Bill Crow Chapter Summaries

Bill Crow has compiled a great collection of stories. This book looks into the personalities and humor of the Jazz world. Being a jazz player himself, Crow is obviously familiar with the life of a Jazz musician, and he has written down some hilarious tales that Jazz players have passed on to one another. This book shows how the jazz world as it really is. The entire book is filled, page by page, with hilarious stories of pranks, goofs, getting hired, getting fired, stuff that happened while on the road, jokes, nicknames, and unforgettable moments while playing at clubs. It also gives you a good feel for what the lives of jazz musicians were like the camaraderie and competition, the struggles over money, and the terrible working conditions.
It also offers chapters on great jazz players such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Charlie Parker. There are many memorable stories in this book.
When I would read about people performing and jumping off of risers and getting stuck, or artist trying to start fires in the middle of a bus because they were cold, you can't help but laughing out loud.
(I almost did during class.) There were many funny stories in this book. One of them was how Les Hite fires band members. Instead of firing just one person, he would fire the whole band and then hire back the men he wanted. He would say, "I'm breaking up my band, everybody's fired," and then say, "I want you, you, and you in my new band." He said it was better than pointing at one person and telling them to get out. That's exactly what happened to Dizzy. Another was when Basie's band was France, and Buddy Tate got the wrong interpreter. They went to Lyon and Jimmy Rushing was ordering for them. So they go to the restaurant and Jimmy talked to waitress to order some weal chops. The waitress goes away and brings back six hard boiled eggs. Jimmy talks to her again and comes back with more eggs but fried. They start arguing saying that the waitress can't speak English. She over heard the conversation and comes back and says, "Excuse me, what would you like to have?" speaking better then either of them. One of my favorite chapters was
pranks.
The book has many stories on pranks that were often pulled by jazz musicians to other jazz musicians. Limburger cheese was a favorite among pranksters. When Eddie Condon was working in the pit at the Commercial Theater, the band took an apartment near the theater. When the wind was right they got perfume smells in their apartment from the stockyards. One night Mezzrow rubbed limburger cheese on Bud Freeman's pillow and Bud thought it was coming form the stockyards. Dick Morgan would also use limburger cheese in his pranks. He would rub the cheese on the mic Ben Pollack used, and make his well rehearsed accompaniment difficult.
This book wonderfully captures the essence of jazz and jazz musicians. It is packed with great stories, unique personalities, and hilarious moments.