WLAC NASHVILLE III
(A Mini Series)
A new Screen Play by Don Boner and Chera Federle
Part three of a mini-series
Jazzing Up the Blues with a Boogie Woogie Beat
Some real slicked up music was performed by Black Artist in the 20's,
30's and 40's Jazz, Boogie Woogie, and Blues. Someone was Jazzing up the blues
with a boogie woogie beat. The blues came into it's own in the late 40's and
early 50's it had it's own style performed by new and different artist. However
the Boogie Woogie Beat was being played in the 20's, 30's and 40's paving the
way for the blues.
Cab Calloway was one of those great entertainers. Calloway grew up in
Baltimore and for a short time attended law school but the call to entertainment
was so strong that by 1932 he was a household name in Jazz music working the
Cotton Club in New York, City. In 1931 Calloway hit it big with "Minnie The
Moocher". He begin to work with the biggest and best known black entertainers of
the 20's, 30's, and 40's, Bill Robinson, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
Calloway appeared in several movies (Stormy Weather) and (Porgy And
Bess) he had other hits including "Kicking The Kong Around "Reefer Man" and "You
Gotta Hi-De-Ho" his 1942 recording of "Blues In The Night" was also a big hit.
Cab Calloway had some of the beat side men in the business (he kept them by
paying them top dollar) they were Walter "foots" Thomas, Benny Page, Doc
Cheatham, Eddie Barfield, Shad Collins, Cozy Cole, Danny Barker, Milt Hinton,
Mario Bauza, Chu Berry, Dizzy Gillespie, Jonah Jones, Tyree Glenn, Panama
Francis and Ike Quebec. Calloway finally broke up the band in 1948. He did kept
working with the Cab Jivers until his retirement. His fans never grew tired of
hearing him sing " Minnie The Moocher".
Count Basie was another great jazz and blues artist who begin his
career in 1935 and kept his band alive from 1935 until his death at 79. Basie
had a light swing and rhythm orchestra that he lead from the piano with a lot of
step it up and go and lots of soloing from him on the piano. Basie was up tempo
he did the boogie woogie on the piano like no one else if you get his recording
of (boogie woogie) and his (boogie woogie may be wrong) you'll have no trouble
realizing where rock n roll started we're talking 1938 and 39 not 1956 and 57.
He got stranded in 1927 in Kansas City when the band in which he was
playing broke up. He got out of Kansas City by taking a job in Walter Page's
Blue Devils, Jimmy Rushing was the vocalist. In 1936 he got his first recording
break with Decca records recording "One O'clock Jump" the recording led to gigs
in Chicago, New York, and Boston, then they returned to the studio to record
"Don't Mess around The Mulberry Bush" jimmy Rushing doing the vocals the song
became a hit in 1938.
The band returned to Chicago for another engagement and made a switch
from Decca to Columbia. From 1938 thru 1945 the band worked on the west coast
and were in several movies Hit Parade, Reveille With Beverly, Stage Door
Canteen, Top Man and Crazy Horse. In 1945 the Count Basie Band had several hits
on the pop and rhythm & blues charts (I Don't Know About You), on the pop charts
"Red Bank Blues" on the rhythm & blues charts, "Jimmy Blues", "Blue Skies", and
"Rusty Dusty Blues." In late 1945 the band signed with RCA and had an immediate
hit with "Open The Door Richard" "Free Eats", "One O'Clock Boogie" "I Ain't
Mad At You" and "You Aint Mad With Me". When the big band sound lost much of
it's appeal in the late 40's most bands broke up or became a small band.
Basie took the same trend then discovered touring was a great way to
bring in revenue. In 1952 he put the big band sound back together and went
overseas and discovered a whole new world of fans that sold out every venue he
played. In short order to Basie's surprise overnight he became an International
Star. By 1957 Count Basie had re-established himself commercially and had
another hit on Clef records with "Everyday I Have The Blues" which went to #5 on
the rhythm & blues charts and inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. The band
hit again in 1956 with "April In Paris" with was also inducted into the Grammy
Hall of Fame. The Count Basie band earned many Grammy awards down through the
years. Count Basie is a true giant in the entertainment industry. Count Basie
played for his many fans until a heart attack in 1976 then after his recovery he
returned to doing what he loved best entertaining for the public. He died in
1979 from cancer.
Cab Calloway and Count Basie in many ways paved the way for the blues
artist of the late 40's and early 50's. Calloway and Basie rubbed elbows with
the white establishment and didn't run up against as many walls as the
Mississippi blues artist did in their quest to get their records played and
receive royalties for their recording. Calloway and Basie were better educated
and didn't come from the deep south where everything was harder for a black
person. They came from a slicked up world and they dressed, talked, and acted
like white folks. They both went to Hollywood made movies moved in and out of
the same neighbor hoods as their white friends. They did not live in Greenwood,
Clarksdale or Indianola, Miss. They most likely had no idea how much difference
there was in the life style of John Lee Hooker and Cab Calloway. Cab Calloway
slicked up his music to relate to white people, not that he didn't want blacks
to hear his music, blacks did hear his music as he worked the Cotton Club in new
York.
How did Cab Calloway and Count Basie pave the way for the blues
artist. They opened doors at the record companies, Excello, Imperial, Chess,
Peacock, King and Specialty knew black artist could make them money they had
seen the big labels do it with Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Nat
King Cole, and Dizzy Gillespie. They were eager to do business with the likes of
Slim Harpo, Guitar Gable, B.B. King, Muddy Waters and many blues artist who
would come knocking on their door, were they honest with the black blues
artist, WLAC Nashville tells the story about the life and times of four DJ's who
were dealing with many of these problems. At first John R, Gene Nobles, Hoss
Allen and Herman Grizzard didn't realize it. Later it's clear what was happening
to them and the black artist whose records they played. White America was not
ready for this kind of jungle music and these records must not continue to be
played and the DJ's playing this junglistic stump beating trash must be stopped.
WLAC NASHVILLE is a great story that uncovers much of was going on in the south
in the 1950's. It's fun, it's serious, it's laughter, it's sad, all in all it's
a story full of life about life and ask's the question why does life have to be
the way it is.
-Widmarc Clark