Customer Reviews

V-Disc Recordings

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These are literally the last records that Fats Waller recorded before he died. In that regard, they are historically significant. They are not his best, though - he gets progressively more "plastered" as the session wears on. It's similar to listening to the last Billie Holiday recordings; sublime, and yet painful at the same time.

As a collection, it is well re-mastered with only a few sides being noticeably scratchy. It is not a complete collection, however, since the unissued sides are not here (he recorded 22 sides for V-Disc, less than half of them were issued). The remaining selections, "It's a Sin", "Your Feets Too Big", "Frenchy", are dubs from the Bluebird sides. Better remasterings of these performances can be found on the BMG/RCA reissues.

Don't make this your first "Fats" CD. Buy the reissues of the Victor/Bluebird material first. Then you can appreciate this for what it is: a "twilight" performance of a legendary artist.

I first learned of Fats Waller while living in New York City in the late 1970's, where I had the good fortune to see "Ain't Misbehavin'" with the original Broadway cast. I instantly fell in love with Waller's music and his wit [not to mention the cast -- I highly recommend that CD as well] .

This CD is an essential collection of recordings made in the last years of Waller's life. Most of the cuts are of excellent sound quality [for the period] and were recorded as part of the V-DISC program for the Armed Services during World War II. Most of the selections have Fats singing while accompanying himself solo on the piano and making the wise cracks for which he is so famous. These are the cuts that most Waller fanatics seem to treasure most.

That I rate it 4 stars and not a full 5 is owing only to my personal prejudices that (1) it contains a few organ pieces and I much prefer Fats at the piano, and (2) the absence of "Honeysuckle Rose" from this album leaves it incomplete. Also, two cuts are scratchy [It's A Sin To Tell A Lie & Oh Frenchy]. Even so, I highly recommend the disc.

Anybody familiar with the 1978 Broadway show "Ain't Misbehavin'" will recognize several of these [Ain't Misbehavin', Two Sleepy People, Your Feets Too Big, and That Ain't Right] as having been the very cuts that inspired the selections for the show.

It only arrived today, but I can already see that it is going to be one of my favorite CD's, and one I will be likely to give as a gift.

Most of the tunes included here were recorded for V-discs on September 27,1943,two months before Fats' untimely death in a night train.The piano solos tracks are a real delight : the humorous and incredibly human voice,the infectious laughter it suggests sometimes,and this amazing way of treating the 88 notes."two sleepy people","slightly less than wonderful" with his hilarous vocal,"there's a gal in my life","this is so nice it must be illegal" are some of his best recordings.The solo pieces,without vocal parts, are outstanding too : "Martinique","Hallelujah" and a treasury of stride,"Waller jive".Now, let's talk about the Hammond organ pieces, surely his greatest performances on this instrument: "bouncin' on a V-disc" swings like mad;"solitude" is a marvelous tribute to Duke Ellington; and there is this version of "sometimes I feel like a motherless child".This tune is one of the most extraordinary things I ever heard in music.Fats' playing here is beyond category,overwhelming all that can be done on organ.A piece of a terrific intensity,very introspective and incredibly violent at the same time.If Fats had only recorded this tune,he would deserve to be considered as one of the greatest musicians of all times.You have to own this record,even if you're afraid by Hammond organ (you'll see that Fats' playing is extremely different from Jimmy Smith or Jack McDuff).This is a milestone in Fats Waller's discography.