Life Records

Life Records, an independent label in operation from 1950 through 1952, was the brainchild of a maverick jazz musician named Max Miller, who got offers from major labels from time to time but rarely accepted them because he did not want to give up ownership or control of his original compositions. The company was located at 64 West Randolph Street, in the Loop.

Life has gotten little attention in the past, for a couple of reasons. First, its total output was small (9 releases that we know of) and its distribution limited. Second, it was not strictly a jazz label, and the non-jazz material it recorded is of lesser interest today. Jazz sides by Max Miller and his various groups were interlarded with pop vocal and instrumental material. Like many of the older White jazz musicians in Chicago, Miller had no involvement with the rhythm and blues scene, though as a veteran radio man he did appreciate the importance of DJ Al Benson.

Multi-instrumentalist Max Miller was born on November 17, 1911 in East Chicago, Indiana. His first instrument was the banjo, which he played in the East Chicago High School band. He joined the Musicians Union in 1927, at age 16; around this time, he switched to guitar, playing in regional jazz groups. He moved to Chicago in the early 1930s, taking gigs on the drums and the string bass as well as the guitar; during this period he also learned to play the vibraphone. Among the musicians with whom he worked were drummer Dave Tough and pianist Kansas City Frank Melrose.

He toured with the Vincent Lopez Orchestra, playing mostly guitar but doing some feature numbers on the vibes. He left Lopez in 1937 to become the musical director at radio station WIND, performing 15-minute live shows 6 nights a week. These often featured his original compositions. In 1939, he headlined at the Off Beat Club. His vocalist was Anita O'Day, who was on her first professional singing job. They would work together on several other occasions in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1940, Miller led a quintet at the Three Deuces, on which he played vibes and Johnny Bothwell played alto sax. The gig ended when the club burned down. Subsequently, Miller became the music director for Boyd Raeburn's big band for a time.

In April 1941 Miller led a trio at Benton's Grill on Lake Street. He played vibes; Herb Lawson was on guitar and Ed Mihelich on bass. Early in 1943, Miller was in a group led by trumpet player Shorty Sherock at Elmer's Room. Located at 186 North State Street, Elmer's was across the street from the Chicago Theater and the Capitol Lounge. Miller was still playing the vibes at this point, but in the two years since it opened Elmer's had developed a particularly strong reputation "as a jumping off deal for solo pianists," according to Metronome writer George Hoefer Jr. Hoefer noted that such jazz keyboardists as Dorothy Donegan, Robert Crum, and Mel Henke first came into the limelight performing there.

In March, 1943, Max Miller temporarily dropped out of music. He got a job in a factory manufacturing airplane parts on the other side of the lake, in St. Joseph, Michigan. During this time, Max dedicated himself to learning piano in his off-hours.

By the summer of 1944, his job at the factory was more white collar, and he was leading a trio in Benton Harbor, Michigan, which included Ken Smith on drums. On Sundays, he would make his way to Chicago to make private recordings with Sidney Bechet, Ken Smith, Bill Funkey (alto and tenor saxophone), Zilner Randolph (trumpet and composer), and Tony Parenti (clarinet).

In its issue of September 15, 1945,Down Beat ran an article trumpeting Max Miller's return to Chicago: "Max Miller Returns to Music as Pianist." His first gig was at Elmer's Room, playing solo piano. An item in January 1946 Phil Featheringill column in Metronome indicates that Miller was still at Elmer's, noting that Ken "Smitty" Smith was now installed in the drum chair. Featheringill further noted that Miller had performed a concert date with Sidney Bechet. The March 1946 Phil Featheringill column indicated that Miller was at Elmer's, performing in a trio, with Joe Broccolo as his new drummer. Around September of 1946, Miller was playing at the Cowboy Lounge.

In October 1946, Jack Green, under his Green Records imprint, recorded two artists, the Paul Jordan Octet and Max Miller. Miller recorded some original compositions on piano and some on celeste. He was backed by Buddy Nichols on bass and Andy Nelson on guitar. It would of course be nice to find Miller's sides on Green.

A long biographical profile by George Hoefer, Jr., in Metronome (December 1946), put Miller back at Elmer's, playing solo again. Hoefer explained that "for a while Max worked with Jimmy Raney on electric guitar, a bass, and several drummers."

Ted Hallock's column in the August 11, 1948 issue of Downbeat did not sound too impressed with Max Miller's new ensemble:

Max Miller's unit, backing Boot Whip, is probably the worst he's had, notable for a trombonist who shouldn't be playing for money, period. Personnel includes Remo Belli (drums), good; Ralph Gephardt (bass), eager; Hal Blondstein (trumpet), who can't play like Diz but tries; Bob Gillett (alto), excellent; and Jay Kelliher (trombone), oh my. Miller, Kelliher, Belli, and Blondstein are on a new kick....the "pukka bloke" facial adornment. May replace the goatee.

In January 1949, the Max Miller Trio opened a new club in the near north, the Hi-Note, at 450 North Clark Street. During this engagement he was backed by Earl Backus on guitar and Buddy Nichols on bass.

For much of 1950, Max Miller held down a gig at Rossi's New Apex Club.

In February of the same year, Miller opened Life Records. However, the company's only advertisement we have found so far in the trade papers did not promote any of his originals; instead, it flogged a pop single. The ad, which appeared in the March 4, 1950 juke box supplement to Billboard, does inform us about the company's distribution network.

It appears that Life recorded and released 10 sides in 1950, all of which appeared in a 1000 series. According to the Wikipedia article, 6 sides were performances of original compositions by Max Miller.

Three of the following titles (all except "Solar Plexus Blues") are listed in the Wikipedia article on Miller as Life releases. "Solar Plexus Blues" is from the same period and, according to the Wikipedia piece, was reviewed by newspaper critics in Chicago. Obviously, we need to find copies of Life 1001, 1003, and 1004. Collectors, what say you?

Andy Nelson's rhythm guitar on "Heartbeat Blues" is mentioned in the Wikipedia article.

Life1. Max Miller

Max Miller (p); Andy Nelson (g); other musicians unidentified.

Chicago, early 1950

Our knowledge of Life 1002, a pop single featuring one Gloria Van, is based solely on the Billboard ad. It would be nice to find a copy.

Life2. Gloria Van | Russ Grilley and the Velvetones

Gloria Van (voc); Russ Grilley (dir); The Velvetones (unidentified singers and musicians).

Chicago, c. February 1950

With what appears to Max Miller's second 1950 session for Life, we are on firmer ground. Our thanks go to Richard Reicheg for locating a copy of Life 1005.

Max Miller's music had been heavily promoted by a jazz critic named Paul Eduard Miller (no relation). The critic's endorsement was actually carried on the labels of Life 1005. The effect on sales is unknown...

Life3. Max Miller Quartet

Max Miller (p); Earl Backus (eg); George Stahl (b); Remo Belli (d).

The personnel is supplied on the labels. The matrix numbers from Edwin M. Webb's Modern Recording Studio, in those days a favorite venue for small record companies in Chicago, are incised in the trail-off area on each side. These come later in the MRS series than the Mildred Richardson session for JOB, and just a little earlier than the first sides for Seymour, so they can be pretty confidently dated to July or August 1950.

During a hiatus from Life Records, Max Miller got an opportunity to cut a 10-inch LP for Columbia with a quartet. Earl Backus played guitar, Bill Holyoke was on bass, and Remo Belli was once again the drummer. The album was titled Piano Moods and released on July 13, 1951. It is by far his best known recording as a leader, and the only recording of his to be listed in Tom Lord's Jazz Discography.

In 1952, Miller cut one more session for Life, which was reviving its activities with a new 5000 series. Two of the four sides featured a singer from Gary, Indiana named Wellington Blakey, singing songs written by a butcher from Gary named Bernard Roth. The other two sides were instrumental renditions of jazz standards. Miller played vibes throughout. It is not known where his sides were cut, but Max Miller was operating his own studio around this time, and it is quite possible that he recorded them himself.

Life 4. Max Miller Trio / Max Miller and Life Record All Stars | Vocal by Wellington Blaky [sic] %

Max Miller (vib); Parke Hill (eg); Paul Jordan (p on %); Ernest Shepard (b); Terry Nolan (d on %); Wellington Blakey (voc on %).

Chicago, 1952

The final two releases on Life, also from 1952, featured a marimba player named Doris Stockton playing "Tico Tico" and three light classics. Accompaniment on these was by a pop big band. Both Stockton singles, Life 5003 and 5004, feature a new, less busy version of the company logo. Life 5004 was pressed on unusual yellow vinyl.

Life 5. Doris Stockton | First Lady of the Marimba | Russ Case and His Orchestra

Doris Stockton (mar); Russ Case (dir); other musicians unidentified.

Chicago, 1952

So far as we know, Life 5004 was the label's last release. We presume that the company shut down a little later. In all, it had been responsible for 9 singles, 5 in the 1000 series and 4 in the 5000s.

We don't know what happened to Gloria Van or Doris Stockton after the company folded.

Wellington Blakey resurfaced in 1953, when he cut one of the very first sessions for a new label called Vee-Jay, which in its formative stage was located in Gary, Indiana. His Vee-Jay single also featured songs writtten by Bernard Roth. Blakey seems to have stayed in Gary, which limited his recording opportunities. In 1960, he cut four sides at a local studio, but they were never released. In 1964, he was invited to sing the blues on a Riverside LP being recorded by his cousin's band; "Wellington's Blues" would be his only recorded performance with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

Bernard Roth continued to peddle songs to Vee-Jay; he was responsible for at least 3 numbers recorded by the doowop group, the Spaniels. At some point he obtained an introduction to Leonard Chess, submitting a few blues tunes that were recorded by Little Walter ("Who") and Muddy Waters ("Just to Be with You," "40 Days and 40 Nights"). Among Roth's songs, the two that he wrote for Muddy benefited from absolutely blazing performances at the same session in 1956 and have become by far the best known.

Max Miller kept up a high level of activity on the Chicago club scene for the rest of the decade. In 1953, his column "The Audio Workshop" ran in Down Beat, netting him free equipment from some of the top audio manufacturers of the day. He recorded frequently in his studio, also venturing out to make live jazz recordings in a variety of locations. He kept an arm's-length relationship with the recording industry, however, buying his way out of a contract with MCA after learning that the agency would end up owning rights to any original compositions that he recorded.

In 1956, he opened a club called Max Miller's Scene, at 2100 North Clark Street.

A good introduction to Max Miller's life and music can be had from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Miller_(musician).

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