Friday 16 September 2011

This is for four year old hayley campbell. it's a little bit late.



I was playing the version by Bob Crosby and the Bobcats (1940) during dinner tonight, but I can't find that one online. Milton Brown and the Brownies is near enough.

Brown actually turns out to be very interesting. he is credited with founding that uptempo and frantic style of music known as 'Western Swing', circa 1930, heard in its full glory above:
After leaving the Light Crust Doughboys, Brown formed the world's first Western swing band in Fort Worth, Texas, the Musical Brownies. The first incarnation of the Brownies featured Brown, guitarist Derwood Brown, bassist Wanna Coffman, Ocie Stockard on tenor banjo, and fiddle player Jesse Ashlock. Shortly afterward, pianist Fred “Papa” Calhoun and fiddle player Cecil Brower (who replaced Ashlock) joined the group. Like the Light Crust Doughboys, the Musical Brownies played a mixture of country, pop, and jazz, but the Brownies had a harder dance edge than their predecessors. Almost immediately, Brown and His Musical Brownies were a huge success. The group had a regular spot on the radio station KTAT and drew large crowds to various Texas and Oklahoma dance halls. Their home venue, Crystal Springs Dance Hall in Fort Worth, was sold out nearly every Saturday night from 1933 to 1936. Brown and Wills remained friends; and Wills' Waco, Texas-based band, the Playboys, was modeled after the Musical Brownies.
In April 1934, the band recorded eight songs for Bluebird; and then another ten recordings for the label in August. Brown and his talented group of musicians were responsible for numerous innovations, notably in late 1934, the Brownies added the true pioneer of the world’s first electrically amplified steel guitar—Bob Dunn. Dunn was a jazz guitarist who first heard electric steel guitar played by a down and out blues performer on the Coney Island boardwalk—Dunn's innovative steel guitar solo riffs singlehandedly created country & western's most recognized solo instrumental sound. His upbeat "Taking Off" instrumental is an excellent example of his Jack Teagarden-inspired solos; a towering inspiration to many Western swing, country and even rock guitarists in the years to follow. (more, Wikipedia)
Brown died in a car crash at age 32 in 1936.
Ps- I added all this background info after Hayley appeared in the comments

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2 Comments:

Blogger Hayley Campbell said...

ARF.

17 September 2011 at 05:58:00 GMT-5  
Blogger drjon said...

Linky to the Crosby version.

I bet yo spend the night looking things up on that site, now. ;}P>

25 September 2011 at 01:47:00 GMT-5  

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