Sorry to report that the personnel listings for the California Ramblers’ 1929–1930 Grey Gull sessions in American Dance Bands on Record and Film (the $600 successor to Brian Rust’s American Dance Band Discography) are seriously in error.
The compilers don’t say where their information came from, but it certainly wasn’t from the one unimpeachable source in this case: Ramblers manager Ed Kirkeby himself, who maintained meticulous logbooks detailing all recording sessions with which he was involved. So, to set the record straight, here are the actual correct personnel — which in some cases bear only a slight resemblance to those undocumented listings in ADB — directly from Mr. Kirkeby’s files:
July 30, 1929 — Grey Gull mxs. 3559–3561
ADB misattributes this session to a “Grey Gull studio orchestra,” “with a sound not unlike the California Ramblers.” All recordings were issued pseudonymously. The titles, as confirmed in Ed Kirkeby’s files, are:
Maybe! Who Knows? (mx. 3559 — Grey Gull 1746, et al.)
Sweetness (mx. 3560 — Grey Gull 1752, et al.)
Little Pal (mx. 3561 — Grey Gull 1756, et al.)
Personnel for this session, from Kirkeby’s files, are:
Chelsea Quealey, Fred Van Eps, Jr. (trumpets); Carl Loeffler (trombone); “Pete” [presumably Pumiglio], Harold Marcus (saxophones); Chauncey Gray (piano); Al Duffy (violin); Tommy Felline (banjo/guitar); Ward Lay (bass); Stan King (percussion); Smith Ballew (vocal, with unnamed others). Kirkeby paid Dick Morgan $20 for this session, for reasons unstated.
December 27, 1929 — Grey Gull mxs. 3804– 3807
ADB personnel listing is “collective” (i.e., all likely names were tossed into the pot, in the hope that at least some might apply), with no source cited. The exact session personnel, from Kirkeby’s files, are:
Fred Van Eps, Jr. (first trumpet); Frank Cush (second trumpet); Carl Loeffler (trombone); Paul Mason (tenor saxophone) “Pete” [presumably Pumiglio] (first alto saxophone); “Carl” [presumably Orech] (second alto saxophone); Sid Harris (violin); “Gross” [Gray?] (piano); Tommy Felline (banjo, guitar); Ward Lay (string bass); Stan King (percussion); Smith Ballew (vocal with two unnamed others, presumably band members)
January 24, 1930 — Grey Gull mxs. 3855– 3857
ADB personnel list is “collective,” with no source cited. The exact session personnel, from Kirkeby’s files, are:
Fred Van Eps, Jr., Tony Gianelli (trumpets); Carl Loeffler (trombone); Carl Orech] (saxophone); Paul Mason (tenor saxophone); Harold Marcus (alto saxophone); Sid Harris (violin); illegible, possibly [Chauncey] Gray (piano); Tommy Felline (banjo, guitar); Ward Lay (string bass); [?] Dale (percussion); Smith Ballew (vocal). The accordionist is not listed in Kirkeby’s log, suggesting that he was supplied by the studio.
February 24, 1930 — Grey Gull mxs. 3913–3915
ADB personnel list (source not cited) is largely incorrect. The correct session personnel, from Kirkeby’s files, are:
Angie Rattiner (first trumpet); Tony Giannelli (second trumpet); Pete Pumiglio, Paul Mason, Tommy Bohn (“first,” “second,” and “third” saxophones, in that order); Lloyd Turner (trombone); Irving Brodsky (piano); Joe La Faro (violin); Tommy Felline (banjo/guitar); Tex Hurst (bass); Herb Weil (percussion). The vocalist is not listed in Kirkeby’s log, suggesting that he was supplied by the studio.
May 12, 1930 — Grey Gull mxs. 4059, 4060
ADB personnel list (source not cited) is largely incorrect. The correct session personnel, from Ed Kirkeby’s files, are:
Jack Purvis (trumpet); Carl Loeffler (trombone); Pete Pumiglio, Paul Mason, Tommy Bohn (saxophones); Irving Brodsky (piano); Scoop Thompson (Tomson in file) (guitar); Tex Hurst (bass); Jack Powers (percussion); “Moore” (no further details); Scrappy Lambert (vocal)
June 12, 1930 — Grey Gull mxs. 4095– 4098
ADB personnel list (source not cited) is almost entirely incorrect. The correct session personnel, from Ed Kirkeby’s files, are:
Fred Van Eps, Jr., Tony Giannelli (trumpets); Carl Loeffler (trombone); Ed Blanchard, Joe Gillespie, Nye Mayhew (saxophones); Lew Cobey (piano); Ed Sexton, guitar; Ward Lay (string bass); Joe Powers (percussion); Elmer Feldkamp (vocal, with unnamed others, presumably band members)
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78 RECORDS, CYLINDER RECORDS & VINTAGE PHONOS 