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09 Jan 13 - 09:24 AM (#3463559) Subject: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Will Fly Sidney Bechet wrote and recorded this lovely tune in 1952. The version that made a huge impact on many of us here in the UK was the 1959 recording by the Chris Barber Jazz Band - featuring Monty Sunshine on clarinet. I remember buying the 45rpm single and playing it over and over again (the "B" side was "St. Philip Street Breakdown"). Many years later, in the early '80s, to be precise, I had the great pleasure of jamming with Monty Sunshine one informal lunchtime at the Middelburg Jazz Festival in Zeeland. He was a charming man - affectionately known by members of his band as "Monty Moonshine"! I've changed the key of this from the original Bb to Eb for the tenor guitar, and played it through twice, "straight", with a simple guitar "comped" backing track - 4 to the bar and no frills. The tenor guitar and the mid-jumbo acoustic backing guitar ("No. 18") were made for me by Ian Chisholm [http://www.ianchisholm.co.uk/ ]. "Petite Fleur" |
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09 Jan 13 - 09:40 AM (#3463568) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Vic Smith Here are the results of Will Fly's mental arithmetic exam:- Will was asked What is 2012 minus 1952? Will gave the answer 50 whereas the correct answer is 60. I'm afraid that this means that, once again, Mr. Fly has failed this exams. I bet that he now wishes that he had signed that he signed up for Professor Smith's "Easy guide to addition and subtraction course." |
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09 Jan 13 - 09:47 AM (#3463572) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Will Fly Bum - meant to write "60" as well! I think I really need to sign up for Mrs. Smith's "Touch typing for tosspots" course... |
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09 Jan 13 - 09:52 AM (#3463573) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Vic Smith So whilst Will's report card must carry an "E" grade for maths, we must award him an "A" for music on the basis of his playing of "Petite Fleur". Could I make two requests of Mr Fly? 1] If he comes and plays "Petite Fleur" on a Thursday at the Royal Oak, I will enroll him on the course mentioned in the previous poster free of charge! 2] Could I ask Will to consider learning another of Sidney Bechet's compositions; one which I consider to be superior to "Petite Fleur" and that is "Si tu vois ma mère" |
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09 Jan 13 - 09:55 AM (#3463575) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: GUEST,999 GOOD ONE, Will. That machine you're using has one sweet sound. (What the poor old guy lacks in math he makes up for in music ability.) |
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09 Jan 13 - 10:10 AM (#3463581) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Will Fly I'll play it with pleasure - but I need a guitarist to play the backing chords, which are: Gm / A7 / D7 - - (Intro) G7 / / / G7 / / / Cm / / / Cm / / / D7 / / / G7 / / / Cm / / / Cm - - - G7 / / / G7 / Bb / Eb / / / Gº / / / Fm / / / Bb / / / Eb / G7 / Cm / Fm / Dm / / / G7 / / / Cm / / / Cm / Am / D7 / / / D7 / / / G7 / / / G7 - - - G7 / / / G7 / / / Cm / / / Cm / / / Dm / / / G / G7 / Cm / Fm / Cm / / / C7 / / / C7 / / / Fm / / / Fm / Eb / Bb / / / Bb / / / Eb / Ab / G7 / / / G7 / / / G7 / / / Cm / / / Cm / / / D7 / / / G7 / / / Cm / Fm / Cm / / / Twice through... |
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09 Jan 13 - 11:01 AM (#3463594) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: GUEST,Hootenanny A piece of trivia Will which I guess you are probably already aware of is that the guitar on Monty's recording was also four strings. It was played by Eddie Smith Chris's banjo player who removed the two bass strings and tuned it as a banjo. I always liked Eddie's advice for up and coming would be banjo players. When John Martin editor of Jazz News once asked him what advice he could offer to beginners the answer came back "Give it lots of pudden". Hoot |
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09 Jan 13 - 11:27 AM (#3463602) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Will Fly Eddie Smith was certainly a powerhouse player! When I was doing my mainstream jazz band stint - many years ago now - I got slightly bored of doing the 4-to-the-bar, plunk, plunk tenor banjo bit, and was luckily able to switch to electric guitar for other numbers. Mind you, the banjo never needed amplification to be heard - it would have stopped Ming the Merciless in his tracks, as you hear here from our 1983 album, "Making Tracks"... "Shout 'Em, Aunt Tilly" |
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09 Jan 13 - 05:42 PM (#3463733) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: GUEST,Hootenanny Just gave it a listen Will, nice one. I've always liked that number. Eddie was a good nut. I have fond memories of walking on the beach on the Isle of Arran during the summer in the early hours after a Barber Band gig not long before the sun was up. Me, Eddie and his small holdall containing the bottle of Scotch. Where did the time go? Hoot |
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09 Jan 13 - 06:26 PM (#3463744) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Vic Smith Loved "Shout 'Em, Aunt Tilly" - so many memories of trad bands adapting early Ellington numbers to their own styles (Did Irving Mills get half the writers' credit because he was the publisher or did they actually work together on it? ) Mike, do you know of any live traditional jazz in our area? We used to go and see the Vintage Hot 5 at Maxim's in Eastbourne but nothing since then. |
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09 Jan 13 - 06:48 PM (#3463755) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: greg stephens Come on everyone, sharpen up. Firstly, as Vic has pointed out 60 years, not 50. Secondly, it was Dick Bishop on guitar, not Eddie Smith. Thirdly, as any fool knows, Will, the original was in Gminor, not Bflat. |
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09 Jan 13 - 07:06 PM (#3463770) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: katlaughing i don't care what key, it still is lovely and i love Aunt Tilly. Sounds like my uncle on clarinet. The only thing I missed at the end of the little flower is your signature, oh-so-sweet-smile at the end! |
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09 Jan 13 - 08:10 PM (#3463789) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Tattie Bogle And great that Chris Barber is still out there playing it! Huge roar of approval when he started into it at Sidmouth last year! |
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10 Jan 13 - 06:39 AM (#3463877) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Roger the Skiffler I also loved this tune by Sid or Monty. I also loved Monty's similar "Hushabye" that was the sig tune for a BBC Home Service mystery serial written & narrated by the husky voiced J.Maclaren Ross, the tune alone sent shivers down my spine! RtS |
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10 Jan 13 - 07:59 AM (#3463895) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: GUEST,Hootenanny Greg, I can't argue about Eddie Smith or Dickie Bishop as I don't have a Barber discography. I do however have a clear memory of seeing the Barber band on TV playing Petite Fleur with Eddie playing guitar. Also I believe that Eddie was the banjo man with the band in 1959. Had Dickie not left by then? Hoot |
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10 Jan 13 - 08:30 AM (#3463909) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: greg stephens Dick Bishop was the guitarist on the hit record. He left the Barber band shortly after, with Eddie Smith taking over. Hence subsequent recordings of TV appearances etc would have Smith(or whichever guitarists followed him) |
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10 Jan 13 - 09:08 AM (#3463927) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: greg stephens Just listened to the recording. Very nice Will. I deduce, by the way, that you were working off the sheet music, or a Bechet record, as you have restored the bar that Monty Sunshine left out! |
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10 Jan 13 - 10:14 AM (#3463948) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Will Fly Both, actually, but the sheet music was the principal source. Which is, among other things - why I tender to refer to key signatures rather than keys! When I was playing with the Jubilee Jazz Band in the '80s, there was a band habit of responding to the question, "Key?" by a display of fingers - downward-pointing fingers meant flats and upward-pointing fingers meant sharps. So - 3 fingers down = Eb, and 2 fingers up = ...D! This was used for both major keys and relative minors, so if I'd asked what key "Petite Fleur" was in, I'd have been shown 3 downward fingers... Bb OR Gm. :-) |
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10 Jan 13 - 12:30 PM (#3464022) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: GUEST,Hootenanny Will/Greg Following Greg's postings I took a look on you tube there are a couple of postings there of Monty's version one of which shows a record label giving the personnel and a date. The personnel shows that Greg is correct in that Dickie Bishop was on guitar. There is a date 10/10/56 shown if that is the recording date that would make sense as Dickie came in after Lonnie left. Apparently the disc was no.3 in the charts in 1959. Long time between recordidng and release as a single. Hoot |
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11 Jan 13 - 08:13 AM (#3464465) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: GUEST,PeterC Does anyone know if Eddie Smith is still about? He was an excellent player |
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11 Jan 13 - 10:32 AM (#3464506) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: GUEST,leeneia Thanks for the performance, Will. I've always liked that song but didn't know what it was called. I also like your Berceuse Reve Bleu. I believe that would be charming on my dulcimer. |
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11 Jan 13 - 12:48 PM (#3464557) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: Will Fly leeneia - you can get the lead line and chords for the Berceuse from: Berceuse du Reve Bleu |
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11 Jan 13 - 03:14 PM (#3464648) Subject: RE: 'Petite Fleur' - just turned 50! From: GUEST,Hootenanny Peter C. No sadly Eddie died some years back. I can't unfortunately give you a date but a ball park figure would be 15 years plus. Hoot |