1
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I'm the best in the west I'm the best in the west I'm

2
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the best in the west

3
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he started to influence

4
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every player in the whole United States

5
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they admired him and they adored him

6
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and they tried to imitate him

7
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and they couldn't imitate him

8
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and he never had any show

9
00:00:58,366 --> 00:01:03,400
display of ego and he wasn't a show off in any way

10
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he never handled his horn like other horn players do

11
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you know when they put it way up in the air and all

12
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all that stuff when he's hitting a beautiful phrase

13
00:01:11,766 --> 00:01:13,600
no he kept it right down here

14
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where he liked it

15
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and where he could hear it and loved it

16
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and he'd forget about whoever was listening

17
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or anything else and he was just big Spider Beck

18
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a great musician with a soul

19
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and that soul shown right there at the end of that horn

20
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big Spider Bank

21
00:01:36,966 --> 00:01:40,100
he played melodies that no one else had thought of

22
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melodies that were spun from the mind of a quiet man

23
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who poured all his feelings into an astonishing music

24
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and he did it all in such a short time

25
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Pix was born in Davenport Iowa

26
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a small town on the western bank of the Mississippi

27
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the first bideback arrived in the mid 1850s

28
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from Germany

29
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one of the thousands of European settlers

30
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determined to make a good life for himself

31
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within a generation

32
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the Byler Back family had become prominent members

33
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of an industrious community

34
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Bismarck Biederbeck

35
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was manager of the East Davenport Fuel Company

36
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he built a comfortable house at 19

37
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34 grand Avenue for his family

38
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on March 10th 19

39
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3 their youngest child

40
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Bix was born

41
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it was a musical home

42
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Bix's mother was an accomplished pianist

43
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a lover of classical music

44
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his sister Mary Louise

45
00:03:08,566 --> 00:03:10,600
remembers how early his interest in music

46
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became apparent

47
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he used to sit on the floor and push himself

48
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with his heels in time with the music

49
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this was before he could walk

50
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and he'd push himself so far

51
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that he'd get caught under chairs and things like that

52
00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,266
the first thing he played in his whole life

53
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was a song called Mister Dooley

54
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when he was 2 years old

55
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and he wasn't able to climb up on the stool

56
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so he stood on the floor

57
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and played with his hands over his head

58
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we were so astonished my mother was so thrilled

59
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well they were a German family

60
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like all of ours

61
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you had to be dressed nicely all the time

62
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and that's the way the children were all brought up

63
00:04:01,700 --> 00:04:02,900
Helen Bettendorff

64
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was a friend of the Biederbecke family

65
00:04:04,966 --> 00:04:06,833
this friend of mine George von Mar

66
00:04:06,833 --> 00:04:09,000
remembers him as a a

67
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a boy

68
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maybe 6 7 years old

69
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coming to his family's house

70
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the family were playing poker

71
00:04:15,866 --> 00:04:19,300
and Bix was always playing the piano

72
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and they finally said get that child off that piano

73
00:04:21,766 --> 00:04:24,166
we can't play poker while he's

74
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trying to play the piano

75
00:04:28,566 --> 00:04:31,800
he didn't conform like uh we all had to

76
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when he was 7 the town paper did a feature on him

77
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reporting that the musical

78
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Wonder Child could play any selection he heard

79
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many times

80
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,400
neighbors invited him over to play a serenade

81
00:04:52,700 --> 00:04:54,866
they rewarded him with nickels

82
00:04:56,100 --> 00:04:59,333
Bix was the envy of all the kids on the block

83
00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:02,166
he always had a pocket full of change

84
00:05:02,700 --> 00:05:07,600
he and the piano any piano became inseparable

85
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his mother was delighted by his talent

86
00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:19,666
but she wanted to make sure it was properly developed

87
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so she sent him to a reputable music teacher

88
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the uh

89
00:05:25,700 --> 00:05:26,900
music teacher said

90
00:05:26,900 --> 00:05:28,866
I don't think you better send him anymore

91
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he said I can't teach him anything

92
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he said whatever I uh

93
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give him to play he'll play it the next time

94
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he comes back with improvements

95
00:05:40,700 --> 00:05:43,866
that was the end of piano lessons for him

96
00:05:44,166 --> 00:05:48,533
once again VIX was left alone to play as he wanted

97
00:06:08,633 --> 00:06:11,200
life in Davenport could be pretty dull

98
00:06:11,833 --> 00:06:12,500
by far

99
00:06:12,500 --> 00:06:15,566
the most exciting place to be was down by the river

100
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here you waited for the boats to dock

101
00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:24,466
to try to sneak aboard

102
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to listen to the jazz bands

103
00:06:32,766 --> 00:06:35,533
Bix couldn't resist the energy of jazz

104
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the Levy became his hangout

105
00:06:42,233 --> 00:06:44,100
up the river from New Orleans

106
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the boats brought King Oliver

107
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fake Marables group with Louis Armstrong on cornet

108
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Louis made a big impression on Bix

109
00:06:55,766 --> 00:06:58,866
sometimes Vicks went down to the levee alone

110
00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:00,966
sometimes with other Davenport

111
00:07:00,966 --> 00:07:01,766
kids

112
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one was Fitz Putzie

113
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we'd go down there in the evening

114
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and sit there on the levee

115
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and it was you know

116
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it was a lot of fun to be with Bix

117
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because of his enthusiasm

118
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he could be he could get interested

119
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and be enthused over hearing one note

120
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that was a little unusual

121
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Fritz stood out for his musical experience

122
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he'd played cornet professionally

123
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a six week job on a riverboat

124
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when Bix heard that Fritz wanted to sell his cornet

125
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he quickly made an offer he said

126
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how much do you want for your cornet

127
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and I said oh

128
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I don't know Bex

129
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uh oh possibly $35

130
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well he said

131
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Gee Fritz

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I haven't got $35 he said

133
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I can give you 15 right now

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and maybe I can give you $8 a month so we made a deal

135
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now that he owned his own instrument

136
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he could play along to the one jazz record

137
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that had made its way into the Biederbeck household

138
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it was Tiger Rag

139
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played by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band

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mother and dad used to go to the movies

141
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and leave us alone and he would

142
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uh

143
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um

144
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we'd he'd sit there and play and play and play

145
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he would put his ear in

146
00:08:24,766 --> 00:08:27,133
as close as he could into the Victrola

147
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play the horn down

148
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so that he wouldn't bump it in the Victrola

149
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and then just play along with it

150
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whenever the Original Dixieland Jazz Band came out with

151
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a new record as Bix used to put it

152
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he took a lesson

153
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he could copy each part of the five piece organization

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and he

155
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he had such a wonderful ear that he could do that

156
00:08:56,966 --> 00:09:01,100
as often as he could Bix sat in with bands around town

157
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he disappeared for hours missing meals

158
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sometimes even classes

159
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his parents disapproved

160
00:09:10,766 --> 00:09:13,300
but Putzi and the Buckley Novelty Orchestra

161
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were so impressed by his playing

162
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that they invited him to join their band for a big job

163
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the problem was to get the job

164
00:09:21,966 --> 00:09:24,066
they all had to join the union

165
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that meant passing the union exam

166
00:09:27,966 --> 00:09:30,066
everyone in the band could read music

167
00:09:30,566 --> 00:09:32,966
everyone except Bix

168
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the day came to take the exam

169
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when Bix got there why

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he was pretty nervous

171
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and he said look fellas

172
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he said we still have an hour before we go to the union

173
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he said can we have one rehearse

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one more rehearsal

175
00:09:49,633 --> 00:09:52,033
well we knew there was a piano up the YMCA

176
00:09:52,033 --> 00:09:54,633
and so we went up there set up our music racks

177
00:09:54,633 --> 00:09:57,033
went through this routine that we'd practiced

178
00:09:57,033 --> 00:10:00,100
and then went to the union headquarters

179
00:10:00,100 --> 00:10:02,000
and we were told to set up

180
00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,166
and a fellow named Roy Kouts

181
00:10:04,166 --> 00:10:08,300
incidentally was the man who was giving us our audition

182
00:10:09,666 --> 00:10:11,966
so we went through about three numbers

183
00:10:11,966 --> 00:10:14,966
and I thought it came off quite well

184
00:10:16,300 --> 00:10:19,066
but then the blow that killed his face

185
00:10:20,233 --> 00:10:23,700
when Mister Caunt said now I'd like to take you

186
00:10:23,700 --> 00:10:25,333
fellows individually

187
00:10:25,966 --> 00:10:26,933
and instead of

188
00:10:27,066 --> 00:10:29,766
taking a piece that Bix might have been familiar with

189
00:10:29,766 --> 00:10:31,200
and he might have struggled through it

190
00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:33,433
one of the popular dance numbers of the day

191
00:10:33,433 --> 00:10:34,700
he brought out an arrangement

192
00:10:34,700 --> 00:10:39,666
I can remember this big long sheet of music

193
00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:42,466
Bix not knowing what the piece was

194
00:10:42,466 --> 00:10:43,766
why the piano

195
00:10:43,766 --> 00:10:46,300
was playing an accompaniment to a cornet solo

196
00:10:46,300 --> 00:10:48,733
and Bix was playing the piano part

197
00:10:49,100 --> 00:10:51,800
so he didn't get very far

198
00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,866
until Roy Kouts beat his baton on the

199
00:10:54,866 --> 00:10:57,600
on the music rack and he said stop

200
00:10:57,900 --> 00:10:59,166
he said young fellow

201
00:10:59,166 --> 00:11:01,000
he said don't play

202
00:11:01,066 --> 00:11:02,466
don't play the piano part

203
00:11:02,466 --> 00:11:04,266
play your part well

204
00:11:04,266 --> 00:11:05,166
of course this

205
00:11:05,166 --> 00:11:07,966
this broke Bix up he couldn't

206
00:11:07,966 --> 00:11:09,300
he couldn't read

207
00:11:10,100 --> 00:11:11,533
and uh

208
00:11:11,566 --> 00:11:13,033
he put his arm around Bix

209
00:11:13,033 --> 00:11:15,500
because Bix was beginning to fall apart

210
00:11:15,700 --> 00:11:18,166
and actually tears formed in his eyes

211
00:11:18,166 --> 00:11:21,500
he felt so badly because he knew that he was gonna

212
00:11:21,966 --> 00:11:25,466
he was the force that we needed to get this job

213
00:11:25,666 --> 00:11:28,500
and he knew that if he couldn't make the union

214
00:11:28,966 --> 00:11:32,433
we wouldn't get the job and this is what happened

215
00:11:32,433 --> 00:11:34,833
of course so Roy Cut said

216
00:11:34,833 --> 00:11:35,666
now young man

217
00:11:35,666 --> 00:11:36,166
he said I

218
00:11:36,166 --> 00:11:37,666
I think you should go home

219
00:11:37,666 --> 00:11:39,800
and you should practice for six months

220
00:11:39,966 --> 00:11:42,000
and then come back and try it again

221
00:11:42,433 --> 00:11:44,266
his parents were relieved

222
00:11:44,633 --> 00:11:47,666
they hoped the episode would cure Bix of his ambitions

223
00:11:48,366 --> 00:11:51,966
but there was no way they or anything could stop him

224
00:11:54,300 --> 00:11:56,466
his girlfriend Vera Korn

225
00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,000
recalls the reaction they didn't understand it

226
00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:01,533
hardly anyone did

227
00:12:02,066 --> 00:12:04,100
when he would play in high school

228
00:12:04,100 --> 00:12:06,433
we'd have an auditorium and

229
00:12:06,433 --> 00:12:07,300
and a um

230
00:12:07,966 --> 00:12:11,166
a little entertainment and sometimes he would play

231
00:12:11,700 --> 00:12:14,200
and it it left everyone

232
00:12:15,666 --> 00:12:17,166
well just kind of

233
00:12:18,666 --> 00:12:21,133
a gas nobody really understood

234
00:12:21,266 --> 00:12:23,500
what he was trying to say with his music

235
00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:25,866
and I didn't either for that matter

236
00:12:25,866 --> 00:12:28,166
but I liked it but um

237
00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,500
it was so different and no one knew anything like it

238
00:12:32,500 --> 00:12:34,600
nobody had ever heard anything like it

239
00:12:36,833 --> 00:12:39,266
school meant less and less

240
00:12:39,633 --> 00:12:41,733
he did try to please his parents

241
00:12:42,100 --> 00:12:44,900
he loved his mother his first musical inspiration

242
00:12:44,900 --> 00:12:49,166
and respected his father but music was first

243
00:12:49,433 --> 00:12:52,766
his grades slipped he missed too many classes

244
00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:54,233
failed too many subjects

245
00:12:54,233 --> 00:12:56,466
in his junior year at Davenport High

246
00:12:57,266 --> 00:12:59,633
in desperation Bismarck Badebek

247
00:12:59,633 --> 00:13:02,800
enrolled his wayward son at the Lake Forest Academy

248
00:13:02,966 --> 00:13:04,033
a boarding school

249
00:13:04,033 --> 00:13:07,333
known for its high academic and disciplinary standards

250
00:13:09,266 --> 00:13:12,166
Bismarck hoped that the school would straighten him out

251
00:13:14,033 --> 00:13:16,000
Bix did his best to fit in

252
00:13:17,066 --> 00:13:20,366
he joined all the right activities baseball

253
00:13:20,766 --> 00:13:24,933
football and of course the school orchestra

254
00:13:27,966 --> 00:13:30,700
before long one fact of Lake Forest life

255
00:13:30,700 --> 00:13:32,433
which Bismarck hadn't considered

256
00:13:32,433 --> 00:13:34,600
was dominating Bix's time

257
00:13:35,300 --> 00:13:39,133
Lake Forest was 35 miles north of Chicago

258
00:13:40,166 --> 00:13:43,800
Chicago was now the first city of jazz

259
00:13:48,500 --> 00:13:51,066
Bix regularly caught the night train to Chicago

260
00:13:51,066 --> 00:13:54,000
and sat in with his favorite bands in speakeasies

261
00:13:57,833 --> 00:14:00,566
prohibition had been enforced for three years

262
00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,566
as a result there were speakeasies everywhere

263
00:14:07,066 --> 00:14:08,566
at the Fryers Inn the

264
00:14:08,566 --> 00:14:11,366
New Orleans Rhythm Kings played New Orleans jazz

265
00:14:11,366 --> 00:14:12,800
in its best tradition

266
00:14:17,633 --> 00:14:19,500
he also discovered the black bands

267
00:14:19,500 --> 00:14:21,300
of Chicago's South Side

268
00:14:25,466 --> 00:14:26,400
but

269
00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:30,000
the school decided that his conduct was unacceptable

270
00:14:30,466 --> 00:14:32,933
Vicks was asked to leave Lake Forest

271
00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:35,866
just a year after his parents

272
00:14:35,866 --> 00:14:38,100
had set their son on the straight and narrow

273
00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,166
Vicks was happily jamming around Chicago

274
00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,633
by October 1st, 1923

275
00:14:46,633 --> 00:14:50,066
VIX had Learned enough to fake his music reading skills

276
00:14:50,100 --> 00:14:52,900
and he won his musician's union card

277
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,566
That November at age 20

278
00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,933
he joined his first professional band

279
00:14:58,966 --> 00:15:00,866
called the Wolverines

280
00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:11,100
Jazzy Blues

281
00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:14,300
features Bix on his first recorded cornet solo

282
00:15:41,633 --> 00:15:44,800
the vitality and insistent energy of the Wolverines

283
00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:46,800
music startled everyone

284
00:15:47,066 --> 00:15:49,366
especially other musicians

285
00:15:51,666 --> 00:15:53,400
after cutting their first records

286
00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,033
the Wolverines spent two months

287
00:15:55,033 --> 00:15:56,833
playing gigs in smaller cities

288
00:15:56,833 --> 00:15:59,566
across Ohio Illinois and Indiana

289
00:16:00,766 --> 00:16:02,800
eventually they headed for Indianapolis

290
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,166
capital of Indiana

291
00:16:07,866 --> 00:16:10,166
here Bix met Charlie Davis

292
00:16:10,166 --> 00:16:12,966
a young piano player who was leader of his own group

293
00:16:14,266 --> 00:16:16,866
when we heard VIX the first time

294
00:16:16,866 --> 00:16:17,866
we were in trouble

295
00:16:17,866 --> 00:16:21,666
we were in trouble for a second band for the um

296
00:16:21,666 --> 00:16:24,100
I think it was the Butler junior prom

297
00:16:25,500 --> 00:16:27,100
uh in 1924

298
00:16:27,566 --> 00:16:29,266
so we thought Jeepers great

299
00:16:29,266 --> 00:16:31,200
here's a here's a chance to get the second band

300
00:16:31,466 --> 00:16:33,033
so we hired Bix and the boys

301
00:16:33,033 --> 00:16:34,000
the Wolverines to play

302
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:35,400
they play in the small ballroom

303
00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,700
at the Indianapolis Athletic Club

304
00:16:38,566 --> 00:16:40,066
I'll never forget the evening

305
00:16:40,066 --> 00:16:41,400
because started off pretty good

306
00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:43,566
we took our boys in the big ballroom

307
00:16:43,566 --> 00:16:47,200
we played Big Eddie sang couple of funny songs

308
00:16:47,633 --> 00:16:49,066
played some sweet music

309
00:16:49,833 --> 00:16:51,166
couple were dancing

310
00:16:52,100 --> 00:16:53,166
very nice uh

311
00:16:53,166 --> 00:16:55,766
polite applause everything's fine

312
00:16:56,066 --> 00:17:01,800
and then the Wolverines started in the small ballroom

313
00:17:03,066 --> 00:17:05,066
and from the first note they played

314
00:17:05,366 --> 00:17:07,966
I don't think anybody ever came to hear our band

315
00:17:07,966 --> 00:17:10,533
the rest of the evening and that was really

316
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,700
it was really kind kind of embarrassing

317
00:17:12,833 --> 00:17:15,200
but our boys were right right with the crowd

318
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:16,600
watching these boys play

319
00:17:16,833 --> 00:17:20,066
on sax in the Charlie Davis Band was Regan Carey

320
00:17:20,566 --> 00:17:22,133
when he would play

321
00:17:23,300 --> 00:17:24,733
he was all by himself

322
00:17:25,433 --> 00:17:28,133
he didn't know anybody else was around

323
00:17:28,666 --> 00:17:32,500
and he played to the best of his knowledge and ability

324
00:17:32,633 --> 00:17:34,466
that course that he was doing

325
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:36,266
and then when he'd get through

326
00:17:36,266 --> 00:17:37,800
he'd put his horn down on his knee

327
00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:39,033
and sometimes think about it

328
00:17:39,033 --> 00:17:42,100
for 16 bars or maybe a whole course

329
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:45,466
just think about what he done

330
00:17:45,466 --> 00:17:48,833
and maybe what he should have done someplace else and

331
00:17:48,833 --> 00:17:50,066
and didn't do

332
00:17:51,266 --> 00:17:53,400
all the thing was special about Bix Beiderbecke

333
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,100
I would say he was a man that lived in a dream

334
00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:57,600
Bix

335
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:00,700
when he was playing

336
00:18:02,833 --> 00:18:04,500
it just seemed to me like he'd

337
00:18:05,166 --> 00:18:07,566
his focus he'd focus on a spot

338
00:18:07,566 --> 00:18:10,766
play that spot and where these

339
00:18:10,766 --> 00:18:13,366
where these notes came from where

340
00:18:13,366 --> 00:18:15,133
where they came from uh

341
00:18:15,766 --> 00:18:18,566
if there was anybody that could compose

342
00:18:18,566 --> 00:18:21,533
in the actual playing it was Bix

343
00:18:42,066 --> 00:18:44,866
forty miles south of Indianapolis lay Bloomington

344
00:18:44,866 --> 00:18:46,866
home of the university of Indiana

345
00:18:48,300 --> 00:18:50,066
the Wolverines ever on

346
00:18:50,066 --> 00:18:53,200
the lookout for new audiences turned up on campus

347
00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:55,433
Composer

348
00:18:55,433 --> 00:18:58,466
Hoagy Carmichael was studying law at the university

349
00:18:58,900 --> 00:19:01,166
I was at the piano just messing around

350
00:19:01,166 --> 00:19:04,900
and in walked Vic and I didn't see him and all

351
00:19:04,900 --> 00:19:06,466
and we came to a break

352
00:19:06,466 --> 00:19:08,466
you know how you come to a break when you're

353
00:19:08,466 --> 00:19:10,400
you're playing a tune and there's a

354
00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,000
there's a stop my bix took the break

355
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,066
and I didn't know he was even standing back there

356
00:19:15,066 --> 00:19:17,500
and he hit four notes and I'm telling you

357
00:19:17,500 --> 00:19:19,600
I jumped to to the ceiling

358
00:19:19,700 --> 00:19:22,200
never heard anything as beautiful and wonderful

359
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:24,633
and it it struck me so deeply

360
00:19:24,633 --> 00:19:26,800
that I went over and fell down on the divan

361
00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:28,000
to get my breath now

362
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:29,800
can you believe that well

363
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:31,566
I was that much of a uh

364
00:19:31,700 --> 00:19:33,900
alligator they call them alligators

365
00:19:33,900 --> 00:19:35,266
people who love to uh

366
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:36,966
watch and hear people play

367
00:19:36,966 --> 00:19:38,633
you know stand in front of the band

368
00:19:38,633 --> 00:19:40,666
you know and clap their hands and carry on

369
00:19:40,666 --> 00:19:42,100
well I was one of the worst

370
00:19:42,100 --> 00:19:44,000
when I heard Bix hit those notes

371
00:20:00,566 --> 00:20:03,000
then George Johnson my dear friend

372
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,266
suggested that I play a little piano for Bix

373
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:07,766
well I thought sure

374
00:20:07,766 --> 00:20:09,466
I'll play some piano for Bix

375
00:20:09,466 --> 00:20:11,466
I'll show him a thing or two and

376
00:20:11,466 --> 00:20:14,166
and I did play a little and I think he liked it

377
00:20:14,166 --> 00:20:16,833
but he certainly didn't jump up and down like a monkey

378
00:20:16,833 --> 00:20:19,666
like I thought he might and then George said

379
00:20:19,666 --> 00:20:22,733
the Bix wants you to play something for Ogie and uh

380
00:20:23,066 --> 00:20:23,433
Bix

381
00:20:23,433 --> 00:20:26,066
sat down and started to play one of his compositions

382
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,900
well I nearly passed out again

383
00:20:29,900 --> 00:20:31,066
went over to the Divan

384
00:20:31,066 --> 00:20:33,200
and lay down for a little bit to get my breath

385
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:34,800
that's how good it was and it was

386
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,300
I don't know which one of his compositions it was

387
00:20:37,300 --> 00:20:39,266
but it was a great revelation to me

388
00:20:39,266 --> 00:20:40,766
to find out he could play piano

389
00:20:40,766 --> 00:20:42,500
as well as he could play a cornet

390
00:20:42,900 --> 00:20:44,166
there were there were a few

391
00:20:44,166 --> 00:20:46,366
few days when the Wolverine boys

392
00:20:46,366 --> 00:20:48,966
including Bix were around in the Naples and they

393
00:20:48,966 --> 00:20:50,866
they spent quite a lot of their time in the Indiana

394
00:20:50,866 --> 00:20:52,600
of the Ohio theater with us

395
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:54,033
across the alley from the theater

396
00:20:54,033 --> 00:20:55,300
is a little rehearsal room

397
00:20:55,300 --> 00:20:58,300
and a kind of an old beat up piano back there

398
00:20:58,300 --> 00:21:02,766
that Bix used to love to come play he played one tune

399
00:21:04,366 --> 00:21:06,500
that I had never heard before

400
00:21:07,666 --> 00:21:08,933
I never heard

401
00:21:09,233 --> 00:21:12,600
I had never heard anybody play it since except I

402
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,266
I recorded it myself in my own mind

403
00:21:15,266 --> 00:21:18,300
and he called it cloudy cloudy

404
00:21:18,300 --> 00:21:20,100
and it is well named

405
00:21:20,100 --> 00:21:23,066
because it is a kind of a cloudy piece

406
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,200
uh I wonder would you like to hear it

407
00:21:26,300 --> 00:21:27,100
what

408
00:21:27,300 --> 00:21:28,533
why don't I play it

409
00:21:29,900 --> 00:21:30,700
uh

410
00:21:31,100 --> 00:21:35,033
I remember he was a great man to play on the Black Keys

411
00:21:35,033 --> 00:21:36,566
he was a black key man haha

412
00:21:36,700 --> 00:21:38,466
but here here was cloudy if

413
00:21:38,466 --> 00:21:40,633
if I can do it if I if I

414
00:21:40,633 --> 00:21:41,100
can't do it

415
00:21:41,100 --> 00:21:44,733
you will forgive me because it's a long time cloudy

416
00:22:00,166 --> 00:22:02,200
VIX played Charlie Davis's piano

417
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:03,966
whenever he could get at it

418
00:22:06,033 --> 00:22:08,266
it was his chance to explore

419
00:22:09,700 --> 00:22:13,166
anyone listening could hear unusual phrases

420
00:22:14,666 --> 00:22:17,866
something different with a touch of magic

421
00:22:20,633 --> 00:22:24,133
when Bix played he talked to you right from the heart

422
00:22:24,433 --> 00:22:26,366
and told you what he was thinking

423
00:23:19,266 --> 00:23:21,700
the clouds can you hahaha

424
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:23,366
oh that's nice little tune

425
00:23:23,433 --> 00:23:24,400
nice little tune

426
00:23:25,100 --> 00:23:26,666
I don't know if they ever did anything with it

427
00:23:26,666 --> 00:23:30,033
I never heard it before since that afternoon

428
00:23:30,033 --> 00:23:31,300
played a couple of times

429
00:23:32,433 --> 00:23:35,300
and that Bix

430
00:23:35,700 --> 00:23:40,000
I always thought he was a kind of an unconscious genius

431
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:40,800
just

432
00:23:41,566 --> 00:23:42,366
uh uh

433
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:44,733
kind of floated around you know

434
00:23:51,100 --> 00:23:53,333
college students were nonconformist

435
00:23:53,900 --> 00:23:56,533
jazz the music of their generation

436
00:23:56,633 --> 00:23:58,600
broke all traditional rules

437
00:23:59,266 --> 00:24:01,933
no wonder they found it irresistible

438
00:24:03,166 --> 00:24:06,300
Hogie always on the lookout for the hottest jazz bands

439
00:24:06,300 --> 00:24:07,933
to book for the university

440
00:24:07,966 --> 00:24:09,566
grabbed at the Wolverines

441
00:24:17,766 --> 00:24:20,733
James Register a student at the Bloomington campus

442
00:24:20,866 --> 00:24:23,366
never missed a chance to hear the Wolverines

443
00:24:23,866 --> 00:24:27,166
Bitch played 10 different dance jobs

444
00:24:27,166 --> 00:24:29,600
I either attended dances where he played

445
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:33,500
or I would listen to him through the window

446
00:24:34,900 --> 00:24:37,333
I remember several times I stood out in the rain

447
00:24:37,566 --> 00:24:39,033
I never caught cold that way

448
00:24:39,033 --> 00:24:40,533
and if I had it been worth it

449
00:24:47,033 --> 00:24:50,233
it appeared to me and to other people listen to him

450
00:24:50,233 --> 00:24:54,166
that every time he approached the making of a note

451
00:24:55,166 --> 00:24:57,700
he formed the note as carefully

452
00:24:57,700 --> 00:24:59,166
as if he was a painter

453
00:24:59,766 --> 00:25:05,900
putting a piece of paint on a canvas that he thought

454
00:25:05,900 --> 00:25:08,900
I'm sure was going to last for 1,000 years

455
00:25:09,633 --> 00:25:11,600
hearing this band and hearing Bix

456
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:12,833
and I said Gee

457
00:25:12,833 --> 00:25:14,966
maybe I should write a tune for them

458
00:25:15,100 --> 00:25:17,700
so I sat down at the Book Nook piano

459
00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:19,100
the hangout you know

460
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:20,866
sat there and I said what am I gonna

461
00:25:20,866 --> 00:25:22,866
how am I gonna do it and I put my

462
00:25:22,866 --> 00:25:24,100
I just kept working working

463
00:25:24,100 --> 00:25:26,033
and finally a little strain came

464
00:25:26,033 --> 00:25:27,800
a nice beautiful little melody

465
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,200
which was the verse to Riverboat Shuffle

466
00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:37,300
that was a part of the verse

467
00:25:37,433 --> 00:25:39,500
and finally it it all came

468
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,300
and I told the Wolverine boys that week

469
00:25:43,300 --> 00:25:44,300
when they came down I said

470
00:25:44,300 --> 00:25:46,266
I wrote a tune Wanna hear it

471
00:25:46,266 --> 00:25:47,100
and they said of course

472
00:25:47,100 --> 00:25:48,966
and then they listened to the tune and they said hey

473
00:25:48,966 --> 00:25:50,566
we like that and they said well

474
00:25:50,566 --> 00:25:52,366
we're going up to Jeanette Recording Company

475
00:25:52,366 --> 00:25:53,433
in Richmond Indiana

476
00:25:53,433 --> 00:25:55,966
and make a record of it I'd remembered that

477
00:25:55,966 --> 00:25:58,366
they'd already made a couple of records at Richmond

478
00:25:58,366 --> 00:26:01,600
and Great Records and so I said fine

479
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:03,566
that's great next thing I knew

480
00:26:03,566 --> 00:26:05,566
about a week later when they were coming back

481
00:26:05,566 --> 00:26:07,366
they had a pressing of the record

482
00:26:07,366 --> 00:26:09,166
and they put it on for me to hear

483
00:26:09,666 --> 00:26:11,000
and I'm telling you

484
00:26:11,566 --> 00:26:13,200
it was a strange thing

485
00:26:14,100 --> 00:26:17,533
I didn't jump up and down in the air like a monkey

486
00:26:17,833 --> 00:26:19,400
I just listened and I

487
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:20,966
couldn't believe my ears

488
00:26:20,966 --> 00:26:23,833
that I was hearing a tune of my own

489
00:26:23,833 --> 00:26:26,833
and it's the greatest feeling in the world

490
00:26:26,833 --> 00:26:29,666
to feel accomplishment like that

491
00:26:30,166 --> 00:26:33,466
and Bixby played a great chorus on it

492
00:26:33,466 --> 00:26:35,566
so I got tears in my eyes

493
00:26:57,900 --> 00:27:02,166
there's a still kind of a voice print in my mind of

494
00:27:02,166 --> 00:27:03,733
of Bix's tone

495
00:27:04,566 --> 00:27:05,666
and uh

496
00:27:06,666 --> 00:27:11,166
it was not one tone but he had three or four tones

497
00:27:12,266 --> 00:27:15,733
and one was the beautiful flowing tone

498
00:27:17,066 --> 00:27:19,866
like a journeyman poet would say

499
00:27:19,866 --> 00:27:22,366
from the well spring up in the mountains

500
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:26,366
through the rocks over the falls and into the delta

501
00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:29,000
where he'd have his his climax

502
00:27:29,233 --> 00:27:32,700
that was his solo tone then his grunt tone which

503
00:27:33,866 --> 00:27:35,166
well we used to call it

504
00:27:35,166 --> 00:27:37,300
he could play dirt dirt

505
00:27:37,300 --> 00:27:38,800
that's what we used to name it

506
00:27:39,700 --> 00:27:41,733
and that was a tone that uh

507
00:27:42,166 --> 00:27:43,700
that's the one the girls liked they

508
00:27:43,700 --> 00:27:44,966
they thought that was great

509
00:27:44,966 --> 00:27:47,466
then he had his his leader tone

510
00:27:47,566 --> 00:27:49,566
which I which I just explained to you

511
00:27:49,566 --> 00:27:51,600
where he could without a baton

512
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:52,766
he could lead a big band

513
00:27:52,766 --> 00:27:55,933
just by playing the melody the way he felt it

514
00:28:05,166 --> 00:28:06,300
oh that was something

515
00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:08,366
that was something you didn't need any papers

516
00:28:08,366 --> 00:28:09,700
you need nothing but that

517
00:28:09,833 --> 00:28:12,366
what do we play now the girl say

518
00:28:12,366 --> 00:28:14,033
I wanna hear Sweet Sue they say

519
00:28:14,033 --> 00:28:15,500
which one you wanna hear

520
00:28:16,433 --> 00:28:17,333
and he

521
00:28:17,900 --> 00:28:18,600
he he'd play it

522
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,700
he'd play it and the girl say

523
00:28:20,700 --> 00:28:22,100
well that isn't with Sweet Sue

524
00:28:22,100 --> 00:28:23,200
oh it is

525
00:28:23,500 --> 00:28:24,966
oh you want the other one

526
00:28:25,033 --> 00:28:26,366
alright they play another one too

527
00:28:26,566 --> 00:28:27,300
girl say oh

528
00:28:27,300 --> 00:28:28,000
Jeepers Creepers

529
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:28,833
now wait a minute here

530
00:28:28,833 --> 00:28:29,633
wait a minute

531
00:28:30,366 --> 00:28:31,366
Mister by the back

532
00:28:31,566 --> 00:28:34,066
she got very hostile hostile I

533
00:28:34,066 --> 00:28:36,333
I I like a nice person

534
00:28:36,833 --> 00:28:38,833
which I I expect you to be a nice person

535
00:28:38,833 --> 00:28:40,733
I requested Sweet Sue

536
00:28:42,100 --> 00:28:44,933
and they played it again

537
00:28:46,100 --> 00:28:47,933
said yeah not Sweet Sue

538
00:28:49,166 --> 00:28:49,833
says well

539
00:28:49,833 --> 00:28:53,266
big say I didn't know which one you meant ha

540
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,033
they could play Sweet Sue in 40 different ways

541
00:28:56,033 --> 00:28:56,866
for Sunday

542
00:29:00,100 --> 00:29:01,000
the Wolverines

543
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,766
music was often too advanced for the dancing public

544
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,000
but it appealed to other musicians

545
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,600
in four months they cut a dozen records

546
00:29:19,166 --> 00:29:21,400
as their records spread across America

547
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,533
they came to be hailed as pioneers of white jazz

548
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,533
by September 1924 they'd hit the big time

549
00:29:38,633 --> 00:29:41,066
they opened at New York city's Cinderella Ballroom

550
00:29:41,066 --> 00:29:42,500
right on Broadway

551
00:29:42,700 --> 00:29:46,266
critics applauded and variety dubbed them a torrid unit

552
00:29:46,266 --> 00:29:47,466
second to none

553
00:29:50,266 --> 00:29:53,000
other musicians came to hear the kid from Iowa

554
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:55,100
with the German name among them

555
00:29:55,100 --> 00:29:57,133
jazz violinist Al Duffy

556
00:29:57,866 --> 00:30:00,333
between sets downstairs the Slipper

557
00:30:00,866 --> 00:30:02,533
Summertime I go upstairs

558
00:30:04,066 --> 00:30:07,966
breathe the fresh air and the windows be wide open

559
00:30:09,433 --> 00:30:10,700
the Cinderella Ball

560
00:30:11,833 --> 00:30:15,200
I can hear the strains of at the Jazz Band Ball

561
00:30:16,966 --> 00:30:20,900
Bix's notes fell all over Broadway

562
00:30:21,466 --> 00:30:23,400
scattered here and there but great notes

563
00:30:24,300 --> 00:30:25,200
rumors of the young

564
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,900
Cornet star reached the ears of Gene Goldkate

565
00:30:27,900 --> 00:30:29,866
a big band leader in Detroit

566
00:30:30,766 --> 00:30:34,366
Goldkate came to New York when he heard VIX he

567
00:30:34,366 --> 00:30:36,300
offered him a job in his orchestra

568
00:30:36,866 --> 00:30:39,733
after a few days of considering Goldkate's offer

569
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:40,800
VIX agreed

570
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,000
Bix arrived in Detroit

571
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,066
home base of Goldkette's orchestra

572
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:58,000
it was mid October 1924 Bix was 21 years old

573
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:02,066
the orchestra performed nightly

574
00:31:02,066 --> 00:31:03,300
in the Graystone Ballroom

575
00:31:03,300 --> 00:31:04,733
in downtown Detroit

576
00:31:05,666 --> 00:31:08,300
VIX eagerly looked forward to joining them

577
00:31:08,466 --> 00:31:09,833
the other members of the orchestra

578
00:31:09,833 --> 00:31:11,233
were just as enthusiastic

579
00:31:11,233 --> 00:31:13,466
about playing and recording with VIX

580
00:31:14,766 --> 00:31:17,300
one was Paul Mertz the piano player

581
00:31:17,766 --> 00:31:19,400
we had this recording date

582
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:20,766
in the very first number

583
00:31:20,766 --> 00:31:22,466
we thought we would lead off with strength

584
00:31:22,466 --> 00:31:24,600
and we had our new great

585
00:31:26,633 --> 00:31:28,466
hero Big Spider

586
00:31:28,466 --> 00:31:32,100
back taking a chorus and being featured in it the

587
00:31:34,033 --> 00:31:36,066
strongly and not only that

588
00:31:36,066 --> 00:31:39,033
we had several other numbers with him

589
00:31:39,033 --> 00:31:41,266
the spots to take solos well

590
00:31:41,266 --> 00:31:48,266
the first number came up and it was a

591
00:31:50,066 --> 00:31:50,700
very very

592
00:31:50,700 --> 00:31:54,633
very unsettling experience

593
00:31:54,633 --> 00:31:57,966
we ran over the number Bix took his solo

594
00:32:17,833 --> 00:32:19,666
Eddie King who was then

595
00:32:20,266 --> 00:32:21,700
I guess you would turn

596
00:32:21,900 --> 00:32:25,333
the biggest wig in the whole Victor organization

597
00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:27,666
and who guided their policy

598
00:32:27,833 --> 00:32:30,300
I don't know he says about this Bix

599
00:32:30,366 --> 00:32:32,600
that's not the kind of jazz we like

600
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,800
I don't get it and uh Bix

601
00:32:36,766 --> 00:32:39,800
the spots we had for him were taken out

602
00:32:39,966 --> 00:32:42,400
he came to leave the Goldkate band

603
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:47,466
not of his own volition but he was eased out

604
00:32:47,466 --> 00:32:49,933
Goldkate had to agree with the executives

605
00:32:50,100 --> 00:32:52,600
though he recognized Bix's jazz talent

606
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,000
he advised him to learn more about music

607
00:32:55,466 --> 00:32:59,066
then he'd take him back after seven weeks in Detroit

608
00:32:59,066 --> 00:33:04,166
Bix was without work no more Wolverine no more Gold Cap

609
00:33:06,566 --> 00:33:07,700
for a little while

610
00:33:07,700 --> 00:33:10,933
Bix hung about playing one nighters with various bands

611
00:33:11,233 --> 00:33:14,300
finally he went to see his old contacts at the Gennett

612
00:33:14,300 --> 00:33:15,000
Recording Company

613
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,400
and talked them into letting him cut a record

614
00:33:17,900 --> 00:33:20,100
this time under his own name

615
00:33:20,700 --> 00:33:24,033
he sent invitations to his gold ket buddies to join him

616
00:33:24,033 --> 00:33:25,700
Don Murray Tommy Dorsey

617
00:33:25,700 --> 00:33:29,300
Paul Mertz and others we did four numbers

618
00:33:29,566 --> 00:33:31,100
and the two in the morning

619
00:33:31,100 --> 00:33:32,466
were the only one that survived

620
00:33:32,466 --> 00:33:36,066
because by the afternoon the gin was taking hold toof

621
00:33:36,433 --> 00:33:38,300
too hard and uh

622
00:33:38,366 --> 00:33:40,100
it just too many bloopers

623
00:33:40,433 --> 00:33:45,100
but the first two even with their imperfections and uh

624
00:33:45,100 --> 00:33:48,066
limited recording of the days

625
00:33:48,100 --> 00:33:50,133
did have a flavor to them

626
00:34:01,366 --> 00:34:02,966
at first the other musicians

627
00:34:02,966 --> 00:34:06,333
didn't even realize that Bix was composing on the spot

628
00:34:07,233 --> 00:34:09,500
yet they couldn't help but follow his lead

629
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:34,866
after recording

630
00:34:34,866 --> 00:34:37,900
Devonport Blues picks traveled to Iowa City

631
00:34:41,100 --> 00:34:42,900
he enrolled as an unclassified

632
00:34:42,900 --> 00:34:44,966
student at the university of Iowa

633
00:34:45,066 --> 00:34:47,200
prepared to follow Gold Katz's advice

634
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:48,766
and get some formal training

635
00:34:51,033 --> 00:34:53,966
yet once again his school days were short lived

636
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,200
when he asked permission to study music only

637
00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:57,600
the college refused

638
00:34:58,100 --> 00:35:01,133
they also objected to his playing on school nights

639
00:35:02,066 --> 00:35:05,066
two weeks after enrolling Bix was out

640
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,766
in June Bix got a job at a resort in Michigan

641
00:35:11,633 --> 00:35:13,466
Fred Burgen recalls that here

642
00:35:13,466 --> 00:35:17,066
Bix first started working on his piano composition in

643
00:35:17,066 --> 00:35:17,900
a mist

644
00:35:18,533 --> 00:35:21,766
I know that he wrote a part of in the mist

645
00:35:21,766 --> 00:35:22,900
while we're there

646
00:35:23,066 --> 00:35:28,900
there was a small point right out from the Pavilion and

647
00:35:28,900 --> 00:35:31,766
uh he liked to go out there as a

648
00:35:32,500 --> 00:35:34,966
as the dawn was coming up

649
00:35:35,033 --> 00:35:37,166
and there would be a mist on the lake

650
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:40,633
and there was a little sandpiper

651
00:35:40,633 --> 00:35:42,066
who made his home there

652
00:35:42,066 --> 00:35:44,366
and he would run around the point

653
00:35:44,366 --> 00:35:48,333
and Vic seemed to enjoy the rhythm of the sandpiper

654
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:49,466
running around

655
00:35:49,500 --> 00:35:54,166
he could get inspiration from almost anything

656
00:35:54,233 --> 00:35:56,466
and particularly anything in nature

657
00:36:15,666 --> 00:36:18,466
the end of the summer brought Brix an even better offer

658
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,566
an extended engagement at the Arcadia Ballroom

659
00:36:21,566 --> 00:36:22,700
in Saint Louis

660
00:36:25,433 --> 00:36:28,500
Bix joined sax player Frank Trumbauer and his orchestra

661
00:36:28,500 --> 00:36:30,866
alongside clarinetist Pewee Russell

662
00:36:31,700 --> 00:36:34,733
once a week he attended concerts at Odeon Hall

663
00:36:35,700 --> 00:36:37,866
his favorite composers were Debussy

664
00:36:37,866 --> 00:36:41,866
Stravinsky Ravel and an obscure American composer

665
00:36:41,866 --> 00:36:43,066
Eastwood Lane

666
00:36:44,233 --> 00:36:46,533
and once again he tried to get training

667
00:36:47,433 --> 00:36:49,166
he approached Joe Gustav

668
00:36:49,166 --> 00:36:51,000
the first trumpeter with the symphony

669
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,266
and asked to be taken on as a student

670
00:36:53,666 --> 00:36:55,566
after he played for the musician

671
00:36:55,766 --> 00:36:58,133
Gustav surprised Bix by saying

672
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:02,066
compared to you I'm a musician in a cage

673
00:37:02,266 --> 00:37:04,866
you have a great god given gift

674
00:37:05,066 --> 00:37:08,366
be proud of it don't try to change it

675
00:37:11,900 --> 00:37:16,466
summer came and with it another resort job Hudson Lake

676
00:38:04,566 --> 00:38:06,966
name musicians Eddie Condon

677
00:38:06,966 --> 00:38:08,000
Benny Goodman Mezz

678
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,500
Mezz Row all came down from Chicago

679
00:38:10,500 --> 00:38:12,733
to the little dance joint at Hudson Lake

680
00:38:14,833 --> 00:38:18,966
they came to listen to Bix and went away to imitate him

681
00:38:19,700 --> 00:38:22,333
his tone especially beguiled them

682
00:38:22,833 --> 00:38:25,733
they couldn't capture it so they described it

683
00:38:26,166 --> 00:38:30,066
Eddie Condon said it was like a girl saying yes

684
00:38:31,266 --> 00:38:34,266
for Hoagy it was a mallet hitting a chime

685
00:38:35,633 --> 00:38:39,333
to another musician the tone carried a teardrop

686
00:38:50,233 --> 00:38:52,466
behind the main resort was a cottage bit

687
00:38:52,466 --> 00:38:54,066
shared with Pee Wee Russell

688
00:38:56,100 --> 00:38:58,666
the place was notorious for its unwashed dishes

689
00:38:58,666 --> 00:39:00,066
and empty liquor bottles

690
00:39:08,033 --> 00:39:09,600
finally Gene Goldkate

691
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,366
decided that Bix was ready to rejoin his band

692
00:39:13,966 --> 00:39:16,133
they headed east to tour New England

693
00:39:16,700 --> 00:39:18,900
they set up headquarters at the Hillcrest Inn

694
00:39:18,900 --> 00:39:19,933
Massachusetts

695
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:22,800
Goldkett's new musical arranger

696
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:25,600
Bill Challis quickly saw how Bix could help him

697
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:27,266
with the orchestral arrangements

698
00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:31,633
he knew how a the trumpet or a saxophone would sound

699
00:39:31,633 --> 00:39:33,166
and he'd get it in the right register

700
00:39:33,166 --> 00:39:35,200
and play it on the piano one finger

701
00:39:35,300 --> 00:39:37,166
it came all out of them

702
00:39:37,966 --> 00:39:40,666
maybe the second time would be different than the first

703
00:39:41,266 --> 00:39:43,366
but it came out and we had to grab

704
00:39:43,366 --> 00:39:45,600
I had to grab what he uh

705
00:39:47,666 --> 00:39:49,166
what I thought was best

706
00:39:56,833 --> 00:39:59,066
the Gold Cat guys took to the road

707
00:39:59,233 --> 00:40:01,300
each night a different dance hall

708
00:40:01,433 --> 00:40:04,266
quite often a battle of the bands with a rival unit

709
00:40:04,433 --> 00:40:07,866
they played fast fresh and they packed them in

710
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:23,366
always the the

711
00:40:23,366 --> 00:40:25,666
the musicians of the community would come

712
00:40:25,666 --> 00:40:27,666
and they'd stand right up in front

713
00:40:28,066 --> 00:40:30,200
and to hear this guy especially

714
00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:31,866
they didn't want to hear Big Spider back

715
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:43,466
but they like the whole band

716
00:40:43,466 --> 00:40:44,800
the band all the whole the

717
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:48,566
the whole band had a marvelous arrangements

718
00:40:48,566 --> 00:40:50,700
and they played very very well

719
00:40:51,500 --> 00:40:53,500
and of course with a guy like Bix in there

720
00:40:53,500 --> 00:40:54,300
we uh

721
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:55,966
we were just moving right along

722
00:40:55,966 --> 00:40:58,400
and we were at a very fine reputation

723
00:40:59,433 --> 00:41:00,666
the band's reputation

724
00:41:00,666 --> 00:41:02,700
reached all the way to New York City

725
00:41:03,666 --> 00:41:05,400
they arrived at the Roseland Ballroom

726
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:07,833
on October 6th, 1926

727
00:41:07,833 --> 00:41:09,900
a dozen white boys from the Midwest

728
00:41:09,900 --> 00:41:12,866
ready to challenge the top black jazzmen of the famous

729
00:41:12,866 --> 00:41:15,466
Fletcher Henderson Orchestra to a battle of music

730
00:41:16,866 --> 00:41:19,666
trombones Speagle Wilcox recalls the event

731
00:41:20,233 --> 00:41:24,366
we had all the musicians that you can imagine out there

732
00:41:24,466 --> 00:41:25,866
they weren't on the dance floor

733
00:41:25,866 --> 00:41:27,700
but they were all lined up

734
00:41:27,766 --> 00:41:28,900
mass of them

735
00:41:29,266 --> 00:41:32,000
and so we were on the bandstand and down the

736
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:33,666
down the ways there was the other band

737
00:41:33,666 --> 00:41:35,100
and it was Futcher Henderson

738
00:41:35,100 --> 00:41:37,266
so it came the time for the performance

739
00:41:37,266 --> 00:41:40,466
and the Futcher Henderson Band opened up

740
00:41:40,466 --> 00:41:41,366
I don't remember the number

741
00:41:41,366 --> 00:41:44,033
but it was very hot it was a hot tune

742
00:41:44,033 --> 00:41:48,133
they were really they were about to nail us

743
00:41:49,066 --> 00:41:51,933
and they got through and they got a lot of applause

744
00:41:52,666 --> 00:41:54,600
and then you can almost just

745
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:57,633
it was very quiet and it was our turn

746
00:41:57,633 --> 00:41:58,433
so

747
00:41:59,366 --> 00:42:00,500
everyone was waiting

748
00:42:00,700 --> 00:42:02,666
for what the band was gonna sound like

749
00:42:02,666 --> 00:42:04,233
and guess what we were going to

750
00:42:04,233 --> 00:42:05,600
what we came up with

751
00:42:06,666 --> 00:42:07,266
hard to believe

752
00:42:07,266 --> 00:42:10,166
but we came up with Valencia of all tunes

753
00:42:10,166 --> 00:42:11,766
a 6 8 tune you

754
00:42:11,766 --> 00:42:12,066
know 6

755
00:42:12,066 --> 00:42:12,933
8 time and

756
00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:14,433
and uh

757
00:42:14,433 --> 00:42:14,700
there was

758
00:42:14,700 --> 00:42:17,100
a lot of smiles came up out there in the audience

759
00:42:17,100 --> 00:42:19,500
you know what's this great band from the west doing

760
00:42:19,500 --> 00:42:20,533
you know playing that

761
00:42:21,300 --> 00:42:22,400
well we played it good

762
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:24,300
and we finished anyway

763
00:42:24,300 --> 00:42:26,266
and we got a tremendous round of applause

764
00:42:26,466 --> 00:42:28,600
and then for our next tune

765
00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:30,333
My Pretty Girl Stop

766
00:42:30,566 --> 00:42:33,200
and we just got an awful lot of applause on it

767
00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:36,433
I mean we had proven that we were pretty good

768
00:42:36,433 --> 00:42:38,600
we actually creamed them

769
00:42:54,466 --> 00:42:56,233
when the whole thing was over

770
00:42:56,233 --> 00:42:58,000
that was the finish of the road trip

771
00:42:58,700 --> 00:43:00,100
went back to Detroit

772
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:04,166
and we opened in the in the Graystone

773
00:43:04,566 --> 00:43:07,033
and that was a nice big beautiful ball world

774
00:43:07,033 --> 00:43:08,566
they had a lot of customers

775
00:43:10,066 --> 00:43:12,966
amazing thing about is being in a big section of

776
00:43:12,966 --> 00:43:14,366
brass section in the band

777
00:43:14,566 --> 00:43:16,633
they would have their parts all written for them

778
00:43:16,633 --> 00:43:17,633
and at the rehearsal

779
00:43:17,633 --> 00:43:20,100
they would go through it two or three times

780
00:43:20,100 --> 00:43:22,566
and Bix would just listen

781
00:43:23,166 --> 00:43:24,600
about the fourth time

782
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:27,866
he would pick up the cornet and play with them

783
00:43:27,866 --> 00:43:31,500
and his ability to pick out the odd notes

784
00:43:31,500 --> 00:43:34,600
like the six and nines and seconds and all that

785
00:43:34,833 --> 00:43:37,500
made it so wonderful

786
00:43:37,500 --> 00:43:41,300
that the music would just seem to bloom or explode

787
00:43:41,300 --> 00:43:46,300
it was just that fullness that he gave to the band

788
00:43:46,833 --> 00:43:49,266
and he didn't have any notes in front of him at all

789
00:43:49,266 --> 00:43:51,366
it all came right out of his head

790
00:43:56,500 --> 00:43:58,133
that's the guy we're talking about

791
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:15,166
he just made that band oh

792
00:44:15,166 --> 00:44:16,566
he just picked this right up

793
00:44:16,866 --> 00:44:18,333
picked this right up

794
00:44:18,966 --> 00:44:20,400
we got better that's all

795
00:44:22,300 --> 00:44:24,600
and maybe you wouldn't play very long at a time

796
00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:25,300
that you just

797
00:44:25,300 --> 00:44:26,766
a few bars that's all it needed

798
00:44:26,766 --> 00:44:29,400
you know just to to make it snap out

799
00:44:32,866 --> 00:44:34,166
we always had two bands

800
00:44:35,466 --> 00:44:37,166
we were known as the Victor Band

801
00:44:37,866 --> 00:44:40,800
but that was the idea we had continuous music

802
00:44:41,366 --> 00:44:42,566
our good old days

803
00:45:45,766 --> 00:45:49,366
Joe Vernuti did you imagine playing a straight solo

804
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:51,066
something else

805
00:46:05,266 --> 00:46:06,133
something else

806
00:46:07,466 --> 00:46:10,700
in order to offer variety and keep his ballroom packed

807
00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:11,433
gold Katz

808
00:46:11,433 --> 00:46:12,366
hired a black band

809
00:46:12,366 --> 00:46:14,700
to play alternate sets with Victor Band

810
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:17,466
the black group was Mckinney's Cotton Pickers

811
00:46:17,566 --> 00:46:20,133
their banjo player Dave Wilborn

812
00:46:20,766 --> 00:46:22,166
the the members of the McKinley

813
00:46:22,166 --> 00:46:24,300
Scott Biggers had a great respect for Biggs

814
00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:27,900
he never was a an outgoing person

815
00:46:27,900 --> 00:46:28,766
but uh

816
00:46:28,766 --> 00:46:30,200
they respected his ability

817
00:46:30,200 --> 00:46:30,700
they they

818
00:46:30,700 --> 00:46:31,500
they uh

819
00:46:31,766 --> 00:46:33,966
liked the fact that he that he caught

820
00:46:33,966 --> 00:46:37,000
caught on quickly to the style and uh

821
00:46:37,233 --> 00:46:39,366
he was friendly to us as far as we were concerned

822
00:46:39,366 --> 00:46:41,833
when he'd come down in the rehearsal room

823
00:46:41,833 --> 00:46:43,466
and sit and talk with us and

824
00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:44,566
and a lot of times

825
00:46:44,566 --> 00:46:45,966
he'd come over and sit in with the band

826
00:46:45,966 --> 00:46:47,766
ask us if he could sit in with the band

827
00:46:48,833 --> 00:46:51,566
home for the Victor boys was the Billinghurst Hotel

828
00:46:51,566 --> 00:46:53,566
just down the street from the Graystone

829
00:46:54,033 --> 00:46:57,666
in off hours a different music drifted from the windows

830
00:46:57,666 --> 00:46:58,666
of the hotel

831
00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:01,533
this is the funny thing about it

832
00:47:01,666 --> 00:47:04,366
at that time I don't know whether pics introduced it

833
00:47:04,366 --> 00:47:06,566
or whether he picked it up

834
00:47:06,666 --> 00:47:08,100
but the idea was this

835
00:47:08,100 --> 00:47:11,733
you either turn out all the lights except

836
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:13,633
one

837
00:47:13,633 --> 00:47:18,466
and that you'd put in either a red bulb or a blue bulb

838
00:47:19,266 --> 00:47:21,166
to give atmosphere see

839
00:47:23,566 --> 00:47:29,266
and then we'd put on Debussy Ravel or Stravinsky

840
00:48:11,666 --> 00:48:14,800
and Vicks would you say no wait

841
00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:16,000
wait listen listen

842
00:48:17,500 --> 00:48:20,866
and he certainly got a bunch of converts

843
00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:27,600
and Max speak easy

844
00:48:27,600 --> 00:48:31,166
that was our rallying place most of the time

845
00:48:31,166 --> 00:48:33,466
because it was just very convenient

846
00:48:33,500 --> 00:48:35,233
the musicians around Detroit

847
00:48:35,233 --> 00:48:37,566
who admired the Graystone outfit

848
00:48:37,566 --> 00:48:40,300
they would come up there so they could say oh

849
00:48:40,300 --> 00:48:42,166
I was talking big squares die

850
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:44,533
everybody wanted to buy him a drink

851
00:48:57,633 --> 00:49:00,000
Goldkate managed a string of dance orchestras

852
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:01,300
throughout the Midwest

853
00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:05,533
to meet a hefty payroll he had to send them on the road

854
00:49:08,300 --> 00:49:10,433
in the spring of 1927

855
00:49:10,433 --> 00:49:12,700
they traveled halfway across America

856
00:49:13,966 --> 00:49:15,866
as popular as they were

857
00:49:16,233 --> 00:49:19,266
the fees they collected could not cover expenses

858
00:49:19,500 --> 00:49:21,066
and the boys began to wonder

859
00:49:21,066 --> 00:49:22,100
how much longer

860
00:49:22,100 --> 00:49:24,866
Goldkett could afford to keep the band together

861
00:49:26,166 --> 00:49:30,100
by August 1927 the end was in sight

862
00:49:31,233 --> 00:49:34,800
the last engagement before the band broke up

863
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:35,900
was at Atlantic City

864
00:49:36,200 --> 00:49:38,533
we're driving down there and we got there around

865
00:49:38,966 --> 00:49:42,200
around 1:00 there's nothing much more to do

866
00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:45,400
the band didn't start to play for about two days

867
00:49:45,566 --> 00:49:47,600
he said supposing I uh I

868
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:48,766
get us a date he says

869
00:49:48,766 --> 00:49:50,100
I know a girl here

870
00:49:50,100 --> 00:49:52,833
and she plays piano over at the woolworth's

871
00:49:52,833 --> 00:49:54,066
I think it was

872
00:49:54,666 --> 00:49:58,100
we set it up then he wanted to go to some club

873
00:49:58,100 --> 00:50:00,300
there was some club with band

874
00:50:01,033 --> 00:50:02,433
band is good he said

875
00:50:02,433 --> 00:50:04,566
he said I know the guys and so forth

876
00:50:05,166 --> 00:50:08,400
we went up there and of course uh

877
00:50:09,033 --> 00:50:11,266
he's got the gin bottle with him too

878
00:50:13,200 --> 00:50:14,000
so uh

879
00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:15,933
we're sitting down there and of course

880
00:50:15,966 --> 00:50:18,466
with the horn the two girls and all

881
00:50:18,633 --> 00:50:20,100
he's not paying much attention

882
00:50:20,100 --> 00:50:21,866
except we're having a couple of drinks

883
00:50:22,166 --> 00:50:24,166
and the guys want him to come up on the bandstand

884
00:50:24,166 --> 00:50:25,066
and play

885
00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:28,200
which he does he goes up there for quite a while

886
00:50:29,033 --> 00:50:30,366
and I guess up there

887
00:50:30,366 --> 00:50:33,700
they were giving him a couple drinks also

888
00:50:33,833 --> 00:50:35,366
by the time he got back to the table

889
00:50:35,366 --> 00:50:36,600
he was a little bit uh

890
00:50:37,033 --> 00:50:38,166
under the weather

891
00:50:38,833 --> 00:50:39,866
but uh

892
00:50:39,866 --> 00:50:41,866
he had done his share of playing up there

893
00:50:41,866 --> 00:50:43,533
and they they liked him

894
00:50:45,266 --> 00:50:48,600
I think he was a very fine gentle person

895
00:50:50,100 --> 00:50:51,900
I I can't say that

896
00:50:51,900 --> 00:50:53,100
you know if

897
00:50:53,633 --> 00:50:58,900
if he were under the influence that time

898
00:50:58,900 --> 00:51:00,000
he could be as a

899
00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:05,100
he could be really biting sarcastic

900
00:51:05,833 --> 00:51:09,566
the the influence thing you've got to forget about

901
00:51:11,900 --> 00:51:15,400
so maybe a lot of people run into him in that situation

902
00:51:20,433 --> 00:51:22,100
they returned to New York

903
00:51:22,966 --> 00:51:25,366
Clementine was their last recording

904
00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:49,666
Paul Whiteman heard that the band was breaking up

905
00:51:49,666 --> 00:51:52,833
and made a bid for the top talent Whiteman

906
00:51:52,833 --> 00:51:54,633
the biggest name in show business

907
00:51:54,633 --> 00:51:56,566
was always scouting for the best

908
00:51:56,566 --> 00:51:59,100
and he wanted Bix to add spark to his own

909
00:51:59,100 --> 00:52:00,400
commercial orchestra

910
00:52:07,033 --> 00:52:07,833
instead

911
00:52:08,433 --> 00:52:11,300
Bix opted to join a smaller and more innovative unit

912
00:52:11,300 --> 00:52:12,933
headed by Adrian Rolini

913
00:52:13,666 --> 00:52:16,166
they opened the brand new Club New Yorker

914
00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:20,200
and closed it three weeks later

915
00:52:22,433 --> 00:52:25,066
the club had become another musician's hangout

916
00:52:25,066 --> 00:52:27,533
no dance crowds no business

917
00:52:29,700 --> 00:52:32,800
so Pix accepted white man's invitation after all

918
00:52:46,100 --> 00:52:48,466
he joined up with the orchestra in Indianapolis

919
00:52:48,466 --> 00:52:52,766
at the Indiana Theatre it was October 1927

920
00:52:53,300 --> 00:52:55,500
Vicks was 24 years old

921
00:52:57,200 --> 00:52:59,866
the orchestra leader was only too pleased

922
00:52:59,866 --> 00:53:02,133
to welcome Bix into the fold

923
00:53:04,300 --> 00:53:06,966
at that time Whitman was Whitman

924
00:53:07,166 --> 00:53:09,200
and you received an offer from Whitman

925
00:53:09,633 --> 00:53:12,066
that was just about as far as you could get

926
00:53:12,600 --> 00:53:14,100
and very few

927
00:53:16,433 --> 00:53:18,766
refused him because of that

928
00:53:18,766 --> 00:53:21,633
he had exposure to all fine recordings

929
00:53:21,633 --> 00:53:23,766
and he had contracts with recording companies

930
00:53:23,766 --> 00:53:25,800
which most jazz bands didn't have

931
00:53:25,800 --> 00:53:27,633
they just made them by the seat of their pants

932
00:53:27,633 --> 00:53:31,300
you know joining Whitman meant Bix had reached the top

933
00:53:31,833 --> 00:53:33,766
he telephoned his family in Davenport

934
00:53:33,766 --> 00:53:35,466
with the news of his achievement

935
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:37,733
certain they'd finally approve

936
00:53:38,433 --> 00:53:40,100
his father was cool

937
00:53:40,433 --> 00:53:42,800
he could not feel comfortable with the way of life

938
00:53:42,800 --> 00:53:44,066
his son had chosen

939
00:53:44,700 --> 00:53:47,200
it was a world away from respectable

940
00:53:47,200 --> 00:53:48,933
middle class Davenport

941
00:53:51,866 --> 00:53:54,866
The White Man Orchestra was a musical kaleidoscope

942
00:53:56,200 --> 00:53:58,800
its symphonic sounds appealed to bigs

943
00:54:00,100 --> 00:54:03,366
its ranks included the best in the business Bing

944
00:54:03,366 --> 00:54:05,500
Crosby lead singer with the Rhythm Boys

945
00:54:05,500 --> 00:54:07,200
was one of White Man's stars

946
00:54:08,633 --> 00:54:10,166
Violinist Mattie Melnick

947
00:54:10,166 --> 00:54:12,400
recalls getting together for a rehearsal

948
00:54:12,833 --> 00:54:13,766
in the morning

949
00:54:13,766 --> 00:54:17,800
we would be called maybe at 9:00 or sometimes 10:00

950
00:54:18,033 --> 00:54:23,500
and um Bing was a kind of a naughty boy in those days

951
00:54:23,500 --> 00:54:24,900
he was drinking a little bit

952
00:54:24,900 --> 00:54:26,633
and he was very young

953
00:54:26,633 --> 00:54:28,300
and staying out late and everything

954
00:54:28,600 --> 00:54:30,966
and if we had a 9:00 call

955
00:54:30,966 --> 00:54:33,000
he very seldom got there at 9:00

956
00:54:33,300 --> 00:54:36,133
10:00 call he'd get there a quarter to 12

957
00:54:36,233 --> 00:54:38,166
and a lot of us would do that

958
00:54:38,200 --> 00:54:42,566
but after Bix got in the band and

959
00:54:42,566 --> 00:54:46,000
and VIX used to come out maybe at 9:00 on time

960
00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:49,000
or a few minutes late but he'd have his trumpet

961
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:51,166
and somebody was playing the piano

962
00:54:52,166 --> 00:54:55,033
maybe like Arroyo Bargie or Lenny Hayton

963
00:54:55,033 --> 00:54:58,100
who played very well he would start to play

964
00:54:58,566 --> 00:55:00,066
and of course we all listened

965
00:55:00,066 --> 00:55:03,966
because even then we realized something was going on

966
00:55:03,966 --> 00:55:06,500
that we had not heard you know

967
00:55:06,500 --> 00:55:09,966
this was a special talent and

968
00:55:11,400 --> 00:55:13,866
being used to start coming early

969
00:55:14,600 --> 00:55:16,800
because like the rest of us

970
00:55:16,900 --> 00:55:19,533
he wanted to hear Vic's play

971
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:26,466
now it's getting kind of cold

972
00:55:26,466 --> 00:55:27,866
getting kind of hot but listen

973
00:55:27,866 --> 00:55:29,866
I forgot since he wasn't taught

974
00:55:30,066 --> 00:55:32,066
he's been the talk of Dixie land

975
00:55:52,633 --> 00:55:55,366
now as far as I was concerned with them

976
00:55:55,400 --> 00:55:56,766
I would make the arrangement

977
00:55:56,766 --> 00:56:00,166
say you got 16 bars here you got 32 bars here

978
00:56:00,166 --> 00:56:01,900
and it's after the first or second

979
00:56:01,900 --> 00:56:03,566
course and uh

980
00:56:03,766 --> 00:56:05,800
it would be a cinch you know

981
00:56:05,800 --> 00:56:07,800
you just wait and you knew when to come in

982
00:56:08,033 --> 00:56:09,666
and he came in beautifully

983
00:56:09,666 --> 00:56:11,733
you know he listened to the arrangement

984
00:56:11,766 --> 00:56:13,233
if I had a break there for him

985
00:56:13,233 --> 00:56:15,533
he would come right in after it

986
00:56:15,700 --> 00:56:17,566
and just fill up the thing

987
00:56:17,566 --> 00:56:20,000
the way I would have loved to do it

988
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:22,366
the way I would love to have written it out

989
00:56:22,800 --> 00:56:25,733
he took a load off my mind in the talk of Dixie Land

990
00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:48,500
and you you look at him and you wonder

991
00:56:48,800 --> 00:56:50,100
where did this come out of

992
00:56:50,100 --> 00:56:52,400
you know what I mean but he just had it

993
00:56:52,400 --> 00:56:54,500
and the time I knew him

994
00:56:55,233 --> 00:56:56,766
he was like a boy you know

995
00:56:56,766 --> 00:56:59,366
he had kind of a short haircut and

996
00:57:00,633 --> 00:57:03,200
and he looked like a kid out of high school

997
00:57:03,200 --> 00:57:04,300
you know and

998
00:57:04,300 --> 00:57:05,100
and uh

999
00:57:05,566 --> 00:57:09,800
didn't charm that I found was he didn't say much

1000
00:57:09,900 --> 00:57:12,266
so I never really found out much about him

1001
00:57:12,266 --> 00:57:13,633
the only thing that poured out of him

1002
00:57:13,633 --> 00:57:14,800
was that great music

1003
00:57:15,366 --> 00:57:18,133
you know and when he sat on the stand

1004
00:57:18,466 --> 00:57:20,200
you know I didn't think to turn around

1005
00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:21,300
and look at a great legend

1006
00:57:21,300 --> 00:57:22,800
because he wasn't a great legend

1007
00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:24,366
he's a great legend now

1008
00:57:25,433 --> 00:57:27,700
Chicago the hotbed of jazz

1009
00:57:28,566 --> 00:57:30,966
next up for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra

1010
00:57:40,500 --> 00:57:42,633
a city jumping with dance halls

1011
00:57:42,633 --> 00:57:44,266
cabarets speakeasies

1012
00:57:44,266 --> 00:57:45,866
most of them gangster owned

1013
00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:53,000
you could dance till dawn to the best in music

1014
00:57:57,800 --> 00:57:59,566
Kid O'ree Johnny Dawes

1015
00:57:59,566 --> 00:58:01,166
Jimmy Noone King Oliver

1016
00:58:01,166 --> 00:58:03,100
Louis Armstrong were all in town

1017
00:58:03,100 --> 00:58:04,666
playing on the South Side

1018
00:58:05,500 --> 00:58:08,533
the white musicians played in clubs on the North Side

1019
00:58:10,200 --> 00:58:13,466
after hours they'd meet to jam and exchange ideas

1020
00:58:14,466 --> 00:58:17,100
trumpet player DOC Cheatham was part of the scene

1021
00:58:17,633 --> 00:58:19,533
I had noticed that we all

1022
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:21,000
after a while

1023
00:58:21,000 --> 00:58:23,300
we go and hear the same thing all the time

1024
00:58:23,400 --> 00:58:26,066
jazz was beginning to hit a brick wall

1025
00:58:26,166 --> 00:58:29,400
you go to one place you hear the same style

1026
00:58:29,400 --> 00:58:31,966
you go to the next place you hear the same style

1027
00:58:32,266 --> 00:58:34,766
come to my place where I'm playing the same style

1028
00:58:34,866 --> 00:58:37,633
so it got to the place where I was kind of

1029
00:58:37,633 --> 00:58:40,033
worried about it and all of a sudden

1030
00:58:40,033 --> 00:58:42,400
we started hearing the recording of this guy

1031
00:58:42,400 --> 00:58:43,666
big spider bag

1032
00:58:43,966 --> 00:58:48,300
which opened up many roads for us to keep going

1033
00:58:48,300 --> 00:58:52,166
because he brought forwards so much

1034
00:58:52,766 --> 00:58:55,800
melody and harmony in his solo work

1035
00:58:56,233 --> 00:58:57,566
that it kinda kind of

1036
00:58:57,566 --> 00:59:00,033
opened all of our eyes to the fact that

1037
00:59:00,033 --> 00:59:03,266
something we need to do need to learn to play

1038
00:59:36,900 --> 00:59:39,600
from Monday on be sitting up in the balcony

1039
00:59:39,600 --> 00:59:41,966
and he get up to take a course and see

1040
00:59:41,966 --> 00:59:43,800
it just it just stood out

1041
00:59:43,800 --> 00:59:45,633
so from the rest of that band

1042
00:59:45,633 --> 00:59:46,866
you know it's a large band

1043
00:59:46,866 --> 00:59:48,833
you know about 35 pieces

1044
00:59:48,833 --> 00:59:50,033
something like that but he

1045
00:59:50,033 --> 00:59:51,366
when he stand up take his course

1046
00:59:51,366 --> 00:59:54,400
the tone it just flow through

1047
00:59:54,466 --> 00:59:55,800
and it just I don't know what it was

1048
00:59:55,800 --> 00:59:57,866
I can't explain that tone just

1049
00:59:57,866 --> 01:00:00,933
Stacy was equally enthralled by Bix on piano

1050
01:00:01,266 --> 01:00:03,700
of course I was a jitterbug over Bix

1051
01:00:04,400 --> 01:00:07,166
he was my idol I wanted to play like that

1052
01:00:07,166 --> 01:00:08,300
I wanted to think like that

1053
01:00:08,300 --> 01:00:09,100
you know

1054
01:00:10,066 --> 01:00:12,266
but we always wanted to just see what

1055
01:00:12,266 --> 01:00:14,600
what a man looked like that could play like that

1056
01:00:15,700 --> 01:00:19,000
very alert he had to be alert to have all that talent

1057
01:00:19,666 --> 01:00:21,533
pleasant quiet

1058
01:00:21,600 --> 01:00:22,966
very nice to everyone

1059
01:00:24,066 --> 01:00:27,200
and we all chased around

1060
01:00:27,200 --> 01:00:29,566
tried to learn how to play like Bix

1061
01:00:29,566 --> 01:00:31,933
every one of us every one of us

1062
01:00:32,833 --> 01:00:35,333
jazz was the music of the night

1063
01:00:36,100 --> 01:00:38,033
and after the finish of the show

1064
01:00:38,033 --> 01:00:40,066
usually around 1 or 2 in the morning

1065
01:00:40,233 --> 01:00:42,200
Bix headed for the speakeasies

1066
01:00:54,566 --> 01:00:56,800
he found his favorite music at late night

1067
01:00:56,800 --> 01:00:59,466
impromptu jam sessions on the South Side

1068
01:01:48,200 --> 01:01:50,800
Bessie Smith's singing captivated Bix

1069
01:01:51,300 --> 01:01:53,066
he couldn't get enough of it

1070
01:01:54,200 --> 01:01:55,700
the story goes that one night

1071
01:01:55,700 --> 01:01:56,866
he turned out his pockets

1072
01:01:56,866 --> 01:01:58,700
and put all his money on the table

1073
01:01:58,866 --> 01:02:00,500
just to keep her singing

1074
01:02:01,066 --> 01:02:02,900
he was lost to the world

1075
01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:17,300
listening jamming and drinking

1076
01:02:17,666 --> 01:02:19,566
it didn't matter where the money came from

1077
01:02:19,566 --> 01:02:22,200
as long as the music and the booze kept flowing

1078
01:02:23,433 --> 01:02:26,866
wherever VIX went he was known for his generosity

1079
01:02:27,833 --> 01:02:30,666
when Jean Krupa and a group of guys were out of work

1080
01:02:30,666 --> 01:02:32,666
VIX bought meals for everyone

1081
01:02:32,966 --> 01:02:36,966
as Krupa used to say if you couldn't get along with VIX

1082
01:02:37,100 --> 01:02:39,133
you couldn't get along with anyone

1083
01:02:41,566 --> 01:02:43,000
on other nights Bix turned

1084
01:02:43,000 --> 01:02:46,133
up at the Sunset Cafe to jam with Louis Armstrong

1085
01:02:46,266 --> 01:02:48,966
Louis remembers come out on the South Side

1086
01:02:48,966 --> 01:02:52,600
after they finish their show at the Chicago Theater

1087
01:02:52,900 --> 01:02:55,200
and Dixie come out there and sit in with us

1088
01:02:55,200 --> 01:02:56,833
by that time you know

1089
01:02:56,833 --> 01:02:59,966
it's outstanding tone everything like that

1090
01:03:00,000 --> 01:03:01,500
but in those days

1091
01:03:01,500 --> 01:03:04,666
there wasn't any final notes come out of horn

1092
01:03:04,900 --> 01:03:06,533
I don't care who was blowing it

1093
01:03:06,633 --> 01:03:10,166
to me he was superior all the time

1094
01:03:10,566 --> 01:03:13,166
I've heard a lot of cats trying to play like pigs and

1095
01:03:13,166 --> 01:03:14,166
you know I'm playing like them

1096
01:03:14,166 --> 01:03:16,833
yet they tried to take it from me

1097
01:03:16,833 --> 01:03:18,600
he was a born genius

1098
01:03:19,000 --> 01:03:21,366
but they crowded him too much with love

1099
01:03:22,033 --> 01:03:24,333
we went out because dear Louis

1100
01:03:24,766 --> 01:03:26,566
and we knew Bix was in town

1101
01:03:26,700 --> 01:03:29,000
was in the Savoy Ballroom

1102
01:03:29,433 --> 01:03:30,233
Louis went over

1103
01:03:30,233 --> 01:03:33,133
and stepped down from the edge of the platform

1104
01:03:33,233 --> 01:03:34,400
with his horn

1105
01:03:35,300 --> 01:03:37,200
Louis took the mouthpiece out of his horn

1106
01:03:37,200 --> 01:03:39,733
and handed to Bix and Bix put his mouthpiece in

1107
01:03:39,900 --> 01:03:40,800
and

1108
01:03:41,866 --> 01:03:45,000
played three courses of Little Coquette with the band

1109
01:03:46,066 --> 01:03:47,000
and uh

1110
01:03:47,300 --> 01:03:49,666
it's difficult to tell whether Louis was crying

1111
01:03:49,666 --> 01:03:51,800
or whether he wasn't because he always mopped his face

1112
01:03:51,800 --> 01:03:53,733
but I think he was crying

1113
01:03:55,566 --> 01:03:57,866
he said something wonderful to me say afterwards that

1114
01:03:57,866 --> 01:04:00,200
that had them both just beaming

1115
01:04:00,200 --> 01:04:01,500
hanging on to each other

1116
01:04:02,700 --> 01:04:04,166
but it was a very gracious

1117
01:04:04,300 --> 01:04:08,366
I don't I never seen Louis do it for us before

1118
01:04:08,366 --> 01:04:10,000
a sense he undoubtedly has

1119
01:04:10,000 --> 01:04:11,733
but he he respected Vicks

1120
01:04:15,600 --> 01:04:17,933
the orchestra was based in New York City

1121
01:04:21,433 --> 01:04:24,400
when the Paramount Theater opened its doors on Broadway

1122
01:04:24,433 --> 01:04:26,566
Whitman knew it was the place for him

1123
01:04:27,700 --> 01:04:30,166
the theater headlined the Paul Whitman Orchestra

1124
01:04:30,166 --> 01:04:31,933
for an extended engagement

1125
01:04:38,900 --> 01:04:41,700
nothing but the best for the king of jazz

1126
01:04:49,266 --> 01:04:51,866
to get a break from the best selling songs

1127
01:04:52,300 --> 01:04:54,166
Vicks contracted his own deals

1128
01:04:54,433 --> 01:04:56,600
he assembled a small Dixieland group

1129
01:04:56,600 --> 01:04:58,933
and called it Vicks and his gang

1130
01:04:59,266 --> 01:05:01,933
one of their best recordings is sorry

1131
01:05:02,500 --> 01:05:04,700
it's a favorite of Eston Spurrier

1132
01:05:04,766 --> 01:05:07,200
a trumpet player from Bix's hometown

1133
01:05:10,366 --> 01:05:13,000
and you find the way that he drives his band

1134
01:05:13,433 --> 01:05:18,266
and it's like a 4 x 20 mule team

1135
01:05:18,433 --> 01:05:22,366
getting sent down a hill with a mule driver just listen

1136
01:06:09,300 --> 01:06:10,800
in an instinctive way

1137
01:06:10,800 --> 01:06:13,700
I think he approved of some of the things he did

1138
01:06:13,700 --> 01:06:15,133
and it made him very happy

1139
01:06:15,500 --> 01:06:17,866
that's when he was happy when he was writing in a mess

1140
01:06:19,066 --> 01:06:19,866
to himself

1141
01:06:20,900 --> 01:06:21,300
see

1142
01:06:21,300 --> 01:06:24,300
he was happy cause he knew something good was happening

1143
01:06:25,166 --> 01:06:26,400
he didn't express it say oh

1144
01:06:26,400 --> 01:06:27,900
listen to this you know

1145
01:06:28,366 --> 01:06:29,666
nothing like that or ego

1146
01:06:29,666 --> 01:06:30,733
didn't get into it

1147
01:06:31,600 --> 01:06:33,066
he didn't have that big ego

1148
01:06:34,000 --> 01:06:35,166
he had talent

1149
01:06:36,766 --> 01:06:38,500
Whitman's publisher Jack Robbins

1150
01:06:38,500 --> 01:06:39,400
took notice

1151
01:06:39,700 --> 01:06:42,266
he had also heard about Bix's composing skills

1152
01:06:42,266 --> 01:06:44,700
and was intrigued by in a mist

1153
01:06:45,300 --> 01:06:48,300
always looking for another hit like Rhapsody in Blue

1154
01:06:48,400 --> 01:06:50,400
Robbins asked arranger Bill Challis

1155
01:06:50,400 --> 01:06:52,766
to commit Bix's composition to paper

1156
01:06:53,633 --> 01:06:57,333
putting it down was was difficult because uh

1157
01:06:57,466 --> 01:06:58,600
he didn't play it the same

1158
01:06:58,600 --> 01:06:59,733
way every time

1159
01:07:00,400 --> 01:07:01,366
and

1160
01:07:02,966 --> 01:07:05,600
Robins had told him he would have to put it down

1161
01:07:05,600 --> 01:07:06,833
and then learn to play it

1162
01:07:06,833 --> 01:07:07,766
that way

1163
01:07:08,200 --> 01:07:11,133
he couldn't just improvise each time he put it down

1164
01:07:12,066 --> 01:07:14,233
for almost four months they worked together

1165
01:07:14,233 --> 01:07:16,933
at Bill Challis's apartment on Riverside Drive

1166
01:07:17,366 --> 01:07:18,866
VIX played the number off

1167
01:07:18,866 --> 01:07:21,700
every few bars Bill would stop him to catch up

1168
01:07:21,800 --> 01:07:23,366
then when VIX started again

1169
01:07:23,366 --> 01:07:25,100
it would be totally different

1170
01:07:25,300 --> 01:07:27,000
I was the one that had to say look

1171
01:07:27,000 --> 01:07:28,300
which one are you gonna use now

1172
01:07:28,300 --> 01:07:31,966
this one or that one and we had to set on that

1173
01:07:32,066 --> 01:07:34,466
we had to get together and set that

1174
01:07:34,466 --> 01:07:36,666
and that's the one I would write down

1175
01:07:36,833 --> 01:07:39,300
he'd have to learn that that was the way we did it

1176
01:07:39,366 --> 01:07:42,400
he knew pretty much what he was doing what he wanted

1177
01:09:14,766 --> 01:09:16,800
in the fall of 1928

1178
01:09:16,866 --> 01:09:19,400
Paul Whiteman planned his biggest tour ever

1179
01:09:22,566 --> 01:09:25,400
the tour premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York City

1180
01:09:26,366 --> 01:09:28,800
there was an addition to the program that night

1181
01:09:29,033 --> 01:09:31,766
a special performance of in the mist

1182
01:09:32,300 --> 01:09:33,866
at Center Stage

1183
01:09:34,000 --> 01:09:36,900
VIX played all alone with the spotlight on him

1184
01:09:40,866 --> 01:09:43,366
one of the musicians recalls the occasion

1185
01:09:43,800 --> 01:09:49,200
but I have never heard such applause in my whole life

1186
01:09:49,566 --> 01:09:51,700
I don't think he intended to

1187
01:09:52,166 --> 01:09:55,233
to bowl over an audience in Carnegie Hall

1188
01:09:55,233 --> 01:09:56,400
in the first place

1189
01:09:57,100 --> 01:09:58,900
so I think he was a little astounded

1190
01:09:59,466 --> 01:10:01,800
cause I remember he got up as soon as he couldn't

1191
01:10:01,800 --> 01:10:04,166
and wanted to get back to the man stand

1192
01:10:04,600 --> 01:10:06,166
and Paul wouldn't let him go back

1193
01:10:06,166 --> 01:10:07,666
and the audience wouldn't either

1194
01:10:14,633 --> 01:10:16,666
we worked seven days a week

1195
01:10:16,666 --> 01:10:19,000
we went in buses and in trains

1196
01:10:19,033 --> 01:10:22,000
there was no diner on the trains that we rode on

1197
01:10:22,000 --> 01:10:24,966
we would get in the train at 6 o'clock in the morning

1198
01:10:25,200 --> 01:10:29,500
and we'd start to make a trip that's 500 miles

1199
01:10:29,500 --> 01:10:31,133
the trains were not fast

1200
01:10:31,300 --> 01:10:34,100
and it was really a brutal ride

1201
01:10:34,400 --> 01:10:37,700
we would arrive about five in the afternoon

1202
01:10:37,966 --> 01:10:40,066
many miles from New York you know

1203
01:10:40,533 --> 01:10:44,266
and now we had to check in some little hotel

1204
01:10:44,600 --> 01:10:48,133
which was terrible hot shave

1205
01:10:49,400 --> 01:10:51,066
try to get a little dinner

1206
01:10:51,500 --> 01:10:54,766
and be ready to play at 8:00 in the ballroom

1207
01:11:01,366 --> 01:11:05,566
people loved dancing every town had its own ballroom

1208
01:11:05,666 --> 01:11:08,866
and when the bands came they danced

1209
01:11:33,366 --> 01:11:34,700
you know we used to play poker

1210
01:11:34,700 --> 01:11:36,866
especially after we're on the Pullman

1211
01:11:37,366 --> 01:11:39,266
we're on one night at a transit tour

1212
01:11:39,666 --> 01:11:41,633
a lot of us would play poker for something to do

1213
01:11:41,633 --> 01:11:43,300
you had to do something or you'd go out of your mind

1214
01:11:43,300 --> 01:11:44,666
because you're traveling and playing

1215
01:11:44,666 --> 01:11:45,733
and that's all you did

1216
01:11:46,066 --> 01:11:49,600
Vicks had a habit of getting up and he'd sit in

1217
01:11:50,700 --> 01:11:54,400
if one of the fellows might get sleepy and go to bed

1218
01:11:54,400 --> 01:11:55,866
and there'd be just six of us there

1219
01:11:55,866 --> 01:11:57,900
fix would sit down and play for a while

1220
01:11:58,700 --> 01:11:59,700
and invariably

1221
01:11:59,700 --> 01:12:01,666
he'd walk out with about 50 or 60 dollars

1222
01:12:01,666 --> 01:12:04,266
you'd deal him a card and he'd go to pick it up

1223
01:12:04,266 --> 01:12:05,266
and he didn't trust anybody

1224
01:12:05,266 --> 01:12:06,300
he'd pull it up like that

1225
01:12:06,500 --> 01:12:08,000
he'd drop it it'd fall on the floor

1226
01:12:08,000 --> 01:12:09,100
it would be an ace you know

1227
01:12:09,100 --> 01:12:11,066
and that would scare everybody to death right there

1228
01:12:11,066 --> 01:12:12,666
we finally had to give up

1229
01:12:13,566 --> 01:12:14,900
because Big's head is all broken

1230
01:12:14,900 --> 01:12:16,333
about two or three weeks

1231
01:12:21,000 --> 01:12:22,700
to keep his musicians in line

1232
01:12:22,700 --> 01:12:24,900
Paul Whiteman enforced certain rules

1233
01:12:25,466 --> 01:12:27,233
if anyone missed a concert

1234
01:12:27,233 --> 01:12:28,533
they paid a fine

1235
01:12:29,466 --> 01:12:31,866
one morning the musicians had to board the train

1236
01:12:31,866 --> 01:12:34,500
especially early Bix

1237
01:12:34,500 --> 01:12:37,866
the last one down at the station took the wrong train

1238
01:12:39,300 --> 01:12:41,400
now the conductor came around to pick up his ticket

1239
01:12:41,400 --> 01:12:43,666
and of course he was irritated at every

1240
01:12:43,666 --> 01:12:45,566
everyone and everything at that time of the morning

1241
01:12:45,566 --> 01:12:48,066
with a slight hangover you know

1242
01:12:48,566 --> 01:12:49,766
and he said to the conductor

1243
01:12:49,866 --> 01:12:51,866
the white man band and the next coach

1244
01:12:51,866 --> 01:12:53,566
Mister Glassby has my ticket

1245
01:12:55,000 --> 01:12:57,633
so the conductor came back in about five or six minutes

1246
01:12:57,633 --> 01:13:00,366
he said there's no wiping band on this train

1247
01:13:00,366 --> 01:13:01,433
and big said there must be

1248
01:13:01,433 --> 01:13:02,466
there's gotta be

1249
01:13:03,300 --> 01:13:04,100
and the

1250
01:13:04,500 --> 01:13:06,966
conductor finally convinced him that there weren't

1251
01:13:07,566 --> 01:13:11,866
anyone on that on the uh train that could uh

1252
01:13:12,233 --> 01:13:13,933
give him a half his ticket

1253
01:13:14,766 --> 01:13:18,700
and so pics paid him $7 and something for the ticket

1254
01:13:18,700 --> 01:13:21,100
which took him to the next stop

1255
01:13:21,100 --> 01:13:24,866
which was a couple hours drive or on the train

1256
01:13:26,066 --> 01:13:27,266
and somehow or other

1257
01:13:27,266 --> 01:13:30,100
he remembered the town we were playing in

1258
01:13:30,100 --> 01:13:32,933
so he hired a plane he rented a plane

1259
01:13:33,433 --> 01:13:36,366
now not too many guys who were gonna work for somebody

1260
01:13:38,000 --> 01:13:39,700
like people well enough

1261
01:13:39,700 --> 01:13:41,800
and they're gonna cut into their pay

1262
01:13:41,966 --> 01:13:43,733
they're just gonna let it go

1263
01:13:43,966 --> 01:13:47,366
so I don't make it but not Vicks

1264
01:13:48,433 --> 01:13:53,200
he's gonna charter a plane and get there for the date

1265
01:13:53,766 --> 01:13:56,066
which he does he finds the plane

1266
01:14:01,266 --> 01:14:02,700
and he gets up there

1267
01:14:02,700 --> 01:14:04,800
and it just turns out that he's up there 2

1268
01:14:04,800 --> 01:14:10,466
3 hours before they're gonna make the noon session

1269
01:14:11,200 --> 01:14:13,166
so he figures well I got 2

1270
01:14:13,166 --> 01:14:16,400
3 hours I didn't get much sleep last night

1271
01:14:16,400 --> 01:14:18,733
he said I'll go up and just take a cat nap

1272
01:14:19,466 --> 01:14:23,666
so he goes up and he gets in bed and of course

1273
01:14:23,766 --> 01:14:27,533
he conks off and sleeps right through the concert

1274
01:14:28,066 --> 01:14:33,866
he's in town but uh nobody wakes him up

1275
01:14:33,866 --> 01:14:35,766
nobody else knows he's there

1276
01:14:36,233 --> 01:14:38,566
and he just sleeps right through it

1277
01:14:39,000 --> 01:14:39,500
I think

1278
01:14:39,500 --> 01:14:41,066
that's one of the funniest things that ever happened

1279
01:14:41,066 --> 01:14:45,500
to Vicks it cost him $107 to to make it to this uh

1280
01:14:46,066 --> 01:14:47,666
where the concert was being played

1281
01:15:14,800 --> 01:15:19,366
a different town each day a relentless schedule wake up

1282
01:15:19,366 --> 01:15:21,000
board the train arrive

1283
01:15:21,000 --> 01:15:22,600
rehearse perform

1284
01:15:22,866 --> 01:15:26,500
sometimes perform twice a day little time to eat

1285
01:15:26,500 --> 01:15:28,300
sleep and relax

1286
01:15:33,100 --> 01:15:36,400
I remember we played Davenport Island 1 one night

1287
01:15:36,700 --> 01:15:37,666
and Bix

1288
01:15:37,666 --> 01:15:41,166
didn't take a drink for two days before we got there

1289
01:15:45,833 --> 01:15:48,066
and one or two days after we left there

1290
01:15:48,066 --> 01:15:50,233
Mick's right back on the nips again

1291
01:15:50,233 --> 01:15:53,166
you know playing and drinking

1292
01:15:53,566 --> 01:15:57,200
unfortunately that was one of his faults

1293
01:15:57,833 --> 01:15:59,533
many others had that fault

1294
01:15:59,700 --> 01:16:01,366
and I guess one of the reasons

1295
01:16:01,366 --> 01:16:03,966
I tried to analyze they were doing that

1296
01:16:03,966 --> 01:16:05,933
is that the work was so hard

1297
01:16:06,633 --> 01:16:08,933
that you almost had to drink

1298
01:16:18,233 --> 01:16:20,733
the road stretched on and on

1299
01:16:23,100 --> 01:16:25,966
the ever changing landscape of Middle America

1300
01:16:26,166 --> 01:16:28,366
its highways its telegraph wires

1301
01:16:28,366 --> 01:16:29,666
its small towns

1302
01:16:30,700 --> 01:16:33,700
after a while it all looked the same

1303
01:16:34,666 --> 01:16:38,366
the same tunes over and over

1304
01:16:39,233 --> 01:16:42,666
the routine interrupted here and there by a solo

1305
01:17:07,033 --> 01:17:08,600
there was little privacy

1306
01:17:08,633 --> 01:17:10,600
no break from each other's company

1307
01:17:11,633 --> 01:17:13,800
after six weeks on the road

1308
01:17:13,900 --> 01:17:16,466
they'd covered almost 20 states

1309
01:17:17,966 --> 01:17:20,100
the boys had become like a family

1310
01:17:20,766 --> 01:17:22,700
they called White Man Pops

1311
01:17:23,033 --> 01:17:24,300
and Bix would later say

1312
01:17:24,300 --> 01:17:26,666
that White Man was more like a father to him

1313
01:17:26,666 --> 01:17:28,100
than his own father

1314
01:17:31,266 --> 01:17:32,800
he had a great sense of humor

1315
01:17:32,800 --> 01:17:35,066
for one thing very dry

1316
01:17:35,300 --> 01:17:37,966
but an excellent sense of humor

1317
01:17:38,200 --> 01:17:40,533
and he was a very intelligent guy

1318
01:17:41,400 --> 01:17:45,100
he read a lot and he knew what was going on

1319
01:17:45,600 --> 01:17:48,633
but if somebody said something

1320
01:17:48,633 --> 01:17:50,100
which could have been funny

1321
01:17:50,100 --> 01:17:54,966
he could have had his mind on something else and uh

1322
01:17:55,900 --> 01:17:58,000
you know he could probably turn around

1323
01:17:58,000 --> 01:17:59,233
what is it what's going on

1324
01:17:59,233 --> 01:18:02,000
you know and it would seem funny coming from him

1325
01:18:02,200 --> 01:18:05,866
it seem like this guy doesn't know what it's all about

1326
01:18:06,100 --> 01:18:10,100
so they'll ape him and uh

1327
01:18:10,833 --> 01:18:13,366
and imitate him the boys sometimes

1328
01:18:13,366 --> 01:18:16,100
some of them would would take advantage of Bix

1329
01:18:16,100 --> 01:18:18,200
when he was drinking or something like that

1330
01:18:18,200 --> 01:18:19,200
and uh

1331
01:18:19,633 --> 01:18:22,400
I think I recall the time that he

1332
01:18:22,400 --> 01:18:24,266
he always used to have a big

1333
01:18:24,266 --> 01:18:27,000
English bag that used to carry

1334
01:18:27,766 --> 01:18:29,300
uh all of his things in

1335
01:18:29,300 --> 01:18:32,433
and one time some one of the boys put a big

1336
01:18:32,433 --> 01:18:35,466
heavy iron bar in there and big said

1337
01:18:35,466 --> 01:18:37,800
my heavens this thing is getting so heavy

1338
01:18:37,900 --> 01:18:40,000
not realizing that he put it on the bottom

1339
01:18:40,000 --> 01:18:41,233
and all of his

1340
01:18:41,233 --> 01:18:43,366
put his laundry on top of it and everything else

1341
01:18:43,366 --> 01:18:48,000
and things like that which I thought was not nice

1342
01:18:48,033 --> 01:18:49,600
they thought maybe that was a good joke

1343
01:18:49,600 --> 01:18:52,200
because he wasn't aware of what was going on

1344
01:18:52,200 --> 01:18:52,833
at the time

1345
01:18:52,833 --> 01:18:55,033
and I think maybe that helped their ego or something

1346
01:18:55,033 --> 01:18:55,966
I don't know

1347
01:18:57,300 --> 01:19:00,133
there were some that resented him

1348
01:19:00,366 --> 01:19:00,900
well I would say

1349
01:19:00,900 --> 01:19:05,000
I think mostly jealousy of his playing or his ability

1350
01:19:05,600 --> 01:19:08,366
the latitude that Paul gave him

1351
01:19:08,666 --> 01:19:10,866
but Paul gave him this latitude

1352
01:19:10,866 --> 01:19:14,366
because he did recognize the talent of Bakes

1353
01:19:19,400 --> 01:19:21,300
Whitman once said VIX

1354
01:19:21,300 --> 01:19:23,133
plays more in three notes

1355
01:19:23,166 --> 01:19:26,066
than most people play in an entire chorus

1356
01:19:49,700 --> 01:19:51,000
but many of the legit

1357
01:19:51,000 --> 01:19:53,566
type players didn't like to be upstaged

1358
01:19:53,833 --> 01:19:56,233
the orchestra was a collection of temperamental

1359
01:19:56,233 --> 01:19:59,333
individuals all competing for the spotlight

1360
01:20:10,066 --> 01:20:12,566
I've had a lot of guys say that

1361
01:20:13,566 --> 01:20:15,066
why don't you give that part to me

1362
01:20:15,066 --> 01:20:17,000
I could have played it just as well

1363
01:20:18,100 --> 01:20:19,133
and

1364
01:20:20,400 --> 01:20:22,166
they couldn't make me believe that

1365
01:20:23,466 --> 01:20:24,833
so I gave it to the one

1366
01:20:24,833 --> 01:20:26,766
that I thought could play it best

1367
01:20:31,433 --> 01:20:33,466
after eight weeks on the road

1368
01:20:33,466 --> 01:20:37,166
the orchestra had traveled a staggering 12,000 miles

1369
01:20:40,500 --> 01:20:43,200
everywhere white men packed them in

1370
01:20:43,800 --> 01:20:45,800
he gave people what they wanted

1371
01:20:45,833 --> 01:20:49,266
familiar numbers sweet sounds whatever sold

1372
01:20:53,000 --> 01:20:55,400
and so Bix never a good or fast reader

1373
01:20:55,400 --> 01:20:57,966
was often buried in the complex arrangements

1374
01:21:00,433 --> 01:21:01,966
for routine melodies

1375
01:21:02,200 --> 01:21:05,333
he was given the third or fourth trumpet part

1376
01:21:05,400 --> 01:21:07,066
the least important one

1377
01:21:08,500 --> 01:21:11,100
his turn to shine came in the solos

1378
01:21:11,400 --> 01:21:14,366
but the solos were getting fewer and fewer

1379
01:21:15,200 --> 01:21:18,933
white man's commercialism was taking over

1380
01:21:21,466 --> 01:21:23,333
whatever number it would be

1381
01:21:24,100 --> 01:21:26,633
uh he'd be sitting around there waiting for his part

1382
01:21:26,633 --> 01:21:28,066
maybe take a drink who

1383
01:21:28,066 --> 01:21:30,266
who knows it's only natural

1384
01:21:30,500 --> 01:21:32,933
any guys have take have done that

1385
01:21:33,500 --> 01:21:37,566
and he didn't get to play the things he loved

1386
01:21:37,800 --> 01:21:39,266
with the White Men Band

1387
01:21:39,800 --> 01:21:42,233
because we were a symphonic band

1388
01:21:42,233 --> 01:21:44,600
we played the same thing every night

1389
01:21:44,966 --> 01:21:46,266
and it got to be tiresome

1390
01:21:46,266 --> 01:21:47,400
you know we played the Rhapsody

1391
01:21:47,400 --> 01:21:50,733
I must have played the Rhapsody 10,000 times in my life

1392
01:21:51,600 --> 01:21:53,400
cause I was in the White Man Band for 10 years

1393
01:21:53,400 --> 01:21:55,333
and we played it every day somewhere

1394
01:21:55,866 --> 01:21:57,000
so it got so

1395
01:21:57,000 --> 01:21:58,700
you could play the Rhapsody in blue

1396
01:21:58,700 --> 01:22:00,700
and sleep at the same time

1397
01:22:00,866 --> 01:22:02,666
I remember many times I'd be up there

1398
01:22:02,666 --> 01:22:05,600
and I'd be so sleepy and I'm still playing

1399
01:22:05,600 --> 01:22:07,366
my eyes would close you know

1400
01:22:07,500 --> 01:22:08,900
and many was like

1401
01:22:09,033 --> 01:22:11,666
now you can imagine if you had a stomach full of liquor

1402
01:22:11,666 --> 01:22:14,066
what what was going on

1403
01:22:16,766 --> 01:22:17,300
another tune

1404
01:22:17,300 --> 01:22:19,800
which was a regular feature of the White Man program

1405
01:22:19,800 --> 01:22:21,266
was Gypsy

1406
01:22:22,233 --> 01:22:24,200
audiences loved it

1407
01:22:34,833 --> 01:22:38,200
and I can't remember him having ever been a ladies man

1408
01:22:38,600 --> 01:22:40,733
ever can't look back on that

1409
01:22:42,633 --> 01:22:46,166
he was always with the boys someplace and

1410
01:22:47,566 --> 01:22:49,700
it was the time I was there with him too

1411
01:22:49,700 --> 01:22:51,600
you know we had a couple hours off between

1412
01:22:51,600 --> 01:22:53,966
and the Biltmore especially

1413
01:22:53,966 --> 01:22:55,666
we go right around the corner of the place

1414
01:22:55,666 --> 01:22:56,366
have a few drinks

1415
01:22:56,366 --> 01:22:59,066
the first thing you know that the couple hours are gone

1416
01:22:59,066 --> 01:22:59,866
you know

1417
01:23:01,166 --> 01:23:02,766
that's what killed you most of the time

1418
01:23:02,766 --> 01:23:03,966
playing theaters and this

1419
01:23:03,966 --> 01:23:06,000
the time in between that you had

1420
01:23:06,000 --> 01:23:07,966
what are you gonna do in between these shows

1421
01:23:08,266 --> 01:23:09,200
well you always had it

1422
01:23:09,200 --> 01:23:10,500
someplace where you could have a drink

1423
01:23:10,500 --> 01:23:12,266
or bite to eat or something

1424
01:23:12,633 --> 01:23:16,100
on December the orchestra returned to New York

1425
01:23:17,000 --> 01:23:19,066
fix was not well

1426
01:23:19,766 --> 01:23:22,233
a bad cold turned into pneumonia

1427
01:23:22,233 --> 01:23:24,800
and he had to be hospitalized for two weeks

1428
01:23:25,900 --> 01:23:28,066
but he didn't stay away for long

1429
01:23:28,566 --> 01:23:31,866
in mid January he made sure he was back with the band

1430
01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:35,166
they opened at Cleveland's Palace Theatre

1431
01:23:55,500 --> 01:23:58,733
at the Palace Theatre they perform four times a day

1432
01:23:59,266 --> 01:24:01,200
more performances than usual

1433
01:24:01,766 --> 01:24:03,733
Bix tried to keep up the pace

1434
01:24:14,500 --> 01:24:15,633
on the second day

1435
01:24:15,633 --> 01:24:17,933
he was unable to make the evening performance

1436
01:24:18,433 --> 01:24:20,333
his health had not recovered

1437
01:24:21,200 --> 01:24:24,500
this time he had a total physical breakdown

1438
01:24:27,066 --> 01:24:31,266
he decided to go home to Davenport for peace and quiet

1439
01:24:35,566 --> 01:24:37,933
Bix had not been home for some time

1440
01:24:38,433 --> 01:24:39,833
but he had kept in touch

1441
01:24:39,833 --> 01:24:43,400
by sending his parents a copy of every record he'd made

1442
01:24:45,966 --> 01:24:49,066
one day he chanced upon the entire collection

1443
01:24:49,066 --> 01:24:51,066
in their original mailing boxes

1444
01:24:51,866 --> 01:24:53,400
they'd never been opened

1445
01:24:56,200 --> 01:24:57,400
Eston Spurrier

1446
01:24:57,400 --> 01:25:00,100
remembers the effect the discovery had on Bix

1447
01:25:00,800 --> 01:25:02,900
Bix was a a a

1448
01:25:02,966 --> 01:25:08,533
he was a family boy and he admired and liked his family

1449
01:25:09,500 --> 01:25:11,800
it was a little hard for him to understand that

1450
01:25:12,400 --> 01:25:16,600
here he was at the Pinnacle of success in his field

1451
01:25:16,600 --> 01:25:17,900
and his chosen field

1452
01:25:18,766 --> 01:25:21,133
and that the family couldn't go along with it

1453
01:25:24,433 --> 01:25:26,700
Bix remained in Davenport for a month

1454
01:25:27,966 --> 01:25:28,633
meanwhile

1455
01:25:28,633 --> 01:25:30,866
Whitman had replaced him with a young cornetist

1456
01:25:30,866 --> 01:25:34,800
named Andy Sechrist a dependable addition to the band

1457
01:25:35,500 --> 01:25:37,200
but he was no bix

1458
01:25:39,166 --> 01:25:41,933
Whitman was delighted to have Bix back on the job

1459
01:25:43,266 --> 01:25:44,866
he'd signed a special contract

1460
01:25:44,866 --> 01:25:46,466
with the Old Gold Cigarette company

1461
01:25:46,466 --> 01:25:48,200
for a weekly radio series

1462
01:25:48,266 --> 01:25:51,133
and was performing nightly at the Amsterdam Theater

1463
01:25:52,800 --> 01:25:56,266
a rough schedule new tunes every week

1464
01:25:58,866 --> 01:26:01,666
it was 1929 now

1465
01:26:01,666 --> 01:26:04,333
radio was the way to bring music to the masses

1466
01:26:06,000 --> 01:26:08,466
and New York the center of broadcasting

1467
01:26:08,566 --> 01:26:10,900
had become the new capital of jazz

1468
01:26:12,266 --> 01:26:15,200
young musicians came to listen and to learn

1469
01:26:15,633 --> 01:26:18,100
one was the clarinetist Artie Shaw

1470
01:26:19,433 --> 01:26:19,833
Bix

1471
01:26:19,833 --> 01:26:23,300
certainly made a sound that had not been heard before

1472
01:26:23,400 --> 01:26:24,866
that's an interesting thing to do

1473
01:26:24,866 --> 01:26:26,500
anything that you can do in life

1474
01:26:26,500 --> 01:26:28,033
that has not been done before

1475
01:26:28,033 --> 01:26:30,200
is very interesting to be different

1476
01:26:30,200 --> 01:26:32,466
to be original without setting out to be

1477
01:26:32,466 --> 01:26:32,700
you know

1478
01:26:32,700 --> 01:26:35,400
like scratching the left ear with the right hand

1479
01:26:35,500 --> 01:26:37,900
uh to be different is in itself very

1480
01:26:37,900 --> 01:26:39,366
very difficult I mean

1481
01:26:39,366 --> 01:26:41,366
because almost everything's been done

1482
01:26:41,900 --> 01:26:44,933
so most of the trumpet players tried to imitate him

1483
01:26:45,066 --> 01:26:46,000
Red Nichols

1484
01:26:46,200 --> 01:26:48,733
supreme example of somebody who tried to copy Bix

1485
01:26:48,766 --> 01:26:50,400
but the trouble is you know

1486
01:26:50,400 --> 01:26:51,933
he didn't have the sound

1487
01:26:52,100 --> 01:26:54,200
the sound was what it was with Bix

1488
01:26:54,966 --> 01:26:57,033
and you could hear the best of that sound in the

1489
01:26:57,033 --> 01:27:00,066
after hours clubs right till dawn

1490
01:27:38,666 --> 01:27:43,066
he was so popular and admired and worshipped was really

1491
01:27:43,066 --> 01:27:46,500
the word worshipped was um

1492
01:27:47,100 --> 01:27:49,700
by young people who would come around after a concert

1493
01:27:49,700 --> 01:27:50,700
or after a

1494
01:27:50,833 --> 01:27:53,833
a show in a theater where we played four or five shows

1495
01:27:53,833 --> 01:27:55,666
was always a gang hanging around there

1496
01:27:55,966 --> 01:27:57,566
they wanted to meet him talk to him

1497
01:27:57,566 --> 01:27:59,666
and he was very happy too

1498
01:27:59,666 --> 01:28:01,800
because they were Kindred spirits

1499
01:28:02,566 --> 01:28:05,166
and they would always take him to a place

1500
01:28:05,566 --> 01:28:07,166
where there's a piano and a drum

1501
01:28:07,166 --> 01:28:09,033
etcetera and there's liquor

1502
01:28:09,033 --> 01:28:12,300
right and he would sit up all night playing

1503
01:28:12,866 --> 01:28:15,066
so he was an idol to them

1504
01:28:15,066 --> 01:28:17,600
they pastored him that's what it is

1505
01:28:17,600 --> 01:28:20,866
when you become famous overnight for a long time you

1506
01:28:20,866 --> 01:28:22,733
you you got to

1507
01:28:23,000 --> 01:28:24,533
you got to go with the crowd

1508
01:28:24,666 --> 01:28:27,466
you got to go with the demand of the public

1509
01:28:27,966 --> 01:28:29,300
demand of the musicians

1510
01:28:30,666 --> 01:28:33,233
no privacy at all no privacy at all

1511
01:28:33,233 --> 01:28:36,333
I always say his friends did him harm

1512
01:28:36,400 --> 01:28:37,700
they didn't say well

1513
01:28:37,700 --> 01:28:40,233
why don't you go on and get some sleep tonight

1514
01:28:40,233 --> 01:28:42,433
and take sweet and never would say no

1515
01:28:42,433 --> 01:28:43,600
and that's what hurt him

1516
01:28:43,800 --> 01:28:46,166
and I just talked to him as a man here

1517
01:28:46,600 --> 01:28:48,000
but I have your mind sometimes

1518
01:28:48,000 --> 01:28:49,500
that it didn't mean no harm

1519
01:28:49,500 --> 01:28:52,066
but you got to think for yourself man

1520
01:28:52,433 --> 01:28:52,800
and

1521
01:28:52,800 --> 01:28:55,700
the boy didn't have a chance to even live his own life

1522
01:28:56,066 --> 01:28:58,366
musicians continued to come and hear Bix

1523
01:28:58,366 --> 01:28:59,800
as often as they could

1524
01:28:59,866 --> 01:29:01,766
one of them was drummer Herb Weil

1525
01:29:02,300 --> 01:29:05,066
I caught him several times with White Man

1526
01:29:05,066 --> 01:29:08,066
and he got to be in a sort of a stupor

1527
01:29:08,066 --> 01:29:11,466
where he'd sit on the bandstand perfectly straight

1528
01:29:12,400 --> 01:29:14,266
and the first trumpet player

1529
01:29:15,833 --> 01:29:19,666
would whisper something to him every now and then

1530
01:29:20,233 --> 01:29:20,766
for instance

1531
01:29:20,766 --> 01:29:23,666
if he had eight bars coming up in an arrangement

1532
01:29:24,566 --> 01:29:29,133
he'd nudge or pull his sleeve and tell him

1533
01:29:29,566 --> 01:29:32,133
you got eight bars coming up right here

1534
01:29:33,066 --> 01:29:34,666
picks up pick up the horn

1535
01:29:35,033 --> 01:29:36,466
play the 8 bars

1536
01:29:36,800 --> 01:29:40,700
put his horn down and go right back into a stupor again

1537
01:29:40,900 --> 01:29:43,366
all day long he had a hangover and

1538
01:29:43,366 --> 01:29:45,333
and he it was crabby

1539
01:29:46,900 --> 01:29:48,366
all the while I knew him as crap

1540
01:29:48,366 --> 01:29:49,700
it wasn't to me

1541
01:29:50,566 --> 01:29:53,200
not to me but to the other people

1542
01:29:53,200 --> 01:29:55,600
because the other people in the band were

1543
01:29:55,800 --> 01:29:56,966
laughing at him

1544
01:30:02,633 --> 01:30:05,000
he thought people were ridiculing him

1545
01:30:05,000 --> 01:30:06,900
that's what that's what was the matter

1546
01:30:07,700 --> 01:30:08,300
well I've

1547
01:30:08,300 --> 01:30:09,300
I've stood on a

1548
01:30:09,300 --> 01:30:11,300
on a street corner with a white man band

1549
01:30:11,300 --> 01:30:13,700
someplace where we were all standing together

1550
01:30:13,766 --> 01:30:17,100
and Bix would walk by and he wouldn't even look at it

1551
01:30:17,200 --> 01:30:18,666
and after Bix had walked by

1552
01:30:18,666 --> 01:30:21,533
he turned his head and he said what you looking at

1553
01:30:22,766 --> 01:30:26,400
he was sensitive cause that went with a drink

1554
01:30:26,400 --> 01:30:30,266
you know but he was a sweet guy inside of him

1555
01:30:30,266 --> 01:30:31,400
he really was

1556
01:30:34,000 --> 01:30:35,800
The White Men Orchestra left New York

1557
01:30:35,800 --> 01:30:37,566
for another cross country tour

1558
01:30:38,266 --> 01:30:39,633
they headed for the West Coast

1559
01:30:39,633 --> 01:30:42,200
to make a feature film for Universal Studios

1560
01:30:44,266 --> 01:30:47,366
the band arrived in Los Angeles to a gala welcome

1561
01:30:47,366 --> 01:30:48,600
Hollywood style

1562
01:30:50,700 --> 01:30:53,333
but universal couldn't get its act together

1563
01:30:55,566 --> 01:30:56,800
for two and a half months

1564
01:30:56,800 --> 01:30:58,933
the studio kept reworking the script

1565
01:30:59,433 --> 01:31:02,700
while the boys collected a salary of $200 a week

1566
01:31:04,966 --> 01:31:07,300
except for their weekly old gold broadcast

1567
01:31:07,300 --> 01:31:09,700
they had nothing to do but hang around

1568
01:31:29,566 --> 01:31:32,066
Vicks had looked forward to California sunshine

1569
01:31:32,066 --> 01:31:33,900
hoping for a bit of a vacation

1570
01:31:34,666 --> 01:31:35,833
but he and others

1571
01:31:35,833 --> 01:31:38,400
could not resist the lure of Hollywood's parties

1572
01:31:38,900 --> 01:31:41,100
the drinking got heavier than ever

1573
01:31:43,200 --> 01:31:43,833
finally

1574
01:31:43,833 --> 01:31:46,866
Whitman's patience with the studio's delays ran out

1575
01:31:47,266 --> 01:31:49,000
he told the boys to pack

1576
01:31:49,300 --> 01:31:51,166
they were heading back to New York

1577
01:31:51,400 --> 01:31:54,466
and I said why don't we go to the station and see Bixby

1578
01:31:54,700 --> 01:31:56,266
I heard that they were leaving

1579
01:31:56,400 --> 01:31:59,966
Bixby arrived and he was walking with a cane

1580
01:31:59,966 --> 01:32:01,666
which we were sorry to see

1581
01:32:01,666 --> 01:32:05,500
and he came up and gave us the usual big greeting

1582
01:32:05,500 --> 01:32:07,200
the big smile and everything

1583
01:32:08,066 --> 01:32:11,100
but I could see that he was not too anxious to talk

1584
01:32:11,100 --> 01:32:14,000
I think he was a little embarrassed because of the cane

1585
01:32:14,000 --> 01:32:17,000
and he was still having a problem

1586
01:32:18,166 --> 01:32:19,000
so um

1587
01:32:19,000 --> 01:32:20,033
he said fellas

1588
01:32:20,033 --> 01:32:22,500
Gee I'd sure glad to see you

1589
01:32:22,500 --> 01:32:25,900
and I'm awful nice of you to come down to the station

1590
01:32:25,900 --> 01:32:27,466
and all but he said

1591
01:32:27,466 --> 01:32:29,233
I think I better get on the train

1592
01:32:29,233 --> 01:32:32,333
I think I think that the time is running out

1593
01:32:56,600 --> 01:33:00,466
but I'll wear a smile'cause in a little while

1594
01:33:10,500 --> 01:33:12,133
at the end of the road

1595
01:33:18,433 --> 01:33:21,300
I remember once or twice rooming with him

1596
01:33:21,300 --> 01:33:22,866
and as I got up

1597
01:33:24,200 --> 01:33:26,966
he had a bottle of gin the side of

1598
01:33:26,966 --> 01:33:28,900
on the floor on the side of the table

1599
01:33:29,000 --> 01:33:32,766
and before he got out of bed to even brush his teeth

1600
01:33:32,766 --> 01:33:34,400
he took a big swig of that gin

1601
01:33:34,400 --> 01:33:36,500
you can imagine what that tasted like

1602
01:33:36,500 --> 01:33:38,500
like at 5:30 in the morning

1603
01:33:39,033 --> 01:33:41,566
you know and you can imagine the

1604
01:33:42,433 --> 01:33:44,033
the trauma he was in

1605
01:33:44,033 --> 01:33:49,466
that he had to have that before he could get up

1606
01:33:50,966 --> 01:33:53,133
on Friday September 13th

1607
01:33:53,200 --> 01:33:55,066
Whitman recorded another take of

1608
01:33:55,066 --> 01:33:57,300
waiting at the end of the road for Columbia

1609
01:33:58,500 --> 01:34:01,300
when big showed up he looked terrible

1610
01:34:02,466 --> 01:34:05,366
even so he got through his eight bar solo

1611
01:34:23,300 --> 01:34:25,166
while they were recording the next number

1612
01:34:25,166 --> 01:34:26,400
Bix collapsed

1613
01:34:26,966 --> 01:34:28,600
he could not finish the session

1614
01:34:28,700 --> 01:34:30,700
and returned to his hotel room

1615
01:34:32,066 --> 01:34:35,333
at the studio Andy Seckers took over for him

1616
01:34:38,200 --> 01:34:41,133
Roy Meyer and the others returned to the hotel later

1617
01:34:42,766 --> 01:34:46,866
and as we walked in the clerk behind the desk said

1618
01:34:47,166 --> 01:34:48,933
you better go up and see Bix

1619
01:34:50,166 --> 01:34:50,866
she said yeah

1620
01:34:50,866 --> 01:34:52,500
where is he says he's in the room

1621
01:34:52,500 --> 01:34:54,533
saw himself there go take a look at him

1622
01:34:55,366 --> 01:34:57,266
so we walked up to see the

1623
01:34:57,400 --> 01:34:59,666
the room we opened the door

1624
01:35:00,566 --> 01:35:03,400
Victor laying there in his pajamas and old

1625
01:35:03,400 --> 01:35:05,700
starry eyed and everything and and

1626
01:35:05,700 --> 01:35:07,466
and the minute we started to talk to him

1627
01:35:07,466 --> 01:35:10,733
he jumped up and started hitting the wall

1628
01:35:11,900 --> 01:35:12,700
snakes

1629
01:35:14,400 --> 01:35:16,100
yeah you take a sack at the wall

1630
01:35:16,100 --> 01:35:16,866
but the the I'm

1631
01:35:16,866 --> 01:35:19,133
I'm imagine a snake is up in there

1632
01:35:19,566 --> 01:35:20,100
and so

1633
01:35:20,100 --> 01:35:23,500
Paul and I went up to the hotel room where he was

1634
01:35:23,500 --> 01:35:24,333
it was a

1635
01:35:24,666 --> 01:35:28,866
it was a very cheap hotel and here he was in bed

1636
01:35:28,866 --> 01:35:31,400
he was just absolutely out

1637
01:35:31,400 --> 01:35:32,300
he had been drinking and

1638
01:35:32,300 --> 01:35:35,766
and he was a shaving all the bed like that then

1639
01:35:38,200 --> 01:35:40,566
I give an imitation just what it looked like

1640
01:35:42,000 --> 01:35:44,700
yes just like that violent

1641
01:35:45,800 --> 01:35:47,466
now that's all I saw of his

1642
01:35:47,966 --> 01:35:50,566
of his DTS so I guess that's

1643
01:35:51,266 --> 01:35:53,266
imagine what all DTS look like

1644
01:35:53,266 --> 01:35:54,966
cause I never saw one before

1645
01:35:55,433 --> 01:35:57,800
you look up there and and hit at the wall just

1646
01:35:57,800 --> 01:36:00,966
just as if it was a snake crawling on that wall

1647
01:36:03,500 --> 01:36:05,000
I don't think he uh

1648
01:36:05,300 --> 01:36:08,633
realized how bad he was and so

1649
01:36:08,633 --> 01:36:12,066
Paul made arrangements to send him back to Davenport

1650
01:36:12,366 --> 01:36:15,300
and to recoup and hoping that he would straighten out

1651
01:36:15,300 --> 01:36:15,866
and and

1652
01:36:15,866 --> 01:36:19,300
get his health back and and come join the band

1653
01:36:19,300 --> 01:36:21,733
which never happened again

1654
01:36:27,300 --> 01:36:28,700
his parents reluctantly

1655
01:36:28,700 --> 01:36:31,333
decided that Vicks needed institutional care

1656
01:36:31,600 --> 01:36:33,833
and his brother took him to the Keeley Institute

1657
01:36:33,833 --> 01:36:36,100
well known for its treatment of alcoholics

1658
01:36:37,166 --> 01:36:39,800
one letter from the institute to his parents read

1659
01:36:40,000 --> 01:36:42,166
considering the extremely bad condition

1660
01:36:42,166 --> 01:36:44,266
in which we received Mr Byderbeck

1661
01:36:44,433 --> 01:36:46,066
he's making good progress

1662
01:36:47,233 --> 01:36:49,800
the letter urged his parents to write often

1663
01:36:49,800 --> 01:36:51,200
and encouragingly

1664
01:36:53,433 --> 01:36:56,066
after five weeks Vicks left Keeley

1665
01:36:56,066 --> 01:36:57,000
under doctor's orders

1666
01:36:57,000 --> 01:36:59,600
to abstain totally for the rest of his life

1667
01:37:02,800 --> 01:37:05,366
he stayed home for seven months

1668
01:37:06,566 --> 01:37:09,300
sometimes Vicks looked up old friends

1669
01:37:09,300 --> 01:37:12,666
among them his girlfriend from high school days Vera

1670
01:37:13,233 --> 01:37:14,966
someone told him I was here

1671
01:37:14,966 --> 01:37:17,466
so he called and said he'd like very much to come over

1672
01:37:17,466 --> 01:37:19,700
and we went out for a little ride

1673
01:37:20,366 --> 01:37:23,200
he he was a little sad that night

1674
01:37:23,233 --> 01:37:24,100
that was the the

1675
01:37:24,100 --> 01:37:25,600
the evening that he said

1676
01:37:26,266 --> 01:37:27,600
um I said

1677
01:37:27,600 --> 01:37:28,900
where do you go from here

1678
01:37:28,900 --> 01:37:30,600
and he said I wish I knew

1679
01:37:31,166 --> 01:37:33,966
uh he was playing for Paul Whiteman then

1680
01:37:34,233 --> 01:37:35,033
and I said well

1681
01:37:35,033 --> 01:37:36,300
you've reached the peak and he said

1682
01:37:36,300 --> 01:37:38,600
that's just it I have

1683
01:37:38,600 --> 01:37:41,600
and where do you go from there there isn't any place

1684
01:37:46,433 --> 01:37:49,533
it was back in New York on April 23rd, 1930

1685
01:37:49,700 --> 01:37:53,566
27 years old and determined to stay on the wagon

1686
01:37:54,000 --> 01:37:56,666
but it was a different New York

1687
01:37:58,033 --> 01:38:00,200
the 1929 stock market crash

1688
01:38:00,200 --> 01:38:02,266
had knocked the bottom out of the economy

1689
01:38:02,466 --> 01:38:04,800
by 1930 unemployment rose

1690
01:38:04,800 --> 01:38:06,900
hit 12 million The Great

1691
01:38:06,900 --> 01:38:08,600
Depression changed everything

1692
01:38:09,233 --> 01:38:10,500
the social scene

1693
01:38:11,566 --> 01:38:12,766
the music scene

1694
01:38:13,633 --> 01:38:15,233
people needed distraction

1695
01:38:15,233 --> 01:38:17,400
and more and more they turned to radio

1696
01:38:17,400 --> 01:38:19,666
we continue the program with the s t

1697
01:38:19,666 --> 01:38:21,666
a R Movie Club requests

1698
01:38:21,666 --> 01:38:24,466
one from Ida Wilcox of Pittsburgh

1699
01:38:24,833 --> 01:38:28,266
another from Hattie McCloud of Montreal

1700
01:38:29,033 --> 01:38:31,933
all asking for popular songs

1701
01:38:31,966 --> 01:38:33,700
and radio that is

1702
01:38:33,700 --> 01:38:36,333
commercial sponsorship of radio programming

1703
01:38:36,433 --> 01:38:38,166
dictated the form of music

1704
01:38:38,566 --> 01:38:41,366
the change affected Vicks more than ever

1705
01:38:43,666 --> 01:38:45,266
the individuality just went out

1706
01:38:45,266 --> 01:38:47,300
right out the window with radio

1707
01:38:47,600 --> 01:38:49,066
they didn't particularly care that Bix

1708
01:38:49,066 --> 01:38:50,466
was gonna play this course

1709
01:38:50,966 --> 01:38:53,400
they seldom wanted any improvising at all

1710
01:38:54,233 --> 01:38:55,233
Bix you know

1711
01:38:55,233 --> 01:38:57,000
he was a different type of guy

1712
01:38:57,833 --> 01:38:58,766
and uh

1713
01:38:59,566 --> 01:39:02,500
what he'd want to know is tell me when I come in

1714
01:39:02,800 --> 01:39:04,333
had he been able to uh

1715
01:39:04,500 --> 01:39:06,733
read and Mark his parts

1716
01:39:06,900 --> 01:39:08,500
like Andy Secrets and the other guys

1717
01:39:08,500 --> 01:39:10,566
he'd have worked in fact

1718
01:39:10,566 --> 01:39:12,500
there were few other places to work

1719
01:39:12,566 --> 01:39:14,300
the dance halls were closing

1720
01:39:14,433 --> 01:39:16,766
the recording industry was in a slump

1721
01:39:16,833 --> 01:39:19,133
radio had taken over

1722
01:39:19,966 --> 01:39:20,566
meanwhile

1723
01:39:20,566 --> 01:39:23,933
Paul Whiteman had finally filmed The King of jazz

1724
01:39:24,700 --> 01:39:25,366
he too

1725
01:39:25,366 --> 01:39:27,966
was working almost exclusively in radio

1726
01:39:29,666 --> 01:39:31,300
Whitman like everyone else

1727
01:39:31,300 --> 01:39:33,000
was affected by the depression

1728
01:39:33,566 --> 01:39:36,566
he had to cut his orchestra back to 18 members

1729
01:39:36,766 --> 01:39:40,666
and Biggs was a luxury he could no longer afford

1730
01:39:42,366 --> 01:39:46,333
so Bix was alone in New York looking for work

1731
01:39:46,800 --> 01:39:48,933
like a lot of other jazz musicians

1732
01:39:50,466 --> 01:39:53,800
he used to go around sit in here and sit in there

1733
01:39:54,300 --> 01:39:56,300
if the fellas had some work for him

1734
01:39:56,300 --> 01:39:58,033
then they would get in touch with him

1735
01:39:58,033 --> 01:40:00,433
but it's it was very true too

1736
01:40:00,433 --> 01:40:03,566
that there wasn't much work around for Vicks

1737
01:40:04,466 --> 01:40:07,266
it's just too bad that it had to be that way

1738
01:40:07,466 --> 01:40:08,433
but uh

1739
01:40:08,433 --> 01:40:10,133
he didn't get back in the band

1740
01:40:10,500 --> 01:40:12,166
no he hadn't been drinking

1741
01:40:12,433 --> 01:40:14,100
given it up he figured I'm not gonna

1742
01:40:14,100 --> 01:40:15,700
I'm never gonna drink anymore

1743
01:40:15,766 --> 01:40:17,866
and it just so happened that uh

1744
01:40:17,866 --> 01:40:19,300
he was with a couple of guys

1745
01:40:19,300 --> 01:40:20,633
and they took a couple of drinks

1746
01:40:20,633 --> 01:40:23,066
and it started to drink again

1747
01:40:23,066 --> 01:40:24,133
so here

1748
01:40:25,066 --> 01:40:26,400
here he was

1749
01:40:27,066 --> 01:40:28,333
he couldn't help himself

1750
01:40:31,300 --> 01:40:33,200
he tried to stay on the wagon

1751
01:40:33,633 --> 01:40:36,733
sometimes he managed sometimes he didn't

1752
01:40:37,266 --> 01:40:40,200
too many speakeasies in downtown Manhattan

1753
01:40:43,300 --> 01:40:45,333
he finally secured work

1754
01:40:45,633 --> 01:40:48,700
a weekly radio spot on the Camel Pleasure Hour

1755
01:40:49,500 --> 01:40:51,466
the producer of the program who hired him

1756
01:40:51,466 --> 01:40:52,666
was an old fan

1757
01:40:54,500 --> 01:40:56,366
Vicks was pleased with the job

1758
01:40:56,500 --> 01:40:59,466
it was another chance to establish his reliability

1759
01:41:01,700 --> 01:41:04,200
he was determined to make a go of it

1760
01:41:06,066 --> 01:41:08,500
he set up a permanent residence in room 6

1761
01:41:08,500 --> 01:41:12,333
0 5 in the 44th Street Hotel in downtown Manhattan

1762
01:41:15,433 --> 01:41:19,700
everyone knew it and everyone came to visit

1763
01:41:21,766 --> 01:41:24,100
they banged on his door at all hours

1764
01:41:24,400 --> 01:41:26,266
they all wanted him to play

1765
01:41:26,400 --> 01:41:28,700
and so he played

1766
01:41:29,866 --> 01:41:32,400
as I stayed in his room that afternoon

1767
01:41:32,566 --> 01:41:34,500
a parade of people in there all

1768
01:41:34,500 --> 01:41:37,100
all the time one right after the other

1769
01:41:37,466 --> 01:41:38,266
uh

1770
01:41:38,700 --> 01:41:41,666
and I I had the feeling that

1771
01:41:41,900 --> 01:41:44,233
that many of them offered him drinks

1772
01:41:44,233 --> 01:41:47,200
and he he was not a guy could say no

1773
01:41:47,200 --> 01:41:48,366
he always

1774
01:41:49,200 --> 01:41:50,466
whether he wanted it or not I

1775
01:41:50,466 --> 01:41:52,700
I presume by that time he couldn't

1776
01:41:52,700 --> 01:41:54,233
probably could have gotten along without it

1777
01:41:54,233 --> 01:41:56,300
but he wouldn't say no

1778
01:41:56,966 --> 01:41:58,966
he didn't impress me as being very well

1779
01:41:58,966 --> 01:42:00,066
he uh

1780
01:42:00,066 --> 01:42:02,733
I couldn't detect anything other than uh

1781
01:42:04,966 --> 01:42:07,866
his face didn't appear it looked strained

1782
01:42:09,100 --> 01:42:12,733
to me it looked like he was under some kind of a strain

1783
01:42:13,500 --> 01:42:15,300
and I think it was probably his health

1784
01:42:15,300 --> 01:42:17,066
which he refused to admit

1785
01:42:17,966 --> 01:42:20,500
and he was just burying that himself I think

1786
01:42:30,566 --> 01:42:32,800
the job at the pleasure hour continued

1787
01:42:32,800 --> 01:42:34,966
but by now there were problems

1788
01:42:35,666 --> 01:42:39,466
Roy Meyer recalls he was playing all right

1789
01:42:39,466 --> 01:42:40,966
but he was kind of stumbling

1790
01:42:41,633 --> 01:42:44,066
kinda uncertain and uh

1791
01:42:44,066 --> 01:42:46,533
sometimes Vicki get all rattled up uh

1792
01:42:47,700 --> 01:42:49,066
uh playing a

1793
01:42:49,066 --> 01:42:51,233
a course on a concert and

1794
01:42:51,233 --> 01:42:51,700
and a lot

1795
01:42:51,700 --> 01:42:54,400
a lot means anything and everything is focused on you

1796
01:42:54,400 --> 01:42:56,266
and you get stumble or something

1797
01:42:56,366 --> 01:42:59,800
and Liam Mcconville wouldn't get up

1798
01:42:59,800 --> 01:43:01,500
but he start playing it

1799
01:43:02,633 --> 01:43:05,333
he missed as many rehearsals as he made

1800
01:43:05,800 --> 01:43:08,100
and sometimes he forgot his horn

1801
01:43:09,166 --> 01:43:12,200
toward the end of the October 8th Camel Hour broadcast

1802
01:43:12,600 --> 01:43:14,933
Vic stood up to take an eight bar solo

1803
01:43:15,700 --> 01:43:18,733
in the middle of the solo he blacked out

1804
01:43:23,433 --> 01:43:25,666
Leo Mcconville came to the rescue

1805
01:43:26,833 --> 01:43:28,366
within a few days

1806
01:43:28,366 --> 01:43:30,566
the show found a permanent replacement

1807
01:43:33,466 --> 01:43:35,200
Vicks went back to Davenport

1808
01:43:36,400 --> 01:43:37,766
for four and a/2 months

1809
01:43:37,766 --> 01:43:41,233
he rested at home in a world that was no longer

1810
01:43:41,233 --> 01:43:42,166
his world

1811
01:43:43,700 --> 01:43:47,300
in late February of 1931 he returned to New York

1812
01:43:47,300 --> 01:43:50,866
back to Room 6 0 5 of the 44th Street Hotel

1813
01:43:52,266 --> 01:43:54,833
as soon as the gang heard he was back in town

1814
01:43:54,833 --> 01:43:56,066
they came around

1815
01:43:59,000 --> 01:44:02,300
from dusk to dawn they bothered him

1816
01:44:04,266 --> 01:44:06,333
they weren't really his friends

1817
01:44:06,500 --> 01:44:08,666
they were the kind of people who wanted to say

1818
01:44:08,666 --> 01:44:11,333
they were there that they'd heard him play

1819
01:44:20,833 --> 01:44:21,466
sometimes

1820
01:44:21,466 --> 01:44:23,866
they carried them off for a late night on the town

1821
01:44:28,300 --> 01:44:30,100
they never left him alone

1822
01:44:31,000 --> 01:44:33,366
and the playing never stopped

1823
01:44:41,066 --> 01:44:42,833
in one of his letters home

1824
01:44:42,833 --> 01:44:43,300
the son

1825
01:44:43,300 --> 01:44:45,733
who could never fulfill his parents'expectations

1826
01:44:46,266 --> 01:44:48,366
seemed eager to gain their approval

1827
01:44:49,866 --> 01:44:50,933
dear folks

1828
01:44:51,300 --> 01:44:54,000
you probably will tear this up before you read it

1829
01:44:54,000 --> 01:44:57,266
because you must be disgusted with me

1830
01:44:57,833 --> 01:45:01,500
but I'll take a chance and write anyway you can

1831
01:45:01,500 --> 01:45:04,066
believe me or not but I was sick

1832
01:45:04,433 --> 01:45:06,833
I had that yearly attack of tonsillitis

1833
01:45:06,833 --> 01:45:10,600
and it was terrible lying here thinking of you

1834
01:45:11,766 --> 01:45:13,400
I had to cancel three dates

1835
01:45:13,866 --> 01:45:16,000
and you can tell Uncle Tol

1836
01:45:16,000 --> 01:45:18,266
that the only reason I'm writing this now

1837
01:45:18,266 --> 01:45:20,333
is because of Christian Science

1838
01:45:21,500 --> 01:45:23,500
because I would have died

1839
01:45:23,500 --> 01:45:25,600
if I hadn't talked myself out of it with

1840
01:45:25,600 --> 01:45:27,400
with the worry et cetera

1841
01:45:28,600 --> 01:45:31,833
if I'd known that it was so rough for dad to send

1842
01:45:31,833 --> 01:45:34,400
that I I wouldn't have asked for it

1843
01:45:35,966 --> 01:45:37,300
another thing I'm sorry about is

1844
01:45:37,300 --> 01:45:39,466
I'm not sending mom anything for her birthday

1845
01:45:39,466 --> 01:45:43,266
but March 1st was my sickest day

1846
01:45:44,433 --> 01:45:47,766
I swear this was not from drinking

1847
01:45:50,466 --> 01:45:52,400
I'm all right now and I

1848
01:45:52,600 --> 01:45:54,333
and I booked several jobs

1849
01:45:54,633 --> 01:45:56,600
college parties with my band

1850
01:45:57,100 --> 01:46:00,000
doing club dates radio etcetera

1851
01:46:00,966 --> 01:46:02,866
that's all I have to say and

1852
01:46:03,600 --> 01:46:06,200
I'll do my best to send you the money that you

1853
01:46:06,200 --> 01:46:09,266
so kindly and timely

1854
01:46:09,300 --> 01:46:11,400
sent me as soon as I can

1855
01:46:11,633 --> 01:46:14,133
also the income money

1856
01:46:14,766 --> 01:46:15,933
much love

1857
01:46:16,500 --> 01:46:17,300
VIX

1858
01:46:19,166 --> 01:46:20,133
yes

1859
01:46:20,866 --> 01:46:23,133
have you heard the candlelight program

1860
01:46:26,766 --> 01:46:29,166
the gang still kept coming around

1861
01:46:29,566 --> 01:46:31,933
if they weren't partying in Vix's room

1862
01:46:32,000 --> 01:46:34,066
there was always a party uptown

1863
01:46:34,700 --> 01:46:38,066
they dragged him along expecting him to play

1864
01:46:42,600 --> 01:46:45,700
in midsummer he moved away from downtown Manhattan

1865
01:46:46,400 --> 01:46:49,400
he found a quiet apartment in the borough of Queens

1866
01:46:51,866 --> 01:46:53,333
few people saw him

1867
01:46:53,466 --> 01:46:56,066
occasionally he played at college dances

1868
01:46:56,266 --> 01:46:58,833
he spent most of his time playing the piano

1869
01:46:58,833 --> 01:46:59,966
and composing

1870
01:47:38,833 --> 01:47:42,133
there is mum and dad I hope you're all well

1871
01:47:42,900 --> 01:47:45,933
now about my future wife

1872
01:47:47,033 --> 01:47:49,000
born in New York never been out

1873
01:47:49,666 --> 01:47:51,266
you should hear her accent

1874
01:47:51,666 --> 01:47:53,400
sounds like Aunt Blanche

1875
01:47:54,300 --> 01:47:56,933
red headed blue eyes

1876
01:48:02,800 --> 01:48:04,100
sometime that summer

1877
01:48:04,200 --> 01:48:06,400
Vic spent an evening with Hoagy Carmichael

1878
01:48:07,233 --> 01:48:10,000
I heard he had a girlfriend and I got a hold of him

1879
01:48:10,000 --> 01:48:10,433
I said

1880
01:48:10,433 --> 01:48:12,500
bring the girlfriend over and have dinner with me

1881
01:48:12,500 --> 01:48:13,766
and which he did

1882
01:48:14,266 --> 01:48:17,000
he came and I offered him a drink and he refused it

1883
01:48:17,000 --> 01:48:18,200
I'll have you know well

1884
01:48:18,200 --> 01:48:19,833
I had one because I wanted it

1885
01:48:19,833 --> 01:48:21,466
and I played a little piano

1886
01:48:21,466 --> 01:48:23,966
but I didn't ask him to play because I

1887
01:48:23,966 --> 01:48:26,866
I knew how he was that I didn't want him to think that

1888
01:48:26,866 --> 01:48:29,066
I invite him over to hear him play

1889
01:48:32,866 --> 01:48:33,866
dear folks

1890
01:48:34,400 --> 01:48:36,666
by now you have Alice's picture

1891
01:48:37,566 --> 01:48:38,866
what do you think of her

1892
01:48:39,666 --> 01:48:41,333
we're together constantly

1893
01:48:41,633 --> 01:48:44,233
I dragged her to one of those photoshops on Broadway

1894
01:48:44,233 --> 01:48:47,100
and for a buck we had that made and enlarged

1895
01:48:47,666 --> 01:48:49,200
the little sweetheart framed it

1896
01:48:49,200 --> 01:48:52,966
packed it sent it to you when she knew you wanted it

1897
01:48:54,300 --> 01:48:56,966
Bix's letter never finished

1898
01:49:02,600 --> 01:49:05,800
the story goes that in midsummer Vicks

1899
01:49:05,800 --> 01:49:07,266
though running a high fever

1900
01:49:07,266 --> 01:49:11,466
played a date with some fellows he had promised to play

1901
01:49:11,600 --> 01:49:13,000
so he played

1902
01:49:14,033 --> 01:49:17,300
he caught pneumonia and died a few days later

1903
01:49:17,566 --> 01:49:20,133
on August 6th, 1931

1904
01:49:20,900 --> 01:49:22,800
though he abstained from drinking

1905
01:49:22,866 --> 01:49:26,366
it was too late the damage had been done

1906
01:49:27,000 --> 01:49:28,966
he was 28 years old

1907
01:49:30,900 --> 01:49:33,166
the doctor's verdict was lobar pneumonia

1908
01:49:33,166 --> 01:49:34,700
with swelling of the brain

1909
01:49:35,000 --> 01:49:35,700
but perhaps

1910
01:49:35,700 --> 01:49:39,100
it would be more accurate to say that Bix died

1911
01:49:39,100 --> 01:49:40,066
of everything

1912
01:49:41,433 --> 01:49:42,900
my brother called

1913
01:49:43,800 --> 01:49:45,433
he was in New York and went

1914
01:49:45,433 --> 01:49:47,466
went to get him and bring him home

1915
01:49:50,033 --> 01:49:53,333
we didn't even know he'd been sick and he had pneumonia

1916
01:49:55,833 --> 01:49:59,866
I had a terrible feeling of regret

1917
01:50:00,066 --> 01:50:03,666
when I finally found out what happened to Bix

1918
01:50:03,766 --> 01:50:05,866
our boys and our band

1919
01:50:06,466 --> 01:50:07,566
uh we had plenty of money

1920
01:50:07,566 --> 01:50:08,366
Jeepers Creepers

1921
01:50:08,366 --> 01:50:09,700
we had nothing but money

1922
01:50:09,900 --> 01:50:14,900
and we could have come over and grabbed Bix and uh

1923
01:50:15,866 --> 01:50:20,566
put him among friends and cured him of his

1924
01:50:20,700 --> 01:50:26,400
of his habits and let him regain his health

1925
01:50:27,366 --> 01:50:30,733
and we didn't do it we let him get away and uh

1926
01:50:31,900 --> 01:50:34,466
that's one of the things I when uh

1927
01:50:34,466 --> 01:50:35,233
when uh

1928
01:50:35,233 --> 01:50:38,000
I'm ever asked about Big Spider Bay

1929
01:50:38,900 --> 01:50:40,366
I feel that uh

1930
01:50:40,966 --> 01:50:44,400
I committed a horrible sin of omission

1931
01:50:44,600 --> 01:50:45,400
omission

1932
01:50:46,200 --> 01:50:47,166
we could have

1933
01:50:47,500 --> 01:50:49,966
we could have had a different ending for that boy

1934
01:50:52,266 --> 01:50:53,900
it's pretty hard to uh

1935
01:50:54,366 --> 01:50:56,333
change history much isn't it

1936
01:50:57,066 --> 01:50:57,933
so

1937
01:51:01,400 --> 01:51:02,866
but anyway I

1938
01:51:02,900 --> 01:51:06,000
I still wish that we'd done something for him

1939
01:51:06,000 --> 01:51:06,900
we could have

1940
01:51:36,500 --> 01:51:38,100
para ser

1941
01:53:27,900 --> 01:53:30,500
just couldn't believe it that a man that young

1942
01:53:30,566 --> 01:53:31,866
but they say

1943
01:53:32,300 --> 01:53:34,500
they've always said that geniuses like that

1944
01:53:34,500 --> 01:53:36,966
they don't last too long some reason or another

1945
01:53:36,966 --> 01:53:40,000
they just they come and make their presence known

1946
01:53:40,000 --> 01:53:43,200
and upset everybody and then they will cut out

1947
01:54:54,166 --> 01:54:56,933
he's a legend you just gotta think

1948
01:54:57,066 --> 01:54:57,833
think oh

1949
01:54:57,833 --> 01:55:00,700
think music think legend think the name