[MusicRatty] tag: larry

Sunday Wax Bits

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:38:30 +0000

JazzWax grapevine. I hear that Johnny Mandel is currently in the studio arranging and conducting Diana Krall's new album. The release date for the upcoming CD from Verve Records is yet unknown... I hear that Mosaic Records is planning a Louis Armstrong box next year covering Pops' 1930s-1940s period for the Decca label... Legendary vibraphonist Teddy Charles just got back from two weeks in the Netherlands, a trip that included the recording of a live album for OAP Records, a Dutch label. The performance with the Walter Wolff Trio was held at The Bimhuis theater-club in Amsterdam. Not clear yet when the CD will be out. To hear three great tracks off Teddy's sensational New Directions CD recorded in 1952, go here.

Jimmy Giuffre v. Pepper Adams. In my post on the 1957 Looney Toons' short, Three Little Bops, I said the baritone saxophonist playing on the soundtrack likely was Pepper Adams, not Art Pepper, who has been credited for years.

In response, I heard from the eminent jazz writer and critic Larry Kart:

"Admittedly, the baritone saxophonist here is trying to play in a neo-R&B manner, not like himself. But in no way does this sound to me like any imaginable incarnation of Pepper Adams. It does, however, sound like Jimmy Giuffre playing in a neo-R&B manner, of which there are examples on record (on tenor, though). Also, Giuffre was a member of Shorty Rogers' Giants at about this time, recording Wherever The Five Winds Blow (RCA), recorded in July 1956."

Jazz critic and author Doug Ramsey at Rifftides also weighed in:

"I agree with critic Larry Kart's conclusion that the baritone saxophonist is Jimmy Giuffre. Giuffre worked often with Rogers in the 1950s, and the baritone in Three Little Bops has the sound of Giuffre's celebrated spoof R&B hit Big Girl with the Lighthouse All-Stars."

Editor's note: The baritone sax player may well have been Jimmy Giuffre—or Pepper Adams, since both played with Shorty Rogers on the West Coast during this period. We won't know for sure until someone digs deeper and finds documentation verifying the players Shorty Rogers hired for the date. Stan Freberg remains the only surviving member of the team. What is puzzling is why Art Pepper has been credited for years, especially since he had not recorded on baritone sax. My guess remains that someone wrote "Pepper" on the tape or box, and those who came across it assumed it was Art Pepper when in fact it was Pepper Adams. But all of this, of course, is speculation and circumstantial until we know for sure. To be continued.

Stan Freberg. After my posts last week on Three Little Bops and C'est Si Bon here, in which I featured quotes from my conversation with legendary comedian Stan Freberg, Brian Hope of the U.K. sent the following email:

"I've always been a fan of Stan Freberg's. His rendition of Yellow Rose of Texas was among my favorites. Banana Boat Song, too. Better still was his album, Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America (1961). I believe there were two LP's, though I was never able to find the second. The album is part of the family. My daughter turned 43 years old last week and was here for the annual birthday lunch. She insisted on my getting out the tape and playing it. Her elder brother thought we were a bit sad, but we found him singing along in no time.

"Would that I knew how many times I've put that on tape for them and friends. I still get requests to replay them. Soon we're quoting from the album's lines on George Washington, such as, 'Talks up a storm with them wooden teeth' and 'I know who y'are, I seen your picture on the money.' And the weary boat hirer for the famous crossing of the Delaware: 'What're you trying to do, gouge the small businessman?' I'd better stop.

"It is truly satirical, and that's a misused word today. If you ever speak to Stan Freberg again, please let him know that he has a big fan base over here.

"See what's happening? Your historian activities are opening doors to places you can't imagine. What an achievement. Thanks again."

Sammy Davis, Jr. After my post on Hidden Jazz Downloads (Vol. 6), Kurt Kolstad of Minnesota sent along the following recollections:

"I have the Sammy Davis album you referred to, and your mention of it reminded me of one of the all-time greatest concerts I have ever attended.

"It was back in the early 1980s, and Sammy had been booked to do a show at the Minnesota State Fair (of all places!). My wife and I hadn't been to a fair in years, but we decided that with Sammy appearing we would make an exception. It was a perfect summer night, and we expected the grandstand to be sold-out. Much to our surprise, only about half the 5,000 seats were occupied. The opening act was Peaches & Herb, and they provided a surprisingly good intro to Sammy.

"After the break, a large orchestra took the stage played a medley of songs associated with Sammy. Then the man himself was introduced. He came out, let the applause die down completely and said something like, 'Well, it looks as if most of the people were more interested in merry-go-rounds and cotton candy than in coming to hear the real Candy Man. But, it doesn't matter 'cause we're going to give you the best show that we can.'

'Sammy proceeded to knock our socks off! Every performer has his 'on' nights and 'off' nights but I can assure you that this was the former. He sang as if it was the last concert he was ever going to sing. We were absolutely mesmerized by his performance and, as the years have slipped by, I've thought about it many, many times. Only two other vocalists—Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan—have given me the same sort of goose bumps that I had that night."

Coleman Hawkins. Radio station WKCR-NY will feature a Coleman Hawkins birthday broadcast on Friday, November 21. The station will play the tenor saxophonist's recordings around the clock for 24 hours here.

Peter J. Levinson (1934-2008). Author and publicist Peter Levinson died last week after injuries suffered in a fall. He was 74. Peter represented Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz and many other jazz artists. He also was author of Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James, September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle and Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way. Peter was a frequent reader of JazzWax, and I enjoyed hearing from him. He will be missed.

Frank Wess. Following my post on the John Bunch Trio Featuring Frank Wess here, Michael Palmer from Australia sent along the following recommendation:

"I really enjoyed your post on Frank Wess. I have always liked Frank since seeing him with Basie playing Midgets with Joe Newman many years ago. Regarding his recordings, may I recommend a fine, newish CD? It's called Flutology: First Date, on the Capri label. Frank is joined by flutists Holly Hofmann and Ali Ryerson. Listen to them rip into BeBop."

Films worth seeing. I caught a fascinating and little-known film last night directed by Robert Rossen called Lilith (1964), an early Warren Beatty movie with Jean Seberg and a jazz score by Kenyon Hopkins. I also saw two fine George Segal films in the past week that are worth pulling in from Netflix: Loving and A Touch of Class. You won't be disappointed.

Saturday Single No. 103

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:27:00 +0000

The first time I ever heard of Jesse Ed Davis was a couple of days after George Harrison’s massive Concert for Bangla Desh was released in late 1971, during my freshman year of college. One evening that week, WJON played the album in its entirety, and I hung by the radio, listening intently. When Harrison interrupted the proceedings to introduce the musicians on stage, Davis was one of the guitarists he introduced.

It was an underwhelming introduction to Davis’ work. As I’ve learned in the years since then, Davis – a full-blooded member of the Kiowa band of native Americans – was one of the most-respected and sought-after session guitarists of the late 1960s and early 1970s. His list of credits at All-Music Guide reads like an index of great albums and/or albums by great performers (the two, sadly, are not always the same) of the era: John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Mike Bloomfield, Booker T. Jones, George Harrison, Ben Sidran, Leon Russell and Albert King are among the first names on the list.

So when Davis found his way into the studio for the first of his three solo albums – Jesse Davis, released in 1971 – he had plenty of friends and associates available who were eager to back him in the studio. The credits for Jesse Davis list, among others, Chuck Blackwell on drums; Eric Clapton on guitar; Merry Clayton, Venetta Fields, Clydie King and Gram Parsons on background vocals; Jim Gordon and Jerry Jumonville on horns; Larry Knechtel, Leon Russell, Ben Sidran and John Simon on keyboards; Delaney Bramlett on remixing and a host of other folks whose names don’t jump off the page at me quite as high.

All-Music Guide describes the results like this:

“This first solo release from session-guitarist extraordinaire Jesse Ed Davis celebrates the ethos of early-’70s album making; namely, renting a studio for a weekend, supplying lots of drugs and alcohol, and then inviting a few dozen of your closest friends over to record. The album itself is filled with cameos by Davis’ musician pals: Leon Russell, Eric Clapton, and Gram Parsons among them. However, it does neither the all-star backing musicians, nor Davis, much credit. With the exception of Van Morrison’s ‘Crazy Love,’ most of the album was penned by Davis, and in spite of some strong rockers (‘Every Night Is Saturday Night for Me,’) the downplaying of Davis' exemplary soloing ability does the guitarist a disservice.”

It’s true that the album – like the other two solo albums recorded by Davis, who died young in 1988 – is in fact a bit of an undisciplined jumble. But that actually makes it fun at times, at least when one is in the right mood. I seem to be in that mood this morning, so I thought I’d offer a track from Jesse Davis this morning, and since it is the end of the week, here’s the above-referenced track – titled simply “Every Night Is Saturday Night” on the album – as today’s Saturday Single.

Jesse Ed Davis – “Every Night Is Saturday Night” (1971)
9.96 MB mp3 at 192 kbps

Repost (one of my favourites): Johnny Winter - At My Fathers Place 1980 FM (2CD)

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:46:00 +0000

Size: 197 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found somewhere in OuterSpace
Artwork Made by: moonwall

Johnny Winter My Fathers Place 10/4-1980 Fm Radio.

John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III (born on 23 February 1944 in Beaumont, Texas, USA) is an American blues guitarist, singer and producer. He is the first son of John and Edwina Winter who were very much responsible for both Johnny's and younger brother Edgar Winter's early musical awareness. Both Johnny and Edgar have albinism.

Johnny began performing at an early age with Edgar. His recording career began at the age of 15, when their band Johnny and the Jammers released "School Day Blues" on a Houston record label. During this same period, he was able to see performances by classic blues artists such as Muddy Waters, B. B. King and Bobby Bland.

In 1968, Winter began playing in a trio with bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Uncle John Turner. An article in Rolling Stone magazine written by Larry Sepulvado helped generate interest in the group. The album Johnny Winter was released near the end of that year. In 1969 they performed at numerous rock festivals including Woodstock. Contrary to urban legend, however, Johnny did not perform with Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison on the infamous Hendrix bootleg recording "Woke up this Morning and Found Myself Dead" done at New York City's Scene Club. He has said, "Oh, I never even met Jim Morrison! There's a whole album of Jimi and Jim and I'm supposedly on the album but I don't think I am `cause I never met Jim Morrison in my life! I'm sure I never, never played with Jim Morrison at all! I don't know how that [rumour] got started."

Winter struggled with a heroin addiction in the early part of his career. After eventually recovering from the addiction, in 1973, he returned to the music scene in classic form with Still Alive and Well, a song written by Rick Derringer saluting Winter for overcoming his addiction.

In live performances, Winter often tells the story about how, as a child, he dreamed of playing with the blues guitarist Muddy Waters. In 1977, he accomplished this goal and produced the Muddy Waters album Hard Again. In 1978, he experienced continued success with the production of Waters' I'm Ready. He followed this in 1980, by producing Muddy's final effort, the album King Bee. Their partnership produced a number of Grammy-winning recordings throughout, and he recorded the album Nothing but the Blues with members from Muddy Waters' band.

There are quite a few Johnny Winter albums that are considered "non-official." A majority of these albums were produced by the late Roy Ames, owner of Home Cooking Records/ Clarity Music Publishing. According to a Houston Press article dated Aug 28, 2003, Johnny Winter left town for the express purpose of getting away from him. Roy Ames died on August 14, 2003 of natural causes at age 66. As Ames left no obvious heirs, the ownership rights of the Ames master recordings remains unclear.

As Johnny stated in an interview when the subject of Roy Ames came up, "This guy has screwed so many people it makes me mad to even talk about him."

Disc 1:
01 Hideaway
02 Messin' With The Kid
03 The Crawl
04 Big Ball Blues
05 Talk Is Cheap

Disc 2:
01 Mother In Law Blues
02 Johnny B Good
03 New York,New York
04 Rolling And Tumbling
05 Don't Hide Your Love

1. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HWAE2Y9H
or
2. http://rapidshare.com/files/166195512/Johnny_Winter.rar

Patrice Scott - Sistrum Recordings

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:04:37 +0000

Patrice Scott is one of Detroit’s up and coming producers of deep house and techno music. Substance, quality, and diversity are the driving forces behind this artist who has touched the world by storm in the early stages of his career.P. Scott has a fascination and desire to be anything but the norm….this fascination began in 1983 in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 13….while attending a neighborhood party by a local Detroit group who went by the name Sharevari. It was at this time that P. Scott received his first lesson and exposure to what was then called progressive music. From that point, more influence came from local area artist and disc jockeys such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and the Electrifying Mojo(Charles Johnson).

Exposure to Chicago’s WBMX and WGCI, which featured artist and disc jockeys such as Chip E, Farley Jackmaster Funk and Larry Heard, also played a factor in shaping P. Scott’s musical direction.

After purchasing his first set of turntables in 1984, P. Scott began to hone his DJ skills. He later played at local venues throughout the city of Detroit with legends such as Ken Collier and Jeff Mills.

Later he went on a three year hiatus from the turntables and put his total focus on learning more to help improve his studio production skills which brings us to the current but still up and coming Sistrum Recordings…

P. Scott’s Sistrum Recordings imprint was launched in October of 2006. The first release, “Atmospheric Emotions”, received rave reviews from many far and abroad. Since, P. Scott’s releases have been charted by the likes of Henning Around, Efedemin, DJ fader, Lawrence, Danilo Plessow and many more.

P. Scott’s vision for Sistrum is to continue to provide quality music for the masses and to never deviate from the bar that he has set. ” Do not be afraid to be different” and “always create from the heart, whatever moves you, whatever you feel.” With this mind set there is no doubt that P. Scott will continue to evolve as producer as well as a DJ.

Download (right click, save as) (160kBit/s)

Patrice Scott - Deep Again

Patrice Scott - The Voyage

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Manager Says Britney Spears Is 'Getting Happier & Stronger'

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:07:12 +0000

Britney Spears is more than ready to make her pop comeback because she's getting "stronger" every day, according to her manager Larry Rudolph.

FF:Funky Freakout: A Six Pack Of Cold Duck Funk

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:51:06 +0000

Come on in, its Friday...I just cashed my check and got myself a bottle and some paper cups..pull up a chair. We might get a party out of this.

First up is a cut from San Francisco's HP Riot, from the Luv n'Haight comp, Super Cool California Soul 2. The liners point out that HP=Hunter's Point, a tough dockside neighborhood in SF. Some soulful vocals in I Have Changed, are backed by some serious horn driven funk. A neighborhood band for sure, but tight enough to open for folks like Friends Of Distinction at a Reno casino. The Hunters Point riots of '66 brought these folks together, but they didn't get a lot of love in their hood, so they took off for Canada, and kept it together til they split in the early 80's.

Yo, don't bogart that bottle, I was just going up to change the record..(BTW, you can refill your music in comments). Another region brings us our next track, What We Need Is Harmony by a Memphis/Muscle Shoals crew called Brothers Unlimited. The previously unheard of (by me) label Fallout dug up this piece of "real fine,funky,hard-driving,up-tempo,contemporary,down-home,nitty-gritty solid soul," but I just bought it for the cover...It's pretty cool overall, but really for collectors only..originally released in 1970.

Brothers Unlimited had a few touches of politics, but the next record...man, I'll kick in for another bottle, but you've got to go get it...Young Disciples Inc doing Crumbs from the Table, is part of a local movement. Pulled from the latest genius release in Numero Group's eccentric Soul Series: The Young Disciples chronicles the releases of the East St. Louis label/rec center/youth program/recording studio, Yodi Enterprises.

The notes chronicle the story of Allan "Dealth" Merry, a local cat who returned home after a decent career in the music biz, to help out in the troubled E. Saint Louis community. He helped by teaching music, setting up a studio, schooling bands how to play and how to act..A community organizer, who got things done, and brought a lot of pride and hope to the place he lived. Great story and excellent tuneage from the always incredible Numero Records team.

Whoa, I'm gettin' a little drunk on the funk..seein' things I shouldn't be seein', like this..

Reissued recently by Wounded Bird, but originally a 1976 Columbia release, Ramsey Lewis goes all Ohio Players on us in Aufu Oodo, from his Salongo record. This is not the "In Crowd" Ramsey, this is straight up funk..and now, I'm really drunk.

I'm starting to look like that dude in the lower right hand corner about now, and as I stumble up to the box, all I can think to play is LARB's Dr. Beezer (Soul Frankenstein). And why the hell shouldn't I play some franco-afro-american funk..is halloween passed already.

I'm gettin' kinda tired..I think I better chill. And what better way to drift off to sleep than with some sitar soul. Sometime in the late 60's, what you think I can remember dates in my condition, funk/soul/blues maestro Johnny Guitar Watson hooked up with blues belter Larry Williams for an LP backed by none other than Cali studio rockers Kaleidescope. Why, I'm not sure..WTF, yes, but so what. I found the tune on the great Office Naps blog, but you can also find it here:

Please look in comments for all the rest of the music..I gotta go to bed.

Happy Friday. Mix available here...◄

Lil Wayne, Motley Crue, Brett Dennen lead new on sales

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:47:56 +0000

Lil Wayne

New on sales from Ticketmaster:

Thomas and Friends: A Circus Comes to Town
Friday, March 6, 2009 to Sunday, March 8, 2009
Flint Center
Cupertino , CA

On Sale Friday, November 21, 2008 at 10:00 AM

Larry Omaha
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Jackson Rancheria Casino and Hotel
Jackson , CA

Mickey Joseph
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Jackson Rancheria Casino and Hotel
Jackson , CA

Ron Shock
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Jackson Rancheria Casino and Hotel
Jackson , CA

Motley Crue

Jeff Dunham
Saturday, April 18, 2009
HP Pavilion at San Jose
San Jose , CA

Ernie Haase
Thursday, February 5, 2009
William Saroyan Theatre Fresno Convention & Entertainment Center
Fresno , CA

Grandmaster Flash
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Montbleu Resort Casino & Spa
Lake Tahoe , NV

John Legend

Smuckers Stars On Ice
Thursday, January 29, 2009
ARCO Arena
Sacramento , CA

Smuckers Stars On Ice
Friday, January 30, 2009
HP Pavilion at San Jose
San Jose , CA

Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Cow Palace
San Francisco , CA

PBR: Professional Bull Riders
Friday, January 16, 2009
Save Mart Center
Fresno , CA

PBR: Professional Bull Riders
Saturday, January 17, 2009 to Sunday, January 18, 2009
ARCO Arena
Sacramento , CA

On Sale Friday, November 21, 2008 at 12:00 PM

La Virgen Y Juan Diego
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
William Saroyan Theatre Fresno Convention & Entertainment Center
Fresno , CA

On Sale Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 10:00 AM

Jeff Dunham
Friday, April 17, 2009
Save Mart Center
Fresno , CA

Jeff Dunham
Thursday, April 16, 2009
ARCO Arena
Sacramento , CA

Motley Crue
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Reno Events Center
Reno , NV

Lil Wayne
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
ORACLE Arena
Oakland , CA

On Sale Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 10:00 AM

State Ballet Theatre Of Russia – Cinderella
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Flint Center
Cupertino , CA

Jesus Christ Superstar
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 to Thursday, January 8, 2009
Flint Center
Cupertino , CA

The Walkmen
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Fillmore
San Francisco , CA

Brett Dennen

Brett Dennen
Friday, March 20, 2009 to Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Fillmore
San Francisco , CA

Bill Engvall
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Flint Center
Cupertino , CA

Sandra Bernhard
Friday, January 16, 2009 to Saturday, January 17, 2009
Herbst Theatre
San Francisco , CA

Sharon Jones & The Dapkings
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Warfield
San Francisco , CA

John Legend
Monday, January 12, 2009
Paramount Theatre - Oakland
Oakland , CA

Labelle
Friday, January 30, 2009
Paramount Theatre - Oakland
Oakland , CA

Andrew Bird
Thursday, February 19, 2009 to Friday, February 20, 2009
The Fillmore
San Francisco , CA

Bill’s Birthday Bash with funky Meters
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Fillmore
San Francisco , CA

Changes

Celine Dion

Kaiju Big Battel
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Grand Ballroom
San Francisco, CA
This event has been cancelled. Refunds available at place of purchase.

Lucha VaVoom
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Warfield
San Francisco, CA
This event has been cancelled. Refunds available at place of purchase.

Celine Dion
Sunday, November 23, 2008
HP Pavilion at San Jose
This event has been rescheduled. New date is Friday, February 20, 2009. Old tickets will be valid or refunds available at place of purchase.

Hot Buttered Rum
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA
Saturday, November 29, 2008
This event has been rescheduled. New date is Friday, January 9, 2009. Old tickets will be valid or refunds available at place of purchase.

Dir en Grey
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Warfield
San Francisco, CA
The performance has changed to a new venue. The event will now take place at The Grand Ballroom.

Frank Caliendo
Saturday, December 6, 2008
The Warfield
San Francisco, CA
The performance has been cancelled. Refunds available at place of purchase.

Bury the Dead
Friday, February 27, 2008 to Saturday, March 7, 2008
San Jose State University Theatre
San Jose, CA
These events have been cancelled.

TO PURCHASE TICKETS GO TO WWW.TICKETMASTER.COM

TICKETS ALSO AVAILABLE TICKETMASTER OUTLETS INCLUDING RITMO LATINO, select F.Y.E. STORES, select MACY’S locations, GREAT MALL OF THE BAY AREA,
SAVE MART SUPERMARKETS, SMITH’S FOOD & DRUG STORES, SUNVALLEY MALL,
SAN JOSE STATE EVENT CENTER, MONTBLEU RESORT & SPA TAHOE,
GRAND SIERRA RESORT & CASINO, ELDORADO CASINO, and HORIZON CASINO RESORT.

CHARGE- BY- PHONE:
(408) 998-TIXS
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(925) 685-TIXS
(775) 787-TIXS
(209) 551-TIXS
TDD# 415-957-0105

For more information check the Ticketmaster Website at: www.ticketmaster.com

Bonus video:

Motley Crue photo by Flickr user Simon Louw
John Legend photo by Flickr user Dideo
Celine Dion photo by Flickr user Anirudh Koul
Lil Wayne photo by Flickr user tamararara
Brett Dennon photo by Flickr user Lisa Sunde
Photos used under Creative Commons license.

Holden Automotive: Music Licensing

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:00:00 +0000

Holden Automotive: Music Licensing
Deadline: Dec 28, 2009 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Holden Automotive is an independent film company owned and operated by actor/director Larry Holden and his wife Hanne Kristiansen. Holden has acted in major motion pictures such as Momento, Insomnia, and Batman Begins. Holden Automotive has produced popular films which have received rave reviews including My Fathers House, Through His Door Up Your Stairs, Carrying Your Burden, and Drifter Did Escape. With eight films already completed, and six of them yet to even be released, the company is getting ready to announce ambitious plans to produce ten more films by the end of 2009.

Holden Automotive is now accepting submissions from Sonicbids artists for general licensing consideration. They have an increasing need for unknown music to place in all of the planned films for 2009. They are open to all genres of music; however they are especially in need of instrumentals. As an example, they are looking for tracks to be used in a feature about a small town radio disk jockey, who will play the licensed songs in their entirety, on the air, at a working radio station, while being filmed. This is a top tier licensing gig which any artist can use to present material directly to Larry Holden and Holden Automotive for licensing consideration.

For more info, visit: http://www.holdenautomotive.com

Three Little Bops Mystery Solved?

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:02:57 +0000

When Marc Myers at JazzWax.com decides to solve a mystery, he goes into full Sherlock Holmes mode. He has done that in an attempt to track down the complete personnel of the Shorty Rogers combo in the Looney Tunes cartoon Three Little Bops, which ran last week on Rifftides. I agree with critic Larry Kart's conclusion that the baritone saxophonist is Jimmy Giuffre. Follow this link to see the cartoon again and read Kart's message. Giuffre worked often with Rogers in the 1950s, and the baritone in the film has the sound of Giuffre's celebrated spoof R&B hit "Big Girl" with the Lighthouse All-Stars (CD cover pictured). Myers takes an interesting route to reach another conclusion about the baritone player. His detective work produces plausible speculation about the identities of the bassist, drummer and guitarist. See Marc's posting here.

What matters most is that a delightful cartoon period piece is getting renewed attention. Still, if anyone out there in cyberspace has definite information about the makeup of the band, please let us know by way of the comment link below.

P.J.'s Theater 1961 - 1968

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:13:00 +0000

Krofft Theater
Sid and Marty Krofft
Les Poupees de Paris
P.J.s Theater

The Krofft Theater - 1962

8151 Santa Monica Boulevard

In May of 1962 the 187-seat Krofft Theater opened at 8151 Santa Monica Boulevard. A former bar and lounge area was altered within P.J.s. to accommodate the production of Sid and Marty Krofft adult's only marionette production of Les Poupees de Paris. - It played here for 1 1/2 years.

Ad from 1961

October 4, 1961

Before settling in the Krofft Theater in West Hollywood, Les Poupees de Paris played at a diner club in the San Fernando Valley called Nat Hart's Gilded Rafters at 8701 Sepulveda Boulevard in late 1961.

Les Poupees de Paris at 8701 Sepulveda Blvd.

1961 ad: LA Times

Sid and Marty Krofft brothers were born in Montreal. They were 5th generation puppeteers.

In the 1970's and 1980's the brothers would produce several popular television programs such as H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost and Lidsville. They were known for thier fantastic and colorful productions.

Sid and Marty Krofft

www.pbs.org/kcet/ tavissmiley/images

Les Poupees de Paris (The Puppets of Paris)

Les Poupees de Paris was created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. The one hour, seven act show featured 128 3-ft elaborately costumed marionettes in silks, satins, mink, real jewels and sequins. Others wear very little. Some of the costumes cost up to $3,000 each. The show got great reviews from the get go.

The Lido style review in the spirit of Folies Bergere in Paris. The show was mounted on a specially designed $250,000 4-ton stage equipped with three elevators. There were two turntables, a 20-ft waterfall and a 15-ft. swimming pool, ice skating rink and dancing water fountains and rain.

The caricatures and voices (sound track) of many entertainers were used including: Jackie Gleason, Pearl Baley, Edgar Bergen, Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Mae West. During the show the famous players did the Can Can, sang, ice skated, played the violin and swam.

The Krofft Theater was located within the cool, late night jazz club late called P.J.'s.

The Krofft Theater was all Victorian velvet and bangle beaded. The small 187 seat theater was quite ornate, with red velvet drapery and blue walls.

It was a miniature and make believe replica of the famed Lido de Paris show in Paris.

Les Poupees de Paris was an instant success and played at P.J.'s Krofft Theater for 1 and 1/2 years. After the run here, the Krofft brothers took the show on the road to Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, New Orleans and the 1964 New York World's Fare.

It became nationally famous at the Seattle World's Fair. However, after Billy Graham saw it he preached a sermon against it because of its topless beauties. New York Work's Fair was the most ornate of all all the productions. It boasted as having the most glamorous show with hundreds of 4 foot tall puppets.

New York World Faire

1964: Getty archive collection

Flickr

1964 New York's World Fair

New Orleans Production

November 2, 1963 - Les Poupees de Paris closed at the Krofft Theater after a sucessful 1 1/2 year run. It had completed more than 1000 performances. The Krofft brothers took the production on the road and the show a played all over the world.

P.J.'s Theater 1963 - 1966

Dec. 10, 1963

A new puppet show called Les Encore Les Poupees de Paris opened at the Krofft Theater after the original show moved out. The Krofft Brothers were not associated with this show. This production was created by Peter Foy, Stan Kramer and Edward Wassall.

This was a $350,000 production which included 150 puppets and dozens of celebrity dolls such as Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Bing Crosby and Maurice Chevalier. Again, it recreated special effects of the actual Lido de Paris stage show, including waterfall, ice rink, live birds and show girls.

LA Times

The elaborate adult puppet show showed nightly 8:30 and 10. Friday and Saturday 8:30, 10 and 11:30. Dark on Monday.

May 1964: LA Times

In January 1964 Paul Raffles did some remodeling to the building. He added on to the old dining room and created a showroom with upstairs pavilion. This remodel added 2,000 sq.

P.J.'s Theater continued to be used as a small playhouse for several years. Other performances included:

1964 - Dr Zachary and Company

1964 ad from LA Times

May 17, 1965 the musical comedy Cindy

1965 ad from LA Times

Nov 1965 actress Agnes Moorehead opened a drama school at P.J.'s Theater.

April- July 1966 the Mad Show

The Mad Show (a New York musical review), had its West Coast premiere at P.J.'s Theater with Paul Raffles as producer. It stared Alan Sues, Jo Anne Worley, Bob Sand and Bob Harvey. It was a wild, uninhibited and very funny 90 minute review had been a off-Broadway smash. (No liquor served at this show). Based on Mad magazine, written by Stan Hart and Larry Siegel. Most of the humor erupts from the relationship of kids with parents and kids with kids.

1966 ad from LA Times

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