Last time, I presented new discoveries about Webster’s biography. Probably most important is that all the books and websites give the wrong birthdate and birthplace: I showed that Freddie Webster was born in Selma, Alabama, on September 3, 1917 and that his birth name was Morris Frederick Webster.
What a tremendous article! Thank you for sharing all of this Lewis. The revelation of a 1936 Columbia recording by Webster is truly a jaw-dropper. And not to make its loss sting more, but wouldn't a 1936 commercial recording had most likely consisted of four titles?
Yes--I was being very literal because the article said "recording" and not "recording session." But you're of course right that one shouldn't be so literal about a brief mention in a newspaper, where words are counted and limited. So I just added that info. THANK YOU NICK!
Not only were musicians referred to as "boys" and "girls" in those days, but for some time to come. In the late 1960s-early-70s, the orchestra contractor on the Carol Burnett Show (the band included Jimmy Rowles, Buddy Collette, Red Callender, Don Fagerquist, me, and Jacques Gasselin, who had been born in 1899, among others) would say, "take ten, boys." Boys in this case included the harpist, Verlye Mills Brilhart, Arnold Brilhart's ex-wife. Red kidded him about it once, but no one took it as racism or sexism.
Great Band! And a great story about a band that was integrated, men and women, various ages etc. Yes, at a certain point "boys" was so ingrained that it was almost a reflex. I wrote about this in my essay about the Bird and Diz film, with clips. THANK YOU DAVID!
What a tremendous article! Thank you for sharing all of this Lewis. The revelation of a 1936 Columbia recording by Webster is truly a jaw-dropper. And not to make its loss sting more, but wouldn't a 1936 commercial recording had most likely consisted of four titles?
Yes--I was being very literal because the article said "recording" and not "recording session." But you're of course right that one shouldn't be so literal about a brief mention in a newspaper, where words are counted and limited. So I just added that info. THANK YOU NICK!
An amazing piece of research!
Lewis, your research is astonishing.
Not only were musicians referred to as "boys" and "girls" in those days, but for some time to come. In the late 1960s-early-70s, the orchestra contractor on the Carol Burnett Show (the band included Jimmy Rowles, Buddy Collette, Red Callender, Don Fagerquist, me, and Jacques Gasselin, who had been born in 1899, among others) would say, "take ten, boys." Boys in this case included the harpist, Verlye Mills Brilhart, Arnold Brilhart's ex-wife. Red kidded him about it once, but no one took it as racism or sexism.
Great Band! And a great story about a band that was integrated, men and women, various ages etc. Yes, at a certain point "boys" was so ingrained that it was almost a reflex. I wrote about this in my essay about the Bird and Diz film, with clips. THANK YOU DAVID!
"Mr. Porter: Tracer Of Lost Jazzmen."
Ha ha Thanks!