#690 (Week of 12/11/10 - 12/17/10)

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THIS WEEK'S SELECTIONS PROVIDED BY ANDREW BOHAN

"Lonesome Road"/"Fool That I Am"
by Valaida Snow And The Day Dreamers
on Bel-Tone 7001
released in 1946

Above: Valaida Snow clipping from The Billboard 5/25/46.

Above: Valaida Snow clipping from The Billboard 3-10-45.

Above: Valaida Snow photos from the 1930's.

Valaida Snow (June 2, 1904 – May 30, 1956) was an African American jazz musician and entertainer.
 
She was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Raised on the road in a show-business family, she learned to play cello, bass, banjo, violin, mandolin, harp, accordion, clarinet, trumpet, and saxophone at professional levels by the time she was 15. She also sang and danced.
 
After focusing on the trumpet, she quickly became so famous at the instrument that she was named "Little Louis" after Louis Armstrong, who used to call her the world's second best jazz trumpet player besides himself. She played concerts throughout the USA, Europe and China.
 
Her most successful period was in the 1930s when she became the toast of London and Paris. Around this time she recorded her hit song, "High Hat, Trumpet, and Rhythm." She performed in the Ethel Waters show, "Rhapsody In Black", in New York. In the mid-30s she made films with her husband, Ananias Berry, of the Berry Brothers dancing troupe. After playing New York's Apollo Theater, she revisited Europe and the Far East for more shows and films. She later married Earl Edwards.
 
Valaida Snow died of a brain hemorrhage on May 30, 1956 in New York City, backstage during a performance at the Palace Theater.

Above biography excerpted from Wikipedia.

Above: Bel-Tone opens/closes clippings from The Billboard 7-28-45 and 12-7-46.

Above: Label image of Bel-Tone 7001 released in February 1946. Valaida Snow had four releases on the Bel-Tone label (Feb-July 1946).

"Lonesome Road" was done by The Dixie Four, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Mildred Bailey, Paul Breckenridge And The Four Heavenly Knights, The Dominoes, The Four Tunes and many others. "Fool That I Am" was done by The Brooks Brothers, The Ravens, Dinah Washington and others.

Listen to this week's selections by Valaida Snow And The Day Dreamers on Bel-Tone 7001 from 1946:
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

A. Stream RealAudio (DO NOT USE...LISTEN USING DOWNLOAD REALAUDIO)...             Lonesome Road           Fool That I Am           BOTH played in sequence      B. Download RealAudio...             Lonesome Road           Fool That I Am      C. Stream/Download Media Player...             Lonesome Road           Fool That I Am

     [To download audio files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]

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