The Red Heads
was a pseudonym for
Red Nichols & His Five Pennies
whenever their recordings were released on the
Melotone
,
Oriole
, or
Perfect
labels during the years 1925-1927. Following in the wake of
EPM Musique
's 25-track
Complete
edition of 1998,
Jazz Oracle
's 74-track, three-CD set of 2004 augmented the main body of their work with a surprisingly large number of sides by pop vocalists
Jay C. Flippen
and
Cliff Edwards
with sweet and jazzy accompaniments by
the Red Heads
.
Edwards
, also known as
Ukulele Ike
, eventually achieved international fame as the voice of
Jiminy Cricket
. This exhaustively thorough chronological survey also features vocals by
Frank Gould
Arthur Fields
. Having all of these charming period pop vocals in the package should be regarded as a confectionary bonus rather than a distracting disadvantage. The producers have placed the instrumentals in full context by including harmless pleasantries like
"You Should See My Tootsie"
"I'm 'Gonna' Hang Around My Sugar,"
with the word "gonna" in quotes. Instrumentalists of note in
discography are trumpeters
Red Nichols
Wingy Manone
; cornetist
Brad Gowans
, trombonist
Miff Mole
, reed players
Jimmy Dorsey
Fud Livingston
; pianists
Arthur Schutt
Rube Bloom
; guitarists
Dick McDonough
Eddie Lang
, and ace percussionist
Vic Berton
. This amazing anthology is not exclusively intended or recommended for historians, specialists, or recluses. It is a thrilling magnum dose of great historic jazz, dance, and pop recordings from smack in the middle of the '20s. No one should be put off by the quantity of tracks, the modest helping of alternate takes, or the marvelously old-fashioned nature of the music within. It is perhaps most important that it be heard by people who do not specialize in music and culture from this period.
can and will speak to anyone. ~ arwulf arwulf