The Story of Joseph "Fud" Livingston

by Fud Livingston

Overview

Whereas a truly overarching examination of the triumphant and tragic career of reedman, composer, and arranger Fud Livingston would require more than 26 tracks on one CD, Jazz Oracle's meticulously researched and thoughtfully annotated salute to this overlooked character is entirely unprecedented, for nobody has bothered much about Fud over the years. More generally, this is also a fascinating and highly recommended survey of vintage hot jazz, popular dance music, and early swing. The Joseph Anthony Livingston story begins in Charleston, South Carolina where he was born on April 10, 1906. True to form, Jazz Oracle delves back to what must be among the earliest surviving examples of Fud on record, for it is doubtful that he pressed any platters with Talmadge Henry back in Greensboro in 1923. The retrospective opens with a previously unreleased test pressing made in Los Angeles during the summer of 1924 by Ben Pollack & His Californians. Two sides cut in Chicago for Victor in December 1926 document the Pollack band as it sounded when the lineup included Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Fud Livingston. Vocals are by Pollack and the band on "'Deed I Do," and Dorothy and Hannah Williams on "He's the Last Word," a harmless pop tune by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn. The Livingston saga picks up again with five consecutive examples from 1927, beginning with one sole example by the Charleston Chasers, a friendly little mob that included Red Nichols, Miff Mole, and Pee Wee Russell. "Feelin' No Pain" is the first of four sequential Livingston originals. In title and substance (so to speak) this number appears to have been somewhat of a self-portrait. Fud's "Imagination" is done up by Miff Mole & His Little Molers, his "Humpty Dumpty" features Bix Beiderbecke with Frankie Trumbauer's Orchestra, and "Sax Appeal" stems from a visit to England. On this rare Zonophone recording, Livingston is heard alongside trumpeter Frank Guarente with Bert Firman at the helm of the Devonshire Restaurant Dance Band. Next Fud is heard with three different All-Star Orchestras under the leadership of Nat Shilkret, then with fiddler Joe Venuti and guitarist Carl Kress in a quartet led by pianist Leonard "Lennie" Hayton. He reappears with the Dorsey Brothers in a zippy group billed as Joe Venuti & His New Yorkers, then alongside Glenn Miller in a Dance Orchestra fronted by trumpeter Toots Mendello. The year 1929 is represented by two lively little records cut in London at a point when Fud, trumpeter Chelsea Quealey, and the Rollini Brothers were all sitting in with Fred Elizalde & His Music. After "Singapore Sorrows" is played by a 19-piece orchestra, the unit is pared down to an octet for "Nobody's Sweetheart." The next three tracks place the artist's livelihood squarely within the context of U.S. pop culture during the '30s. Fud is heard with Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby and, in a segment from the soundtrack of the RKO motion picture That Girl From Paris, coloratura soprano Lily Pons. This charmingly historic portrait album closes with a Victor test pressing of "I've Found a New Baby" played by pianist Bob Zurke's short-lived 14-man big band in 1939 (using an arrangement by Livingston) and a hitherto undiscovered 1932 ARC test pressing of Fud singing while accompanying himself at the piano. The rest of Livingston's career saw him working in the music publishing business and Hollywood, where he drew up arrangements for the orchestras of Andre Kostelanetz and Freddie Rich. His final decade was a difficult one, and a pernicious addiction to alcohol ultimately took him out ahead of schedule. Until shortly before his death on March 25, 1957, Fud Livingston could periodically be seen playing piano at the back of various bars in certain sections of New York City. The producers of this particular Jazz Oracle collection deserve highest praise for illuminating selected portions of this man's underappreciated legacy. ~ arwulf arwulf

Product Details

Release Date:	09/22/2009
Label:	Jazz Oracle
UPC:	0620588806025
Rank:	179768

Tracks

1. Red Hot
2. 'Deed I Do
3. He's the Last Word
4. Feelin' No Pain
5. Imagination
6. Humpty Dumpty
7. Sax Appeal
8. Alexander's Ragtime Band
9. Oh, Baby!
10. And a Little Wiggle
11. Old Fashioned Girl
12. Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere
13. Doin' Things
14. Cool Papa
15. Sunday Afternoon
16. High Hattin' Hattie
17. Easy
18. Dixie Drag
19. Baby's Coming Back
20. Singapore Sorrows
21. Nobody's Sweetheart
22. Choo-Choo
23. I'm Thru with Love
24. The Blues Danube
25. I've Found a New Baby
26. Moo

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fud Livingston   Primary Artist,Piano,Violin,Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Tenor)
Devonshire Restaurant Dance Band   Primary Artist
Bob Zurke & His Delta Rhythm Band   Primary Artist
Lily Pons   Primary Artist,Violin
Leonard Hayton's Blue Four   Primary Artist
Mendello's Dance Orchestra   Primary Artist
Fred Elizalde & His Music   Primary Artist
The Charleston Chasers   Primary Artist
Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra   Primary Artist
Ben Pollack & His Orchestra   Primary Artist
Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra   Primary Artist
All Star Orchestra   Primary Artist
Joe Venuti & His New Yorkers   Primary Artist
Miff Mole & His Little Molers   Primary Artist
Max Sturgis   Reeds
Chuck Dale   Sax (Baritone)
Jack Hull   Banjo
Roy Covert   Violin
Mike Pingitore   Banjo
Ted Schilling   Trumpet
Harold Peppie   Trumpet
Mario Lorenzi   Harp
Len Lees   Violin
Hannah Williams   Violin
Bobby Van Eps   Piano
Slim Taft   String Bass
Al Armer   Bowed Bass
Lou Raderman   Violin
Kurt Dieterle   Violin
Jack Stacey   Sax (Alto)
Del Staigers   Trumpet
Frank Guarente   Trumpet
Tommy Gott   Trumpet
Dudley Fosdick   Mellophonium
Ronnie Gubertini   Drums
Charles Strickfaden   Sax (Alto),Sax (Baritone)
Sid Stoneburn   Clarinet,Sax (Alto)
Milt Rettenberg   Piano
Fred Elizalde   Director
Nat Natoli   Trumpet
Don Murray   Baritone,Clarinet,Sax (Baritone)
Wayne Allen   Piano
Nobby Knight   Trumpet
Jack Trebble   Drums
Bert Firman   Violin,Director
Arthur Lally   Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Baritone)
Vincent Grande   Trombone
Jack Simmons   Banjo
Joe Yukl   Trombone
Felix Giobbe   String Bass
Larry Binyon   Sax (Tenor)
John Firman   Piano
Al Baker   Violin
Billy Thorpe   Guitar
Harry Greenberg   Cornet
Barney Sorkin   Reeds
Ross Dugat   Trombone
Arnold Brilhart   Clarinet,Sax (Alto)
Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra   Orchestra
John Gassoway   Sax (Tenor)
John Kurzenknabe   Banjo
Chester Hazlett   Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Clarinet (Bass)
Frank Coughlan   Trombone
Andy Secrest   Clarinet
Paul Whiteman   Director
Bobby Davis   Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Soprano)
Bob Zurke   Piano,Director
Jimmy McPartland   Trumpet
Chauncey Morehouse   Drums,Vibraphone
Stan King   Drums
Carl Kress   Banjo,Guitar
Roc Hillman   Guitar
Matty Malneck   Violin
Bobby Byrne   Trombone
Ray McKinley   Drums
Red Nichols   Trumpet
Miff Mole   Trombone
Fuzzy Farrar   Trumpet
Arthur Rollini   Sax (Tenor)
Noni Bernardi   Clarinet,Sax (Alto)
Harry Goodman   Bowed Bass
Tommy Dorsey   Trombone
Harold "Scrappy" Lambert   Violin
Arthur Schutt   Piano
Victor Young   Violin
Leo McConville   Trumpet
Herb Winfield   Trombone
Earl Baker   Cornet
Tiny Stock   String Bass
Harry Goldfield   Trumpet
Don Mattison   Trombone
Mike Trafficante   Bowed Bass
Max Farley   Oboe,Flute,Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Tenor)
Jack Hansen   Bowed Bass
Norman Payne   Trumpet
Phil Cardew   Clarinet,Sax (Alto)
Artie Foster   Trombone
Billy Bell   Bowed Bass
Chick Reeves   Guitar
Bill Barton   Reeds
Bing Crosby   Violin
Bix Beiderbecke   Clarinet
Arthur "Skeets" Herfurt   Sax (Tenor)
Jack Fulton   Trombone
Toots Camarata   Trumpet
Ben Pollack   Drums,Vocals
Eddie Lang   Guitar
Benjamin Frankel   Violin
Dorothy Williams   Violin
Nuncio "Toots" Mondello   Trumpet
Frank Signorelli   Piano
Benny Goodman   Flute,Clarinet
Frankie Trumbauer   Sax,Director
Vic Berton   Drums
Joe Venuti   Violin
Billy Mason   Piano
Lennie Hayton   Piano,Celeste
Dick McDonough   Guitar
Jimmy Dorsey   Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Baritone)
Pee Wee Russell   Clarinet,Sax (Tenor)
Ray Lodwig   Trumpet
Nathaniel Shilkret   Director
Mischa Russell   Violin
Roy Bargy   Piano
Bill Rank   Trombone
Sterling Bose   Trumpet
Jack Kaufman   Violin
George Thow   Trumpet
Billy Pritchard   Trombone
Chelsea Quealey   Trumpet
Adrian Rollini   Sax (Bass)
Al Harris   Cornet
Al Bowlly   Guitar
Joe Tarto   Bowed Bass
George Hurley   Violin
George Marsh   Drums
Gil Rodin   Reeds,Sax (Alto)
Glenn Miller   Trombone

Technical Credits

Jutta Thiel   Graphic Design
Tim Fitak   Original Recordings
Ross Wilby   Original Recordings
Ate Van Delden   Original Recordings
Colin Bray   Producer
Brad Kay   Liner Notes,Original Recordings
Jim Prohaska   Original Recordings
John Techlenburg   Cover Photo
Hans Eekhoff   Original Recordings,Transfers,Remastering
Fud Livingston   Arranger,Composer
Erdman   Composer
Owen Murphy   Composer
John Wilby   Producer
Jack King   Art Direction
Jack Yellen   Composer
Frankie Trumbauer   Arranger
Fred Rose   Composer
Farrar   Composer
Walter Hirsch   Composer
Venuti   Composer
Milton Ager   Composer
Al Jolson   Composer
Gus Kahn   Composer