Bix
Beiderbecke 1903 - 1931.
I am but one of many thousands of Jazz enthusiasts, to whom the
legendary Jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke is still very important, in spite of
the fact that he died so long ago. Most importantly, we can still enjoy his
playing on the many fine records he made; even though - as is usual when
recording - musicians (now as then) tend to ‘play safe’ during a take. Much of
what we have on record by Bix is superlative; so we can hardly imagine what he
must have sounded like at his best, playing live!
On this web-page, I have drawn together a number of pages from my
old website that deal, one way or another, with Bix and some of his musical confrères.
Of course, these deal only with trivia. All the major information
about Bix is, naturally, contained in the various books that have been
published about him. And, of course, his recordings; all of which are currently available on CD. Details of these books
and CDs are given at the foot of this page. Also, there is a major and very
active website devoted to the study & appreciation of Bix, to be found at: www.bixography.com; and in
addition, there is also the very excellent Bix
Beiderbecke Memorial Society, based in Bix’s home town, Davenport, Iowa, U.S.A.
Their website is at: www.bixsociety.org.
Having said all that, here are the odd comments about Bix 78 rpm
records &c., that are peculiar to this website!
The Bix Memorial Album. This link takes you to a page on
which you can read, &/or download, the 12-page booklet that was provided
with the RCA-Victor 7-disc set of Bix recordings issued in 1936.
Label credits on Parlophone. The label credit on the original
American OKeh issues of Bix and Frank Trumbauer was often given differently on
British Parlophone. Here is a list of the Parlophone credits, many of which are
quiet fanciful.
Bix Beiderbecke on Parlophone. This article, hastily written in 2000, has
now been updated, and the 78 labels scanned again in rather better quality. It
will give you a brief outline of the British Parlophone label between about
1923 & the 1940s, based mostly on the OKeh recordings of Bix that appeared
thereon.
This is
a work in progress… as at September 2006, we still have to re-format &
upload pages on the 78 labels of Bix records issued in the U.K. in the 1920s
& 30s; a page on Don Murray’s clarinet solo on ‘Jazz Me Blues’ by Bix &
His Gang, &c.
1. Books on Bix Beiderbecke. To
be written in…
2. CDs of Bix Beiderbecke. For these, simply go to Amazon or any
other large retailer, and search for ‘Bix Restored’. This will find for you the
monumental 13 CD set on the Sunbeam label that was lovingly compiled by many
distinguished specialists. (Note that many of these sides were made during
Bix’s period with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, so he was present on very many
tracks that do not contain any Jazz; probably the very best of Bix’s recordings
would fit onto two - or possibly three - CDs. Such compilations are indeed to
be found easily on the web.)
Page
written
Revised