Julian Fuhs "The King of Jazz of Germany"

[bobfells]

Paul Whiteman was considered the top leader of dance bands for the decade of the 1920s and was still quite popular through much of the 30s. An interesting publicity gimmick called him "The King of Jazz" by the mid-20s although the extent of his contributions to Jazz is still being debated. Recently, I came upon a bandleader from the 20s who was dubbed "The King of Jazz of Germany." His name was Julian Fuhs - I have no idea how to pronounce his last name - who is all but forgotten today. I learned about him only as a footnote to Whiteman - they met when Whiteman's band visited Germany in 1926. But Fuhs recorded prolifically during 1925 to 1930 and made a widely praised version of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," the first European recording of this work that Whiteman had commissioned.

I managed to find a few Fuhs recordings online and discovered that he was no Whiteman copycat. This is evident when comparing his versions of songs that Whiteman also recorded. Fuhs' band doesn't sound as large as Whiteman's and the few photos I've found proves that it isn't. But he had his own approach that made me wonder who did the arrangements. I just posted his "It All Depends on You" from 1927 on YT and while it's not the intricate arrangement of Whiteman's, Fuhs has his own approach.

Bob

https://youtu.be/woZLFmDiXsA

[sometimes zeppo]

Hi Bob - I'm not familiar with Julian Fuhs but I've heard a lot of Paul Whiteman over the years. I'm particularly fascinated with Whiteman's in-house trio "The Rhythm Boys" with Bing Crosby.

I actually just picked up a European CD of Crosby's entire recording output with The Rhythm Boys called "Rhythm King" - and their performances are wildly entertaining. It's too bad they didn't last a little longer with Whiteman - but then Crosby had bigger mountains to climb.

[bobfells]

Hi Bob - I'm not familiar with Julian Fuhs but I've heard a lot of Paul Whiteman over the years. I'm particularly fascinated with Whiteman's in-house trio "The Rhythm Boys" with Bing Crosby.

I actually just picked up a European CD of Crosby's entire recording output with The Rhythm Boys called "Rhythm King" - and their performances are wildly entertaining. It's too bad they didn't last a little longer with Whiteman - but then Crosby had bigger mountains to climb.

The Rhythm Boys - Bing and Al Rinker - were hired by Pops Whiteman about 1927 but their act didn't go over. Always the impresario, Pops decided to fix the problem by adding Harry Barris, a songwriter, pianist, singer and human firecracker personality. The Boys clicked with Barris but in time Bing emerged as the star of the trio. Due to the Depression Pops had to scale down the size of the orchestra - he went on a diet too and lost about 100 lbs. - but knew that the BOYS now had their own fans and would do fine. They began a long run at the Cocoanut Grove with Gus Arnheim's band and made a few short films. By 1931, Bing was undoubtedly the big attraction while Barris had married and decided to act as an accompanist for his wife, a singer, on her gigs. Barris also continued to crank out big hit songs for a few years more. Al Rinker became a radio producer. On July 4, 1943, Paul Whiteman reunited the Rhythm Boys on his radio show and they sang as good as they ever did. Someone asked Crosby why he agreed to step back into the trio after so many years and he said that he felt he owed it to Pops.

Bob

P.S. Julian Fuhs had his own Rhythm Boys called the Three Admirals.

[sometimes zeppo]

I think my favourite Paul Whiteman tune has got to be "Happy Feet" with a vocal chorus by The Rhythm Boys naturally. It's too bad they don't include it on the Bing Crosby "Rhythm King" CD I just purchased on the Nostalgia Naxos label in Europe. But I guess it's not strictly a Rhythm Boys recording per se.



Incidentally, Bob, maybe you can answer this one for me. A number of The Rhythm Boys recordings feature one of them making an emphatic "AH!" sound. I guess it was part of their act. Do you know if it was Barris or Rinker? It didn't sound like a Bing-ism to me.

[bobfells]

Zeppo wrote:
Incidentally, Bob, maybe you can answer this one for me. A number of The Rhythm Boys recordings feature one of them making an emphatic "AH!" sound. I guess it was part of their act. Do you know if it was Barris or Rinker? It didn't sound like a Bing-ism to me.

Seeing their numbers in the film KING OF JAZZ shows who is making what sounds. Bing was fond of saying, "Ah, tell it." But Barris was the sound effects guy and his various sounds suggested instruments such as cymbals with a "HAH" sound. Maybe that's what you're referring too?

Bob

[sometimes zeppo]

Hi Bob - thanks for pointing out their sequences in King of Jazz. You're right - it is Barris making that fake cymbal noise I was thinking of.

The Rhythm Boys' performances are great fun. It's just too bad they didn't release more recordings over their short career. I was a little disappointed to discover their recording of "So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together" wasn't included on the compilation I just bought. According to Discogs, they released a 78 of it in 1929.

https://www.discogs.com/Paul-Whitemans- ... se/7893550

[bobfells]

Whiteman eventually replaced Crosby-Rinker-Barris with a "new" Rhythm Boys team. They can be heard in the recording "A Night with Paul Whiteman at the Biltmore" from 1932 which is an effective two-sided medley of his 10+ years of hits. The new Boys sing "Mississippi Mud" in a very good imitation of the original team.

https://archive.org/download/78_a-night ... HESTRA.mp3

Bob

[bobfells]

Julian Fuhs cemented his name as the "King of Jazz of Germany" when he recorded Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" in 1927. This was the same year that Paul Whiteman recorded his electrical remake of the work, thereby updating the first recording he made in 1924 acoustically. PW's '27 electrical has been criticized for a lackluster performance by Gershwin at the piano and thereby leaving the door open for somebody producing another version. Whatever the thinking, Fuhs won praise for his rendition, which was the first European recording of "Blue."

Personally, I found Fuhs's version different though not necessarily better. The famous opening clarinet glissando, made famous by Ross Gorman on the Whiteman discs, takes another approach but I'm not sure whether it was due to inspiration or that Gorman's rendition could not be duplicated. The orchestral work was equal to the Whiteman orchestra although it sounds as though Fuhs has fewer musicians on hand. Most engaging is the piano work by Mischa Spoliansky who made quite a name for himself in later years.

In any event, Fuhs could not be accused of making a copycat version of Whiteman's and the differences between the two performances makes a nice interpretive contrast.

Bob

https://youtu.be/jMcHtmReaOk