Original Dixieland Jass Band - First Recordings

First Recordings

While a couple of other New Orleans bands had passed through New York City slightly earlier, they were part of vaudeville acts. ODJB, on the other hand, played for dancing and hence, were the first "jass" band to get a following of fans in New York and then record at a time when the USA's recording industry essentially, was centered in New York and New Jersey.

Shortly after arriving in New York, a letter dated January 29, 1917, offered the band an audition for the Columbia Graphophone Company. The session took place on Wednesday, January 31, 1917. Nothing from this test session was issued.

The band then recorded two sides for the Victor Talking Machine Company, "Livery Stable Blues" and "Dixie Jass Band One Step", on February 26, 1917, for the Victor label. These titles were released as the sides of a 78 record on March 7, the first issued jazz record. The band records, first marketed simply as a novelty, were a surprise hit, and gave many Americans their first taste of jazz. Musician Joe Jordan sued, since the "One Step" incorporated portions of his 1909 ragtime composition "That Teasin' Rag". The record labels subsequently were changed to "Introducing 'That Teasin' Rag' by Joe Jordan".

In the wake of the group's success for the Victor release, in May the band returned to Columbia, recording two selections of popular tunes of the day chosen for them by the record company (possibly hoping to avoid the copyright problems which arose after Victor recorded two of the band's supposedly original compositions) "Darktown Strutter's Ball" and "(Back Home Again in) Indiana" as catalogue #A-2297.

The surprising success of the band influenced other groups to form jazz bands and to record the new music of jazz, such as "Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band", the Frisco Jazz Band, and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.

W. C. Handy recorded one of the earliest cover versions of a ODJB song when he released a recording of "Livery Stable Blues" by Handy's Orchestra of Memphis on Columbia Records in 1917, as Columbia A2419 and Columbia 2912, recorded on September 25, 1917.

The seminal 78 releases by the band include the following Victor, Columbia, and Aeolian Vocalion recordings:

1. "Dixie Jass Band One Step"/"Introducing That Teasin' Rag"/"Livery Stable Blues", 1917, Victor 18255
2. "At the Jazz Band Ball"/"Barnyard Blues", 1917, Aeolian Vocalion A1205
3. "Ostrich Walk"/"Tiger Rag", 1917, Aeolian Vocalion A1206
4. "Reisenweber Rag/Look at 'Em Doing it Now", 1917, Aeolian Vocalion 1242
5. "Darktown Strutters' Ball"/"(Back Home Again in) Indiana", 1917, Columbia A2297, the ODJB recording of "Darktown Strutters' Ball" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame on February 8, 2006
6. "At the Jazz Band Ball" (1918 version)/"Ostrich Walk" (1918 version), 1918, Victor 18457
7. "Skeleton Jangle"/"Tiger Rag" (1918 version), 1918, Victor 18472
8. "Bluin' the Blues"/"Sensation Rag", 1918, Victor 18483
9. "Mournin' Blues"/"Clarinet Marmalade", 1918, Victor 18513, "Mournin' Blues" also appeared as "Mornin' Blues" on some releases
10. "Fidgety Feet (War Cloud)"/"Lazy Daddy", 1918, Victor 18564
11. "Lasses Candy"/"Satanic Blues", 1919, Columbia 759
12. "Oriental Jazz" (or "Jass"), 1919, recorded November 24, 1917 and issued as Aeolian Vocalion 12097 in April 1919 with "Indigo Blues" by Ford Dabney's Band
13. "At the Jazz Band Ball" (1919 version)/"Barnyard Blues" (1919 version), 1919, recorded in London, England, April 16, 1919, English Columbia 735
14. "Soudan" (also known as "Oriental Jass" and "Oriental Jazz"), 1920, recorded in London in the UK in May 1920 and released as English #Columbia 829; "Soudan" was composed by Czech composer Gabriel Sebek in 1906 as "In the Soudan: A Dervish Chorus" or "Oriental Scene for Piano, Op. 45". The B side was "Me-Ow" by the London Dance Orchestra
15. "Margie"/"Singin' the Blues"/"Palesteena", 1920, Victor 18717
16. "Broadway Rose"/"Sweet Mama (Papa's Getting Mad)"/"Strut, Miss Lizzie", 1920, Victor 18722
17. "Home Again Blues"/"Crazy Blues"/"It's Right Here For You (If You Don't Get It, Tain't No Fault O' Mine)", 1921, Victor 18729
18. "Tell Me/Mammy O' Mine", 1921, recorded in the UK and released as Columbia 804
19. "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"/"My Baby's Arms", 1921, Columbia 805
20. "I've Lost My Heart in Dixieland"/"I've Got My Captain Working for Me Now", 1921, Columbia 815
21. "Sphinx/Alice Blue Gown", 1921, Columbia 824
22. "Jazz Me Blues/St. Louis Blues", 1921, Victor 18772
23. "Royal Garden Blues"/"Dangerous Blues", 1921, Victor 18798
24. "Bow Wow Blues (My Mama Treats Me Like a Dog)", 1922, Victor 18850. The B side featured "Railroad Blues" by the Benson Orchestra of Chicago under pianist and composer Roy Bargy
25. "Toddlin' Blues"/"Some of These Days", 1923, Okeh 4738
26. "You Stayed Away Too Long/Slipping Through My Fingers", 1935, Vocalion 3099
27. "Original Dixieland One-Step/Barnyard Blues" (new version of "Livery Stable Blues"), 1936, Victor 25502
28. "Who Loves You?"/"Did You Mean It?", 1936, Victor 25420, which featured vocals by Chris Fletcher and Nick LaRocca on trumpet
29. "Good-Night, Sweet Dreams, Good-Night"/"In My Little Red Book", 1938, RCA Bluebird B-7444, which featured vocals by Lola Bard
30. "Tiger Rag" (1943 version), 1944, V-Disc 214B1, issued June, 1944, with Eddie Edwards and Tony Sbarbaro
31. "Sensation" (1943 version), 1944, V-Disc 214B2, with Eddie Edwards and Tony Sbarbaro
32. "Shake It and Break It"/"When You and I Were Young, Maggie", 1946, Commodore C-613