V-DISC "MEMORIAL TO BIX BEIDERBECKE" Red Nichols, Bobby Hackett VD 774 V++ 1947

$

25

"MEMORIAL TO BIX BEIDERBECKE" - "As Suggested by Dr. John Dale Owen." 

HERE are three fine performances, each by a trumpeter / cornetist who was clearly influenced by the great Bix.  

RED NICHOLS gives a thoughtful, clean-cut, harmonically adventuresome reading of "DANCING ON THE CEILING," with GLEN GRAY AND HIS ORCHESTRA.  Of the three trumpeters, Nichols was most directly influenced by Bix - was even his roommate for a week in New York! - and a great advocate of Bix's work.  BUT this is not an imitation! It's pure Red, and only adds to my puzzlement as to why Nichols was always compared negatively to Bix! 

THE LATE LT. HARRY JOHNSON blows a swell performance of "A HANDFUL OF STARS," a kind of sideways Bix tribute.  I presume "The Late" Harry was a War casualty!  

BOBBY HACKETT genuflects grandly to Bix on his version of "SINGIN' THE BLUES," complete with harmonized transcribed version of Bix's famous chorus on the original OKeh.  This must be from the 1938 Vocalion.  

Dr. John Dale Owen must have been quite a fellow. He was a well-known Milwaukee pediatrician and jazz buff, who had some sway at V-Disc, and used it for the Forces of Good! 

This original 1946 V-Disc 774 is in somwhat scratched up V++ condition - not too much needle wear, but the Sturm-Und-Drang of whatever Army, Navy or Marine base that housed it has taken its toll!  I got excellent results using a slightly smaller (1.9 mil) stylus than normal.  

PHOTOS:  1) Red Nichols 2) Bobby Hackett, there's NO # 3) - The late Lt. Harry Johnson.   Guess he got picked off before a picture could be took! 

***** 

These records come from my private collection, which I have been accumulating since 1967, and now am downsizing!  My highest priority in these eBay auctions is to give you the best possible idea of a record’s true condition and aesthetic value.  I always post at least four clear images, showing the record fore and aft, a close-up of the label, and the whole disc, warts and all.  If my purple prose won’t cut it, the pictures will!  Shipping is done with expert care. Your record will brave Media Mail in a stout corregated box, between four sheets of cardboard and a couple of “packers.”  I hope you are amused by these descriptions, and by the quality of service being offered.

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