Wingy Manone - The Chronological Classics: 1927-1934 '1994

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. Sadness Will Be Gladness (3:00)
02. Cat's Head (3:14)
03. Up the Country Blues (2:53)
04. Ringside Stomp (3:03)
05. Downright Disgusted (3:19)
06. Fare Thee Well (3:24)
07. Trying to Stop My Crying (3:18)
08. Isn't There a Little Love? (3:11)
09. Shake That Thing (3:30)
10. Tar Paper Stomp (Wingy's Stomp) (3:11)
11. Up the Country Blues (3:09)
12. Tin Roof Blues (2:53)
13. Weary Blues (2:55)
14. Big Butter and Egg Man (2:55)
15. No Calling Card (3:03)
16. Strange Blues (3:03)
17. Send Me (2:41)
18. Walking the Streets (Until My Baby Comes Home) (2:46)
19. Easy Like (2:41)
20. In the Slot (2:48)
21. Never Had No Lovin' (3:06)
22. I'm Alone Without You (2:54) 

A publicity photo of Wingy Manone shows him apparently poised in the act of
doing the dance called a buck-and-wing, but that's not where the moniker came
from. When Joe Manone was ten years old he lost his right arm in a trolley
accident. In time he came to be called "Wingy," and wore a wooden limb with a
glove over the end of it, securing his cornet between the wooden fingers and
working its valves with his left hand. Wingy's bands swung hard. He developed a
warm, gruff voice and almost invariably displayed a wild sense of humor. What
Classics 774 delivers is a step-by-step synopsis of Manone's earliest work,
including quite a bit of previously hard to find material. The four titles from
1927 were recorded in Wingy's home town of New Orleans. Earl Warner's twerpy
vocal on the first selection illustrates exactly why listeners should be
thankful for Wingy's decision to develop himself as a singer. Up in Chicago a
year and a half later, Wingy fell in with a set of rough-and-tumble blokes who
earnestly cooked each number to the bone. Next stop: the Gennett recording
studio in Richmond, IN, where Manone led two sessions under the inspiring banner
of Barbecue Joe & His Hot Dogs during the late summer and early autumn of 1930.
Every single one of these sides is solid and catchy, especially the Hot Dogs'
revival of Papa Charlie Jackson's "Shake That Thing." Most notably, "Tar Paper
Stomp," also known as "Wingy's Stomp," is the earliest known recording involving
a bouncy lick that would show up in Fletcher Henderson's book as "Hot and
Anxious" and eventually earn a lot of money for Glenn Miller as "In the Mood."
Here on Wingy's plate it comes across honest and natural as hash browns and
scrambled eggs with a little bit of hot sauce. There is a discernible change in
Wingy's voice over the span of just a few years. In 1928 he's earnest enough but
doesn't attract a whole lot of attention. By 1930 he's sounding tougher. But the
Wingy of 1934 calls out in a voice of magnetic, husky friendliness that would
distinguish him for the rest of his days. Wingy's consistent front line of
cornet (or trumpet after 1930), clarinet, and tenor sax was only occasionally
beefed up with a trombone or extra trumpets. Three of the five tenors
represented here languish in obscurity; Bud Freeman and Eddie Miller are
familiar names, but who on earth was George Snurpus? This is exactly why early
jazz studies are so adventuresome. You never know who is going to appear before
your startled ears. Any hankering for famous and proven presences will be more
than satisfied by the session of August 15, 1934. Wingy, Dicky Wells, Artie
Shaw, and Bud Freeman are supported by Kaiser Marshall, John Kirby, guitarist
Frank Victor, and your choice of pianists Teddy Wilson or Jelly Roll Morton. If
that don't get it, nothing will.




 

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