by Robert Wilkinson
In late May two of the greatest had birthdays, and so our musical Sunday kicks off with fabulous dancing music! Just about everybody on Earth knows the music of Fats Waller, the Master of the stride piano, and as for Ron Isley, well “shake it up baby, twist and shout!” Time to move your happy feet!
Our first set features the music of the legendary Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943), a major jazz pianist, songwriter, and both musical and comedic entertainer who was the force behind taking Harlem stride piano into the foundations of modern jazz piano. Oscar Levant called him “the black Horowitz.” He died way too young of pneumonia in late 1943 just as he was riding the crest of fame with the success of Stormy Weather.
So kick back and enjoy a bygone era and the great music that came out of the 20s and 30s! For your enjoyment, here are a few by the master of stride!
First, from the 1935 musical Hooray for Love, here’s Fats, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and Jeni LeGone in 8+ minutes of iconic dancing as they perform “Living In A Great Big Way” (Fats comes in during the dance number a little over 3 minutes into the clip.)
Also from a 1935 musical, “I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed”
From the 1943 movie Stormy Weather, Fats "live" offering up his biggest hit written in 1929, “Ain’t Misbehavin’”
Also from Stormy Weather, Fat and Ada Brown serving up “That Ain’t Right”
Here's a great movie clip with Fats “live” performing “Your Feet’s Too Big”
And yet another early movie clip with Fats jumpin’! “The Joint Is Jumpin’”
An utterly fantastic film clip of Fats giving us his classic 1929 hit, “Honeysuckle Rose”
We’ll close these live performances with 15 minutes of magnificence! These are multiple movie clips strung together, so enjoy! Fats Waller – The Very Best
We now move into studio versions of Fats’ recordings!
From 1922, the first tunes he ever wrote! He was 18 when he recorded these! "Muscle Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham Blues."
In January 1927 he released this jaunty boardwalk pipe organ piece titled “The Rusty Pail” and in the same vein, also from 1927, “Loveless Love”
From 1927 with Alberta Hunter, “Beale Street Blues” and from that same year, also with Alberta, “Sugar”
From 1929, “Numb Fumbling”
From 1926, 1939, and 1943, three different versions of “St. Louis Blues”
From 1943, Fats’ original studio version of “You’re A Viper (the Reefer Song)”
From 1942, Fats on organ giving us “Jitterbug Waltz”
From 1935, “Lulu’s Back in Town”
Also from 1935, “Alligator Crawl”
From 1938, a live recording of Fats and his Rhythm! Fats Waller and the Rhythm Live at the NY Yacht Club
From 1939, “Dinah”
Also from 1939, “Tea For Two”
From 1941, “Buckin’ the Dice”
Here’s one that Fats had to sell when he was younger to more successful musicians just to make a buck. While there is some controversy, I’d probably have to go with Fats as the composer, since that was the way the industry worked back then and many songwriters had to sell their songs just to live. “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby”
“There’s Going Be the Devil to Pay”
Some stride piano!!
“Handful of Keys” (1929)
“Smashing Thirds” (1929)
We finish this celebration of the life of a keyboard Master with a four part bio!
Fats Waller – A Biography pt 1
Fats Waller – A Biography pt 2
Fats Waller – A Biography pt 3
Fats Waller – A Biography pt 4
I found this gem to close today, which gives us Christmas in May!! Here's the great Fats Waller pounding the keys on a great offering of "Swingin' Them Jingle Bells."
If you want to check out one of the premier stride jazz piano players alive (and still touring), please check out the website and music of Judy Carmichael. She's a friend, and one of the best live shows going today. This performer is seriously one of the best, so check in at her site from time to time, and if you can catch her act, by all means do so!!
RIP Fats. You influenced millions of musicians, and still make my feet happy! Thanks for showing up, Brother....
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Ronald Isley (May 21, 1941) is a recording artist, songwriter, and record producer best known as the lead singer and founding member of the the Isley Brothers. From Wikipedia, “By his early teens, Isley was singing regularly with his brothers in church tours and also first appeared on TV on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour. In 1957, 16-year-old Isley and his two elder brothers O'Kelly and Rudy then 19 and 18 moved to New York to pursue a music career. While in New York, Isley and his brother began recording doo-wop for local labels before landing a major deal with RCA Records in 1959; where the trio wrote and released their anthemic "Shout."
For much of the Isley Brothers' duration, Isley would remain the group's consistent member of the group as well as the lead vocalist for most of the group's tenure with sporadic lead shares with his older brothers. In 1969, Isley reformed T-Neck Records with his brothers in a need to produce themselves without the control of record labels, forming the label shortly after ending a brief tenure with Motown. In 1973, the group's style and sound drastically changed following the release of the 3 + 3 album where brothers Ernie Isley and Marvin Isley and in-law Chris Jasper permanently enter the brothers' lineup, writing the music and lyrics to the group's new sound. The younger brothers had been providing instrumental help for the brothers since the late 1960s.”
The Isleys!
From 1959, their first big one! “Shout.” From a few years later, singing out Shindig with “Shout”
Also from 1959, the ultimate rave up! “Respectable”
From 1960, “How Deep Is The Ocean”
Co-written by the great Bert Burns, here’s one of their iconic hits, done as only the Isley Brothers could! From 1962, “Twist and Shout” Since it’s such a great tune to dance to, here’s a more recent live performance by the Isleys of "Twist and Shout."
From 1963, “Nobody But Me”
From 1964, “Who’s That Lady”
In 1964 and early 1965 Jimi played guitar for the Isleys on these two. First, Jimi shines from 60-90 seconds in and again beginning about 2:45. Even though the mix is restrained in places, he’s nailing his guitar part! “Testify.” On this one, the horns, drums, and vocals are up front, with Jimi buried in the mix. “Move Over and Let Me Dance”
Here’s a live performance from 1974 on Soul Train of “Who’s That Lady”
Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote this great tune they made into a huge hit in 1966! “This Old Heart of Mine.”
From 1990, Ron got together with Rod Stewart and did this hit remake! “This Old Heart of Mine.”
Live in 1969, a rousing performance of “It’s Your Thing” and “Shout.”
Live on Oprah, the Isleys crank out “It’s Your Thing” and “Shout”
Also from 1969, the studio version of “I turned You On”
From 1973, “That Lady”
We’ll close this set with their last huge hit! From 1975, “Fight the Power”
For our encore, 30 minutes of the Isley Brothers at BB King’s in NYC in Jan 2017! The Isley Brothers Live at BB King’s NYC – “Fight the Power”
And if you still want more, here’s 45 different music clips from the late 60s forward! The Isley Brothers – The Origins
Copyright © 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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