Unissued take of Thou Swell - Bix Beiderbecke

[richardh]

Here is a you tube video I found by accident. It has a great unissued take of "Thou swell" featuring Bix Beiderbecke from 1928. I have also copied the text attached to the video below. This unissued disk certainly has a very interesting story behind it. At the end of this post I have found a video of the issued take so you can compare the two.

RJ

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQnW8C8HeQs[/youtube]


NOTES TAKEN FROM YOU TUBE PAGE:
On 17 April 1928 Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang recorded the tune "Thou Swell" for Okeh in New York.
Two takes were mastered; take -C was issued on Okeh 41030 and a single test pressing of take -A (designated second choice by Okeh official Robert Stevens who signed it "RBS") has also survived. This take has a great number of interesting differences from the issued one, especially in Bix's clear lead all through the ensemble passages.
The record is single-sided and on the back are embossed the name and logo of the Columbia Phonograph Company, who by that time owned the Okeh label.
The history of this unique record is vague; rumour has it that it was found in a junkshop in New Jersey some 50 years ago and that it subsequently travelled the world in a military trunk.
None of this has been proven though. The only certain facts are that a friend of Don O'Dette from Davenport had the record and that it went from him to a well known musician and Bix afficionado in 1977. The latter sold the record in 2008 on Ebay.
It was reissued on LP in 1978 after John R.T. Davies had done the remastering in England.
Alas, the original record was never again made available and subsequent CD reissues all draw from John Davies' old transfer with the result that the sound has always been rather dull and distorted.
However, a fresh restoration from the original disc, using the latest techniques, has recently been done and although the record is worn and heavily damaged (see picture), the sound is now quite stunning if one has good loudspeakers connected to the computer; even though the file had to be translated to MP3 format.
As the record turned up in Davenport it is possible that it originally belonged to Bix himself (rejected tests were often given to the artists). Moreover, a careful and extensive analysis by a highly reputable expert from Davenport who is familiar with Bix's handwriting has led to the probability that the writing in ink of the title and band name is indeed by Bix. Interestingly, he has written 16-4-28 while the recording was actually done on the 17th.
Could Bix have written this some time later and forgotten the exact date? Possibly.
Another interesting aspect of the record is that the format is 11 inch, and a few test-grooves remain at the outer rim (alas heavily damaged by the engraved mx number which is right into these grooves - see picture) which contain some playing and talking by a few band members.
After some clarinet, bassax and piano notes the words "Damn", "I got it" and "Take it (from) the last four" and some laughter can be distinguished. In the last sentence there was a heavy distortion over the word "from" which has been cut out as it could not be made understandable.
We have not only uploaded this passage but also amplified and slowed down the fragment with the spoken words (while maintaining the original pitch). The last sentence "Take it (from) the last four" might very well be the only recording of Bix Beiderbecke's voice.
This "video" is really all about the record and making the music available to Bix fans all over the world. We have therefore only uploaded a few pictures of the record and its label.
However, we have added a bonus; an unknown picture of Bix at ca. 10 years of age, showing him with a dog (his? It certainly looks like it) and an unknown little girl. The location is easily recognisable as Grand Avenue, probably the front lawn of the Beiderbecke house at nr. 1934. The tree with the bicycle (Bix's?) leaning against it had grown very big in the early 1980s and it is probably the tree on the left in the last picture, taken in the summer of 1981. (For those interested - the car is a 1962 Lincoln Continental). Both trees have since been cut.

Here is the issued version of this disk:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVuSFT-zTe4[/youtube]

[Lenoirstreetguy]

This is great! I love the short bit of chat in the studio. The story about Bix and his recordings and his parents is rather sad. All the time he had been away from home with Whiteman he send his parents copies of his recordings as they were issued. When he went back to his parents' home in 1929 to " dry out" he w as poking around he house one day , opened a closet and found all the packages of recordings... still unopened...that he had mailed to Davenport. This in no way helped his mood, as you can imagine.
Sometimes families just won't give in. I heard a documentary done on the CBC years and years ago where his Mother was interviewed. She was expressing a few regrets on how they dealt with " Leon." The line that sticks with me is "We never should have sent Leon to the military school.."

Jim

[B.B.B]

Bix's life-story is as sad as many other great musicians. Sometimes I think the only way to great art is suffering. The strongest emotions give the greatest output an so on.
But, Bix music sure is alive & a true piece of great expressions.
I like to think of Bix, like a NO jazzman with a little higher quality then the most of them, like Sidney Bechet he didn't just ramble, he could be subtle to.

Anyways, thanks a lot for this post, great fun.

Here is a link to a YT-channel were a lot of good, hot jazz gets posted with very high quality, the guy must be a serious collector of vintage jazz.
Bix, Satchmo & the lot. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/user/Atticus70

[WDC]

That's a real great dig, Richard. I have been constantly fascinated by Bix' ingenious style and performed arrangements.