Valaida Snow - The Chronological Classics '2000-2004

Tracks list

Tracks:



Valaida Snow - 1933-1936 {The Chronological Classics, 1158} 

When Valaida Snow sat in with Earl Hines & His Orchestra on February 3, 1933,
she sounded at first like an auditioning youngster. That is, until the tempo
picked up halfway into the song, and Snow began to chortle and swing. If Maybe
Im to Blame was a bit of an experiment, the three recordings Snow made in London
in January of 1935 are solid evidence of an artist who has found her own style
and grown into it. Suddenly, it seems, this woman has established herself in
England as a singer and trumpeter with considerable potential. Throughout the
spring of 1935 and autumn of 1936, Snow lived up to everyones expectations.
Sounding at times like Ethel Waters, Josephine Baker, or Blanche Calloway, she
spruces up each Tin Pan Alley tune with her own personality. In most cases that
means cutting up, teasing the band, and inserting remarks in the manner of Louis
Armstrong or Fats Waller. The Waller connection is apparent to anyone familiar
with his discography; Youre Not the Kind, Until the Real Thing Comes Along, and
especially I Wish I Were Twins are funnier when Waller sings them, but Snows
approach is immediately likable. Her own sense of humor is more evident on I
Cant Dance (I Got Ants in My Pants), which ends with her exclaiming oooh! as if
the ants are somehow turning her on. For sheer joie de vivre, Singin in the Rain
is possibly the happiest record Snow ever made. In some instances she milks the
more sentimental songs for emotional high drama, even sounding a bit like Ruth
Etting or Adelaide Hall from time to time. As for Snows trumpeting, she almost
always appeared with a band that contained a second trumpeter who could back her
up while she sang, and with whom she would sometimes joust, as in the thrilling
twin-trumpet exchange on I Wish I Were Twins. The trumpeters involved in 1935
and 1936 were Duncan Whyte and Harry Owen. Everyone who loves old-fashioned jazz
ought to discover Snow and get to know her music. The plot thickens in the next
two volumes of the complete chronological recordings of Valaida Snow, carefully
reissued by Classics.

 01. Maybe Im To Blame (3:11)
 02. Poor Butterfly (3:00)
 03. I Wish I Were Twins (2:37)
 04. I Cant Dance (2:42)
 05. It Had To Be You (3:07)
 06. You Bring Out The Savage In Me (2:55)
 07. Imagination (3:14)
 08. Sing, You Sinners (2:36)
 09. Whisper Sweet (2:36)
 10. Singin In The Rain (2:57)
 11. Until The Real Thing Comes Along (3:23)
 12. High Hat, Trumpet And Rhythm (3:03)
 13. I Want A Lot Of Love (3:21)
 14. Take Care Of You For Me (3:12)
 15. Lovable And Sweet (2:52)
 16. I Must Have That Man (3:12)
 17. Youre Not The Kind (3:07)
 18. You Let Me Down (3:21)
 19. Mean To Me (3:11)
 20. Dixie Lee (2:44)



Valaida Snow - 1937-1940 {The Chronological Classics, 1122}

When Valaida Snow played her trumpet, she sounded a bit like Herman Autrey,
Emmett Berry, or Shad Collins. As a singer she could be compared with Lil Hardin
Armstrong, Ethel Waters, Adelaide Hall, or Josephine Baker, depending upon the
material in question. Established in London as a reigning queen of trumpet and
sweet-to-hot vocals, Snow continued to take on songs that were closely
associated with Fats Waller, such as Sweet Heartache, which was given its
all-time best interpretation by Fats Waller & His Rhythm band three months prior
to the rendition heard here. On the London sessions during July of 1937, Snow
was backed with a seven-piece swing band. Trumpeter Johnny Claes rode shotgun
trumpet, as it were, providing support while Snow sang in her pretty, pert
voice. This womans music grows on you, and several of the performances on this
disc -- I Got Rhythm and the breakneck Tiger Rag in particular -- are swing jams
of the highest order. Hearing Snows sultry presentation of Caravan is an
experience not to be missed. By this time -- 1939 -- our singer and trumpeter
had made her way into Scandinavia, recording four sides for the Sonora label in
Stockholm. She was even presented with a gold trumpet by Queen Wilhelmina of The
Netherlands! The last four titles on this disc find Snow visiting Copenhagen in
July of 1940, cheerfully recording for Tono Records and apparently unaware that
the forces of Nazi Germany were about to alter her life in the rudest manner
imaginable. The rest of the Valaida Snow story can be found on the third and
last volume of her complete recordings, Classics 1343.

 01. The Mood That Im In (2:59)
 02. Sweet Heartache (2:54)
 03. Dont Know If Im Comin Or Goin (2:46)
 04. Where Is The Sun? (2:43)
 05. Some Of These Days (2:56)
 06. Chloe (3:10)
 07. Swing Is The Thing (3:11)
 08. Nagasaki (3:14)
 09. I Wonder Who Makes Rhythm (2:56)
 10. I Got Rhythm (3:14)
 11. I Cant Believe That Youre In Love With Me (2:52)
 12. Tiger Rag (3:03)
 13. Minnie The Moocher (2:21)
 14. Caravan (3:32)
 15. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (2:57)
 16. My Heart Belongs To Daddy (2:55)
 17. Youre Driving Me Crazy (2:21)
 18. Take It Easy (3:17)
 19. I Cant Give You Anything But Love (3:11)
 20. St. Louis Blues (2:28)



Valaida Snow - 1940-1953 {The Chronological Classics, 1343} 

When Valaida Snow made a handful of hot records in Copenhagen during October of
1940, she had no idea that her recording career was about to be violently
interrupted for nearly five years by people working for Adolf Hitler. Nazi
Germany had already occupied Denmark when these degenerate jazz records were
surreptitiously created in violation of the Nuremberg laws. In a horrible twist
of fate, Snow was arrested by the Gestapo, charged with theft and drug use --
two activities at which the Nazis themselves excelled -- and spent many months
in a concentration camp before being rescued by influential friends and sent
back to the U.S. weighing about 70 lbs. Everything shed owned had been
confiscated, including the gold trumpet given her by Queen Wilhelmina. It took
Snow several years to recuperate and gather her strength for a comeback. Her
last two authentic swing records are placed at the beginning of this disc. These
are amazingly gutsy performances of nice old songs, and she scats beautifully
during Carry Me Back to Old Virginny. The contrast between this pair of
pleasant, cheerful stomps and the rest of the material in the chronology --
beginning with the Apollo session of 1945 -- is startling. Recording in New York
for the first time since 1933 and sounding at times like young Dinah Washington,
Snow sings three torchy ballads and a novelty bounce backed by Bobby Smith, his
alto sax and orchestra. The bounce in question is called Around the World and
features two harmonizing Valaidas in an early example of overdubbing. Her next
couple of recording dates took place in Los Angeles, where prevailing pop
production values seem to have infected the atmosphere alarmingly. Eight sides
issued on the Bel-Tone label prove that Snow was a powerful singer who could
flourish in front of any ensemble, even the huge orchestra with strings, flutes,
and a keening vocal group billed as the Daydreamers. Snow prevails throughout,
especially on Lonesome Road, where her passionate singing transcends the entire
ungainly production menagerie. On the second Bel-Tone session, Snow navigates
well through the exotic orchestral score of Caravan. Her ominously paced version
of Solitude makes for an interesting comparison with Billie Holidays approach to
this Ellington opus. After a pokey, pouty, and slightly insane-sounding lament
bearing the almost too-appropriate title Frustration, Snow sails into I Must
Have That Man. With a brassy big band behind her, the singer sounds more at home
than on any of the previous seven selections. From here on out Valaida Snows
story shifts into R&B territory. Recording for the Derby label in January of
1950, she was backed with a rocking jump band led by Jimmy Mundy, spiked with
the fiery presences of baritone saxophonist Dave McRae and hot trumpeter Jonah
Jones. Tell Me How Long the Trains Been Gone is the cooker. Chloe begins with
bass clarinet tones and delivers an incredible emotional charge as Snow belts
out the lyrics with theatrical intensity. Coconut Head is a calypso novelty
number, somewhat of a trend in 1950 -- even Sarah Vaughan did a number like this
back then. The saga of Valaida Snow tapers off abruptly with two exciting R&B
performances recorded in Chicago in 1953. I Aint Gonna Tell, a funky baritone
sax rocker, is a tantalizing taste of further developments the world would never
get to hear from this tough little woman. Underappreciated and grievously
underpaid, she struggled to establish herself as a performer in a country where
the public had never been all that aware of her existence. Following a
performance at New Yorks Palace Theatre she was felled by a stroke and passed
away at the age of 50 in a Brooklyn hospital on the 30th of May 1956.

 01. Some Of These Days (2:37)
 02. Carry Me Back To Old Virginny (2:49)
 03. The More I Know About Love (2:22)
 04. Around The World (2:33)
 05. Porgy (2:46)
 06. My Heart Is Such A Fool (2:00)
 07. Fool That I Am (3:04)
 08. Its The Talk Of The Town (2:57)
 09. Lonesome Road (2:56)
 10. If I Only Had You (2:43)
 11. Caravan (2:56)
 12. Solitude (2:53)
 13. Frustration (2:55)
 14. I Must Have That Man (2:10)
 15. Tell Me How Long The Trains Been Gone (3:07)
 16. When A Woman Loves A Man (2:35)
 17. Chloe (3:08)
 18. Coconut Head (2:55)
 19. I Aint Gonna Tell (2:36)
 20. If You Dont Mean It (2:56)

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