New discovered 1925 Bix Beiderbecke side...

[JHolmesesq]

Hi everyone,

I thought I would share this great tale that I came across on facebook.

It happened after returning home from Racine, having enjoyed four wonderful days at Phil's "Tribute To Bix" bash and with a nice pile of 78's in my suitcase (including an Autograph of "Prince Of Wails" by Lampe's Orchestra, found in Chicago!). My Dutch friend and neighbour Frits Palir, although a jazzfan but not a 78 co...llector, is often in the US on business and usually keeps an eye out for records which he thinks could be interesting for me. To be honest, he has never brought me anything of great importance but it is always nice to see what he comes up with.

One early evening, a few days after my return, Frits dropped by and handed me five 78’s. "From a second-hand book and record shop near Boise, Idaho" he added. I didn't immediately look at them but poored him a glass of wine and we chatted about my trip to Racine. After half an hour Frits had to go home so politely I looked at the records - the first one was a Banner by Sam Lanin, the second "Stack O' Lee Blues" by Waring's Pennsylvanians on Victor and the third a Gennett: "Diego Montes" by Nathan Glantz and his Orchestra. And then I looked at the other side of the Gennett.

I had stood up to see Frits out and had picked up the records from the table to have a quick look before he went. However, when I turned the Gennett over I half fainted, my legs turned to jelly and I sank back in my chair. "Very nice this one Frits" I mumbled, "very nice". "Yes" he said, "I know you're keen on Bix and thought you might like it". Not bothering to look at the last two, I carefully put the records back on the table. All I wanted was to be alone with the Gennett and for Frits to go away. I'd explain to him later.

Half dazed I saw him out and went back into the room. I did not immediately dare to look at the record again, half afraid that I was dreaming. Instead I switched on the amplifier (it takes a few minutes to heat up) and the pre-amp. I then turned to the records again. I lifted the Banner and the Victor and there it was. The label looked me straight in the face. "No One Knows What It's All About" by Bix and his Rhythm Jugglers it said. Gennett 5652.

I broke out in a sweat. This is serious. This a lost Bix recording. But it cannot be in one piece - such things do not happen. With trembling hands I took it out of the sleeve. Good heavens. E condition and undamaged. "Careful" I said to myself, "Don't drop it. Before you do ANYTHING else, make an MP3 transfer and email it to yourself. If a bomb drops on the house (and it probably will) at least the music will be safe on the World Wide Web. I turned on the digital recorder and lifted the cover off the record player. With superhuman concentration I managed to place the Gennett on the turntable and switched it on. Suddenly it went through my head. "I haven't looked at the number in the wax - what if it is mis-labelled and just another Glantz side?" Too late now. It was already spinning and I had to play and record it first. I was now trembling violently and with even greater concentration I put the arm on the outer rim of the record. The needle slid in the groove and after the hissy intro which seemed to last forever, the record came to life.

We are now a few weeks later and after many sleepless nights it has sunk in. A third Rhythm Jugglers side exists. Forget Zulu's Ball, forget the Mona Lisa - this is the most important work of art in the history of mankind. After I made that first transfer I played it all night long, until daylight. Maybe a hundred times.

I will not dwell now on everything that happens on the record - except that Bix and Don Murray both have solos and that it is the "blank" take, just like the other two issued titles from that session.
I have now cleaned the record and done a full audio restoration which turned out very nice; the disc is in a beautiful E condition and well recorded.

I will of course make the side available on CD but the plan is also to manufacture facsimile (vynil) 78 rpm copies of Gennett 5652 - with the exact labels and the same Glantz title on the reverse side.
The price will depend on the number that are pressed, therefore I would like to start a pre-order survey. Please let me know if you are interested so I can get an idea of the quantity I need. Before I place the order I will let you know the costs. And before you ask - yes, Frits Palir will receive half of the money and the last two records were a Nat Shilkret Victor and a Harry James red Columbia. I have send this email to as many collectors and Bix enthousiasts as I know but I’d be grateful if you could also spread the word today.


Hans Eekhoff

[Tinkerbell]

Great story! How was Bix-fest, by the way??

[JHolmesesq]

Tinkerbell, I didn't go (much as I'd like to), the story was pasted off a facebook group I'm part of called "The Jazz Age".

By the way, what's today's date? I've forgotten...

[Tinkerbell]

Tinkerbell, I didn't go (much as I'd like to), the story was pasted off a facebook group I'm part of called "The Jazz Age".

By the way, what's today's date? I've forgotten...

Ah... touché!

[Wolfe]

Good stoyr. Always good to hear about more lost records still turning up.

[Swing Band Heaven]

ummm, is this for real? Am I overly suspicious that his friend is called Frits (a little bit unusual), that his surname is an annogram of April and that its important to spread the word about this discovery and possible production of vinyl repro today......April 1st? I wonder....

[Henry]

In all probability, it's a genuine, authentic, A-number-1 leg-pull. But let's hear a transfer of it on this site before final decision.

[Amberola 1-A]

What is interesting is if you go here http://www.78discography.com/ and go to the Gennett section and look for that number in the record ranges, the listing for the B side is blank!

Bill

[JHolmesesq]

Pretty sure it's an April fools windup

[Swing Band Heaven]

Its quite well done though - even under close scrutiny the label looks genuine enough even with the indentation in the label near the spindle hole carrying on through the record title lettering.

S-B-H