The Mound City Blowers were an unlikely success. Originally comprised of Red McKenzie on comb and tissue paper (which sounded like a kazoo), Dick Slevin on an actual kazoo, and Jack Bland on banjo, the unique band's initial recording in 1924 ("Arkansas Blues" and "Blue Blues") became a big hit. The group recorded 12 titles in all during 1924-1925, including two with guest Frankie Trumbauer on C-melody sax and with guitarist Eddie Lang firming up the rhythm on the final six numbers.
McKenzie made additional sessions as a vocalist under his own name, while the Mound City title was retired for a few years. However, in 1929, McKenzie used the name for four selections recorded with all-star groups. While "Tailspin Blues" and "Never Had a Reason to Believe in You" featured trombonist/vocalist Jack Teagarden, "Hello Lola" and "One Hour" are considered classic. Coleman Hawkins took a historic ballad solo on the latter, trombonist Glenn Miller rarely sounded hotter than on "Hello Lola," and both clarinetist Pee Wee Russell and McKenzie on comb were in top form.
A 1931 date with cornetist Muggsy Spanier, clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey, and Hawkins was mostly a feature for McKenzie's vocals, but his contributions to the final Mound City Blue Blowers recordings (25 songs cut during 1935-1936) are actually quite minor with a few vocals and not enough comb playing. Nappy Lamare, the Top Hatters, Spooky Dickenson, and Billy Wilson actually do most of the singing, but the reason that these last performances (all available on a single Classics CD) are of great interest are the trumpet solos of either Bunny Berigan or Yank Lawson and Eddie Miller on tenor and clarinet.
~ Scott Yanow
McKenzie made additional sessions as a vocalist under his own name, while the Mound City title was retired for a few years. However, in 1929, McKenzie used the name for four selections recorded with all-star groups. While "Tailspin Blues" and "Never Had a Reason to Believe in You" featured trombonist/vocalist Jack Teagarden, "Hello Lola" and "One Hour" are considered classic. Coleman Hawkins took a historic ballad solo on the latter, trombonist Glenn Miller rarely sounded hotter than on "Hello Lola," and both clarinetist Pee Wee Russell and McKenzie on comb were in top form.
A 1931 date with cornetist Muggsy Spanier, clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey, and Hawkins was mostly a feature for McKenzie's vocals, but his contributions to the final Mound City Blue Blowers recordings (25 songs cut during 1935-1936) are actually quite minor with a few vocals and not enough comb playing. Nappy Lamare, the Top Hatters, Spooky Dickenson, and Billy Wilson actually do most of the singing, but the reason that these last performances (all available on a single Classics CD) are of great interest are the trumpet solos of either Bunny Berigan or Yank Lawson and Eddie Miller on tenor and clarinet.
~ Scott Yanow
From: The Red Hot Jazz Archive
Here's how Red Mckenzie tells of the birth of The Mound City Blue Blowers. In 1923, Red "was back in his home town, St. Louis, the 'Mound City' from which the Blue Blowers got their name. "I was a bellhop in the Claridge Red said, ". . . and across the street was a place called Butler Brothers Soda Shop. Dick Slevin worked there and there was a little colored shoe-shine boy who used to beat it out on the shoes. Had a phonograph going. I passed with my comb, and played along. Slevin would have liked to play a comb but he had a ticklish mouth, so he used a kazoo. He got fired across the street and got a job in a big soda store. He ran into Jack Bland, who owned a banjo (now known for his guitar), and one night after work they went to his room. He and Slevin started playing. They got me.Gene Rodemich's was a famous band at that time. His musicians used to drop in at the restaurant where we hung out. They were impressed and told their boss. He took us to Chicago to record with his band, as a novelty. When we got to Chicago we went down to the Friars' Inn. About 1924 it was. Volly de Faut and Elmer Schoebel were there. Isham Jones was at the place and he asked us what instruments we were playing. He had us come to his office next day, and set the date for Brunswick. That was the time 2-23-'24 we made "Arkansas Blues" and "Blue Blues". They say it sold over a million copies. Brunswick put us in a cafe in Atlantic City called the Beaux Arts. I met Eddie Lang in Atlantic City. In New York, The Mound City Blue Blowers played the Palace in August, 1924." Subsequently, Red's band played at the Stork Club in London. Upon returning to America McKenzie joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, but kept the band going on the side, with personnel changes. In 1935 he revived the Mound City Blue Blowers for a series of recording sessions.
MUSIC
Hot Comb & Tin Can
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MP3s
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FURTHER READING
Lost Chords: White Musicians and their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945
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How to Make a Comb Kazoo...
An old favorite and All you need is a comb and some tissue paper...1. The best comb to use is one of those short pocket combs.
2. Take a small piece of tissue paper - the kind people put in clothing boxes or gift bags during the Holidays. Fold the paper around the teeth of the comb.
3. Hold the comb gently between your lips, making sure not to let the peper get wet, and hum.
4. The vibration of your voice should cause the paper to rattle making a kazoo sound. Hum a tune you know and see how it sounds.
LINKS
- Red Mckenzie and his Mound City Blue Blowers
- Red Mckenzie and his Mound City Blue Blowers discography. A history of Jazz before 1930. This site contains over 1000 songs from this era in Real Audio 3 format, as well as hundreds of biographies and discographies of Jazz musicians.
- MOUND CITY BLUE BLOWERS
- The Mound City Blue Blowers originally made history with a dozen high quality novelty recordings during 1924 1925 that featured the trio of Red McKenzie's comb, Dick Slevin's kazoo, and banjoist Jack Bland; guitarist Eddie Lang solidified the rhythm on their later six numbers.
- The Mound City Blue Blowers: Information
- The Mound City Blue Blowers: Information and Much More from Answers.com
- Red McKenzie
- In the early twenties, Red McKenzie was a bellhop in a hotel in St. Louis. He and his friend Dick Slevin liked to meet with a neighborhood kid on a street corner - McKenzie would sing and play comb-and-paper, while Slevin would play the kazoo and the kid played his phonograph and danced.
- Collateral Works: Liner Notes (Mound City Blue Blowers)
- MOUND CITY BLUE BLOWERSFrom "Mound City Blue Blowers: Hot Comb & Tin-Can" (1924-1931)Vintage Music Productions 0151 (CD).
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