Americana

(Substantific Marrow can be bought at
http://stores.lulu.com/emersonj.)

The Muskogee -- Waukesha -- Bismarck triangle
The Marion Brown Trilogy
"On Eagle's Wings"
"To the Shores of Tripoli"
A Wild Ride
The Authenticity and Feng Shui of Bob Dylan
Satie and the Sewing Machine
W. C. Fields and the American Family Comedy

The Muskogee -- Waukesha --
Bismarck Triangle

Miscellaneous

Dexter Gordon and Bartok  / T-Bone Walker was "too classy"

Les Paul

Les Paul Wiki /  Time Magazine Les Paul story

By the early '30s he was making $1000 a week at the country stuff; but in the bustling Chicago music scene there was so much more to hear and play. 'In the morning I was hillbilly, and at night I was playing jazz with Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Nat Cole and Art Tatum.' He cut his first records in 1936, backing blues singer-pianist Georgia White as she belted out Andy Razaf's raunchy threat, 'If I can't sell it, I'll keep sittin' on it, before I give it away.'

Supposedly one of Les Paul's first multi-track recordings was W. C. Fields' "The Day I Drank a Glass of Water". 

Charley Christian

Ralph Ellison's Living with Music (Modern Library, 2002) includes "The Charlie Christian Story"; so does Ellison's Shadow and Act. Ellison knew Christian and his family personally and has a lot to say.

Charlie Christian anecdotes / Detailed 5 page Charlie Christian bio / Charlie Christian Wiki / Charlie Christian fansite / Charlie Christian

Barney Kessel

Barney Kessel Stories / London Times on Kessel /  Kessel as Leader / Barney Kessel Story / Barney_Kessel Wiki / Barney Kessel Biography / Barney Kessel Stories: Kessel in Minot, N.D.

Mary Osborne

Mary Osborne Story

In the late 1930’s she moved east to Pittsburgh and later to New York. There her talents as a jazz player caught the ear of some of the jazz greats like Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Tatum all of whom used her as rhythm and solo guitarist in their bands. In the period of 1945 – 1947 she made a number of recordings with several important jazz figures; Mercer Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, Coleman Hawkins, Stuff Smith and Meryl Booker.

T-Bone Walker

T-Bone Walker / T-Bone Walker

Muskogee / Oklahoma / The West

Rexroth on the French-American West / French survivals on the upper Mississippi / Music of Oklahoma / Jazz in Muskogee / Old Mines Missouri

This study determines why the relatively small town of Muskogee, Oklahoma produced more jazz musicians per capita than any other town of its size in the United States in the 20th century. It examines the years 1795 to 1945, from the time of European settlement through World War II. An account of the cultural history of Muskogee germane to the development of jazz and the critical history and contemporary perspective of the eight musicians are accompanied by unpublished oral histories with five of the musicians: Aaron Bell, Barney Kessel, Clarence Love, Jay McShann, and Claude Williams. Don Byas, and Joe and Walter “Foots” Thomas are also discussed in the study."

Dicographies, Downloads, and CDs

Charlie Christian discography / Charlie Christian at Minton's (Highly recommended) / Charlie Christian downloads from "Genius" (Recommended: "Solo flight", "Waitin for Benny", "Blues in B")

Les Paul: The Very Best of Les Paul and Mary Ford is best as a sampling of Paul's early, very crude production skills (e.g., taping a guitar at half-speed and then playing it back at normal speed to get a tinny double-time effect). There are some good pop pieces here, including "Mockingbird Hill", which I remember from early childhood.

"Julie is her name": Julie London with Barney Kessel: What I ended up getting was The Julie London Ultimate Collection, which includes 6 Barney Kessel tracks and about 25 others. Great collection, and London is a better singer than I had thought.

"Swing to Bop Guitar" box set: includes three Mary Osborne pieces: an indispensable record for someone interested in the history. A lot of people besides Osborne.

"Hittin' on All Six" box set: Early jazz guitar, including acoustic. Between this set and the one above you have pretty much the whole history up until 1950 or so, except for the blues.

Supposed Mary Osborne Download / Mary Osborne Discography: add "Now and Then", 1982 on Stash records (unavailable).

T-Bone Walker

History of the Guitar

History of amplified guitar / History of electric guitar / Story of Gibson Les Paul Guitar / Rickenbacker guitar / Electric Guitar Wiki / Dobro Wiki

The Marion Brown Trilogy

The Trilogy:

Afternoon of a Georgia Faun, ECM, 1970: Anthony Braxton, Chick Corea, Andrew Cyrille, Bennie Maupin,  Billy Malone.

Geechee Recollections, Impulse, 1973: Leo Smith, Jumma Santos, James Jefferson, Steve McCall, Bill Hasson, Billy Malone, A. Kobena Adzenyah

Sweet Earth Flying, Impulse, 1974: Paul Bley, Muhal Richard Abrahams, James Jefferson, Steve McCall, Bill Hasson.

Links:

If you find a source for CDs or downloads of Brown's trilogy, please email me: emersonj at gmail dot com.

Marion Brown discography

Nice Guys by the Art Ensemble of Chicago (1978) is in print. In places it reminds me of Brown.

 Marion Brown wiki / Interview I / Interview II / Marion Brown on Sun Ra / Maupin on making "Afternoon of a Georgia Faun"  / A few downloads available here / Sweet Earth Flying (download unavailable / Afternoon of a Georgia Faun (download unavailable) / Geechee Recollections (download unavailable) / Piano versions of Brown (out of print) / Sketch biography, discography, and appreciation / A jumble of information / Appreciation I / Appreciation II

"On Eagle's Wings"

"On Eagle's Wings" / Michael Joncas. / David Haas / Marty Haugen / Enemy 1 / Enemy 2 /  "The Wanderer" / Caspar David Friedrich's "Wanderer" painting /  Schubert's "Wanderer" song / The Wanderer: history  "The Wanderer" and the Catholic Church / The Remnant / "Let the Eagle Soar" / "Fly Like an Eagle"

"To the Shores of Tripoli"

USS Somers

"Lord Nelson: "the most bold and daring act of the age" /  Documents and maps relating to George Washington and the Barbary pirates / Jefferson and the Barbary pirates / The US and the Barbary Pirates / A Christian view on Article Eleven of the Treaty of Tripoli / Joel Barlow and the Treaty of Tripoli  / The Intrepid / Lt. Somers /  WWII aircraft carrier, "USS Intrepid" / Mutiny on the USS Somers / Legal aspects of the Somers mutiny / Reuben James and three ships called "Reuben James" /  History of the song "Reuben James" /  "Songs for John Doe" / Unrelated Kenny Rogers "Reuben James" song

Protection rent and piracy:

Steensgaard, Niels, The Asian Trade Revolution of the Seventeenth Century, Chicago, 1974.

Lane, Frederic, Venice and History ,The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1966.

A Wild Ride

Templeton and the 1972 Democratic Convention

Amazon review of "From Asininity to Assasination

My earlier, erroneous piece speculating that Pynchon was the author.

The Authenticity and Feng Shui of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan in Hibbing / Hibbing ethnicity ca. 1900 (The "Austrians" are mostly from the former Yugoslavia) / The Duluth of today from a Jewish Point of View

Satie and the Sewing machine

Besides the Princess of Polignac herself (and a yacht in Monaco and a room in the old Singer mansion in the UK, both presumably named for her), the following are all the Winnarettas I could find  via Google. By the evidence, Winnaretta is a British name. All of them might have been named after Winnaretta Singer, however.

Winnaretta (McNamara) Howe, gave birth to daughter, 1907, NB, Canada.

Helma Winnaretta Randel, b. 1913, UK.

Winnaretta Raven, b. 1917, UK.

Chrixtena Winnaretta Gillespie, married 1906, BC, Canada.

Winna R Mitchelmore?, b. 1914, NZ.

W. C. Fields
and the American Family Comedy

The Sioux City Friedmans

Simon Louvish: Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Life and Times of W.C. Fields,  Norton, 1997.

Ronald J. Fields: W. C. Fields by Himself, Prentice-Hall, 1973.

Donald Deschner: The Films of W. C. Fields, Citadel, 1966.

James Curtis, W. C. Fields, Knopf, 2003.

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