Fractious Fingering: The Early Years, Part 3 (1936)

Fats Waller

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 28, 1997)
• Original Release Date: January 28, 1997
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003FSK
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #323,808 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. All My Life

2. Christopher Columbus [A Rhythm Cocktail]

3. Cross Patch

4. It's No Fun

5. Cabin in the Sky

6. Us on a Bus

7. Stay

8. It's a Sin to Tell a Lie

9. More I Know You

10. You're Not the Kind

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Until the Real Thing Comes Along

2. There Goes My Attraction

3. Curse of an Aching Heart [Take 1]

4. Curse of an Aching Heart [Take 2]

5. Bye Bye Baby - Fats Waller

6. S'posin'

7. Copper Colored Gal

8. I'm at the Mercy of Love

9. Floatin' Down to Cotton Town

10. La-De-De, La-De-Da

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The 41 tracks on this two-CD set all date from an eight-month period between April and November of 1936, but Waller was brilliant as well as prolific and the quality of his piano playing never lets up. He's accompanied throughout by his regular sidemen: trumpeter Herman Autrey, Gene Sedric on clarinet and tenor sax, guitarist Al Casey, and bassist Charles Turner. Drummer Yank Porter is replaced by Slick Jones in midcourse, but there's no loss of bounce to the band Waller called His Rhythm. There's a special delight in the all-instrumental (though Waller does talk) session of June 8, including a take on Bach called "Bach Up to Me." Waller was a great songwriter, but the only song of his to appear in these recordings in the infectious "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby." It doesn't really matter, though, because Waller manages to sing other people's songs--like "Christopher Columbus" and "Hallelujah! Things Look Rosy Now"--in a way that sounds as if he made them up on the spot. While Waller's wit and high spirits prevail, there are moments that reveal his other sides: his celesta combines with Sedric's round tenor for an intro of incredible sweetness to "Cabin in the Sky." --Stuart Broomer