Customer Reviews

That's What I Call Sweet Music: American Dance Orchestras of the 1920s

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cartoonist R. Crumb has long had a sweet-tooth for old-time music; along with his duties as a countercultural icon, he's also spent decades obsessively collecting old blues and jazz 78s, and during the 1970s, '80s and '90s was a member in good standing of the old-timey revivalist stringband, the Cheap Suit Serenaders. In keeping with this passion, Crumb has put together this delightful -- ... -- collection of his favorite 1920s jazz 78s, highlighting the "sweet band" style that many jazz purists scorn as too pop-oriented. Rudy Vallee, Red Nichols and Paul Whiteman share disc space with more obscure acts such as Herman Kenin and His Ambassador Hotel Orchestra, and the bouncy, perky mix is irresistible. The CD also features plenty of swank R. Crumb drawings that his print-only fans should appreciate as well. Highly recommended!

This selection of largely obscure Twenties swing band recordings from R. Crumb's legendary collection of "rare sides" is truly a desert island disc. Even if you don't care for the genre--I suppose there are such benighted souls--you'll find yourself smiling and possessed by a toe-tapping frenzy from the very first track. An incredible collection of essential music, nicely mastered and showcased with the usual hilarious Crumb graphics and insightful notes.

Anyone who is a fan of hot jazz, ancient Tin Pan alley & pure hokum from the 20's, you owe it to yourself to get this disc. In addition to the mindblowing selections (all hopelessly rare 78's) that Crumb made for this CD, it comes in a wonderful little book binding and every inch of it is illustrated and hand-worded by Crumb himself! This project was clearly a labor of love and the music is joyously innocent but swinging hard at every turn...

I have long been a fan of Robert Crumb as both an artist and a musician and so was immediately attracted to this recording as it might give me some insight into his eccentric interests and talents.
With "That's What I Call Sweet Music", Crumb has assembled a phenomenal compilation of worthy but mostly long-forgotten songs by 24 different mostly forgotten bands.
Some of the lyrics are corny, the music at times seems vaguely cartoonish, but the execution is virtuoso. Featured musicians like Earl Hines, Rudy Vallee, and Paul Whiteman are at least familiar to music lovers of eclectic tastes, but Crumb also introduces more obscure orchestra leaders like Fred Rich, Leroy Smith, Paul Tremaine, Anson Weeks, and many others to a wider audience.
The entire CD really jumps and swings. If you are not a dancer, you'll wish you were when you hear it for the first time! I like the whole CD, but my favorites are the title cut, the hilarious (and true) Wedding Bells, the Aristocratic Stomp, and the playful Buy, Buy For Baby.
Rediscover the music that helped the 20s become one of the "fun" decades of the last century and add this CD to your collection. You'll be glad you did and so will your grandparents.

When I first heard about this CD being released by cartoonist R. Crumb several years ago, I knew that I had to get it. The main reason I bought this CD, was because of his film, "Crumb." When I sat back and watched the film, and learned of his passion for the early blues and jazz, [an era I am most fond of] I definetly wanted to purchase it. It's a good thing too, as the price right now is ridiculous. I taped the CD, as it was just too beautiful to play, and I did not want to ruin it. It is one of the best [if not the best] CD, I have ever seen. R. Crumb did not just give us some great music from his personal collection on this CD, he packaged it in a very tasteful and artistic way.

When I watched the film, I just loved the music in the biographical life of R. Crumb. Actually, I liked the music most of all. He really has a great taste in music. Most of the artist's I had never heard of before. I was surprised when I read in the magazine article he gave concerning this upcoming release [at the time] that he did not like the selections that EMI had in their collections. Therefore, he decided to use his own collection. Wow, what a collection of beautiful music he has. The CD is a compilation of rary [very rare] 20s dance music, of mostly forgotten and unknown artists. I was able to get this one, and another one of his other CDs, of him and his band. I hope that it is still available at a decent price [I still have it]. The music R. Crumb covers, is also the era of blues and jazz that I have always liked: I like anything from around 1923-1938. [Crumb mentioned in the article his period is from 1925-1935].

This entire CD is not only a work of art [rare today] but the music is fantastic. Most of the songs in the CD were recorded between the years 1927 to 1930. Although there are some well known [to some degree] artists, such as Rudy Vallee, and Earl Hines, most of the artists are not well known. At least not to me anyway. "Artistocratic Stomp" is one of my favorites on the CD, but I like them all. The amazon page has a listening sample for these wonderful songs, and I recommend you take a moment and hear some of these long gone, and for the most part, forgotten sounds of early America. And if you come across this CD, [at a reasonable price] grab it, because it truly is a gem, and the sounds are just fantastic. Highly recommend. [Stars: 5+]

This CD features music selected by "underground" cartoonist Robert Crumb, from his 78RPM record collection. All the music is by dance orchestras, and all songs were recorded between 1927 and 1930. It's actually quite enjoyable, and not as "corny" as you might expect. One thing that surprised me was how unimportant singers were to these bands. Nine of the tunes here are instrumentals, but even in the songs that do have singers, the singer doesn't usually play a major role. The singer will usually come in about a minute into the song, and sing for less than a minute. Of course, that's not true of the song here by Rudy Vallee. If you like "old time" music, you should enjoy this CD.

This compilation takes the concept of a CD album to a new level. First, the two dozen tracks, which with two exceptions all date from the late twenties (and the other two date from 1930) are the personal selection of cartoonist Robert Crumb. By way of embellishment he's provided the illustrations and text for an 8-page hardback book which houses the CD. His compilation is absolutely delightful, and unlike many others I can think of, there's not a single track where you ask why he didn't include another in preference. A few are quite obscure, having been recorded outside the main centres of New York or Chicago, but all of them repay repeated listening. Add to that the allure of Robert Crumb's coloured illustrations, and hand-written text, and you have a reissue to treasure.