Eddie South and Milt Hinton: An Unknown 1933 Recording with a Great Backstory. Guest Post by Anthony Barnett

[Anthony Barnett is a poet, editor of the literary and arts print journal Snow lit rev, and a jazz historian specializing in violinists who has published books and articles and uncovered many previously unknown recordings, all available here. A version of the text below was published in the now defunct Dutch discography magazine Names & Numbers, no. 98, July 2021. But the audio has never before been heard. Here’s Anthony:]

Eddie South Goes Riding: An Unusual Discovery

by Anthony Barnett

It is evident from the following report in the society column of the Black newspaper California Eagle (24th February 1933, p.4) that the Spur Riding Club was an association, without premises of its own, for the benefit of African-American horse riders:

[Lewis notes that René and his brother Leon were well-known songwriters, producers, and musicians.] 

Occasional further reports reveal that the club arranged other dance events at least through to mid-1934. The Spur Riding Club might be seen as a precursor to a similar association active at least during the late 1940s into the early 1950s. Among other references, the California Eagle published on December 1, 1949 a photo showing a group of Black women from Silver Spurs Riding Club, Los Angeles:

Clubs with the same or a similar name, with their own stables, including one founded in 1935, and another active today, are surely unrelated because they catered to a white membership.

South, “The Dark Angel of the Violin,” and His International Orchestra (there were six other musicians) were in Los Angeles playing first at the posh Club Ballyhoo for white audiences, 31 December 1932 until early February 1933. They remained in L.A. for a while, at least through to the end of February, and possibly into March. During this period they pre-recorded the sponsored Cheloni Broadcast transcriptions for radio (released as a 3-CD set), made a number of “live” radio broadcasts as well, and played dances for the Black community, including at Elks Auditorium on 16 February 1933. They were back in Chicago by late March.

While in L.A., they also recorded a most unusual disc, which came to light in 2020. It is a high fidelity 12" single-sided 78 (the other side is blank) made at Recordings, Inc. studios, matrix B-625-A, in the same series as the slightly earlier 16" 33 and 1/3 Chelonis, and like them pressed by Columbia, as revealed by the back of the disc, surely in a limited number, very likely in the order of fifty, at most one hundred, copies. [Lew notes that Columbia and other labels made extra money by pressing for others on demand.] The recording date is estimated as late February or early March 1933. 

The writing on the basic printed label reads, apparently in South’s hand, “To My Darling / Mother / Sincerely / Sonny.”   It would be quite in order for him to be known as Sonny to his mother. EDDIE SOUTH is etched in caps vertically into the runout by the label:

What is clear from m.c. Owen DuPree’s announcements, and South’s brief talking near the end, is that this was a souvenir disc for members of the Spur Riding Club—however this is the only known copy. The orchestra opens and closes briefly with South’s theme, the Hungarian song “Hejre Kati.” Next is “Diga Diga Doo,” South’s only known recording of this tune. It’s a virtuoso performance, played at the request of South’s “good friend Clifford Gantt.” [Lew notes that DuPree’s reference to the musicians as “boys” was standard then for Blacks and whites alike. He has written about this practice.] It features fast unison two-violin passages by South and Wright Smith blended with Clifford King’s clarinet, and solos by South, pianist Antonio Spaulding (not especially exciting), bassist Milton “Milt” Hinton and drummer Jimmy Bertrand (both splendid, Hinton in his famous “slap” style). Hinton was a regular member of South’s group from 1932-1935.  The guitarist is Everett Barksdale, who also went on to be well known. The second tune, a short version of the tango “La Cumparsita” (played in a longer version on the Chelonis), is dedicated to all the members of the riding club. South’s closing words are “We’ll be back some day—Goodbye.” [Lew adds: DuPree’s pronunciation of Angeles with a hard G was common until about the 1960s.] Let’s listen:

[Lewis notes: Hinton’s famous high-speed percussive “slapping” is featured especially between 2:00 and 3:00. I played with him in 1988 and saw him do this and demonstrate it close up. He performed this way on many recordings as well, such as “Pluckin’ the Bass” with Cab Calloway’s band in 1939.)

The California Eagle (24th April 1936, p.1) reveals that the m.c. Owen DuPree, “popular member of the gay young set” committed suicide that month in the garage of film actor Otto Kruger in whose employ he was chauffeur. Meanwhile, Clifford Gantt held the state record for the quarter-mile run from 1926 through to at least the early 1930s. It is likely that he acted in an official capacity, perhaps president, of the club.

Several mysteries surround this recording, mainly: If it is, as I believe, South’s handwriting on the label, addressed to his mother (it matches other known examples of his writing), how did this copy of the disc end up in the 2020 estate sale of an eminent elderly white resident of Opelika, Alabama, following his death in 2019, among a few otherwise quite ordinary and common dance band 78s? No Eddie South associations with the state are known. His 1920s Alabamians were named after Chicago’s Club Alabam, where they were resident, not the State. 

In any case, the disc is now in my AB Fable Archive. My grateful thanks to John Turner who found the disc and to Konrad Nowakowski for research assistance.

[Thank you Anthony for this fascinating story and fine music! Readers, don’t forget his jazz violin website.

All the best,
Lewis