Bollocky Bill

Bollocky Bill, aspiring writer, drawn magically from the groves of the Muses by Poseidon. Ultramarine

The mythical Bollocky Bill – reputed to have been most generously testicled – was commemorated in the bawdy ballad ‘Bollocky Bill the Sailor’, a traditional folk song originally titled ‘Abraham Brown’. ‘Bollocky’ is pronounced and occasionally spelt ‘bollicky’, and may also be a reference to being left-handed or clumsy.

There are several versions of the bawdy song in the Gordon ‘Inferno’ Collection in the US Library of Congress. The first printed version of the song is in the public domain book Immortalia (1927). Later versions feature the eponymous ‘Barnacle Bill’, a fictional character very loosely based on a nineteenth-century San Francisco sailor and Gold Rush miner, William Bernard. There are also known versions in England and Scotland from the early twentieth century.



It is impossible to determine when Lowry first heard the song. The earliest known recording is an expurgated adaptation by Carson Robison and Frank Luther in 1928:



This version was also recorded on May 21, 1930 by Bix Beiderbecke and Hoagy Carmichael with Carson Robison on vocals and released as a Victor 78, V-38139-A and 25371 with another Lowry jazz hero Joe Venuti on the session. This recording, made during the writing of Ultramarine, may have prompted Lowry to adapt the persona of the mythical seaman.

One version of ‘Barnacle Bill’ refers to an exchange between Bill and a ‘fair young maiden’. Each verse opens with inquiries by the maiden, sung by women, or by men in falsetto, and continues with Bill’s profane responses, sung by men:

‘Who’s that knocking at my door? Who’s that knocking at my door?
Who’s that knocking at my door?’ said the fair Young Maiden…
‘It’s me and my crew and we’ve come for a screw!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
‘It’s me and my crew and we’ve come for a screw!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

Alternative responses:
‘It’s only me from over the sea’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
‘It’s only me from over the sea’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

‘Open the door, you pox-ridden whore!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
‘Open the door, you pox-ridden whore!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

‘Open the door, you dirty whore!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
‘Open the door, you dirty whore!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

This version of the song would suit the character of Dana at the point in Ultramarine at which he prepares to lose his virginity in the brothels of Dairen. Dana’s obsession, besides his guilt at the prospect of being unfaithful to his love Janet, is that he will catch syphilis from a prostitute. Another dimension to the introduction of the Bollocky Bill persona is that Lowry considered himself to be clumsy. Lowry endows Dana with the same clumsiness, which is constantly being reinforced by the crew of the ship.

Here is the Bix Beiderbecke version:

Crack Up In Antibes

"Abe North plays In A Mist furiously on the piano. As the weather worsens, the music, says Lowry, merges from In A Mist "into a cross between something like Prokofiev's music before battle, or a gathering storm in Peter Grimes."

The above quote is from The Cinema Of Malcolm Lowry: A Scholarly Edition Of Lowry's "Tender Is The Night" edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen. Lowry's musical suggestions for his proposed film script of Fitzgerald's novel underpins a climatic scene set in the Antibes in the South of France.

In the Mist refers to Bix Beiderbecke classic which was recorded in New York, September 9, 1927:



In 1938, Prokofiev collaborated with the Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein on the historical epic Alexander Nevsky. For this he composed some of his most inventive dramatic music. Although the film had a very poor sound recording, Prokofiev adapted much of his score into a cantata, which has been extensively performed and recorded.

Here is an excerpt of the "battle on the ice" sequence from the Alexander Nevsky:



Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional village which shares some similarities with Crabbe's, and later Britten's, own home Aldeburgh, on England's east coast, around 1830.

It was first performed at Sadler's Wells in London on June 7, 1945, conducted by Reginald Goodall and was the first of Britten's operas to be a critical and popular success. It is still widely performed, both in the UK and internationally, and is considered part of the standard repertoire. In addition, the Four Sea Interludes were published separately (as op. 33a) and are frequently performed as an orchestral suite. The Passacaglia was also published separately (as op. 33b), and is also often performed, either together with the Sea Interludes or by itself. Wikipedia


Here is the Storm sequence from the Four Sea Interludes performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Bernstein, conductor (From the album The Final Concert, live recording 1989:

The Revelers "Oh Miss Hannah" 1925

Talking about Hannahs. There's another tune, "Oh Miss Hannah!" on the other side of "Collegiate", sung in the most original manner by the Revellers on HMV. It's absolutely the world's best sung tune, and they sing it in Fox Trot Time as though they were a band. Letter to Carol Brown in Collected Letters Of Malcolm Lowry

Oh, Miss Hannah Fox Trot (Hollongsworth-Deppen) played by the Revelers Victor Record Company with Orthophonic Scroll label 19796-A Electrically Recorded in 09.15.1925 would appear to have been a hit with the young Malc while at the Leys School in Cambridge.

The Revelers were an American quintet (four close harmony singers and a pianist) popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The Revelers' recordings of "Dinah", "Old Man River", "Valencia", "Baby Face", "Blue Room", "The Birth of the Blues", "When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba", and many more, became popular in the United States and then Europe in the late 1920s.

All of the members had recorded individually or in various combinations, and formed a group in 1925. The original Revelers were tenors Franklyn Baur and Lewis James, baritone Elliot Shaw, bass Wilfred Glenn, and pianist Ed Smalle. Smalle was replaced by Frank Black in 1926. The group (with Black at the piano) appeared in a short movie musical, The Revelers (1927), filmed in the sound-on-disc Vitaphone process. This one-reel short film, recently restored by "The Vitaphone Project," shows the group performing "Mine", "Dinah", and "No Foolin'". A second short, filmed the same day with another three songs, awaits restoration. Wikipedia

The Revelers Quartet (1927) includes James Melton (#1), Lewis James (#2), Elliot Shaw (#3), Wilfred Glenn (#4), and Frank Black (#5), their arranger and accompanist. (Photo by Bruehl)



Here is another version recorded by Paul Whiteman Orhestra featuring Charles Margulis, Harry Goldfield (tp); Bix Beiderbecke, Andy Secrest (c); Boyce Cullen, Bill Rank, Wilbur Hall, Jack Fulton (tb); Frank Trumbauer, Chester Hazlett, Irving Friedman, Roy Maier, Bern:



I would imagine that the less youthful and more knowledgeable Malc of Cambridge University days would have preferred the above version given that the band contained 2 of his heroes Frankie Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke. Bing Crosby delivers a brief (uncredited) "vocal refrain", demonstrating his abilities as a "mellow crooner", for which he'd later become famous, in a beautiful Bill Challis arrangement.

Young Man With A Horn 1950

I recently caught Young Man With A Horn on TCM and recalled that Lowry had seen the movie in Vancouver in July 1950 and referred to the film in letter to Frank Taylor.



Apparently, Lowry was not impressed with the film version of Dorothy Baker's novel of the life of Lowry's jazz hero Bix Beiderbecke:

No indication is given of Beiderbecke's genius, & none for that matter, or only a little, & at that wrong, as to what constitutes jazz or unjazz. None of Beiderbecke's compositions were used either which leaves us In A Mist still. The Collected Letters Of Malcolm Lowry Volume 2 1946-1957.



I agree wholeheatedly with Lowry on the portrayal of Beiderbecke but I do admire Michael Curtiz's movie for many things such as the cinematography, real locations and sets. However, I do feel he copped out in the best scene of the film, where Kirk Douglas who plays the lead is lying ill with pneumonia. Douglas in his delirium mistakes the ambulance siren for the dream note he has always wanted to make. He rises up from the bed and should die to add to the drama of the film but we get the Hollywood rewrite of history with him recovering from alcoholism.



It did dawn on me that Lowry may have felt uncomfortable about the scenes set in Bellevue Hospital, New York where he himself had been a patient in 1935.

Here is Bix himself on 2 songs including In A Mist which Malc refers to in the letter to Frank Taylor:





There was a soundtrack to the movie:



Douglas's horn playing is dubbed by Harry James. Louis Armstrong makes an uncredited appearance. The film also called upon the talents of musicians Everett Glass, Ivor James and Julius Wechter.

Malc's Jazz Mix Volume 2

Here is the second volume of jazz sides which I think Malc would have enjoyed listening to.

Tracklisting:

1. Joe Venuti Satan's Holiday
2. Bessie Smith Reckless Blues
3. Django Reinhardt Djangology
4. Django Reinhardt Oriental Shuffle
5. Bix Beiderbecke Davenport Blues
6. Original Memphis Five Bass Ale Blues
7. Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang Wild Dog
8. Frankie Trumbauer Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
9. Frankie Trumbauer Futuristic Rhythm

I've used a book cover from Scott Fitzgerald whose novels have come to epitomise the 1920's Jazz Age. Malc and his wife Margerie wrote a film script for Fitzgerald's Tender Is The Night which was never made into a film and was only published in 1990.

If you like the above then tune into the first Malc's jazz mix.

Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra - Our Bungalow Of Dreams

The above track features another of Lowry's jazz heroes Frank Trumbauer. The full line up is:

Bix Beiderbecke (c); Charlie Margulis (tp); Bill Rank (tb); Frank Trumbauer (Cms); Irving Friedman (cl/as); Chet Hazlett (as); Matty Malneck (vln); Lennie Hayton (p); Eddie Lang (g); Min Leibrook (bsx); Hal McDonald (dm); Irving Kaufman, under the name of Noel Taylor, (voc). New York, April 3, 1928.

I have recently discovered an article on Jazz.com which has an interesting evaluation of Frankie's music.

You can also read a discography over on Red Hot Jazz and listen to the tracks.

I will be featuring more of Frankie Trumbauer's tracks on the forthcoming Malc's second jazz mix.

Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra Love Affairs

Recorded by Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra on Sep 20, 1928 Released on Dec 15, 1928. Personnel: Bix Beiderbecke, c; Bill Rank, tb; Frank Trumbauer, C-mel sax, as; Irving Friedman, cl, ts; Roy Bargy, p; Wilbur Hall, g; Min Leibrook, bass sax; Lennie Hayton, d and Scrappy Lambert, v.

I have recently come across an excellent resource on Bix which is worth dropping into if you want to know more about one of Lowry's favourite musicians.


Above photograph courtesy of the Bix Forum shows a still of Bix from a Goldkette/Mertz film which I still need to track down.

Bix Beiderbecke Chiquita

I am currently working on another jazz mix for the blog. I came across the above track while researching the mix. The use of the name Spanish name ("little one") appealed to me because of the obvious links to Malc's books set in Mexico.

While looking for an illustration to go with the post I came across the work of Julio Romero de Torres who painted the above painting entitled La-Chiquita-Piconera.

Julio Romero de Torres (November 9, 1874 – May 10, 1930 ) was a Spanish painter.

He was born and died in Córdoba, Spain, where he lived most of his life. His father was the famous painter Rafael Romero Barros and his mother was Rosario de Torres Delgado. Julio learned about art from his father who was the director, curator and founder of Córdoba's Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes and an impressionist painter. Read more on Wikipedia.

You can see more of his work here or watch the video below:

Adrian Rollini and his Tap Room Gang Weather Man 1935

I follow on from the last post on Joe Venuti's Tap Room Blues with a feature on Adrian Rollini who accompanied Joe Venuti on that track.

Adrian Rollini was a child prodigy on piano; at age four he played a recital at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (34th sreet and 5th Avenue) in New York. He led his own band at age 14 and began playing with the California Ramblers in the early 1920s. The band also featured Red Nichols, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey.

While in that band Rollini developed his distinctive style of bass saxophone playing. He played in Red Nichols' Five Pennies and appeared on many of Red's recording sessions. He also worked with Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra and recorded with Cliff Edwards and Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang.