The Studio Band
| The Studio Band The Royal Kings Dave Bartholomew Orchestra |
|
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Blues , rhythm and blues , rock 'n' roll |
| founding | circa 1946 |
| resolution | circa 1957 |
| Important members | |
Trumpet |
Dave Bartholomew (1946–1952) |
saxophone |
Alvin Tyler (1946-1957) |
Drums |
Earl Palmer (1947-1957) |
guitar |
Ernest McLean (1949-1957) |
bass |
Frank Fields (1946-1957) |
piano |
Salvador Doucette (1949–1957) |
saxophone |
Herb Hardesty (1947-1953) |
Tenor saxophone |
Lee Allen (1953-1957) |
guitar |
Justin Adams (around 1955) |
guitar |
Roy Montrell (around 1956) |
guitar |
Edgar Blanchard (around 1956) |
A group of studio musicians from New Orleans became known under the informal name The Studio Band , who between 1946 and around 1957 did a large part of the recordings in the New Orleans style , a lively way of playing blues , rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll , showed responsible. The band name refers to the J&M studio Cosimo Matassas . The group emerged from the band of trumpeter Dave Bartholomew and released a single single under the name The Royal Kings on Specialty Records .
history
Dave Bartholomew's band
Trumpeter and band leader Dave Bartholomew formed a band in New Orleans after participating in World War II. It quickly developed into an attraction in the clubs of New Orleans. The heart of the Bartholomew studio band were Earl Palmer , Frank Fields , Alvin Tyler and Ernest McLean .
The group supported Smiley Lewis , Larry Darnell , Dotie Daniels and Patsy Valdeler . The only competition was the bands of Roy Brown and Paul Gayten . Weekly she joined Dr. Daddy-O ’s radio show on WMRY which was broadcast from Cosimo Matassa's J&M Records Shop .
The first recordings were made in 1947 for DeLuxe Records , but they did not sell well. It wasn't until 1949 that the country boy in the cast Ernest McLean, Clarence Hall, Red Tyler, Joe Harris, Salvador Doucette, Earl Palmer, Theard Johnson and Dave Bartholomew caused quite a stir. Bartholomew also discovered the young Fats Domino in 1948 as a talent scout for the record label Imperial Records , whose boogie-woogie he appreciated. A meeting with Lew Chudd of Imperial Records at Don Robey's Peacock Club in Houston led to the conclusion of the contract in December 1949 and a number of chart hits, including 1951 Everynight About This Time and 1952 Goin 'Home .
Bortholomew's band was also used more and more often as a studio band behind artists from New Orleans: They played ballads and blues behind Tommy Ridgley and Jewel King , who had a hit with 3 × 7 = 21 . Further studio work followed behind Archibald , Jesse Allen , Fats Matthews , Country Jim and Smiley Lewis , who led I Hear You Knockin ' into the charts for Imperial. After working for I'm Gone by Shirley & Lee on Aladdin Records , Lloyd Price 's Lawdy Miss Clawdy achieved global success with Fats on the piano for Specialty Records.
The Royal Kings
In July 1952, the band recorded Palmer, Hardesty, Harris, Doucette, McLean and Fields Bouncin 'The Boogie , which came out with Teachin' 'n' Preachn ' on Specialty 444. For the publication of these instrumental compositions by Bartholomew, the band was given the name "The Royal Kings". The single remained the only one on which the band released on their own behalf.
The Studio Band
In 1953 Hardesty joined the live band Fats Dominos. Lee Allen took his place at the tenor saxophone . With the integration of Allen's roaring solos in the New Orleans style, the classic line-up of the studio band began with Earl Palmer, Frank Fields, Alvin Tyler and Lee Allen as well as the changing guitarists Roy Montrell, Ernest McLean and Edgar Blanchard. Either Salvador Doucette or Edward Frank sat on the keys if the artist to be recorded did not play the piano himself. At the first Little Richards studio session , Huey played "Piano" Smith . In addition to Domino, Richard was accompanied by the second selling artist, who also played rhythm and blues so hard that it was transferred to a new genre name as rock 'n' roll. Red Tyler remembers that it was Cosimo Matassa who invited the band to the studio even without Dave Bartholomew's engagement.
This new sound on Little Richard's hit recordings in turn prompted other music labels to inquire about and use the studio band. This strengthened the cohesion of the band, so that they were perceived as a closed clique. The way of working was mostly simple: a record company booked Matassa's studio, he called the band together and the pieces were only arranged and rehearsed with the vocalist to be recorded. The musicians were able to draw on their wealth of experience from previous years. The standard daily fee for studio musicians at the time was $ 40.25 with no share of the sales proceeds.
The End
Due to the loose band structure, the exact end of the session band cannot be given. Earl Palmer left New Orleans in February 1957 to become a sought-after session drummer for The Wrecking Crew in Los Angeles . In the same year Lee Allen followed his colleague Hardesty to the live band Fats Dominos, so that he was no longer regularly available for session work in the J&M Studio. Little Richard, who had not recorded in New Orleans since October of the previous year, also temporarily ended his musical career in September 1957.
At the beginning of the 1960s at the latest, a new generation of session musicians and producers around Allen Toussaint , Dr. John , the Neville Brothers and the Meters made up the bulk of the R&B recordings in New Orleans.
Discography
- 1952 - Bouncin 'the Boogie / Teachin' 'n' Preachn ' , Specialty 444
literature
- John Broven: Rhythm & Blues in New Orleans . Third edition. Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna 1995, ISBN 0-88289-433-1 , The Studio Band, pp. 86-95 (first edition: 1974).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Tony Sherman: Backbeat. Earl Palmer's Story . Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington / London 1999, ISBN 1-56098-844-4 , 4 Running Wild in this Big Old Town: New Orleans 1945–1957, pp. 62-100 .
- ↑ a b c d Jeff Hannusch: I Hear You Knockin ' . 5th edition. Swallow Publications, Ville Platte 2005, ISBN 0-9614245-0-8 , Dave Bartholomew: The Man Behind the Big Beat, pp. 95-104 (American English, first edition: 1985).
- ↑ a b Billy Vera: Creole Kings of New Orleans Vol. 2 . Specialty Records / Fantasy Records, 1993 (CD booklet).
- ^ A b c d John Broven: Rhythm & Blues in New Orleans . Third edition. Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna 1995, ISBN 0-88289-433-1 , The Studio Band, pp. 86-95 (first edition: 1974).