To Fred Astaire with Love: The Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet

This delightful album has always been a personal favorite. Produced in 1975 for RCA Records, it is a very short (30 or so minutes) lp obviously tailored for radio play. The music however is sublime and beautifully played by one of the most unique and outstanding chamber jazz groups of all time.

Co-leaders Ruby Braff (1927-2003) on cornet and George Barnes (1921-77) on guitar were both masters of their instruments and well respected and represented in the traditional and jazz swing world. The group had a short run from 1973-5 and recorded for Chiarascoro, Concord and Improv.

Braff was a very original soloist with roots in Louis and Buck Clayton ,but with his own flowing,imaginative lines enhanced by his exploration of the cornet's lower register. Barnes too had a unique guitar sound and was a master at single string solos. The rhythm guitar of Wayne Wright and bass of Michael Moore gave the two soloists outstanding support and Barnes' harmonized lines with Ruby's cornet gave the group a bigger sound than it's four pieces. The group's arrangements were tasty but gave plenty of blowing room for the co-leaders. This album caught them in prime form-here are some highlights.

Cheek to Cheek- George's weaving riff intro takes us to Ruby with a swinging melodic statement. George continues the riff and harmonizes with Ruby's lead. This trademark gave the quartet a bigger sound than 4 men. Ruby and George playfully swap leads before a fugue-like bridge and return to the riff as a coda.

They Can't Take that Away from Me- Ruby starts with a tasty theme jumping all over the horn's range. George has the bridge and a bluesy full chorus. Ruby's next chorus is full of his great low register and smears. George returns to the lead joined by Ruby and a nice ascending coda a la String of Pearls.

Easter Parade- From Holiday Inn and the film of the same name. Nice interplay between Ruby and George leading to a modulation for the last half and a retard followed by a Louis-ish coda.

Shine on your Shoes- From The Bandwagon. A nice medium swing tempo with a closely voiced first chorus. George picks up Ruby's last lick for his chorus going down low. Ruby's strutting half brings us back to the close voiced coda. A nice track.

I'm Putting All my Eggs in One Basket- Recorded by Louis in 1936 and a favorite of this writer. More tight voicings from the co-leaders, a wailing Ruby going down to low register growls. George's swinging chorus leads to fours with Ruby before a harmonized rideout and a half step jump up to the coda.

They All Laughed- Our co-leaders lead off in close voicing before George takes a swinging spot with humorous touches. Ruby uncorks a lovely, winding solo before the out chorus with a neat Ruby/George voiced run on the coda.

Be Careful, It's my Heart- Also from Holiday Inn. Ruby's great use of the cornet's low register is a highlight on the intro and coda. In between George has a pretty lead picked up by Ruby. Mike Moore's closing bass arcos are a standout.

I'm Old Fashioned- The great Kern classic has George's highly personal sound on the lead picked up by delicate runs by Ruby. Ruby goes up high a la Louis before coming down low for the pretty coda.

Isn't this a Lovely Day?-Ruby and George trade leads with dancing runs around the melody. Ruby uses great rhythmic placement on his notes (another Armstrong hallmark). George gets off a classic, percussive chorus followed by a tasty Braff/Moore duet. Ruby jumps octaves on his horn effortlessly before Moore's acrobatic run to end the clever track.

Top Hat- A clever arrangement using the bridge as an intro. Ruby gets in some nice high register smears and George has a strutting, darting chorus. Ruby's next spot has some latin rhythm back ups and the out chorus returns us to the intro ending on a dissonant chord. A great finale to a classic album.

Despite the short running time of this album, it's a great example of this wonderful chamber group at their best. The solid support of Wright and Moore can't be ignored as they give Ruby and George the freedom to improvise and play off each other with leads, fours and close voicings.
I'm happy to say that the RCA lp is available on CD along with the group's first Chiarascuro lp.
You can go to Amazon and find it on 101 Distributors.

Ruby and George were both too strong willed to co-exist for more than two years but we treasure the wonderful recorded legacy they left us.
To Fred Astaire-With Love is the perfect starting point to re-discover this magical group.

Some Grace Notes on the Hal Roach Fun Factory

The recent (Jan. 2011) Hal Roach Festival on Turner Classic Movies brought a renewed interest in these wonderful comedy shorts and features that have been so dear to me for many years.
In addition there were many new additions and surprises to the Roach output. Here is a fond overview of that festival and the featured series.

Of course, we always think of Laurel and Hardy in discussions of Hal Roach comedies and they were well represented by all their talkie shorts and some selected features. Roach was a veteran actor, producer and gag man who developed a rival comedy studio to Mack Sennett, eventually eclipsing him in the early 30s. His studio boasted not only top talent such as Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang, Thelma Todd, Charley Chase etc. but top writers, directors, cameramen and one of the finest stock company of comedy actors. Roach's salad years were from the early 20s to the mid 30s when he started concentrating on feature films.

First up were the Our Gang silent comedies. I've only seen a few of these over the years and was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining they still are. As a die hard fan of the talkie gang comedies I thought I'd be disappointed in these early (1922-8) efforts. They have much of the charm and energy of the talkies. The mainstays of the cast Mary Kornman, Mickey Daniels, Farina Hoskins, Joe Cobb and Sunshine Sammy Morrison were all natural young performers and it's a treat to see talkie regulars Mary Ann Jackson,Wheezer Hutchins and Jean Darling pop up in the 1928 entries. Several episodes were either remade or refashioned for the talkie gang.
Uncle Tom's Uncle(1926) with it's play within the short was later used in Spanky. Love My Dog(1927) had the perennial bad guys out to put away the gang's pet pup( remade as The Pooch). The Fourth Alarm(1926) has the gang as junior firefighters and would return as Hook and Ladder. One Wild Ride(1925) with Farina's jalopy careening down hills recalls many of the talkie thrill comedies. High Society(1924) has a common theme-the gang thrown into a swanky adult part and Shivering Spooks(1926) gave us a scare comedy-a theme the gang would frequently revisit along with every comic from Chaplin to the Bowery Boys. Good Cheer(1926), a funny Christmas entry had fun gags with a store Santa Claus and snowballs catching various foils in the kisser!

Some of the gang members came and went but Mickey, Farina, Mary, Joe and Sammy were regulars who continued at Roach as young adults. The silent series was produced and frequently directed by Robert McGowan who guided the series right into the talkie era. Also contibuting were director Anthony Mack and some of the many talented Roach writers and gagmen such as Charley Rogers, Felix Adler, Lloyd French and James Parrott (brother of Charley Chase). In addition the gang was enhanced by the great "adult"Roach stock company including Charlie Hall, Edgar Kennedy, Anita Garvin, James Finlayson,Charley Chase, Baldwin Cooke and even Oliver Hardy who appeared in two silents.

The Our Gang talkies were also well represented. I only watched a few, seeing I have the wonderful complete DVD set put out by Genius Entertainment. These shorts of 1929-37 are the classics so many of us grew up with on Saturday morning TV.
The early shorts featured holdovers Wheezer, Farina, Mary Ann along with favorites such as Stymie, Chubby, Jackie Cooper, Dorothy and of course Spanky!
I have to single out some favorites including Pups is Pups (1930) a charming short combing Wheezer's adventures with his puppies and the gang invading a pet show at a swanky hotel. Who can forget Chubby "primping" his pet pig and society violinist Charlie Hall finding a pet frog at the end of his bow!
Helping Grandma(1931) is another standout combining high melodrama (even by 1931 standards) and classic Roach slapstick as the gang gets revenge on Grandma's evil stepson out to swindle her of her bonds. The gang's attack on meanie William Gillespie is something. This is a great cast of kids including Jackie Cooper, Mary Ann, Dorothy, Chubby and both Farina(growing into a teenager) and the new scene stealer, Stymie Beard.
Birthday Blues(1932)is another standout. Spanky was now aboard as Dickie Moore's kid brother.
The gang makes a giant birthday cake full of prizes to raise money for Dick's birthday present for his mom. A classic scene has the oven huffing and puffing with a bizarre "foghorn" type noise that would pop up again in other Roach comedies. We would be remissed if we failed to mention lovely June Marlowe as Miss Crabtree, the gang's pretty teacher who figured prominently in several classics. Of course, the mid 30s cast of Spanky, Alfafa, Darla, Buckweat and Butch was one of the best groups and made many classic shorts. I love the Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937), a beautifully produced takeoff on Hollywood musicals with Alfafa shunning Spanky's show to sing opera. Spanky becomes a succesful clubowner with Darla and "Cab" Buckwheat the stars of his show. A young Annie Ross makes a cameo singing a swing version of Loch Lomond.

Next up were the talkie shorts of Laurel and Hardy. These 1929-35 films are classics of American film comedy. It was a delight seeing them again. We won't try breaking down the whole series but some personal favorites deserve a mention.
Hog Wild (1930) has some great slapstick as Ollie (with Stan's "help")tries to install a radio aerial atop his house with disatrous results. Ollie winds up clinging to a ladder aboard Stan's car careening thru the streets. Them Thar Hills (1934) and Tit for Tat (1935) have the memorable encounters with Charlie Hall and wife Mae Busch. Them Thar Hills was so succesful, it warranted a sequel. I've always been very fond of Me and My Pal (1933) , a standout short with bridegroom Ollie and bestman Stan getting so involved in a jigsaw puzzle that they forget to atend the wedding. The confrontation with father of the bride James Finlayson and a cop, butler and taxi driver result in a comedic free for all. Not every L & H was a classic, Be Big (1931) spends far too much time on a scenr trying to put Ollie's tight boots on for a loge meeting. The early talkie Berth Marks (1929) has an endless upper berth scene but these misfires are rare. With the great Roach stock company, writers and directors and the breezy melodies of Leroy Shields and Marvin Hatley you can't go wrong.

Three features Pardon Us (1931) , Pack up your Troubles (1932) and The Bohemian Girl (1936) were added following the shorts. Pardon Us, the boy's first feature is a fun prison comedy with the bonus of Ollie's lovely vocal, Lazy Moon accompanied by Stan's great dancing(a throwback to his music hall days). Pack Up is a lively feature staring with WW1 highjinks followed by the boys' misadventures trying to find the granparents of a comrades little girl.
The Bohemian Girl is one of L & H's best costume operettas. Darla Hood from Our Gang plays their adopted daughter. Thelma Todd died during the filming and only one opening scene features her. She was a great beauty and her comic timing enhanced all her Roach work. More on her coming up.

The next group of shorts by Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, The Boy Friends and The Taxi Boys are quite rare and haven't been much on commercial television.
The Harry Langdon series of 1929-30 was a comeback attempt by a comic who just a few years earlier rivolved Chaplin, Lloyd and Keaton. Langdon's attempts at running his own productions were his downfall. Roach took a chance on him and the results are interesting if not great. His voice was fine for the talkies and he was still an engaging performer with that "babyface" innocence his trademark.
The Fighting Parson (1930) a comic western has good moments and some of Harry's vaudeville dancing. The lovely Thelma Todd has a small part,she would star in several of Harry's shorts lending her beauty and comic charm. The King (1930) is a cute costume spoof with Harry a lecherous monach with his eyes on queen Thelma and courtesan Dorothy Granger (another comedy pro best known as Leon Erroll's wife in his long running series). Some shorts like The Head Guy (1930) are pretty labored, Harry worked on some of Laurel and Hardy's Roach features as a writer and kept active in shorts at Columbia until his death in 1945. He was a consumate comic who could have gone much farther in the movies.

The Charley Chase shorts have also been woefully forgotten over the years. He was a great talent who also wrote and directed many of his own comedies and those of other Roach stars. Charley went back to Mack Sennett and had much comic experience by the time he got to Roach studios in 1921. His character was a brash but likeable go getter who usually got the girl despite his comic misadventures. He also loved to sing and most of his shorts featured his pleasant tenor voice in a song.
Thelma Todd again added her charm to several Chase comedies. The Pip from Pittsburg(1931) is one of his best with Charley looking his worst for a blind date and then doing his comic best to correct things when his date turns out to be lovely Thelma. His antics on the dance floor trying to change clothes with a buddy are classic.
Two Three Reelers High C's (1930) and Rough Seas (1931) make a nice short feature. The story is set in WW1 and folows Charley's misadventures with his barbershop quartet and French girlfriend (Thelma). Rough Seas has some fun gags as Charley tries to smuggle Thelma aboard ship. Fallen Arches (1933) is a top notch comedy with Charley hitting the road as a budding salesman and getting into some great automobile gags en route. Four Parts (1934) is a clever comedy of errors with Charley's girlfriend (Betty Mack) running into his three identical brothers during the course of a day. Also a standout is the Tarzan take-off Nature in the Wrong (1933) with Charley believing himself a relative of Tarzan complete with comic flashback.
We should mention several standout leading ladies such as Muriel Evans, Joyce Compton and Rosina Lawrence, a charming Roach protege who also played the teacher of Our Gang in the mid 30s.(she and Charley perform a neat song and dance in On the Wrong Trek(1936) also featuring a fun guest spot by Laurel and Hardy.)All the Chase comedies have their moments as did his later series at Columbia.

The Boy Friends series of 1930-32 deserves greater recognition. This fun loving group of colloge age kids was an extention of Our Gang including two alums, Mickey Daniels and Mary Kornman.
Also aboard were Grady Sutton as slow moving Alabam and Dave Sharpe, a great stuntman who always took some amazing falls and tumbles. Dorothy Granger and Gertie Messinger also were regulars and future Our Gang director Gordon Douglas appeared in some of the shorts.
Like Our Gang, the kids got into sticky situations always involving plenty of slapstick and many of the Roach regulars. The famed director George Stevens worked on most of the shorts as writer/director.
Love Fever (1931) is a charming comedy with Thelma Todd hamming it up as an actress rehearsing her scenes and running into each of the boys who try to woo her. She then vamps things up to get them back with their girls. The short is a delight and showcases Thema's beauty and comic abilities. Air Tight (1931) is a classic with the gang starting up a glider club and the misadventures of Alabam as he winds up going for a wild ride in a runaway glider. The sight gags are fantastic with many hair raising gags and standout performances by Sutton and Charlie Hall.
You're Telling Me (1932) is a fun situation comedy with Mickey and Grady driving Gordon's "dad" Billy Gilbert crazy during an extended visit. The series ended shortly thereafter but deserves to be enjoyed again. Thanks to Turner for resurrecting it.

Even rarer is the Taxi Boys series featuring Billy Gilbert and Ben Blue. Leonard Maltin in his exellent book, The Great Movie Shorts forewarned us that this series was one of Roach's weakest. Gilbert and Blue as bumbling taxi drivers are pretty lame and their characters quite obnoxious,however there is great slapstick thanks to director Del Lord. Lord, a former Keystone regular (he was the driver of the Keystone Kops' car) excells in the many auto and steet scenes.
The short What Price Taxi (1932) without Blue and with Clyde Cook and Franklin Pangborn added has some incredible gags involving the Taxi boys and runaway autos careening thru the Hollywood hills. Thundering Taxis has Billy Bevan and Cook as the principles and comedy veterans Bud Jamison and Stanley Blystone both appear as bosses of theTaxi Boys.
Not a classic series but certainly worth a look for some great gags.

The shorts continued with a sampling of the wonderful series of Thelma Todd and her partners, ZaSu Pitts and Patsy Kelly. As we've already seen Thelma was an integral part of the success of the Roach shorts. She worked so well with all the Roach comics (also did several turns with the Marx Bros. and Wheeler & Woolsey). Her female Laurel and Hardy series was a natural for her beauty and comic gifts and both partners were talented cohorts. ZaSu specialized in fluttery ,bewildered characterizations where Patsy was more bombastic. They both played off the poised straight woman Thelma beautifully.
Highlights included Catch as Catch Can (1931) an early short with a boxing theme and a fun finale at the arena involving ZaSu's misadventures with a hat.Asleep in the Feet (1933) is a personal favorite. The girls take jobs as taxi dancers at Billy Gilbert's establishment and run afoul of pushy suitors and stodgy dancehall inspectors. ZaSu's attempts at getting "hot "are a riot and there is an interesting excerpt of Duke Ellington's Jubilee Stomp on the soundtrack. If any jazz or film buffs know how this got into the short please contact me. The Bargain of the Century (1933) is one of the girls' best comedies directed by Charley Chase. The plot involves a quirky cop staying with the girls and Billy Gilbert doing his patented German who's mistaken for a police chief. Lots of Roach slapstick and fun here.
Patsy Kelly took over in late 1933 and the series didn't skip a beat. Backs to Nature(1933) is a predictable but fun entry wth the girls roughing it on a camping trip. This short has a 3 Stooges feel to it and uses tried and true gags. Top Flat (1935) one of Thelma's last shorts is a classic. Patsy thinks Thelma has crashed high society (she's actually working as a maid) and visits her "penthouse" with two rowdy boyfriends. The ensuing chaos when Thelma's employers arrive is classic. A slapstick highlight are the "water bombs" the boys throw off the penthouse balcony and the expected results on passerbys.

Thelma's untimely death in December of 1935 put a sad end to the series (it remains one of Hollywood's great mystery deaths). Roach was obliged to put out three more shorts, first he teamed Patsy with Pert Kelton in Pan Handlers (1936). Miss Kelton was a fine comic but was forced to play staight lady. The last two 1936 shorts paired Patsy with Broadway entertainer/comic Lyda Roberti.This partnership had potential, Lyda played a naive but engaging foil for brassy Patsy and she could sing and dance well. Their first short At Sea Ashore was a good into as Patsy attempts to met Lyda at the immigration dept. of the harbor with comic results. Lyda gets to sing and dance, backed up by the Avalon Boys (including Chill Wills). The final short Hill Tillies was another roughing it comedy but more on the staid side. The film does have a rare appearance by sports great Jim Thorpe as an Indian (what else!). The girls appeared in one more film, the feature Nobody's Baby (1937) a fun musical comedy also featuring Rosina Lawrence and the Avalon Boys again. It showed how much potential the girls had but alas, Lyda also died young in 1938.

The finale of the Roach festival featured various features along with some tried and true favorites. Three Laurel and Hardy favorites, Way Out West(1937), Sons of the Desert(1934) and Bonnie Scotland(1935) were fun to revisit. I haven't seen Bonnie Scotland in a long time and it holds up as an exellent addition to their costume/military comedies a la Beau Hunks and Flying Deuces. It was nice to see Zenobia (1939) again, a curio made during a Laurel contract dispute with Hardy going solo in a genial Southern themed comedy. Although Ollie shares scenes with Harry Langdon, they were not a team in this film although Langdon has a nice character role as the old circus man. Another comedy of the Old South is General Spanky (1936), the only Our Gang feature and a showcase for Spanky and Buckwheat with Alfafa, Porky and the gang in support. Darla was absent, probably filming Bohemian Girl with L & H. The lovely Rosina Lawrence was also cast as a friend of the gang.Miss Lawrence was also featured in Pick a Star (1937), an all star production involving a young starlet's adventures in Hollywood including Lyda Roberti, Patsy Kelly, James Finlayson, Jack Haley and many of the Roach regulars including Laurel and Hardy in two funny cameos.

The other features were some of Roach's mainstream fare such as Topper, There goes my Heart, Merrily we Live and Captain Fury. A curio was the film Broadway Limited, a Victor McLaglen comedy that featured Thelma Todd's partners ZaSu Pitts and Patsy Kelly teamed in some scenes. We should also mention the wonderful music of the Hal Roach comedies. These delightful "Hot Dance Band" sounds were a staple of the early films and enhanced the enjoyment of the comedies. Even casual listeners know them as the "Our Gang" music.
Most of the stock music was composed by LeRoy Sheild who joined Roach in 1930. Marvin Hatley was the Roach music director from 1930-9 and composed his own share of short and feature scores. He also added some mid 30s music to some of the early shorts that didn't have a score. The Beau Hunks Orchestra of Holland have used much of the Sheild/ Hatley material for their repertoire and have lovingly recreated the scores for full orchestra on CD and in concert.

What a treasure we have in Turner Classic Movies. Where else can you enjoy festivals aimed at Comedy Buffs along with Classic Cinema, Great Musical and Shorts and Guilty Pleasures such as The Bowery Boys, Andy Hardy, Joe McDoakes and Brown and Carney!
Long May they Wave!

Hal Roach continued producing and directing films into the Television age and lived to the ripe age of 100, passing on in 1992.
He left a huge and enjoyable legacy of some of America's greatest Film Comedy. So far not much of the Roach product is available on DVD. Even Laurel and Hardy have seen scant attention. There is a huge box set available from England. (in a different form of playback).
That makes Turner's contributions all the more valuable.

Till our next post-Keep Laughing!

The Trumpet of Tommy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey's standing as a trombonist and bandleader is known to any fan of jazz and big band music. His work as a trumpet player, mainly in the late 20s isn't too widely known and is an amazing surprise to fans of his trombone work.
Both Tommy and brother Jimmy were taught trumpet first by their father Thomas Sr., a music teacher and concert bandsman. They eventually concentrated on trombone and reeds respectively.
Jimmy, himself played a fair horn and recorded a few times, his sound had a Bix Beiderbecke influence to it(Jimmy and Tommy worked and recorded with Bix frequently).
Tommy's trumpet sound came from the hot, driving influence of Louis Armstrong. Both Louis and Bix influenced countless musicians of the 20s.

Tommy gave us lots of fine jazz trombone recordings in the 20s, especially in the company of Bix, Phil Napolean, Paul Whiteman and his own bands co-led with Jimmy. As a trombonist one can hear the influence of Miff Mole and Bill Rank, two of the era's finest players. Right from the beginning Tommy had that beautiful, pure sound and remarkable control. That's why it's so unusual to hear his reckless, hell- bent- for leather trumpeting.

The first recorded example of Tommy's trumpet comes on a Paul Whiteman recording of Aug. 1927, It Won't be Long Now. Both Tommy and Jimmy were recent additions to the Whiteman Orchestra (Bix and Frank Trumbauer would join up in late Oct.).
On this DeSylva-Brown-Henderson pop tune, Bing Crosby and the Rhythm Boys and Jimmy are also heard. Tommy takes an opening spot on trombone then returns for some brief but effective trumpet spots with straight mute. The Louis influence is there and Tommy delivers a hot coda to the recording. If one didn't know that it was Tommy, the solo could have been taken for any fine hot jazzman of the era.

On the many Okeh Dorsey Bros. recordings of the late 20s, Tommy occasionly took a trumpet solo. One of his best is on My Melancholy Baby (4/24/28) . Tommy belts out a Loui-ish verse and takes a solo reprieve later in the tune. His solo on Forgetting You has also been singled out as a stellar hot chorus.
Tommy recorded two sessions for Okeh featuring his trumpet with rhythm accompaniment. The first on 11/10/28 featured Artie Schutt on harmonium, Jim Williams,bass, Eddie Lang,guitar and Stan King on drums. It's Right here for You and Tiger Rag showcase his hot,slashing horn much under the Armstrong spell. The verse to It's Right Here is played pretty and Tommy gets in a hot double time passage. The session of 4/23/29 billed as Tom Dorsey and his Novelty Orch. have Lang, King and pianist Frank Signorelli. You Can't Cheat a Cheater and Daddy Change your Mind contain more standout Dorsey horn.

Another exellent example of Tommy's trumpet work is on the Cotton Pickers session of 3/27/29 and 5/16/29. This was a Brunswick studio group usually made up of members of Phil Napolean's Memphis Five. Along with Tommy and Jimmy are Schutt, King, Joe Tarto on bass, Perry Botkin,banjo and Glenn Miller,trombone. The first session features two takes of Rampart St. Blues (one with a vocal). Tommy's lead and short solos are solid and Glenn Miller shows what a fine trombonist he was,with shades of Miff Mole and Bill Rank. St. Louis Gal has a pretty opening solo by Tommy, reminicent of Joe Smith. The doubletime finale allows him a wailing rideout. Kansas City Kitty is also a solid side with fine solos by all hands. Hoagy Carmichael may be one of the vocalists on this session.

The May session has Carl Kress,guitar, Signorelli,piano and the popular vocalist Dick Robertson.
No Parking (a Napolean original) is a lively, stomping instrumental. Tommy shows off some fast fingering a la Red Nichols. Sweet Ida Joy is a pleasant side with Dick's vocal and Tommy playing a sweeter lead horn. An exellent session, not only for Tommy's trumpet but for the underated Miller trombone.

Tommy's hottest trumpet work came on an Eddie Lang date for Okeh on 5/28/29. Along with Tommy on trombone and trumpet were Jimmy, Schutt,Lang,Tarto,King and Leo McConville,an exellent but underated Bix-like cornetist. (all the band members were frequent colleagues of Red Nichols). Freeze and Melt, an early Jimmy McHugh tune has Tommy on trombone only and features fine solos including a rolling,Bix-ish one by McConville. On Bugle Call Rag, Tommy starts out on trombone but switches to trumpet for the outchorus. He lets off a few slashing breaks,then joins McConville for a driving outchorus with some of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings passages uses as a riff. Jimmy is also inspired with some throbbing high notes over the band. The highlight of the session is Hot Heels, a Lang original with minor key solos in the style of Louis' King of the Zulus and Tight Like That. Tommy is really into his Louis bag here with a classic solo building up to some impressive high notes. (the solo also reminds one of the gifted but eccentric trumpeter Jack Purvis). Jimmy also gets in a hot clarinet chorus going up high ,too before the band rides home. Tommy's horn work here shows a hard blowing Armstrong disciple and certainly stands on it's own merits, even if one was unaware of his briliance as a trombonist.
By the way, Tommy's trombone on Freeze is exellent too, with shades of Miff Mole, one of his idols.

An intriguing session that may have Tommy on trumpet is the Blind Willie Dunn Gin Bottle Four date of 4/30/29 for Okeh. Dunn was a pseudonym for Eddie Lang who added the great bluesman Lonnie Johnson on guitar along with J,C, Johnson,piano and a drummer some credit as Hoagy Carmichael (and perhaps vocalist,too). King Oliver has been suggested as cornetist and it sounds like him, but Tommy has also been mentioned as a possibility. The two sides, Jet Black Blues and Blue Blood Blues have fine Johnson guitar and humorous percussion (including some close mike jaw pounding!). I think the cornet is Oliver, but Tommy was certainly capable of playing in this style. Tommy also played trumpet on a Seger Ellis Okeh date of Feb. 1930. He contributes a Louis-ish muted spot to Should I? with a "Dippermouth Blues" quote. Eddie Lang's great rhythm guitar is also a highlight.

Tommy continued to double on trumpet occasionly. He and Jimmy did some trumpet doubling with the Dorsey Bros. band of 1934-5. (the band had just one regular trumpet). Sometimes with his own band, he would like to grab a horn from the trumpet section and get a few kicks with a solo or two. The last recording of Tommy on trumpet is with his Big Band on a pop tune of June 1,1939,Back to Back. Tommy takes a driving straight mute solo up front, sounding a bit like Yank Lawson who was in his trumpet section at the time. It's the last recorded evidence of Tommy's trumpet work.

Tommy's trumpet work, different as night and day from his trombone shows another side of his musical genius, along with his love of Louis Armstrong and hot jazz. Although a capable jazzman on trombone, Tommy got to let his hair down as a trumpeter and explore a rougher, hotter side of his playing. The fact that he was doing this as a bit of a lark gave him that freedom and abandon that he couldn't attain as a trombonist. It's a fascinating aspect of one of our greatest musicians.

Is it gonna Be Long? and Back to Back can be heard on Youtube.
My Melancholy Baby and other early Dorsey Bros. sides are on Vol. 1 of The Old Masters series on the brothers.
The Hot Heels and Willie Dunn session is on the Classics Eddie Lang collection.
The TD trumpet solos are part of Stringing the Blues on Koch Records.
The Cotton Pickers session is on a Timeless Phil Napolean CD.

Christmas with Louis Armstrong

One of the great tragedies in recording history is that Louis Armstrong never got to make a full Christmas album. Louis embodied all the joys, warmth and sacred beauty of the season.

Pops loved Christmas- one of the most famous stories is his fascination with a Christmas tree that his wife Lucille brought on tour. Louis insisted the tree stay up long after the season was over. I'm sure that Louis played many Christmas requests in person, but none seem to have been recorded. We do have some lovely singles Louis recorded for Decca along with a few other seasonal songs. This post will celebrate these joyous Christmas offerings.

Louis' earliest Christmas recording is the Clarence Williams Blue Five session of Oct. 1925 at Okeh records.He recorded two versions of Santa Claus Blues a tune written by Chicago bandleader Charlie Straight and Gus Kahn. On Oct. 8 the full band backs up vocalist Eva Taylor in a spirited version. Louis is already experimenting with the higher register of the horn and Buster Bailey on soprano is impressive thruout. (he would join Louis' All Stars in 1965). On the 16th Louis accompanied Clarence, Eva and Clarence Todd's vocal in a slow version of the tune with just Williams' piano and Buddy Christian on banjo. Louis' phrasing is typical of the wonderful blues accompaniments he took part in during this period.

We fast forward to September 22,1952 and a studio session at Decca records. Louis is backed by the studio band and arrangements of Gordon Jenkins. Jenkins was an unabashed admirer of Pops and created lovely and inspired commercial charts for Louis. Recorded at the session were the seasonal favorites White Christmas and Winter Wonderland. Louis doesn't play on these selections but his vocals are especially warm and well recorded. The vocal on White Christmas is fairly straight backed by Jenkins' lovely string writing. On Winter Wonderland Louis has a beautiful scat coda and Marty Napolean gives us some one finger piano melody (a Jenkins trademark). Napolean, Arvell Shaw(bass), Cozy Cole(drums) and Bob McCracken(clarinet) were members of Louis' All Stars of the time. (they augment the studio players). A lovely example of Pops'ability to combine simplicity with virtuosity.

The next Christmas session for Pops was on Oct. 22,1953 at Decca again. Backing Louis was the Commanders, a popular swing band led by drummer Ed Grady and here using an all star studio lineup including Billy Butterfield, Lou Mc Garity, Cutty Cutshall, Hymie Schertzer, Al Klink, Bernie Leighton and Carmen Mastren. The band had a brassy sound to it with 3 trumpets and 4 trombones, the charts were by Toots Camarata( he had backed up Louis with Jimmy Dorsey's band in 1936). The Christmas songs recorded were two novelties, 'Zat You,Santa Claus? and Cool Yule (written by Steve Allen).

'Zat You is a fun minor key novelty in the style of Old Man Mose and Skeleton in the Closet.There are some fun sound effects simulating the cold wind and knocking on Louis' cabin. Louis has a lot of fun and the band swings hard Cool Yule swings along in shuffle rhythm and another homage to Santa.There are cute lyrics including Santa taking a lick on a peppermint stick. Louis gets in some trumpet too and wails for a half chorus in great style, his stop time stuff on the bridge is classic Pops.This entire session had great Louis horn and vocals and Camarata's fine charts and a great studio band(that big bone section is very prominent on Yule) put the tunes over in fine style.

The next Christmas recording was back at Decca on Sept. 8, 1955 with a solid studio band arranged and conducted by the great Benny Carter. Louis' regular band (Trummy Young, Barney Bigard, Billy Kyle, Arvell Shaw and Barrett Deems) were also part of the studio band.
The two Christmas selections were Christmas in New Orleans (a novelty written for the session) and a Raymond Scott favorite Christmas Night in Harlem.
New Orleans is a cute novelty with Pops' having fun talking about a Basin St. Santa (the tune is a bit of a Basin St. clone)and barefoot choir, he also gets in a solid trumpet solo. Carter's charts are well crafted and swinging, as is his custom. Harlem (a Jack Teagarden-Johnny Mercer favorite) swings nicely with Louis getting in some great scat and a burnished,swinging horn solo. Trummy and Barney can he heard getting in some licks.
Also recorded at the session was Moments to Remember, a current hit for the Four Lads. It's popped up on some of Louis' Christmas compilations due to it's opening New Year's line. It's a lovely tune and Pops' vocal and horn are backed up by a pretty Carter arrangement.

We have to wait until may 26, 1970 for the next Christmas tune. While recording the Flying Dutchman lp Louis and his Friends, the selection Here's My Heart for Christmas was recorded for use as a single. The tune was written by George Weiss (composer of What a Wonderful World) and gets a tender reading from Louis with nice backing by James Spaulding(flute) and Frank Owens(piano). Oliver Nelson was the arranger/conductor. Louis was recuperating from a fatal illness and does not play trumpet on the session.

Louis' last studio recording was a delightful reading of The Night Before Christmas. Pops recorded the poem in his home studio on Feb. 26,1971. Although his health was still shaky, Louis was back to playing trumpet and in the midst of his last engagement.
Although there's no singing or trumpet, Pops' narrative is delightful and swings in it's own way. His 1938 Decca recordings of Elder Eatmore's Sermons show his talent as a monologist. He gets in some of his own phrases and personal touches. (he dedicates the reading to "all the kids").
The poem was released as a single by Continental Records backed by a version of The Saints from the 1968 BBC TV show issued on Brunswick. This is a lovely and charming coda to Louis' recording career. Some versions of the poem dubbed in some irritating music behind Louis.
There is also a nice version of Pops and the All-Stars playing Auld Lang Syne from a New Years' Eve broadcast of 1954 at the Down Beat in San Francisco. Louis plays the perennial with his beautiful solemn lead, it's nice to have this version. Another seasonal song that gets packaged in Louis' Christmas compilations is his duet with Velma Middleton on Baby, It's Cold Outside. This was a fun routine that wasn't recoded commercially but exists on many live releases.

The 6 Decca sides are available on the Hip-O CD, What a Wonderful Christmas. Along with Louis there are single sides by Louis Jordan, Peggy Lee, Lionel Hampton, Mel Torme, Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, Eartha Kitt and Dinah Washington. It makes for nice Holiday listening.
The budget Laserlight label offers Christmas through the Years and includes Santa Claus Blues, Baby It's Cold, Nite before Christmas , Zat You and some non-Christmas sides by Louis.
Louis' great Verve duet with Ella Fitzgerald on I've got my Love to Keep me Warm has popped up on Music Choice TV a lot and most of the sides can be heard on Youtube.

Everyday is Christmas when you watch or listen to Louis Armstrong's music.
Happy Holidays from Pete Kelly's Blog.

Louis Armstrong: Thanks a Million/Thankful

With Thanksgiving a few days away, this is a perfect time to review two timely classics from Louis Armstrong's golden Decca period.

These wonderful sides of 1935-46 are now available from Mosaic records, I first encountered them on a wonderful Decca lp, Rare Items in the late 60s. At that time the Decca big band sides had been pretty much ignored. The Rare Items lp along with Dan Morgenstern's consumate liner notes helped to bring this prolific period of Pops to the jazz public. When Louis signed with Decca in 1935, he was leading the Luis Russell band and would continue to into the 40s. The band was full of many of Pops' New Orleans pals such as Albert Nicholas, Red Allen, Pops Foster, Paul Barbarin and Russell himself. Other standout players included Charlie Holmes, J.C. Higginbottom, Jimmy Archey and the great Sid Catlett (one of Louis' favorite drummers).

Louis' own playing and singing had reached a maturity combined with his earlier virtuoso side. This combination gave us some of Pops' most sublime sides, but he could still give the listener shivers with his uncanny phrasing and mastery of the trumpet's high register. His singing on ballads revealed that mellow crooning approach he started in the early 30s. These two sides are perfect examples of this type of playing.

Thanks a Million by Arthur Johnston and Gus Kahn comes from a 1935 Dick Powell film of the same name. Also featured were Fred Allen and Paul Whiteman's Orch. including the Teagarden Bros. and Frank Trumbauer.(Whiteman recorded his version for Victor in July '35) The tune was also recorded by Jimmy Rushing and was a favorite of Ruby Braff and Bobby Hackett. Bobby performed it at the 1970 Newport Salute to Satchmo.

Thankful by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin doesn't seem to have come from a film or show. I don't think anyone else has recorded it since Louis. Now on to Pops' beautiful renditions of the tunes.

Thanks a Million (12/18/35) No intro, Louis comes right in with his crisply burnished sound and a lovely exposition of the melody (nobody could caress a melody like Pops). On the second half chorus Louis goes up high but still keeps the serene mood.The band brings Pops into his vocal and sounds a bit ragged, it took the Russell band a while to click with Louis but they eventually became a crack backup band. Louis' tender, crooning vocal is backed by nice Russell piano, Pops throws in a "mama" and Russell modulates into Louis' last half chorus. This ending is full of his majestic, operatic sound with the classic high note ending. Great Stuff!
An alternate take exists and shows subtle variations on Pops' opening chorus. The vocal is still mellow and Russell's piano spots equally nice. When Louis starts his vocal you can hear him clear his throat. The ending is equally impressive. A nice contrast.

Thankful (5/18/36) The band sounds so much better and the intro is solid and clean. Louis' vocal is backed by nice horn figures. This vocal like Thanks a Million is very pretty and well recorded. Pops gets a few low scat figures in, the bridge is very attractive with it's descending line. Pops Foster's bass is also very solid thruout. The band modulates to some very inspired horn by Pops. His burnished tone finds time for some lovely passing figures and he really digs in with some impressive double time figures over band stops on the bridge. The last half chorus has Pops riding over the band with great authority and nicely placed high notes leading to another classic operatic finale. A Beautiful Performance!

We can be so "Thankful" that Louis Armstrong came along to change the course of American Music and give us countless musical gems such as the above selections. They are part of the excellent Mosaic Decca Collection-MD7-243.

Bobby Hackett with Tommy Dorsey's Clambake 7 (1950)

The wonderful Cornet (and/or trumpet) of Bobby Hackett has been heard in many unique and varied settings over his musical career. Bobby was not only a master jazzmen but one of the greatest lyrical players of all time, who fit perfectly into more commercial and easy listening sessions. (see our earlier post-Bix session 1940).
This date in April of 1950 with Tommy Dorsey is an interesting footnote to his many outstanding jazz sessions.

Tommy had been using the Clambake Seven as a Dixieland alternative to his Big Band.(a la Bob Crosby's Bob Cats) The bulk of the band's sides were made between 1935-9. In the 40s Tommy only used the band on a 1946 date and it was more of a swing session. For this 1950 date, Tommy used an all star group, not players from his current big band. Tommy was nearing the end of his Victor contract and perhaps wanted to have some fun on this date. The results are top notch jazz and some stellar Hackett horn. First a bit about the lineup.

Tommy had solidified himself as one of the country's top bandleaders and he was one of the most brilliant trombonists of the era. He was a capable dixieland player as shown here. (on a future post we'll explore his Hot trumpet work of the 20s).

Bobby , who started out as a guitarist was playing better than ever. His earlier work with Eddie Condon, his own Big Band and Glenn Miller showed a gifted and lyrical improviser who was sometimes handicapped by poor embrochure. By 1950 he had studied his horn more and was playing stronger without losing his lyrical gifts.

Peanuts Hucko, clarinet had paid his dues with the Will Bradley and Charlie Spivak bands and became the star clarinetist with Glenn Miller's Air Force band. His Goodman influenced horn would grace the bands of Eddie Condon, Louis Armstrong and even Lawrence Welk in the early 70s.

Arthur Rollini, brother of Adrian was another big band veteran best known for his mid 30s stint with Benny Goodman. By 1950 he was doing a lot of studio work and his tenor work here, a cross between Eddie Miller and Bud Freeman is a highlight.

Gene Schroeder, piano was another Condon regular and later worked with the Dukes of Dixieland. He was a consumate pro with his own take on the Jess Stacy style of piano.

Jack Lesberg,bass was a solid pro comfortable in classical or jazz settings. He worked frequently with Condon, Hackett and Louis Armstrong. His solid bass workhighlights a strong rhythm section.

Buzzy Drootin from Boston was a solid timekeeper and another Condon favorite who also worked frequently with Bobby and fellow Bostonian Ruby Braff.
Now on to the music.

Way Down Yonder in New Orleans. The old Henry Creamer-Turner Layton classic gets a spirited reading by the Clambakers. A nice arranged intro using the lead notes of the melody and a rolling Hackett break take us into the band chorus. The tenor sax gives the band a sound similar to the Bob Cats and Summa Cum Laude band. Bobby also has some nice breaks on the ensemble. Rollini's tenor solo reminds one of Nick Caizza of the Muggsy Spanier Ragtimers. Bobby's solo is a gem of beautifully cascading phrases perfectly placed. Peanuts follows in his BG mode with the horns riffing behind him. A modulation takes us to the last half chorus reprised by the band with Bobby throwing off some Bix like octave rips and he takes a final break over the coda. A great side.

Original Dixieland One-Step- A classic ODJB composition, the opening ensemble uses the traditional routine with Bobby executing a nice break midway. Peanuts' swinging clarinet splits with Schroeder's tasty piano spot. Bobby's solo is full of melodic runs over the changes leading to Rollini's mellow half-chorus. The band stuts home for the last half with the patented 2 beat ending. (The last chorus band reprieve is the only predictable spot of the session).

Bright Eyes is the surprise tune of the session. It's the title tune of Shirley Temple's first film (written by Richard Whiting and Sidney Clare). The tune was pretty much forgotten in 1950 (Louis Prima recorded it in '34). Taken at a medium dance tempo the band opens with an arranged intro with shades of the In the Mood theme. The first chorus is relaxed with nice horn voicings. Tommy steps out for a chorus of the theme with arranged horn backup. He doesn't play high as usual but stays in the horn's middle register. Peanuts picks up the next chorus for a pretty spot with Bobby taking the second half with his lovely, flowing ideas. The band rides us home with Buzzy getting in a break before the coda. This is a tune that deserves to be heard more.

Tiger Rag- Another ODJB composition gets the Clambake treatment. T.D. slides us into the traditional first chorus with nice breaks for Peanuts. On the second strain Tommy handles the tailgate breaks and handles the Tiger smears on the chorus with Peanuts getting in a break. Boby's lead here is strong and swinging. Gene takes the first solo with his Stacy-like runs with Peanuts picking up for more BG like clarinet. Bobby's in great form with a Cirribiribin -like opening and Rollini finishes up with some Bud Freeman-ish tenor. The band swings the last half, Buzzy takes the tag and Bobby gets in some of his patented riffs on the coda.
The session is a terrific example of dixieland played by top pros and some of Hackett's finest playing in this idiom.

This session has bounced around a lot over the years, never being issued complete. As a kid, I had a Camden EP 45 of Bright Eyes and Dixie One-Step (the flip side had 2 Dorsey big band pops). Way Down Yonder popped up on a Camden lp, The One and Only Tommy Dorsey. In the late 70s, RCA issued a 2 lp Clambake 7 set with Dixie One-Step and Way Down Yonder included. Tiger Rag was only issued on 78. A recent Hep CD from England-Tommy Dorsey, It's Delovely features the late 40s band includes Way Down Yonder and Dixie One-Step. The Classics label has been issuing all the Dorsey Big Band sides and may get to the complete session.

Whatever way you get this session, you'll be in for some great jazz and another important footnote to the prolific recording career of the great Bobby Hackett.

Stooge Stalwarts: Emil Sitka

This series of posts will celebrate the many contributions of the great supporting actors who worked for the Columbia Shorts Dept. and especially with the Three Stooges. Many of these players were comedy veterans going back to the silent studios of Keystone and Hal Roach; others were relative newcomers who got their chance to shine at Columbia.

One such player was Emil Sitka (1914-98), a talented and versatile actor who graced many Columbia shorts and became one of the Stooges' regulars. Emil's first Stooge short, Half Wits Holiday (1947) was Curly's last and he worked with Shemp, Joe Besser and Joe DeRita and just missed becoming a member of the team in the 1970s. (Moe and Larry, of course, were the constants).The photo shows the "Stooges that almost were"-Moe, Joe DeRita and Emil in 1975.

Emil was adept at a variety of roles. He could play character parts of his own age and then turn around and play mad scientists and old codgers with make-up and wavy white hair. He also had a great elastic voice that put over his various characters.

Emil (of Lithuanian descent) grew up in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. He came from a catholic backround and got his early acting experience in local passion plays. During the depression he worked his way to Los Angeles where he worked as a laborer. He continued his acting in local theatre productions and got rave reviews for his performances. A talent scout from Columbia saw him in such a production and recommended him to Jules White, head of the Columbia shorts.

Emil's "audition" with White consisted of his reading some lines from a beat up Charley Chase script. Despite the rather unplanned reading Emil scored points with White and in 1946 he debuted in a Vera Vague comedy, Hiss and Yell.

Although best known for his Stooge roles, Emil worked in most of the Columbia comedy series including Hugh Herbert, Andy Clyde, Shemp Howard, Schilling and Lane, Vernon and Quillan and all of the Harry Von Zell comedies. (This series although currently unavailable has gotten high marks by comedy fans.) Emil's comedies with these players weren't available for review, so we'll concentrate on his many superior Stooge shorts.

Emil's first Stooges short, Half Wit's Holiday, gave him the part of Sneffington the butler. He has some fun byplay with the boys and is a key player in the film's climatic pie fight. He's great as he hands a dowager her drink and gets pasted, politely excusing himself.

During the Shemp era (1947-55), Emil really came into his own with many classic roles. Probably his best remembered is as Justice of the Peace, J.M. Benton in Brideless Groom (1947). In the film Moe and Larry try to marry off voice instructor Shemp to collect an inheritance. The only candidate is homely student Fanny Dunklemeir (Dee Green). The boys and Shemp are all set to be married by Emil when a gang of Shemp's previous invitees show up after hearing of Shemp's windfall. A wild brawl ensues with justice Benton on the end of much of the mayhew. The final straw is when Emil gets a bird cage off the head. With his whiny voice, professor glasses and classic line of "hold hands-you lovebirds" Emil almost steals the show from the Stooges (not an easy task).

Another 1947 release , All Gummed Up features the first of Emil's many "old codger' roles. He plays Mr. Flint, owner of the drug store where the boys work. The boys come up with a miracle serum that makes old people young. Flint goes wild when he sees what the drug does to wife Christine McIntyre (first lady of Stoogedom). The ensuing results with Emil trying the same serum are predictably hilarious. Although only in his thirties at the time, Emil's voice and makeup make him a perfect"codger", a role he would repeat many times. (By the way-this film was remade as Bubble Trouble(1953) a common practice at Columbia).

1949 saw Emil in two of his classic roles. Who Done It? is one of the best Shemp comedies. The boys play detectives summoned to the Goodrich estate. Mr. Goodrich (Emil) has dissapeared and his neice and a group of crooks are out to get his money. The film is a classic Stooge "scare" comedy and Emil as "Old Man Goodrich" has some hilarious moments. With his wavy white hair and whiny voice, Emil makes the perfect "old man". His reappearance later in the film as a Corpus is a hoot. Also neat is his regaling to the Stooges of his "torture"-they tied me to a chair and made me listen to singing commercials!
Vagabond Loafers has the boys as plumbers working at a swanky part hostee by the Norfleets (Emil and Symona Boniface-one of the Stooges' favorite dowagers). Art theives Kenneth MacDonald and Christine McIntyre try to steal the Norfleets' Van Brocklin painting only to be foiled by the Stooges. Emil is in the middle of much mayhem by the boys but somehow keeps a straight face thruout. The film is a reworking of A Plumbing We Will Go , a classic Curly short. It was in turn remade as Scheming Schemers(1956) -(see our post "Case of the Fake Shemp). With the many Stooge remakes in the 50s ,Emil was frequently called back to shoot some new scenes and even asked to dye his hair or lose a few pounds to match earlier stock footage. Another 1949 release, Fuelin' Around featured Emil in another "mad scientist " role. He played Prof. Sneed, inventor of a super rocket fuel. Larry is mistaken for him ("that magnificent head of hair") and captured by spies from the State of Anemia. Emil's role is pretty straight but it's always fun to see him in professor/scientist mode.

1950's Three Hams on Rye had Emil in a terrific character part as B.K. Doaks, a very off Broadway producer who employs the Stooges as stagehands and part time actors. His reactions to the boys' antics is classic. When the Stooges seem to ruin the play's finale ,it turns out to be a comedic success and Emil is lauded for his genius as a talent scout!
Scrambled Brains (1951) gave Emil a tried and true bit as a doctor (complete with coke bottle glasses) examining Shemp and hearing a "ma-ma" doll every time he uses his stethescope on Shemp! Hula-La-La (1951-see our earlier post) has Emil as studio boss Mr. Baines who sends the boys to a South Sea island to give the natives dance lessons. He tells the boys not to fall down on the job and gives us the expected pratfall when he misses his chair!

Gents in a Jam (1952) has one of Emil's greatest performances showing his mastery of verbal and physical humor. He plays Shemp's wealthy Uncle Phineas (back to the old man makeup) who has come for a visit. The boys think Uncle Phineas will bail them out of their back rent. Along the way they get caught up with a new neighbor, strongman Rocky Dugan (Mickey Simpson) and his wife. When the wife winds up in an uncompromising situation the slapstick reaches it's nadir! At one point Emil is bumped by all the Stooges, Rocky and for good measure gets Mrs. Dugan's high heel in the kisser! It turns out that the boys' mean landlady is Phineas' old sweetheart and so goes the boys' windfall and their health as Rocky tears out after them! Emil's whiny voice and great physical bumps are highlights of a classic short.

These are some of Emil's standout shorts. He had many small character parts and cameos during the Stooge series. Being a consumate pro he made the best of any part including reporters, butlers, chefs, military men or just friends of the boys. As we mentioned, the constant use of stock footage gave Emil repeat showings in Stooge films along with new sequences in the remakes. Stone Age Romeos(1955) was a clever remake of I'm a Monkey's Uncle (1948) with the boys as cavemen. In the new footage the boys show museum curator B. Bopper (Emil) their footage of "early man". (the scenes from the earlier film). The new scenes are clever and match up nicely with the original.

During his time at Columbia Emil also did freelance work in other films. He pops up in several Bowery Boys films of the 50s, usually in small cameos. Director Ed Bernds and writer Elwood Ullman worked on quite a few of the Bowery Boys films of the period using many Stooge-like situations and gags. In Private Eyes (1953) sequences from the Stooges' Monkey Businessmen (1946) are used. A sanitarium scene with Emil as a wheelchair ridden patient is reworked. Emil's short but sweet spot is a highlight of the film.

When Shemp Howard passed on in 1955, his place was taken by veteran comic Joe Besser. Emil continued with the series in a variety of amusing roles.His meatiest role of the period was in Outer Space Jitters (1957) once again reprising his mad scientist role. As Prof. Jones ,Emil and the boys land on the planet Zunev and contend with the evil Grand Zilch (Gene Roth) , High Mucky Muck (Phil VanZandt) and Goon (a pre- Bonanza Dan Blocker). This is one of the best of the Besser series. (see our separate post on the film).

When the Stooges shorts ended in 1958 , Emil continued working with the boys in features and other projects. Joe DeRita had come aboard as third Stooge. He was a Burlesque veteran who had a short-lived series of his own at Columbia. Emil can be seen in The Three Stooges meet Hercules (1962) in two cameos , in Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze (1963) as a butler and The Outlaws is Coming (1965) in three roles. His biggest role was in 3 Stooges in Orbit (1962) reprising his mad scientist role as Prof. Danforth. Much of the earlier footage was taken from a TV pilot titled 3 Stooges Scrapbook with Emil in the same role. His wide eyed, whiny voiced professor was hilarious as ever and he develops a cartoon technique for the boys.
Speaking of cartoons, in 1965 the Stooges starred in their own cartoon series featuring their own voices and also appearing in 40 live action wrap arounds. These segments usually reprised old tried and true routines and Emil popped up in several as the boys' foil. The last Stooge film, Kook's Tour (1970) featured the boys as retired Stooges enjoying a vacation. Emil appeared via stock footage (from In a Daze) in the film's prologue.

On a personal note, Emil was married to Donna Driscoll from the 1940s to the 60s. He remarried in the 70s to longtime girlfriend Edith Weber who died in 1981. Emil had 4 daughters and 2 sons. Despite his success as an actor, he always worked a daytime job.Besides his work with Columbia and the Stooges he appeared in many feature films and TV shows from the 50s to 1970.

When Larry Fine took a stroke during the filming of Kook's Tour it looked like the Stooges' amazing run had come to an end. However in the early 70s an independant film project wanted the Stooges for a guest spot. With Larry's blessing, Emil was recruited to be the "3rd Stooge". This project quickly fizzled out but in 1975 another independent comedy called Blazing Stewardesses was produced with a role for this new Stooge combination. Emil was to play Larry's brother Harry and Emil spoke of him as being "consientious to the point of rediculousness." Promo pictures were shot of Moe, Joe and "Harry" (see cover shot) but that was as far as things got. Moe soon took ill and eventually passed on.- the Stooges' roles went to the Ritz Bros.(Larry died in Jan.1975 with Moe following him in May). It would have been fun to see Emil as a Stooge with his years of experience with the team and as a comic actor, I'm sure he would have made a great Stooge.

Emil kept busy in his later years, making many appearances at Stooge conventions and on several Stooge TV tributes .In 1986 he wrote the forward to the exellent reference book, The Columbia Comedy Shorts by Ted Okuda and Ed Watz.This book is must reading for fans of the Stooges and Columbia comedies.He also appeared in a 1986 comedy, The XYZ Murders.His last film was The Nutt House in 1992.
In June of 1997 Emil suffered a stroke and passed on in Jan. 1998. On his gravestone read his most famous line- "Hold Hands, You Lovebirds".

Emil's son Saxon has an exellent website at emilsitka.com , another good site is The Fourth Stooge. All of his work with the Stooges is available on the Sony Three Stooges collection (Vol. 5-8). Here's hoping that his non-Stooge Columbia shorts will surface. What I've seen of the other Columbia series are wonderful and deserve to be enjoyed.
We hope this post will bring much overdue appreciation to this comic genius.

Till next time- Keep Stooging!