Mistakes!
A Little Errata
Thelonious Monk once told singer Abbey Lincoln, “Don’t be afraid to make a mistake.” But he also conveyed to his son, then a young drummer and the newest member of Monk’s band, that when you mess up, fess up and take responsibility. Thanks to the kind and critical reading by several people across the country–notably T. J. Anderson, Willard Jenkins, Larry Reni Thomas, Todd Selbert, C. J. Hazevoet, James Leary, Marshall Zucker, Rob Gibson, Mark Miller, Lewis Porter, Irving Goldworm, and maybe others–I’ve been made aware of a few errors that I’ve since fixed for subsequent cloth printings as well as the paperback edition. Some were mistakes I had caught on the galleys but for some reason were never corrected. Still, I have no one to blame but myself. And as my mother would say, “you’d rather be correct than right.”
Here is the list:
p. 11 second line down from the paragraph break: “sleepy little mill…” should be “sleepy little mill town…”
p. 17. Last five lines of the third paragraph:
CHANGE: “A few months later, the Fifteenth Infantry was transformed into the renowned 369th Regiment and dispatched to France, where they not only racked up an astounding combat record but, under the leadership of James Reese Europe, formed one of the greatest bands in history and introduced ragtime and early jazz to Europeans.”
TO: “A few months later, the Fifteenth Infantry was dispatched to the war front, where they were reorganized as the 369th Infantry Regiment under French command. Earning the nickname “Harlem Hellfighters” for their combat record, the regiment’s astounding band lead by Lieutenant James Reese Europe introduced ragtime and early jazz to Europeans.”
p. 36 last para. CHANGE Don Redmon TO Don Redman
p. 53 thirteen lines down: DELETE “, and he needed to join the union” THEN three lines below that, CHANGE: “Second, he had to join the union” TO: “The only thing left to do was join the union.”
p. 56 lines 9 and 10 from the top: , CHANGE Cobb to Cobbs (two places)
p. 65 Last line, bottom of page — move “Rudy Williams” to after the word “saxophonists…” The last line should read: “Hot Lips Page, and Benny Harris; saxophonists Rudy Williams, Kermit Scott,”
p. 143 very bottom: “Mrs. Thelonius Monk” should be Mrs. Thelonious Monk
p. 165 eleven lines from the top, change “instrument” to plural “instruments”
p. 204 bottom third of the page:: CHANGE ‘…. in a trio setting with Pettiford and Osie Johnson..’ to ‘in a trio setting with Pettiford and Shadow Wilson..’
p. 205 first para., three lines down: ”another Razaf and Blake composition” should read instead: “a Razaf and Fats Waller composition”
p. 209 last paragraph, 8 lines from the bottom: change “A fellow homeboy born and raised in High Point” to “A fellow homeboy born in Hamlet and raised in High Point, North Carolina”
p. 238, second para, seven lines down: DELETE: “, Louis Armstrong, Earl “Fatha” Hines” and INSERT: “and vocalists Jimmy Rushing and” So it should read: “. . . It featured Count Basie with an all-star band and vocalists Jimmy Rushing and Billie Holiday.”
p. 258, top of page, second sentence: REPLACE: He was a celebrated photographer who had recently left Life magazine in order to create a massive photo essay of his hometown of Pittsburgh. WITH: He was a celebrated photographer who had recently left Life magazine and taken on a project to create a massive photo essay of Pittsburgh.
p. 291 first whole paragraph after the break — DELETE (McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones) so that part of the sentence should now read: ‘. . . new quartet, so there was plenty..’
p. 277 top of page, line one: “Gover” should be “Grover”
p. 348 two lines from the bottom: REPLACE, ‘from the original Blue Note recording’ WITH ‘from his Live at the Black Hawk LP’
p. 373 first para., six lines down: “Happy’s” should be “Hoppy’s”
p. 390 eighteen lines from the top, near the end of the para: change “product” to “products” (plural)
p. 402 line 8: “though she made her views public. She” to “though he made his views public. He”
line 10, CHANGE: “But she placed” TO “But he placed”
p. 410 change Don Redmond to Don Redman
p. 426 change “Tin Tin Daeo” to “Tin Tin Deo”
p. 428 change “wizened” to “wise”
p. 584 Index: CHANGE Don Redmon TO Don Redman
The most substantive correction was brought to my attention by Carnegie Hall’s venerable archivist, Rob Gibson. It is a great example of scholarly collaboration and generosity, as well as a cautionary tale about the limits of the jazz press–often our most important source of information. On pp. 357-58, I tell the story of Monk’s third big band concert/collaboration with Hall Overton, which was originally scheduled to take place at Carnegie Hall on March 30, 1964. I repeat the false rumor, first generated in Down Beat magazine and reproduced by scholars since, that Carnegie Hall bumped Monk from the March 30th date because of Duke Ellington’s Easter Sunday concert. Of course, the fact that March 30th was Monday should have signaled that something wasn’t right! Nevertheless, Mr. Gibson read the passage, researched what happened in Carnegie’s archives, and discovered that Jules Colomby was responsible for postponing the date to June 6th–the details are below. I’ve learned several things in the process, not least of which is that Carnegie Hall has an incredible archive and scholars of the performing arts really need to take advantage of it. So thank you Mr. Gibson!
p. 357-58, last paragraph, bottom of page to top of next page:
REPLACE THE FIRST 2/3RDS OF THIS PARAGRAPH AS FOLLOWS:
ORIGINAL:
The band had no immediate club dates, so they rehearsed in preparation for a second big band concert at Carnegie Hall scheduled for March 30th—another Jules Colomby, Marc Smilow, Hall Overton collaboration. Except for Ben Riley and Jerome Richardson on baritone (he replaced Gene Allen), Monk kept the band he used at the Philharmonic. He and Overton changed the music, however. The only tune they retained from the Philharmonic concert was “Four in One.” Instead, they decided to revisit the original Town Hall repertoire. Unfortunately, the charts had perished in the 1961 fire and Overton had to reconstruct them.97 The day before the concert, Carnegie Hall administrators decided to bump Monk to June so they could give the booking to Duke Ellington for his Easter Sunday concert. Jules Colomby and Smilow had a fit.98 They had already spent money on advertising and were still reeling from poor ticket sales from the last concert. Monk shrugged it off. He didn’t think the band was ready and he appreciated having some time off.
REVISED:
Meanwhile, Jules Colomby and Marc Smilow had planned another Monk big band collaboration with Hall Overton. Except for Ben Riley and Jerome Richardson on baritone (he replaced Gene Allen), Monk and Overton agreed to employ the same band from the Philharmonic concert. Colomby booked Carnegie Hall for Monday night, March 30th, but by the second week of March the ensemble had yet to rehearse and the arrangements weren’t ready. Monk wanted to revisit the 1959 Town Hall repertoire (“Four in One” was the only tune retained from the Philharmonic concert), but because the original charts perished in the last fire, Overton had to reconstruct them from the recording.97 Jules Colomby had no choice but to postpone the concert until June. Still reeling from poor ticket sales from the last concert, Colomby lost his $500 deposit as well as money spent on advertising.98 Thelonious, on the other hand, lost no sleep over the matter. He appreciated having some time off.