The California Ramblers

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The California Ramblers was an American jazz and dance band from the 1920s. It is considered one of the most important of the jazz-influenced bands of this era and was a role model for other big bands .

history

The California Ramblers were considered one of the popular and most successful jazz bands of the 1920s; she recorded hundreds of songs for various labels such as Vocalion , Edison, Pathe, Paramount , Silvertone, Columbia , Cameo and Harmony. Due to the many stars involved, the group brought together by Arthur Hand was considered Musician's Band; three of its members, Red Nichols , Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey , later became important orchestral directors themselves.

Red Nichols (around 1929)

Despite the band name, the members of the original line-up came from Ohio and Pennsylvania ; the name "Ramblers" was derived from the Rambler's Inn in Pelham (New York). Originally they only played for Columbia records; their manager Ed Kirkeby , however, arranged for them to record under different band names for other labels in the USA and Canada. They had their first top 30 success in the summer of 1922 with My Honey's Lovin 'Arms on Vocalion. Ed Kirkeby initially provided opportunities to perform in New York City , where they accompanied singer Eva Shirley. The first leader of the formation at that time was the banjo player Ray Kitchenman, who soon handed over the leadership to the violinist Arthur Hand. Kirkeby booked the band to perform at Shanley's Dance Hall on New York's Broadway . Shortly thereafter, she had a longer engagement at the Post Lodge in Pelham Bay Park in Westchester County near New York; the lodge was then renamed The California Rambler's Inn.

The group's great success was also the result of extensive recording practice; In addition to their recordings as California Ramblers for Columbia, they made records for other label under various pseudonyms; So for Pathe Actuelle as the Palace Garden Orchestra, for Perfect as Meyer's Dance Band.

At Grafton Records they were called Windsor Orchestra, other names were The Golden Gate Orchestra, Goldie's Syncopators or Ted Wallace and his Orchestra. In April 1926 alone, they recorded over a dozen tracks for ten different labels, more than any other band in New York at the time. The line-ups changed during their frequent sessions; once trombonist Glenn Miller also took part. The California Ramblers were the first band to release the song Has Anybody Seen My Gal? recorded.

Edison role of a recording by the Golden Gate Orchestra aka The California Ramblers

The Ramblers continued their recording activity until the mid-1930s, but without a permanent band staff. Recordings under the band name were also made by Tommy Dorsey in 1935 and Charlie Barnet in 1937.

Well-known recordings by the California Ramblers were their signature tune California Here I Come 1924, as well as Sheik of Araby 1921, My Honey's Lovin Arms and Bee's Knees 1922, Shine and It Had to Be You 1924, I'm in Love Again (as Southampton Society Orchestra ) , You Gotta Know How to Love and Stockholm Stomp 1926, At Sundown , It Was Only a Sunshower , Yes, She Do (No, She Don't) and I Love the College Girls 1927, There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder 1928, Broken Idol 1929, Reaching for the Moon , There's a wah-wah Gal in Agua Caliente and Brown Eyes, Why Are You Blue? (as Golden Gate Orchestra ), also Huggable Kissable You , Song of the Blues , Take a Little One Step (as Gotham Dance Orchestra ) and Steamboat Bill (as Varsity Seven ).

While the California Ramblers mostly performed or recorded in a tentet line-up, Kirkeby had musicians from the Ramblers in smaller ensembles between quintet and octet line-up record additional records for Columbia under the band name The Little Ramblers . The studio ensemble mainly played hot jazz and novelty songs ; the band included the cornet player Bill Moore, Adrian Rollini, pianist Irving Brodsky and as banjo players Ray Kitchingman and Tommy Felline . In addition to her recordings as The Little Ramblers, she also made records for Pathe as The Five Birmingham Babies and for Okeh Records as The Goofus Five.

meaning

The critic Cub Coda described the California Ramblers in Allmusic as "the most perfect white dance band of the 1920s". Compared to other important dance bands of the 1920s, such as the orchestras of Ray Miller, Roger Wolfe Kahn , Isham Jones and Paul Whiteman , which had a certain rhythmic and melodic rigidity, the music of the Ramblers was characterized by a very lively rhythm, to which especially the drummer Stan King contributed. Her exuberant music, mostly based on cleverly altered stick arrangements, included hot solos by the best musicians of the time in New York City, which anticipated much of the style of the soloists in the great swing bands of the 1940s. One of the outstanding soloists was Adrian Rollini on the bass saxophone.

Jimmy Dorsey in the film The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)

Together with Ben Pollack's orchestra, the Ramblers were considered one of the first white bands to play jazz-influenced dance music. Their recording from Copenhagen prompted Fletcher Henderson to record similar titles. The original line-up of his band was very similar to that of the California Ramblers.

With the entry of the cornetist Bill Moore into the group, the Ramblers were also the first band in which an African-American musician played regularly; this even before Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton's entry into Benny Goodman's band . The influence of the Ramblers spread to England, where Fred Elizalde brought members of the California Ramblers to his orchestra in the late 1920s . One of these musicians, George Fishberg, stayed in England and worked under the name George Fisher and His Kit Kat Orchestra.

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
My Honey's Lovin 'Arms
  US 10 1922 (1 week)
Moonlight Kisses
  US 10 1924 (1 week)
Roamin 'to Wyomin'
  US 10 1924 (1 week)
California Here I Come
  US 10 1924 (1 week)
Shine
  US 4th 1924 (1 week)
Lazy weather
  US 14th 1927 (3 weeks)
Singapore Sorrows
  US 12 1928 (2 weeks)
The Peanut Vendor
  US 5 1931 (5 weeks)

Others

In the 1970s there was the New California Ramblers founded by Vince Giordano , later taken over by Dick Sudhalter .

Discographic notes

  • Hallelujah, Vol. 2 (biographer, 1925)
  • The California Ramblers, Volume One (The Old masters, 1925)
  • Miss Annabelle Lee, Vol. 1 (Biographer, 1925)
  • The California Ramblers, Volume Two (The Old Masters, 1927)
  • Rare Vertical Jazz 1926–1928 (Historical, 1926–28)
  • California Ramblers 1925-1928 (Timeless, 1925-28)

literature

  • Leo Walker: The Big Band Almanac . Ward Ritchie Press, Pasadena 1978

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Bigband database
  2. ↑ Cf. Gunther Schuller : Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. Oxford University Press, New York (1968) 1986, p. 255. However, the band leader's violin was dispensed with and the bass saxophone was replaced by a tuba
  3. ↑ All plates 78er. Individual references for US Billboard: Gerhard Klußmeier: Jazz in the Charts. Another view on jazz history. Liner notes and booklet for the 100 CD edition. Membrane International, ISBN 978-3-86735-062-4