Duke’s Brunswick Flip: A Southern Stroll
On the flipside of Duke Ellington’s Brunswick disc, we find his take on Dear Old Southland, recorded in late 1933:
The sort‑of‑vocal comes courtesy of trumpeter Louis Bacon, who appeared on just a handful of Ellington sessions. I love how Tricky Sam Nanton threads his wah‑wah trombone around Louis’s vocal — it’s like a sly commentary track running underneath.
To better appreciate Louis Bacon, let’s spin Rude Interlude, a slightly earlier Ellington side for Victor featuring Louis’s scat vocal:
Not rude at all — actually quite lovely. Before the vocal arrives, we get graceful solos from Juan Tizol and Cootie Williams, setting the mood with that early‑’30s Ellington shimmer.
Back to Dear Old Southland: Duke revisited it in 1941 with a solo piano version for Victor:
This comes from the same session as Duke’s solo Solitude we heard last week, both originally issued on Victor’s Hot Piano album — a nice little nugget of unaccompanied Ellington.
Borrah’s Decca Flip: A Moonlit Glide
Now we flip over Borrah Minevitch’s Decca record of “Daybreak Express” and find his harmonica‑band take on the Will Hudson–Eddie DeLange standard Moonglow:
Proof positive that a great song can wear any outfit and still look fabulous!
And while Borrah and his Harmonica Rascals never recorded Dear Old Southland, they did cut a version of Deep River for Brunswick in 1933:
Here’s the twist: Dear Old Southland was based on the melody of Deep River, an earlier spiritual. At the time (1921), adapting a spiritual into a popular song stirred controversy — and understandably so. The lineage is unmistakable once you hear them side by side.
Flip, Listen, Learn
As always, flipping those records over reveals a whole new little world — unexpected pairings, hidden gems, and the occasional spiritual‑to‑song intrigue. That’s half the fun of these Side‑Sessions, and today’s stack delivers beautifully!
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