Last updated
2008-07-05, 21:30 PDT Copyright in this compilation is held by David Palmquist |
unique visits since 2006-10-06 |
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"Three Little Words was originally written for drummer Sonny Greer, who was the band's vocalist as well in those years. Greer developed mike fright, and RKO hired Bing Crosby to do the prerecording. The director, hearing the prerecording the next day, decided that Crosby could not sing the number by himself and insisted on the use of the full trio."Stratemann says there is some doubt about it being the Ellington band heard on Three Little Words, and says Steve Lasker is adamant that it is not. I agree - the band is too sweet. The Ellington sound is heard when we hear Old Man Blues though, with soloists Harry Carney (bari, age 20), Johnny Hodges (sop), Freddie Jenkins (tpt). Note Jenkins plays trumpet left-handed. Listen to Barney's trademark sustained high notes in the last chorus. Nice video.
Here is a list of current (July 5, 2008) DailyMotion.com and YouTube.com video clips of Ellington or his music, compiled by Marcus Girvan during a sleepless night. I'm just pasting these in for now, and will edit them and annotate them when I have time to check for duplications.