Cab Calloway Live at the Cafe Zanzibar (1943-1947)

There are few live recordings which really capture performances successfully. This is one of those. Recorded at the Café Zanzibar in New York City this collection of some of Cab Calloway’s greatest live musical performances seem to come to life. The closest thing to the live energy captured on this disc would probably be James Brown Live at the Apollo, which was recorded in 1962. And although it is recorded in mono the re-master of these numbers is flawless.

These are not the songs most people think of right off hand in connection with Cab Calloway at the Cotton Club, which had closed just a few years before this recording was made at the Café Zanzibar. In many ways the Zanzibar came to replace the Cotton Club as the musical Mecca in midtown Manhattan at 49^th Street above the old Winter Garden.

Originally called the “The Frolic” the club had such a bad reputation that most performers at the time referred to it as a “jinx joint.” All that changed on July 1, 1943 when the club opened under new management with Ella Fitzgerald headlining the first show. The new club also had a stated policy of hiring the best of the African-American performers of the day. Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, The Mills Brothers, Pearl Bailey and even Bill Robinson were regularly featured stars.

These were the days when the white folks would see the show at the Zanzibar and go home by about 2 AM. That’s when the performers headed back uptown to Harlem where they swung the rest of the early morning hours away at the smaller venues located there. Bear in mind as you listen to this album that you are probably being short changed a bit, although you won’t notice let alone mind. There are no recordings of those late night jam sessions anyway, so this is about as close as you will ever get to hearing them.

The tracks contained on this disc run from “We the Cats Shall Hep You”; 2 different versions; “Russian Lullaby” by Irving Berlin. “Lamar’s Boogie” and “Everyone Eats When They Come to My House “are two fantastic numbers which will have you swinging from the very first bars. “Afternoon Moon” by Duke Ellington gets a wonderful workout at the hands of Cab Calloway, as does “That Old Black Magic”.

Even if your only previous knowledge of Cab Calloway is limited to “Minnie the Mooch” or “Reefer Madness” this collection will not disappoint you at all. If anything it will have you listening harder than ever to the unique sounds of one of the “heppest” of the “hep cats” that ever graced a stage. As a matter of fact you don’t even need to be a jazz fan to enjoy this recording. It will swing you.

"Snow White" with Betty Boop (1933)

One of the most remarkable things in this cartoon is the performance by Cab Calloway of “St. James Infirmary Blues.” The story is about Betty; who finds herself having to deal with her evil step-mom, the Queen. The Queen spends her time gazing into a looking glass, assuring herself that she is the most beautiful woman around. That is, until Betty shows up.

When the Queen’s magic mirror, along with all of the servants, declare that Betty is the “fairest in the land”, the Queen is horrified and orders Betty put to death. But the royal subjects all have other plans for Betty, and they fake her execution and burial, much to the delight of the Queen. But where has Betty really gone?

With the help of the Queen’s knights, and even the tree to which she is bound in a snowstorm, Betty is frozen into a block of ice and placed in a coffin constructed by the Seven Dwarfs. But the Queen grows wise to the deception and goes after the culprits, which now include her mirror, which has turned against her. KoKo and Bimbo accompany her on her journey to find Betty, and destroy her for good, to the tune of “St. James Infirmary”, swung by Cab Calloway and his famous orchestra. (That's a pun, not a typo.)

A very imaginative cartoon like this, with a fantastic performance of the old blues standard by one of the greatest jazz musicians of his time, make this one worth watching; or even listening to; a real treat.

Cab Calloway - "Minnie the Moocher" (1931)

One of the greatest bandleaders of all time, Cabell “Cab” Calloway III was born on Christmas Day 1907 in Rochester, New York. It was a fitting day for him to have been born;  a day when people exchange presents; for with his inimitable style he has left us all the gift of his music.

One of his best known numbers is the rousing “Minnie the Moocher”, which is really a variation on the old “call and response” songs which were popular with African-Americans as far back as the days of slavery, when the music was used to accomplish work in unison. It was also a hallmark of early African-American Christianity. In the rural churches which sprang up in the black community after the Civil War, there was often a shortage of hymnals and prayer books. The preacher would say, or sing, a line from a prayer, or hymn, and the congregation would answer back in kind.

“Minnie the Moocher” is an example of how gospel influences would spill over into popular music, much as it did again later with the advent of rock and roll. The lyrics are said to be based on “Willie the Weeper”, while the melody is based on “St. James Infirmary”, a blues standard of the era.

This version of the song was performed on television in the early 1950’s. There are older, and even better, versions of this song on You Tube, but for some reason blogspot will not accommodate their download. And while you’re googlin’ around, don’t forget to look at “Reefer Man” by Cab Calloway and His Harlem Maniacs. This was one of the best scenes in the 1933 film “International House” with W.C. Fields. Never mind, here it is;

"The Old Mill Pond" - MGM (1936)

This cartoon is from MGM’s “Merrie Melodies” series, and preceded last week’s post of “Swing Wedding.” This was one of the first cartoon’s which MGM produced. Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising had great success with this cartoon, which won an Oscar for Best Animation in 1937. The basic premise is the fish and frogs gathering at the old mill pond to hear a jazz concert. The performers, as in last week’s cartoon, are all caricatures of some of the best known jazz, and blues, performers of the era.

Most noticeable here are the performances by the Cab Calloway character, as well as Fats Waller and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

As with last week’s cartoon, I will apologize in advance for any offense which this cartoon may cause. I did not have any hate mail, or negative comments, on the “Swing Wedding” post. Again, as with that one, I invite anyone with a negative opinion to either use the comments section below to express your disapproval, or just e-mail me directly. I will post your opinion if you so desire. Meantime, sit back and enjoy this for what it is; a celebration of some of the greatest music ever made.

"Swing Wedding" - MGM (1937)

This is the cartoon which was released by Hugh Harman/Rudolf Ising Productions following their earlier Oscar nominated cartoon “The Old Mill Pond” in 1936. The big difference between that effort and this one is that this cartoon has a story to it.  Among the African-American celebrities pictured here as frogs are Cab Calloway, Ethel Waters, Stepin Fetchit, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Bill Robinson and the Boswell Sisters. If there are any I have missed, let me know.

Some people nowadays will find this cartoon to be politically incorrect. My only response to that is that at the time this cartoon was released most African-Americans were simply glad to be portrayed in cartoons at all, let alone as very talented characters. Imagine going to the movies, week after week; and not only do you have to sit in the balcony; but all the film’s stars were white actors and actresses, with African-Americans playing servants. Followed up by white cartoon characters could leave a black person feeling really left out.

There were some really great African-American films at the time, I have reviewed several here. My favorites are “Cabin In the Sky” and “Stormy Weather”, which showcase both the musical and dramatic talents of the black actors and actresses of the era. I hope that you will enjoy this cartoon for what it is and not for what you may perceive it to be. For me, it is 8 minutes of musical, and visual, delight.

If you are African-American; and over 55 years old; I would love to hear your take on this cartoon. The reason I have chosen this age group is that these would be the people who were at least  about 8 years old at the time of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As such, this group would have lived under some form of segregation. In my mind, this gives them a unique perspective on the subject.  

Happy Anniversary Rooftop Reviews!

Today marks the beginning of the 4th year for Rooftop Reviews. It sounds so much more established to say it that way, rather than this is our 3rd Anniversary. At first I began with 1 post per week, reviewing whatever book I had read during the past 7 days. From there I began to add little posts about what I was doing, then a poem here and there, and before long I was posting on a daily basis. From July through November of 2009 I even posted a 30 chapter mini autobiography which spans the years between when I was born and the birth of my daughter Sarah in 1987. I need to go back and correct some spelling (this was before I used spell check)as well as re-scan some of the photos. But, all in all, it was a worthwhile endeavor, and with one, or maybe two exceptions, it was well received.

I began the blog as a way of leaving something of myself for my children and grandchildren. They only ever get to know you as a parent, or grandparent, so I thought it would be nice for them to have some way of seeing me in a different light. I hope that someday they will read it. And, of course, I hope that they will like the person they meet in those pages.

I constructed the site so that it would give the reader 7 posts per hit to choose from. I had to learn how to scan photos and book covers, not a hard thing to do, but to a dinosaur such as myself, these were major achievements. Then I learned that I could "embed" clips from You Tube in my posts, which lent a whole new dimension to the blog; Music.

I am sometimes asked what my favorite book is, and people are surprised when I answer "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". Since most of my posts on books are about non-fiction, I can easily understand the surprise. In non-fiction I would have to say that one of my favorite books is Merle Miller's superb oral autobiography of Harry Truman, "Plain Speaking". Within those pages are the answers to most of the questions we all have about American history, as well as our role in the world post World War Two. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite quotes comes from that book. Dean Acheson, Secretary of State under President Truman, once said, "I incline to go along with Winston Churchill, who said that among the deficiencies of hindsight is that while we know the consequences of what was done, we do not know the consequences of some other course that was not followed."

Two of my biggest surprises have been an e-mail from Olivia De Havilland, and a note, sent "snail-mail" by Ernest Borgnine, almost two years after I reviewed his book "Ernie". That note hangs on my wall. There have been many authors who have graciously answered e-mails, and even more astonishing to me have been the unsolicited notes from other authors that I have written about.

Another unexpected surprise for me is that I now find myself cited as a source in certain articles as I browse the internet. I will look up something on the Civil War, for instance, and while reading think, "this sounds a bit familiar", and then find that the author of that article has cited me as a reference. At first I was a bit taken aback; after all, I am only an armchair historian at best; but I do have to say that in 3 years there have only been about 3 factual mistakes in my posts. I'm a bit proud of that, considering my level of formal education.

I try to do a mix each week of movie reviews, at least one book, something historical and something musical. Occasionally I have been known to go off on a political subject, but I try to keep that down to a minimum, as there is already enough noise out there without my adding to the overall cacophony of differing opinions.

By far the most satisfying of things to happen with this blog is becoming friends with the irrepressible Eddie Ray, who heads the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, located in Kannapolis, North Carolina, about 18 minutes from my home. Our age difference notwithstanding, a mutual love of music and poetry; along with a respect for one another; has forged a lasting friendship. He is, quite simply put, a remarkable person.

And of course, there is my wife Sue to thank; she listens to all my posts as I read them aloud for clarity and errors. That can't be an easy task, but she endures it all the same. Also, thanks to all of you who drop in here regularly, you know who you are, and the 17 brave souls who have actually posted as "members". By the way, I have tried to get in touch with several of you over the past couple of years, but I simply cannot make the thing work out. I always end up by joining my own site! As a matter of fact, one of the 17 "members" is me. I just can't figure out how to get it down! A dinosaur in the digital age am I…

It also amazes me that Rooftop Reviews is read in 89 different languages and 59 countries each day. With an average daily circulation of about 250 "hits", this is hardly going viral, but I am still in awe of the reach of this simple blog.

Please don't forget that almost all of my books and videos come from the local libraries in the Town of Mooresville, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Libraries. Both of these institutions allow me to use their services for free, although I do not reside in either Mooresville, or Mecklenburg County. These pages would be barren without them.

But most of all, and by far the most wonderful part of this blog has been in getting to know myself a bit more. With each book I read, song I hear, or movie I watch, I discover another piece of who I am. So, you might say that, this blog, along with myself, are both works in progress.