Coon Sanders Nighthawks-After You've Gone-1929

The Coon Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra-the band that made radio famous. In this recording of After You've Gone, the liner states that vocals are by Joe Sanders but this sounds more like Harry Maxfield who did vocals on four Nighthawks recordings.
In 1919, Carleton Coon and Joe Sanders combined their talents to form the orchestra that would soon become Kansas City's most popular band. Fans had a great time dancing to this new sound and laughing at the antics of Mr. Coon at the Plantation Grill in KC's Muehlbach Hotel. By 1922 they began broadcasting over WDAF which could be heard from Maine to Hawaii in the early days of radio with its numerous clear channel frequencies. The broadcasts were late at night from 11:30 to 1:00AM Central time and were the first daily broadcasts of any US orchestra. On one broadcast, the announcer commented that you would have to be a nighthawk to stay up and listen to these broadcasts and the legend was born. They changed the name of the orchestra to Coon Sanders Original Nighthawk Band. The Nighthawks formed a club and over a two year period from 1922-23, read the name of every one of the eventual 37,000 club fans over the air with the ceremonious initiation of a cowbell. Their popularity led them to Chicago where they had a gig at the Congress Hotel while cutting 60 labels for Victor Records at $200 per with no royalties. In 1926 they began a four year engagement at the Blackhawk Restaurant on Wabash and made it the "in spot" in Chicago. The shows were broadcast over powerhouse WGN in Chicago and had so many fan requests that Western Union and Postal Telegraph set up machines on stage. Each evening the stage would be deep in paper from the numerous requests. Al Capone was a big fan and lavished exorbitant tips on the band. The band enjoyed such success that each band member had their own Cord auto given them by E L Cord, the auto manufacturer.

In '27, William Paley, needing a drawing card to entice radio stations to join his fledgling Columbia Broadcasting System network enticed Coon and Sanders to New York where they broadcast from the New Yorker Hotel with the show being sponsored by Lucky Strike Cigarettes. Sanders missed the Midwest but Coon had a great time in New York often showing up at places such as the Cotton Club where he became great friends with Cab Calloway and even influenced Cab's style. The New York gig continued until 1932 when Mr. Coon unexpectedly died from blood poisoning and the Nighthawk Orchestra essentially died with him. Joe Sanders formed the 'Ol Left Hander and His Orchestra, a take on his early days as a baseball pitcher, but only met with limited success in the Midwest from 1934-1952 when he retired in Kansas City.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Carleton
• Coon
• Joe
• Sanders
• Nighthawk
• Orchestra
• jazz
• 1920s
• 1930s
• 78s
• Victor
• early
• radio
• After
• You've
• Gone

[AfreekaLIVE]

SO I SEE...KRACKENS USED THE NAME "COON" THIS AND THAT IN MUSIC AS THEY WORKED TO IMITATE BLACK FOLKS NATURAL ABILITY TO MAKE MUSIC....THIS WHERE KRACKENS IN THE WEST HERE LEARNED TO 'SING AND DANCE'..FROM THOSE THEY CALLED "COONS"...AKA...AFREEKANS...

[preservationhall01]

@AfreekaLIVE Good God~another Afreekan racist. Dumbass, the man's name was Carleton Coon. It was his family name!! You are so quick to jump to your idiotic racist conclusions. The band name was Coon Sanders because it was led by Carleton Coon and Joe Sanders. You say that blacks have a natural ability to make music. Do you think they also have a natural ability to tap dance while eating watermelon?

[colinwells4]

@AfreekaLIVE I think it was just the guys name.

[preservationhall01]

@colinwells4 See reply to A Freekin Live racist dumbass above.

[davidglow3]

Kansas City most popular band might well have been Benny Motens.They were a lot better than the Coon/Sanders and even recorded a lot right through the depression

[preservationhall01]

Can you suggest a good Moten's song that I could try and post that would be representative of their style? I posted this particular Coon/Sanders piece because it typified their music. Motens was KC's favorite but Moten never knew how to promote himself like Carlton Coon. Those Coon/Sanders broadcasts on clear channel WDAF in KC made them a national phenom.

[at78rpm]

Nice montage. AYG has always been one of my very favorite songs, and CS do a great job on it. I couldn't help but think but that Joe couldn't play this one any more after Carleton died. I wish I could have met Joe, to let him know what a great contribution to music they made.

[bhsisthebest]

Superb arrangement, the whistling is incredible clean and the verse with brass bass is a very nice spot. Also that unusual duet which they usually used :-) Thank you very much for posting! Definitely the must have for all 20's freaks!

[skimdit]

I have it from a very good source that Adolf Hitler liked Bennie Moten's Band.He thought Coon-Sanders sounded too Jewish.

[skimdit]

Dear God I must be possessed by some demon.I like both Bennie Moten and Coon-Sanders ,Bennie Moten sounds the same and so does Coon-Sanders.Of course so does all the C-R-A-P that we have heard since Elvis Presly or is it Presley? He who died on the toilet.