The 78s - Decelith 8" - Part 2

There are four discs with the printed number 416 7. As stated in the previous post, it is very difficult to read the hand-written titles so I have only posted one sample picture here.

"Oh Lady Be Good"/"Liebestraum"
These sound like "live" performances as some crowd noise is evident. Liebestraum features trumpet, accordion and piano, but Sutton is sitting this one out as there is no sax or clarinet.

"There Goes That Song Again"/"At the Woodchoppers Ball"
The first side features an unknown male vocalist. As vocals go, they are just about passable, so I imagine it is one of the band doubling up, rather than a "proper" singer. I suspect it is Art Sutton, as the trumpet part continues behind the vocals (so it cannot be Claude), while the sax is silent. Definitely not Don or Denis and very unlikely to be Ted.

"Adios Muchachos"/"Dinah"
The first side is an accordion feature with no trumpet or reeds. The second side is made up of clarinet, accordion, guitar, bass and drums. This matches a photo (yet to be posted) entitled "The Five in Jive" which indicates that some members of the band played at times as a quintet.

"Liebestraum"/"Song of the Steppes"
The arrangement of Liebestraum is the same as for the "live" version above.

The 78s - Decelith 8" - Part 1

This has 418 12 on the label on the front, indicating it is separate from the other Decelith 8" discs, which carry a different number. There is a plain black label on the B side. Deciphering the labelling of individual discs was a bit of a challenge - pencil on black paper does not exactly stand out. The two titles here are "Georgia" and "I'm in the Mood for Love". Instrumentation is trumpet and guitar only.

The 78s - Decelith 10"

The two sides are labelled II/1 and II/2. This hints at a possible missing disc that would have been I/1 & 2.

Side one shows "? Title". This is in fact "Ida (Sweet as Apple Cider)" although it took me a while to identify it as it is quite an ornamented rendition. Does anyone recognise the arrangement?

Side Two should strictly be "I'll Remember April". The title is written in my father's hand. There is also a pencil note "not good, play fast". It is a rather mournful and bass-heavy performance but there is nothing to indicate the running speed is too slow.

The 78s - Reichsrundfunk

These are 10" discs made of flexible material. They seem very similar to the Decelith discs (entry to follow). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_record which includes an illustration of a Decelith blank used for self recording. Reichsrundfunk was the German national broadcasting service and no doubt used Decelith discs with their own brand on the label. It also strongly indicates that the recordings were made when 14AOD was in Glinde near Hamburg. The dates stamped are too early to be recording dates - the band was not in exisitence until late 1944 and did not reach Germany until after V.E. Day in 1945 - so I would guess these are dates of manufacture of the blanks.

"Bededo!!" should of course be "Perdido". This sounds like a "live" recording. There is a bit of crowd noise. Someone announces the tune and invites the audience to "Take your partners for a quickstep - gents' excuse me!" (not a phrase one hears much nowadays).

On the flip side (the label is blank so not reproduced here) is a rendition of the Glenn Miller classic "American Patrol". And yes, I do know the tune is much older - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Meacham. The instrumental line-up here is interesting; this is the only 14AOD recording where I am sure I can hear a second saxophone. I have some photos that I shall post later showing the band had another saxophonist identified only as Ralph. That may be him we can hear. And the saxes are playing a supporting role - none of the fancy solos we usually hear from Sutton.

"Alexander's Rag Time Band" sounds like the whole band. Turn the disc over and we have two songs on one side - an unknown female vocalist accompanied only by guitar and bass. I have no clue at all who the singer is.

Researching these recordings has taught me a lot about the music of the time - it wasn't all Glenn Miller - and "Cow Cow Boogie" led me to Ella Mae Morse, a very talented recording artist of the 1940s and 1950s who is largely forgotten today. There are some clips of her on Youtube - check them out.

The 78s - Army Welfare Services - Part 2

These are 12" acetates. They feature only four members of the band.

Strictly speaking, the title of the first tune is "Oh, Lady Be Good". "These Foolish Things" is a guitar solo; note the transition chord sequences at the beginning an end to accommodate the key changes. I can't find anything elsewhere about the three tunes "The Trees and The River" etc. and presume they were self-penned numbers. I would guess that "Out of the Mood" was a nod towards Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." Although the label credits only Sutton and Mackie on this disc, bass is also audible on side two.

"12 Bar Blues" is exactly what it says. I presume it is the band's own arrangement. It features alto/clarinet, guitar, bass and drums only. A spoken introduction on the other side tells us that "Teddy Willmott and Frank Simpson give you their version of Big Noise from Winnetka". This is the classic early drum'n'bass ('n'whistlin') tune by Bob Haggart and Ray Bauduc. There are currently several versions of this tune on YouTube, including two videos of Haggart & Bauduc - an early duet and a later version with the Bob Crosby Orchestra.

The 78s - Army Welfare Services - Part 1

These are 12" discs made of a red translucent material (which has now become rather sticky). They are labelled in my father's handwriting. The first disc is the only place that I have found a specific reference to "The Band of 14AOD" with a complete list of personnel. I consider these the definitive recordings as they feature the whole band on all tracks. Some others - which I shall detail later - featured small groups or other musicians.

"You've Got Me Where You Want Me" was a very modern song at the time, a recording by Judy Garland and Bing Crosby was released in July 1944. Lyrics are by Johnny Mercer and music by Harry Warren. If you want to sing along, you can find the lyrics here http://www.harrywarren.org/songs/0641.htm This is the definitive site for all things to do with Harry Warren.

"Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" sounds a lot like the Artie Shaw arrangement.

"A Sultan Goes to Harlem" was written by Carl Barriteau - a clarinettist like Shaw. Given that 14AOD band leader Art Sutton played clarinet and saxophone, it is perhaps not surprising that their repertoire drew on the work of other reed players. In the original version the "call and response" section of the tune has the orchestra echoing Barriteau's solo clarinet lines. But 14AOD had a more limited line-up and their response is made by members of the band scatting.

"Boston Bounce" was written by Denis Berry and recorded by Harry Leader. There is currently a Vocalion CD of Harry Leader available, which has Boston Bounce as the title track. I have this and I was particularly impressed by the backing vocals on "Sailor, Where Art Thou?"

Listen to the Band

I shall have more to say about the recordings later, but for now you can download them here

http://www.mediafire.com/download/wnlffjv4xwgqopi/The_Band_of_14AOD_1945-1946.mp3.zip

Links update 20/05/2015