Well, it's been a while since I've posted an update. I've been hard at work, finishing a master's degree, planning various recording projects, and a whole mess of other business. Here's a two-part attempt at a more complete picture of Robert Crum, a boogie-woogie pianist.
Robert Crum (Nov. 29th, 1915 – May 1981) was born in Pittsburgh, PA. He studied classical piano there, as well as in Paris. In the 1930's lived in Chicago, IL where he took lessons from Meade Lux Lewis1 and began playing at small clubs, where he made about $35 a week.2 By January 1943 he was working as the afternoon pianist at Elmer's Cocktail Lounge, where Dorothy Donegan had also recently worked.3
Advertisement for the Hotel Sherman, ca. 1945 |
His playing went over very well, apparently. In September, Crum was given a pay raise to $400 per week.7 In January 1944, the Billboard reported that Crum, perhaps to increase his visual showmanship, was employing a long mirror on several pieces so that members of the audience would be able to see his hands as he played. This prompted Billboard's Carl Cons to comment that although Crum's “finger dexterity is excellent and very commercial … his playing at times leaves music lovers in a fog.” He continued,
“Neither a concert artist nor a good swing pianist, his semi-classical style of presenting numbers is often spoiled by corny tricks such as running his thumb across the keys and playing with the back of his hands. Has talent and could improve his performance by adding taste to his arrangements and eliminating some of the gingerbread that passes for showmanship.”8
In November 1943 Crum apparently
had plans to move to New York in January 1944, following his stint at
the Panther Room,9
but he decided to stay in Chicago for a few more months. In February
1944 he appeared in a variety show at the Chicago Theater, with
singer Phil Regan as the headliner. Billed as “The Swing Piano
Sensation of the Nation”, Crum was given a favorable review by Jack
Baker, who wrote that,
“[Crum] shows remarkable skill
with his rapid piano keying, and swings out in a fast tempo on the
classical and pop tunes. Distinctly different, and draws plenty of
mitting with his fine arrangements of Massanet's Elegy,
boogie-woogie medleys and Humoresque,
which is interspersed with a smart concert arrangement of Rhapsody
in Blue.”10
New York City skyline, ca. 1940 |
Perhaps encouraged by the
positive press and high-profile work, Crum made the move to New York
City in April 1944.11
In May he appeared on the Basin
Street
radio program alongside pianists Francis Carter, Arthur Bowie (who
played as the duo Carter & Bowie) and Art Tatum.12
In June, Paul Ross mentioned Crum in a long list called The
Top Names,
“prize winners in the jazz joints of 52d Street”, which included
Tatum, Mary Lou Williams, Earl Hines, Duke Ellington, the Nat King
Cole Trio, Roy Eldridge, Billie Holiday, Oscar Pettiford, and a host
of other major names.
The article, entitled “Disks a Must for 52d Street Click” and subtitled “Musicianship Essential But Waxing Required, Too”, reports that 25-50% of club clientele are tourists, and that “by far the largest part of this group of customers comprises young people who read the hip magazines and who, above all, listen to phonograph records. They are disk educated to a high degree.” Ross concludes that “when they hit New York and are entertainment bound, they are always ready to go and hear – in person – the man or woman who turned out this or that big disk.” He continues by mentioning that another 25% of club clientele are musicians themselves. And nobody is more critical of musicians than other musicians.” This significant sector of club clientele, Ross says, helps keep novelty artists, “the trickster [and] the corn-dispenser” from dominating the bandstands.
One would not be amiss to question Ross' figures (did he conduct a survey?), but his overall point is rather plausible. Therefore it's rather puzzling that Crum would be included as a “Top Name”.
He had only lived in New York City for two months at the time, had no
recordings to his name, and did not have any work as a sideman. And
less than a year prior, Crum had been criticized in the same magazine
for his “gingerbread” showmanship. Ross adds that “an act
without even one big record behind it can work in the jazz bistros
and do all right, providing it has musicianship. If the turn gets by
the other musicians it can build in anywhere from six months to a
year – build to the point where it begins making disks and thus
enhances its [box office] value. But the old musicianship must be
there or no dice.”13
Ross' article appeared shortly before RCA/Victor and Columbia had conceded to the demands of the American Federation of Musicians, which was still on strike.14 There was also a major shortage of domestic shellac, imposed by the War Production Board, causing a drop in disk production.15 It was a time of great upheaval and change in the recording business, and breaking into the recording medium was likely to prove difficult for a relative newcomer like Crum.
A typical logo for The Billboard magazine |
Footnotes
1 Barnett,
2002, "Complete 1944 Rosenkrantz Apartment Transcription Duets", ABFable CD 004/005.
2 The
Billboard, “Shelley Signs Bob Crum, Chi Pianist”. August 21st,
1943, p. 24
3 The
Billboard, “Off the Cuff”. January 30th, 1943, p. 19
4 The
Billboard, “Open Field For Graduates”. July 17th,
1943, p. 20
5 The
Billboard, “Chi's Sherman Room Still Swings It”, March 28th,
1942, p. 6
6 The
Billboard, “Follow-Up Night Club Review”. August 28th,
1943, p. 21
7 The
Billboard, “Ivory Pounders in Chips”. October 2nd,
1943, p. 24
8 The
Billboard, “Night Club Reviews”. January 22nd, 1944,
p. 25
9 The
Billboard, “Off the Cuff”. November 6th, 1943, p. 23
10 The
Billboard, “Vaudeville Reviews”. February 26th, 1944,
p. 22
11 The
Billboard, “Chicago Air Execs Scouting Lounges for Talent
'Finds'”. April 15th, 1944, p. 20
12 The
Billboard, “Top Radio Stanzas Finding Place for Small-Club Acts”.
May 27th, 1944, p. 28
13 The
Billboard, “Disks a Must for 52d Street Click”. June 24th,
1944, pp. 23 & 27
14 The
AFM had been on a no-recording strike since August 1st,
1942 with the demand that recording labels pay a fee to license
recordings for radio and jukebox play. This fee would be added to
the AFM's Recording and Transcription Fund (RTF), which the AFM
would use to offer work to underemployed musicians. Most smaller
labels had capitulated by this time, but RCA/Victor and Columbia,
the two largest, would not do so until November 1944.
15 See,
for example, “Diskers Eye WPB Action”, (Billboard 6/27/42, p.
70) and “Financial Journal Features News Of Shellac Situation and
Prices”, (Billboard, 10/31/42, p. 62)
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