“Mother Fuzzy”
Composed by Charlie Barnet; arranged by Andy Gibson.
Recorded by Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra for Bluebird on September 11, 1941.
Charlie Barnet, soprano saxophone, directing: Bob Price, first trumpet; Mickey Bloom, Cy Baker and Bob Burnet, trumpets; Claude “Spud” Murphy, first trombone; Tommy Reo and Bill Robertson, trombones; Ray Hopfner and Conn Humphries, alto saxophones; Kurt Bloom, tenor saxophone; Jimmy Lamare, tenor and baritone saxophones; Bill Miller, piano; Jack La Maire, guitar; Phil Stephens, bass; Cliff Leeman, drums.
NOTE: All photographs that appear in this post were taken by Barnet band trombonist Claude “Spud” Murphy using his 8 millimeter movie camera. The images that appear here (except for the one of Spud Murphy himself, the one of Barnet with arranger Andy Gibson and the spinning Bluebird record of “Mother Fuzzy”), were extracted from the Murphy movies by swingandbeyond.com friend and jazz film historian Mark Cantor. I then did further work with the stills Mark sent to me. The results are what you see. All of this was made possible through the generosity of Monica Eary, Spud Murphy’s great-granddaughter. Many thanks to Monica and Mark! You have increased the number of photos of Charlie Barnet’s pre-war band significantly. And as we shall see, some of those photos are great! (A photo of Spud Murphy appears above right, again courtesy of Monica Eary.)
The story:
After months of travel that took Charlie Barnet and his band literally from coast to coast through the first seven and a half months of 1941, they finally arrived in Hollywood for what was an extended period of time. They opened at the Casa Manana in Culver City on July 22 for a one-month engagement. After that, they remained in Los Angeles and environs for two more months, capping their stay there by working on the Universal feature film Juke Box Jenny from October 6 through October 12.
Unfortunately, on August 21, as the result of an auto-truck collision, the band’s popular guitar soloist Anthony “Bus” Etri was killed. Also dying, a few days later, was vocalist and substitute trumpeter Lloyd Hundling. This tragedy shook Barnet and his bandsmen. “It was a very sad time because they were both dearly loved, by me and the other members of the band. The band played the next night, but many of the guys had tears streaming down their faces.”(1) They continued doing the work they were contracted for, and gradually regained their customary joi de vivre.
Barnet was renowned for his sense of humor, as the title to the bluesy opus presented here attests. He later recalled an incident where he employed his humor to thwart a lawyer’s cross-examination in a courtroom. “At one of my divorce hearings in 1946, the attorney for my wife tried to establish that I was a man of wealth, and he brought up the fact that I was a composer who had many valuable copyrights. When he had me on the stand and asked me to name some of my compositions, I saw the chance to ridicule the question without telling a lie. ‘Your Honor,’ I said turning to the judge, ‘I do not mean to be frivolous in replying to this question, although it may seem that way.’ ‘Please answer the question,’ the judge said stiffly. ‘Some of my compositions are: Dusk in a Chinese Cemetery, Afternoon of a Moax, Murder at Peyton Hall and …Mother Fuzzy.’ That was as far as I got before the courtroom broke up in laughter. Even the judge had to suppress a smile. My wife’s attorney turned red with embarrassment. I then added that the titles were descriptive of the music, which caused further merriment. The judge then restored order with his gavel. I don’t know whether that exchange was responsible, but I came out rather well in that decision.”(2) (Above left: The irrepressible Charlie Barnet – September 1941.)
This particular spell in Hollywood for the Barnet band ended right after they finished working on the Universal feature film. Charlie later recalled an incident that revealed one of his most impressive qualities as a bandleader, being a problem-solver. “When we finished our part (on the film – on October 12), the band set out (heading east to a weeklong booking at the Earle Theater in Philadelphia which started on October 17). I was to pick up the paychecks (for my band members). But the studio paymaster informed me that he had to have all of their Social Security numbers before he could release the checks. There I was with no list of the numbers and the band gone. So I made up seventeen Social Security numbers and got the checks.” (3)
The music:
“Mother Fuzzy” is a romping blues that has a building Ellington-inspired train motive as its introduction. The clipped, chugging saxophones are soon augmented by the oo-ah trombones and the riffing muted trumpets. All of this happens with perfect synchronization and good swing. This is yet another example of how remarkably together this band was, no matter what circumstances they found themselves in. This ensemble’s unity and verve did not happen by accident. Barnet was an inspired leader who had a very clear idea of how he wanted his band to sound, and he knew how to get superior musical results.
The first soloist is Barnet himself, on soprano saxophone, an instrument he began using with more frequency as the 1940s progressed.(*) Note how arranger Andy Gibson carried the introductory use of instruments into Barnet’s chorus as a background, and then for a couple of bars after as a lead-in to trumpeter Bob Burnet’s swaggering, big-toned two chorus jazz solo on open horn. He plays against a background of roiling, bluesy saxophones. (At left: the collaborators who created “Mother Fuzzy”- composer Charlie Barnet with his soprano saxophone, and arranger Andy Gibson – 1941.)
Trumpeter Bob Burnet outside of the Barnet band bus – 1941.
An interlude of chugging saxophones springs pianist Bill Miller into his own two-choruses of improvisation on the blues. Much of his solo is a paean to Count Basie, but toward the end, Miller reveals his own very personal approach to jazz. He is ably supported by his rhythm section cohorts, bassist Phil Stephens, drummer Cliff Leeman, and the newly arrived replacement for Bus Etri on guitar, Jack La Maire.
Pianist Bill Miller and and attractive lady – summer 1941.
The next sequence contains some ensemble explosions, with Charlie adding cascading soprano notes as colorful decorations. Then, Barnet’s musical train rolls on via riffs from the open high trumpets, low open trombones and descending saxophones, led by Barnet’s soprano. The chugging saxophones then return, but now are a background for Mr. Burnet’s growling trumpet. He achieves the effect he gets by using a pixie straight mute in the bell of his horn, and a plunger cup.
Cliff Leeman and his son Bobby – summer 1941.(3)
The title for “Mother Fuzzy” was clearly intended to humorously pique the attention of Barnet’s audiences. The music itself, however, is anything but a joke. It reveals a classic swing era band firing on all cylinders.
P.S.
People tend to think of Charlie Barnet as a spoiled rich kid, which he was, at first. But he transcended that. His many years as a professional musician, bandleader and entertainment personality taught him a lot about how to interact favorably with other human beings. He was also a very articulate man of substantial intelligence, and he had a phenomenal memory. For those who may be interested in taking a deep dive into Charlie Barnet’s career, here is a link to a lengthy interview of him conducted by Patricia Willard on April 23, 1978:
(Thanks to the good people at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University for maintaining this resource.)
The recording presented with this post was digitally remastered by Mike Zirpolo.
Notes and links:
(*) It has been said that Charlie Barnet used an alto saxophone mouthpiece on his soprano saxophone. I cannot verify this from the research I have done. I’m sure a visitor to swingandbeyond.com will shed some light on this so the historical record about it will be a bit clearer.
(1) Those Swinging Years …The Autobiography of Charlie Barnet with Stanley Dance (1984), 115.
(2) Ibid. 138.
(3) Ibid. 115.
(4) Cliff Leeman (1913-1986) was one of many great drummers to emerge from the swing era. His first wife, Sarah Selma Cort (1917-2001), was a singer known professionally as Nita Bradley. She was Bobby Leeman’s mother.
Here are links to some other great performances by Charlie Barnet:
https://swingandbeyond.com/2016/08/11/harlem-speaks-1941-charlie-barnet/
https://swingandbeyond.com/2020/06/10/afternoon-of-a-moax-1940-charlie-barnet/
That was a terrible tragedy that happened to the Barnet band when they went out to Hollywood! When my dad was with Sam Donahue, they also played at Casa Manana, for six weeks in 1942. Like the Barnet band, Donahue band stayed in Hollywood, playing six weeks at the Hollywood Casino and may have also done a movie performance. My dad told me when I was a teenager that he was in a movie. I don’t know which movie it was, though.