Slim Gaillard

Slim Gaillard

Gaillard with guitar, at the Queens Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland 1982
Background information
Birth name Bulee Gaillard
Also known as "Slim"
Born (1916-01-04)January 4, 1916
Died February 26, 1991(1991-02-26) (aged 75)
London, England, U.K.
Genres Jazz, Bebop
Occupation(s) singer, songwriter, musician
Instruments piano, guitar, vibraphone, tenor saxophone
Years active Early 1930s–1989
Labels Savoy, Dial, Verve
Associated acts Slim & Slam

Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (January 4, 1916 – February 26, 1991), also known as "McVouty", was an American jazz singer and songwriter who played piano, guitar, vibraphone and tenor saxophone.

Gaillard was noted for his comedic vocalese singing and word play in his own constructed language called "Vout-O-Reenee", for which he wrote a dictionary.[1] He also spoke at least six other languages (Spanish, German, Greek, Arabic, Armenian and English) with varying degrees of fluency.[2]:676

He rose to prominence in the late 1930s with hits such as "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)" and "Cement Mixer (Put-Ti-Put-Ti)",[3] after forming Slim and Slam with Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart. During World War II, Gaillard served as a bomber pilot in the Pacific. In 1944, he resumed his music career and performed with notable jazz musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Dodo Marmarosa.

In the 1960s and 1970s, he acted in films—sometimes as himself—and also appeared in bit parts in television series such as Roots: The Next Generations.

In the 1980s, Gaillard resumed touring the circuit of European jazz festivals. He followed Dizzy Gillespie's advice to move to Europe and, in 1983, settled in London, where he died on 26 February 1991, after a long career in music, film and television, spanning nearly six decades.[2]:679

Early life

Along with Gaillard's date of birth, his family lineage and place of birth are disputed. Many sources state that he was born in Detroit, Michigan although, by his own account, he was born in Santa Clara, Cuba,[4][5]:934 of an Afro-Cuban mother called Maria (Mary Gaillard[6]) and a German-Jew father called Theophilus (Theophilus Rothschild[6]) who worked as a ship's steward.[2]:674[4] During an interview in 1989, Gaillard added: "They all think I was born in Detroit because that was the first place I got into when I got to America."[4]

However, the 1920 census lists one "Beuler Gillard" [sic] as living in Pensacola, Florida,[7] having been born in April, 1918 in Alabama. Researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc have concluded that he was born in June 1918 in Claiborne, Alabama,[8] where a "Theophilus Rothchild" [sic] had been raised the son of a successful merchant in the small town of Burnt Corn;[9] other documents give his name variously as Wilson, Bulee, or Beuler Gillard or Gaillard.[8]

According to the obituaries in leading newspapers, Gaillard's putative childhood in Cuba was spent cutting sugar-cane and picking bananas, as well as occasionally going to sea with his father. At the age of twelve, he accompanied his father on a world voyage and was accidentally left behind on the island of Crete.[2]:674 After acquiring a few words of Greek, he worked on the island for a while, "making shoes and hats".[2]:674 He then joined a ship working the eastern Mediterranean ports, mainly Beirut, where he picked up some knowledge of Arabic.[2]:674

When I was stranded in Crete, I was only twelve years old. I stayed there for four years. I travelled on the boats to Beirut and Syria and I learned to speak the language and the people's way of life.

—Anthony Wall, Slim Gaillard's Civilisation.[4]

When he was about 15, he re-crossed the Atlantic, hoping the ship would take him home to Cuba, but it was bound for the USA and he ended up in Detroit. He never saw either of his parents again.[2]:674

So I landed in Detroit, came clean to the Lakes; the boat stopped in New York but I never got off. People came from all over the world to Detroit; they learned about the money you could make in the car factories. [...] At Ford's, [...] when I tried to get work, they turned me down because I was too young. I was by myself; I had nothing; I couldn't speak English. I was alone, but I learned how to survive. When I got to Detroit, I found that there were Greeks and Arabian people there; so, naturally, I was more at ease with them.

—Anthony Wall, Slim Gaillard's Civilisation.[4]

In Detroit, Gaillard first worked doing odd jobs in a general store owned by an Armenian family, with whom he lived for some time, later trying also to make some money at prize-fighting. During 1931 or 1932, when Prohibition was still in force, he drove a hearse bearing a coffin packed with whisky for the Purple Gang.[2]:675 Some sources state that he apparently also worked in an abattoir and trained as a mortician.

While working for the Purple Gang, he attended evening classes in music and taught himself to play guitar, piano and other instruments.[2]:675 When Duke Ellington came to Detroit, Gaillard managed to go backstage and meet his hero. "I like you", said Duke, "because you're studying music properly." Determined to become a musical entertainer, Gaillard moved to New York City and entered the world of show business as a 'professional amateur'.[2]:675

As Gaillard recalled much later:

The MC would say, "Here they come, all the hopefuls!" Well, we may have been hopefuls but we weren't amateurs. Of course, you had to be a little bad in spots. If you were too good you'd lose the amateur image. I would be a tap dancer this week, next week I'd play guitar, two weeks later some boogie-woogie piano. They paid us $16 a show. I did one with Frank Sinatra. I got $16 and he got $16. Every time I see him I say, "Got a raise yet, Frank?"

—Tony Russell, Jazz Greats, Issue #57.[2]:675

Career

1930s

Gaillard first rose to prominence in the late 1930s as part of Slim & Slam, a jazz novelty act he formed with bassist Slam Stewart.[10]:2Their hits included "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)", "Cement Mixer (Put-Ti-Put-Ti)" and the hipster anthem, "The Groove Juice Special (Opera in Vout)". The duo performs in the 1941 movie Hellzapoppin'.

Gaillard's appeal was similar to Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan in that he presented a hip style with broad appeal (for example in his children's song "Down by the Station"). Unlike them, he was a master improviser whose stream of consciousness vocals ranged far afield from the original lyrics, along with wild interpolations of nonsense syllables such as MacVoutie O-reeney. One such performance is celebrated in the 1957 novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

1940s

Gaillard, with Dodo Marmarosa on piano, guested a number of times on "Command Performance", recorded at KNX radio studios in Hollywood in the 1940s and distributed on transcription discs to American troops in World War II.

In 1943,[11]:4 Gaillard was drafted in the United States Army Air Forces and "qualified as a pilot flying [...] B-26 bombers in the Pacific"[12] and resumed his music career on his release from the draft in 1944.[13]

Gaillard later teamed with bassist Bam Brown; Slim and Bam can be seen in a 1947 motion picture featurette—with the Gaillardese title O'Voutie O'Rooney—filmed live at one of their nightclub performances and also featuring Mabel Lee.[14][15][16]

1950s

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Gaillard frequently opened at Birdland for such greats as Charlie Parker, Flip Phillips, and Coleman Hawkins. His December 1945 session with Parker and Dizzy Gillespie is notable, both musically and for its relaxed convivial air. "Slim's Jam", from that session, is one of the earliest known recordings of Parker's speaking voice.[17] Gaillard could play several instruments, and always managed to turn the performance from hip jazz to comedy: he would play the guitar with his left hand fretting from the top of the neck, or would play credible piano solos with his palms facing up. Gaillard also wrote the theme song introducing the Peter Potter radio show. In addition, in 1950 Slim wrote and recorded "Don Pitts On The Air" theme intro for San Francisco DJ, Don Pitts. On March 27, 2008 the Pitts theme song entered into the archives of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH.

1960s and 1970s

Gaillard appeared in several shows in the 1960s and 1970s, such as Marcus Welby, M.D., Charlie's Angels, Mission Impossible, Medical Center, Flip (The Flip Wilson Show), and Then Came Bronson. He also appeared in the 1970s TV series Roots: The Next Generations and reprised some of his old hits on the NBC primetime variety program, The Chuck Barris Rah Rah Show.

1980s

By the early 1980s Gaillard was touring the European jazz festival circuit, playing with such musicians as Arnett Cobb. He also played with George Melly and John Chilton's Feetwarmers, appearing on their BBC television series and also occasionally deputising for Melly when he was unwell. Gaillard's behaviour on stage was often erratic and nerve-wracking for the accompanying musicians. He also made a guest appearance on Show 106 of the 1980s music program Night Music, an NBC late-night music series hosted by David Sanborn.

Around Christmas 1985, Gaillard recorded the album Siboney at Gateway Studios in Battersea, London, produced by Joe Massot.[12] As Massot recalled later:

I was introduced as Cuban. "Rooney! I am Cuban too." [...] Slim said how much he wanted to make a Latin record and talked about his friend the great Cuban leader Machito. This was 1985. I had been flying between Angola, where Cuban troops were fighting and Miami where one million exiled Cubans live. We talked of all those Cubans who wanted to go back to Cuba but couldn't. [...] In his inimitable, enthusiastic way Slim was trying to sell me, a movie maker, the idea of recording an album.

—Joe Massot, Siboney.[12]

In 1986, Gaillard appeared in the musical film Absolute Beginners, singing "Selling Out".

In the autumn of 1989, the BBC aired director Anthony Wall's four-part documentary on Gaillard as an 'Arena Special' presentation by the Arena series, entitled Slim Gaillard's Civilisation:

Languages used in songs

Yiddish

Gaillard used Yiddish in at least two of his songs, "Dunkin' Bagels", and "Matzo Balls", where he refers to numerous Jewish ethnic dishes eaten by Ashkenazi Jews.[22][23] The songs were issued by the Slim Gaillard Quartet in 1945 on the Melodisc label, featuring Gaillard on guitar, Zutty Singleton on drums, "Tiny" Brown on bass and Dodo Marmarosa on piano. "Dunkin Bagels" was later included in the 2010 compilation CD Black Sabbath: The Secret Musical History of Black-Jewish Relations, issued by the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation.[24] "Matzo Balls" is played on the radio by John Goodman's character ("Al Yackey") in the 1989 Steven Spielberg film Always.[25]

Greek

He has also made a cover version of a greek folk song called "Tee say malee" (Why do you care)

Arabic

Arabic is also used in some of Gaillard's songs, for example "Yep-Roc-Heresay" and "Arabian Boogie".

Personal life

Gaillard had three children:[21]

Tributes

In 1991, the Belgian group De Nieuwe Snaar released an amusing ode to Gaillard (in Dutch), "Slim Gaillard", on track 7 of their CD William.[26]

Selected discography

Compact discs

Vinyl albums

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Documentary

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Polatnick, Steven (1998). "Slim Gaillard Vout-O-Reenee Dictionary". pocreations.com. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Russell, Tony (1998). "Slim Gaillard". Jazz Greats. Marshall Cavendish Ltd. 57: 674–684.
  3. ↑ Gaillard, Slim. "Cement Mixer (Put-Ti-Put-Ti)". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Wall, Anthony (22 October 1989). "A Traveller's Tale". An Arena Special:Slim Gaillard's Civilisation. Episode 1. BBC Two. YouTube.com. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (1992). "Slim Gaillard". The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 2. London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. pp. 934–935. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  6. 1 2 Garraty, John A.; Carnes, Mark C., eds. (February 2000). "Gaillard, Slim". oxfordindex.oup.com. American National Biography Online. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Beuler Gillard in household of Mary Gillard", United States Census, 1920; Pensacola, Escambia, Florida,; roll T625-220, page 17A, line 16, enumeration district 38, Family History film 1820220. Retrieved on 2016-09-17.
  8. 1 2 Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. pp. 90, 429. ISBN 978-0-313-34423-7.
  9. ↑ "Theophilus Rothchild in entry for Simon Rothchild", United States Census, 1860; Burnt Corn, Monroe, Alabama; roll M653-18, page 134, line 5, Family History film 803018. Retrieved on 2016-09-17.
  10. ↑ Britt, Stan; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). "Gaillard, Slim". In Barry Kernfeld. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.
  11. ↑ Sleeve notes from Slim Gaillard Laughing in Rhythm: The Best of the Verve Years, 1994.
  12. 1 2 3 Sleeve notes from Siboney, Trojan World TWLP 005 (1991) / Indigo Recordings Ltd IGOCD 2066 (1997).
  13. ↑ Sleeve notes from Slim Gaillard 1945/Tuitti-Fruitti [sic], Swing Time ST 1018 (1988).
  14. 1 2 "O'Voutie O'Rooney". weirdwildrealm.com. Paghat the Ratgirl. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  15. 1 2 Lewis, David (2010). "O'Voutie O'Rooney". www.nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  16. 1 2 O'Voutie O'Rooney at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 25 March 2016
  17. ↑ Sutherland, Allan J. (9 January 2003). "Charlie Parker Sessionography". kyushu-ns.ac.jp. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  18. ↑ Wall, Anthony (22 October 1989). "A Traveller's Tale". An Arena Special:Slim Gaillard's Civilisation. Episode 1. BBC Two. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  19. ↑ Wall, Anthony (29 October 1989). "How High The Moon". An Arena Special:Slim Gaillard's Civilisation. Episode 2. BBC Two. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  20. ↑ Wall, Anthony (5 November 1989). "My Dinner With Dizzy". An Arena Special:Slim Gaillard's Civilisation. Episode 3. BBC Two. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  21. 1 2 Wall, Anthony (12 November 1989). "Everything's OK In The UK". An Arena Special:Slim Gaillard's Civilisation. Episode 4. BBC Two. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "Slim Gaillard and His Trio - Dunkin' Bagels" on YouTube. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  23. ↑ "Slim Gaillard - Matzo Balls" on YouTube. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  24. ↑ Kun, Josh (2010). "BLACK SABBATH: The Secret Musical History of Black-Jewish Relations". idelsohnsociety.com. Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  25. ↑ Always at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  26. ↑ "De Nieuwe Snaar - William". discogs.com. 1991. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  27. ↑ "Slim Gaillard & Slam Stewart/Complete Columbia Master Takes". cduniverse.com. 2001. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  28. ↑ "Disconforme SL". discogs.com. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  29. ↑ "The Classics Chronological Series". cduniverse.com. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  30. ↑ "Slim Gaillard 1937–1938". cduniverse.com. 1993. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  31. ↑ "Slim Gaillard 1939–1940". cduniverse.com. 1993. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  32. ↑ "Slim Gaillard 1940–1942". cduniverse.com. 1994. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  33. ↑ "Slim Gaillard 1945". cduniverse.com. 1996. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  34. ↑ "Slim Gaillard 1945 Vol.2". cduniverse.com. 1997. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  35. ↑ "Slim Gaillard 1946". cduniverse.com. 1997. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  36. ↑ "Slim Gaillard 1947–1951". cduniverse.com. 2002. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  37. ↑ "Slim Gaillard 1951–1953". cduniverse.com. 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  38. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Slim's Jam (1938–1945)". allmusic.com. 1997. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  39. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Laughing in Rhythm (1937–1952)". allmusic.com. 2003. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  40. ↑ "Proper Records Ltd". proper-records.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  41. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Laughing in Rhythm: The Best of the Verve Years (1946–1954)". cduniverse.com. 1994. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  42. ↑ "Slim Gaillard". hepjazz.com. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  43. ↑ "Slim Gaillard The Legendary McVouty". cduniverse.com. 1994. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  44. ↑ "Slim Gaillard at Birdland 1951". cduniverse.com. 1995. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  45. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Absolute Voutest!". cduniverse.com. 1998. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  46. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Ice Cream On Toast 1937–1947". cduniverse.com. 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  47. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Rides Again! (1958)". cduniverse.com. 2002. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  48. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere!". cduniverse.com. 1982. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  49. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Siboney (1985)". allmusic.com. 1997. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  50. ↑ "Slim & Slam/Matzoh Balls". discogs.com. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  51. ↑ "Slim & Slam/Volume 1". discogs.com. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  52. ↑ "Slim & Slam/Volume 2". discogs.com. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  53. ↑ "Slim & Slam/Volume 3". discogs.com. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  54. ↑ "Slim Gaillard 1945/Tuitti-Fruitti". discogs.com. 1988. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  55. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere!". 1982.
  56. ↑ "Slim Gaillard Siboney (1985)". 1991.
  57. ↑ Too Late Blues at the Internet Movie Database
  58. ↑ Massingberd, Hugh M. (24 October 1997). The Daily Telegraph Third Book of Obituaries: Entertainers. London: Macmillan. p. 162. ISBN 0-333-67506-1. Gaillard also appeared, usually as himself, in numerous films including Too Late Blues (1961), directed by John Cassavetes, Planet of the Apes (1968) and Absolute Beginners (1986).
  59. ↑ "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE". loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved 28 February 2016. Slim Gaillard appeared in one segment.
  60. ↑ "CHARLIE'S ANGELS (1976/81)". loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved 28 February 2016. Slim Gaillard appeared in one segment.
  61. ↑ Love's Savage Fury at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  62. ↑ Rosenbaum, Jonathan. "Eleven Treasures of Jazz Performance on DVD". www.dvdbeaver.com. Retrieved 25 March 2016. [...] The strangest by far are half a dozen live performances by guitarist/pianist/vocalist Slim Galliard [sic], the legendary composer of "Flat Foot Floogie" [...] seen performing here at Billy Berg's club in 1946 with his eccentric trio consisting of bassist and fellow vocalist "Tiny Bam" Brown (often gesticulating and hugging his instrument at the same time) and drummer "Scat Man" Crothers [...]. Galliard [sic] was a hipster who liked to attach "o'rooney" to the ends of his words [...] and to chant the names of different kinds of Jewish food as if they were mantras (as on "Dunkin' Bagels," also included); he also turned up for cameos in Hellzpoppin' (as part of the duo Slim and Slam) and Too Late Blues (scat-singing at a party). The clips here come from an obscure mid-40s musical called O'Voutie O'Rooney, sometimes spelled O'Voutee O'Rooney, that I'd love to see unearthed some day, if only to satisfy my curiosity.
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