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This section continues BG corrections and additions in the printed FB:VIS/iv/11–13 scanned below at the end of the page
i.m. Milt Hinton 23 June 1910–19
December 2000
new session
Eddie South and His International Orchestra
Clifford King (cl), Eddie South, J. Wright Smith (vn),
Antonio Spaulding (pn), Everett Barksdale (gt), Milt Hinton (sb), Jimmy
Bertrand (dm)
late February or early March 1933
Recordings, Inc. studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles – Columbia
pressing – handwriting on Recordings, Inc. basic printed label reads,
seemingly in Souths hand: To My Darling / Mother / Sincerely / Sonny –
EDDIE SOUTH is etched vertically into runout –
Owen DuPree mc, not the same as unidentified mc on Chelonis, spoken intro incl.
Souvenir program, personnel, titles – South talks incl. Well be back
some day, goodbye – Diga Diga Doo at request of Souths good friend
Clifford Gantt – La Cumparsita dedicated to all
the members of the Spur Riding Club in Los Angeles
a Herje Kati – theme – mc voice over
b Diga Diga Doo – fast vn unison riffs – pn, dm, sb solos
c La
Cumparsita – me voice over at start
d Herji Kati – theme – mc voice over –
South talk
Recordings, Inc. matrix B-625-A 12inch single-sided 78 transcription – matrix in same series as the slightly
earlier 1933 Cheloni 16inch LP transcriptions
new session ref. BG/46;
February–April 1938; Brown and Polson
EDDIE SOUTH AND HIS ORCHESTRA FEATURING MABEL MERCER
Stanley Jack Hamilton (tp), Paul Bizzochi,
Pl [Paul] Herrer, Louis
Stephenson (rd), Eddie South (vn),
David Martin (pn), Isadore Langlois (gt), Paul Cordonnier (sb), Tommy Benford (dm), Mabel Mercer,
ensemble (vc)
?–VARA or other Netherlands studio – no audience –
?–[?IBC] Radio Luxembourg and Poste Parisien
broadcasts – ?–Brown and Polson Cookery Club – South
talks
?–Hilversum or Amsterdam – ?–broadcast over RL
May–October and PP June–December 1938 – ?–recorded
February–April 1938
a OCB 520 Marie (Berlin) – Mercer, ensemble (vc)
78 [ex-ET/AT] Decca [EN] test (a) – c.1960s vinyl pressing –
see note
CD Timeless Historical [NL] CBC1-086 (a) Americans in Holland, The Great
Thirties, Broadcasts and Private Recordings
NOTE South introduces: Good morning to you. This is Eddie South ushering in
another program. Our opening number is called Marie with vocal chorus by
Mabel Mercer. South is the sole instrumental soloist apart from a brief piano
intro. Decca OC series designates Outside Contract; B designates 10 inch [A
would designate 12 inch]. Despite the English pressing recording location is
certainly not England and must surely be Netherlands. The assumption is that
the title belongs to Souths weekly series of B&P Cookery Club
programs as these are his only identified regular European broadcasts. High
audio quality suggests the title is pressed from an original broadcast ET for
combining with Jean Scotts Cookery Club talk rather than from an aircheck AT. The possibility that other titles are extant
from B&P programs [note spelling correction: Polson], broadcast
after Souths return to USA, cannot now be discounted – see BG/46. See also BG/42 for two photos of Mercer with this orchestra,
Amsterdam, February 1938. In one photo the band studies over Mercers
shoulder unidentified published sheet music which she
holds – research assistance courtesy John R. T. Davies, Eddie Shaw,
Raymond P. Welch-Bartram.
new session
EDDIE SOUTH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Rudy Powell (cl on (a) only, as on (b) only), Eddie South (vn),
Stanley Facey (pn),
?–Eugene Fields (gt), ?–Doles Dickens (sb), ?–Joseph Johnson (dm)
– see note
CBS or NBC studio – audience – WD SSD broadcast – Command
Performance USA, No. 48 – Ken Carpenter an – Jeanette McDonald
mc
Hollywood – released early 1943 for direct shortwave broadcast overseas
– recorded 16 January 1943
. [two titles] – South out
a Tzigane in Rhythm (South) – Powell (cl)
– other occurances of this original composition
by South previously given in BG as (trad., arr.
South) in error
. [two titles] – South out
b St Louis Blues – Powell (as) – sole identified recording of this
title by South
. [one title] – South out
TR
War Department Special Service Division H-18-48-Pt. 1 [stamper 072952-1A]
(a,+.[part]) Command Performance U.S.A., No. 48, Part 1 – coupled
with No. 47, Part 1
War Department Special Service Division H-18-48-Pt. 2 [stamper 072953-1]
(b,+.[part]) Command Performance U.S.A., No. 48, Part 2 – coupled
with No. 47, Part 2
CD Redmond Nostalgia ? Command Performance – includes two complete
programs incl. this one
NOTE
South was appearing at the Macombo, LA at the time.
Probable (gt), (sb), (dm) are, with the others, Souths last identified personnel
at Cafe Society, NY some months earlier who are preferred to his next
identified sextet, with (tp) in place of (gt), Eddie Brown and Slick Jones, at Folies
Bergre, NY a few months later. Facey,
present in both, and Powell are certain. Aural evidence suggests Fields. Aural
evidence does not suggest any other (dm) known with
South. Theme and other titles by unidentified orchestra incl. strings as
Command Performance Orchestra; Dale Evans [Frances Smith]; Virginia OBrien;
Mills Brothers; Eddie LeBaron Orchestra; Jeanette
MacDonald. Production of Command Performance passed to AFRS in ?November 1943. Only WD SSD programs were double-disc
coupled as here.
new session
EDDIE SOUTH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Eddie South (vn) incl. string section prob. incl. Isadore Izzy Gusikoff
(cl)
WOR studios, New York, c.spring or summer 1945
a Unknown titles – unreleased – ?–not extant
78
Feature (a) unreleased – ?–not extant
NOTE
Metronome (July 45), 29, reported: South recently cut a string-ensemble
album for WOR Feature Records. The session was again confirmed in Metronome
(Oct 45. 24): Feature WOR Recording Studios 1440 Broadway, New York 18: So
many small record companies recorded at WOR that WOR decided it should get some
of the gravy more directly, and produced this label of its own. Early in its
career it recorded Jan Garber. More recently it made a session looking toward a
full album by Eddie South. These unreleased recordings for an album that may
never have been completed are unlocated and may not
be extant.
new session ref BC/67, fol.; Country Sessions
DENVER DARLING
?–Henry Lewis on some (tp), ?–Sal Franzella on some (cl), Eddie South (vn),
?–Frank Froeba (pn),
?–Irving Roy Ross (ac, md), ?–Vaughn Horton (st
gt), ?–Lester Braun (sb),
?–Phil Kraus (dm), Denver Darling,
?–Rosalie Allen, ensemble (vc)
?–Linden, New Jersey – c.May 1946
a D214 Im Gonna Sue Sioux City Sue – South
solo, obbligato – Denver, ensemble (vc)
b D215 Ive Just Gotta Be a Cowboy – South
solo, obbligato – Denver (vc)
c D216 Think of Home – South solo, obbligato
– Denver, ensemble incl. female [?–Rosalie Allen] (vc)
d D217 I Was Dreaming Someone Elses Dream – South solo, obbligato – Denver, ensemble (vc)
78
DeLuxe 5015 (a,d)
DeLuxe 5016 (b,c)
LP
Audio Lab LP1507 (a,c) Denver Darling, Songs of
the Trail
CD
BACM [EN] 136 (a,c) Denver Darling, vol. 2,
Singing on the Range
NOTE
Note ?–Lester Braun (sb): DeLuxe
was owed by David and Jules Braun. South is not the violinist on other Darling
sessions. South is not the violinist on other Darling sessions.
new session ref BC/67, fol.; Country Sessions
CURLY GRIBBS AND HIS TEXAS RANCHERS
?–Sal Franzella or ?–Nathan Brown (cl),
Eddie South (vn), ?–Frank Froeba
(pn), ?–Irving Roy Ross (ac, md), Vaughn Horton
(st gt), ?– Lester
Braun (sb), ?–Phil Kraus (dm),
Curly Gribbs [Frank Pietro]
(vc)
New York – c.June–August 1946
a SRC227 Sierra Serenade (Darling, Horton) – South obbligato
– Gribbs (vc)
b SRC228 Silver Stars, Purple Sage (Denver Darling) – South solo, obbligato – Gribbs (vc)
c ?–unissued title
d ?–unissued title
78
Signature 1001 (a,b)
NOTE
South is not the violinist on other Gribbs sessions.
NO new session NO
TEXAS JIM ROBERTSON
In addition to the 1945–1947 country music sessions for RCA Victor
detailed in BG, incl. one by Texas Jim Robertson, Robertson claimed that
South participated in at least one further country
session by him. During a 1956 Don Larkin hosted broadcast, guest Robertson
apparently stated that on his When I Was 98: Chet Atkins is git-boxing and
Eddie South is a-fiddlin but this was a misrecollection. The violinist on that session is not South. Robertson is also reported as saying that South is about five feet tall and about five feet wide.
new session ref BG/81; 13 May 1951; Garroway at Large
EDDIE SOUTH WITH JOSEPH GALLICHIO NBC ORCHESTRA
House orchestra with string section incl. Joseph Gallichio
(md), Eddie South featured solo (vn)
Studio – NBC-TV – Station WNBQ – Garroway
at Large – sponsored by Congoleum–Naim Floor Coverings – no audience – Ted Mills
producer – Larry Conklin musical coordinator – Dave Garroway mc – South talks
Chicago, 13 May 1951
a Currant Jelly (Pate)
b My Yiddishe Momme
KINESCOPE (a,b)
A newly identified fourth appearance by South on a Dave Garroway
TV show. Audio only has been auditioned but video is extant, making this the
third moving image of South known to exist. Other guests
incl. Betty Chappell, Jack Haskell, Connie Russell. South plays the same tunes
as he does on Garroways 13 November 1953 New York
show in essentially the same arrangements. South reveals My Yiddishe Momma to have been his mothers favorite tune. Part of Souths performance, believed to be
from this show, also used in an extant compilation Garroway
at Large: Musical Highlights. The making of the program is discussed at
length in Edward Stasheff and Rudy Bretz, The Television Program: Its Writing, Direction,
and Production (2nd, new rev. ed., New York, Hill and Wang, 1956) –
it is not known whether the program is discussed in the original 1951 edition
or in much later editions
?–apocryphal session
Web refs to the discovery of a hitherto unknown South session apparently on a
white label AT or ET autographed by South [?–or simply his name
handwritten by another] are, so far as can be ascertained fol. extensive
enquiries, apocryphal; although we suppose it could, if it exists, conceivably
be, e.g., a 1944 Standard Transcription test, as such are known to exist, or,
less likely, a lacquer of the 1944 Esquire session or 1945 WOR Feature
session – see BG/61 fol.; new session prec.
BG/9; caption to front cover photo
The photo was taken at the Maurice Seymour studio,
Chicago. Two further photos, incl. a posed action shot, have come to light from
the same occasion.
BG/9; FB:VIS/iv/11/103 update; caption to p.27 top
photo, rev. w/ New Photo FB:VIS iv/13/5 Middle; BG/9–10; Caption to p.30
Bottom Photo; BG/93; September 1931
The drummer in the Austrian location photos and the Chicago rehearsal orchestra
photo brought by South from Europe is twenty-year-old Cuban Jose Isidro Sergio Barreto, brother of pianist Mario Barreto,
who is named by Fred Avendorph as Souths drummer in CD
(9 Nov 31; 23 Jan 32). Sergio Barreto sung Spanish
and French songs brought back from Europe by Souths orchestra. It appears that
he may also be the Nino (which means Baby) who recorded with South, 27
September 1931 – research assistance courtesy Hans Pehl,
Kevin Coffee, Howard Rye.
BG/10: caption to p.30 bottom photo
An uncropped print has come to light revealing that
the photo was taken by Maurice Seymour Studios
BG/10; FB:VIS iv/11/102; caption to p.57 bottom photo
This photo by Libsohn-Ehrenberg was printed cropped
on the cover of Down Beat (Chicago, 1 July 41) – see FB:VIS. A
second shot taken at the same time, showing South and Cugat
in exchanged positions with South playing the violin instead of Cugat, appeared in Metronome, lvii/7 (NY, July
1941), 7, with caption: Six recording leaders getting kicks outside the AFM
investigated studios. Teddy Wilson entertains Xavier Cugat,
Eddie South, Red Norvo, John Kirby and Gene Krupa at Cafe Society. The two photos should best be
viewed together as a pair – see blue page photos
BG/11; caption to p.43 top right photo
This photo shows South with Barney Josephson at Cafe Society (Uptown) in 1940.
It is not a Paris photo. A better reproduction is included in Josephson, Cafe
Society: The wrong place for the Right people (Un. Illinois
Press, 2009). However, this book mistakenly includes a Chicago photo of
Souths trio with Jones and Pate, c.1951 (shown on BG/80), incorrectly
captioning it Cafe Society Uptown, about 1940. Contrary to references in the
book South did not have a trio at Cafe Society. His groups there seem always to
have been five or six pieces.
BG/11; caption to p.59 top photo
The photo is cropped from a slightly larger original
for New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection at LC possibly by Libsohn-Ehrenberg. Location is Cafe Society Uptown, dated
April 1942. Another photo at the same location in the collection definitely by Libsohn-Ehrenberg is dated April 1941.
BG/11; caption to p.127 photo
Location Cafe Society, Uptown, c.December
1946. Photo William Gottlieb. This print is a Gottlieb crop from a larger
extant photo.
BG/18–19; 1923 Sheet Music Featuring Wade and 1924 Music Manuscript, ?–in Souths hand, of Wade Unreleased Recording
Wades Moulin Rouge Orchestra produced one released
title from their second Paramount session, Chicago, c.20 February 1924,
two months after the session in December 1923 that produced two released
titles, Someday Sweetheart and Mobile Blues, the latter in two released
takes. The February 1924 Youve Got Ways Im Crazy About shows matrix 1686-1.
This master has a curious release history. It was released on Paramount 20301
credited in error to Al Siegels Orchestra, coupled with a genuine Siegel
title. It was also released on the Embassy, Mitchell, Puretone,
Resona, Triangle labels, all with the release number
11363, correctly credited to Wade, with the same Paramount Siegel coupling,
this time credited to Wade in error. Somewhat inexplicably, the erroneous
Paramount credit to Siegel is perpetuated in the 2013 Revenant–Third Man
Records set The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records, 1917–1927, Vol. 1. The corrected information has long been available in
both standard and specialist discographies, most recently in Guido van Rijn and Alex van der Tuuk, New York Recording Laboratories Matrix Series, Vol. 4. (2014). It would be odd for a session to produce just
one title and it seems likely that it did not. Surrounding matrices 1685, 1687,
1688 are untraced. Either or both of the following two titles are put forward
as unreleased, no longer extant, candidates. Firstly, sheet music for Jimtown Blues (Rose, Davis), published by Melrose,
Chicago, in 1925, is known with the same featured Wade orchestra photo as that
shown on Mobile Blues, published by Melrose in 1924. Secondly,
the suggestion that Charleston Man Blues is one of the unissued titles was
first made by Howard Rye and John Cowley in Storyville,
2000-2001 (2001). There is significant supporting evidence for this.
The Library of Congress holds two different manuscript copies of the same
music: LC Notice of Use lead sheets, with intro, verse, chorus for Charleston Man Blues, one stamped Feb 29 1924, the
other Feb 29 24. It was copyrighted by Edward Otha
South and submitted by J. Mayo Williams Chicago Music Publ. Co. The
composition is credited on both lead sheets to Wades Moulin Rouge Syncopators, and both bear the names of all eight members
of the orchestra, in what looks like Souths hand. The original fine line, ink
or pencil, notation has been heavily emboldened, possibly by another hand,
while the title and names are in fine line ink, except that Charleston has
been altered from Charlestown. Assistance Wayne D. Shirley,
Howard, Ate Van Delden, Konrad
Nowakowski. Photocopies of the two manuscripts
of Charleston Man
Blues are held in the AB Fable.
BG/19; December 1923; Wades Moulin Rouge Orchestra
78 Claxtonola 40295 (a,c &/or d)
BG/19; 1923–1924; Lewis Gross with Wade
Read, according to handwriting, ?Souths, on recorded but unreleased
Charleston Man Blues mss – see prec., Lewis
Gross, not Louis Gross. The same mss read
Theo. Weatherford. The six other names are as known.
BS/20; Wade Orchestra in New York
Rendezvous Cabaret reopened November 1926 at 65 West 129th St, NY with Fletcher
Henderson; Jimmy Wade; Fess Williams orchestras (Grove).
BG/20; 1926–1927; New York Recordings by Wade Musicians Mostly Under the
Auspices of Perry Bradford
In addition to the two titles under Wades name for Gennett,
the sessions fol. include Wade and/or some of his musicians: Georgia Strutters, four titles for Harmony, 6 August 1926; 21
October 1926; Perry Bradfords Jazz Phools, four
titles for Okeh, December 1926; 16 February 1927; ?–Victoria Spivey, one title for Okeh,
12 August 1926. Eddie South is not present on any of these recordings. If he
could be shown to have had a hand in directing some or all of them, which in
view of the fol. Perry citation seems likely, they would properly belong to
Souths discography. [A Georgia Strutters session,
without Wade musicians, 23 May 1927, includes Edgar Sampson (vn).] – Then Eddie South [said]: Its true, because
Perry gave Jimmy Wades band our first break when we came to New York . . . yes,
he laid four recording dates on us, and through Perrys efforts we got a five
months engagement at Club Alabam. [.
. .] Jimmy Wade was our leading cornetist, while your
boy Eddie South was pulling the strings across the violin—and also was
the teacher for the band . . . – Perry Bradford, Born With the Blues (NY,
1965), 91–92.
BG/24–29; 1927–1931; Guitarists with Eddie South Alabamians; Eddie
South International Orchestra
All (gt) annotations for Mike McKendrick
and Sterling Conaway should probably read (tenor gt)
on the basis of aural evidence and available photos in which their instruments
are shown. For 27 September 1931 read: Stanley Wilson (tenor gt), not Everett Barksdale (bj)
– we are appalled at our long-standing error and grateful to Bjrn Englund for reminding us
that Barksdale, who played six-string guitar, not four-string tenor guitar, did
not join South until 1932 – corrections also to CD Frog.
BG/24; 8 December 1927; Marion Harris
CD Archeophone 5001 (a,g) Marion Harris, The Complete Victor Releases –
clinical transfers with lost harmonics on first pressing –
instrumentation errors repeated from Victor ledger and labels
CD Archeophone 5001A (a,g) Marion
Harris, The Complete Victor Releases – improved harmonics but noisy
transfers on remastered second pressing –
instrumentation errors corrected
CD CD Living Era [EN] CDAJA5330 (g) Marion Harris,
Look for the Silver Lining
BG/28; 13 April 1928; Gene Austin acc. Nat Shilkret
Brian Rusts personnel incl. Souths guitarist Mike McKendrick
comes from Nat Shilkret interviewed London, 1 March
1958, later independently confirmed by Gene Austin at his home in New Jersey.
Mitchell, Feeling My Way gives Eddie Lang but this must be discounted
despite aural considerations – research assistance courtesy Brian Rust,
Raymond F. Mitchell.
BG/28–29; 12 March 1929 incl. dating error; Paris
The mystery of the cornetist on Doin
the Raccoon is solved: Sterling Conaway, not Arthur Briggs, is
confirmed as the cornetist. We are grateful to Chris
Macdonald who has alerted us to Souths statement of his personnel, in which he
says banjoist/guitarist Conaway also plays cornet, in his article in Rhythm (London,
November 1930) – correction also to CD Frog. Three takes were recorded
of (a) and two takes of (b). Only the released takes
-2 for both titles are believed to be extant. The EMI matrix ledger gives the
date as 22 February 1929, not 12 March 1929 as always previously given.
Catalogue release is shown as 9-665 K5628 and 9-666 K5628 – research
assistance courtesy Roger Beardsley.
BG/28; 92; Souths pianists in Europe
Henry Crowders replacement Antonio Spaulding was a member of Tommy Ladniers group incl. Louis Douglas (dance) at Trocadro, Paris, c.April
1930, during his temporary absence from South, following the taxi accident, at
which time he was temporarily replaced by Arthur Gibbs.
BG/29; 27 September 1931; Marcheta
Nino (which means Baby) and Sergio Barreto may be one
and the same.
Correctly, the title should read: Marchta (A Love
Song of Old Mexico) (Schertzinger), not Shertzinger
read: Se va la vida, not vido. It also
appears that the composers are Edgardo Donato, Mara Luisa Carnelli (aka Mario
Castro), not Melfi
read: Mama yo quiero un novio, not una novia. Composers Ramn Collazo, Roberto Fontaina, not
Fontane, Callayo.
BG/29; 3 May 1933
read: (Denniker), not Dennicker
BG/29; 12 June 1933
read: (Gordon, Revel), not Reel
BG/35,38,117; rev. FB:VIS/iv/13/7; January–April
[not June] 1933; 23 November 1934; Title Index; At the Ball, Thats All
Correct spelling of composer of At the Ball, Thats All is J. Leubrie Hill, not Lubrie.
This was one of several Hill songs from Darktown
Follies published by black owned Lafayette Publ. Co. at Lafayette Theatre
(New York, 1913), reissued for Ziegfeld Follies by Remick
(New York & Detroit, 1914) – sheet music photocopy on file
courtesy Franklin Powers.
Zinky Cohn (pn) may be a
more likely contender for (pn) than either Spaulding
or Smith.
BG/36; 3 May 1933; Eddie South International Orchestra
CD BBC [Indiana Historical Society/Smithsonian] [EN] [3 – disc 1] CD3007
(a) The Classic Hoagy Carmichael = LP BBC 4000
= BBC MC 2CJ4000 – South title on BBC [EN] version only: For contractual
reasons, several recordings chosen by the Producers and described in the
booklet of the American edition were, unfortunately, not available for
inclusion on this BBC Enterprises edition. In almost all instances we have
tried to provide alternative versions from approximately the same period with
suitable regard for high musical qualities. The substitutions are: [. . .] Old Man Harlem Eddie South and his Orchestra
(instead of Ethel Waters) [. . .]
BG/37; 12 June 1933; Eddie South International Orchestra
78 HMV [EN] BD193 also exists as an Indian pressing.
78 HMV [DK, mfd EN] X4489 (a,g) – released c.September
1935
BG/38; c.spring 1935; Rudy Valle Fleischman
Yeast Hour
Brief silent home movie by Rudy Vallee of South
rehearsing for the radio show is extant. South is seen standing first with
three other African-Americanss, perhaps very sepeculatively for the moment his own musicians, or others
appearing on the same show, then playing and laughing alone. Duration of the
clip is some twenty-four seconds. Note that Hintons recollection was that
South played on the show with Vallees orchestra, not
with his own musicians. An aircheck of Souths
performance on the show has never been found. Research
assistance courtesy Mark Cantor, Michael Friend, Steven Lasker.
BG/44–45; 29 September 1937; 23 November 1937; 25 November 1937; Paris
Swing Sessions
NOTE We are unable to keep up with the plethora of Reinhardt or Grappelli CD releases that include titles from these
sessions
CD Frog [EN] DG50 (a-e) Django Reinhardt,
The Swing Sessions, Vol. 1
CD Frog [EN] DG52( f-j) Django
Reinhardt, The Swing Sessions, Vol. 2
CDR EMI [?] [2] AW-7/01 / AW-10/01 – AW-10/01 (g) One Night in
Paris and Another Night in Paris – limited ed. not for sale promo
LP Path [FR] CHTX240551 (a,b) Django et ses amis americans
NOTE Transcription extracts of Sweet Georgia Brown, Eddies Blues in
Harrison – see Bibliography fol
Eddie South, about whom Teddy [Weatherford (pn)] was
very enthusiastic, played on the Jimmy Wade Paramounts
in 1921 [sic: 1923] which were Teddys first records, and was also in
Paris in 1937 at the same time as Teddy. teddy told me
two stories concerning South, but anyone who has ever met Grapelly
[sic throughout] may have some difficulty in believing the first! / It
seems that Teddy and Grappelly were both present in
some club in Paris where there was a session going on, when in came Eddie South
without his violin. South was asked to play and so he borrowed Grappellys instrument. / An Grappelly,
he jes sat there listening like he was in a daze an he didnt say nothing. After a while Eddie South, he got
through with playing, he didnt want to play no more, yknow
what I mean?—an he held out the vilin like he wanted Grappelly
to take it back, but Grappelly he shook his head an
he said: Jes lay it down some place, I dont want
it! / Still on the subject of South, Teddy produced the following gem. Man
that eddie South he sho could play that vilin, why,
he even went to Hungary an dats vilin
country. Why, thats going in among de tigers an playing Heah
come de Tiger! – John H. Wareing, Some
Reminiscences of Teddy Weatherford, Jazz Forum, iv (Fordingbridge,
England, April 1947)
BG/46; ?February 1938; Eddie South Quintet
CD Timeless Historical [NL] CBC1-086 (a-c) Americans in Holland, The Great
Thirties, Broadcasts and Private Recordings
NOTE The previously unidentified title is Speevy, a
Reinhardt, Grappelly composition, recorded by QHCF
for Swing, 25 November 1937, the same day as Souths final session with
Reinhardt and Grappelli. The QHCFs Speevy, unissued on 78, was first released on CD Frmeaux [FR] FA306; rereleased CD Frog [EN] DGF52. Souths
broadcast Speevy is included on the cassette
accompanying the book Black Gypsy. The signification of Speevy has not been established. It may be a misspelling.
Reinhardt and Grappelli recorded Bricktop
at the same session, also not released until the CD era.
Delete AM in the matrices.
BG/50,65–66; 1946; Eddie South on Film
Souths appearance in a film entitled Holiday in Harlem is believed to
be taken from one or both of his scenes in Stars on Parade. Holiday
in Harlem, presented by Yates Pictures Inc, ?–early 1950s, includes Sugar Chile Robinson;
Dusty Fletcher; Bob Howard; Phil Moore Four; Peters Sisters; Eddie South; Una Mae Carlisle; Miller Bros & Lois; George Wiltshire;
Ida James; Jeni Le Gon; Cab
Calloway Orchestra. It is confirmed that an unassociated
earlier film entitled Stars on Parade does indeed exist, incl. Nat King
Cole, produced by Columbia Pictures in 1944. Larry Richards, African
American Films Through 1959, A Comprehensive Illustrated Filmography (Jefferson,
NC, 1998), p.162, reproduces a poster for Stars on Parade (1946), which
includes a cameo photo of South but, in keeping with most prev. refs, continues
to confuse the 1944 and 1946 films by erroneously incl. the King Cole Trio and
Benny Carter Choir in the film entrys cast list despite their absence from the
poster. The book is otherwise appalling in its catalogue of error and omission
incl. misidentification of white musicians as black.
BG/51; 10 June 1940
CD ? [DR] [2 - disc 2] ? (g) Mehr Jazz! Sagten die Frauen,
Joseph von Westphalen
BG/52–53; 12 March 1941
The complete Columbia single-sided
safety 12 LP has been recovered and is now in the AB Fable Archive as at
October 2020. The session is as follows (note changes to take nos which do not in three instances accord with the
released discs*):
CO29926-1 Zigeuner
in Rhythm [aka Tzigane in Rhythm] – breakdown, engineer
Harry Feins voice
CO29926-2 Zigeuner
in Rhythm [aka Tzigane in Rhythm] – false
start, engineer Harry Feins voice
CO29926-3* Zigeuner
in Rhythm [aka Tzigane in Rhythm] – unissued on
78 – test issued on AB Fable CD – test reads take 1*
CO29927-1 Oh, Lady, Be Good! –
unissued
CO29927-2* Oh, Lady, Be Good! – issued on 78 – reads take 1*
CO29928-1 Stompin
at the Savoy – unissued
CO29928-2* Stompin
at the Savoy – issued on 78 – no take designation*
CO29929-1 Tea for Two –
unissued
CO29929-2 Tea for Two –
unissued
BG/53; 24 March 1941
An aircheck
of Souths performance has come to light on which he plays Paganinis 24th
Caprice acc. Cootie Williams (tp), Benny Goodman
(cl), Johnny Guarnieri (pn),
Charlie Christian (gt), Artie Bernstein (sb), Dave Tough (dm). Previously noted
Dinah appears to be in error except in the event that South played two
pieces.
BG/54; 23 April 1941
Titles on ET label are Jam Session at Carnegie Hall No. 1, Jam Session at
Carnegie Hall No. 2, not as previously given. No. 1
[Ad-Lib Blues] and No. 2 [One OClock Jump].
ET release is not VOA but: Department of State, United States of
America, Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs,
International Broadcasting Division, Notes on Jazz QND7-MM-5492 Program 15-A
– Master No. 17-4143 – released many years after the event
BG/56; Eddie South Sheet Music
Daybreak carries Feist imprint, though distributed
by and in same series format as Robbins publications. It shows copyright dates
1928 (the original Mardi Gras) and 1942.
Deep Purple is credited to De Rose [sic] alone [i.e. not with Parish,
presumably because lyrics are absent] ref. is [SH 2522-6]
Black Gypsy, at least, but probably others too, is known to exist in both
covers states.
BG/61; 14 June 1944; Esquire Session Discovered
The trio session for the unrealized Esquire magazine label was, in fact,
released at least in part. Two titles (d,e)
as by Eddie South and His Trio were released on fugitive 78 Franwil
F1012/F1013 Among My Souvenirs / Someday Sweetheart, two copies of which
are now in the AB Fable archive. The release numbers are reversed on the disc
but the titles appear as labelled. The letters DM [?–dub
master or matrix] also appear on both sides of the disc. What is presumed to be
a dub transfer of this fine music is badly distorted.
This release, a copy of which comes from the collection of William B. Johnson,
Station Manager, Channel 5/TV, Phoenix, AZ, is an astonishing discovery.
Producer Leonard Feather himself reported the Esquire session unissued.
All discographies to date, drawing titles and date from a listing in a
contemporary Esquire jazz yearbook, have shown
the session unreleased. Were the remaining four titles, incl. Black Gipsy[sic],
also released? – see also BG/13,16 – see
also ?–apocryphal session fol. Composer credit for Among My Souvenirs
reads Lawrence Wright, the London music publisher. The tune is usually credited
under his pseudonym Horatio Nicholls in collaboration with lyricist Edgar
Leslie. Composer credit for the lengthy uptempo
Someday Sweetheart, the last note of which is cropped abruptly, reads Jasmyne–Jerome in error. Souths Franwil
label may or may not be related to other-series 1950s labels Franwil and/or Franwill. Louis
Metcalf recorded for Franwill. In Billboard
(21 December 1946), Songcraft, Inc., Broadway, placed
an ad offering the six masters, along with masters by Stuff Smith and Mary
Osborne, Joe Marsala, Herman Chittison
for lease or sale. The Smith–Osbornes were released only in Europe.
BG/61; July 1944; Jubilee
LP Joyce LP5005 is titled Jimmy Luncefords
Jubilee
BG/62; 1944; Standard Transcriptions
Billboard (11 November 1944) reported South signed to cut ten sides for
Standard. In fact, nineteen sides were released on the two discs.The recording date should be put forward from
September to November 1944.
LeGrand [?LaGrand]
Mason and Connie Jordan were members with George Crawford (pn)
and Ulysses Livingston (gt) of The Four Blazers who
recorded for Melodisc and Excelsior, LA, c.1944.
LP Trip TLP5803 = LP Parnaso [Argentina] PME13027 Eddie
South y son trio, El Angel del Violin – released 1974
CD Soundies ? (r) Once Upon a Holiday – Christmas
compilation
CD Compose D173853 (p) Jazz Greats – compilation
CD ? ORBVCP7461 (p) The Brazil Project –
compilation
BG/64; 15 April 1945; Lionel Hampton Carnegie Hall Concert with Eddie South
String Section
[. . .] The concert was divided into two halves, with
the first half the more exciting, the second half the more interesting.
Therefore, those who came to be excited will tell you that the second half was
a let-down after the first half, while those who came primarily to be
interested in Lionels attempts at something he hadnt done before will tell
you that the second half was definitely more worth-while. [.
. .] The producers of the concert, Barry Ulanov and
Leonard Feather, deserve much credit, on the other hand, for the inclusion and
the handling of the thirty-odd [thirty-two] string section. Concert-mastered by
Eddie South, conducted by Harry Hoffman and Lionel, this group of non-jazz
artists blended gorgeously in phrasing and execution with their shorter-haired
brethren. They did Carnegie Special, splendidly arranged by [Milt] Buckner;
Where or When and I Cant Get Started, featuring Lionel on overly amplified
vibes, and a Herb Quigley opus called Three Minutes with Three Notes, which
was both interesting and charming. The addition of the strings was largely
experimental and proved that you can do something by combining a swing band with
a big number of stringed instruments—if youve got the money to pay for
them. [. . .] – George T. Simon, Hampton
Concert Socks; Carnegie Rocks, Metronome (NY, May 1945), 9, 31 –
Part of the concert without strings was released on LP Decca. Dan Morgenstern
suggests that the part with strings may not have been recorded because of the
logistics of recording thiry-two string players as
well as contractual difficulties that would have ensued. An announcement in Metronome
(NY, April 45), 9, mentioned that the Carnegie Hall concert would follow tryouts in Trenton and Philadelphia. A review by editor Gib [George] Brown in Jazzette,
i/4 (Boston, March–April 1945), 12–13,
reveals that Hampton played a similar earlier concert at Symphony Hall, Boston,
7 February 1945, with Ulanov
mc, in which he used a string section from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Eddie
South is not mentioned. Titles with the string section were Holiday for
Strings, Moonglow, Tinys
Exercise, Where or When.
BG/64; 1945–1946; WHN Gloom Dodgers
South appeared regularly on Gloom Dodgers at least from June 1945 (Metronome,
July 45).
BG/64; 2 December 1945; Music America Loves Best
It was program no. 78 in the series.
BG/65; Stars on Parade – see also BG/74; Gold Seal fol.
This film opened in Baltimore 31 March 1946. It is now
believed to have been made late 1945.
VIDEO Deloss no no.(Eddies Blues only) Vintage Blues Legends,
1929–1948, Roots of Rock and Roll, vol. 2, Blues Rarities
BG/67–73; Identified Sheet Music of Country Recordings incl. South
Zeke Manners, 27 September 1946: Fat Man Blues (words: Bill Cane, music: Zeke
Manners), publ. Bob Miller (NY, 1947)
BG/67; 20 November 1945; Dave Denney
Released take on viewed example of (a) on red label 78 Musicraft
429 is 5335M2, not 3 – artist credit is simply Dave Denney –
Musicraft 15058, the suspected originally scheduled
release of this coupling, is in fact by Phil Moore. Released takes on viewed
example of (b) and (e) on blue label 78 Musicraft
15049 are not stated and are assumed to be a single take titles. Released take
on viewed example of (d) on blue label 78 Musicraft
15050 is indeed 5338-C although the log apparently gives two takes only; (f)
reads 5340 with no attached take designation though what may be a tiny 1,
perhaps a stamper not a take, appears elsewhere – blue label artist
credit is Dave Denney / Orchestra under direction of Don Albert
BG/67–68; 28 January 1946; Dave Denney
Unreleased on 78 (e) was released on LP Viking
BG/68–69; 20 February 1946; Zeke Manners
Read; RCA-Victor 2533, not 2534
BG/69; 7 March 1946; Billy Williams
Read: Art Ryerson, not Ryserson
BG/69–73; Henry Lewis; RCA Victor
The trumpeter named in the RCA Victor recording ledger as Henry Lewis on
several of Souths RCA Victor country sessions is in fact Henry Hot Lips Levine
– see blue page photos for a photo of South recording with Texas Jim
Robertson
BG/72; 9 October 1946; Rosalie Allen
CD Cattle Compact [DR] CCD226 (b-d) Rosalie Allen, The Hillbilly Yodel Star
of the 1940s
BG/72; 27 September 1946; Zeke Manners
Read: (d) South solo
Read: RCA Victor 20-2533, not 2534
BG/74; October 1946; Pilotone
The cellist is more likely to be Isadore Izzy Gusikoff than his brother
Sol. Izzys work included Station WOR; Sol was
Broadway contractor.
Pilotone vinylite pressings
of (c) Body and Soul have a small defect: a brief whistle or swish a few
seconds from the start more or less pronounced on different auditioned
examples. Recording characteristics on the two orchestral vocals (a,b) differ with far more forward
presence on (a) than on (b). Four Pilotone titles (a,b,g,h) were also released on
vinyl 78 18 Top Hits BR39 Bonus Selection, All Time Favorites,
Played by Eddie South, The Dark Angel of the Violin with two titles each
side on which the recording characteristics of (a,b)
have been attended to. Two Pilotone titles (f,g) were also released on the
B-side of 45 Top Hits BR26-X45 Bonus Selection, Favorite
Standards; however credit was given to Stuff Smith and His Orchestra in
error! The A-side was Jerry Cooper and His Broadway Show Orchestra. The label
18 Top Hits was part of Enoch Lights stable which incl. Waldorf and Grand
Award. New Friends of Rhythm recorded for International with Maxine Sullivan
in January 1947, and without her in March 1947, not late 1946, making
the suggestion of Harry Patent (sb) on Souths Pilotones even more flimsy. However, one might consider
that 1947 New Friends Bernard Robbins (vn) and Ralph Hersh (viola) could make with Shulman Souths three- violin
or violin/viola ensemble section. Matrices are shown incorrectly. They should
read P45 PR 5057-D etc. P45 appears only on the labels.It does not signify 1945 – full discographical revision follows:
EDDIE SOUTH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Eddie South (vn), Sylvan Shulman, ?–Bernard
Robbins on (a,b,d) only (ensemble vn),
?–Ralph Hersh on (a,b,d)
only (ensemble ?viola), prob. Isadore Izzy Gusikoff [or Sol Gusikoff] on (a,b,d) only (ce), Samuel Fiddler (pn), Tony Gattuso [apparently Gattuso
rather than Gottuso is correct] (gt),
?–Harry Patent (sb), Tom Hatch on (b,d,e,g) only (dm, vb), Terry Allen on (a,b) only
(vocal)
New York, c.mid October 1946
a P45 PR 5057-D Deep Purple (Parish, DeRose) 122 - 1
b P45 PR 5058-E Lilacs in the Rain (Parish, DeRose)
122 - 3
c P45 PR 5059-C Body and Soul (Heyman, Sour, Eyton, Green) 122 - 7
d P45 PR 5060-C Sentimental Rhapsody [aka Street Scene] (Adamson, Newman) 122 -
5
e P45 PR 5061-F Sweet Sue (Just You) (Harris, Young) 122 - 6
f P45 PR 5062-D Aint Misbehavin
(Razaf, Waller, Brook) 122 - 2
g P45 PR 5063-D Star Dust (Carmichael) 122 - 4
h P45 PR 5064-C Honeysuckle Rose (Razaf, Waller) 122
- 8
78
Pilotone 122 (a-h) Eddie South: The Dark Angel of
the Violin
18 Top Hits BR26 (f,g) Bonus Selection, Favorite Standards – credited to Stuff Smith and
His Orchestra in error – coupled with Jerry Cooper and The Broadway Show
Orchestra
18 Top Hits BR39 (a,b,g,h) Bonus Selection, All
Time Favorites, Played by Eddie South, The Dark Angel
of the Violin – two titles each side – since there is a 45
release of BR26 there may also be a 45 release of BR39
45
18 Top Hits BR26-X45 (f,g) Bonus Selection, Favorite Standards – credited to Stuff Smith and
His Orchestra in error – coupled with Jerry Cooper and The Broadway Show
Orchestra
LP Waldorf 33-BR-39 (a-h)
All Time Favorites
NOTE
P45, which appears on Pilotone labels only, cannot
signify 1945 since this session is known to be 1946. No
composer credits on labels. Some pressing
faults on Pilotones.
BG/74; October 1946; Gold Seal
Revised details
EDDIE SOUTH AND HIS ENSEMBLE [incl., credited only on second liner state,
Shandors Gypsy Orchestra on (a-d) only]
Eddie South (vn), ?two incl.
Alexandor Shandor Godla on (a-d) only (ensemble vn),
?–?Benci or ?Fransko
on all (ce), Richard Marta on (a-d) only (cymbalom), ? (pn),
Ted ? on (e-h) only (el & ac gt),
Leonard Gaskin (sb), ?–Jack the Bear Parker on
(?–e,g,h) only (?dm)
New York, c.late October 1946
a A Best Years of My Life (Sandor
Jen) 2005ES
b B Yesterdays (Jerome Kern) 2008ES
c C Twelve OClock at Night
(Shandor) 2004ES
d D The Very Thought of You (Ray Noble) 2001ES
e E [The] Hot Canary (Paul Nero) 2006ES – label
for this side only carries 1946 copyright
f F These Foolish Things (J. Strachey, H. Link)
2002ES
g G Daphne [aka Daphn] (Django Reinhardt) 2003ES
h H Paganinis 24th [aka Paganini in Rhythm aka
Caprice No. 24] 2007ES
78
Gold Seal Vol. 3 (a-h) Eddie South: Dark Angel of the Violin [no The
in album title]
NOTE
Letters are definitely matrices, not takes. Composer credits
as on labels. There are two liner states. The first reads Tea for Two
struck through and Daphne written in by hand and includes a small photo of
South. The second state is more descriptive, credits Shandor
and does not include the photo – research assistance courtesy Konrad Nowakowski. Suggested
identity of (ce) is speculative based on the
appearance of these names with Shandor as The Gypsymfonette on two 78 Gold Seals which have not been
auditioned. The cymbalon player is identified in a
review of Shandor at The Golden Fiddle, New York, 12
November 1947, in Billboard (22 November 1947. A recording of mostly
jazz standards by Shandor and His Gypsies, a quartet
without cymbalom, for WDET-FM, 1 November 1981,
Detroit, is extant. Shandor died in 1999. Shandors working personnel at Kovacs,
Detroit at the time was: Jimmy Kovacs [no relation to the club proprietor] (cymbalom), Norman Goldie (gt),
Robert Goldie (rhythm gt), Marty Hallup (sb). Gold Seal
was owned by Leonard Klein
BG/75,122; rev. FB:VIS/iv/13/7; 11 January 1947;
Personnel of Vaughn Monroe Orchestra with South
Read: Vaughn, not Vaughan. Garrod & Korst, Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra, 1940–1954
(Zephyrhills, FL, 1986) does not give this session but gives Monroe personnel
New York 15 October 1946 and Hollywood 13 February 1947, the latter date after
but closer to the South New York session. Monroes orchestra was a travelling
orchestra. It is not known whether known personnel changes took place before or
during the Hollywood residency; some changes noted [LA] were still with the
orchestra later in 1947 in Chicago and New York: Eddie South (vn), Hank Jones (pn), Leonard
Gaskin (sb) with Vaughn Monroe Orchestra: Frank
Ryerson (tp, ar), James
Messina, Richard Lasala, Fred Taylor & Ed Shedowsky [NY] or Sal Gianetina
[LA] (tp), Sam Hyster, Bill
Mustard, Joseph Conigliaro, Joseph Bennett (tb), Andy Bagni, Phil Olivella [NY] or Louis Feldman [LA] (as), Ziggy Talent, John West [NY] or Vito Marasco
[LA] (ts), Maurice Ancher,
Edmund Braghittoni, Sam Caplan,
Seymour Berman, Irving Raymond (vn), John Pastore [NY] or Eduardo Sodero
[LA] (ce), Michael Shelby (pn),
John Bucky Pizzarelli (gt),
Jack Fay (sb), Edward Julian (dm),
Vaughn Monroe, Moon Maids: Kathyrn Katie Myatt, Hilda
Tinker Cunningham, Arlene Truax, Mary Joe Thomas,
Mary Lee [NY] or Mahree Ahm
[LA] [?same] (vc)
BG/75; rev. FB:VIS/iv/13/7; 17 January 1947
NEW TAKES: Takes of (a,b) released on Remington EP/LP
are not the same as takes originally released on 78. All subsequent LP
releases, whether of (a,b)
use the Remington takes. It is not known whether takes 1 or 2 appear on 78.
There was no EP/LP release of (d).
CD Storyville [DK] 1018339 (a-d [using LP takes of
(a-c) and 78 take of (d)]) The Continental Sessions, Vol. 3 – poor
transfers and session details in error
Read: EP Remington REL45808, not REP80 [unless there are two issues, which
is not impossible]
LP Paris International DG120/121 entitled Music Appreciation Library, Vol.
10, A Jam Session by Sarah Vaughan and Other Jazz Stars
BG/76; early December 1947
The guitarist is almost certainly Ernest Ashley, not Skeeter
Best – see 19–23 December 1947 fol.
BG/77; 19–23 December 1947
CD Giants of Jazz [IT] 53325 (a) Father Earl Hines, Rosetta
The label of 78 Sunrise 2116 Blues for Garroway,
a reference to Chicago radio and television host Dave Garroway,
has been viewed. It reads T. Crump (ts), E. Ashley (gt): Thomas Crump, a member of the large Hines orchestra
that recorded for Sunrise early December 1947, and almost certainly Ernest
Ashley. Morris Lane and Skeeter Best are therefore in
error on this session and Ashley is almost certainly the guitarist in the early
December 1947 orchestra, not Best. It would
therefore also be Crump, not Lane, on Honeysuckle Rose provided this,
and Dark Eyes, both with South, were recorded at the same session. That seems
likely but not certain. If it is indeed Crump, not Lane from the Lionel Hampton
orchestra, that opens up the possibility of an earlier
December date. Exceptionally, 78 Sunrise 2116 was released not close to the
time of recording but in 1950. The label reads The Earl Hines Combo. The
coupling Jackies Dance is an unrelated 1947, not 1951 as given by
some sources in error, Tiny Grimes session incl. John Hardee
(ts). There are LP and CD releases of Blues for Garroway that ascribe this Hines recording to Grimes
session in error.
Web refs to Tiny Grimes (vn) are in error and result
from misreading discographical data ref. the unassociated Grimes (gt) session
coupling on 78 Sunrise 2116. Grimes did not play (vn).
BG/77; 31 December 1947
78 Sunrise 525 matrix 2126 The Sheik of Araby is
vocal by Wini Brown and Roland Burton. The previously
undocumented coupling matrix 2130 Pee Weesin
Blues, credited as a Hampton composition, is vocal by Wini
Brown, the only known title from the session not as yet rereleased. It is also
the only known title on which no violin appears to be audible. South could be
part of a quiet background riff by the horns behind Brown at one point but his
presence is not evident. There is distortion at one point during Browns vocal,
a fault on the original master or pressing. Hines name does not appear on the
labels although he plays. Blue label design is quite different from other
Sunrise red label releases. This title is also a new addition to the Charles
Mingus corpus.
Web refs disputing South as the pseudonymous Bill
Dougherty on this session are we believe in error. We believe he is South.
78 Sunrise 2115 SR prefixes to (e,f)
matrices are label errors. Shellac shows, with takes, correct SU 2128-A; SU
2129-A. [Note ref. BG/75 Hines December 1947 Sunrise 2014 matrices on disc do
not show takes.]
BG/81; c.3 March 1951
Read: 78 Chess 1460 (b,d)
– The take of I Cant Give You Anything But Love released on 78 is not
the same take as that released on LP. The 78 take includes South playing pizz, as on the 78 Recoton
lacquer. South does not play pizz on the LP released take. How many takes of some titles exist that we
do not know about? Chess label gives Eddy South in
error. 78 Chess takes/titles also released on Al Bensons 78 Parrott 5000,
probably earlier, with incorrect matrix on label but correct on disc.
BG/82; South with Robert Trendler performed on DuMont WGN-TV This Is
Music, 17 January 1952. Pates own lacquer disc now in
the AB Fable Archive.
BG/83; 14 July 1958;
15 July 1958
Recorded Ter-Mar Recording Studios, Chicago
BG/91; Name
Souths middle name Otha is an old, but probably
uncommon, name in the American south – research assistance courtesy Rani Arbo.
BG/91; Early Years; New Itinerary
Attended Wendell Phillips High, Chicago, later attended by Milt Hinton and Ray
Nance.
The BAA obit. reference
to Luis Vaughn surely intends Louia Vaughn Jones
Chicago – Sunset Caf – first professional engagement – 1910s
Chicago – Entertainers Ballroom – violin duo with Juice Wilson as
the Gold Dust Twins featured with Freddy Keppard
Orchestra – 1919
Chicago – De Luxe Gardens – May Brady
Orchestra [sic: Mae Brady was a violinist], with whom South is known to
have played at some point, advertised at Chicagos Most Beautiful Dancing Parlors (CD, 7 May 21) – incl. May 1921
Chicago – Dreamland Ballroom – with Charles Elgar Orchestra –
1921–?1922 [Elgar recorded after South left, in 1926]
Chicago – Moulin Rouge; House that Jack Built; Villa Venice –
director of James Wade Orchestra – 1922–1926 [recordings incl.
South 1923–1924] – House that Jack built opened 1924 renamed Villa
Venice owned by James Papa Bouch Wade – Roy
Butler (rd) joined Wade Orchestra in 1925 and
remained until it broke up in Chicago in 1927 after return from New York
– see. fol.
New York – Club Alabam – director of
James Wade Orchestra – 1926–1927
Chicago – Picture Theatres – first violinist with Erskine Tate
Orchestra of sixteen pieces – 1927 [Tate recorded before South joined, in
1923 and 1926]
BG/91–100; Itinerary
New York – 54th Street Club – summer 1928 (South)
Paris – LErmitage Moscovite
– Kostya Konstantinoff
was a pianist; Rudolph Vodolarsky was an orchestra
leader – see also FB:VIS/iv/11/107 – c.1928–1929
Paris and Spain – Eddie South and His Plantation Boys leave Paris for
Spain ( NYAN, 3 Apr 29) – 25 March 1929
Paris – Chicago entertainer Mae Alix arrives,
scheduled with South at the Plantation (NYAN, 3, 10 Apr 29) –
sails from Le Havreon Ile de France, 22 May 1929
arriving New York, 28 May 1929 – recorded with Jimmie Noone
in Chicago, 11 July 1929
Paris – Le Grand Ecart – c.1929 (CD)
Monaco – Carlton Hotel; Sporting Club; Caf de Paris –
1929–1930 (CD)
Cannes and/or Monaco – ?–Carlton Hotel – ?Banco
– South may have shared an engagement opposite Django
Reinhardt at Carlton Hotel, Cannes and/or Reinhardt may have been in Monaco
– Banco club may have been Monte Carlo or at
Carlton – spring and/or summer 1931 (MD email – see also biblio., Dregni)
Sailing: South, King and his wife, Spaulding, Wilson and Cuban drummer Jose
Isidro Sergio Barreto sailed on SS Leviathan
from Cherbourg, 28 August 1931, arriving New York, 3 September 1931. Barreto was held by immigration until 19 September when he
was released on bond.
Chicago – Rubaiyat – According to The
Metronome (October 1931), 23, Souths opening personnel was King, South,
Spaulding, Sterling Conway [sic: Conaway], Jerome
Burke [sic: Bourke]. This is at variance with other reports as
prev. noted
New York – Smalls Paradise – Party for South (NYA) –
night of ?18–19 May 1934
New York – Renaissance Casino – N.A.M.A. concert dance –
incl. South (NYA) – 22 May 1934
New York – Smalls Paradise – South; Gladys Bentley; Snakehips Tucker (NYA) – 20 Oct 1934
New York – ?–Renaissance Casino – N.A.M.A. concert dance
– South concert orch.; Cecil Smith dance orch. (NYA) – end
Nov 1934
Boston – one week – Marrero (dm) – c.early March 1935 (CD)
Tory, New York – Marrero (dm) – c.early March 1935 (CD)
Chicago – Club
885 – at least spring–summer 1936 (Philadelphia Tribune, 20 June 1936)
Milwaukee – Blatz Hotel – the pianist is
Gabby Rogers; the drummer is Jules Dregge – Oct
1938–Jun 1939
New York – Cotton Club – South at least twelve-piece band scheduled
to open new club on site of defunct Famous Door from just before New Year 1944
(Metronome, Jan 44)
Chicago or New York – ref. to South at Three Deuces, Chicago is prob. in
error for Elmers, Chicago or Three Deuces, New York
– The Chicago Three Deuces burnt down 1 January 1940 while Stuff Smith
was in residence.
New York – Cafe Society Uptown – South may return to the club on Labor Day 1945 (Metronome, Jul 45)
Chicago – Brass Rail – read [not late March]: mid
February–mid March 1947
Leonard Gaskin has kindly provided a February 1947 Eddie South Joe Glaser
Assoc. Booking Corp. publicity photo of a Chicago music store window display of
three violinists and their photos: Freiche
Broadcasting Artist – Playing His Stradivarius from the Wurlitzer
Collection; South Appearing at the Brass Rail – Playing His Charles
Gaillard Violin from the Wurlitzer Collection; Kreisler and His Stradivari .
. . The Earl of Plymouth. Souths centerpiece
display includes his Robbins sheet music and Pilotone
and Gold Seal albums.
Chicago – read: Taboo, not Tabu (Chicago
Herald–American, 15 Mar 47, incl. trio photo) – read [not
late March]: mid March–June 1947
St Louis – Forest Park Hotel – an autograph of South, Allen A. Tinney, Gaskin is dated 3 January 1948
Chicago – Airliner – When I moved to the north side, there was a
bar there called the Airliner. He [South] was playing there and Id go in
during intermission in the back room behind the bar and play with Eddie South. . . . It was before I played with Chico Marx. I
didnt spend too much time with him but I remember three or four times going back
in the room playing with him. – Johnny Frigo
interviewed by Peter Anick, Johnny Frigo: Eighty Years on the Fiddle and Still Growing
Younger, Fiddler Magazine, xii/3 (North Sydney, N.S., Fall 2005) — ?–1950–1951
Chicago – Milwaukee Avenue – Leo Andrews Club [aka Lou Anders]
– South combo – Wednesday–Sunday weekly, six months till May
or June 1957 (Record Changer, 15/12, c.late
April 57; Record Research, June/July 1957)
Milwaukee –
Johnnys Round Up, 2665 N. 27th Street – 27 February–1 March 1959
– unidentified news clipping
An obituary in Jet, xxii/2 (Chicago, 10 May
1962), 60, reports South A victim of diabetes and a heart ailment – see
Bibliography fol.
–––––––––
Henry Crowder, who died Washington, DC, 20 March 1955, age 64, was born Gainsville, GA, 16 June 1890, not 1895 as given by
Nancy Cunard; nor 1888 as given by a British Library bibliography.
–––––––––
Chicago, off Rush Street – Walton Walk – South
?trio (GL mail) – many months from second half 1955–1956
BG/102–104; Bibliography
Anon., Dark Angel of the Violin: Talented Eddie South Is Idol of Night Club
Fans on Both Sides of the Atlantic, Ebony, vol. iii, no. 10 (Chicago,
August 1948), 40–41, incl. photos
Anon., Dark Angel of Violin Dies in Chicago, Jet, xxii/2 (Chicago, 10
May 1962), 60, obituary, incl. photo
Anthony Barnett, Listening for Henry Crowder (Lewes, East Sussex, 2007),
incl. South photos not in Black Gypsy
Sidney Bechet w/Joan Williams and Desmond Flower, Treat
It Gentle (New York; & London, 1960) – incl. chapter Trouble in
Paris ref. 1928 Bechet–McKendrick
shooting incident and, according to Bechet, unsavoury
part played by pianist Glover Compton, though this is contradicted by Glovers
contemporary acount in Chicago Defender and to
some extent by Henry Crowder in his posthumously published memoir As
Wonderful As All That?
Michael Dregni, Django:
The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend (NY, 2004), incl. South and Reinhardt
Benjamin Givan, The South–Grappelli
Recordings of the Bach Double Violin Concerto, Popular Music and
Society, vol. 29, no. 3 (Philadelphia, July 2006)
Max Harrison, Eddie South, Jazz Journal, vol. 15, no.
? (London, 1962), 5
Max Harrison, Tribute, Eddie South, Dark Angel of the Violin, The Strad, vol. 105 (London, April 1994), 380–383, profile,
incl. photos, based in part on and refs. to ABs early
out of date research in FB:VIS/i/1, transcription
excerpts from 1937 Sweet Georgia Brown, Eddies Blues
Eddie Higgins, Eddie South, In Memoriam [?unpublished], typescript tribute by
one of the pianists on Souths 1958 LP Mercury
James Holloway, Dark Angel of the Violin, An Appreciation of Eddie South, Melody
Maker (London, 24 August 1940)
Gene Lees, You Cant Steal a Gift: Dizzy, Clark, Milt and Nat (Newhaven
& London, 2001), 181–195, et al, Milt Hinton on South – note
ref. to Lester Moreira (dm) is incorrect orthography
and should read Ernesto Marrero; Hintons reported recollection of Marrero with
South at Rubaiyat in 1931 is believed to be in error
for Sergio Barreto; Marrero is not believed to have
worked with South until 1934
George T. Simon, Hampton Concert Socks; Carnegie Rocks, Metronome (NY,
May 1945), 9, 31, positive review of Lionel Hampton Carnegie Hall concert incl.
thirty-two piece string section with concertmaster Eddie South – see
BG/64 prec.
Edward Stasheff and Rudy Bretz,
The Television Program: Its Writing, Direction, and Production (2nd, new
rev. ed., New York, Hill and Wang, 1956), discusses at length the making of an
extant TV program incl. South – see new session Garroway
at Large, 13 May 1951 prec. – it is not known whether the program is
discussed in the original 1951 edition or in much later editions
John Steiners report appeared in Record Research, no. 69 (July 1965), 8
BG/104; Compositions by South – see also BG/18–19 prec. ref. Wade
Lover, Where Are You Now?, words and music Una Mae
Carlisle and Eddie South – LC original reg. EU318696, 3 June 1953;
effective reg. RE-91-491, 13 March 1981 – no recording by the composers
or anyone else is known – photocopy in AB Fable Archive
BG/104; Musical Tributes
Frank Trumbauer (c-mel),
incl. Adele Girard (harp), introduces and plays Hejre
Kati in the manner of South as a tribute to him, aircheck,
Hickory House, New York, 25 December 1936 on CD Jazz Oracle [CN] BDW8056 The
Three Ts
Babik Reinhardt (gt),
Eddies Blues (South), Improvisation sur le
premier mouvement du concerto en r
mineur de J.-S. Bach (arr. Grappelly,
South) on CD Imagine released 1996
ViolinJazz incl. Jeremy Cohen (vn)
– The Music of Eddie South on Dorian Sono
Luminus DSL-92110 – fourteen tracks associated
with South – recorded at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA, 16, 17, 21
August 2009 – released 2010
BG/105; Johnny Pate
Souths colleague Hal Otis (vn) also recorded Pates
Currant Jelly – see OTIS
BG/111; Eddies Blues
There are in fact five released recordings of Eddies Blues. Two different
Continental takes were released, one on 78, one on LP. The two takes are close
but not identical. Hanno Grssers analysis refers
rather to the LP than the 78 take.
Here follow images of South amendments in printed FB:VIS/iv/11–13
(1999–2000)
