Ben Pollack: I'm Following You
Track
I'm Following You
Group
Ben Pollack and His Orchestra
CD
The Complete Hit of the Week Recordings, Volume 1 (Archeophone 3002)
Musicians:
Ben Pollack (leader, vocals),
Rudy Weinstein, Charlie Teagarden (trumpets), Jack Teagarden (trombone), Harry Goodman (tuba), Gil Rodin (clarinet, alto and soprano saxes, flute), Larry Binyon (clarinet, soprano and tenor saxes, flute), Matty Matlock (clarinet, alto sax), Vic Briedis (piano), Dick Morgan (banjo, guitar), Ed Bergman, Alex Beller (violins), Ray Bauduc (drums)
.Composed by Dave Dreyer & Ballard MacDonald
.Recorded: New York, mid-January 1930
Rating: 50/100 (learn more)
Ben Pollack's hot dance band was a mainstay at the Park Central Hotel in New York in the late '20s. By 1930, times were tough for dance bands, and the group was often unemployed, with the musicians scattering to get gigs of their own and regrouping when Pollack could line up dance jobs. A recording date for Hit of the Week did not show the band off to good advantage. In fact, the track under review may well be the worst recording this particular edition of the Pollack band ever made. No solos, pure ensemble corn, and Pollack's vocal thrown in as a bonus are what this track has to offer, and only collectors who must have every Pollack side need concern themselves over this recording. On the plus side, Archeophone's transfer is excellent and shows how well recorded the Hit of the Week sides were.
At least the musicians made some money.
Reviewer: Jeff Sultanof
Tags: 1930s jazz · big band
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