endof World War I coming." Quite frankly, I don'tfind that explanation particularly compelling.Ah, here we go. I started out looking at linernotes, then remembered that I have a copy ofthe definitive history of the ODJB by H. O.Brunn ("The Story of the Original DixielandJazz Band," Louisiana State University Press,1960). He states,The genius that manifested itself in suchunforgettable music obviously did notextend to he printed word. Some of thenames suggested by LaRocca for hiscompositions would have been moresuitable for race horses. Although “WarCloud” and “Belgian Doll” were timely,considering America's entry into the war andher popular sympathy for Belgium, the VictorCompany, according to officialcorrespondence, did not consider them“particularly appropriate.” J. S. MacDonaldof that company, who had already createdutter chaos by substituting “Barnyard” for“Livery Stable,” was ready with bright newtitles. At his suggestion, “War Cloud”became “Fidgety Feet,” and “Belgian Doll”turned into “’Lasses Candy.”But even if we accept this story at face value,the question remains: How did we ever learnthat LaRocca intended/hoped to call it "WarCloud"? It can't conceivably have beenpublished as sheet music before it wasrecorded, so how in the world can we knowthat LaRocca wanted to call it "War Cloud"? Ican only guess wildly that the band played itpublicly under than title before recording it,and that this was reported and becameknown.Jones responded:Many thanks. I've fwd'd your research to FloydLevin, the jazz writer, with attribution to you.Once again, I assure you that the stock chart Ihave here, copyright 1918, uses only the WarCloud title. The arranger was Leroy Walker,for two trumpets, one t'bone, two saxes, cltand flute plus rhythm. And, picking up onyour idea, it does say, "As PLAYED by theOriginal Dixieland Jazz Band" (emphasismine). That intimates that the printed chartpreceded the recording date of 7/17/18.2013 review . . . and I’ll be darned: it WAScopyrighted as War Cloud:War cloud; one-step, by D. J. La Rocca,Larry Shields and H. W. Ragas [of U.S.];piano. © 1 c. June 26, 1918; E 428197; LeoFeist, inc., New York.Later came a rereg. dropping Ragas:War cloud; one step, by D. J. La Rocca andLarry Shields [of U.S.]; piano. © Aug. 9,1918; 2 c. Aug. 10, 1918; E 430045; LeoFeist, inc., New York.And then an arrangement copyright:War cloud; one step, by D. J. La Rocca andLarry Shields [of U.S.], arr. by Le Roy Walker[of U.S.]; orch. with piano. 4to. © Dec. 13,1918; 2 c. Dec. 14, 1918; E 440108; LeoFeist, Inc., New York. [Copyright is claimedon arrangement]THIS is the version that Jim Jones has.NO copyrights as Fidgety Feet 1917-18.In 1919, we get two copyrights side by side as“Fidgety Feet,” one for the arrangement, onefor the piano score:Fidgety feet; jazz one step, by D. J. La Roccaand Larry Shields, arr. by Leroy Walker [ofU.S.]; orch. 4to. © Jan. 28, 1919; 2 c. Jan. 29,1919; E 442167; Leo Feist, inc., New York.__________ one step, by D. J. La Rocca andLarry Shields [of U.S.]; piano. © Jan. 20, 1919;2 c. Jan. 21, 1919; E 439966; Leo Feist, inc.,New York.Victor 18564, rec. 6/25/18, definitely “FidgetyFeet,” credits La Rocca-Shields. However, theVictor Project ledgers report that its “alternatetitle” is “The War Cloud.”Fig Leaf [Rag] (Scott Joplin)Paramount JB of Boston 1247Le Petit Jazzband 1389Oops, stop the show. The cover (pub. Stark,1909, does say Fig Leaf Rag, but the copyrightpage is clear:“FIG LEAF”A High Class Rag.But because of the cover, and because it’s sowidely known by the three-word title, let’s putthe Rag there as alternative.Fig Leaf, The (William Lawrence)Elite Syncopators 1358We had “Fig Leaf Rag,” but the copyright isFig [The] leaf; rag and two step, by W. R.Lawrence, for piano. Wm. E. Lawrence,Philadelphia, Pa. C 209071, June 7, 1909.And sure enough, Tom Brier reports that it’s“The Fig Leaf” on both cover and copyrightpage.Finger Breaker (see Fingerbuster)Finger Buster (Willie “The Lion” Smith)Neville Dickie 1096Tom Roberts 1392Paul Asaro & Neville Dickie 1404Rec. 5/14/34 for ARC, but not issued. Rec.2/39, Commodore 522.CopyrightFinger buster; by Willie Smith; pf. © Oct. 15,1934; E pub. 44100; Clarence Williamsmusic pub. co., inc., New York.This one, at least, is not complicated. Sametitle on recording and copyright. But . . .Fingerbuster (Jelly Roll Morton)Morten Gunnar Larsen 1009John Gill 1066Jim Cullum JB 12541009 showed Finger BreakerAnd I had some confusing, contradictorynotes from years ago, which I’ve tossed infavor of an entirely new look in June 2013:Rust says rec Finger Buster, 2/38, Jazz Man12, Blue Star 170, Vogue GV-2256. Jazz Manlabel agrees.According to the Reich-Gaines bio, Jelly calledhis tune Finger Breaker, but it was titled FingerBuster by mistake on the Jazz Man label.Hmph. Says pub. by Roy Carew 1941 as “TheFinger Breaker.”Lomax says rec. on Jazz Man as“Fingerbuster”; pub. Carew 1942: “TheFingerbreaker (Fingerbuster).” They can’tboth be right.Aha! The Carew copyright isFinger breaker; by Ferdinand J. Morton; pf.(c) 1 c. Nov. 23, 1942; E unp. 316156; RoyJ. Crew [sic], Washington. 47838 [this 16months after Jelly died]It still would be instructive to see how thesheet music as published by Carew reads.But we can’t be mindreaders: It was“published” as Finger Buster in 1938 andrepublished in sheet form after Jelly’s deathunder a different title. We should list it underBuster and use the published sheet title as analternative. 6/5/13 queried Dapogny &Thompson to see if they agree and can tell mewhat the published sheet says. 12/13/13discovered that never received an answer,resubmitted the query to them and to Brier-Adams.Fingers on Holiday (Robin Frost)Matthew Davidson 1252Lots of online sources confirm, and I found apiano roll crediting him as composer andperformer. And it’s in a Frost folio publishedby John Roache.