Boswell Sisters

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Jerry_Jelinek · #1 Post by **Jerry_Jelinek** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 7:24 am

Hi all,

One of the very surprising things about the collective knowledge on this board is the true appreciation of vintage
jazz. In that spririt, I've recently started to listen to a few of Boswell Sisters recordings. Here is a quote from

All Music guide:

All Music.com wrote: The Boswell Sisters Formed 1925 in USA Disbanded 1936
Group Members Helvetia "Vet" Boswell Martha Boswell

by John Bush

Definitely the most talented and arguably the all-around best jazz vocal group of all time, the Boswell Sisters parlayed
their New Orleans upbringing into a swinging delivery that featured not only impossibly close harmonies, but countless
maneuvers of vocal gymnastics rarely equalled on record. Connee (sometimes Connie), Helvetia (Vet), and Martha Boswell
grew up singing together, soaking up Southern gospel and blues through close contact with the black community. They
first performed at vaudeville houses around the New Orleans area, and began appearing on local radio by 1925. At first,
they played strictly instrumentals, with Connee on cello, saxophone and guitar; Martha on piano; and Vet on violin,
banjo, and guitar. The station began featuring them in a vocal setting as well, with Connee taking the lead on many
songs (despite a childhood accident that had crippled her and left her in a wheelchair).

Word of their incredible vocal talents led to appearances in Chicago and New York, and the Boswell Sisters began
recording in 1930 for Victor. By the following year, they'd moved to Brunswick and reached the Hit Parade with "When I
Take My Sugar to Tea," taken from the Marx Brothers' film Monkey Business and featuring the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in
support. The trio continued to work with many of the best jazzmen in the field (including Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, and
Bunny Berigan), and appeared in the 1932 film extravaganza The Big Broadcast with Bing Crosby and Cab Calloway. The
Boswell Sisters hit the top of the Hit Parade only once, in 1935, with "The Object of My Affection" from the film Times
Square Lady. One year later however, both Martha and Vet retired from the group in favor of married life.

Connee had already made a few solo sides for Brunswick as early as 1932, and she continued her solo career in earnest
after the Boswell Sisters parted. She hit number one twice during the late '30s, with the Bing Crosby duets "Bob White
(Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band," and continued recording into the '60s.

Here are a couple of web reference pages for them:

http://www.boswellmuseum.org/

http://www.singers.com/jazz/vintage/boswell.html

My question to all of you, have you played them for dance events? If so do you have particular favorite CD?

We have at the radio station, what looks to be a marvelous 4 CD Set: On Nostalgia Arts CD NOCD 3009

Any comments?

Zev · #2 Post by **Zev** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 10:24 am

I've always wondered about them. Fidelity issues aside, I've noticed that a lot of their songs which I like change tempo more than a few times. I wonder what the ratio of dancers-who-like-that/dancers-who-hate-that is.

(Is there a thread on that here?)

AlekseyKosygin · #3 Post by **AlekseyKosygin** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:08 am

I love them, they were definetly more talented than the Andrews Sisters and many of their songs were recorded by real jazz musicians...so although they recorded a lot of pop material the end result is often times more jazz than pop...I love the tempos changes in their songs, I wish more DJ's played them...

Ron · #4 Post by **Ron** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:16 am

Songs with tempo changes should be played rarely, in my opinion. A dancer who goes out to dance to one tempo may get annoyed or feel awkward if it switches.

That being said, "Bei Mir Bist Du whatever" from Swing Kids, the recently mentioned "Darktown Strutters Ball" by Alberta Hunter, "Ain't Misbehaving" by Maxine Sullivan and "Summertime" by Gene Harris all change tempos, but they are all great songs to dance to. Gotta love exceptions to rules!

Maybe someone could post a clip of the Boswell sisters?

Matthew · #5 Post by **Matthew** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 3:54 pm

You can hear quite a few clips on CD Universe.

Bob the Builder · #6 Post by **Bob the Builder** » Sun May 02, 2004 8:49 pm

I like their stuff. But I doesn't want to make me want to jump up at dance, so I don't DJ any of their material I have.

Brian

Jerry_Jelinek · #7 Post by **Jerry_Jelinek** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 8:55 am

I'm going to stoke the collective fire on this subject again.

I've been asked many times by listeners to feature a 2 hour show to them, but have not as yet collected enough material to do this.

I have the cd "That's How Rhythm Was Born" and really enjoy it.

But before I shell out the money for more Boswell sisters, I thought I would ask others for recommendations you may have in your collection.

AlekseyKosygin · #8 Post by **AlekseyKosygin** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 5:52 pm

Just get the 5 CD set on Nostalgia Arts, it has everything they did...they were true originals and literally invented the vocal jazz group...Ella Fitzgerald is quoted as saying that Connie was her only real influence...I've play a bunch of their stuff for dances and had everyone on the floor dancing to it...not all of their numbers have the multiple tempo changes that can sometimes throw off dancers...

Alex

Jerry_Jelinek · #9 Post by **Jerry_Jelinek** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:07 am

AlekseyKosygin wrote:......Just get the 5 CD set on Nostalgia Arts......

I just listened to Vol 1 last evening. Amazing fiedlty considering some of the material dates back to 1923. Very good CD and I'm anxious to listen to the rest of the set. This should be the basis of my radio show.

AlekseyKosygin · #10 Post by **AlekseyKosygin** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 5:59 am

Glad to hear you picked that up, the quality is great because the late Mr. Davies worked on it, good luck with your show...

Alex

Jerry_Jelinek · #11 Post by **Jerry_Jelinek** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 8:04 am

Well I have a wee bit on a confession to make. I copied the CDs from the radio stations archives. The CDs aren't cheap and prior to spending the money, I wanted to verify the quality.

Now that I've heard the quality, I will end up buying a few of the CDs. For my needs and general feeling of supporting the labels and/or artists, I feel very compelled to buy the CD product and not just rely on the copies. Also having the liner notes is essential for me and my presentation. Giving accurate date and personel information is part of the show I present.

So I can use the stations CDs and the set I copied along with liner notes from the CDs I'll buy and have a very nice presentation.

This set is going to be the basis of the show. Probably to air in March or early April.

AlekseyKosygin · #12 Post by **AlekseyKosygin** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:25 pm

Jerry_Jelinek wrote:Well I have a wee bit on a confession to make. I copied the CDs from the radio stations archives. The CDs aren't cheap and prior to spending the money, I wanted to verify the quality.

Now that I've heard the quality, I will end up buying a few of the CDs. For my needs and general feeling of supporting the labels and/or artists, I feel very compelled to buy the CD product and not just rely on the copies. Also having the liner notes is essential for me and my presentation. Giving accurate date and personel information is part of the show I present.

So I can use the stations CDs and the set I copied along with liner notes from the CDs I'll buy and have a very nice presentation.

This set is going to be the basis of the show. Probably to air in March or early April.

Jerry,

I'm friends with the historian David McCain who wrote all the liner notes for those CD's, he's from New Orleans just like the Bosies and is currently living in NJ...he has a wealth of information on them and if you'd like his contact info let me know because I'm sure he can provide you with any additional information you might need for your show...

Alex

Charleston Charlie · #13 Post by **Charleston Charlie** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:55 pm

The Boswells were true Jazz artists - they pressed quite a few pop tunes, but tended to infect everything they did with tremendous artistry and jazz inflections; I refer to obviously pop stuff like "Shuffle Off To Buffalo" and "42nd Street".

Their tendency to vary their tempos whithin songs drove dancers crazy back then, as they do now. Forturnately, I have a radio show and I can get away with playing them frequently; I think the only tune I have ever played for dancers was "The Object Of My Affection", which tempo stays where it is.

They were heavily influenced by their upbringing (New Orleans) and by Louis Armstrong. They, in turn, influenced others; Ella Fitzgerald was heavily influenced by Connee Boswell.

I may be a little biased, but I tend to look upon their inheritors (The Andrews, The McGuires) as pale imitations, talented enough but not the artists the Boswells were. I think of the Boswells as the mother group to all the girl groups - from the Supremes right up to the R & B groups today.

Whether they know it or not.

PitchTheWoo · #14 Post by **PitchTheWoo** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:13 pm

I'm glad to learn about these CD sets. I'm going to get them, as I love The Boswell Sisters. I recently played one of their tunes at a special event and a couple people commented on how they liked it. It was a Balboa event though, and one of the people was the local DJ, but still, that ain't bad...

I put them in my regular weekly sets too. Again, I have a good percentage of Balboa dancers.

On the other subject of tempo changes. I really dislike them and I think have played only two in about as many years.

Cheers,
Jeff

Eyeball · #15 Post by **Eyeball** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:49 pm

Charleston Charlie wrote:
I may be a little biased, but I tend to look upon their inheritors (The Andrews, The McGuires) as pale imitations, talented enough but not the artists the Boswells were.

You made a major leap and an omission between the Andrews Sisters and The McGuire Sisters namely, The King Sisters who were the hippest sister vocal group of the era (mid to late 30s and deep into the 40s and beyond).

They are vastly under-rated, largely b/c most of their best stuff has never been reissued. You can find tracks here and there, some of the acapella during WW2, but there have been very few LP or CD issues completely devoted to them.

Four voices - lots of recordings - less 'exotic' then the Boswells and as mucch fun and more musical than the Andrews.

Also - gotta plug the Clarke Sisters who sang with Tommy Dorsey and did those great versions of ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET and CHICAGO.