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    • Beat the Band to the Bar

    Beat the Band to the Bar

    03/21/2006

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    All Music Guide Review

    This sampler of irreverent hot novelties, jazz burlesques, and big-band sendups recorded between 1930 and 1954 opens with a cheerful ode to thirsty musicians (its title a satire on the "eight to the bar" boogie-woogie craze) by Sam Donahue & His Orchestra. The next six tracks form an 18-minute medley of jazz and dance band themes served up by Richard Himber and either his Essex House Orchestra or his Rhythmic Pyramids Orchestra, with occasional vaudeville and pop parodies provided by vocalist Stuart Allen. Bandleaders and performers referenced in this medley are Henry Busse, Wayne King, Benny Goodman's Quartet and Orchestra, Tommy Dorsey, Clyde McCoy, Carmen and Guy Lombardo, Ted Lewis, Horace Heidt, Glen Gray, Rudy Vallée (with Vallée actually present), Skinnay Ennis and Hal Kemp, Paul Whiteman, Bob Crosby, Artie Shaw, Larry Clinton, Eddy Duchin, and Count Basie. Although these six sides were recorded between December 1937 and February 1939, the effect is that of one extended "Parade of Bands." Now that the listener is completely limbered up, the producers of this compilation pour on a titillating blend of knuckleheaded novelties and teasing takeoffs. Setting up a precedent for animated Popeye cartoons, Carson Robison and Hoagy Carmichael sing "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" backed by a wild little group that included cornet geniuses Bubber Miley and Bix Beiderbecke, ribald fiddler Joe Venuti, and young clarinetist Benny Goodman, who sounds for all the world like he's marching in a Navy band. Both Tommy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet lambaste various conventions in big-band gimmickry and Bud Freeman emits 80 seconds of superbly mangled music for V-Disc on behalf of the war effort. While authentic jazz musicians get their licks in, most of these recordings feature pop musicians poking fun at jazz-inflected pop music. Backed by Vaughn Monroe's orchestra, Ziggy Talent does a fine job with "Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long" and Woody Herman keeps saying clever things like "hasta la pizza" during "Pancho Maximilian Hernandez," a rather racist spoof of Mexican politics that came across a bit less offensively when Ray McKinley tried it on. There's something marvelously unsettling about the sentence "We're awfully sorry we shot him -- he was the best president we ever had." Finally, Ozzie Nelson wins the prize for one of the longest titles ever squeezed onto a 78-rpm record label with "I'm Looking for a Guy Who Plays Alto and Baritone, and Doubles on Clarinet, and Wears a Size 37 Suit." ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide

    Beat the Band to the Bar Track Listing

  • Track#
  • Title
  • Artist
  • time
  • lyrics
  • 1
  • Beat the Band to the Bar
  • Donahue, Sam & His Orchestra
  • 2:28
  • Sound Clip for Beat the Band to the Bar from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 2
  • Parade of Bands, Pt. 1: Hot Lips/Vilia/Dinah
  • Himber, Richard & His Essex House Orchestra
  • 3:01
  • Sound Clip for Parade of Bands, Pt. 1: Hot Lips/Vilia/Dinah from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 3
  • Parade of Bands, Pt. 2: Marie/Sugar Blues/Can I Forget You?
  • Himber, Richard & His Essex House Orchestra
  • 3:20
  • Sound Clip for Parade of Bands, Pt. 2: Marie/Sugar Blues/Can I Forget You? from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 4
  • Parade of Bands, Pt. 3: When My Baby Smiles at Me/I'll Love You in ...
  • Himber, Richard & His Essex House Orchestra
  • 3:09
  • Sound Clip for Parade of Bands, Pt. 3: When My Baby Smiles at Me/I'll Love You in ... from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 5
  • Parade of Bands, Pt. 4: My Time Is Your Time/Let's Dance/Got a ...
  • Himber, Richard & His Essex House Orchestra
  • 2:34
  • Sound Clip for Parade of Bands, Pt. 4: My Time Is Your Time/Let's Dance/Got a ... from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 6
  • Parade of Bands, Pt. 5: Rhapsody in Blue/Summertime/Ngihtmare
  • 2:24
  • Sound Clip for Parade of Bands, Pt. 5: Rhapsody in Blue/Summertime/Ngihtmare from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 7
  • Parade of Bands, Pt. 6: The Dipsy Doodle/Nocturne in E Flat/One ...
  • 2:47
  • Sound Clip for Parade of Bands, Pt. 6: The Dipsy Doodle/Nocturne in E Flat/One ... from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 8
  • Barnacle Bill the Sailor
  • Carmichael, Hoagy & His Orchestra
  • 2:47
  • Sound Clip for Barnacle Bill the Sailor from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 9
  • Annie's Cousin Fanny
  • Dorsey Brothers Orchestra
  • 3:07
  • Sound Clip for Annie's Cousin Fanny from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 10
  • The Drunkard Song (There Is a Tavern in the Town)
  • Vallée, Rudy & His Connecticut Yankees
  • 2:57
  • Sound Clip for The Drunkard Song (There Is a Tavern in the Town) from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 11
  • What's the Reason I'm Not Pleasin' You?
  • Dorsey, Jim & His Orchestra
  • 3:24
  • Sound Clip for What's the Reason I'm Not Pleasin' You? from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 12
  • Are All My Favorite Bands Playing or Am I Dreaming?
  • Dorsey, Thomas & His Orchestra
  • 2:54
  • Sound Clip for Are All My Favorite Bands Playing or Am I Dreaming? from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 13
  • Ol' Man Mose
  • Duchin, Eddy & His Orchestra
  • 2:29
  • Sound Clip for Ol' Man Mose from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 14
  • So You Left Me for the Leader of a Swing Band
  • Kemp, Hal & His Orchestra
  • 3:27
  • Sound Clip for So You Left Me for the Leader of a Swing Band from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 15
  • The Wrong Idea
  • Barnet, Charlie & His Orchestra
  • 2:54
  • Sound Clip for The Wrong Idea from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 16
  • She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor
  • Messner, Johnny & His Orchestra
  • 2:39
  • Sound Clip for She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 17
  • Friendship
  • Kyser, Kay & His Orchestra
  • 2:53
  • Sound Clip for Friendship from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 18
  • I'm Looking for a Guy Who Plays Alto and Baritone, and Doubles on ...
  • Nelson, Ozzie & His Orchestra
  • 2:49
  • Sound Clip for I'm Looking for a Guy Who Plays Alto and Baritone, and Doubles on ... from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 19
  • The Yogi Who Lost His Will Power
  • Tucker, Orrin & His Orchestra
  • 3:09
  • Sound Clip for The Yogi Who Lost His Will Power from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 20
  • Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long
  • Monroe, Vaughn & His Orchestra
  • 2:29
  • Sound Clip for Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 21
  • Serenade to a Maid (A Bronx Serenade)
  • Powell, Teddy
  • 3:02
  • Sound Clip for Serenade to a Maid (A Bronx Serenade) from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 22
  • Juke Box Saturday Night
  • Miller, Glenn & His Orchestra
  • 3:05
  • Sound Clip for Juke Box Saturday Night from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 23
  • The Latest Thing in Hot Jazz
  • Freeman, Bud & His Disc Jumpers
  • 1:19
  • Sound Clip for The Latest Thing in Hot Jazz from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 24
  • I Used to Work in Chicago
  • Kaye, Sammy & His Orchestra
  • 2:41
  • Sound Clip for I Used to Work in Chicago from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 25
  • Pancho Maximilian Hernandez (The Best President We Ever Had)
  • Herman, Woody & His Four Chips
  • 3:14
  • Sound Clip for Pancho Maximilian Hernandez (The Best President We Ever Had) from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 26
  • All Right, Louie, Drop the Gun
  • Prima, Louis & His Orchestra
  • 3:00
  • Sound Clip for All Right, Louie, Drop the Gun from Beat the Band to the Bar


  • 27
  • Theme from the Lombardo Ending
  • Rugolo, Pete
  • 2:36
  • Sound Clip for Theme from the Lombardo Ending from Beat the Band to the Bar


    • Credits of Beat the Band to the Bar



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