Mac Vouty! In the course of reading Bawston Sean's post on super-strange songs, I was reminded of the wacky musician I turn to when my life gets too ordinary: Slim Gaillard.
Slim was an innovative jazz singer and guitarist who created his own version of jive talk that he dubbed "Vout". Many people are probably familiar with his specific form of patter due to the song "Yip Roc Heresy". According to the website conelrad.com, "Yip Roc Heresy" was attacked by a Los Angeles DJ named Ted Steele (among others) as a degenerate example of Bop Jazz "full of bawdiness and references to narcotics." In fact, the track was basically the menu from a Middle Eastern restaurant sung vouty-style!
Listen to "Yip Roc Heresy".
Slim was born in either Detroit or Cuba (the truth is probably Detroit) in 1916. His father was a ship's steward who once forgot a young Slim on the island of Crete, and by all accounts gave his son a wild and adventure-filled childhood. Along with the guitar, Slim could play the piano, tenor sax and vibraphone. His greatest skill, however, was taking in the collective fear the world was experiencing from things like integration and the threat of nuclear war, and turning that apprehension into humor. Songs like "B.19" ("If you want to take a flight, the biggest plane you've ever seen, the... B.19! Load your bombs into the wings- in case somebody sneeze.") chastized the government war machine, while "Matzoh Balls" and the skewering of Desi Arnaz's Babalu ("Babau Orooney") poked fun at every ethnicity- including his own.
In 1936, Slim recruited the bassist Slam Stewart. Slam's incredible bass playing formed the backdrop to Slim-penned hits like "The Flat Foot Floogie" and the "Groove Juice Special". The duo performed together until 1942, when they both entered the service. Slim served in the Air Force until 1944, then continued with his music career until the '60's. He ended up doing quite a bit of acting, in TV shows like "Charlie's Angels" and "Mission Impossible" as well as the cult film "Absolute Beginners" (which also starred Bowie, Sade and Ray Davies). Slim died in London in 1991.
If you can find it, one of the greatest recordings i've heard is "Slim's Jam", a session that included Slim & Slam, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. You get a feel for what it was like to kick back with a bunch of serious jazz cats who were capable of moments of intense hilarity.
Listen to "Chicken Rhythm" and "The Groove Juice Special".
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Now that's what I' m talkin 'bout!!! (p.s. you didn't tag your post, folks might miss all this awesomeness)
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thanks for the history lesson! ill check him out!
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Grrrr, I did tag it! I guess MOG isn't feelin' very Vouty today.
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No...I did not say KId Rock, but apparently I really do have a murmuring problem. Anyways, really diggin "Chicken Rhythm" right now. Keep the good suggestions coming!
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the tag's workin' now...hmmm.
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thanks, you rule my roost right now...
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Bawston Sean: "Avocado Seed Soup Symphony"--parts 1 and 2--should occupy a place of honor on your 100 Weirdest, if you're not filled up already....
Slim Gaillard, "that mad, savage boy," was an immortal.
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He was so incredibly beyond his time! It's like one part jazz, one part insanity, and one part that-guy-from-Sigur-Ros-that-sings-Hopelandic-whatever-the-fuck-that-is! ;)
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I canny hear the choons, Captain! Why can I not hear the choons? My players--all of them--won't play them!
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I don't know what to tell you! I just click on the download button and the songs start playing. I use a Mac... maybe you could wander around www.multiply.com and see if your system is supported.
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Slam Stewart and Rose Murphy ("The Chee-Chee Girl" ) do a cool version of the standard "All Of Me." Their voices blend well together, and there's a playful roller-rink organ doodling on the track. Really fun. Her "Busy Line" is worth checking out, also.
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Nice post K80, your tastes are wide-ranging and THAT'S TOP NOTCH, YO!......speakin' of funny old jams, I was always fond of Louis Jordan's Beans and Cornbread (track 18) myself...oh, there's a version of "Run Joe" which Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers revamped into a go-go hit back in the 80's too..again, great post...I lernt sumthin'...
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Vout o-rooni! Thanks for reminding me how much I dig Slim (and Slam)!
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Oh man, anyone who played with Slam Stewart is okay by me. Thanks for giving me something else to obsess over...
...nice ribbon mic, too.
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A while ago I came across a 1935 Ink Spots cut "Swingin' on the Strings" that sounds as if it inspired "Slim's Jam." Near the beginning of the cut, after their mama tells them not to swing while she's out, one of them says, "Say who's that coming in the gate?" "That looks like old Dipperlip with his big bass fiddle." Knock knock knock knock. "Come in." "Oh what do you say, you cats." "Hi Dipperlip." "How's come you all ain't swingin'?" "Oh mama told us not to swing." "Well let me back you then."
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Wow, that is so cool Spike! I'm gonna look for that Ink Spots track. Especially because I like putting related tracks like that together on mixes I make.
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It's really fun to do that. I just realized that the cut's title is "Don't 'Low No Swingin' in Here." I also just realized that, according to Google, the cut is way in-print, like almost everything else recorded back in the olden times. Common knowledge says that more recordings from any year since the late twenties are available now than they were during that year. Amazing, isn't it?