By the late 1940s, bebop was all the rage—thanks largely to radio disc jockeys who hyped the music and artists through the air-play of records on late-night shows. What began in the mid-'40s as a spectacular, secular jazz style flourished by 1948 as more musicians figured out how to play and arrange it for small groups and big bands. [Photo by Herman Leonard/CTSImages.com]
By 1949, more singers were glamorizing bop, giving the novel form a novelty feel. Here are 10 examples of bop vocal recordings in the '40s—before vocalese artists in the early '50s took jazz singing to a new level:
- What's This? (1945)—Dave Lambert and Buddy Stewart with Gene Krupa.
- Charge Account (1946)—Dave Lambert and Buddy Stewart with Red Rodney.
- Lop-Pow (1947)—Babs Gonzales with Three Bips and a Bop.
- Ool-ya-koo (1947)—Kenny Hagood and Dizzy Gillespie.
- I'm Be Boppin' Too (1948)—Dizzy Gillespie.
- Euphoria (1948)—Jackie Cain and Roy Kral with Charlie Ventura. [Pictured: Jackie Cain with Charlie Ventura]
- O'Henry (1949)—Bunny Briggs with Charlie Barnet.
- Bebop Spoken Here (1949)—Dave Lambert, Buddy Stewart and Trudy Richards with Charlie Barnet.
- Hey Pete, Let's Eat Mo Meat! (1949)—Joe Carroll with Dizzy Gillespie.
- Land of Oo-Bla-Dee (1949)—Joe Carroll with Dizzy Gillespie.
JazzWax clip: Here's English accordionist Tito Burns and His Sextet with Burns and Terry Devon sharing the vocal on Bebop Spoken Here, recorded in London in June 1949 ...
And let's not forget the classic "He Beeped When He Should have Bopped" from Dizzy's late-40s big band. It was a female vocalist on the original recording but Dizzy himself did the vocal on other versions. There are several current videos on YouTube that show Dizzy performing it with the band.
Posted by: Bruce Armstrong | January 19, 2011 at 03:28 PM
"Bebop Spoken Here," was co-written by the great Milton DeLugg-eventually of Gong Show fame.
Posted by: Steve Provizer | January 19, 2011 at 05:45 PM
Not to forget Frank Rosolino, Herbie Fields, and maybe Doug Mettome, "Lemondrop"
"Hey Pete Let's Eat Mo' Meat" is scraping the bottom of the barrel, Marc.
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=24903925 | January 19, 2011 at 11:24 PM
Marc, the photo of the ‘bop city’ marquee reminded me of one of my favorites sightings. It was in Baltimore back in the late ‘50s and the sign read: ONE NIGHT ONLY. STAN KENTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA FEATURING THE LOVELY KAI WINDING.
Posted by: Jery Rowan | January 20, 2011 at 01:48 AM