Topic: Jelly Roll Morton (and His Attitude ...)

[Shovel]

So when I listen to Jelly Roll Morton, I feel like I'm listening to a force of nature.  Hot Peppers stuff, piano rolls, The Pearls, he's just something else.  I havent heard enough of everything else going on back then to feel comfortable 'rating' him with regards to what his contemporaries were doing, but I do feel he was special.  Of the Louis Armstrong stuff I've heard, I havent heard much to make me rate  him close to JRM.

But Louis Armstrong is an American Icon, and Jelly Roll just doesn't seem to be as forced down America's throat to the same degree.  He's more a guy you've heard of, but you have to look for.  

The thing I read about in articles (I'd like somebody to recommend a book) is that his bad attitude contributed to the state of his career as he moved forward.

What I'm wondering is if anyone with more knowledge of the man could shed any insight into some of the nature of his disagreeability.  Was it a general hell-raising attitude, drunken rages, was he violent?

Or was it more along the lines of a big ego, supremely confident in his abilities, who refused to play the way it seemed somebody like Louis Armstrong was happy able to?  Refused to go along with calling other people's the 'King of' this or that to go along with 'popular' opinion, not taking a musical/promotional back seat to whites, etc?

Any insight appreciated.  

While I might have the attention of some JRM experts, I'm also curious about the piano breakdown he plays in his Red Hot Peppers recording of Bealle Street Blues.  That's an all-time great passage in my mind, and I'm wondering if that specific melody is being rehashed in any way from anything else you might've heard recorded prior.  I've listened to other versions and not heard that specific piano line.  It's the one where most everything but the piano drops out about 2/3 through the song, before the big finish.  Just curious if anybody knows anything about it.  

Thanks for anything you can offer.  

Feel free to fill this thread with anything else Jelly Roll Morton related, and a recommendation for a good bio.  

[Rivers]

My reading is JRM was ripped off and, when he cut up about it, was set up to take the fall, while others got rich off of his genius for generations to come. I would have been slightly bitter too.

If you decide to do some more research be sure to add "Melrose" to your search terms to get the full discussion of the business arrangements in play. And also be sure to post any links to what you might find.

[uncle bud]

Is there anything that has superseded Alan Lomax's JRM biography, Mister Jelly Roll (which I haven't read myself)?

[Rivers]

Mostly hearsay UB, of the internet gossip variety. Which is usually good enough for me since AL, much as I love him. will likely not go down in history as an enlightened new age guy and reliable witness. Compared to his dad though he's the dalai lama of country blues analysis.

Note, I did say 'compared to his dad'.

[Bunker Hill]

About a decade ago there was a favourable review in one of the jazz mags of a biography by Howard Reich and William Gaines Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton.

I have Rick Kennedy's Jelly Roll, Bix, and Hoagy: Gennett Studios and the Birth of Recorded Jazz which, whilst not a biography, contains a good insight into this angle.

[Blues Vintage]

From what remember reading somewhere he was not sure of himself because of his light skin. He was to light to be a negro and too black to be white. He felt not accepted within both the black and white (music) communities, hence his superior and arrogant attitude.

[banjochris]

About a decade ago there was a favourable review in one of the jazz mags of a biography by Howard Reich and William Gaines Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton.

I read this a few years ago and, if I'm remembering rightly, it really goes into detail about the legal battles he was involved in toward the end of his life, many of which were resolved in his favor years too late for him.

I think JRM probably did irritate a lot of people, black and white, with his ego. But as many people point out in his biographies, he could always back up any "boast" with actual ability. Another interesting thing, I think, is that musicians who worked for him, esp. in the Red Hot Peppers, usually had nothing but good things to say about the way he ran rehearsals and performances, showing musicians what he wanted but giving them a lot of freedom within that framework.

Adding to what Rivers said, I seem to remember reading somewhere also that Morton was frozen out of a lot of club work in Chicago because he wouldn't play ball with the mob. And I think what Harry Klook says has some truth as well, given his early "respectable" New Orleans origins. On the Library of Congress interviews he always seems to come across as "above" the sordid milieu he often lived and performed in, although it's clear that there aspects of it (especially the music) he has a lot of affection for.

There's a book called Jelly Out West that focuses on his years in L.A. that's pretty interesting, too.

[lindy]

There's a book called Jelly Out West that focuses on his years in L.A. that's pretty interesting, too.

Good stuff on his West Coast years here:

http://www.doctorjazz.co.uk/page10aa.html

A fellow PT participant saw Henry Butler play in an old space near the Gastown neighborhood of Vancouver BC, and learned that Jelly Roll Morton had performed in the same room in the 1910s or 20s. Great connection.

I'll also state the obvious here: Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong are two of the most important musical innovators in the history of jazz. They had different personalities.

Lindy

[Johnm]

Without knowing either musician and only working from anecdotal evidence, Jelly Roll Morton, at least personally (certainly not musically) reminds me a lot of Skip James--intelligent, haughty, not suffering fools gladly, and notably unimpressed with the musical talents of people other than himself.
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

Without knowing either musician and only working from anecdotal evidence, Jelly Roll Morton, at least personally (certainly not musically) reminds me a lot of Skip James--intelligent, haughty, not suffering fools gladly, and notably unimpressed with the musical talents of people other than himself.

I think there's some truth in that, John, and I think both of them had that bitterness of missed opportunities (for racial and other reasons) in their makeup. I think Morton musically was much more generous than James, though; he had talented sidemen he enjoyed working with, for instance, and was full of praise for someone like Tony Jackson. And he could recognize the worth of something like Mamie Desdoumes' blues, saying something like "she only knew one song but she could really play it" before recreating the performance. From what I've read about them I would guess that Morton was a lot less prone to violence than James was, as well.

[Blues Vintage]

Reading these comments Paul Butterfield came to mind. In the mid 60's he was as an irish descendent completely accepted in the black Chicago blues music scene. When he walked into a all black club in a all black neighborhood and Little Walter or Junior Wells were playing they would put there harps down and told him to get up on stage (got this from Mike Bloomfield who was scared of Paul during that period). Butterfield was a despot who carried a gun in Chicago and a I remember a story that he hit Elvin Bishop on stage with his coat kinda covering it.

[Shovel]

Thanks for all the replies and discussion.  Very informative and helpful.

As I find other links I'll post them.

Lester Melrose Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Melrose

Seems he also managed to build a (the?) combo blues band record making assembly line type situation in the 30s.

An interesting page, haven't made it through the site:

http://www.doctorjazz.co.uk/portlater.html

One of those hmmm quotes:

Although he could not play or sing a note of music, Melrose finished up owning the copyright to over three thousand tunes, mostly blues. He acquired those copyrights in a manner said to be normal for the period, but he was, in reality, a bully and a tune thief. He was quite candid in explaining his methods to Alan Lomax:

    ?I took my chances on some of the tunes I recorded being hits, and I wouldn?t record anybody unless he signed all his rights in those tunes over to me.? [MJR 187]

Yeah, its candid as the author indicates, but I also think he's attempting to justify it, the old 'Hey I'm the one with the long term investment' argument'.  I don't like the argument much but I don't 100% hate it.  Maybe 97% but not 100%.  I bet it made sense to him though.

More quotes from contemporaries on that page.

[Rivers]

It's a shame the link to the Chicago Tribune article on wikipedia no longer works, it was a really good piece. I couldn't find it when I searched the paper's site either.

Interesting that Lester couldn't sing or play a note but ended up owning the copyright to over 3,000 songs. It was a perfectly legal business arrangement but it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Once again we see that old conflict, if he hadn't gotten them to sign the copyright over to him the the recordings might never have happened. Everybody gains, except the artists and their heirs.

[Shovel]

As bad as I feel for them that they didnt get the payday they probably deserved, they were also greatly blessed.  They frequented musical and spiritual realms I can only dream about.  And the only reason I can fathom them is because they were undeniably there and lived to interpret for the rest of us.

[dj]

The best discussion I've found of Lester Melrose's relationship with songwriters is on pages 80 - 82 of Bob Riesman's I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy.  The discussion is too long and too nuanced to recap well here, so I won't, other than to say that there's no heroes or villains, no black and white, but plenty of shades of gray in this issue.  I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.