Ride, Red, Ride: The Life of Henry 'Red' Allen PDF
Preview Ride, Red, Ride: The Life of Henry 'Red' Allen
Ride, Red, Ride Also available from Continuum An International History of the Recording Industry by Pekka Gronow and Ilpo Saunio Arranging the Score: Portraits of the Great Arrangers by Gene Lees Buddy Bolden and the Last Days of Storyville by Danny Barker, edited by Alyn Shipton The Essential Jazz Records,Volume I: Ragtime to Swing by Max Harrison, Charles Fox and Eric Thacker The Essential Jazz Records,Volume II: Modernism to Postmodernism by Max Harrison, Stuart Nicholson and Eric Thacker 7 Guess I'll Get the Papers and Go Home: The Life of Doc Cheatham by Adolphus 'Doc' Cheatham, edited by Alyn Shipton Marshall Royal: Jazz Survivor by Marshall Royal with Claire P. Gordon Preservation Hall by William Carter Song & Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan by Michael Gray Teddy Wilson by Teddy Wilson with Arie Ligthart and Humphrey van Loo Who's Who of British Jazz John Chilton RIDE, BED, RIDE The Life cf Henry *Eed' Allen John Chilton With a Selected Discography compiled by Brian Peerless CONTINUUM London and New York Continuum Wellington House, 125 Strand, London WC2R OBB 370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6550 First published in Great Britain by Cassell by arrangement with Bayou Press Ltd. Reprinted in paperback in 2000. © John Chilton 1999 All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means or process, without the prior permission in writing of the copyright holders or their agents. Except for reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, photocopying of all or part of this publication without the prior written permission of the Publishers, whether in single or multiple copies whether for gain or not is illegal and expressly forbidden. Please direct all enquiries concerning copyright to the Publishers at the address above. John Chilton and Brian Peerless are hereby identified as authors of this work as provided under section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-304-70407-5 (hardback) 0 8264-4744-9 (paperback) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chilton, John, 1932 Ride, Red, Ride: the life of Henry 'Red' Allen/John Chilton: with a selected discography compiled by Brian Peerless. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ), discography (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-3-4-70407-4 (hardcover) — 0-8264-4744-9 (paperback) 1. Allen, Henry, 1908-1967. 2. Jazz musicians—United States—Bibliography. I. Title. ML419.A56C54 1998 788.9'2165'092—dc21 [B] 98-43703 CIP MN Designed and typeset by Ben Cracknell Studios Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddies Ltd, Guildford and King's Lynn CONTENTS Acknowledgements vi 1 New Orleans Joys 1 2 A Trip to the North 13 3 Riverboat Days 28 4 A Musical Furnace 41 5 Star Soloist 58 6 The Blueprints of Swing 72 7 The Great Understudy 90 8 Bold Bandleader 105 9 Super Showman 118 10 Metropole Magic 135 11 European Debut 151 12 Four's Company 167 13 Triumphant Tours 178 14 A Valiant Farewell 19 0 Notes 203 Selected Discography 208 Index 212 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Grateful thanks are extended to: Henry Allen III, Richard B. Allen, Jeff Atterton, Cuff Billet, Ray Bolden, Jack Bradley, Michael Brooks, Jack Cicolla, Derek Coller, Bill Crow, Stanley Dance, Kenny Davern, Frank Driggs, Alan Elsdon, Allan Gatward, David Griffiths, Marty Grosz, Mike Hazeldine, Karl Gert zur Heide, Franz Hoffmann, William Ransom Hogan Jazz Archive (Tulane University, New Orleans), Institute of Jazz Studies (Rutgers University, New Jersey), Al Kennedy,Terry Lightfoot, Humphrey Lyttelton, Barry Martyn, Dan Morgenstern, National Jazz Foundation Archive (Loughton Library, Essex), Jane Palmer (Algiers Point Library, Louisiana), Brian Peerless, Art Pilkington, Michael Pointon, Ralph Porter, Dr Bruce Raeburn, Claes Ringqvist, Alyn Shipton, Johnny Simmen, Keith Smith, Richard Sudhalter, Eddie Taylor, Les Tompkins, Mike Tovey, Francoise Venet, Barbara Vaughn, Joyce Wallis, John Whitehorn, Al Williams, Roy Williams, Val Wilmer and Laurie Wright. The photographs in the plate section are reproduced by kind permission of Henry Allen III (1-6, 9, 11-12 and 14-15), Jack Bradley (17),Teresa Chilton (7-8, 10, 16), Gladys Dobell (18) and Barry Martyn (13). vi For George Melly and the hundreds of gigs we've shared This page intentionally left blank 1 NEW ORLEANS JCTS The difference between Red Allen's onstage and offstage personality was remarkable. Anyone witnessing the tall, burly figure hollering at an audience and blowing daredevil phrases on his trumpet could be forgiven for thinking that Red Allen was an extrovert for all of his waking hours. But if one met Red away from an audience he was a model of courtesy; a quiet, considerate man who was both affable and reflective. The link between the two contrasting aspects of Red's character was the enormous presence that he always exuded. He was clearly a proud man, but his pride was never blemished with haughtiness. In social exchanges Red's soft, husky voice was full of old Southern charm, his pronunciations faithful to his Louisiana childhood. The word 'nice' entered many of his sentences, and he usually referred to himself as 'yours truly'. His terms of endearment for musicians he admired were 'my man', 'my ace boy' and 'champ'; he was, as writer Dan Morgenstern observed, 'a kind and decent man'.l Red's lifelong wife, Pearly May, said to him in their early years, 'Allen, you're too quiet. You don't belong in this business.'2 This was not meant as an admonition, but as a loving observation. Nevertheless Red took it as guiding advice and gradually developed an onstage charisma that was unforgettable. Red Allen in action was an object lesson in personality projection. He could get the most blase audience enthusiastically applauding a soloist by jovially commanding them to 'Make him happy', 'Make... Him...Happy!' Red often told his listeners how lucky they were to be hearing a performance by 'six princes of jazz', no matter how skimpy the talent was in the band that day. He made sure that nobody dozed off by yelling 'Wamp! Wamp!' at the start of each number, and at any point in 1
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