Score:

Theme – Guitar (with ensemble)

Riffs (behind tpt solo) and Outro (with ensemble)

C&A:

The recording of this tune marks the first of the mini-marathon recording dates at the Columbia studios during the rest of 1940 through the first month of the following year.  Much of the material from these sessions was first released on CD in 1993 on the Jazz Unlimited (Denmark) label with the title “The Rehearsal Sessions • 1940-41 • Featuring Charlie Christian” some of which had been on LPs from several labels two decades earlier.

Charlie Christian had been recorded once before on Wholly Cats, just ten days earlier, but with a very different cast and in a different key.  These six studio takes seem like a completely different tune.  Charles is allotted only two blues choruses (in the key of G) on which to solo whereas on the previous date, a rehearsal, he got three choruses (in C).

Charles’ solos are very different on each take of Wholly Cats and without doubt the highlight of the tune in every version.  The master take (the fifth take of the day) selected for Columbia release serves as a suitable representative of the theme and riffs played in the studio and on radio broadcasts of the piece.  Later live dates are enhanced by the presence of master drummer Dave Tough but the ensemble routine is pretty much the same throughout the different sessions.