PART ONE: The Case of the Multiple Raymond Scotts

There were several Raymond Scotts. In 1991 Irwin Chusid and Will Friedwald re-introduced Scott as "THE MAN WHO MADE CARTOONS SWING" with a CD of his famous 1930s 'jazz.' Eight years later Gert-Jan Blom and I produced the MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. book & CD set to reveal another Raymond Scott — the electronic music pioneer and inventor. And there were others: the Broadway composer, the TV star, and the Motown tech-wiz.

Scott had a wild imagination, yet the man born Harry Warnow chose a rather banal pseudonym. A Google search reveals plenty of Raymond Scotts who are not our Raymond Scott. Here's part one of a continuing series:

Raymond Scott:
THE SHAKESPEARE THIEF

This Raymond Scott has been getting lots of press lately. Reportedly, he's an "eccentric playboy" who lives with his mother in England. He's also a book dealer who is accused of stealing a first edition Shakespeare, printed in 1623, that could be worth millions. Following a world-wide manhunt conducted by the FBI, he was arrested in June of 2008 for the alleged theft. Following a court hearing on February 10th, the flamboyant Mr. Scott, who denies the charges, told reporters, "Like Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, I have had to suffer not only the whips and scorns of time but also the law’s delay." The self-described dilettante is currently out on bail, awaiting a trial scheduled for late-August of this year. He faces a total of ten charges; three counts of theft, three of handling stolen goods, and four additional counts relating to crimes of fashion. I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, check this: video news report.

August, 2010 update: He was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Mini Mountain Queen

The Bran Flakes are a couple of sample-happy plunderphonic pirates who throw forgotten '50s kiddie vinyl, Bachelor Pad bridges, mariachi LPs, and homemade electrobeats into the audio blender and hit "puree." Their slice'n'dice sonics come out sounding like a Saturday morning TV soundtrack for today's juvenile genius-nerds destined to shape the technology of 2029.

TBF's new CD, I Have Hands (Illegal Art), is laced with RIAA-baiting sonic re-appropriation. However, it contains at least two works they were granted permission to re-invent: Raymond Scott's electronic "In the Hall of the Mountain Queen" and "Melon Ball Bounce" (from Manhattan Research Inc.), out of which the Flakes fashioned a track entitled "Mini Mountain Queen." Give a listen.

Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals

Dave Harris played tenor sax in Scott's legendary late 1930s six-man Quintette. In 40 years as a highly sought horn-for-hire in New York and L.A., Harris (1913-2002) released only one record as a bandleader: DINNER MUSIC FOR A PACK OF HUNGRY CANNIBALS, a 1961 tribute to his old boss, for whom he held deep respect. Basta recently released this long out of print album on CD.

After the RSQ, Harris remained with Scott's first swing band, then compiled an impressive resume as a session player on radio and TV, and in the recording studio. In a career that extended into the 1970s, he worked with Billie Holiday, Gene Krupa, Eddie Cantor, Mickey Katz, Stan Webb, Russ Case, Bob Haggart, and countless others.

In late-life interviews, Scott claimed that his 1937-39 Quintette was his favorite band. That opinion was doubtless shared by Harris, who (unlike dozens of embittered RS sidemen) always spoke fondly of working under Scott. Such was Harris's affection that his sole outing as a leader was an album of RSQ favorites in modern high fidelity, with a sextet dubbed The Powerhouse Five. The ensemble recaptured the manic elegance and rhythmic wit of the composer. Nostalgia was the inspiration, but sharp musicianship and a celebratory gusto mark this album as a missing link in the Scott legacy.

The Raymond Scott Institute of Advanced Musical Education

Jazz trumpeter Charlie Shavers, who played in Scott's 1944 orchestra:

It was a pretty band. It wasn't a swing band and it wasn't a jazz band, it was a good band with a good bunch of guys. Scott was a little eccentric. He'd make a guy stand up and play third alto, all by himself, all the way through. And then he'd say, "Why don't you go take some lessons?" He got on my nerves a little. We'd rehearse and rehearse and rehearse. We didn't need that much rehearsal. I think he just liked to hear the band.

Quoted in The Swing Era: Vintage Years of Humor, Time-Life Records, 1971, Scott profile by Michèle Wood. Photo by Les Deutsch, 2009.

iPhone Ringtones

In the 1960s, Raymond Scott coined the term "Tele-Tones" to describe what we now call ringtones. Thanks to musician, arranger, and RS fan Les Deutsch, you can now download free Raymond Scott ringtones formatted specifically for iPhone. Details from Les: "I could have converted the original recordings to ringtones, but I really enjoy the quirky synthesizer sounds that the Mac’s internal QuickTime app generates directly from Finale."

Download linked files: Powerhouse Sleepwalker Microphone Music Egyptian Barn Dance Boy Scout in Switzerland

G-Town Radio Special:"Getting Ahead of Ourselves"

Hosted by DJ Okay and The Sleepy DJ, the bi-monthly show "Getting Ahead Of Ourselves" on G-Town Radio recently dedicated a program to Raymond Scott. Featuring Scott's original recordings and several examples of modern remixes and covers, they also interviewed me (Jeff Winner) for biographical details. Check-out their podcast to hear rare unreleased tracks, featuring Gorillaz, Carl Stalling, Q-Tip, Mr. Melvis, Busta Rhymes, DJPE, Madlib, Soul Coughing, El-P, Messer für Frau Muller, Talib Kweli, Ego Plum, J. Dilla, Jim Henson, and Harry Warnow:

>> LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW: GettingAheadOfOurselves.com

PLAYLIST — Artist / Track Title:

• The Raymond Scott Quintette / “Powerhouse”
• Carl Stalling / “Powerhouse”
• Mr. Melvis / “A Walk Through the Powerhouse” [remix of “Powerhouse”]
• The Raymond Scott Quintette / “War Dance For Wooden Indians”
• DJPE / “War Dance” [remix of “War Dance For Wooden Indians”]
• The Raymond Scott Quintette / “The Penguin”
• Soul Coughing / “Disseminated” [samples “The Penguin”]
• The Raymond Scott Quintette / “Bumpy Weather Over Newark”
• Messer für Frau Muller / “Anatomy of Love” [remix of “Bumpy Weather Over Newark”]
• Raymond Scott / “Sleepy Time,” “B.G.E,” “IBM MT/ST,” “Probe,” “Ripples,” “Twilight In Turkey,” “Boy Scout in Switzerland,” “Limbo: The Organized Mind” (narration by Jim Henson), “Space Mystery,” “Bendix: The Tomorrow People,” “Lightworks”
• J. Dilla, Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli / “Lightworks” [re-remix of “Lightworks”/“Bendix: The Tomorrow People”]
• Madlib / “Electric Company (Voltage-Watts)” [samples various Manhattan Research Inc. tracks]
• El-P / “T.O.J.” [samples various Manhattan Research Inc. tracks]
• Gorillaz / “Man Research (Clapper)” [samples “In The Hall Of The Mountain Queen”]
• Raymond Scott / “The Rhythm Modulator”

"Animated By His New Project"

Stu Brown presents his Raymond Scott Project in Glasgow (Friday Feb 13) and Edinburgh (Saturday Feb 14). An article in The Herald provides some background:

A student of electronics by day and a drummer around Glasgow by night, Brown transcribed some of Scott's work for a band he was then playing with and promised himself that he would one day organise a fully-fledged project playing Scott's music, of which, he was discovering, there was rather a lot, and in different styles, too. "The problem with the Quintette is that Scott didn't write stuff down at that time," says Brown. "There's the odd sketch but mostly what he'd do was play his ideas at the piano, get the band to learn the pieces by ear and then record them. The music was never actually written with these instruments in mind and he'd basically cut and paste his ideas into compositions. So I had to transcribe a lot of old recordings and arrange them for the band we now call the Raymond Scott Project."

Watch the band perform "Devil Drums" in London last October.

Private Music

Irwin and I have previously warned about the dangers of a stunningly boring album recorded by Raymond Scott in 1957, and subsequently issued under three titles in the US. It's my duty to further caution collectors who value their time and/or ears: a fourth pressing of this dreary record was released in 1966 by the Spanish label Orlador, with the title MUSICA PARA LA INTIMIDAD. I would have guessed this means "Music For Intimacy," but according to at least one Google translator, it's "Music For Privacy." Had RS kept the recording private, the world would be a better place. Not even a sexy chica displaying her color-coordinated pants, shoes, and upholstery can make this lackluster album worth purchasing. If you see this record, run away. If you're unfortunate enough to already own a copy, under any of its titles, please smash it with a hammer into a thousand little pieces, place the debris into a Ziploc baggie, and send it to me or Irwin; we will incinerate all copies at a public bonfire in Texas on September 9th at midnight. Location TBA. Consider this a WANTED poster (click image for larger view):

Fireworks Ensemble Cartoon ProjectJan 25 Concert

On Sunday January 25, Fireworks Ensemble presents a multi-media celebration of vintage cartoon music and animation at le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, New York. The 7:30 PM performance will spotlight composing legends Carl Stalling (Warner Bros.) and Scott Bradley (MGM), whose music choreographed the hijinks of Bugs & Daffy (Stalling) and Tom & Jerry (Bradley) from the 1930s through the '50s. Raymond Scott will figure in the mix.

Fireworks will perform four classic cartoon scores as live soundtracks to the original animation, including an early 1930s Stalling score (The Village Smitty, featuring Flip The Frog) and his daredevil score for the Coyote and Roadrunner classic There They Go-Go-Go! The concert also features a set of works by Raymond Scott in their original jazz-ensemble setting, including "Powerhouse," "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals," and "War Dance for Wooden Indians."

Fireworks is recording an album of classic cartoon music, which will include several Scott compositions.

The Toy Trumpet for accordion

Another eBay score: like "Powerhouse" for accordion which we offered free for the asking last week, here's "The Toy Trumpet." Drop us a line and request the chart as pdf.

Powerhouse accordion-style

Snared on eBay—cheap. Five-page sheet music now scanned and cleaned up. Got a squeezebox? Want a free pdf? Drop us a note, ask nice.

Vintage uncertain: "Powerhouse" was composed by Scott and copyrighted by Circle Music, his original publishing company, in 1937. Circle was listed on this accordion chart as publisher. However, Circle ceased to exist in 1943 when Scott's catalog was sold to Warner Bros., who folded it into their Advanced Music Corp. holdings.

In 1964, U.S. rights to "Powerhouse" and hundreds of other Scott titles reverted to the composer, who sold most of them to Music Sales Corp., the current publisher. Warner retained non-U.S. international rights, now controlled by the umbrella corporation Warner-Chappell. Scott retained about one hundred copyrights for his self-owned publishing company Gateway Music.

The 1943 sale of Circle rights to Warner provided the foundation for Carl Stalling's freedom to adapt Scott compositions in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.

Hat tip to Jeff Winner for the eBay alerts.

Christmas, 1942

Summit, New Jersey, Christmas 1942: The "famous Raymond Scott Quintet, featuring Dorothy Collins," performs for a "Holiday Assembly" at the Masonic Hall. Article pasted in a scrapbook along with the original RSVP invitation and four photographs of the dance, in which one can barely discern a band in the distance. The dancers appear to be well-dressed, well-behaved teens; presumably this was a high school event, though no HS is identified.

Two details worth noting:

1) The bottom paragraph references Scott's "Silent Music." This "unrecorded" work has long been part of Scott lore—a "composition" consisting of no notes, a silent performance in which the musicians go through the motions of playing without making any sounds. This was a decade before John Cage's legendary noteless work 4'33", which caused such a ruckus when it was introduced in concert by David Tudor in 1952.

2) The creepy photograph of Scott.

Thanks to Dennis Kelly for the artifact.

He's A Doll!

After two years in development, Japanese artist toy company Presspop Gallery have released their Raymond Scott 100th Anniversary vinyl figurine & CD set.

The deluxe limited edition package features a miniature replica of Scott's Clavivox, his patented 1950s keyboard synthesizer, and a CD featuring rare, unreleased tracks from the Scott Archives. Presspop have produced only a small batch of these unique high-quality sets, so order now (Presspop's Bob Moog figurine sold out quickly). RaymondScott.com is the exclusive US retailer. In-stock & shipping now.

>>> Order: here

• Vinyl figure height: 6" • Vinyl Clavivox height: 3"
• Figure wears jacket of fabric
• CD: 5 tracks (2 Previously Unreleased)
• Designed by: ARCHER PREWITT
• Project Advisor & CD producer/compiler: JEFF WINNER

P.S. Celebration on the Planet Boing.

Ego Trip

Los Angeles based soundtrack musician Ego Plum, who scores the Nickelodeon cartoon series MAKING FIENDS, has slipped a Raymond Scott tribute into an episode.  It's a fake commercial for onions based on Scott's real 1960s commercial for Lightworks brand cosmetics, featuring series creator Amy Winfrey on vocals.  > > > View it: here