Vocalese, 3 of 4: Delta Rhythm Boys—The First Filmed Vocalese, Plus "One O'Clock Jump"

As you saw in the first essays of this series (see the Index under “Singing”), Bee Palmer and Marion Harris recorded vocalese versions of “Singin’ the Blues” well before the early 1950s recordings of Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure, and Annie Ross. The Delta Rhythm Boys are not usually named as part of vocalese history, but as I will show, they should be included. They began singing together in 1934 using various names, and worked under the Delta Rhythm Boys name from the late 1930s onward. They were active in the U.S.A. primarily during the 1940s, and from 1950 on they mostly worked and recorded in Europe, with Paris as their main home base.

Vocal quartets play an important role in Black American music. In fact, there is good evidence that Black quartets influenced the white barbershop quartet tradition. Some of the earliest recordings of Black performers are vocal quartets from the early 1890s: The Unique Quartette and various others. (Both of those links have audio samples.) From 1930 on, the Mills Brothers quartet became hugely popular, and it was their success that led to the Ink Spots, the Delta Rhythm Boys, and many others. The Mills Brothers recorded some terrific jazz numbers, but are perhaps most remembered today for harmonized slow numbers. The same is true of the Delta Rhythm Boys. But they did perform two early vocalese numbers.

The best known of these is the Soundie film “Take the ‘A’ Train,” where they sing words to Ray Nance’s well-known trumpet solo. It’s the earliest filmed vocalese performance, according to film historian Mark Cantor, author of the Soundies reference book, who shared this print with us. The audio was recorded August 21, 1941 (released on 78 rpm as well), and then, as is usual, it was filmed about a week later while the singers pantomimed to their audio. Yes, it was very similar to the much later practice of having an “official” video to go with a popular recording. As you’ll see, there is quite a bit of moving around and choreography in the film, and it would have been impossible to get a stable sound without pre-recording. The singers are tenor Traverse Crawford (no moustache, dark suit), tenor Clinton Holland (light-colored suit), baritone Harry Lewis (black hat), and bass singer Otho “Lee” Gaines with the conductor’s hat. Here is the film:

Here is the Nance solo from the original Ellington recording:

And here, for comparison, is just the audio of that solo from the film above:

The Delta Rhythm Boys may have had other vocalese numbers in their repertoire. For example, around 1952, they recorded a version of “‘S Wonderful” that featured what sounds like a vocalese solo, but I’m not sure what recording it’s based on. But definitely their other most significant vocalese number is “One O’Clock Jump,” where they sing words to all the solos, including Lester Young’s. First, here is the original Basie recording from July 1937, with solos by Herschel Evans, George Hunt—a fine solo by this little-known trombonist—Lester Young, Harry Edison, and Walter Page:

And below are all of those solos performed by the Delta Rhythm Boys, with words by their bass singer Lee Gaines (according to the label of the 78 rpm disk, which says “Gaines/Basie”). They performed it on radio around 1945, and recorded this version for RCA in April 1947. Here, they were accompanied by their regular pianist, Rene DeKnight, and a group of white musicians led by arranger Frank Comstock. Since Comstock was a main arranger for the Les Brown band, it’s no surprise that most of them were associated with Brown at the time:

Vern Rowe (tp;sometimes mistakenly listed as “L Rowe”), Ray Klein (tb), George Weidler (as), Ted Nash (ts; the uncle of Ted Nash, whose father is trombonist Dick Nash), Tony Rizzi (g) (known also for work with Earle Spencer and with multi-guitar bands), Joe Mondragon (b) (who became one of the most-recorded bassists in L.A.), and Jackie Mills (d) (who later worked with many bands and also was active as a producer and music publisher). There are solos by DeKnight and Rizzi at the beginning and Nash near the end. On the Basie recording the piano solo is in F and then it modulates to Db for the band. Here, presumably to suit the singers’ voices, the opening solo is in C and then it goes to Ab. Here goes:

Dig that last chord! And, guess what? Cantor has just discovered that the Delta Rhythm Boys made two filmed versions of “One O’Clock Jump” in 1943! We will watch them both next time.

All the best,
Lewis