1937 The Saddle Tramps Western Swing Band

Описание: I was unable to find any group photo of The Saddle Tramps Western Swing Band from 1937. However I found a great historical article on Facebook.

The Jelly Roll Journal's Post
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There is very little information out there regarding the Fite brothers. In fact, they were both stars on radio and the silver screen in the 1930's, while Bob, with his band, The Saddle Tramps, took part in the legendary June 1937 recording sessions in Dallas, TX where bluesman Robert Johnson made his final recordings. The Saddle Tramps' twelve issued sides were sold as 78 RPM records on the Vocalion label right alongside Robert Johnson and various Western Swing acts that also recorded during those Dallas sessions in June 1937, including Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Light Crust Doughboys, and many others.

THE SADDLE TRAMPS
The Saddle Tramps started out in 1936 as Cactus Mack and his Saddle Tramps. Taylor Curtis McPeter aka "Cactus Mack" is associated with Willcox, AZ and is related to actor Glen Strange and cowboy singer/actor Rex Allen. Cactus joined the famed cowboy band, Arizona Wranglers, in the mid 1930's and appeared with them in the 1935 Universal Picture, Stormy, filmed in Sedona, AZ. After forming the Saddle Tramps with Bob Fite (guitar), Enright Augustus "Hi Pockets" Busse (accordion), Bill "Shorty" Scott (fiddle) and Jimmy Carroll (bass), who all sang harmony by the way, the band quickly appeared in a Universal Pictures western serial starring Buck Jones, "The Phantom Rider", and recorded several dozen radio transcriptions. The band soon moved to San Angelo, TX where they performed there and in Dallas over the radio for two years, often as, The White Rose Saddle Tramps, sponsored by a local brewery.

Cactus Mack soon left for Hollywood full-time where he had a huge acting career until his death in 1962. By the time Cactus left the group, Bob Fite's older brother, Buster, started doing some movie work in Hollywood on his own, and in 1937, the band appeared as, Buster Fite and his Saddle Tramps, in Twentieth Century Fox's, "Roll Along Cowboy", starring 1920's jazz singer turned cowboy crooner, Smith Ballew. The musical sequences are terrific, with Bob Fite picking some impressive guitar licks.

With no clear leader, the band made one final attempt at success, by participating in the June 1937 Dallas, TX warehouse sessions, famous for producing bluesman Robert Johnson's second and final batch of recordings as well as recordings of a slew of Western Swing bands, many of whom during these sessions were among the first to record with electric standard and steel guitars.

The Saddle Tramps still had Bob Fite on guitar and Hi Pockets Busse on accordion, but on fiddle they used the highly influential western swing fiddler, J.R. Chatwell. Chatwell's fiery fiddle skills enhanced their material to great effect as evidenced on "Hot As I Am" which appeared on one of the first modern Western Swing compilations, Okeh Western Swing. J.R. Chatwell, whose main influence was Stuff Smith, and who himself was a major influence to the great Johnny Gimble, found a cult following later in his life led by Austin's, Doug Sahm. Of the 21 songs the Saddle Tramps recorded over two days, 12 of them were released.

This article is appearing on the 87th Anniversary of The Saddle Tramps' first day of recording, in Dallas, TX, June 23rd, 1937.
Read the entire article.   / 3619215378107361  

LINKS
Induction of the Riverside Ballroom into the Arizona Music Hall Of Fame.
Includes video interview with Bob Fite inside his Alpine, AZ home.
https://www.azmusichalloffame.org/ind...
1991 documentary on Hi Pockets Busse, from New Mexico PBS
   • Hi Pockets Busse & The Frontiersmen | New ...  
1937's "Roll Along Cowboy" complete movie
   • Roll Along, Cowboy (1937) ZANE GREY  

Playlist
1. Givin' Everything Away
2. Just Because No. 3
3. Away Out There
4. Good-Bye Gal
5. Mama Mama
6. I'm Blue and Lonesome
7. I Don't Care What You Used To Be
8. Hold Them Critters Down
9. Make Up Your Mind
10. Restful River
11. There's a Blue Sky Way Out Yonder

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