Harlem Hamfats

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Harlem Hamfats
General information
Genre (s) Blues , Chicago jazz , swing , Dixieland
founding 1936
resolution 1938
Founding members
Guitar, vocals
 "Kansas" Joe McCoy
Guitar, mandolin, vocals
 "Papa" Charlie McCoy
Trumpet, singing
 Herb Morand
bass
 John Lindsay
clarinet
 Odell Rand
piano
 Horace Malcolm
Drums
 Freddie Flynn
Drums
 Pearlis Williams

The Harlem Hamfats were an American blues and jazz band from the 1930s .

Band history

The Harlem Hamfats formation was founded in Chicago in 1936 , originally initiated to accompany blues artists on recordings for Decca Records , such as Johnny Temple , Rosetta Howard ( Candyman , 1938) and Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon ( Chocolate To The Bone (I. 'm So Glad I'm Brownskin) ) When their first own record, Oh Red, became a hit in 1936, Decca gave them the opportunity to record fifty more pieces, mostly danceable music.

Contrary to their band name, the musicians of the formation did not come from Harlem , but were rearranged for these recordings by the record owner and entrepreneur J. Mayo Williams from musicians from Chicago and New Orleans ; these were the brothers Kansas Joe and papa Charlie McCoy , the trumpeter Herb Morand and other musicians, such as the bassist Ransom Knowling . Influences from blues , Dixieland and swing mixed in the music of the band . The band was led by Herb Morand and Joe McCoy, who also contributed most of the songs.

Next to Oh! Red (April 1936) and Let's Get Drunk And Truck (a Tampa Red title) from August 1936 were other well-known tracks When The Sun Goes Down In Harlem , That Lonesome Road Took My Baby (with Charlie McCoy on mandolin), We Gonna Pitch A Boogie Woogie or Weed Smoker's Dream and Why Don't You Do Right? Some of their lyrics alluded to sex, alcohol and other drugs , which limited their sales opportunities. With their style based on riffs, they are considered a role model for later artists such as Louis Jordan and the emergence of rhythm and blues and then rock and roll .

Discographic notes

  • Let's Get Drunk and Truck (Fabulous)
  • Hamfats Swing 1936–1938 (EPM Musique)
  • Harlem Hamfats, Vol. 4 (Document)
  • Harlem Hamfats, Vol. 3 (Document)
  • Harlem Hamfats, Vol. 2 (Document)
  • Harlem Hamfats, Vol. 1 (Document)

References and comments

  1. ^ Allan F. Moore: The Cambridge Companion to Blues and Gospel Music . Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-521-00107-2 , page 36
  2. ^ Paul Oliver: Screening the Blues PB: Aspects of the Blues Tradition . Da Capo Press, 1989, ISBN 0-306-80344-5 , page 83
  3. ^ Bogdanov Vladimir: All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues . 2003, ISBN 0-87930-736-6 , page 219
  4. ↑ The song by Joe McCoy was re-recorded with new lyrics as Why Don't You Do Right by Lil Green with guitarist Big Bill Broonzy in 1941.