The Savoy Ballroom (NYC) House Band Collectors of Golden Oldie R&R, R&B and Country music hits are, I'm sure, well aware of the quality received from British outlets, especially Ace Records with their almost flawless sound reproduction and copious liner notes in series such as The Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll and Teen Beat, among many others.
Acrobat Music & Media Ltd. is almost as good with their Jukebox Hits series of individual artists and multi-artist compilations and, so far, they seem to be largely a secret in North America. My first experience with them was a Lucky Millinder compilation of his hits from 1942 to 1951, and one for The Clovers covering their Atlantic output from 1949 to 1955, and my pleasure is outlined in reviews of both CD's. So much so that I was fully confident in my purchase of this Erskine Hawkins volume and another for Ivory Joe Hunter.
The trumpeter/bandleader, nicknamed "The 20th Century Gabriel" and the house band at New York City's Savoy Ballroom for over a decade, registered 11 hits on the Pop charts from 1936 to 1942 and, with the advent of The Harlem Hit Parade in late 1942 (now the R&B charts), he added 12 more there, all of which also scored on the Pop charts. Not too shabby for a "second tier" band which featured, among others, brothers Dud (trumpet) and Paul (tenor sax) Bascomb, clarinetist Haywood Henry, and alto saxophonist Bill Johnson.
His first three hits, not included here, were on the Vocalion label as Until The Real Thing Comes Along, with Billy Daniels doing he vocal, made it to # 20 Pop in late summer 1936, followed that fall by Big John's Special (# 18) and, in July 1937, Way Down Upon The Swanee River (# 17) - both instrumentals. In early 1939 his releases were being handled by Bluebird, the same label that issued most of Glenn Miller's singles, with the first (also omitted here) being Do You Wanna Jump, Children? With vocal by alto saxophonist/vocalist Jimmy Mitchelle, it peaked at # 16 in January.
Late that year his composition, Tuxedo Junction (a huge hit for Glenn Miller) didn't fare too badly either, making it to # 7 in December/January 1940 featuring a trumpet solo by Dud Bascomb. Jimmy Mitchelle is back on vocals for Whispering Grass which topped out at # 13 in May 1940, followed later that year by the instrumentals Dolemite (# 10 in September) and Five O'Clock Whistle (# 15 in November). Mitchelle again does the vocal on Song Of The Wanderer, which hit # 21 in January 1941, and in March the instrumental Nona got as high as # 17.
In 1942 Mitchelle sung Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams, which made it to # 23 in July, and when the Harlem Hit Parade was introduced that fall, the instrumental Bicycle Bounce reached # 5, but was shut out on the Pop charts. But the next one was a monster as Don't Cry, Baby got to # 1 on the new charts, where it would stay for 29 weeks, including FIFTEEN at # 1, peaking late in the summer of 1943. It also made # 11 on the Pop charts. His next hit didn't come for half a year when Cherry peaked at # 5 HHP/# 15 Pop in February 1944. Both featured vocalist Mitchelle, and Cherry was his last hit on the Bluebird label.
After another long stretch without a hit, and now handled by Victor, the instrumental Tippin' In surged to # 1 in the spring of 1945 on what had become the Most-Played Juke Box Race Records (hereafter referred to as the R&B charts), spending 25 weeks on those charts including SIX at # 1, as well as # 9 Pop. A couple of months later Ace Harris was front and center on vocals as Caldonia climbed to # 2 R&B/# 12 Pop in June.
From this point to mid-1948 he would only score on the R&B charts: Fifteen Years (And I'm Still Serving Time), with Mitchelle back on vocals (# 4 October 1945 and the last showing the Victor label); the instrumental Sneakin' Out (# 5 September 1946 on RCA Victor); I've Got A Right To Cry (# 2 later summer 1946 with vocal by Laura Washington); After Hours (# 3 instrumental featuring pianist Avery Parrish and actually recorded in 1940); and Hawk's Boogie (# 2 instrumental in early summer 1947).
Only one hit ensued in 1948, Gabriel's Heater, and that # 28 instrumental would be his final Pop hit, peaking in May. The following February, another instrumental, Corn Bread, went to # 8 R&B, and in late 1950 his version of Tennessee Waltz, with Ace Harris on vocals, became his last hit single, topping out at # 6 R&B for RCA's Coral subsidiary.
The sound quality is excellent and in the insert are six pages of background notes, including track-by-track comments, written in May 2003 by Dave Penny. As I have also found to my delight, the 4 volumes I purchased are just the tip of the iceberg as I have now identified others in the series for Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Johnson, Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, Andy Kirk & His Clouds Of Joy; Ruth Brown, Count Basie, T-Bone Walker, Johnny Otis, Muddy Waters, Billy Eckstine; Jimmie Lunceford, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Nat "King" Cole, and Lionel Hampton. I have also found multi-artist year compilations as well for 1942 to 1944, 1947, 1953 and 1955 - and I'm sure there are others.
Nice overview of a second tier band. Jukebox Hits gives a nice overview of Erskine Hawkins' work from 1940-1950. Hawkins and his band never hit the dizzying heights of such bands as Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, The Dorseys or Count Basie (to name a few of the superstars of the time) but was a solid working band of the era. The style ranges from big band to swing to bebop to pop corn (Tennessee Waltz is atrociously cornball). The musicianship is first-rate and the instrumental numbers are great but the vocal tunes are not up to the same standard. Unfortunately some of the recordings are scratchy and/or tinny. There are also decent liner notes and information for each song.
the 20th century gabriel! A great collection of swing and blues from one of the best big bands. Although they never achieved the fame Basie, Ellington, Goodman,Shaw, and others did, Hawkins kept his band together for over 25 years. He stayed current, as the disc will show, incorporating swing, blues, bop, and honkin' R&B into his music. Tuxedo junction was copied by Glen Miller almost note for note. Listen to the original and the other great swing tunes on this disc to hear one of the better big bands of the era.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
