Journeys End - Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra (1922)
Old Movies and Music
2023-04-04
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"Journey's End"
Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
Victor 18985
November 15, 1922
Whiteman's remarkable recording career began in 1920. His success led to the demise of "jass" bands that had earlier enjoyed success. He pioneered a new type of dance music.
Victor's November 1920 record catalog supplement announced the release of Whiteman's first disc, twelve-inch 35701 featuring "Avalon--Just Like a Gypsy" (the label describes it as a "Fox Trot Medley") backed by "Best Ever Medley."
The supplement states, "These are the first records by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra from the Ambassador Hotel, at Atlantic City. They exhibit a new type of dance record--a new and singularly beautiful type, which must be heard to be taken at its true value. This orchestra has its own methods of scoring..."
The supplement's claim that the records "exhibit a new type of dance record" is valid. Whiteman's early records were different from most being issued by Victor, especially in instrumentation--a combination of saxophones, brass instruments, strings (banjo and violin), and percussion.
Whiteman's orchestra used nine musicians, making it larger than the typical dance orchestra of 1920. Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra at that time employed six musicians, sometimes seven. Selvin's Novelty Orchestra in late 1919 recorded the carefully arranged "Dardanella" (Victor 18633) with nine musicians playing most of the same instruments that Whiteman used one year later for his first session.
Selvin's "Dardanella" was a huge hit in 1920 and arguably a harbinger of dance records to come, including Whiteman's. Though Selvin would make many more records, working for various companies, no other Selvin performance duplicated the success of "Dardanella."
Whiteman, in contrast to Selvin, enjoyed hit after hit as an exclusive Victor artist.
In the autumn of 1921 the orchestra was featured for the first time in a vaudeville house, the prestigious Palace Theater. To play to an audience that had no space for dancing was daring, but the engagement was successful, proving that audiences were satisfied when simply listening to Whiteman's dance band. His records had been promoted as meant for dancers--not for listeners in seats.
He was called the King of Jazz, but a better name would have been King of the Fox Trot. The fox trot had caught on in 1914 as another spirited trot, but it eventually merged with the two step, becoming smooth. The name "fox trot" finally replaced "two step" and "march" on sheet music and record labels.
Most ten-inch Whiteman records of the acoustic era have, after the song title, the simple phrase "Fox Trot." Exceptions are "Medley Fox Trot," "Oriental Fox Trot," "Waltz," "Medley Waltz," "Medley One-Step," and "Blues Fox Trot."
Victor 18744, featuring "Down Around the 'Sip, 'Sip, 'Sippy Shore," may be the first Whiteman record to feature a voice: a session participant supplies square dancing calls.
Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
Victor 18985
November 15, 1922
Whiteman's remarkable recording career began in 1920. His success led to the demise of "jass" bands that had earlier enjoyed success. He pioneered a new type of dance music.
Victor's November 1920 record catalog supplement announced the release of Whiteman's first disc, twelve-inch 35701 featuring "Avalon--Just Like a Gypsy" (the label describes it as a "Fox Trot Medley") backed by "Best Ever Medley."
The supplement states, "These are the first records by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra from the Ambassador Hotel, at Atlantic City. They exhibit a new type of dance record--a new and singularly beautiful type, which must be heard to be taken at its true value. This orchestra has its own methods of scoring..."
The supplement's claim that the records "exhibit a new type of dance record" is valid. Whiteman's early records were different from most being issued by Victor, especially in instrumentation--a combination of saxophones, brass instruments, strings (banjo and violin), and percussion.
Whiteman's orchestra used nine musicians, making it larger than the typical dance orchestra of 1920. Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra at that time employed six musicians, sometimes seven. Selvin's Novelty Orchestra in late 1919 recorded the carefully arranged "Dardanella" (Victor 18633) with nine musicians playing most of the same instruments that Whiteman used one year later for his first session.
Selvin's "Dardanella" was a huge hit in 1920 and arguably a harbinger of dance records to come, including Whiteman's. Though Selvin would make many more records, working for various companies, no other Selvin performance duplicated the success of "Dardanella."
Whiteman, in contrast to Selvin, enjoyed hit after hit as an exclusive Victor artist.
In the autumn of 1921 the orchestra was featured for the first time in a vaudeville house, the prestigious Palace Theater. To play to an audience that had no space for dancing was daring, but the engagement was successful, proving that audiences were satisfied when simply listening to Whiteman's dance band. His records had been promoted as meant for dancers--not for listeners in seats.
He was called the King of Jazz, but a better name would have been King of the Fox Trot. The fox trot had caught on in 1914 as another spirited trot, but it eventually merged with the two step, becoming smooth. The name "fox trot" finally replaced "two step" and "march" on sheet music and record labels.
Most ten-inch Whiteman records of the acoustic era have, after the song title, the simple phrase "Fox Trot." Exceptions are "Medley Fox Trot," "Oriental Fox Trot," "Waltz," "Medley Waltz," "Medley One-Step," and "Blues Fox Trot."
Victor 18744, featuring "Down Around the 'Sip, 'Sip, 'Sippy Shore," may be the first Whiteman record to feature a voice: a session participant supplies square dancing calls.
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