W.C. HANDY'S ORCHESTRA possible "Pre-Black Swan" records, 1921 V++ Historical

$

40

HERE'S A MYSTERY I commend to your attention:  Examine, if you will, these two consecutively numbered RADIEX records, issued in 1924.  The "A" sides are of contemporary 1924 pop numbers, "O KATHARINA" and "ALABAMMY BOUND," by competent studio orchestras.  The "B" sides, however, date back to 1921, and here the mystery begins.  

They are of two W.C. HANDY compositions, "DRAGGIN' THE DRAGON," a peppy fox trot, and "JOHN HENRY BLUES," one of the line of classic Handy blues songs, along with "St. Louis Blues," "Memphis Blues" and the rest.  The band and the arrangements sound like Handy's.  The master numbers are in a sequence with early Black Swan masters*, very likely made right before or just as the company got started.  That would be January, 1921. 

At this exact time, Handy and his publishing business partner Harry Pace suddenly broke up. Handy retained the publishing house, Pace began his new record company, and took most of the partnership's employees with him.  It all came as an unexpected blow to W.C., who got a bad case of "The Blues" and even had to be hospitalized for a while (he recovered fully).  

So with the Pace / Handy partnership in tatters, these 1921 masters apparently sat, unissued, for three years, and finally were remaindered, under pseudonyms, as the "B" sides of non-Black Swan releases. In this case, as Radiex records:  

RADIEX 1262  COTTON BLOSSOMS ORCHESTRA: "Draggin' the Dragon" / COSMOPOLITAN DANCE ORCHESTRA: "O! Katharina"

RADIEX 1263  NEW ORLEANS BLUE NINE:  "John Henry Blues" / OLYMPIC DANCE ORCHESTRA:  "Alabammy Bound".  

Musically, it's peppy and engaging African-American dance music, totally hip for 1921, but outmoded by '24.  The sides flew completely under the radar, causing NO comment at the time.  

These two 1924 Radiex records, nos. 1262 and 1263, are each in used but game V++ condition.  

* 105  ?Handy’s Band  Draggin’ the Dragon  -  Radiex 1263 

106   ?Handy’s Band John Henry Blues   -  Radiex 1262 

107   possibly Revella Hughes  Sunshine of Your Smile BS unissued 

108  Lulu Whidby  Home Again Blues  BS 2005

109  Lulu Whidby  Strut Miss Lizzie   BS 2005 

110  C. Carroll Clark   Nobody Knows de Trouble I See  BS 2006 

111  C. Carroll Clark   By the Waters of Minnetonka BS 2006 

112   Juan Harrison   My Mammy  BS 2004 

113   Juan Harrison   Bright Eyes  BS 2004 

114   Ethel Waters   Oh Daddy  BS 2010 

115   Ethel Waters   Down Home Blues BS 2010  

Et Cetera   

*****

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.