"Jingle Bells" - Part 7 - Boogie Woogie!

We continue our "Jingle Bells" survey with a trio of "boogie" sides from 1943, 1949 and 1950!

We start in 1943 with Will Bradley, the bandleader most associated with boogie woogie, and an all-star small group:

This particular record on the independent Beacon label was cut in late 1943 after Beacon and other small labels, as well as the smaller "big" labels Decca and Capitol made a deal with the Federation of Musicians and were able to start recording again.

Here's a couple of pieces from "Billboard" that explain everything:

Very informative!

Bandleader Ray Noble flanked by his trombonists - Glenn Miller (left) and Will Bradley (when he was still Wilbur Schwichenberg!)

Will Bradley is an interesting case study of a bandleader. He was an absolutely tremendous trombonist - Glenn Miller said he was the best in the biz - but apparently did not like all the things that went into running a band, so he mainly opted for a long and lucrative career as a studio musician.

(left to right) Band singer Terry Allen, leader Will Bradley and co-leader/drummer/singer Ray McKinley

The irony of "Jingle Bells Boogie Woogie" is that when Will did co-lead a band in the early 1940s with drummer Ray McKinley, the band's biggest hits were boogie numbers like "Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar" and "Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat," numbers favored by Ray but not Will, leading to their split.

By 1943, Will Bradley had given up the band but would sometimes lead studio groups and probably got a kick out of playing a boogie woogie number with his musician buddies.

We jump ahead to 1949 with another boogie version, this one more of a rhythm and blues take on the tune, courtesy of saxophonist Freddie Mitchell:

Freddie was the musical director for the small Derby label and made some records like this one in addition to backing the label's singers.

We next dip our toe into the 1950s with Johnny Bond's western swingy version:

You gotta dig the DJ with the crewcut on Columbia's promo label!

Gene Autry and Johnny Bond with just a couple of fans!

Johnny Bond was a very talented singer/songwriter/guitarist who worked with Gene Autry and Jimmy Wakely in addition to cutting some of his own records with his Red River Valley Boys on Columbia.

Here's what "Billboard" said about Johnny's record:

I think it deserved a higher rating, but I'm not a music reviewer from 1950, no matter how much I'd like to be!

The flipside as mentioned in the review is pretty snappy, so let's give it a listen:

I could definitely see Johnny's pal Gene Autry singing "I Wanna Do Something for Santa," but Gene had plenty of other Christmas songs to record!