Fats Waller - S & D?

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Few artists in any form of music give me the pleasure that this man's recordings have done. Piano twinklings of such vivacity and heart; and the most engaging, enjoyable vocal style.
I have only gone from one pretty reasonable 2-CD compilation, and really would like to dig deeper into his legacy. Would anyone in the know be able to recommend recordings of specific concerts or indeed studio recordings he made? I mean beyond the usual tracks compiled for a 2-CD compilation.

― Tom May (Tom May), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 23:18 (twenty-two years ago)

only two days ago, i was perusing amg, mucking about with early american stride pianists. i soon found myself sitting across from mr waller. i hadn't seen fats since attending 'history of american popular music' lectures during those halcyon years of long ago. indeed, much time had passed but the sound of his piano playing was still fresh. we revisited his classics (i.e. ain't misbehavin') as we recalled some of the amusing anecdotes of his life. if you would like to do the same, he can be found deep within amg. unfortunately, i cannot give any recommendations regarding a specific recording/compilation - poverty has reduced me to internet thiefdom.

― j.a.e, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 00:57 (twenty-two years ago)

The Eraserhead soundtrack is spooky - they linked his pianola reels to a big theatre organ.

Is it also time to reevaluate Russ Conway, perhaps? I must admit his stuff has a certain charm - that evoction of post-war Britain - kind of Ealing-Comedy-in-technicolor...

― Jez (Jez), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 07:53 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

Man, I dunno, but I'll set the question out there again.

I have a 2 disc set called "The Definitive" which appears to actually be later stuff played live on air, and just got a burn from a net pal called "1935," and everything he plays is just uplifting. I know of no other music that sends me impulses of such pure joyousness.

― Austin, Still (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 07:28 (twenty years ago)

they linked his pianola reels to a big theatre organ

I'm pretty sure that's the man himself soloing on that pipe organ

37819-2 - Thomas "Fats" Waller - Stompin' The Bug - Victor 20655, rec February 16, 1927

His version of "Hold Tight - Hold Tight"... my favorite dish, fish

― milton parker (Jon L), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 07:49 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I purchased a compilation of his (1926-1927) and it's mostly him playing organ. A couple of the tunes on there appear in Eraserhead, which is why I bought it in the first place.

― Ian Riese-Moraine. Sweeter than a lorry load of white Toblerones. (Eastern Mantr, Tuesday, 22 March 2005 15:20 (twenty years ago)

that proper box set (the orange one) is delicious.

he had a really interesting life (a short one), and there are divergent interpretations of his own relationship to his music. namely that he was playing a clownish role to satisfy the public but really wanted to be a "serious" musician and actor; or that the clownish role was a persona he put on gladly and somewhat naturally.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 17:23 (twenty years ago)

You listen to him play, and there's no doubt that whatever clowning may be present he was a serious fuckin' musician.

― Austin S (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 17:28 (twenty years ago)

oh i know, but the frequent line is that he wanted to do "concert" music and play shakespeare.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

I just picked up what I believe must be the "Orange Box Set" Amatuerist mentions upthread at the library. It's called A Handful of Keys and it's a delight to the ears after a hard days soul-crushing work.

I want to feel the way his music sounds.

― Oilyrags, Thursday, 21 June 2007 22:38 (eighteen years ago)

Sony BMG put out a nice 3CD set last year, If You Have to Ask, You Ain't Got It — one disc each for instrumentals (piano, organ, and a few band cuts), covers and originals. Excellent sound, very thorough annotation, with a long biographical essay — not as cheap as the Proper box no doubt, but reasonable at $35.

I have most of the Fats Waller & His Rhythm sets BMG issued in the nineties, which are now out of print. I found that at that kind of density — the Bluebird folks did have Fats record a lot of dreck — they were often hard to listen to for more than a few cuts at a time. However, The Early Years, Part II: I'm Gonna Sit Right Down... is pretty consistently enjoyable, probably one of the three or four most-played items in my jazz collection. Here as much as anywhere he's able to make hack songwriters' efforts sparkle with absurd interjections and that jolly-yet-melancholy piano playing.

― eatandoph, Thursday, 21 June 2007 23:02 (eighteen years ago)

That box is great; you really can't go wrong with pretty much anything though. Dip your cup in the water and it'll be sweet.

― forksclovetofu, Thursday, 21 June 2007 23:41 (eighteen years ago)

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