I met a grown man the other day who came right out and admitted that he had never heard Sonny Rollins play “Wagon Wheels.” We were in public and I didn’t want to embarrass him, so I took the only civilized option that sprang to mind. I promised him that if I could find it on the web, I would post the track for him and anyone else similarly deprived. Here it is, with Ray Brown on bass and Shelly Manne on drums, from Way Out West (1957), a basic repertoire item if ever there was one.
“Wagon Wheels” debuted in the Ziegield Follies in 1934. Among several successful recordings over the years were those by—strange though it may seem—Jimmy Lunceford, and Tommy Dorsey with strings. It was a hit for Spade Cooley and Paul Robeson, too, but the record permanently installed for a decade in the jukeboxes of my hometown was by The Sons of the Pioneers. You may find it a contrast to the Rollins version. Click here.
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
One of my favorite jazz … *covers*. — No, I don’t wanna reduce it to that. Master Rollins had the humor and the personality which allowed him to take even such a bitty-ditty and make it his own. Can you imagine that the trio needed hours of loose jamming (a.k.a. rehearsing) before one single sound was recorded?
“Thanks for the inadvertent tip” as well, Doug
The Tommy Dorsey LP will be next on my list. Paul Robeson’s “Wagon Wheels” are spinning here already.
Doug,
You were kind not to embarrass that man in public. Yet, you should not be surprised that, depending on his age, he had not heard this wonderful piece of music. I am continually amazed at how little people know of this music we love so much – of course, there are musicians from the 40s and 50s I have yet to hear.
While the Rollins recording was momentous by any standard, the first jazz recording I heard of Wagon Wheels was on a Dave Pell Octet LP, “Swingin’ In the Old Corral,” which I acquired as part of an RCA record club (remember those?). The session, which predates the Rollins date by half a year, was a good one, with charts by Shorty Rogers, Marty Paich, Med Flory, and Bill Holman. As a teenager, it was my introduction to Pell’s music, and more than fifty years later both sessions remain among my very favorites.
Kevin Whitehead noted the Pell work in this piece about the Rollins recording.
http://www.emusic.com/listen/#/music-news/connections/six-degrees-of-sonny-rollinss-way-out-west/