Saturday night, May 14, at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts, I attended “A Tribute to Clyde McCoy” directed by Joseph Rubin, the man behind the gift of affection. Mr. Rubin knew that a tribute to McCoy needed to come home to Portsmouth, so he contacted Dr. Stanley Workman Jr., artistic director of the VRCFA, wanting to bring this historic, sentimental tribute to McCoy’s hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio. The plans were originally made for 2020; however, due to the pandemic, the concert was delayed until 2022.
Talk about worth the wait. The result was a delightful evening of big band music featuring the meticulously accurate arrangements made famous by McCoy. The jazz orchestra lit up the Center with number after number of musical compositions full of complex harmonies and syncopated rhythms complimented by rich instrumental and vocal solos. To summarize the experience, I would say the combination of a first-class big band, nostalgic compositions, and Rubin's masterful conducting and insightful comments on McCoy and musical history were a music lover's dream come true.
The presentation was lovingly conducted by Mr. Joseph Rubin, a renowned expert on American popular music. He specializes in “living history” concerts and recreating the music of 1890-1949 in a historically accurate manner. Recent concerts include tributes to Hal Kemp, Isham Jones, and Freddy Martin Orchestras performing their original 1930s and 40s arrangements for the first time in decades.
Rubin was appointed Curator of The Ted Lewis Museum in Circleville, Ohio in 2012. He has since cataloged all of Ted Lewis' original music arrangements, papers, photographs, recordings and spearheaded a renovation of the museum for its 40th Anniversary. Mr. Rubin is the director of the new Ted Lewis Orchestra and has restored many of Lewis' manuscript arrangements from the museum's collection.
In addition, Rubin founded American Musical Productions in 2003 and is one of the foremost authorities on early American Musical Theatre 1890-1930. Mr. Rubin has devoted his efforts to researching and restoring the forgotten masterpieces of the American musical stage including The Prince of Pilsen (1903), The Wizard of Oz (1902), The Sultan of Sulu (1902), and Madame Sherry (1910).
The Tribute
Rubin brought his 15-piece orchestra (plus accompaniment) to Portsmouth to share Clyde McCoy’s career, which in total spanned nearly six decades. McCoy is one of the most successful jazz trumpeters and big band leaders of all time.
McCoy is best remembered for his theme song, "Sugar Blues,” written by Clarence Williams and Lucy Fletcher, and also as a co-founder of Down Beat magazine in 1935. The song hit in 1931 and 1935, in Columbia and Decca versions, and returned to Billboard magazine's Country (Hillbilly) chart in 1941. It was also played with vocals, by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Fats Waller and Ella Fitzgerald.
Once, when his widow Maxine – who worked with his band from 1937 to 1941 as one of the singing Bennett Sisters – was asked how she thought McCoy would like to be remembered. She gave a familiar response …
"Sugar Blues," she laughed."Oh yes. See, that's what made him so famous. Of course, nobody could ever (sound like him) … I think he was the most impersonated leader that was ever known. All young boys … who wanted to play the trumpet, that's the first number they tried to play. Nobody could ever copy it just like he did it. But they gave it a try.” She laughs.
(Christopher Popa. “CLYDE McCOY: Sugar Blues Was Just the Sweet Beginning." http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/clydemccoy.html. November 2005.)
Clyde McCoy toured extensively during his long career; considered a lasting part of the history of the Drake Hotel in Chicago and the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. Also remembered for his World War II service when his entire band enlisted en masse. All served in the Navy and the band toured naval bases and hospitals during the war based in Millington, Tennessee.
And, perhaps his most famous claim to fame was his unique style. In the 1920s McCoy developed a trumpet mute that made a "wah-wah" sound which became famous. Once perfected, he patented it. His signature style used making his trumpet “talk” in ways that were much imitated.
Of course, the wah-wah pedal is now mandatory for every accomplished guitar player, whether he is a band member, touring member, or a session musician. You’ll rarely see a guitarist go without it. The pedal originated because of McCoy's Harmon trumpet mute and “wah-wah” style. The then-president of the Thomas Organ Company (where the first wah pedal was invented), Joe Benaron, thought the pedal sounded like McCoy’s trumpet, and could be marketed as a tool for brass instruments. He gave Clyde a call, asked him if he could use his name on the pedal, and the rest is history – from its use by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and so, so many others.
McCoy was known as a gentlemanly band leader and show director and also for his generosity to those in need. His band continued to be popular until the mid-1950s and even after the big bands completely disappeared he performed with smaller groups for another two decades. In the late 1970s he semi-retired to Memphis, Tennessee. He taught music and continued to perform until the mid-1980s, working with small Dixieland combos. His last performance was in 1985. Other well-known tunes are: "Readin', Ritin', Rhythm,” "It Looks Like Love,” "Creole Love Call,” "Wah-Wah Lament,” and "Tear It Down.”
Did he ever got tired of playing “Sugar Blues”? Wife Maxine insisted: "Never, never. He used to say to people who asked, “Do you get tired of playing Sugar Blues?” – “Do you get tired of having shucks in the cash register?” She laughs.
Clyde McCoy died June 11, 1990, in Memphis, Tennessee. He is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis.
Shining Light On a Legacy
McCoy was born on December 29, 1903, in Ashland, Kentucky, but considered Portsmouth his home. His father worked as a Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad detective.
Many younger folks – and older alike – don't know about McCoy and that his family left their Kentucky roots and moved here when he was nine. He lived in Portsmouth until he went off to make his amazing career.
"Well, he started when he was 9 years old," his wife Maxine related. "He didn't even finish school. He started a little band in church, and then he started a band of his own when he was just, you know, so very young. That's all he could think about. But he still taught himself music … Everything he didn't get to learn in school, he taught himself. He was a very smart man, he really was."
As a teenager, in 1917, he was hired on two riverboats out of Cincinnati, the Island Queen and Bernard Swain. In 1920, finding out from a friend that the Whittle Springs Hotel and Spa in Knoxville, Tennessee, needed a band for a two-week booking, he quickly rounded up some players and rehearsed for the audition during the train ride to there. The two-week stay expanded into eight and on and on.
(Christopher Popa. “CLYDE McCOY: Sugar Blues Was Just the Sweet Beginning." http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/clydemccoy.html. November 2005.)
McCoy came back to Portsmouth many times with his bands and performed here, as late as the 50s and 60s. He never forgot the town and where he came from, Stan Workman says, “I think that’s something that the Portsmouth area needs to be proud of and embrace. This is one of our own.”
Workman relates …
“Fame found McCoy, but not without a few sour notes along the way. After some false starts in New York City and California, McCoy and his band rocketed to fame after performing his signature “Sugar Blues” in Chicago.
“Despite the success that followed, McCoy never forgot his roots. He came back to Portsmouth many times with his bands and performed here, as late as the 50s and 60s. He definitely never forgot Portsmouth and where he came from, and I think that’s something that the Portsmouth area needs to be proud of and embrace. This is one of our own.
“And to think that our boy made that? In terms of what he was in the big band/jazz/swing era, he really was a rock star. You think of Mick Jagger or Bruce Springsteen – he really was on that level of popularity.
(Kasie McCreary. “Tribute to McCoy brings big band nostalgia home to Portsmouth.” Portsmouth Daily Times. May 11, 2022.)
I can honestly testify that Joseph Rubin's “A Tribute to Clyde McCoy” brought McCoy and his music to life in Portsmouth, Ohio, on June 14, 2022. The crowd at the Vern Riffe Center swung and swayed to the glorious sounds associated with a bygone era but so fresh and, to use a musical term, “mellifluous” today. What a gift to our ears and to the area. I can only say, “If you missed it, you lost a golden opportunity to understand the incredible impact of a native son and his beautiful music. May it live forever. Thanks to all who created this memorable event.”
Clyde Trivia
I'll leave you with a few little-known facts about Clyde McCoy. According to Maxine, trumpeter Bunny Berigan – always linked to the song “I Can't Get Started” – was his idol. He was also close friends with musicians Russ Morgan, Dick Jurgens, Tex Beneke, and Les Brown.
Clyde was literally and figuratively a star. He has a “star” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6426 Hollywood Boulevard. So, I guess that Mick Jagger reference is for real.
For whatever reason, McCoy was a big fan of the FBI. Maxine said, “If he hadn't been in the music business, he would have been in the FBI. He made friends all over the country with FBI men . . . He was a great admirer of all of them, you know."
Something that generally didn't make the press was McCoy's generosity toward those less fortunate. "He would run into different children who were having a hard time. A little boy selling newspapers on the street, something like that, he'd do something for them," Maxine recalled. "He did a lot of things like that, as we traveled."
What did McCoy himself consider his greatest achievement? "I don't know... Just playing with a band. He loved playing," Maxine said. "He was proud of a lot of things. He was proud of me. He truly loved me and I loved him. We really had quite a love affair, for 45 years. We really did … I just couldn't say anything more wonderful."
Postscript:
Clyde McCoy is my mother's cousin, so I that makes me his second cousin. My mom, Emma (Callihan) Thompson would attend his shows whenever he came to town. She was often accompanied by many other of Clyde's relation. For them, it was glorious. Clyde was very attentive to them during his life. Mom loved him and often spoke of him in glowing words.
I channeled Mom during the tribute, feeling her approving presence as I relished each number. One song, “Ja-Da” brought back early childhood memories of her teaching me the lyrics “Ja-Da, Ja-Da, Ja-Da, Ja-Da Jing, Jing, Jing.” I found myself reliving those old times as the band played. Mom was the person first responsible for my lifelong love of music. As a kid, I had an RCA record player, and I would often spend my allowance on a 45 record of Hit Parade artists of the time – Johnny Horton, Harry Belefonte, Patti Page, and others. Needless to say, I kept buying and collecting music. I later worked for decades as a mobile DJ.
Here is a photo of my
great-grandpa Clem Callihan. Sitting with him are Stanley – Clyde's
brother – and Clyde McCoy. (Sorry - date unknown)
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