If I Could Be With You |
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If I Could Be With You
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Thursday, 09 February 2006 11:35 |
"If I Could Be With You"
for Penny
From the stage of Detroit's
world-famous Graystone Ballroom
on Woodward Avenue just south of Canfield
Ladies & gentlemen, the fabulous
Victor re- cording artists: Please
join me in welcoming our
very special guests tonight--
the legendary Mc- Kinney's
Cotton Pickers!
oh if i could be with you one
hour tonight, if i were free
to do the things
i might, i'm tellin' you
true. i'd be anything
but blue, if i
could be with you
They came to Detroit in 1926, up from Springfield,
Ohio, led by the circus drummer, William Mc-
Kinney, & boasting on banjo & oc-
casional vocals, Mr. Dave Wilborn
On tenor, alto, soprano & bass saxophones, oboe
& violin, Mr. Wesley Stuart
On piano & arrangements, the great Todd Rhodes
Playing the alto & so- prano saxophones &
bass clarinet, George "Fathead" Thomas
On trumpet & arrangements, John Nesbitt
On trombone & baritone horn, Mr.
Claud Jones
The orchestra's dance team, sousaphonist June Cole
& drummer Cuba Austin
& in the saxophone section, the band's musical
director, on alto, soprano & bass
saxophones, oboe & violin, Mr. Milton Senior--
They called themselves Mc- Kinney's Syncos
in Springfield, but when they came to Detroit
to replace the Jean Goldkette Orchestra at the Graystone Ballroom
in September 1927 their Caucasian employers,
wise in the ways of Detroit, insisted that they change
their name to the Cotton Pickers
& without much choice in the matter so they became--
First at the Arcadia down the street from the Graystone
for five months in 1926 the Syncos
stormed Detroit & were engaged
by the Goldkette organization
as its first "all- colored orchestra" for
two weeks at the Graystone & then in the summer
of 1927 Jean Goldkette signed Don Redman
as musical director of McKinney's Cotton Pickers--
direct from the Fletcher Henderson
Orchestra in New York City, the
father of the jazz
arrangement & a giant of jazz
at just under five feet tall, Don Redman
beat the band into shape
with his mighty arrangements & for the princely sum
of $300.00 per week Don Redman
led the band to international stardom,
a Victor recording contract, a radio wire
out of the Graystone onto WJR
with its 50,000 watts of clear channel power,
"the Great Voice of the Great Lakes,"
McKinney's Cotton Pickers rose up out of Detroit
to light up the world with the music of Don Redman--
if i could be with you one
hour tonight
if 1927 if the Graystone
were still standing
Don Redman stayed with the Cotton Pickers
till 1931 & went out on his own then
with several of the re- maining members
but George Thomas was already dead in an auto accident
on the road, November 1930,
& the driver, one of the brightest
trumpet stars of the 20s,
Joe Smith, was quickly drinking himself crazy
& Milton Senior had left & would kill himself
before the 30s were over
& another trumpet man, John Nesbitt,
who was Fathead's closest friend
in the band also lost his wife
& Nesbitt was lost to the bottle
& on a west coast trip where the Cotton Pickers
headlined over the Fletcher
Henderson & Duke Ellington
Orchestras, when people in Hollywood
heard their first orchestral arrangements
in jazz in 1931
the band fell apart & never recovered
its former glory--
if i could be with you one
hour to- night if i
could be with you
McKinney's Cotton Pickers, 'the Mississippi Muddies
of Syncopation,' the 'Sensation
of the Automobile City,'
their entire recorded output of 56 sides
for Victor in now available
only on five out-of-print
French 'Black & White'
RCA LPs & the only man still alive
from the original Pickers is my man, Dave
Wilborn, who brought this back to life for me
& made me sing this little song
& who still sings his own song as
sweet as ever
& says from the stage today,
"Thank you ladies & gentlemen and
back in 1928 up at the Graystone Ballroom
Woodward & Canfield while with McKinney's Cotton Pickers
We were the first black band to broadcast
out of Detroit over WJR
Our theme was a beautiful love song
of the 20s written by Don Redman--
I was there to sing that song
over the airways & by the
grace of the good Lord
I'm here to sing it for you tonight,"
January 7, 1979,
at the Paradise Theatre in Detroit
i'm so blue i don't know
what to do all day long
i sit & dream of you
i did wrong when i let you
go away now i dream
about you night & day
i'd be happy if i had you
by my side i'd be happy
if i knew you were my bride
if i could be with you
one hour tonight & i was free to do
the things i might
i want you to know that you couldn't go
until i showed you honey how i loved you so
if i could be with you
i'd love you strong if i could be with you
i'd love you all night long
i'm tellin' you true, you'd be
anything but blue, if i
could be with you--
for just one hour-- if i
could be with you
Detroit March 25/June 1, 1982/
New Orleans January 1994
Music by McKinney's Cotton Pickers
3.1.6125 |
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