Can you please tell me who does the original?!?

[Midnight Palace]

http://www.myspace.com/johnnycrawfordorchestra

The song is "The Mooch" on that page. I know it was originally a 30s song I believe. Does anyone know the original artist?

 

[The Wolf]

Don't quote me

I think Duke Ellington. It's a lead anyway.[huh]

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

I believe Lonnie Johnson wrote it, a.k.a. "The Mooche".

 

[Doctor Strange]

There is indeed a famous late-1920s Duke Ellington composition called The Mooche - but it is a DIFFERENT song from this one. You can listen to the Ellington recordings at:

http://www.redhotjazz.com/dukecco.html

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

Doc, the Ellington "The Mooche" samples are the same song as in Midnight's link (go forward 3 tracks on the player) .. However, I don't think he wrote it [huh]

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

This is Lonnie Johnson's version ..

http://www.last.fm/music/Lonnie+Johnson/_/The+Mooche

 

[Doctor Strange]

Thanks, I stand corrected - I didn't play the right track last time.

But I've always seen The Mooche attributed to Duke and manager Irving Mills. Your link may claim to be Lonnie Johnson (who was a blues guitarist, no?), but it sure SOUNDS like Duke's orchestra.

(Added) Hey, it even lists Duke Ellington on the Lonnie Johnson album cover.

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

On that particular track, he is indeed a guest in Duke's Orchestra however, and I'm no expert, but I do believe that Lonnie recorded "The Mooche" when he was on the Okeh label in 1926, pre-dating the Ellington versions.

lol That wasn'rt the choicest link to use, whoops!

 

[Doctor Strange]

I still believe that the song in question is the well-known Duke Ellington orchestral composition (co-attributed to Irving Mills) first recorded in 1928, but fine, whatever...

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

You're probably right.

While I take Wikipedia with a grain of salt .. I did find this ..

"Many of these musicians remained with Ellington's orchestra for decades. While many were noteworthy in their own right, it was Ellington's musical genius that melded them into one of the most well-known orchestral units in the history of jazz. His compositions were often written specifically for the style and skills of these individuals, such as "Jeep's Blues" for Johnny Hodges, "Concerto for Cootie" (Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me) for Cootie Williams and "The Mooche" for Tricky Sam Nanton."

 

[The Wolf]

Now see what you started, Midnight Palace

I found my copy of "The Mooche" [sic] by Ellington on a CD compilation from Ken Burn's Jazz.
As "Ham" Brooks might say "Asked and answered"

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Doctor Strange]

Yeah, that's definitely the case: he didn't just write for sections, he wrote for individuals. Sometimes, he used a riff that one of his soloists had improvised as the basis for a song and gave them co-composer credit.

I've been a big Ellington fan for around 30 years - I've got piles of LPs and CDs, have read all the major biographies, etc. He gets my vote for being America's greatest composer! (Sorry, Gershwin, Ives, Copland, Bernstein, Rodgers, etc.)

 

[Midnight Palace]

Thanks for your help guys!