The Cats and The Fiddle story goes back over sixty years, to 1937. There were plenty of black vocal groups even then: the Mills Brothers were enjoying one of their peaks of popularity, and other groups such as the Charioteers and Ink Spots had already launched radio and recording careers which would take them to fame and at least some degree of fortune. With simulated instrumentation, which made them sound like a small jazz band, the innovative Mills Brothers inspired dozens of groups to form in the 30s (in the same way that the Orioles did some fifteen years later). One of these was the “Harlem Harmony Hounds,” led by Austin Powell. The group's choice of name wasn't inhibited by the fact that none of them had ever been near Harlem! They had formed in high school, around 1934, and, at an amateur show, had won a week appearing at the Grand Terrace Café, with a then-unknown Count Basie. This led to a daily radio show on Chicago's WCFL, where they entertained in a Mills Brothers vein.
Three other Chicagoans had similar aspirations for forming a successful vocal group; all they lacked was a lead singer. Ultimately, in 1937, Jimmy Henderson, Chuck Barksdale and Ernie Price got together with Austin Powell to become a four-part harmony group which used as its name a nursery rhyme that could also be interpreted as jazz slang: the Cats and The Fiddle (the “fiddle” represented the stand-up bass, and they were all “hepcats”). Like many other groups of the period, the Cats and The Fiddle were a self-contained vocal-instrumental combo. Besides singing lead, Austin Powell played four-stringed tenor guitar (a regular sized instrument with only the lower four strings, and thus a narrower neck); Chuck Barksdale sang bass and played bass fiddle; Jimmy Henderson was a first tenor and tipple player; and second tenor Ernie Price played both the tipple and the guitar. (The tipple is a ten stringed instrument which looked and sounded somewhat like a ukulele, but had an extended range. The reader shouldn't feel ignorant if the tipple is an unknown item: although used widely for rhythm accompaniment behind early vocal groups such as the Norfolk Jazz Quartet on Decca (their record labels read “Novelty Singing With Tipple”), the instrument pretty much became extinct in the early 50s and is not readily available at your friendly music store.)
After their formation, the Cats and The Fiddle performed one-nighters in Chicago area clubs for two years. They also appeared at proms, weddings, and graduations. It was at one of these functions that Victor Records' agent Lester Melrose offered to record them on his company's Bluebird subsidiary. Of the ensuing output of 21 discs for the label, all but two appeared on Bluebird's 8000 “race” series
Although 1950s groups could break through the racial barriers of the music industry (because of an enthusiastic consumer public which wanted something new and different), the pioneer artists of the 30s and 40s were much more inhibited by the industry's rigid distinctions concerning the color of the musicians and the audience their music would be allowed to reach. Billboard, even then the “Voice” of the music establishment, made no attempt to conceal its distaste for the musical form which was the direct ancestor of the 50s Rock and Roll sound. In an October 19, 1940 review of “That's All I Mean To You,” the reviewer described the Cats' latest effort as “...noisy and meaningless vocal jam stuff that lacks imagination and everything else to make it appeal to anyone but those whose passion for swing is such that they feel as long as it's hot it's good.” Further evidence of what the group and their contemporaries were fighting is presented by the distributors' catalogs and listings w hich placed the Cats and The Fiddle releases under the unlikely, and inappropriate, heading of “Hill-Billy Music”! Perhaps the Cats and The Fiddle would have received greater recognition in the more enlightened 50s, when popular demand for vocal group harmony overwhelmed the conservative caretakers of the Tin Pan Alley tradition.
In spite of all the disadvantages, the quartet still managed to make a name for itself. They had an interesting movie career (even before they recorded), appearing as extras in 1938's “Too Hot To Handle” (starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy). (They could be seen, although not picked out, as South American “natives.” Amazingly, another “native” extra in the film was Nat “King” Cole.)
Another 1938 cinematic triumph was an appearance in a short called “Snow Gets In Your Eyes,” starring Virginia Grey and Roger Converse. It's the chair-gripping tale of a ski-jumping contest held inside a department store (don't ask!). The uncredited Cats are on hand (dressed in Tyrolean hats and lederhosen) to provide instrumental backup behind the Dandridge Sisters (Dorothy Dandridge, Vivian Dandridge, and Etta Jones) for a song called “Harlem Yodel.” Some nice scatting is done by two uncredited male singers.
In 1938, they were in two movies: "The Duke Is Tops" (aka "The Bronze Venus"), in which they sang "Killin' Jive," and "Two-Gun Man From Harlem," a western starring Herb Jeffries (billed as "Herbert Jeffrey") and the 4 Tones. The Cats backed up Jeffries instrumentally on "I'm A Happy Cowboy."Then there was 1939's “Going Places” (with Dick Powell, Anita Louise, and Louis Armstrong), in which they appeared as stable boys, singing “Jeepers Creepers.” They can also be heard on the soundtrack of 1945's “The Clock” (starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker). Finally, they appeared in many short features (such as “Swingtime In The Rockies”) and various all-black productions.
On June 27, 1939, the Cats and The Fiddle entered Bluebird's Chicago studios (where all of their Bluebird masters were recorded) and cut ten songs in a marathon session: “Gang Busters,” “Chant Of The Rain,” “I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water,” “Nuts To You,,” “Killin' Jive,” “Thursday Evening Swing,” “Killer Diller Man From The South,” “We Cats Will Swing For You,” “Till The Day I Die,” and “Please Don't Leave Me Now.” Austin Powell sang lead on all of these. In August, Bluebird issued the first of 21 records by the Cats: “Nuts To You”/“Killin' Jive”; not one would ever make the national R&B charts. Bluebird released a steady stream of Cats and The Fiddle recordings: “Gang Busters”/“Please Don't Leave Me Now” (9/39), “Killer Diller Man From The South”/“Thursday Evening Swing” (11/39), “We Cats Will Swing For You”/“Till The Day I Die” (12/39), “Chant Of The Rain”/“I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water” (4/40).
By that time, the Cats had had their second session. Not as exhausting as the first, they still churned out eight sides on December 7, 1939: “Mister Rhythm Man,” “When I Grow Too Old To Dream,” “Public Jitterbug No. 1,” “That's On, Jack, That's On,” “Just A Roamer,” “I Miss You So,” and “Left With The Thought Of You.”
“Gone”was led by Ernie Price; “I Miss You So” by Jimmy Henderson; “Left With The Thought Of You” by Chuck Barksdale; and all the others by Austin Powell. Note that “I Miss You So,” which ended up as the group's signature song, was recorded towards the end of the session, indicating that they had higher hopes for the other tunes.
In spite of this, Bluebird must have seen something in the song, since they issued it as the Cats' very next disc. The May 1940 release was paired with a great jive tune: “Public Jitterbug No. 1.” Just to hedge their bets, though, Bluebird also released “When I Grow Too Old To Dream”/“Left With The Thought Of You” that same month. “Mister Rhythm Man”/“Gone” was right behind them, in June, and August saw the issuance of “That's On, Jack, That's On”/“Just A Roamer.”
Needless to say, the Cats and The Fiddle acquired their following, not from their movie appearances, but from their record releases. “I Miss You So”was by far the most successful of these. The tune was just beginning to break in mid-1940 when Jimmy Henderson (who had not only led the song, but had composed it) contracted meningitis; he would pass away by the end of the year.
Herbie Miles, a first tenor who had formerly been with Powell's Harmony Hounds, replaced Jimmy Henderson initially, and was on the eight tunes done at the July 31, 1940 session: “You're So Fine,” “Nothing,” “Hush-A-Bye Love,” “Swing The Scales,” “In The Midst Of A Dream,” “Hep Cat's Holiday,” “That's All I Mean To You,” and “Pig's Idea.” Miles was the composer of, and lead on, “Hep Cat's Holiday.” “In The Midst Of A Dream” and “Pig's Idea” feature both Austin Powell and Ernie Price; all the others are led by Powell alone.
The first record released from this session was “Hep Cat's Holiday”/“In The Midst Of A Dream,” issued in September. The next was “Nothing”/“That's All I Mean To You,” issued in October.
Herbie Miles was only with the Cats for a few months, before leaving in the fall of 1940. His spot was filled by Lloyd “Tiny” Grimes as first tenor and guitar. While he would go on to become a famed and respected jazz guitarist in the 50s and 60s, Grimes had just started playing guitar at this point. This is the way he recounted his days with the group, when interviewed by jazz researcher Stanley Dance: “After I'd been playing (guitar) about seven months, I got with the Cats and The Fiddle. They had tipples and guitars ... and they recorded a number called 'Oh, I Miss You So' on Bluebird that made some noise. I stayed with them a year or two, but I wasn't really getting much experience there. I knew more than anybody else, and they were just playing to accompany their singing. We ended up in Los Angeles. They wanted me to go back to New York with them, but they were paying
me so cheap, and I said, 'My fare will cost just about what I'm going to make at the Apollo Theatre.' So I decided to stay out there.”And Bluebird continued to churn them out: “You're So Fine”/“Pig's Idea” in November and “Hush-A-Bye”/“Swing The Scales” in December.
Nine of the thirteen Bluebird records mentioned so far were reissued on the Montgomery Ward label in 1940 and 1941. This was a budget reissue label, which didn't have the same production quality standards as Bluebird, so it's difficult to see why Victor allowed it.
The first session with Tiny Grimes was held on January 20, 1941. This produced another eight sides: “I'll Always Love You Just The Same,” “I'm Singing (So Help Me),” “One Is Never Too Old To Swing,” “Until I Met You,” “I'm Gonna Pull My Hair (Let My Wig Fall Down),” “My Darling,” “If I Dream Of You,” and “Crawlin' Blues.” Four of the songs were led by Grimes: “I'll Always Love You Just The Same,” “I'm Singing (So Help Me),” and “One Is Never Too Old To Swing.” “ I'm Gonna Pull My Hair” has no separate lead, and Austin Powell led the rest.
All of these tunes were issued by May: “I'll Always Love You Just The Same”/“One Is Never Too Old To Swing” in February 1941; “I'm Gonna Pull My Hair”/“If I Dream Of You” in April; “I'm Singing (So Help Me)”/“My Darling” in May; and “Crawlin' Blues”/“Until I Met You,” also in May.Then it was quiet for almost six months. Well, as far as recordings went. Chuck Barksdale became the second Cats and The Fiddle casualty, passing away in mid-1941; he was replaced by bassist George Steinback. RCA files which show Barksdale as being present on the next session are incorrect.
The final eight songs recorded for Bluebird were laid down in two sessions held a week apart in October 1941. The first, on the tenth, gave us “I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire,” “Blue Skies,” “Another Day,” and “Stomp Stomp.” On the seventeenth, they recorded “Sighing And Crying,” “Part Of Me,” “Lawdy-Clawdy,” and “Life's Too Short.” Tiny Grimes is the lead on “Stomp Stomp” and “Sighing And Crying”; he shares the lead with Austin Powell on “Lawdy-Clawdy”; and Powell is out front on the rest of them.
Starting in November, Bluebird issued one record in each of the next four months: “I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire”/“Blue Skies,” followed by “Sighing And Crying”/“Lawdy-Clawdy” in December, “Another Day”/“Stomp Stomp” in January, and “Part Of Me”/“Life's Too Short” in February. By that time, the United States was fighting for its existence; recording just wasn't being done in the same volume as previously.
Stylistically, the Cats and The Fiddle were quite unique and bore little resemblance to the other established groups of the period. On uptempo sides such as “Gang Busters,” there were frenetic scat parts designed to twist the most athletic tongue; ballads such as “Please Don't Leave Me Now” and “I Miss You So” could readily pass for recordings of a later vintage in terms of style; while blues-based numbers such as “I'm Gonna Pull My Hair” sound reminiscent of a New Orleans jam session. Tight harmony prevailed over the instrumental accompaniment on all sides, however, and the listener will find scores of gimmicks which appeared years later in 50s classics.
Sometime in 1942, Tiny Grimes left the Cats. He started working with outstanding bassist Slam Stewart, formerly of Slim & Slam. Pianist Art Tatum was soon added, and the “Art Tatum Trio” became very popular on the West Coast for nearly two years. Grimes then formed the Tiny Grimes Quartet, which relocated to New York to provide backup for Billie Holiday. It became the Tiny Grimes Quintet with the addition of Charlie “Bird” Parker later in 1944; this group made some recordings for Savoy. Many personnel changes ensued, and Grimes cut for Blue Note (the Tiny Grimes Swingtet) and Atlantic (the Tiny Grimes Quintet). After this, Grimes formed the Rockin' Highlanders, featuring vocals by Screaming Jay Hawkins (although it’s unclear whether Hawkins was the band’s vocalist or just employed for the session). Grimes then switched over to jazz guitar, playing with the likes of Duke Ellington, Milt Buckner, Jay McShann, and Earl “Fatha” Hines. Lloyd “Tiny” Grimes died in 1989.
Grimes' place was taken by Mifflin “Peewee” Branford. Around this time, Lester Melrose, who had contracted them for Bluebird, “disappeared” (according to Austin) and the Bluebird label was discontinued.
Then, in 1943, Austin Powell was drafted into the army. He was replaced by Hank Haslett, who remained for two years.
Of course, the effect of these personnel changes was strictly seen in live performances; the musicians' strike of 1942 and wartime shortages of materials used to press records are among the reasons why the group cut no new discs for several years. They toured the nation, from the standard Royal-Howard-Regal-Earle-Apollo Theater circuit to posh supper clubs such as the Beachcomber in Omaha, the J'ai Alai Club in Columbus, the Pioneer Lounge and the Three Deuces in Chicago, and the Cave in Vancouver.
Hank Haslett left in late 1945, and former “Cat” Herbie Miles returned, this time as lead. In case you've lost track, at this point the group consisted of Herbie Miles (first tenor, guitar, and tipple), Peewee Branford (tenor and guitar), Ernie Price (second tenor, lead guitar, and tipple), and George Steinback (bass and bassist).
Also in late 1945, the Cats were approached by someone from the Manor label, and a contract ensued. In January or February 1946, they held their first session for the Regis/Manor/Arco complex. There were four tunes recorded, starting with a somewhat lackluster remake of “I Miss You So,” with Ernie Price in the lead. The other tunes were: “Romance Without Finance,” “Life's Too Short” (another remake) and “My Sugar's Sweet To Me.”
The first release was on the Regis Label in February 1946. It paired “I Miss You So” and “My Sugar's Sweet To Me.” The same two tunes came out on Manor (with the same record number as Regis), probably a year later, since it's mentioned in an ad for a record that was released in August 1947.
When Austin Powell was discharged from the army in April 1946, he wasted no time in rejoining the group, which caused Peewee Branford to leave. (Mifflin “Pee Wee” Branford ended up with the Dozier Boys in the early 50s, and went on to the Sharps and A Flat by the end of that decade.) In June, Manor issued the other two sides from the first session: “Life's Too Short” and “Romance Without Finance.” The Cats were now Austin Powell, Herbie Miles, Ernie Price and George Steinback.
During this period, Napoleon “Snaggs” Allen (later with the Blenders) was used as a utility replacement for any member who was unable to make an engagement. Allen never recorded with the group, however. The opposite is true of Allen's pal, Baby Laurence, who recorded occasionally with the group, although he was never a member.
In June 1946, Manor issued their second record: “Life's Too Short”/“Romance Without Finance.”
Once Manor had issued the remade version of “I Miss You So,” RCA Victor dipped into its vaults and released it too. “I Miss You So,” originally on Bluebird, was reissued four times on the parent RCA label: in late 1946 to compete with the Regis release; in 1950 on the RCA 50-0000 series of R&B 45s; in 1951, following the release of the Orioles' version; and finally, on the “Gold Standard Series” in 1955. On all but the 1951 offering, “I Miss You So” was paired with the Four Clefs' instrumental hit, “Dig These Blues.”
At their second Manor session, held in July or August 1946, they did three titles: “I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water,” “Please Don't Leave Me Now,” and “Shorty's Got To Go.” While they were at the studio, they were used as backup to June Davis on “Gin Misery Blues” and “J.D. Blues.” (There was probably a third title that remains unreleased, as there's a break in the master numbers.)
In August Manor issued “Please Don't Leave Me Now”/“Shorty's Got To Go” as well as the June Davis cuts. “I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water” was released in December 1946, and for some reason had “Walkie Talkie” by the Rudy Richardson Trio on the flip.
Their next session, held around March 1947, produced eight more masters: “That's My Desire” (a cover of Frankie Laine's smash hit), “When Elephants Roost In Bamboo Trees,” “They Don't Understand,” “Where Are You,” “I'm Stuck With You,” “I'm Gonna Pull My Hair,” ???? (a break in the numbering series, indicating an unreleased master), and “Darling Can't We Make A Date.”
“That's My Desire” and “When Elephants Roost In Bamboo Trees” were released in March 1947, as were “They Don't Understand”/“I'm Stuck With You.” Then in July there was “Where Are You”/“I'm Gonna Pull My Hair,” followed by “Darling Can't We Make A Date”/“You're So Fine” in August. It isn't known when “You're So Fine” was recorded, since it's the only Manor song that doesn't fit into the current master number series. The master number seems to be one going back to early 1945, but that was long before the group was recording for Manor. Just another of life's mysteries. (Note that there were five songs cut for Manor which were remakes of Bluebird tunes: “I Miss You So,” “Life's Too Short,” “I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water,” “I'm Gonna Pull My Hair,” and “You're So Fine.”)
In mid-1947, Herbie Miles left again and was briefly replaced by Emitt Slay, who did no recording with them (but who did manage to make it to a photo that ran with the release of “Darling, Can't We Make A Date” in August). Slay was, in turn, replaced by Shirley Moore. The last Manor session was held around February 1948, and there were probably six masters cut (there are two missing numbers). Those we know about were: “That's What I Thought You Said,” “Honey Honey Honey,” “I'm Afraid Of You,” and “The New Look Blues.”
Shirley Moore's arrival definitely changed the group's overall sound. She can be heard singing lead on “Honey Honey Honey” and “The New Look Blues.” The sound of the group was now much more sophisticated stylistically than it had been on the earlier Bluebird discs, with fuller instrumentation and more predominant harmony. Even in the late 40s, the Cats and The Fiddle were ahead of their contemporaries. However, Shirley didn't stay with the group too long; by April 1948, she was appearing with Bill Johnson & the Musical Notes. To keep the sound they had just crafted, the Cats replaced her with Doris Knighton, who was with them when they played the Tia Juana, in Cleveland, on March 6.Manor released “Honey Honey Honey”/“I'm Afraid Of You” in February 1948. It took until September for Manor to issue the last two sides: “That's What I Thought You Said”/“The New Look Blues.” Johnny Davis, a tenor who also played conga drums, was added as a fifth member sometime in 1948.
The Cats and The Fiddle then went over to Ivin Ballen's Philadelphia-based Gotham label, where they cut four masters around September 1949: “I'll Never, Never Let You Go,” “Do You Love Me,” “Start Talking Baby,” and “Movin' Out Today.” “Never” and “Talking” were issued in September 1949, the other two in April 1950.The group then cut three masters for Decca on March 27, 1950: “Wine Drinker,” “Out In The Cold Again,” and “Lover Boy.” The first and third of these were issued in May. However, by June, the entire ensemble had disintegrated.
Austin Powell immediately reorganized the Cats and The Fiddle. Only tenor/conga drummer Johnny Davis remained, although it's possible that Ernie Price stayed on for a while. New members were bass/bassist Stanley Gaines and not one, but two women: pianist Beryl Booker, who had been with the Toppers (the early incarnation of the Red Caps), and more recently with the Slam Stewart Trio; and Dottie Smith, who had sung and. played drums with The Harlemaires of Atlantic Records' fame; her arrival in the group was trumpeted in a July 1950 Billboard article. Stanley Gaines left in December 1950, but his replacement remains unknown. They held another session for Decca, on February 26, 1951. The four songs recorded were: “Wishing Well,” “Some Other Spring,” “All This Can't Be True,” and “Please Consider Me.” However, by the time the first record was issued in April (“Some Other Spring” and “All This Can't Be True”), the name of the group had been changed to the “Austin Powell Quintet” (possibly due to a disagreement between Austin Powell and Ernie Price). At that time, they were appearing at the Café Society in New York City. The other two sides were released in September. As the Austin Powell Quintet, they appeared on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts show. For some reason, they were joined on that appearance by jazz violinist Claude Williams.
And the changes continued to be fast and furious. On April 19, 1952, Austin Powell recorded three songs for Atlantic Records, backed by the James Quintet: “What More Can I Ask,” “Wrong Again,” and “I Surrender Dear.” None of them was ever issued. On May 28, they did three more: remakes of “Wrong Again” and “What More Can I Ask,” along with “There I Go, There I Go.” The remakes must have done the trick: those two masters were released as Atlantic 968 in June (as by Austin Powell).
By June, Powell had become a part of the James Quintet (Charlie Hooser, Eddie Johnson, Tommy Harrod, and Buzz Cottman), and they backed up Ruth Brown on “Daddy Daddy” and “Have A Good Time,” recorded on July 2. In September, this group played Uncle Tom's Plantation (Detroit) and Wally's Paradise (Boston).
Also in 1952, Ernie Price formed his own Cats and The Fiddle group. There are ads in August and September for appearances at the Pioneer Lounge in Manhattan: (“They're Back! The “I Miss You So' Boys”). Remember that Price and Powell had been together in the Cats and The Fiddle for around thirteen years. There had probably been some dissension between them which had led to the breakup of the “Cats and The Fiddle” and the adoption of the “Austin Powell Quintet” name back in 1951.
In October 1953, it was announced that “Austin Powell and the Cats and The Fiddle” had recorded some masters for Aladdin's 7-11 subsidiary. However, nothing was ever released from the session, and it isn't known who was in the group.
By 1954, Austin had teamed up with Dottie Smith again. They were part of a Timmie Rogers revue, which also included trumpeter Jonah Jones, Buck (of “Buck & Bubbles”), Eddie Bonnemere, and tenor saxman Big Nick Nicholas. They were active in May, and still going strong in September. As the “Timmie Rogers Orchestra,” they released “Teedle Dee Teedle Dum” (vocal by Big Nick Nicholas), backed with “If I Give My Heart To You” (vocal by Austin Powell and Dottie Smith), on Mercury, in August of that year.
A newspaper article in September 1955 trumpets the “comeback” of the Cats and The Fiddle. Consisting of Big Nick Nicholas (sax), Freddie Jefferson (piano), Marvin "Sonny" Oliver (drums), Hector Ford (bass), and Austin Powell (guitar and vocals). They were appearing at the Bankers' Club (in West New York, New Jersey), since July, when they'd been held over indefinitely after wowing their audiences during their initial three-week engagement. In December 1956, Powell was part of Tic and Toc, releasing a single record on RCA's Vik subsidiary: “I'm A Big Boy Now” (vocal: Austin “Tic” Powell), backed with “Jibba Jab” (vocal: Big Nick “Toc” [Nicholas]). [George Walker "Big Nick" Nicholas had been, over the years, in the bands of some people you might know: Earl Hines, Tiny Bradshaw, Sabby Lewis, Lucky Millinder, Dizzy Gillespie, and Hot Lips Page.]
In 1957, Austin Powell and Dottie Smith joined up with Louis Jordan, as part of the Tympany Five, where they remained for about a year. Austin played the guitar and tenor sax, Dottie the conga drums, Jordan the alto sax, Jackie Davis the organ, and Sonny Oliver the drums. When Jordan did a session for Mercury on August 28, 1957 (resulting in one single and an LP), Austin was playing the tenor sax, and those five were augmented by Irving Ashby on guitar and Billy Hadnott on bass. By the time of Jordan's next Mercury session in April 1958, Powell is gone.The last mention of Austin Powell came in September 1958, when he was fronting his own orchestra, with Teddy “Mr. Bear” McRae on sax.
Ernie Price put together another Cats and the Fiddle in 1961. The only other known member was vocalist Steve Trimble. They stayed together until Ernie's death two years later.
In the 70s, when I interviewed him, Austin Powell had a bar called, appropriately enough, "A.P.'s" in Queens. He passed away on August 30, 1983.
By the time the Orioles and the Ravens were reaching their peaks, the Cats and The Fiddle were no longer an influential group in the music scene. But the contributions made by them to the group harmony tradition are to be found in quantity on their pioneering efforts of the early 40s. Although commonly remembered now for “I Miss You So,” many other sides done by them are equally outstanding and deserving of recognition by today's fans of vocal group recordings.