1932-1935

uring the years 1935 and 1936, Victor recording star Fats Waller was one of the most popular Afro-American entertainers in the entire industry. His distinctive vocal delivery and infectious small-band swing formula were so successful that other record labels shrewdly advanced their own Fats Waller imitators. Vocalion used Putney Dandridge, a singing pianist whose own talents shone through, and an irritating copycat named Dick Porter who presented nothing original whatsoever and didn't even do a very good job of mimicking Waller. Decca Records presented Bob Howard, a volatile character who began as an impostor but ultimately formed his own ebullient style and left behind a small number of entertaining recordings. Born Howard Joyner on June 20, 1906, in Newton, MA, he recorded a couple of rowdy numbers in 1932 for the Columbia label using his given name. At that time the rising star in Afro-American vocal entertainment was Louis Armstrong, and Howard impersonated Armstrong right down to the laughs. He laughed quite a bit, in fact, guffawing his way through "You Rascal You." Even though this is a close cover of Armstrong's masterpiece of bawdy humor, Howard is such a volcano of hilarity that his performance has merit. If one is moved to ponder what effect this doppelgänger must have had upon Armstrong, the question becomes worrisome when listeners are faced with a series of Fats Waller imitations. Lester Young experienced a personal identity crisis when a full dozen tenor saxophonists began copying his style during the late '40s and early '50s. How many of these fake Fats Waller records did Waller himself encounter? Didn't it steal his thunder? These questions might gnaw at Waller fans, particularly during six songs that were direct covers of Waller's hit records. Howard sounded too much like Waller at first, except during what was apparently the second part of a smart showbiz version of Cole Porter's "You're the Top" by the Decca All Star Review. (Howard's contribution to this rather crowded number was to periodically bellow the song's title at the top of his lungs!) The bands heard on this disc are uniformly excellent, fortified with Benny Carter, Buster Bailey, Ben Webster, Teddy Wilson, and Billie Holiday's father, guitarist Clarence Holiday. Fortunately, Howard also sounded at times like Putney Dandridge, and by May 7, 1935, he really began to sound like his own rowdy self. There is an exceptionally satisfying version of "Corrine Corrina," a cheerful '30s love song called "Ev'ry Day," and a very funny treatment of "I Can't Dance (I Got Ants in My Pants)." On July 10th, Howard cut two sides with a group containing members of Teddy Hill's orchestra. Although "Lulu's Back in Town" was already firmly associated with Fats Waller (and still is), by now Howard's own personality predominates. The final two tracks are equally fine. "I Never Saw a Better Night" is much hipper than the cottony white Bluebird version recorded six days earlier by George Hall & His Taft Hotel Orchestra. "In a Little Gypsy Tearoom," with lively percussion by Cozy Cole, bears a marvelous resemblance to Tampa Red's 1936 masterpiece "When You Were a Girl of Seven." ~ arwulf arwulf|