There has been much confusion in the past about
the various takes that have been spliced and issued on LP and CD. It seems that
Charlie Christian has been complimented/victimized more by this practice than any other
jazz artist. This has been done in a manner quite different from the later splicing
techniques that are now routine.
In an attempt to clear up the disarray that may still exist, I am
presenting some graphic charts in this section in the hope that this resolves the
situation.
(Only the two I Got Rhythm jam session takes are outlined to show both the spliced
recordings and the actual recordings.)
Charlie Christian with the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra,
on Columbia CL 652, was the first Charlie Christian 12" LP ever issued.
Released on 11 April 1955, it was also the album that contained the first spliced
recordings: Breakfast Feud and Good Enough to Keep (Air Mail
Special). For a couple of years, it remained the only LP collection of CC
recordings (until the release of the Mintons / Monroes jam sessions on the
Esoteric label).
Some of us still vividly remember hearing Charlie Christian for the
first time on this LP, and reading the large print on the cover:
This is the story of Charlie Christian, who
played
guitar with the BENNY GOODMAN Sextet and Orchestra
from the fall of 1939 to the spring of 1941
BREAKFAST FEUD
Nine takes from two studio sessions recorded four weeks apart
produced plenty of material from which to splice all sorts of combinations of
Breakfast Feud.
Six different combinations have been issuedthe way it started out, it could have
been worse. Nevertheless, this has been enough to create lots of confusion in the
past. It didnt help matters much that the structure of the tune, with the
four-bar refrain preceding Charlie Christians solo, lent itself
almost invited
splicing. For many years I was as perplexed as everyone else, until I had enough
material to unravel the mess. I have to admit though that I really enjoyed solving
the puzzles once I had the pieces to work with.
Three of the five takes from December 19, 1940 (mx CO 29259) and all four of the
takes from January 15, 1941 (mx CO 29512) were used in various combinations on these spliced composites.
(The CD version of Breakfast Feud in The Smithsonian Collection of Classic
Jazz contains the same four takes as the LP version except that take CO 29259-1
is at the end instead of the beginning.)
click on the Splice
listed in the following table to view
Tune Title |
Splice |
Solo
Sequence |
First Issued |
Breakfast Feud |
1st composite |
29259 - 1
29512 - 3
29512 - 2 |
1955 |
LP |
Columbia |
CL 652 |
Breakfast Feud |
2nd composite |
29512 - 4
29512 - 3
29512 - 2
29512 - 1 |
1972 |
LP |
Columbia |
CG 30779 |
Breakfast Feud |
3rd composite |
29259 - 3
29259 - 2 |
1973 |
LP |
Jazz Archives |
JA-6 |
Breakfast Feud |
4th composite |
29259 - 1
29512 - 4
29512 - 3
29512 - 2
29512 - 1 |
1973 |
LP |
Smithsonian / CBS |
P6 11891 |
Breakfast Feud |
5th composite |
29512 - 4
29512 - 3
29512 - 2
29512 - 1
29259 - 1 |
1987 |
CD |
Smithsonian / CBS |
RD 033 |
Breakfast Feud |
6th composite |
29259 - 2
29259 - 3 |
1994 |
CD |
Masters of Jazz |
MJCD 67 |
GOOD ENOUGH TO KEEP
(AIR MAIL SPECIAL)
Not as infamous as Breakfast Feud, this was the
other spliced tune originally issued on Columbia CL 652, Charlie Christian with the
Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra. Two takes were recorded on March 13, 1941
and were used in different combinations on the two spliced composites.
click on the Splice
listed in the following table to view
Tune Title |
Splice |
First Issued |
Good Enough to Keep |
1st composite |
1955 |
LP |
Columbia |
CL 652 |
Good Enough to Keep |
2nd composite |
1972 |
LP |
Columbia |
CG 30779 |
BENNYS BUGLE
The complete Bennys Bugle session consists of
a breakdown, two complete takes, another breakdown, and two more complete takes, with the
last ( - 1) being the one selected for issue in 1941:
CO 29030 - v (breaks down 16 bars
into CCs solo)
CO 29030 - W
CO 29030 - X
CO 29030 - y (breaks down 10 bars into CCs solo)
CO 29030 - Z
CO 29030 - 1
takes v & W were
used on the 1st spliced composite
takes X & Z were used on the 2nd spliced
composite
click on the Splice
listed in the following table to view
Tune Title |
Splice |
First Issued |
Bennys Bugle |
1st composite |
1973 |
LP |
Jazz Archives |
JA-6 (side 2, track 1) |
Bennys Bugle |
2nd composite |
1973 |
LP |
Jazz Archives |
JA-6 (side 2, track 4) |
I GOT RHYTHM
Two takes of I Got Rhythm were recorded
by Jerry Newhouse during an after-hours jam session at the Harlem Breakfast
Club in Minneapolis. They have been released on all LPs and most CDs in
a spliced, incomplete version.
click on the Splice
listed in the following table to view
OH, LADY BE GOOD
This spliced track is different from the preceding spliced
recordings. This one is not a composite spliced together from different takes as the
others. Here a chorus is excised from Charlie Christians first solo. The
splice removed the third chorus from his 3-chorus solo.
A recent release has further excised 7½ additional choruses from this concert jam, appending a second spliced version to our mix.
click on the Splice
listed in the following table to view
Additional information on these CDs can be found in the ALBUM INDEX located in the DISCOGRAPHY section
(listed by label)
The Spliced Recordings section was revised and updated on February 25, 2001
from the original published in the 1997 Solo Flight: The Charlie Christian Newsletter
# 3.
LeoValdes © 2001 |