CAVEAT EMPTOR: Just to be clear: I can't imagine that anyone other than me would be interested in this information, but hey, it's a big world, so who knows? Also, it helps me immensely to get things out of my head. When I don't, they often walk holes in the carpet, and I've got enough bare floors already. So this.
I've been reading about Louis Armstrong in André Hodeir's Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence, and that led me to Ken Burns' Jazz Episode 2, "The Gift," wherein I heard, among other things, that Louis' first recorded work was "Chimes Blues." This was recorded with Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver, who was an early influence on and mentor to Louis.
So I decided to jump down that rabbit hole.
First I listened to "Chimes Blues" on YouTube. To be honest, I didn't find it to be all that interesting...but I'm aware that that might well say more about my ignorance than anything else. And besides, it was Louis Armstrong's first recording, FF'sS.
The documentary didn't go into much detail about other early recordings by Louis, so I thought I'd look into that.
I found an album on hoopla , Louis Armstrong And King Oliver, and thought that it was The Complete Recordings...in part because there were 25 titles, which seemed pretty hefty, and in part because there were two takes on two of the songs ("Mabel's Dream" and "Southern Stomp").
But I wasn't tired of falling down this r-hole yet, so I Googled around a bit until I found The Louis Armstrong Discography: The Early Years (1901 - 1924) (at http://michaelminn.net/discographies/armstrong/early-years/index.html). It only took a glance to see that there were more than 25 titles listed here. Which made me wonder what hadn't been included on the Louis Armstrong and King Oliver album. So I started doing a comparison between the tracks on the album and the sessions listed on the website. Here's what came of that:
Tracks 1 through 18 kind of match up...but there are some missing sessions: June 22 through 29, 1923, during which 7 tracks were recorded; the October 5, 1923 session included another 4 tracks which were not included on this album; October 5 through 15, 1923, during which 8 tracks were recorded; October 15, 1923, during which 3 tracks were recorded; and October 16, 1923, during which 3 tracks were recorded. That's another 25 more tracks! Also, as you can see from my annotations, there's a big time gap between the tracks from the session labelled 9/?/1923 and 10/17/1924. And when I looked at the details on the Discography website, it became clear why: those sessions were not recorded with King Oliver. (Hence the asterisks.) Why would these 7 non-King Oliver tracks be included on an album that was identified as Louis Armstrong and King Oliver? I don't know. It would make a little more sense if they'd run out of material and wanted to give the buyer a little more bang for the buck, but clearly that's not so--with 25 other King Oliver tracks in the can. And whatever happened to truth in advertising, anyway?
So for the record, here are the dates of the other sessions with King Oliver and the tracks recorded on those dates:
April 5, 1923
1-1 Just Gone 2:38
1-2 Canal Street Blues 2:28
1-3 Mandy Lee Blues 2:11
1-4 I'm Going Away To Wear You Off My Mind 2:52
1-5 Chimes Blues 2:55
April 6, 1923
1-6 Weather Bird Rag 2:42
1-7 Dipper Mouth Blues 2:30
1-8 Froggie Moore 3:02
1-9 Snake Rag 3:00
June 22 - 29, 1923
1-10 Snake Rag 3:13
1-11 Sweet Lovin' Man 2:43
1-12 High Society Rag 2:53
1-13 Sobbin' Blues 3:11
1-14 Where Did You Stay Last Night 2:29
1-15 Dipper Mouth Blues 2:13
1-16 Jazzin' Babies' Blues 3:00
October 5, 1923
1-17 Alligator Hop 2:23
1-18 Zulu's Ball 2:31
1-19 Working Man Blues 2:12
1-20 Krooked Blues 2:51
This session also included (1) “When You Leave Me Alone to Pine,” (2) “That Sweet Something, Dear,” (3) Someday Sweetheart,” and (4) If You Want My Heart (You’ve Got to ‘low It, Babe”
October 15, 1923
2-1 Chattanooga Stomp 2:57
2-2 London (Café) Blues 2:44
This session also included (1) “Junkman Blues”
October 16, 1923
2-3 Camp Meeting Blues 2:58
2-4 New Orleans Stomp 2:57
This session also included (1) “London (Cafe) Blues”
October 5 - 15, 1923
2-5 Buddy's Habit 3:02
2-6 Tears 3:07
2-7 I Ain't Gonna Tell Nobody 3:19
2-8 Room Rent Blues 2:48
2-9 Riverside Blues 2:52
2-10 Sweet Baby Doll 2:52
2-11 Working Man Blues 2:56
2-12 Mabel's Dream 2:51
Early September, 1923 (?)
2-13 Mabel's Dream (Tk. 1) 2:48
2-14 Mabel's Dream (Tk. 2) 2:46
2-15 The Southern Stomps (Tk. 1) 2:39
2-16 The Southern Stomps (Tk. 2) 2:42
2-17 Riverside Blues 2:54
2-18 Kiss Me Sweet 3:18
2-19 Construction Gang 3:09
2-20 King Porter Stomp 2:33
2-21 Tom Cat 2:48
So there are 6 tracks not included on King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band The Complete Set:
(1) “When You Leave Me Alone to Pine”
(2) “That Sweet Something, Dear”
(3) “Someday Sweetheart”
(4) “If You Want My Heart (You’ve Got to ‘low It, Babe)”
(5) “Junkman Blues”
(6) “London (Cafe) Blues” This one would be hard to identify since a version of it recorded on a previous day was issued.
symbol and the song will play! This is a super cool website, well worth checking out as soon as possible.
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