Revision note. Much new information has come to light about the Blues Party that Tom Archia participated in in 1960. We've revised and expanded the discographical entry and provided the historical background for this event.
"Texas Tenors" occupy a well-defined niche in the worlds of jazz and blues. The virtues of Herschel Evans, Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb, and Booker Ervin have been sung loudly and often. Some even remember John Hardee, James Clay, or Marcel Ivery. But little has been said about Tom Archia; this is the first full-length article ever written about him. As a great blues player, an instantly recognizable soloist, and the only Texas Tenor to have taken his inspiration straight from Lester Young, Tom Archia deserves better.
Thanks to Johnnie Mae Walton, Tom Archia's first cousin, we have learned something about his family background. The Archie family (as most of them have always spelled the name) came from the area around Hempstead, Texas (a small town about 50 miles northwest of Houston). In fact, there were several different Archie families (unrelated) around Hempstead and Bellville. Ernest Archie Sr. was born near Hempstead in the late 1880s or early 1890s; his father, Nathan Archie, who died in 1910, was a farmer who had been born into slavery.
Nathan's wife Virginia Archie (1862 - 1932) had a major impact on her family's destiny. Born in Mississippi, she arrived in Waller County, Texas while still a child. She and Nathan had 14 children. Six daughters and 5 sons were still alive at the time of her death. According to one obituary, "Her husband having died in later years leaving her with a number of small children on their farm, with confidence and perseverance she carried on; besides educating all of her children, she greatly increased her holdings. At her death she was reported to be one of the largest land holders in Waller County." Another obituary noted that she was "one of the leading watermelon growers of the state." After she died suddenly while attending an event at Odd Fellows' Hall on February 5, 1932, Black newspapers throughout the state of Texas ran obituaries. An item in the Dallas Express, which ran a few weeks after her death, emphasized her significance as "a firm believer in higher education."
Although she was denied the opportunity to gain a college education, she has invested heavily that her descendants might have the benefit of such training. Being the mother of eleven children, five boys and six girls, this noble soul was left a widow in 1910, but she was able to maintain her own by putting into execution sound principles of business, industry, and thrift.
Mrs. Archie's first child entered Prairie View College in 1905 and from that date till now, each year has found one or more children, or grandchildren of hers at this institution seeking higher learning at her behest and expense.
Eight of her children and two of her grand-children are Prairie View graduates, three of them having graduated with honors. An eleventh descendant, a grandson, is now enrolled at the same institution.
Ernest Archie decided to become a schoolteacher. Following the path already blazed by his older siblings, he attended Prairie View A&M (which is located just a few miles from Hempstead). After graduating he taught school in a small all-Black community known as Sunnyside, which was located 10 or 15 miles south of Hempstead on the road to Brookshire. There he met a local girl named Henrietta McDade. According to Johnnie Mae, "She told me she made it her business to be out in back combing her hair when he passed by on the way to the school." Ernest and Henrietta were married around 1917. As a young man, Ernest Sr. had concluded that his father, whose educational opportunities had been few, was spelling the family name incorrectly; he modified his last name to "Archia." This decision was met with skepticism among his relatives, who continued to spell the family name "Archie"; referring to Ernest Sr.'s new spelling, Johnnie Mae Walton commented that "he manufactured that." Quite a few years later Tom Archia's last name would show up as "Archie" in his Social Security records (even though he clearly spelled it "Archia" on his application).
Ernest Alvin Archia Jr. was born on November 26, 1919, in Groveton, Texas, where Ernest and Henrietta taught in the local schools. Groveton is a rural town in East Texas, about halfway between Huntsville and Lufkin; its population today is only 1,000. Not long afterward the family moved to Rockdale, Texas (another small town closer to to the center of the state), and then to the Houston area. As a boy Ernest Jr. was generally known as "Sonny." When he became active in music, he decided that he wanted to be called "Tom," because neither "Ernest" nor "Alvin" sounded professional to him; for a while he was billed as "Texas Tom." We will respect his wishes here. Tom's sister Richie Dell (named after her mother's sister Susie Dell) was born on October 4, 1922.
For some years, Tom lived with his parents in Baytown (an oil-refinery town east of Houston, where his father was a school principal--in 1932, his place of residence was listed as Goose Creek, a small town just outside of Baytown), while Richie Dell lived with her grandmother and aunt in Houston. Although Johnnie Mae also lived in Houston at the time, in the summer and fall everyone made frequent visits to the family farm outside of Hempstead. "My people were watermelon farmers. They had a stand at Lyons and Hill in Houston." (Hill Street is now known as Jensen Drive; in those days, the intersection of Lyons and Jensen was a long way from acquiring the fearsome reputation it would have in the 1960s and 1970s.) She recalls Ernest and Henrietta Archia bringing red snapper with them, which they had bought fresh in Houston. Tom enjoyed riding the horses and watching the cows being milked. "He would tell the man, 'Shoot some of that hot cow's milk in my mouth.'" The frequent visits lasted from 1924 or 1925, when Tom was 5 years old, until 1932, when his grandmother died.
Tom Archia's musical training began early. Every Saturday during the summer (when the family was together in Houston), their parents would drive Tom and Richie Dell across town to their music teachers. Johnnie Mae says that "his mama had him taking violin lessons. I remember the violin case." Richie Dell played piano. "We all embraced music like we'd known it before," Richie Dell said in 1998.
Tom was adept at picking up tunes by ear, and asked his parents to buy him a saxophone. By his teenage years, the family was living in Houston in the district called the Fifth Ward, at 4519 Lyons Avenue, across from the old St. Elizabeth's Hospital. Illinois and Russell Jacquet lived down the street.
At Phyllis Wheatley High School, Tom Archia had the good fortune to work with one of the great band teachers of the era. Percy McDavid (who later became the Supervisor of Music in the Los Angeles schools) was Houston's answer to such legendary figures as Capt. Walter Dyett in Chicago and John T. "Fess" Whatley in Birmingham. He had the same kind of perfectionism. Richie Dell recalls, "He was absolute in what he wanted from you... One wrong note and everybody had to stop and be blessed."
Formal music instruction at the time was strictly classical in orientation. Walter Dyett may have turned out great jazz players, but his bands kept to a strict diet of Sousa marches and Suppé overtures. Very unusually for the period, Percy McDavid taught an eclectic repertoire to his orchestra classes, including "Solitude" and other Duke Ellington compositions. Tom Archia played saxophone in the orchestra, while Richie Dell played piano. Their bandmates included Illinois and Russell Jacquet, Arnett Cobb (tenor saxophone), Calvin Boze (trumpet), and George Haynes (violin--Haynes later became known as a drummer). The high point for this band came in 1935, when Duke Ellington visited Wheatley High School to hear the orchestra. "It was our first visit from a big person...," Richie Dell recalled. "We knew all of his tunes."
Ernest and Henrietta Archia insisted that Tom and Richie Dell get their college degrees. Tom Archia majored in Education at Prairie View, graduating in 1939. He was not the most conscientious student. Richie Dell remembers him frequently skipping class and needing help with his assignments. The bands that came through Prairie View on their way to Houston were far more interesting to him. "He would disappear with bands... My father would drive across Texas to find him and bring him back." Johnnie Mae Walton, who was a year ahead of her cousin at Prairie View, remembers him as "very immature then--he wasn't even 16 years old" when he started in August of 1935. (In those days, Texas high schools did not go beyond the 11th grade, so 15 and 16-year-old college freshmen were by no means an anomaly.) "They used to do industries then" at Prairie View, Johnnie Mae says. "He was taking tailoring as an industry, and messed up all of his clothes. I can remember his daddy being mad and upset." When not sewing new pieces into his outfits or trying to tour with other bands, Tom Archia was a member of the Prairie View Collegians, a band that included his old classmate Calvin Boze, and, starting in 1938, a Chemistry major named Charles Brown (1922-1999).
To please his father, Tom Archia worked at an East Texas school for one year (1939-1940); he taught history and served as band director in a small town. But there was no holding him after that. He shipped out with Milt Larkin's band, the premiere Swing aggregration in Houston, which by this time had been in operation for 4 years. Richie Dell recalls getting a letter from Paducah, Kentucky, then one from the Howard Theater, in Washington, DC.
Trumpeter and singer Milton Larkin started his band at the Aragon Ballroom in Houston in 1936. Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (alto sax) and Arnett Cobb (tenor sax) were charter members, and Lester Patterson (trumpet) and his brother Gus (saxes) were in the band early on, along with pianist and arranger Cedric Haywood and bassist Lawrence Cato. The Pattersons and Cato defected to Don Albert's band in December 1938, though they would return later. Illinois Jacquet (alto sax in those days) and William Strethen "Wild Bill" Davis (guitar, piano, arranger) had entered the band by 1939.
A few of Wild Bill Davis's recollection of the band are preserved in his two 1987 interviews with Bob Rusch (published in Cadence, 14(9), pp. 23-26, 88, 90 (September 1988). Davis (who was born in 1918) had previously played in bands at the Tuskeegee Institute and Wiley College (in Marshall, Texas), but when he left Wiley to join Milt Larkin he was entering his first professional band. Comparing the Larkin band of the late 1930s to the group that Larkin recorded with for Copasetic in the 1970s, Davis commented that the Copasetic ensemble "wasn't as large or able to play the kind of fantastic arrangements that he he had made by a fellow named Cedric [Haywood]. It was something else" (p. 23). Davis noted that the Larkin band toured Texas and Louisiana (with everyone on one bus) and on one occasion went all the way to the West Coast, when the band was recruited to fill in for Floyd Ray's orchestra, which had recently disbanded. "We played a lot of dates in California, Oregon, Washington--up the West Coast and then we went back to Texas" (ibid.).
According to Down Beat on September 1, 1940, the band then consisted of: Milt Larkin (tp, voc, ldr); Eddie "Gogo" Hutchinson, Calvin Ladnier, and Lester Patterson (tps); Henry Sloan, Richard Waters, and Weldon Bolding (tbs); Eddie Vinson (as); Frank Dominguez (as); Ernest Archia (ts); Arnett Cobb (ts); Cedric Haywood (p, arr); Lawrence Cato (b); Henry Mills (d); and George Layne (voc).
For a time, Tom sat alongside "Cleanhead" Vinson, Illinois Jacquet, and Arnett Cobb --that was some reed section. When Bob Rusch mentioned that the Larkin band had Arnett Cobb and Eddie Vinson, Wild Bill Davis hastened to add, "Yeah and Tom Archie [sic], a very, very good tenor saxopone player" (p. 23). The first member of this all-star section to go was Jacquet, grabbed up by Lionel Hampton in time to appear on Hamp's 1942 recordings. Not long after that, Cootie Williams hired Eddie Vinson away. On July 15, 1942, the band, then playing in Houston, consisted of Milt Larkin, Calvin Ladnier, James Lee, and Romie Lewis (tps); Nolan Boldin, Arnett Sparrow, and Gus Evans (tbs); Eddie Vinson (as); Frank Dominguez (as); Ernest Archia (ts); Arnett Cobb (ts); Sam Player (as, bars); Cedric Haywood (p, arr); Lawrence Cato (b); Henry Mills (d); George Layne (voc); and Mabel Franklin (voc). Our source is a Down Beat article titled "Milton Larkin Band Heads for Chicago." At the time, Eddie Vinson was expected to leave Cootie Williams and return to Larkin on a permanent basis.
What brought Tom Archia to Chicago was the Larkin band's legendary 9-month stand at the Rhumboogie Club in Chicago (from August 1942 to May 1943). This was a major break for the band, which was brought in by clubowner Charlie Glenn to back fellow Texan T-Bone Walker, whose appearance at the club made a tremendous impact. Larkin's contract was accepted and filed by Musicians Union Local 208 on August 6, just in time for the band to open on August 8.
An item by Bruce Baker, Jr., titled "Milton Larkin Band Heads for Chicago" (Down Beat, July 15, 1942, p. 6), gave Larkin a major buildup: "Coming out of Texas with all the might for of a rhythmic tornado..." At the time the story was filed, the band was playing the College Inn in Kansas City, but the Rhumboogie engagement had already been scheduled.
The Chicago Defender's August 8 issue announced the band's opening night at the Rhumboogie, reproducing the lineup from the Down Beat story. Unfortunately, as Down Beat went on to clarify in its September 1 story, "Larkin Leads Are Drafted," the band had to leave James Lee, Romie Lewis, and Gus Evans back in Houston when they received their "greetings" from the local draft board, "scant hours before the band left Houston." Consequently Louis Ogletree had to be added to the trumpet section when the band got to Chicago (and Larkin had to play nearly full time in a section that was temporarily reduced to 3 men); Charles Dirden stepped into the trombone section; and Moses Gant moved into the sax section (initially on alto sax, though in the photo we have of the band, Arnett Cobb is not present, Gant is on tenor and Tom Archia has moved over to alto). Lawrence Cato was also summoned by the local draft board, but was rejected and was able to travel to Chicago and catch up with the band a few days later. In addition Mabel Franklin apparently did not make the trip to Chicago.
During the 9-month engagement other musicians who came up with the band from Texas would be replaced by Chicagoans. Eddie Vinson decided to stay in Cootie Williams' band after all, and Lionel Hampton would carry out another raid, grabbing up Arnett Cobb in April 1943. According to Charles Walton, further turnover resulted because the elaborate arrangements by Marl Young, who took over the Rhumboogie floor show in the summer of 1942, were too difficult for some of the Texans.
In the photo we have of the band, Chicagoans Clarence Trice (formerly of Andy Kirk's band) and Jesse Miller have moved into the trumpet section, Streamline Williams has joined Arnett Sparrow in what is now a two-man trombone section, and Chicagoan Alvin Burroughs is in on drums.
Here are the other musicians who, according to Cedric Haywood in his interview with Kurt Mohr, played in the band at different times during the stand at the Rhumboogie: Lester Patterson (tp); Russell Jacquet (tp); Eddie "Gogo" Hutchinson (tp); William Luper (tb); Henry Sloan (tb); Willie "Blip" Thompkins (tb); Illinois Jacquet (ts); Gus Patterson (saxes); Kermit Scott (ts); and Wild Bill Davis (g, p, arr).
Roy Porter says in his memoirs that Larkin sent for him in April 1943, at which point Porter replaced Joe Marshall on drums, and Tom Archia replaced Arnett Cobb on tenor sax. (Tom Archia really just moved back over one chair; he probably got stuck with the alto assignment when it became clear that Eddie Vinson wasn't coming back.) The Larkin band's timing was most unfortunate. The band arrived in Chicago just after the first "recording ban" was imposed on August 1, 1942, so it never did get to record; then, after 7 highly productive years, it broke up when most of the musicians were drafted. Milt Larkin himself was conscripted into the army in November 1943. Archia was still in the band when it played the Howard Theater in Washington DC in May, as mentioned in Porter's There and Back (Bayou Press, 1991, p. 53). The band also played Pittsburgh and hit the Apollo in New York City before returning to Texas and then embarking on an another tour.
The Larkin band's long engagement at the Rhumboogie convinced Tom Archia to settle in Chicago. "That was his town," Richie Dell says. "He loved that place... except when it snowed." He got his first recording opportunity with a Roy Eldridge octet in November 1943, right after Larkin disbanded.
We have indicated solos by Tom Archia, or prominent accompaniments, with an asterisk.
Roy Eldridge (tp); Joe Eldridge (as); Andrew "Goon" Gardner (as); Ernest "Tom" Archia (ts); Ike Quebec (ts); Rozelle Gayle (p); Ted Sturgis (b); Harold "Doc" West (d).
World Transcriptions, Chicago, November 16, 1943
| After You've Gone (Creamer-Layton) [ens shouts] | World JS14B-1, MCA 1355 | ||
| After You've Gone [alt.; ens shouts] | Decca GRD605 [CD] | ||
| Body and Soul (Heyman-Green-Sour-Eyton) | World JS15A-5 | ||
| Embraceable You (Gershwin-Gershwin) | World JS15A-4 | ||
| C15095 | The Gasser (Eldridge) | World JS14B-2, Brunswick 80117, Brunswick BL58045, SoS LP108, MCA [Fr] 510.107, Coral [G] 6855, Affinity [Br] AFSD1016, Decca GRD605 [CD] | |
| I Surrender, Dear (Barris-Clifford) | World JS14-B3, Decca GRD605 [CD] | ||
| I Can't Get Started (Gershwin-Duke) | World JS15A-2, MCA 1355 | ||
| C15096 | Jump through the Window* (Eldridge) | World JS15A-3, Brunswick 80117, Brunswick BL58045, SoS LP108, MCA [Fr] 510.150, Coral [G] 6855, Affinity [Br] AFSD1016, Decca GRD605 [CD] | |
| Minor Jive (Eldridge) | World JS14B-4, Brunswick LP BL58045, MCA [Fr] 510.150, Coral [G] 6855, Affinity [Br] AFSD1016, Decca GRD605 [CD] | ||
| Stardust (Carmichael-Parish) | World JS15A-1, Decca 25440, Brunswick LP BL58045, MCA [Fr] 510.150, Coral [G] 6855, Affinity [Br] AFSD1016, Decca GRD605 [CD] | ||
| Lady Be Good (Gershwin-Gershwin) [inc] | Decca GRD605 [CD] |
Roy Eldridge had just arrived in Chicago to play an 8-week engagement at The Preview (contract accepted and filed by Musicians Union Local 208 on November 18). Our information about the session comes from Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, and Dan Morgenstern's notes to Decca GRD605. Lord incorrectly has Archia playing alto and Gardner playing tenor. Archia's first known solo, on "Jump through the Window," is a well-formed outing with more fuzz on his tone than would be the case later on; he sounds a lot like early Dexter Gordon.
The session was recorded on 16-inch acetates; separate matrix numbers weren't given to each track. The original transcriptions on the World label were released at the time. "The Gasser," "Jump through the Window," and "Stardust" were released on singles by Decca and Brunswick later in the 1940s; "Minor Jive" was first released on a Brunswick LP. Affinity AFSD1016 was an LP titled Tippin' Out. French MCA 510.107 was an LP titled Little David and the Goliath MCA 1355 was an LP, released in the early 1980s, titled All the Cats Join In. Decca GRD605 is a CD, released in 1991 and titled After You've Gone; it has also appeared as MCA GRP16052.
Shortly after his transcription session with Roy Eldridge (he may have worked with Eldridge at The Preview, but if so he left before the engagement ended), Tom Archia joined the legendarily troubled "Dream Band" at the Rhumboogie. Pianist Marl Young, who was a mainstay of the "Dream Band," began doing arrangements for the Rhumboogie floorshow during the summer of 1942; he had arranged many of the show numbers for the Larkin band during its stay. When interviewed by Charles Walton, Young recalled, "In 1943, Charlie Glenn, who owned the place, put together what he called his 'Dream Band.' He had Charlie Parker, Eddie Johnson, Tom Archia, Gail Brockman, Paul King, Hillard Brown and a whole lot of other guys. The union put Carroll Dickerson in as leader." He recalled Johnny Houser as the lead altoist; Raymond Orr was in the trumpet section.
An ad ran in the Chicago Defender on November 20, 1943 to the effect that a new review with "Carroll Dickerson and a New All Star Band" would open on the 24th. But in fact, Glenn seems to have assembled this band over the previous month, after Nat Towles and His Orchestra from Omaha finished a run on October 21. He hired what had been King Fleming's Swing band, which since July 30, 1943 (when Fleming was drafted) had continued under the direction of alto saxophonist Richard Overton. Shortly after Overton got the Rhumboogie job, many of the young musicians in the Fleming band were drafted in their turn (apparently including Overton himself). Meanwhile, various of the Larkin musicians had had time to return to Chicago and Glenn was able to recruit some of them for his new band. Glenn's enterprise caused trouble later on, when the band members decided that they answered to him instead of their nominal leader, Carroll Dickerson, who was installed at the insistence of Musicians Union Local 208. (Overton was out and Dickerson in as the leader by November 24, when Defender ads touted a new show with Dickerson's band.)
On January 6, 1944, Carroll Dickerson and the members of the Rhumboogie band were hauled in front of Local 208's Board. Band members had failed to show up at a rehearsal that followed a strenuous weekend at the club and a trip to Camp Ellis to entertain troops. "Carroll Dickerson stated that the orchestra had some very good possibilities, but that they lacked discipline, mentioning the fact that some of the members persisted in reporting late, drinking, and smoking on the band stand." However, Dickerson took the blame for not being clear about when the rehearsal was supposed to take place and begged the Board not to fine the musicians. A confrontation ensued between Eddie Johnson and the imperious president of the Union Local, Harry Gray:
Member Edwin Johnson asked the President if Carroll Dickerson was placed on the engagement by the Board. THE ANSWER WAS NO. Edwin Johnson then asked if the Rhumboogie engagement was classified as an OFFICE JOB? THE ANSWER WAS NO. President Gray then asked Johnson why he asked the questions. Johnson replied that he did not care to answer, and upon insistence from the chair, REFUSED TO ANSWER.
For this act of lèse-majesté Johnson was hauled back in front of the Board on January 20, grilled repeatedly, and fined $10. The other musicians were reprimanded; Charlie Glenn also appeared before the Union Board and "was told that all of his business must be transacted with the leader of the orchestra, as some of the musicians thought they had no reason to respect Dickerson because the band was on the job when he was engaged as it's [sic] leader."
From the January 6 minutes, we gather that the band consisted of Carroll Dickerson (nominal leader); Gail Brockman, Calvin Ladnier [consistently misspelled Ladner], and Raymond Orr (trumpets); George Hunt and J. Taylor (trombones); Nat Jones (alto sax); Tom Archia and Eddie Johnson (tenor saxes); Marl Young (piano, arranger); Clarence "Hog" Mason (bass--by this time he was the only holdover from the old King Fleming band); and Hillard Brown (drums). The second alto player is the only musician not named. This could be a sign that Charlie Parker had already arrived from Kansas City. (As an out-of-towner, Parker appears to have escaped the summons from Harry Gray and his board.) However, Raymond Orr and Marl Young's remniscences have Johnny Houser on lead alto instead of Nat Jones by the time Bird arrived.
Bird Lives! by Ross Russell has Parker playing the Rhumboogie in Noble Sissle's band, in mid-April 1944--a confused reference to Carroll Dickerson Orchestra. We know that Parker was around on June 1, as the dénouement to the saga will make clear.
Raymond Orr recalls Bird arriving at a Rhumboogie rehearsal after hoboing his way to Chicago. "Marl rushed to the piano and began playing a fast Cherokee. Bird had a little difficulty with the mouthpiece at first [he had borrowed a horn from Johnny Houser, who played lead alto], but when he got that together, he was okay. Everyone in the dressing rooms came out to hear him play. Marl began to change keys every chorus, but Bird still had no problems. When the tune was finished, the band was wringing wet. Bird was fabulous!" (see Charles Walton's interview with Orr in Bronzeville Conversations). Charlie Parker did not have a show-band mentality, as he had already demonstrated during his stint with Earl Hines. What's more, he encouraged Tom Archia in his own rebellion against show-band discipline. Consequently, when Marl Young finally got control of the band, he fired both of them.
Young recalled one Monday morning when members of the band were playing a breakfast dance at the Club DeLisa, and he caught Charlie Parker surreptitiously removing Johnny Houser's music from the music stand and replacing it with his own. Young threatened to brain Parker with a Coke bottle if he didn't put Houser's music back, immediately. As Young told Walton in 1985:
It was soon after that incident that Carroll Dickerson walked out. He just couldn't take it any more. Parker and Tom Archia were running him crazy. Sometimes we would play a number with no music. This is what we called a head number. The saxes would start playing something and Tom and Parker would turn their backs and just play something altogether different.
Young took over the band shortly after June 1, 1944, when at a stormy Board meeting Dickerson threw in the towel. Dickerson had tried to get the Board to go easy on his musicians, but now he was past the point of exasperation, and so was the club owner.
Mr. Glenn stated that Dickerson had absolutely no control over the members of his orchestra. He further stated that the band played too loud and had not had a rehearsal for the past three months. Mr. Glenn sighted [sic] an instance where 16 out of 18 parties walked out of the Rhumboogie, complaining that the music was too loud. Members of the band continued to come late and after reporting were late after intermissions getting on the bandstand. Mr. Glenn explained that he was taking a loss due to the 30% caberet [sic] tax, bad weather and the orchestra.
Dickerson stated that after the first three days he was on the job, he knew that he would never be able to make anything out of the orchestra. He attributed this to certain factions in the orchestra that resented his leadership, and due to the fact that Charles Glenn had secured most of the men at varied salaries. He further stated that he had tried every trick of the trade to win the men over, even to raising their salaries out of his pay. Dickerson stated that he was so disgusted with the band that he wanted to be released immediately.
Dickerson was reprimanded for the lack [sic] manner in which he had handled the orchestra during the past seven months.
The Local 208 Board then called band members on the carpet, so we know that the lineup now consisted of: Paul King, Calvin Ladnier, and Raymond Orr (trumpets); Gerald Valentine and Milburn Newman (trombones); Johnny Houser (alto sax); Ernest Archia and Edwin Johnson (tenor saxes); Marl Young (piano and arrangements); Clarence Mason (bass); and Hillard Brown (drums). The second alto, Charlie Parker, was not at the meeting but was in the band and on Marl Young's mind.
Young "could not explain why the band was too loud, explaining that Charles Parker could not play soft which caused the entire band to come up." Young asserted that none of the bands at the Rhumboogie had been able to play softly, except Nat Towles' aggregation, whereupon "Mr. Glenn refuted this last remark by saying that Dickerson's band played softer than Towles for the first two months that they were on the job."
Tom Archia did not escape the governing body's wrath: "Archia seemed to think that his appearance before the Board was a joke, until President Gray asked him what was so funny. His excuse was that he overslept most of the time." And while Carroll Dickerson tried to be diplomatic and refrained from singling out individuals,
Mr. Glenn then stood up and named Archia and Ladner [sic] as the ones that were continuously late and insubordinate. When asked why the men did not got on the stand and play when he called them, he explained that Marl Young talked more than anybody else and usually finished his tale before the orchestra would begin to play. He would start a head number and the men would come in as they got on the stand.
After the entire band was chewed out by Harry Gray, the Board concluded that Dickerson couldn't handle them and granted his request to leave the engagement immediately. Charlie Glenn suggested making Paul King or Johnny Houser the leader, but neither wanted the responsibility. Except for Gerald Valentine and Hillard Brown, who had given notice, the other members of the band were allowed to stay on the job (Brown was in simultaneous hot water with the Board for engaging out-of-towner Ellis Bartee as his substitute). However, "Archia offered to quit, inasmuch as he seemed to be the cause of so much trouble. He admitted owing Mr. Glenn some money."
Despite lack of support from the Union leadership, which during the Board meeting pointedly ignored his proposals for improving discipline, Marl Young was allowed to take over as leader at some point in June 1944. There is no reason to doubt that he fired Tom Archia and Charlie Parker at the first opportunity. However, Eddie Johnson, who was popular with the nightclub goers at the Rhumboogie, was kept on, and his initial moves otherwise consisted of engaging a new drummer and a new trombonist. Young was first advertised as directing the house band at the Rhumboogie behind T-Bone Walker's third stay at the club, which began on June 29, 1944; the Young band, probably with some changes in personnel, remained on the job until January 18, 1945. After recording behind Walker and working as a pianist and arranger in the Fletcher Henderson band at the Club DeLisa (February through August, 1946) Young started his own Sunbeam label. For more on the Dream Band, see Charles Walton's interview with Marl Young in Bronzeville Conversations.
After graduating from Prairie View A&M in 1942 with a degree in music, Richie Dell Archia taught school in Port Arthur, Texas, then moved to Los Angeles (Charles Brown, who had had enough after his year of teaching, did the same). She arrived to find no work for Black pianists in classical music, but after working some odd jobs, landed a gig with the Dorothy Dandridge show, "Sweet and Hot" (Charles Mingus also worked this show for a time). Bob Eagle reports that Richie Dell Archia was listed in the September 1944 directory of the old Black Musicians Union Local 767 as living at 984 East 50th Street. From 1945 to the end of 1949, she worked at Ivie Anderson's Chicken Shack, at Vernon and Central.
After making his exit from the Rhumboogie, Tom Archia was unable to take jobs as a leader in Chicago, on account of Harry Gray's opposition. (We will see that the Local 208 leadership maintained this attitude through the end of 1947.) Consequently, his subsequent moves are hard to trace. At some point, however, he joined Bill Pinkard's swing combo, which was enjoying a long run at the Campus Inn (6158 Cottage Grove). An advertisement in the Chicago Defender for September 30 named "Tom Archera" as a member of Pinkard's Quartette.
Around the middle of 1945, Tom Archia came out to Los Angeles, where he met up again with the Jacquet brothers (Illinois Jacquet had by this time risen to fame in Hamp's band, then worked with Cab Calloway for a couple of years). He spent several months in Los Angeles in 1945, staying with his sister, and got two more recording opportunities. He was listed in the February 1946 directory of the Union local as c/o his sister's address (though by then he had probably decamped to San Francisco.)
Tom Archia seems to have begun his stay on the West Coast as a member of Howard McGhee's combo. Not too shabby--this was the first bebop band in California, active several months before Bird and Diz arrived for a gig at Billy Berg's on December 10, 1945. The band consisted of Maggie (trumpet, leader); Teddy Edwards (tenor sax); Tom Archia (tenor sax); Vernon Biddle (piano); Stanley Morgan (guitar); Bob "Dingbod" Kesterson (bass); and Roy Porter (drums). See There and Back, pp. 53-54.
Roy Porter recalls Tom Archia replacing tenor saxophonist James D. King. This seems to be backwards. McGhee arrived in Los Angeles with Coleman Hawkins in late January 1945 and started his own band after Hawk left (probably late April). In May of 1945, he recorded "Deep Meditation" with a band that included Teddy Edwards (but no second tenor), Vernon Biddle, Stanley Morgan, Charles Mingus on bass, and Nat McFay on drums.
So Roy Porter was not, in fact, McGhee's first drummer (Porter did remember replacing McFay in his 1986 Cadence interview--a detail that did not make it into his autobiography). In July, however, members of the McGhee band (McGhee himself, Teddy Edwards, Stanley Morgan, and Bob Kesterson) recorded behind blues shouter Wynonie Harris (1913-1969) for Philo. (The recording outfit was rounded out by Johnny Otis, drums, and Lee Wesley Jones, piano). It appears that Morgan was in the McGhee band from April or May 1945 till July or August. Tom Archia seems, then, to have been Teddy Edwards' first tenor duelling partner, not his second as Porter stated. Most likely Tom Archia was there between May and August of 1945--an edition of the McGhee band that was not recorded. But Archia would get a significant opportunity to record with Wynonie Harris later on, in December 1947 (see below).
The McGhee band recorded September 4, 1945--when they cut "Intersection," "Lifestream," "Mop Mop," and "Stardust" for Philo/Aladdin. This band definitely has J. D. King and not Archia on second tenor (and Morgan has departed as well). Also in September the McGhee band cut "Cool Fantasy" (in 2 parts) and "McGhee Special" for the Modern label in Hollywood. These were made with a much augmented ensemble (2 trumpets, 2 trombones, and 2 saxes added). In November 1945 (listed as December in discographies, but "11:45 Blues" and the presence of Oscar Pettiford, who was about to split to join the Duke Ellington band, point to November), a band of McGhee, Edwards, Biddle, Pettiford, and Porter, plus vocalists, cut seven more sides for Modern. We should add that J. D. King was out of the Hawk lineage, had a characteristically wavery tone, and would never be mistaken for Tom Archia. When McGhee recorded again for Melodisc in the Spring of 1946, King was still around (definitely--he sang on one side) and Jimmy Bunn had probably replaced Vernon Biddle. Shortly thereafter, McGhee began his rather ill-fated collaboration with Charlie Parker, which was interrupted when Bird freaked out from drug withdrawal and was sidelined for several months at Camarillo.
Many thanks to Joseph Scott for detailed information about the 1945 recordings of the Howard McGhee combo.
We would love to hear Teddy Edwards and Tom Archia trading on "Mop Mop"--is there a broadcast somewhere? Richie Dell Archia said that Tom Archia also participated in some of the early Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts. During Tom's stay in LA, "Norman Granz used to call me, looking for him." We don't know whether Tom Archia appeared at any JATP events while he lived in California; there is no confirmation of his doing so, though he did make it to a JATP event in Detroit in 1947. At least we have the Helen Humes session.
By the end of August 1945, Tom Archia had hooked up with old bandmates Illinois and Russell Jacquet.
Russell Jacquet (tp); Henry Coker (tb); Jean Baptiste "Illinois" Jacquet (ts); Tom Archia (ts); Sir Charles Thompson (p); Ulysses Livingston (g); John Simmons (b); John Veliotes [Johnny Otis] (d).
Los Angeles, August 28, 1945
| ARA-1049-2 | Ladies Lullaby [alt.]* (Thompson) | Metro 23000, Mosaic MQ6-165, Mosaic MD4-165 [CD] | |
| ARA-1049-3B | Ladies Lullaby* (Thompson) | ARA 144-B, Mosaic MQ6-165, Mosaic MD4-165 [CD], Classics 948 [CD] | |
| ARA-1050-3A | Illinois Stomp* [Jacquet Special^] (Jacquet) | ARA 144-A, Metro 23000^, Mosaic MQ6-165, Mosaic MD4-165 [CD], Classics 948 [CD] |
Information from the booklet to Mosaic MQ6-165, a box of 6 LPs, and MD4-165, a box of 4 CDs, both titled The Complete Illinois Jacquet Sessions 1945-1950, and released in 1996. The two master takes are also included in Classics 948, a CD released in 1997 under the title Illinois Jacquet 1944-1945. ARA 144 was the original 78-rpm issue, and the only one to identify the group as the "Jacque Rabbits."
Metro 23000 was a 78-rpm single; a copy was the source for the alternate take of "Ladies Lullaby" included in the Mosaic collection. Bob Porter estimates 1948 as the issue date for Metro 23000; the Metro label had the same design as the Rex label, which came from a small Los Angeles operation that was active in 1948.
Though this session shows the Jacquet Brothers to advantage, the potentially explosive reunion between Tom Archia and Illinois Jacquet doesn't come off. Archia gets a little solo space on both sides. On both takes of "Ladies" he has an 8-bar tenor sax solo on the bridge, after Thompson's 16-bar piano solo and before Coker's trombone statement; on "Stomp" he gets the second 4-bar break at the beginning (after Coker's), then 8 bars on the bridge in between muted trumpet statements by Russell Jacquet. His sound is thick and coarse and he seems to be fighting his reed, especially on the alternate take of "Ladies Lullaby."
Helen Humes (voc); Snooky Young (tp); Willie Smith (as); Corky Corcoran (ts); Tom Archia (ts); Arnold Ross (p); Allen Reuss (g); Red Callender (b); Henry Tucker Green (d); ensemble vocal (-1).
Los Angeles, around November 1945
| Did You Ever Love a Man?* | Philo 121B; Aladdin 121B; Whiskey, Women and... KM707, Classics 1036 [CD] | ||
| Voo-It (Frosty) | Philo 121A; Aladdin 121A; Whiskey, Women and... KM701, Classics 1036 [CD] | ||
| M-122-A | Central Avenue Boogie* (Hunter) -1 | Philo 122A; Aladdin 122A; Whiskey, Women and... KM701, Classics 1036 [CD] |
Our session information is from Lord. Philo, which would quickly change its name to Aladdin, released 121 and 122 as 78s. (The B side of 122 was "Please Let Me Forget" from Humes' next session on December 22. On that occasion Maxwell Davis and Lester Young took over on tenor.) Whiskey, Women and... KM701, compiled by Dan Kochakian, was a Swedish LP of Humes' material titled Be-baba-leba. KM707, also compiled by Dan Kochakian, was another Humes LP titled New Million Dollar Secret. Classics 1036 is a French CD, released in 1998, under the title Helen Humes 1945-1947.
"Stop Jivin' Around" is occasionally said to have been the fourth title from this session, but it is actually a different title for "Pleasing Man Blues" from Helen Humes' December 22 session (which produced 5 sides all told).
Tom Archia has an obbligato behind Humes' vocal on "Did You Ever" and a long solo on "Central Avenue Boogie." The tenor sax solo on "Voo-It" is by Corky Corcoran. According to Bob Porter, Norman Granz may have produced this session.
Roy Eldridge was working El Grotto in Chicago with a big band when the entire aggregation was called on the carpet by the Board of Musicians Union Local 208 on April 4, 1946. Apparently band members had been smoking and drinking on the stand, showing up late, and otherwise giving their leader trouble; alto saxophonist Porter Kilbert and bassist Rodney Richardson drew particular wrath from the Board for not showing up for the meeting, and Eldridge was encouraged to fire them. Eldridge must have signed up Tom Archia in Chicago before traveling to New York City for his next recording session; he also scooped up Ed Gregory, who had been working in the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra at the Club DeLisa.
Roy Eldridge (tp, voc); Henry Clay (tp); Elmon Wright (tp); Tom Grider (tp); Jim Thomas (tp); Nat Atkins (tb); Al Riding (tb); George Robinson (tb); Sandy Watson (tb); Edmund Gregory [Sahib Shihab] (as); Chris Johnson (as); Tom Archia (ts); Al Green (ts); Al Townsend (bars); Buster Harding (p, voc, arr); Snags Allen (g); Louis Carrington (b); Earl Phillips (d).
New York City, May 7, 1946
| 73554-A | Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip* (Harding-Ram-Palmer) [RE, ens voc] | Decca 23637 B, MCA [Fr] 510.107, MCA 1355, Coral [G] 6855, Affinity [Br] AFSD1016, Decca GRD605 [CD], Classics 983 [CD] | |
| 73555-5A | Tippin' Out (Harding-Eldridge)* | Decca 23637 A, SoS LP108, MCA [Fr] 510.107, MCA 1355, Coral [G] 6855, Affinity [Br] AFSD1016, Classics 983 [CD] | |
| 73556-13A | Yard Dog (Eldridge-Harding) | Decca 23697, SoS LP108, MCA [Fr] 510.107, MCA 1355, Coral [G] 6855, Affinity [Br] AFSD1016, Decca GRD605 [CD], Classics 983 [CD] | |
| 73557 | Les Bounce | Decca 23783, SoS LP108, MCA [Fr] 510.107, MCA 1355, Coral [G] 6855, Affinity [Br] AFSD1016, Classics 983 [CD] |
Session information from Lord. Decca 23637, 23697, and 23783 were 78-rpm singles released at the time. MCA 1355 was an LP titled All the Cats Join In. Decca GRD605 is a CD, released in 1991 and titled After You've Gone. Classics 983, released in 1998, is titled Roy Eldridge 1945-1947.
Archia has long solos on "Hi Ho Trailus" and "Tippin' Out" (where he and Eldridge are the only featured players). His solos have been praised by Gunther Schuller in his book The Swing Era; as Schuller notes, there is still some resemblance to Dex here (the persnickety Schuller is not so fond of Roy's playing on these sides). The tenor sax solo on "Yard Dog" is by Al Green.
Tom Archia was no longer around when Roy Eldridge recorded his last big band sides for Decca later in the year. Very likely he was working with Dinah Washington, who worked various nightspots in the Chicago area during June and July 1946, following up with a several-week tour of the Midwest. Dinah Washington then decamped to New York City, where her next recording session (in October) was done with Tab Smith's combo.
Early in 1947 Tom Archia joined the house band at the Macomba Lounge, a neighborhood bar and after-hours joint at 39th and Cottage Grove in Chicago. Leonard Chess had opened the Macomba in February 1946. Phil Chess, in an interview with Charles Walton, stated that "After four months we got a band which included Tom Archia and every famous jazz musician came by." (See Bronzeville Conversation: The DuSable Hotel and the Drexel Square Area, http:/www.jazzinstituteofchicago.org/jazzgram/bronzeville/dusable-bronzeville.asp). The Macomba may have acquired a house band in 4 months, but it was more like a year before Archia became a regular. Timothy Brown was the first bandleader to be signed to a Union contract at the Macomba; he held sway for about a month, ending on June 23, 1946 (his contract was accepted and filed by Local 208 on June 6). From June 24 through November 10, 1946, the Macomba used a trio nominally led by drummer Charles Hawkins (contract recorded by Local 208 on July 3, renewal contracts recorded on August 1 and September 19). Wendell Owens was at the piano, and the third member was a saxophonist. We don't know who that was for most of the engagement; it is even possible that Tom Archia played at the Macomba during part of it. George Sims led the off-night band during this period (his contract was also accepted and filed on July 3). Cyril "Cozy" Eggleston, who would gain local renown as a bar-walking tenor player, was on the Macomba payroll from late October 1946 through January 1947, and overlapped with Tom Archia for a while in the first quarter of 1947.
On November 7, 1946, the Board of Local 208 hauled Leonard Chess and the band members in to explain why Chess's tax withholding arrangements did not constitute an end-run around paying Union scale to the leader. While satisfied that Chess was not "chiseling," the Board was upset with Hawkins and booted him out as leader, taking away his contracting rights for two years. The Local 208 Board demand that Chess fill out a new contract that would go into effect on November 11, with Wendell Owens as the leader (this was duly recorded on the contract list for November 21). Owens' status as leader was strictly political, which would cause a lot of trouble for Tom Archia later on.
At the same meeting at which Hawkins was ousted, Ernest Archia posted an "indefinite" contract that he had inked as a leader with Sonny Boswell's Lounge, 55th and Michigan Avenue. The gig at Boswell's seems to have listed till early December; it ended with in an acrimonious dispute over whether Archia had gotten all of his pay. Apparently he was out of work for some time after that, for on January 18, 1947 the Defender announced that he was about to depart for New York City. The entire item (titled "Fete Tommy Archie at Strode Lounge") is worth quoting:
Tommy Archie, one of Chicago's best known musicians who leaves soon for New York and greater fields will be tendered a "going away party" at the Strode Lounge on Oakwood Wednesday night, Jan. 22 it is announced by Charles Gray, owner of the lounge.
Tommy, besides being a top musician, is one of the grandest sports in town which would indicate a large number of his friends and pals will turn out for the party.
Besides indicating his popularity on the South Side, the item shows that people in Chicago paid little attention to the way he preferred to spell his name.
It looks like an offer from Leonard Chess at the Macomba changed his mind about leaving. Tom Archia appears to have joined the Macomba Lounge trio in February of 1947 (during January 1947 pianist King Fleming was booked at the club). Once he came into the Macomba, Chess quickly came to regard him as the leader, but he was still in bad odor with the Union leadership because of his role in the "Dream Band" fiasco three years earlier, and Wendell Owens enjoyed the favor of Harry Gray.
Documentation on Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts is unfortunately not complete, but we know that Tom Archia spent a little time on the road with JATP. He was on the bill in Detroit on April 12, 1947, along with Coleman Hawkins, Buck Clayton, Howard McGhee, Trummy Young, Willie Smith, Kenny Kersey, Benny Fonville, and Helen Humes. The concert was reviewed in the Michigan Chronicle on April 19 (all of this is duly noted in the book that accompanies the Complete Jazz at the Philharmonic set on Verve). The concert was, alas, not recorded. Tom Archia may have played another JATP event or two during this period. Thanks to Joseph Scott for bringing this item to our attention.
During June 1947, the Chicago Bee ran four weekly advertisements for the Macomba Lounge, promising "continuous entertainment" by the Wendell Owens Trio: "Tom Arche, sax, Wendell Owens, pianist, Glenn Brooks, drummer." Our thanks to Nadine Cohodas for locating these ads, one of which is now reproduced in her book Spinning Blues into Gold. The obstacles to getting acknowledgment as the bandleader came into plain sight on June 19, 1947, when the Union blocked Leonard Chess's effort to replace Wendell Owens with Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar at the piano.
The Board wanted to know why Chess was giving the trio 2 weeks' notice, effective June 29--only to hire Archia and Brooks right back. The word "collusion" was used. Owens claimed that the other two knew about the 2 weeks' notice before he did. The Board also got Chess to admit that Tom Archia had been drawing his salary in advance and owed him $150 (nearly two weeks' pay).
Mr. Chess stated that he did not feel as though this procedure on his part was irregular. He was of the opinion that Penigar was a better and livlier [sic] pianist than Owens, and that by making the change, he would have better entertainment to meet his competition. He also stated that Penigar did not approach him for a job...
Archia stated that he had made no effort to obtain leadership, and mentioned the fact that Chess had offered the job as a contractor several months ago, which he refused.
In a Pyrrhic victory for Leonard Chess, Board allowed the Macomba let the trio go--on the condition that Archia and Brooks not return for three months! Consequently Chess withdrew the notice to Owens--for the time being.
The Macomba has been magnified by legend. It was not a posh nightclub; Billy Eckstine and Ella Fitzgerald may have visited (as so many out-of-town musicians did) and even jammed there, but they were never booked at the Macomba. In truth, it was a narrow little dive with a tiny bandstand; the club was just off the intersection that reform-minded politicans and their supporters knew as "Sin Corner."
What mattered at the Macomba was the music. The house band always included some of the best jazz musicians in Chicago. Leonard Chess paid them better than Union scale, though Tom Archia took more of his compensation in alcoholic form than was prudent. The jam sessions, which could go on till dawn or beyond, were locally renowned. They were not, however, appreciated by Local 208, which had a rule against jamming. Local 208 began periodic crackdowns against the practice in 1946 (for instance, on October 17, 1946, the 208 Board fined Jack Cooley, Cozy Eggleston, and three other musicians for jamming at three different clubs); President Gray's assistants were sent to monitor what was happening in the clubs, and periodically they would break up jam sessions. Despite the occasional chilling effect, the Monday night sessions at the Macomba were attended by all the local musicians and anyone who was visiting.
Tom Archia's next recording opportunity was with a brand-new independent operation called Aristocrat. Aristocrat had been opened by Charles and Evelyn Aron (and their partners Fred and Mildred Brount and Art Spiegel) on April 10, 1947. Its first recordings featured hotel-band leader and singer Sherman Hayes, a vocal harmony group called the Five Blazes, and jazz singer Jackie Cain backed by the George Davis Quartet. But the Arons were willing to venture into any genre that might sell records. In June 1947, they hooked up with black talent scout Sammy Goldberg, who would bring them Clarence Samuels, Sunnyland Slim, and Andrew Tibbs. He began by pulling in drummer Armand "Jump" Jackson, who was already a veteran of the Chicago recording scene. At the time Jackson's quartet was working the New Morocco Lounge, in the same neighborhood as the Macomba.
Armand "Jump" Jackson (d); Johnny Morton (tp except -1); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as except -1); Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar (ts except -1); Tom Archia (ts); Bill Owens (p); Hurley Ramey (eg); Dallas Bartley (b); Melrose Colbert (voc); Benny Kelly (voc).
Universal Recording, Chicago, June 1947
| U7018 | Sweet Thing (Eddie Penigar) [MC voc] | Aristocrat 401A | |
| U7019 | Choo Choo Blues* (D. Clark) [BK voc] | Aristocrat 403A | |
| U7020 | The Greatest Mistake (Sax Mallard) [MC voc] | Aristocrat 402B | |
| U7021 | Not Now Baby* (Kelly-Goldberg) -1 [BK voc] | Aristocrat 401B | |
| U7022 | Hey Pretty Mama* (Hickman-Jackson) [BK, ens voc] [Listen to Hey Pretty Mama] | Aristocrat 402A, MCA 380-596 [CD] | |
| U7023 | I'm Cutting Out on You [prob. BK voc] | unissued |
Aristocrat matrix numbers in the U7000 series normally point to Universal Recording, which was the premier studio in Chicago during the late 1940s and most of the 1950s.
Jepsen's Jazz Records and Michel Ruppli's discography The Chess Label have mistakenly split this session in two. They have U7018-U7020 with Morton, Mallard, Penigar, and the rhythm section; then they list U7021-U7023 with only Archia and the same rhythm section. Yet all four horns are present on U7018, U7019, U7020, and U7022. Only on U7021 is Archia the sole horn.
A major cause of confusion for the previous discographies was swapping U7019 and U7022 (and besides being given the wrong matrix number in these sources, U7019 was retitled "Train Blues.") The dangers of relying on the skimpy documentation retained by Chess Records are fully evident! Jepsen and Ruppli's longer title for U7021, "Not Now Baby, I'll Tell You When," is presumably derived from the Aristocrat master book.
Our correct information on U7018-U7022 comes from copies of Aristocrat 401, 402, and 403 in Dan Kochakian's collection. U7023 is as listed in Ruppli--an effort to unearth this one might pay off.
"My Greatest Mistake" features Sax Mallard's rather lachrymose alto sax (Melrose Colbert, it should be noted, was a female vocalist). Mallard, a Hodges acolyte, gets assigned to the schmaltz patrol again on "Sweet Thing." "Hey Pretty Mama" has solos by Tom Archia, Hurley Ramey (presumably--the guitarist sounds a little different from the guitarist on the next session), Johnny Morton, an "oo-bop she-bam" riff that Archia picks up and carries, and a break by Sax Mallard. Archia is the sole horn on "Not Now Baby" and has a long solo on "Choo Choo Blues." This is mature Tom Archia: smoother now, closer to Lester that way, with a sound as big as a house.
According to George R. White, "The Aristocrat of Records,"Blues and Rhythm, 124, Nov. 1997, pp. 4-8, Aristocrat 401 was released in September 1947, 402 in November 1947, and 403 in December of that same year. The flip side of 403 came from a September 1947 session by Clarence Samuels with Dave Young's Orchestra (U7047, "I Don't Love You Mamie").
One side from this session was reissued in 1999 on Chess MCA 380-596, a 15-CD extravaganza titled The Chess Story 1947-1975.
The June 1947 recording date seemed likely for a number of reasons. It is clinched by a June 30, 1947 item in Cash Box. In the gossip column "Around the Wax Circle," a letter from Evelyn Aron is cited announcing that Aristocrat has signed Jump Jackson and his band, along with "Melrose Colbert, sepia torch."
Wendell Owens, still the nominal leader at the Macomba, was not the same pianist who appeared on this session, or the next one; this is not surprising, given that Leonard Chess and Tom Archia were dissatisfied with his playing. In fact, Eddie Penigar (who Chess attempted to hire for the Macomba) made the first session, playing his other instrument, the tenor sax. The core membership of the band on these sessions came from Jump Jackson's combo that held a gig at the New Morocco Lounge. (Other Aristocrat sessions would feature Andrew Tibbs, who was working at Jimmy's Palm Garden, and Gene Ammons, who frequently headlined at the Congo Lounge--all in the same neighborhood.) A photo in the June 14, 1947 Chicago Defender mentions this long engagement at the Morocco, and shows Sax Mallard, Bill Owens, Johnny Morton, and Jump Jackson.
Also worthy of note is that a similar lineup (horns minus Archia, different guitarist and bassist) recorded for Columbia as the Chicago All Stars (see our Sax Mallard page for details). Their first session took place on June 27, 1947, very close to this one. Their second and last session on December 6, 1947, added Joseph "Cool Breeze" Bell, Clarence "Pro" McClam and Cozy Eggleston on vocals; it included a version of "Ice Man Blues," sung by Cool Breeze, which has never been released. Was this the same number that George Kirby sang on the first session by Tom Archia and his All Stars?
Tom Archia (ts); Buster Bennett (ts, voc); Bill Owens (p); Hurley Ramey (eg); Dallas Bartley (b); Jump Jackson (d); Sheba Griffin (voc); George Kirby (voc).
Universal Recording, Chicago, July 1947
| U 7028 | Mean and Evil Baby* [Mean and Evil Daddy^] (Rudy Monroe) [SG voc] | Aristocrat 601A, Chess 1448^, Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U 7029 | Ice Man Blues* (George Kirby) [GK voc] | Aristocrat 602A, Chess CHD2-9387 [CD], Chess MCA 380-596 [CD], Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U 7030 | Cherry* (Sheba Griffin) [SG voc] | Aristocrat 602B, Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U 7031 | Fishin' Pole* (Buster Bennett) [BB voc] | Aristocrat 601B, Chess CHD2-9387 [CD], Classics 5006 [CD] |
Aristocrat 601 and 602 were 78-rpm singles; according to George R. White, they were released around November 1947 and February 1948. Many thanks to collector Tom Kelly for providing label scans for these rare 78s. Chess 1448 was a 78 and 45-rpm single released in late 1950. Chess CHD2-9387, The Aristocrat of the Blues: The Best of Aristocrat is a 2-CD various artists collection from the Aristocrat label, released in August 1997. "Ice Man" appeared again in 1999 on Chess MCA 380-596, a 15-CD extravaganza titled The Chess Story 1947-1975, The first full reissue of this session is Classics Blues and Rhythm 5006, a CD issued in February 2001 under the title Tom Archia 1947-1948.
Lord's treatment of this session is highly incomplete. Even Ruppli's Chess discography does not specify the rhythm section; neither Lord nor Ruppli mentions the second tenor sax. The Chess CD gives the rhythm section listed here, which is identical to the Jump Jackson lineup. The guitarist does sound different from Leo Blevins, who worked with Archia later, and George Freeman, who may have been on the clandestine live sessions from early 1948; the pianist does not resemble either Bill Searcy or Willie Jones, who worked regularly with Archia later.
The second tenorist is not mentioned in any source. Previous speculation in these quarters pointed to Gene Ammons (possible with "Mean and Evil Baby" but not the other tracks, where the second tenorist plays rougher than Jug ever did) and to Sugarman Penigar, who was on the previous session. But the vocal credit to Buster Bennett on "Fishin' Pole" (and the fact that the vocals on this one number are accompanied by Tom Archia only) solves the mystery at last. "Fishin' Pole" is presumably the same as "Let's Go Fishin'," which Bennett recorded for Columbia on September 30, 1946; "Let's Go Fishin'" has never been released.
"Mean and Evil Daddy" uses the words that Sheba Griffin actually sang, but "Mean and Evil Baby" was the title on the Aristocrat label.
The vocal credits have been garbled in all previous sources, including the one CD reissue of two of these items. For instance, Sheba Griffin did sing on this session, as advertised. But the liner notes to Chess CHD2-9387 claim that she was the vocalist on the phallocentric "Fishin' Pole"!
Worse yet, the two male vocalists were never correctly identified. George Kirby (best known for doing impressions at the Club De Lisa, but also a capable vocalist, according to Vernel Fournier) is identified on the label as the singer on "Ice Man Blues." Buster Bennett is identified as the vocalist on "Fishin' Pole" and his singing is recognizable. Ruppli and others have attributed these vocals to Dr. Jo Jo Adams.
Another session that really did include uptown blues singer Dr. Jo Jo Adams followed quickly. Born in Alabama somewhere around 1918, Adams rose to prominence at the Club De Lisa, where he was renowned for his salacious lyrics (which of course had to be toned down on records) and his wardrobe of loudly-colored tuxedos. On this occasion, Tom Archia seems to have recruited his own band instead of relying on Jump Jackson.
Johnny Morton (tp); prob. Andrew "Goon" Gardner (as); Tom Archia (ts); unidentified (p); unidentified (eg); unidentified (b); unidentified (d); Dr. Jo Jo Adams (voc).
| U7032 | Love Me (Adams) [JJA voc] | Aristocrat 801A, Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U7033 | Drinkin' Blues* (Fenner-Adams) [JJA voc] | Aristocrat 801B, Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U7034 | If I Feel like This Tomorrow* (Adams) [JJA voc] | Aristocrat 802-A, Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U7035 | Cryin' by My Window* (Adams) [JJA voc] | Aristocrat 802-B, Classics 5006 [CD] |
Aristocrat 801 and 802 were 78-rpm singles. Aristocrat 801 was released in November 1947. By interpolation between the release dates for 801 and 803, George White has estimated that 802 was released in March 1948, but this needs to be confirmed (no advertisements for 802 are known). The first reissue ever of this material is Tom Archia: 1947-1948 on Classics Blues and Rhythm 5006, issued in February 2001.
Our thanks to Bob Porter for composer credits on Aristocrat 801. Meanwhile, all previous discographies have omitted 802. "If I Feel like This Tomorrow" was listed by Ruppli as unissued and without a vocal credit. "Cryin' by My Window" showed up in Ruppli as an unissued "untitled jazz instrumental." Lord, meanwhile, lists "Cryin' by My Window" with no session or matrix information. The Fenner who was jointly responsible for "Drinkin' Blues" was Senabelle Richie Fenner, later mentioned in the Chicago Defender on February 23, 1952 as a "writer, poet, and song-stylist, whose compositions have been recorded by numerous artists."
"Cryin' by My Window" has an obbligato by Tom Archia, but the solo is taken by the altoist. We used to think that this was Sax Mallard (who we know appeared on Tom Archia's session of October 1947 with Andrew Tibbs), but the soloist uses many bebop licks--our best current guess is Goon Gardner, who worked frequently with Archia over the years. On "Love Me" the only solo is by the trumpet player; on "Drinkin' Blues" the solos are by Archia (who also handles the obbligato behind the vocal) and the guitarist. Archia launches his solo with an apt quotation of "I Got Plenty o' Nothin'."
The instrumental lineup here is completely different, yet Ruppli collapsed this session together with U7028-U7031. Our identifications are still tentative; the guitarist is loudly amplified and treads heavily--not Hurley Ramey, and not Leo Blevins. Willie Jones, who was Archia's regular pianist in from 1948 through 1950, was not at the Macomba yet and is not on this session either; Bill Searcy appears to have made the two Tom Archia sessions in October 1947.
Meanwhile, the battle over Wendell Owens continued. On July 3, Glenn Brooks and Tom Archia appeared in front of the Local 208 Board, trying to get the Board's previous ruling rescinded.
Brooks thought it was unfair to deny him the privilege of working the Macomba Lounge, and stated that Owens did not do the things that a leader was expected to do. He contended that Owens got drunk and disregarded chord changes, or deliberately went to sleep on the stand.
Wendell Owens didn't take this too well, particularly since he had often loaned Brooks money when the club's management wouldn't give him an advance on his salary.
Archia stated that Mr. Chess had asked him several times to assume leadership of the unit, but that he refused until this time. He admitted that all of them drank on the job. In answer to Owen's [sic] question pertaining to his musical ability, he gave a round the bush answer, but when finally pinned down to the question, he replied that Owen's was alright.
The Board refused to budge. But while Leonard Chess was new to the music business, he had already taken some hardball lessons. He encouraged Brooks and Archia to go over the head of Harry Gray, the President of Local 208, and write directly to James Caesar Petrillo, the redoubtable President of the American Federation of Musicians.
On August 7, Leonard Chess was back in front of the Local 208 Board; he had given Owens his notice but was begging to be able to keep Tom Archia on the gig:
Chess explained to the Board that Tom Archia was a wonderful musician and definitely an asset to his business. He begged the Board to rescind its previous ruling, whereby Archia could not return to his establishment for 90 days after Owens left. HE MADE IT VERY PLAIN THAT HE WAS NOT INTERESTED IN MEMBER GLENN BROOKS.
Archia was apologetic for going past Harry Gray to James Caesar Petrillo:
The letter addressed to President Petrillo and signed by Archia and Brooks was read. Archia stated that he signed the letter without reading it, realizing now that he shouldn't have done it. He also stated that it was at Brook's [sic] suggestion that the case was re-opened on July 3, 1947. Archia apologized to the Board for all the trouble he had been and stated that he could get another job and that it was Mr. Chess who wanted him to work at the lounge.
At which point Leonard Chess took charge of the discussion.
Mr. Chess stated that the whole affair was his fault because he did not understand the Union's rules and regulations. He stated that he had tried to make a go of it with member Owens, but just couldn't take it any longer. He suggested that the Local select any two men to play with Archia and collect the payroll if necessary.
The Board repealed its previous rulings, allowing Archia and Brooks to continue after Owens was let go. But there was a kicker; the Board also "RULED THAT MEMBER TOM ARCHIA CAN ONLY BE EMPLOYED AS A SIDE MAN."
On August 10, Leonard Chess was finally able to fire Wendell Owens, who had been the nominal leader at the Macomba; he had also signaled his intent to let Glenn Brooks go. It would more than a year before the Union would recognize Tom Archia as the bandleader.
A photo taken at the Macomba Lounge in Fall 1947 (now in the possession of Charles Walton) shows Archia with a rhythm section of Bill Searcy, Lowell Pointer, and Robert "Hendu" Henderson. Drummer Oliver Coleman (Charles Walton's teacher) was a member of this band before Henderson. However, the drummer on the Jo Jo Adams session doesn't sound especially different from the drummer on the October 1947 sessions; Coleman was basically a Swing drummer.
Though Leonard Chess was the proprietor of the Macomba Lounge, where Archia was a mainstay, it appears that he was not yet involved with Aristocrat at this early stage. The next session, by 17-year-old blues singer Andrew Tibbs, has always been said to be the first one that Leonard Chess attended; the first public mention of his employment by the label appeared in Billboard on October 11, 1947.
Tibbs' debut session for Aristocrat is thoroughly confusing. The singer was backed by a band led by tenor saxophonist Dave Young (who had been in Roy Eldridge's band; he also recorded with Lucky Millinder and Dinah Washington). David A. Young was born on January 14, 1912, in Nashville, Tennessee and died in Chicago on December 25, 1992.
Tom Archia seems to have sat in on this session, though. Archia co-composed "Bilbo Is Dead"; after Aristocrat hid Tibbs out in a hotel under the wise guidance of Sax Mallard, so other labels couldn't steal him, Archia and Tibbs worked out the number in the back seat of a cab on the way to the session, and Tibbs brought the lyrics into the session inscribed on a paper bag. However, an instrumental number featuring Archia ("Hey Tom Archia") that looks as though it came from this session had an entirely different origins; though given the matrix number U7048S, it is a duel between Tom Archia and Gene Ammons that originated at Pershing Ballroom jam sessions clandestinely recorded by Al Benson in early 1948.
Andrew Tibbs [Melvin Andrew Grayson] (voc); Dave Young's Orchestra: Dave Young (ldr, ts); Harry "Pee Wee" Jackson (tp); Andrew "Goon" Gardner (as); Tom Archia (ts); Rudy Martin (p); Bill Settles (b); Curtis "Geronimo" Walker (d).
Universal Recording, Chicago, September 1947
| U7048 | Bilbo Is Dead (Archia-Tibbs) [AT voc] | Aristocrat 1101A, Chess CHD4-9340 [CD], Chess CHD2-9387 [CD], Chess MCA 380-596 [CD], Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U7049 | Union Man Blues (Archia-Tibbs-Grayson) [AT voc] | Aristocrat 1101B, Chess CHV 415, Bellaphon [G] BJS4032, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U7050 | Toothless Woman Blues (Coppage) [AT voc] | Aristocrat 1102A, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U7051 | Drinking Ink Splink (Banks-Pyles) [AT, ens voc] | Aristocrat 1102B, Chess CHV 415, Bellaphon [G] BJS4032, Indigo 2095 [CD], Classics 5028 [CD] |
Aristocrat 1101 and 1102 were singles released in December 1947 and March 1948 (the latter date is approximate, according to White's research). Our information on Aristocrat 1102 derives from a copy in the collection of Daniel Gugolz.
George R. White points out that since Theodore Bilbo, a notorious segregationist who was Governor of Mississippi and later U. S. Senator, died on August 21, 1947, a September recording date is most likely.
Aristocrat 1101 was not played on the radio in some parts of the South because of its A side, a Black man's crocodilic lamentation on the death of a notorious White racist. Russian artists who composed ironic praises of Stalin would fully understand lines like "Since Mr. Bilbo is dead, I feel like a fatherless child." Nadine Cohodas has shown that the story about the 78 being destroyed in quantity by union truckers on account of Side B is completely apocryphal. (In fact, the number talks about how the Union is powerful and no one should mess with Tibbs now that he is a member; the single seems to have sold well locally.)
Besides the confluence of matrix numbers, and Tom Archia's cab ride with Andrew Tibbs, the ensemble on the Tibbs numbers is just thick enough to have two tenors and an alto instead of one tenor and an alto. Jepsen put Tom Archia on the session. But other discographies have given Dave Young's regular lineup, which previously appeared on a session backing Clarence Samuels the same day--"Boogie Woogie Blues" and "Lollypop Mama" on Aristocrat 1001; "I Don't Love You Mamie" on 403B--and have not mentioned Archia.
Chess CHV 415 was a various-artists LP, issued in 1972 under the title Southside Jazz. There was a German issue later in the 1970s on Bellaphon BJS4032. Personnel and date from the Chess LP liners.
Chess CHD4-9340 was a 4-CD collection titled Chess Blues and released in 1992. Chess CHD2-9387 is a 2-CD various artists collection titled The Aristocrat of the Blues: The Best of Aristocrat. It was released in August 1997. Indigo 2095, Rockin' the House: Rhythm & Blues All Stars Volume 2, is a various-artists CD released in 1999; other tracks are by Jimmy Witherspoon, Big Joe Turner, Roy Brown, Bull Moose Jackson, Dick Davis & Sonny Thompson, and many others. "Bilbo Is Dead," now a favorite item in reissue collections, appeared again in 1999 on Chess MCA 380-596, a 15-CD extravaganza titled The Chess Story 1947-1975 Classics 5028, Andrew Tibbs 1947-1951, was issued in February 2002.
The solo lineup:
The Chess CD lists Tibbs as the composer of "Bilbo." However, the original Aristocrat label from Dr. Demento's collection, reproduced on the back of the CD leaflet, attributes the number to "Chess-Aleta-Archia." In fact, Archia did contribute to it, as Andrew Tibbs acknowledged in a 1982 interview with Jim O'Neal of Living Blues. According to the same interview, Andrew Tibbs' mother helped out with "Union Man" (which is credited just to Tibbs on the label). Meanwhile, the copyright records in the Library of Congress attribute both "Bilbo" and "Union Man" to Archia; Tibbs' name is not mentioned. And Evelyn Aron and Mildred Brount are listed at the copyright holders!
Although Tibbs is credited with "Drinking Ink Splink" on the label, this is bogus. The tune was first recorded in 1946 as "Ink Splink" by the Buddy Banks Sextet with Marion "Blues Woman" Abernathy handling the vocal chores--in Los Angeles, for the Melodisc label. A reissue of the Melodisc on Blue Moon BMCD 6015, Buddy Banks 1945-49, identifies Banks and William "Frosty" Pyles as the writers. One wonders whether Tom Archia heard Buddy Banks do this number during his stay in Los Angeles, or whether another musician on this date heard the record and thought the material would suit.
It appears from Nadine Cohodas' research that Clarence Samuels (U7044-7047) recorded with Dave Young the same day, and that Sunnyland Slim and Muddy Waters (U7056-7059) went on after the Dave Young-backed singers were finished. Even if Prince Cooper's piano trio (U7052-7055) actually recorded on a different day, Aristocrat was consuming lots of studio time on this occasion.
Although Tom Archia played the same way regardless of surroundings, most of his work for Aristocrat was in an R&B context behind vocalists. He did get to make two jazz sessions in the studio, however. His next session for the label is the only one he ever did with just himself and a rhythm sesssion. It is a neglected classic of post-World War II jazz.
Tom Archia (ts, voc); Bill Searcy (p); Leo Blevins (eg); Lowell Pointer (b); Robert "Hendu" Henderson (d).
Universal Recording, Chicago, October 1947
| U 7070 | Jam for Sam* (Archia) | Aristocrat 603B, Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U7071 | Macomba Jump* [Listen to Macomba Jump] | Aristocrat 604B, Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U7072 | Downfall Blues* [Whiskey^] (Archia) [TA voc] | Aristocrat 605, Chess CHV 414^, Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U 7073 | Slumber* [Minor Blues^] (Archia) [Listen to Slumber] | Aristocrat 603A, Chess CHV 414^, Classics 5006 [CD] | |
| U7073 [reverb added] | Blues at Twilight* (Archia) | Chess 1448 |
Our basic session information comes from Ruppli. "Blues at Twilight" (not mentioned in Lord) and "Minor Blues" (listed as a separate item in Lord) are retitle jobs on "Slumber." In all cases the same performance was used. Aristocrat 603 had no reverb. Nor does the 1972 reissue on Chess CHV 414, Chicago's Boss Tenors. Heavy echo was added (presumably in 1950, by Leonard Chess using his home-made sewer-pipe rig) for the issue on Chess 1448. The first ever reissue of the original session took place in February 2001 when Classics 5006 appeared, under the title Tom Archia 1947-1948.
Ruppli lists the matrix number for "Slumber" as U7073R but neither Aristocrat 603 nor Chess 1448 includes the "R" suffix on the label. The "R" suffix does not mean "reverb," as Ruppli lists other R suffixes for Aristocrat tracks that were never reverbed, one of them "Jam for Sam." Aristocrat 603 has simply U7070 on the label, and no reverb. According to Bob Porter, the runoff grooves for Aristocrat 603 do specify 7070-R and 7073-R; the runoff grooves (but not the label) for Aristocrat 604 have 7071-R (and 7048-SR for "Hey Tom Archia"). So R really meant "remastered."
Aristocrat 603, 604, and 605 were 78-rpm singles released in May, August, and October 1948, respectively. "Jam for Sam" was obviously titled to get the attention of DJ Sam Evans, who put on "Jam for Sam" events for the next decade. Chess 1448 was a 78-rpm single released toward the end of 1950.
Careful listening to the October 1948 session reveals that Willie Jones was already characteristically spiky in his delivery and given to fast locked-hands patterns, while the pianist on this date has a heavier tread and favors thick chords. No reason to doubt that it is Bill Searcy, who was the regular pianist at the Macomba in Fall 1947.
The singer on the autobiographical "Downfall Blues" is Tom Archia himself. Previous discographies identified Andrew Tibbs as the singer, but Tibbs had, shall we say, a more refined vocal technique.
Chess CHV 414, Chicago's Boss Tenors, was an LP collection including work by Archia, Gene Ammons, Claude McLin, and Johnny Griffin; it was released in November 1971. The compilers of this collection knew virtually nothing about the Archia tracks they included: they gave 1948 as the recording date; they did not know the original Aristocrat releases; they attached new titles to "Slumber" and "Downfall Blues"; and they hedged about the identity of the vocalist on "Downfall Blues."
Aristocrat expected great things from Andrew Tibbs, and after the Musicians Union announced a recording ban for January 1, 1948, the label whisked him back into the studio before his first 78 had seen release. This time Tom Archia was the bandleader.
Andrew Tibbs (voc); Tom Archia (ts, ldr); poss. Johnny Morton (tp); Oett "Sax" Mallard (as, arr); Bill Searcy (p); Lowell Pointer (b); Robert "Hendu" Henderson (d).
Universal Recording, Chicago, October 1947
| U-7074 | I Feel like Crying* (Tibbs) | Aristocrat 1103B, Chess MCA 380-596 [CD], Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U-7075 | Going Down Fast^ (Mallard) | Aristocrat 1104, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U-7076 | Same Old Story*^ (Tibbs) | Aristocrat 1104, Classics 5028 [CD] | |
| U-7077 | Married Man Blues (Austin-Mallard) | Aristocrat 1103A, Classics 5028 [CD] |
Ruppli omits personnel other than Tibbs (who sings on all 4 sides) and Archia; no previous discography mentioned either of the alto saxes or the trumpet. The solo alto spot on "Married Man Blues" is by Sax Mallard, who co-composed the tune. Mallard wrote "Going Down Fast" and obviously arranged the smooth ensemble, dominated by the alto sax and Archia's tenor, in the middle of "Going Down Fast." (Now that we have been able to listen to clean dubs of all four sides, we don't believe that a second altoist was present; it is Mallard's skill at scoring the ensembles and the big sound that he and Archia got from their instruments that creates the illusion of more saxes. What's more, Mallard seems to have written for the higher register of the tenor sax at times, creating the illusion of another alto, and Tom Archia unusually starts two of his solos on this session well up in his upper register.) There are no solos for the trumpet, but he does get to play muted behind the vocal on "Same Old Story." There are prominent piano intros on all four sides; these are definitely by the same pianist who participated in the previous session. At present Bill Searcy is the logical choice.
Aristocrat 1103 and 1104 were 78-rpm singles; they were released in June and October 1948. There are no side indications on Aristocrat 1104. Ruppli omits U7077 and incorrectly gives U7078 as the matrix for "Married Man Blues." Lord mentions Aristocrat 1103 but gives no matrix numbers or date; he omits Aristocrat 1104 entirely. Aristocrat 1103 was one of Aristocrat's best sellers in the early going (we are talking modest numbers here).
MCA 380-596 is a 15-CD extravaganza, released in 1999 and titled The Chess Story 1947-1975. It contains the first reissue of anything from this session in 52 years. The entire session is now available on Classics 5028, Andrew Tibbs 1947-1951 (released in February 2002). Unfortunately the discographical listings that Classics provides for this session are completely wrong.
At the beginning of November 1947, Tom Archia went on the road for two and a half months, with an eight-piece band led by Oran "Hot Lips" Page (Page had done a session in New York City on October 28 with a different band). The previous two sessions can be dated to October because obviously they were cut before Archia went on the road.
A photo in the collection of Charles Walton, which could have been taken around this time, shows Claude McLin at the club, with Clarence "Sleepy" Anderson (piano), LeRoy Jackson (bass), and Wesley Landers (drums). However, McLin had a steady gig at Ciro's Lounge with his regular band during this period. McLin was in a good position to sit in (Ciro's was also on 39th Street), but someone else must have been called on during Archia's absence. We also know from the minutes of the Local 208 Board meeting, November 20, 1947, that tenor saxophonist Tommy "Madman" Jones was leading the "relief night" band at the Macomba during this period (Jones also led a trio. He got in trouble for inviting Thomas Davie to jam with his band--Assistant William Dover walked in and caught them.)
After a month or so on the road, the Page band got the call to accompany vocalists for King Records in Cincinnati. They began with a four-tune session behind Mabel Smith.
Mabel Smith (1924 - 1972) was a great R&B singer whose career was too quickly ended by overeating and drugs. She was already a veteran performer when she sang on a side by Christine Chapman's band for Decca in 1944. She first recorded under her own name for King in early December 1947. She made 8 sides for the label all told. Six were released at the time; each of her singles paired one side from the first session with one from the second or third. They did not sell, and King dropped her. She reappeared on record in 1952, when OKeh began recording her as Big Maybelle, and enjoyed several hits for OKeh and Savoy from 1952 through 1956. After being dropped by Savoy, she enjoyed moderate success recording soul music for several labels between 1962 and 1967, but by the end of the decade had been forced to retire from performing because of poor health.
Mabel Smith [Big Maybelle] (voc); Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer -1 (ts); Tom Archia -2 (ts); Joe Knight (p); Lonnie Johnson (eg); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, November or early December, 1947
| K5286 | Indian Giver -1 (Jacobs-Blackman) | King 4227, Classics 5089 [CD] | |
| K5287 | Foolin' Blues -1 (unknown) | Classics 5089 [CD] | |
| K5288 | Little Miss Muffet* -2 (unknown) | King 4271, Classics 5089 [CD] | |
| K5289-1 | Bad Dream Blues -1 (Blackman) | King 4207, Classics 5089 [CD] |
King 4207, 4227, and 4271 were 78-rpm singles released at the time (see below for the couplings). Classics 5089, Big Maybelle 1944-1953, is a CD released in 2004. On it, "Little Miss Muffet" comes out "Little Miss Moffat."
The Page band's involvement in this session remained a secret for over 50 years, until the Classics reissue was put together. Previously some discographers placed the session in New York City in November, and claimed that Tiny Bradshaw's band was involved (Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, Volume 2, is in this tradition). Other sources, such as Blues Records L-Z by Leadbitter, Fancourt, and Pelletier, have given the date and location as Cincinnati in early December, listing the accompaniment as unknown. But Bradshaw had not begun his association with the King label yet, and as Dave Penny's liner notes for the Classics release point out, Lips Page's trumpet work is clearly audible on these sides. What's more, Penny was able to get confirmation from Hal Singer that the Page band was on the session, along with solo lineups for each track. The source of the confusion is probably the fact that the sides from this session were credited to "Mabel Smith" without any reference to the accompaniment. Penny also identified Lonnie Johnson by ear, and there isn't any question about his being there, though the credits to the Classics CD put a question mark next to his name.
As we will see was often done on the vocal accompaniments for King, Vincent Bair-Bey (alto sax) and Joe Britton (trombone) sat out this session. And only one tenor sax can be heard on each side.
The Page band was asked to return to the studio later that December, while King Records was frantically stockpiling material (around 100 sides) in advance of the recording ban.
During that same month, Aristocrat, which was doing its own frantic stockpiling, recorded Jimmy Bell's Trio. "Just about Easter Time," a blues sung by Jimmy Bell that appeared on Aristocrat 1901, is credited to Tom Archia on the label. The Aristocrat composer credits are pretty slapdash, but it would be interesting to find out whether Tom Archia got label credit to any songs written for other performers besides Jimmy Bell and Andrew Tibbs.
The Hot Lips Page Band that went into the King studios, for two marathon series of sessions in late December 1947 (K5322-5333 and K5374-5404; see the Appendix for additional material that we once thought came from another session with the Page band) has never gotten its due. Oran "Hot Lips" Page (1908 - 1954) had been leading his own jump bands for most of the previous decade. Although his trumpet playing on some of the King sides is excellent, his Armstrong-derived style was considered archaic by the record company (and Page gets little solo space on the Wynonie Harris sides, disappearing entirely from some of them). Too much of the band's output was left in the vaults by King (including nearly everything that Lips recorded in his own name), and a great many other sides were issued in small quantities and never re-pressed (for instance, we have been able to hear just two of the Barbara Cameron sides). Collectors have focused on the justly famous sides by Wynonie Harris, all of which sold well (in fact, "'Good Rockin' Tonight" was a monster hit). We may congratulate Wynonie for his good taste in spotlighting Tom Archia and encouraging Tom to battle with Hal Singer (not yet known as "Cornbread"; he would record his signature number for Savoy in June 1948). We wish that Tom had been given more emphasis elsewhere. Brilliant though they are, the Harris sides are atypical.
Left to its own devices, the Page band played a lot of tightly charted swingers like "Fat Stuff" and "Boodie, Boodie" (the last is a real curiosity--a bop number with a solo by a prominent Swing artist), but King wasn't interested in these and didn't bother to release any of them at the time. "Undecided" with Marion Abernathy also shows off this side of the Page band. What made the band valuable to King in its recording rush was the ability of several of its instrumentalists (Archia, Singer, and Page himself, as well as the rhythm section) to back blues vocals with minimal preparation. During the first Wynonie Harris session, Wynonie was actually making up the lyrics while the band was improvising a background. Even a more polished number like "Good Rockin' Tonight" was done after little premeditation.
At full strength, the band included an altoist who was a passionate Bird imitator (Vincent Bair-Bey, who makes the most of his few solo opportunities), an interestingly leathery trombonist (Joe Britton), Hot Lips himself (one of the greatest Swing trumpet players after Louis himself, and a good blues singer as well), and the well-contrasted tenor duo of Tom Archia and Hal Singer (Singer was out of Ben Webster, though he had begun to acquire the R&B honk and an occasional scream). The rhythm section of Joe Knight, Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson, and Bobby Donaldson was reliable and versatile. Joe Knight, born May 14, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York, was known as Earl Knight on some of his recordings, which included outings with Clyde Bernhardt, Earl Bostic (when John Coltrane was in the band), Lucky Thompson, and others. Bobby Donaldson would be an extremely active session drummer throughout the 1950s.
Five horns were too much for most of the non-charted numbers, however, and the recording director cut down the section for many of the blues accompaniments. Despite the listings in discographies, for instance, neither Bair-Bey nor Britton plays on any of the Big Maybelle sides, and the second tenor is barely audible on them.
Mabel Smith [Big Maybelle] (voc); Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (ts); prob. Tom Archia (ts); Joe Knight (p); Lonnie Johnson (eg); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, December 23, 1947
| K5322 | Too Tight Mama (unknown) | King 4227, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5089 [CD] |
Our basic information is from Lord, who includes the entire band and leaves off the guitarist. King 4227 was a 78-rpm single, released in 1948. The singer was known strictly as Mabel Smith at the time.
Blue Boar CDBB 1010, Shoutin' the Blues, is a CD, distributed by Culture Press and released in February 1999, that collects 24 of the Hot Lips Page Band's December 1947 recordings for King. It is the first reissue (in some case, the first issue, period) of the bulk of this material. Thanks to Joseph Scott for alerting us to this important release. Classics 5089, Big Maybelle 1944-1953, is a CD released in 2004.
The solo lineup on "Too Tight Mama" goes: Singer intro; Page and Singer, obbligato; Singer. If Tom Archia is present, he's well off-mike. Meanwhile, Blue Boar notes an unidentified guitarist, not previously mentioned in the discographies, but one listen to this track and one look at the next matrix number give Lonnie Johnson away.
Lonnie Johnson (voc, eg); Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (ts); Tom Archia (ts); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, December 23, 1947
| K5323 | Friendless Blues (Johnson) | Federal 45-12376, Charly 266 [CD] |
Our basic information is derived from Lord. Federal 12376 is the original 45-rpm issue (well after the date of recording; it was released around 1958). The matrix number on the 45 is 54-F4700. Charly 266 is a CD compilation of Lonnie Johnson's King recordings, entitled Me and My Crazy Self, issued in 1990.
Contrary to what Lord says, the entire Page band was not present on this cut; the discography provided with the Charly release gets it right. The horn accompaniment to "Friendless Blues" is extremely discreet. After careful listening to the preceding Big Maybelle number, we reversed our judgment about the tenor saxophonist who plays throughout the piece and though prominent, restricts himself to a near-subtone: it appears to be Hal singer. The second tenor sax is off mike and little more than a ghostly presence; and a muted Page, even farther off mike, is barely audible in the last two bars of the piece.
Wynonie Harris (voc); Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp -1); Joe Britton (tb -1); Vincent Bair-Bey (as -1); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (ts); Tom Archia (ts); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, December 23, 1947
| K5324 | Good Morning Mr. Blues* (Harris) -1 | King 4210-B, Gusto GD-5040-X(2), Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 1139 [CD] | |
| K5325 | Blow Your Brains Out* (Harris) | King 4226-B, Charly CRB 1097, Charly 244 [CD], Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 1139 [CD] | |
| K5326 | Blowin' to California* (Harris) -1 | King 4252-B, Gusto GD-5040-X(2), Route 66 KIX 3, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 1139 [CD] | |
| K5327 | Comes Love [Crazy Love^] (Harris) -1 | Polydor 623273^, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010^, Classics 1139^ [CD] | |
| K5328 | From Bad to Good Blues (Harris) -1 | Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 1139 [CD] | |
| K5329 | Love Is Crazy (Harris) | King (unissued) | |
| K5330 | Bite Again, Bite Again* (Harris) | King 4252-A, Route 66 KIX 3, Classics 1139 [CD] | |
| K5331 | Don't You Want to Rock (with the Blues) | King (unissued) |
Now we're getting to the choice stuff. And for the first time the full band is heard on some of the cuts. Our basic session and release information comes from Tony Collins' exemplary biography and discography, Rock Mr. Blues: The Life & Music of Wynonie Harris (Milford, NH: Big Nickel, 1995). Additional information about the titles of K5327 and K5329 from Lord.
King 4210, 4226, and 4252 were 78-rpm singles released at the time. Polydor 623273 was a collection LP titled Kings of Rhythm & Blues, released in England in 1968.
Gusto GD-5040-X(2) was a 2-LP set released in 1976 and titled Good Rockin' Blues. Charly CRB 1097 was an LP called Rock Mr. Blues, released in 1985. Charly 244 was a CD titled Good Rockin' Tonight, released in 1990. Route 66 KIX 3 was an LP released in Sweden in 1977 under the title Mr. Blues Is Coming to Town; it was reissued in 1991 as Route 66 RBD 3 [CD]. Blue Boar CDBB 1010, Shoutin' the Blues, is a French CD, distributed by Culture Press and released in February 1999, that collects 24 of the Hot Lips Page Band's December 1947 recordings for King. Classics 1139 is a French CD, released in September 2000 under the title Wynonie Harris 1947-1949.
Solo credits:
The other two tracks from this session have still not been heard.
Collins wrongly puts just one tenor sax on "Bite Again." We have referred to Singer as "Oklahoma" because he wasn't "Cornbread" yet and Wynonie calls him "Oklahoma" on "Blow Your Brains Out."
Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp, prob. voc); Joe Britton (tb); Vincent Bair-Bey (as); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (ts); Tom Archia (ts); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, December 23, 1947
| K5332 | Fat Stuff | King (unreleased) | |
| K5333 | unidentified title | King (unissued) |
Basic information from Michel Ruppli, The King Label. Ruppli gives no date, and says only, "possibly same band as above [K5324-K5331]."
We can improve on that "possibly." As these numbers appear to have come from the tail end of a session that had already hit diminishing returns (two of the last three Wynonie tracks are unreleased after all these years), they may actually have been rejected.
Blue Boar CDBB 1010, Shoutin' the Blues, is a CD, released in February 1999, that collects 24 of the Hot Lips Page Band's December 1947 recordings for King. No matrix numbers are given, but the version of "Fat Stuff" on that CD appears to be the remake, K5398, from the session (see Arch21 below) that the Page band did after they were finished accompanying all the vocalists.
A single side by Lonnie Johnson, "Jelly Roll Baker," has matrix K5374 and was recorded with the Hot Lips Page Orchestra. It was originally issued on King 4388 and has subsequently appeared on King LP520, King KS1083, Parlophone GEP8693, Gusto GD5039-X [2 LPs] and other sources. A check of the Gusto reissue reveals just Lonnie and rhythm section--no horns. So here's the lineup: Lonnie Johnson (voc, eg); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d). "Jelly Roll Baker" is also a clue to the makeup of the band on the three Big Maybelle numbers that followed.
Mabel Smith [Big Maybelle] (voc); Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (ts); Tom Archia (ts); Lonnie Johnson (eg); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, prob. December 28, 1947
| K5375-3 | Sad and Disappointed Jill* (L. Blackman-E. Blackman) | King 4207, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5089 [CD] | |
| K5376 | Don't Try to Fool Me (L. Blackman-E. Blackman) | King 4271, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5089 [CD] | |
| K5377 | Dirty Deal Blues (L. Blackman) | Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5089 [CD] |
Our basic information comes from Tom Lord's Jazz Discography Volume 2. Lord incorrectly includes Vincent Bair-Bey and Joe Britton on these sides, and leaves out Lonnie Johnson (who had obviously hung around after K5374).
King 4207 and 4271 were 78-rpm singles released in 1948 and 1949. It is hard to believe, but this material was never reissued (never issued at all, in the case of "Dirty Deal Blues") until Blue Boar CDBB 1010, Shoutin' the Blues, a French CD, released in February 1999, that collects 24 of the Hot Lips Page Band's December 1947 recordings for King. "Dirty Deal" may have been held back because Big Maybelle drifts off-mike at one point and her vocal is subject to microphone distortion in some other places. Classics 5089, Big Maybelle 1944-1953, is a CD released in 2004. On it, "Sad and Disappointed Jill" comes out as "Sad and Disappointed Girl."
On Mabyelle's first session for King, just one tenor saxophonist appeared on each track. Here just one is featured on each track, but a second tenor can be heard at times, far off-mike. Here is our best guess as to the soloists:
Marion "Blues Woman" Abernathy (voc); Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp); Vincent Bair-Bey (as -2); Joe Britton (tb -3); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (ts); Tom Archia (ts); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, prob. December 28, 1947
| K5378 | My Man Boogie (Jenkins) -3 | Federal 12028, Chicago LP 213, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5379 | Brotherly Love (Moore) -3 | King 4219, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5380 | Nobody Wants You (Scherman) -2, 3 | King 4273, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5381 | Hey Little Boy* (Page) -2, 3 | King 4273, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5382-1 | Honey, Honey, Honey* (Donahoo-Greene-Lamarre) -2, 3 | King 4205, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5383 | Little John Blues (Page) -2, 3 | King 4253, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5384 | What Is the Matter with Me* (Scherman) -2, 3 | Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5385-1 | Undecided* (Robin-Shavers) -2 | King 4205, King 4490, Sing [Dan] LP 1159, Classics 5001 [CD] |
Marion Abernathy was often billed as "The Blues Woman." She first recorded in 1945 for the Los Angeles-based labels Juke Box, Bel-Tone, and Melodisc (two sessions). In August 1947 she cut her first session for King, in New York with Paul Bascomb's band. Our information about the present session is from Ruppli's book The King Label. Ruppli says that Bair-Bey doubled on baritone sax here, but the big horn cannot be heard on any of these tracks. Joe Britton (tb) was on this session, but is not present on K5378 or K5385-1.
King 4205, 4219, 4253, and 4273 were 78-rpm singles released in 1948 and 1949. King 4490 was a single released in 1951 (reviewed in Billboard in November of that year). Chicago LP 213 is an untitled collectors' LP in a plain white sleeve. Sing LP 1159 was a Danish release titled Rare Blues Girls from King. Thanks to Daniel Gugolz for reissue information and dubs of these two tracks. Thanks to Bob Porter for information about King 4205 and 4253. Blue Boar CDBB 1010, Shoutin' the Blues, is a CD, released in February 1999, that collects 24 of the Hot Lips Page Band's December 1947 recordings for King. Classics Blues and Rhythm 5001 is a CD issued in March 2001 under the title Marion Abernathy 1947-1949; it is the first comprehensive reissue of Marion Abernathy's King recordings.
Ruppli claims December 23 (and the Classic release repeats this) but surely the date was later. (Lord actaully has some of the tracks from this and the following Abernathy session dated 1946!) Lord gives the title of K5380 as "Nobody Knows You when You're Down and Out," which is definitely not correct.
Hot Lips Page is the featured soloist on "My Man Boogie" and "Undecided." (He needed the space after the Wynonie Harris sides!) On "Honey Honey Honey," Lips backs the vocal and on "Little John Blues" he does the same, this time with band accompaniment.
On "Hey Little Boy," set at a blistering tempo, Tom does a 12 bar solo before the vocal; the hoarse tenor solo on the rideout is Singer's. Archia gets an 8 bar intro on "Honey Honey Honey"; there are no other solos on this number. Tom gets 2 relaxed choruses on the mellow "What Is the Matter with Me?" and 8 bars on "Undecided." Archia and Singer contribute strongly to various background riffs, and participate in a tricky bop introduction to "Undecided."
A full-page photo of Joe Knight, Marion Abernathy, Wynonie Harris, and Hot Lips Page in the King Studios is reproduced in Tony Collins, Rock Mr. Blues: The Life & Music of Wynonie Harris (Milford, NH: Big Nickel, 1995), p. 72.
Wynonie Harris (voc); Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp -1); Vincent Bair-Bey (as -1); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (ts-1, 2); Tom Archia (ts -1, 2, 3); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, December 28, 1947
| K5386 | Good Rockin' Tonight* (Roy Brown) -1 | King 4210-A, King 536, King 260, King 607, Vogue [Fr] LD082, King 725, King 1004, King 1026, Polydor [Br] 184.163, King KS 1086, Polydor [Br] 623273, Polydor [Fr] 2310110, New World 261, King 16004, Gusto GD-5040-X(2), RCA PL85463, Sing [Dan] 607, Charly CRB 1097, Charly CD 37, Charly 244 [CD], Charly CD PRO2, Rhino R2 71125 [CD], Rhino R2 71544 [CD], Hoy Hoy 40-S-01, Hoy Hoy 4050 [CD], Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 1139 [CD] | |
| K5387 | Lollipop Mama* (B. Brown) -2 | King 4226-A, Vogue [Fr] V2127, Route 66 KIX 2, Charly 244 [CD], Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 1139 [CD] | |
| K5388 | I Believe I'll Fall in Love* (Harris) -3 | King 4445, King 4461, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 1139 [CD] |
Our basic session information is from Tony Collins. Collins incorrectly states, however, that the band was cut down to Page, Singer, and the rhythm section for this session. Collins is the source for nearly all of our release information. There have been more reissues of "Good Rockin' Tonight" (a celebrated number that topped the Billboard "Race" chart for 25 weeks, starting on May 1, 1948) than of the rest of Tom Archia's output combined.
"Good Rockin' Tonight" was Harris's biggest hit; it lasted 6 months on the R&B charts, and it has been reissued many times. For details on each of the reissue packages, see Collins. "Lollipop Mama," though it reached number 8 on the Billboard charts as Wynonie's followup release, has been reissued sparingly, and "I Believe I'll Fall in Love" appeared on CD just once. Vogue V2127 was a French 45-rpm single, released in the 1950s. Polydor 623273 was a collection LP titled Kings of Rhythm & Blues, released in England in 1968. Route 66 KIX 2 was a Swedish Wynonie Harris LP titled Playful Baby. Rhino R2 71544 was a CD issued in 1994 under the title Bloodshot Eyes: The Best of Wynonie Harris. Blue Boar / Culture Press CDBB 1010, Shoutin' the Blues, is a CD, released in February 1999, that collects 24 of the Hot Lips Page Band's December 1947 recordings for King. Classics 1139 is a French CD release from September 2000, titled Wynonie Harris 1947-1949. (Unfortunately the Classics liner notes fail to mention that Tom Archia was on this session.)
Marion Abernathy (voc); Oran "Hot Lips" Page (voc -2, tp except -2); Joe Britton (tb except -1); Vincent Bair-Bey (as); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (ts); Tom Archia (ts); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, December 28, 1947
| K5389 | Wee Baby (Turner) | Federal 12028, Chicago LP 213, Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5390 | Bessie's Sin* (Scherman) [MA, ens voc] -1 | King 4219, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5391 | I Can't Stand It (Abernathy) -1, 2 | King 4253, Classics 5001 [CD] | |
| K5392 | It's a Low Down Dirty Shame* (Wilson) -1 | Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010, Classics 5001 [CD] |
Our session information is drawn from Ruppli. Ruppli says December 23, but the later matrix numbers indicate December 28 (assuming, of course, that it wasn't 11 pm on December 31!). Lord incorrectly gives the title of K5391 as "I Can't Get Started." King 4219 and 4253, as well as Federal 12028, were 78-rpm singles released at the time.
Chicago LP 213 was an untitled collectors' LP with plain white sleeves. Thanks to Daniel Gugolz for alerting us to this reissue and providing a dub. Thanks to Bob Porter for information about King 4253. Blue Boar / Culture Press CDBB 1010, Shoutin' the Blues, is a CD, released in February 1999, that collects 24 of the Hot Lips Page Band's December 1947 recordings for King. Classics Blues and Rhythm 5001 is a CD issued in March 2001 under the title Marion Abernathy 1947-1949. The sound on "I Can't Stand It" and "Bessie's Sin" is rather poor because well-worn 78s were the only available source; however this is the first Marion Abernathy collection ever undertaken. (Again, there is no trace of baritone sax on these sides; Bair-Bey is heard on alto only.) Note that the first riff on "Dirty Shame" is lifted from Bird and Diz! Tom Archia is featured on "Bessie's Sin" and "It's a Low Down Dirty Shame."
Barbara Cameron (voc); Hot Lips Page Band with Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp); Vincent Bair-Bey (as except -1?); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (cl-1?; ts); Tom Archia (cl-1?; ts); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d)
Cincinnati, December 28, 1947
| K5393 | Call Me Darling | King (unissued) | |
| K5394 | You Showed Me the Way (Green-McCrae-Webb-Fitzgerald) -1 | King 4269-A | |
| K5395 | Flattery Will Get You Knowhere (Kuhn-Terry) | King 4281-B | |
| K5396 | Let's Pretend | King 4209 |
Our basic information comes from Michel Ruppli, The King Label. Ruppli does not specify the accompaniment, but the location of this session in the K5300 series makes Page Band involvement very likely. The King 78s (none, apparently, were ever reissued) are very rare. However, we have been able to hear a copy of King 4281 in the collection of Tom Kelly; this side is identified as "Vocal with Orchestra." The matrix number of "Flattery Will Get You Knowhere" (the actual spelling on the label) is 5395 without the K prefix. On this hip-chick Swing number, Barbara Cameron is backed mostly by Joe Knight and the rhythm section; there is no room on the record for instrumental solos. Four horns are heard briefly at the beginnning and end of the song only. On the ballad "You Showed Me the Way," which tries to evoke the sounds of Goodman and Shaw, two of the three saxophonists switch to clarinet and Page is muted.
The rest of this session needs checking, although given the spotlight on the vocalist, we don't expect Tom Archia solos here. There is no sign of Joe Britton's trombone on "Flattery" or "You Showed" but, of course, he may have participated on other sides.
This Page band (somehow, not completely worn out) cut some more titles on its own for King... These are valuable, not only because of Lips' contributions, but also because they show us the band playing its own arrangements.
Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tp, voc); Joe Britton (tb); Vincent Bair-Bey (as); Hal "Oklahoma" Singer (ts); Tom Archia (ts); Joe Knight (p); Carl "Flat-Top" Wilson (b); Clarence "Bobby" Donaldson (d).
Cincinnati, December 28, 1947
| K5397 | Your Shirt Tail's Out (Gluck-Page) [HLP, ens voc] | Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010 | |
| K5398 | Fat Stuff* (Coleman-Page) | Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010 | |
| K5399 | Ashes on My Pillow* (Page) [HLP voc] | Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010 | |
| K5400 | Boodie, Boodie* (unknown) [Listen to Boodie, Boodie] | Blue Boar [Fr] CDBB 1010 | |
| K5401 | untitled | unissued | |
| K5402 | Pagan Love Song | unissued | |
| K5403 | How Deep Is the Ocean? | unissued | |
| K5404 | Blue Moon | King LP475 |
Our session information comes from Lord, who lists only Page and "unknown accompaniment." But obviously this was the same Page band that made all of the preceding sessions for King. Page did not record again till March 15, 1949 (for Columbia, in New York City; by that time only Bair-Bey was still around from this band). Until 1999, only one side had ever been issued (on an early King LP from the mid-1950s); "Blue Moon" has still not been checked for Tom Archia's contributions. Blue Boar CDBB 1010, Shoutin' the Blues, is a CD, released in February 1999, that collects 24 of the Hot Lips Page Band's December 1947 recordings for King, and releases 4 from this session for this first time. It appears that the "Fat Stuff" on the Blue Boar CD is K5398, not the previous attempt (K5332--see above). At least, it is placed after "Your Shirt Tail's Out," and the other items on the CD are presented in order by artist and matrix number.
Tom Archia presumably made his way back to Chicago in early January of 1948. His next appearance on record was part of a series of staged "sax battles" on Sunday afternoons at the Pershing Ballroom in Chicago. Six tracks recorded live by DJ Al Benson eventually made th