The unheard and unseen Bix Beiderbecke - Thou Swell UNISSUED

NOTES On 17 April 1928 Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang recorded the tune "Thou Swell" for Okeh in New York.
Two takes were mastered; take -C was issued on Okeh 41030 and a single test pressing of take -A (designated second choice by Okeh official Robert Stevens who signed it "RBS") has also survived. This take has a great number of interesting differences from the issued one, especially in Bix's clear lead all through the ensemble passages.
The record is single-sided and on the back are embossed the name and logo of the Columbia Phonograph Company, who by that time owned the Okeh label.
The history of this unique record is vague; rumour has it that it was found in a junkshop in New Jersey some 50 years ago, that it was later in Denver and that it travelled the world in a military trunk - this story was printed on the back of the only reissue LP in 1978.
None of this has been proven though - there is actually evidence that the record originates in Davenport. What IS certain is that a friend of Don O'Dette (founder of the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society) from Davenport had the record and from him it went to the well known musician and Bix afficionado in 1977. The latter sold the record in 2008 on Ebay via a friend of mine.
It was reissued on LP in 1978 after John R.T. Davies did a remastering in England.
Alas, after this first re-issue the original record was never again made available and subsequent CD reissues all draw from John Davies' old transfer with the result that the sound has always been rather dull and distorted.
However, recently I have done a full audio restoration from the original disc, using the latest techniques, and although the record is worn and heavily damaged (see picture), the sound is now quite stunning if one has good loudspeakers connected to the computer; even though the file had to be translated to MP3 format in order to upload it on internet.
Since the record turned up in Davenport it is possible that it originally belonged to Bix himself (rejected tests were often given to the artists). Moreover, a careful and extensive analysis by a highly reputable expert from Davenport who is familiar with Bix's handwriting has led to the probability that the writing in ink of the title and band name is indeed by Bix. Interestingly, he has written 16-4-28 while the recording was actually done on the 17th.
Could Bix have written this some time later and forgotten the exact date? Possibly.
The other exciting aspect of the record is that the format is 11 inch, and a few test-grooves remain at the outer rim (alas heavily damaged by the engraved mx number which is right into these grooves - see picture) which contain some playing and talking by a few band members.
After some clarinet, bassax and piano notes the words "Damn", "I got it" and "Take it (from) the last four" and some laughter can be distinguished. In the last sentence there was a heavy distortion over the word "from" which I cut out as it could not be made understandable. What can therefore now be heard is "Take it the last four".
I have not only uploaded this passage but also amplified and slowed down the fragment with the spoken words (while maintaining the original pitch). The last sentence "Take it (from) the last four" might very well be the only recording of Bix Beiderbecke's voice.
This "video" is really all about the record and making the music available to Bix fans all over the world. I have therefore only uploaded a few pictures of the record and its label.
However, I have added a bonus; a previously unissued and unknown picture (described by me elsewhere on Facebook) of Bix at ca. 10 years of age, showing him with a dog (possibly belonging to his sister) and an unknown little girl. The location is easily recognizable as Grand Avenue, and extensive research by Gerri Bowers from Davenport has proven beyond doubt that it is indeed the front lawn of the Beiderbecke house at nr. 1934. The house behind the little girl, owned by the Becker family, is still there, albeit now almost obscured by a newer house in front of it. The concrete block by the girls foot and the seams in the pavement in front of Bix are still exactly the same today as they were ca. 100 years ago. The tree with the bicycle (most probably Bix's) leaning against it had grown very big in the early 1980s and is on the left in the last picture, taken in the summer of 1981. (For those interested - the car is a 1962 Lincoln Continental). Both trees have since been cut.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Bix
• Beiderbecke
• gang
• thou
• swell
• jazz
• swing
• trumbauer
• twenties
• dixieland

[michaeltwohl]

Thats Izzy Friedman on the clarinet. Grew up with this record as "Cousin Izzy's" record. Had no idea what a Bix was!

[harryoakley]

@michaeltwohl Could you be more specific? Do you mean to say that you know the origin of this record? That would be highly important - please give more details; thanks!

[InBy9OutBy5]

Love the bass sax. Is that Rollini ?

[harryoakley]

@InBy9OutBy5 It's Min Leibrook on bass sax.

[MrSuperbatone]

Addendum to below: The piano pickup played by Bargy actually is TWO bars, not four, but it's easy to see how Bix might have thought of it as "four." As for take "A", the band, and Bix especially, walks through it, just working over the routine without any big effort to impress. They saved the fireworks for later, which we hear on the issued take "C."

[harryoakley]

@MrSuperbatone - Much of the blame for the wrong things that some people seem to hear lies in the fact that they play these uploads over the tiny speakers of a computer only and therefore miss what's going on and hear such things as "pay attention to" etc.

[ClearOutSamskaras]

Who is the clarinet player? He's great!

[ClearOutSamskaras]

@bobbyd7085 "Hit me baby one more time..." LOL :)

[tdub1941]

Fantabulous! Love it.

RagJazzMonkey Tom

[harryoakley]

@MrSuperbatone Thank you for your comments - they are perfectly correct and make absolute sense of what happens and what the words are. Hopefully we can finally lay further speculation about what is being said to rest.