Dance Band Encyclopaedia |
Visiting Americans |
Paul Specht - Part 2 |
Home page | Introduction | Label Index | Musicians |
Part
Two: The Carolina Club Orchestra, and Specht’s School for Jazz
Musicians
Having
enjoyed a successful visit to England with his band in 1923, Specht
returned to New York and continued to build up his orchestra empire.
By 1924 he had a fairly large roster of bands under his management and, as well as playing in America with
his own orchestra, he had booked bands to England, Europe and even
Australia. His own orchestra moved to the newly-opened Hotel Alamac,
where it played in the Congo Room and also broadcast over Radio
Station WHN. Sometime
about June 1924 Work Permits were requested from the Ministry of
Labour for Specht and the members of the Carolina Club Orchestra, a
college band from the University of North Carolina led by James Harold
(“Hal”) Kemp. Apparently without waiting to see if permits had
been granted, Specht and the band boarded the “Berengaria” and
sailed for England. Halfway across the Atlantic he received a cable
which stated “Regret Permits refused”; no reason was given. In
view of his concern at rumours which reached him before he left
England the previous year, it seems a little strange he did not wait
to ensure all permits were in place before sailing. (It
is likely the rumours emanated from Specht’s statement that he would
be sending over a further sixty musicians, in addition to the Frisco
Syncopators and the Criterion Orchestra.) On
arrival at Southampton on 18th July, 1924, Specht and the band were
refused admission to England, and were not allowed to disembark from
the ship. According to the Passenger List (BT26/777) the members of the band (plus Specht) were:
There
were clearly eleven men in the band, although not all of them may have
been present on the recordings made for Columbia Given
the situation he found himself in, it was fortunate for Specht that
the other passengers included a delegation of high-ranking lawyers,
who were visiting England to attend the Wembley Exhibition and other
events. The band had played for this delegation and other passengers
during the voyage. One member of this party was US Secretary of State,
Charles Hughes. Specht sought out Hughes and complained bitterly about
the treatment he was receiving, asking Hughes to fly and intercede on
his behalf Hughes
cabled New York and the American Embassy in London, and diplomatic
pressure was brought to bear on the British Government. In addition
the Buescher Instrument Company and the Columbia Graphophone Co. in
America both sent letters of protest to Washington, no doubt at
Specht’s request. Before
sailing, Specht had cabled Frank Guarente, who had by now left
Specht’s own band and was working in Europe. He asked Guarente to
meet him in London, not to play but to assist with administrative
matters. Guarente duly arrived at Folkestone on the South Coast, and
(according to Specht) was refused admission, locked up overnight
without food or drink, not allowed to get in touch with Specht, and
sent back across the English Channel on the first boat the next day. Variety
for
July 16th 1924 had earned a full-page advert for the Specht
organisation, including a note to the effect that Specht was coming to
England. His main purpose in coming was to sign a contract with the
Cunard Steamship Company, under which he would supply American bands
for all the liners in their fleet, which amounted to between forty and
fifty boats. The advert also earned details of the bands under his
management, which included Robert Bennett’s Frisco Syncopators,
Hughie Barrett, Ted Weems, the Lido Venice Dance Orchestra, the
Romancers and the Georgians. Since
the last two were actually “bands within a band” from Specht’s
own orchestra at the Hotel Alamac, it can be seen that this advert was
not entirely accurate! Another
section of this advert, referred to the Carolina Club Orchestra’s
visit, and stated this was 7or
the purpose of headlining the English music kills and to play at
British cafes at the Hotel Claridge in Paris and at the Winter Garden in
Berlin”. Given that
applicants for Work Permits
normally had to be specific
about where they were to be employed, and who would be employing them,
this may be why Permits were not granted in this case. Despite
having gained access to England, Specht was still nursing a grievance.
In early August he announced his intention to form a separate
Musicians Union, for the specific purpose of admitting bands under his
management into England. The reaction to this news from the
“genuine” Union was unfavourable, to say the least. This
suggestion of a “rival” Union was apparently part of a proposed
agreement he attempted to enter into with Jack Hylton regarding the
booking of bands. Under such an agreement, Hylton would be his agent
for American bands coming here, while Specht would act as agent in
America for bands which Hylton sent there. Jack Hylton decided not to
entertain this proposal,
not least because it would have required payment of 50%
of his earnings from all sources
over to Specht! Apart from being a somewhat dubious proposition, this
scheme seems to have totally ignored the ongoing policy of the AFM,
namely the refusal to permit any English band to work in America. This
rejection of his proposal incensed Specht still further and, as will
be seen, he repeatedly attacked Hylton in the musical press over the
next ten years. “Dear
Ol’
Lunnon” likes Yankee jazz so
well that a college of
syncopation, sponsored by Paul
Specht,
exclusive
Columbia artist, noted dance orchestra king and radio artist, of
New York has
just
been established in
the English metropolis
for the purpose of
instructing British musicians in
the
gentle art of
American
“danceopation" “,
according to word just received here.
The
new school is located at Grafton House, Golden Square, WI, London and
is under the
management
of
J.
Fenston, Ernest Collins and H. Lewis. It is known as Paul Specht 's
Institute of
Rhythmic
Symphonic Syncopation
and the instructors are all
American musicians. Three of
these
teachers,
Harl Smith, Everitt Davidson and William Haid
all of
New York,
recently sailed
for England. The
three American musicians listed above were all members of the Lido
Venice Dance Orchestra which did come to Europe in October 1924; their
activities in England will be covered later. Suffice it to say that
since the band was working in Europe at this time, if would have been
difficult if not impossible for these “teachers” to play there and
also teach in England. Work
Permits for the Carolina Club Orchestra had only been granted for a
period up to August 16th.
Somehow Specht managed
to get these extended for a further few days (duly reported in the Times
for August 15th) and the band finished playing at the Piccadilly Hotel on
August 21st. Two days later Specht and the band were aboard the
“Berengaria” again on their way back to America. According
to Specht, they were "smuggled on board ship and did not appear on the Passenger List”. (New York Times; September 6th, 1924).
On this return voyage the “Berengaria” was carrying the Prince of
Wales, no less, who was setting out on a Royal visit to America and
Canada The Prince had been to the Piccadilly Hotel several times
during the Carolina Club Band’s stay there, and was much impressed
with their playing. Specht maintained they had been smuggled on board
as a surprise for the Prince. However, the Passenger List (BT27/ 1066)
for this trip clearly shows the members of the band listed, along with
Specht - but
all travelling Third Class, and not Second Class as was normal with
musicians.
Notwithstanding Specht’s claims, I think it more likely that when
the Work Permits finally expired, they were ordered to leave the
country by the first available boat or be deported. Specht’s
problems were by no means over. About one day into the voyage, it was
announced that in view of the Prince of Wales’ great enthusiasm for
the music of the Carolina Club outfit, that band would play for the
Prince in the ship’s ballroom each night. The resident ship’s
orchestra were less than amused at this, threatened to take strike
action, and to call on the Seamen's Union to strike in sympathy. Again
according to Specht, the ship’s orchestra also threw over the
ship’s side all the Carolina Club’s band parts! (Reported in New
York Times,
September 6th, 1924). All
this was obviously very embarrassing for the Cunard Company with the
Prince of Wales on board, and there were frantic negotiations to try
and resolve matters. Specht insisted he had a contract to supply
orchestras for the Cunard boats, which was denied by the company’s
New York office. Finally it was agreed that the Carolina Club Band
would play for about two hours each night (presumably with or without
arrangements...). Regarding the Cunard contract, the New York Times for September 12th, 1924 carried a brief item to the effect that “arrangements have been made by the Cunard line with Paul Specht, orchestra leader, to place an orchestra on one of its largest ships. The ship had not yet been designated and whether Specht orchestras would be placed on all of the Cunard steamships would depend on the result of the experiment.” Not quite what Specht had stated would happen! All
this activity was reported at length in Variety and to a lesser extent
in other musical papers of the lime. (Billboard seems to have made no
mention of these events, possibly because Specht was at the time suing
them for libellous reporting of another matter.) When
Specht arrived in New York he continued to complain at length about the
treatment he had received in England, and the scene was set for further
difficulties in the following two years. Before
we move onto the next instalment, it is necessary to point out two
things: 1)
Specht always maintained he should be free to bring American bands to
England, in view of the many English artists who were working in America
without hindrance. What he consistently failed to make clear was the
vast majority of those artists were variety turns, and in
several cases had emigrated there and were now American citizens. Even
if they had not taken up citizenship, they had at least become members
of the AFM or a theatrical union. 2) As stated elsewhere, no English dance band was allowed to work in America during the Twenties, not even to appear as a stage act, because of the unrelenting opposition of the American federation of Musicians. click
here for: Part
Three: The lido Venice and Canadian Club Orchestras, and the Kit Cat
Club. Author:
JOE MOORE |