We turn from the then-current instrumental "Jingle Bells" of the Ventures to a few instrumental versions in the old school Honky Tonk style of piano!
First up is Del Wood, with this single on Tennessee Records from 1954:
And here's the flipside, which for a change is a version of Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus":
Very snappy piano stylings!
What is not evident from her name is that Del Wood was a woman. Her stage name is a very clever takeoff on her full married name of Polly Adelaide Hendricks Hazelwood!
I'm under the impression that her gender was not originally known to record buyers until her 1951 recording of "Down Yonder" became a massive hit:
She identified as a country music artist and continued to record with releases aimed toward that market for a long time.
Another long-time proponent of the Honky Tonk style was "Crazy Otto" (German pianist Fritz Schulz-Reichel) who included "Jingle Bells" in this Christmas medley on Decca Records from 1960:
Crazy Otto was big on medleys and his name actually first became known to American audiences when pianist Johnny Maddox had a huge hit in 1955 with a medley of tunes called "The Crazy Otto":
I guess it was confusing that Crazy Otto was a person and not just a song!
We next check in with Big Tiny Little (real name Dudley Little, Jr.) with his own Christmas medley on Coral Records in 1961:
I like how he weaves "Jingle Bells" in and out, but I notice that "The First Noël" in included, but not listed on the label.
So, some enjoyable recordings, but remember - it's Honky Tonk, not Ragtime!
No comments:
Post a Comment