Blue Prelude - Clyde McCoy

 

Blue Moon

Blue Prelude

Clyde McCoy

Mercury Records SR 60730

1963

From the back cover: Clyde McCoy, known to millions of Americans in the immortal "Surga Blues," is again featured with a selection of tunes done in his now-classic-style – some old, some new – but all bearing that unmistakable touch that has made him so popular throughout the years.

In the words of Hal Mooney, Mercury's top-flight artist and repertoire director: "From the time Clyde first recorded "Sugar Blues," his name and that of the blues have been synonymous. What we tired to do on this album is perpetrate this – bring to the public the Clyde McCoy style in the setting that has made him so unique and so well known."

Mooney and McCoy worked closely in this album's conception and its final recording, striving for originality with what both described as a "touch of the contemporary." 

For background, McCoy insisted on using the very same group that has been touring the country with him for the past several years. And although the basic sound – as always – is solid Dixieland, Clyde mad subtle changes in the rhythm to achieve a very appealing new popular flavor which sets the group apart from any other.

McCoy, whose "wah-wah" trumpet has made him one of the most imitated instrumentalists of all time, was born in the blue-grass hills of Kentucky some 58 years ago.

He learned to play a horn at the age of 10, and at 14, was playing trumpet and sax in the pits of silent movie theaters.

"I didn't know how to read a note of music, so I started playin Dixieland," says McCoy with a grin.

In 1918, when he was 15 years old, McCoy decided to climb out of the movie pits and form his own band. In 1922, era or the Charleston and Chicago speakeasies, Clyde introduced his "Sugar Blues," launching a career that was to maintain its popularity for the next 40 years.

Overnight he skyrocketed to fame and millions of fans clamored for a sight of the man with the "talking trumpet."

Through the years, McCoy has maintained the same integrity and natural quality in his music that he feels Dixieland demands. He never forces his instrument beyond its natural musical range – nor does the use of a mute change the "sweet" quality of his tone.

His career hast taken him into theaters, nighteries and ballrooms in virtually every city throughout the country. If the "Twenties" and "Dixieland" are anything of a legend, then certainly McCoy is an integral part.

Two further periods in his career bear mention. In 1933, Clyde met a young lady who had just won the title of "Miss Texas,"and was later to become a band vocalist. The two were married and together toured the big-band circuit these some 30 years.

Later, in the 50s Clyde decided to give up music for what was to become a successful career in business. He rose to the position of vice-president of an oil company in Denver. In 1958, however, he dusted off his trumpet and rejoined what he described as the "wonderful, crazy world of show business," because, if for not other reason, "everybody else was still playing after they reached their 50's."

The words of one of his millions of fans are a fitting tribute: "It is possible that a younger generation has the beat and the feel of old, original Dixieland, but for real flavor rather than an artificial taste, you have to listen to Clyde McCoy."

Blue Prelude

Blind Mice Blues

Serenade Heaven

My Blue Heaven

Blue Hawaii

Tin Roof Blues

Am I Blue

Blue Tango

Jazz Me Blues

Blue Moon

Blue Champagne 

Blue Skies