Earl Bostic - "Flamingo" - '51 - (ORIGINAL vinyl issue)

[l8in64]

Too short, should go on and on forever

[revived45s]

@l8in64 Too true! Pity about the limitations of the single format. Of my 3,000-odd records, this is still probably the one I've played most. For FIFTY YEARS now!

Luckily, I have SEVERAL copies (of the 78 - but only ONE of the 45 - that's RARE!)

[l8in64]

@revived45s I was in my teens in the fifties.(before rock and roll became big) and used to whistle Flamingo all the time, it is very hard to whistle and I must have looked demented and very annoying to anyone nearby.

[revived45s]

@l8in64 I know what you mean. The basic tune of "Flamingo" is not that tough (many bands and orchestras have had a go at it - from Andre Kostelanetz to Herb Alpert) but to try and get your lips around Earl's improvisations...

I find I often whistle jazz and blues pieces - but I'm lucky if I can make it sound intelligible one time in TEN!

[caroljm36]

I was only 2 when this came out but boy do I remember it! I liked hearing this one, unlike Abba Dabba Dabba and Que Sera and some of the other stuff that I heard all the time back then. Yeah I had opinions! They must have kept playing this one on radio or jukeboxes quite a few years for me to recall it. What a gas to hear it again.

[winesax]

?? for revived45s.. How did he use the tenor reeds??...Did he cut them down..or use a tenor mouthpiece on his alto.. Was always struck by his big dirty sound...I took as a continuous growl?? Thanks for the info..I do have this record from my Father's collection..killer stuff! Lew III

[musicbroad]

Greatest sax player ever. Saw him in a club in Maryland once and asked him to play this and he told me he didn't know it...ha ha I was too young and dumb to realize you had to put something in the jar.

[revived45s]

@musicbroad Wow! You MET him. I am truly jealous. This record has been a big part of my life for over half a century.

[musicbroad]

@revived45s I did meet him and it's been a big event in my life. I was very young at the time (17) and didn't realize what an icon he was. Just thought he was the best sax man I ever heard and still think that. Love all his work, but his Getting Sentimental Over You is my fave.

[whackyt]

I wish more old timer recorded music could be put online, I just love this stuff...

[Timeplunderer65]

Fantastic !!

I had this track on a 78rpm in the 50s but it got lost or broken, To hear it again after all these years has all the magic I experienced then as an 11 year old.

Thanks for putting this on YouTube

[revived45s]

@Timeplunderer65 My pleasure! I ALSO fell in love with this as a boy - LONG before I got into jazz. I've also put up the 78 (higher dynamic, versus white noise) which is in the video responses below (or above, depending on where this comment is, when you read it!)

I have about four copies of the 78 (in varying stages of wear) but came across this vinyl copy just before escaping England for warmer climes - by a massive FLUKE - and for only TEN PENCE!!!

[musicbroad]

Wish I had a dollar for every time I danced to this. Also love his "Getting Sentimental Over you." He is the greatest

[Corrie121]

Wonderful post.

Thank you for sharing.

[DrSaxMusic]

I also LOVE seeing the guts of your juke box play the 45 !!

[DrSaxMusic]

I absolutely LOVE this recording... have always considered it an all time favourite and put it into the category of R&B because of gritty, rocky sound Earl got. I was very surprised to read it was an ALTO sax because, like you say, it sure sounds bigger like a TENOR. Being a sax player myself, I can tell you it takes more than a tenor reed to make an alto sound like that.

When you mention that Bostic was able to play EXTRA NOTES, I assume you are talking about his huge vibrato sound. Amazing!!

[revived45s]

@DrSaxMusic - I have SEVERAL 78s of this. But with "Earl Bostic Blows A Fuse" having the WRONG TRACK - I thought I'd never get it on VINYL. Then just before I ESCAPED Britain for warmer climes. I popped into a collectors shop and as I left, ran my finger across the top of the "cheapies" box and BINGO! The reason it was THERE, was it had a scratch on the "b" side (didn't care). After paying about 20p (30c) for the record, I was sorely tempted to tell the guy I'd have paid a HUNDRED POUNDS for it!