Freddie Green speaks

[MarkRhodes]

From a radio interview in 1978.

[MarkRhodes]

In the short interview, Freddie mentions a guitarist he admired named John Trueheart. The name was unfamiliar to me. I found this on YouTube.

[MarkRhodes]

From 1938, the year before Freddie Green joined the band. (Teddy Bunn on guitar) A jazz concert in NY drawing a massive crowd.

[Greentone]

Thanks for posting the interview. It was neat to hear a major influence of mine converse about jazz, big band, and rhythm guitar.

[Doctor Jeff]

Interview from the great Leigh Kamman. I fell asleep to his radio show many, many nights when I lived in Minnesota.

Leigh knew jazz inside out.

[MarkRhodes]

Thanks for posting the interview. It was neat to hear a major influence of mine converse about jazz, big band, and rhythm guitar.

I enjoyed it too. Wish it was much, much longer. Freddie's a hero. Enjoyed his bio "Rhythm Is My Beat."

A bit from Harry "Sweets" Edison about Freddie:
Harry "Sweets" Edison reveals one real reason that Freddie Green did not play an amplified guitar in the Basie's band:

"Freddie could have been a fine soloist, and was a good soloist at one time, when it became fashionable for guitarists to play solos. Of course Charlie Christian and he were very close friends, and Christian gave him an amplifier. But whenever Freddie would lay out of the band to take his solo, the whole rhythm section used to fall apart. It got to the point where we had to do something about it. So one night I would remove the plug from Freddie's amplifier and it wouldn't work. Next night Herschel Evans would break a wire in it so it wouldn't play, and Freddie would have it fixed. Next night Prez would take the plug out, you know. And that was how we did it. I mean, the band wasn't swinging.
"At that time we had a group in the band called the Vigilantes. If there was something in the band we didn't like, we would get rid of it quick. So we finally took all the guts out of the amplifier. Freddie got ready to play one night and there was nothing there but a box. Naturally he got furious but nobody paid him any attention.
" 'Did you do this?' he asked. 'No.' we said. So he reached the point where he said, 'Well, to hell with it. I won't play any more solos.' That rang a bell with us. 'Great,' you know. So that's the reason he's not a soloist today. He probably could have been one of the best at that time, but we had to sacrifice him for the good of the band."

Source: Jazz Anecdotes; by Bill Crow; copyright 1990; Oxford University Press; ISBN 0-190505588-8

[neatomic]

"modestly lives in the rhythm section behind the guitar!"...great line

good interview

trueheart played in chick webbs band..drummer webb ran one of the most popular big bands in nyc for years..they'd have battle of the bands shows with any major band comin thru the area in front of packed ballroom crowds..and chick webb band would usually come out on top..they ruled it

teddy bunn! a fave

great stuff mark!

cheers

[wintermoon]

Freddie played a chordal solo on the Elder and a couple other non Basie sessions iirc, but none even on his lone lp as a leader. I guess I wasn't expecting there to be any when I bought the record back in the day and I was right.

btw, if you haven't seen it look at his surprise when Basie tells him to play one @ 17:10 in this gem of a Jazz Casual session.

[Greentone]

Great anecdote relayed by Bill Crow.