This album physically has all the elegance of a
French pressing. But, when the needle drops, whatever illusions of Parisian
refinement you once had are quickly shattered and are replaced with the sounds
of a rowdy 1930’s Kansas City. Well, not quite. But it’s somewhere in between
the two. I’ll explain.
The album is by
Neville Dickie – an Englishman –
but to fully appreciate what he’s playing, it’s important to understand where
the Boogie Woogie he’s playing came from.
It started in Kansas City in the early 1930’s.
The town was run by mayor
Tom Pendergast who allowed for after hours gambling
and prostitution. A town full of vice and sin. And a town with a wickedly awesome
music scene.
Known as “Barrel House Music”, Boogie Woogie music
was distinct from it’s cleaner progenitor Swing in that it featured a
dirtier-driving left handed stride pianist with a right hand that would make ladies
quiver. There was however, a reason for it. The Boogie stride piano was an
evolutionary response to the environment in which the music developed. ‘Barrel
Houses’ were normally associated with mines and served as the local watering
holes. One of the most popular of which was the Sunset Cafe - which played host to some of the best Boogie players in the Mid West. In such an environment, the piano had
to be loud and abrasive to cut through the raucousness of the bar. As a result,
Boogie features a lot of piano solos while the rhythm section just holds it
down. Solid as a rock.
 |
| The Café Society |
Boogie Woogie eventually made it’s way north to
New York in the late 1930’s and found a new home at the Café Society – a centre
for the local intelligentsia. From there it made it’s way across the Atlantic
to Britain – which is where Neville Dickie – the artist on this album was from.
Dickie was a member of the RAF and moved to London after his service. He played
in bars and eventually grew to prominence on the British airwaves after being
discovered by BBC Radio 2 director Doreen Davies.
 |
| Original Cover |
This album was initially released in 1975 as Back to Boogie but was rebranded and
re-titled as Boogie Woogies Fanstastiques
to cater to the French audience. Covers often betray a lot about the intent of
the distributors and this case is no exception. Why wouldn’t the French
distributors just re-title it in French and keep the original picture?
On the original British issue, there is a
picture of Dickie on the cover (who is White). The French audience was known to
be
very fond of African American Jazz musicians - who in turn enjoyed the
relative lack of racism and the appreciation the French showed towards their
art. From what I’ve seen, when it comes to race, album art, and record
distribution, record companies tended to not feature African American musicians
on the covers of records they were trying to market to White audiences.
Remember, the Boogie on this album is far removed from the nitty-gritty
boogie of 1930’s Kansas City and has instead been highly refined in the sterile
studios of the BBC. If a record company did decide to feature the African
American artist on the cover, it would show the artist playing to a predominantly
white audience (Stevie Wonder
My Cherie Amour, Joe Houston
Rock and Roll with Joe Houston). In this instance, it may very well have been the exact
opposite.
The French knew their shit and knew what was hot. They had an affinity for the African American jazz musicians because of their distinct African American style. The record-execs knew that Dickie's record was good stuff, but may have thought that the French audience would be reluctant to accept it if they saw a White guy on the cover. I think the record
company did not want the audience to know that Dickie was white in order to
boost sales and add legitimacy to their product. Dickie sold 100 000 copies of
the album upon it’s initial release in the UK and it’s quite possible that
French distributors sought to capitalize in France by re-marketing the same hit-seller
with a different cover.
That being said, Dickie had played with famous
French pianist Louis Mazetier before and therefore, it is likely that he would
have had some exposre to the French audience.
For all I know, maybe the distributor decided to
scrap the original cover because it was too dull for his French pallet. Who
knows? Either way, Dickie swings hard.
Tracks to look out for:
·
“Saint-Louis Blues” – Great halftime breakdown
in the middle.
