What a great pairing of early Victors on a re-issued Bluebird!
The Washboard Rhythm Kings 1931 to 1933 (aka. Washboard
Rhythm Boys, Georgia Washboard Stompers from 1934 to 1935, Alabama Washboard
Stompers 1930 to 1932) were a loose aggregation of jazz performers, many of
high calibre, who recorded as a group for various labels between about 1930 and
1935.
The band played goodtime swinging music, featuring spirited
vocals, horns, a washboard player and occasionally kazoo, and were popular
around the time of the Great Depression. They mostly covered current hits from
other artists.
Their personnel varied considerably between sessions, with
guitarist Teddy Bunn a regular member from 1930 to 1931. Later recordings
included singers Leo Watson or Steve Washington, washboard player and vocalist
Bruce Johnson (aka Bruce Wiley Robinson?), trumpeters Valaida Snow and Taft
Jordan, and clarinetist Ben Smith.
Their 1932 recording of Tiger Rag has been cited
for its "wild, informal feel" as an early precursor of rock and roll.
Their music was also highly influential on the skiffle music of the 1950s and later.
For the most part, they recorded for Victor. The 'Alabama
Washboard Stompers' were on Vocalion. There was a March 8, 1933 session of 8
sides recorded for John Hammond at Columbia primarily for export to the UK. Two
of the tracks were subsequently issued in the US on Columbia 14680-D, which was
the last issued record on the legendary 13000-D/14000-D Race Series.
They also recorded for ARC in August, 1933 and those
sides were issued on their Banner, Domino, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, and Romeo
labels. As 'Georgia Washboard Stompers', they were on the newly formed Decca
label in late 1934 and early 1935.
Taft Jordan t / Ben Smith cl, as / Carl Wade ts / Eddie Miles p / Steve Washington g / Ghost Howell sb, v / H. Smith wb.
Recorded in Camden, NJ on July 6, 1932. (Originally released on Victor 24059)
The Missourians started out as Wilson Robinson's Syncopators
in the early 1920s and then formed their identity while operating as Andrew
Preer's Cotton Club Orchestra from 1925-27, when they were the house band of
the Cotton Club. The ten-piece group toured with Ethel Waters in 1927 and
changed its name to The Missourians at the time, since it was no longer based
at the Cotton Club.
The band played regularly at the Savoy Ballroom from
1928-29 under the direction of altoist George Scott. Although they had recorded
I've Found a New Baby under Andrew Preer's leadership in 1927 (when one
of its trumpeters was Sidney DeParis), its main accomplishments were the dozen
hot recordings that it made as The Missourians for RCA from 1929-30. However,
the band was struggling and would have broken up were it not for Cab Calloway,
who had first started working with The Missourians in 1929. Calloway hired all
of the musicians as the nucleus of his orchestra in 1930 and once again they
had great success at the Cotton Club. But this time The Missourians (whose name
was dropped) were quite subservient to its leader, no longer having its own
separate identity. And over time, one by one, the musicians were replaced by
Calloway as The Missourians passed into history.
Lockwood Lewis dir / R.Q. Dickerson, Lammar Wright t / De Priest Wheeler tb / unknown, George Scott cl, as / Andrew Brown cl, ts / Earres Prince p / Morris White bj / Jimmy Smith bb / Leroy Maxey d.
Recorded in New York on June 3, 1929. (Originally released on Victor 38084)
