QUOTE (Muddy Lives @ May 13 2002, 09:01 AM)
In the interest of defending a proper place for the great Avery Parrish in the blues pantheon, I will have to take issue somewhat with your other conjectures, however.
Firstly, as I indicated in my previous posts, Avery Parrish did record a definitive version of “After Hours” in 1940, which actually became a big hit. The record itself (Bluebird B-11218) was released under the name of the Erskine Hawkins orchestra, the unit that Parrish was working with at the time. But the performance is all Parrish’s piano, with a simple added bass line and a few orchestral riff embellishments thrown in at the end. The composer credit given on the 78 was to Avery Parrish, and to Avery Parrish alone, which brings us to the next point.
Buddy Feyne and Robert Bruce had nothing to do with the blues. They were both under contract at the time to Erskine Hawkins as orchestrators and arrangers. The terms of the contract may have allowed them to claim co-composer credit for new tunes for which they produced charts. At the time, “After Hours” may have been an exception, as it was purely a piano piece. The horn riffs at the end could hardly qualify as genuine “orchestration,” even if a simple chart might have been technically produced by Feyne and Bruce. That is probably the reason that Parrish was given proper credit as the sole composer of the tune during his lifetime.
Only in the early 1960s, shortly after Parrish’s death, does it appear that Feyne got up the nerve to cash in on the many continuing covers of After Hours, probably claiming legal composer rights through a citation of his former contract with Erskine Hawkins. Feyne and Bruce were formally added as co-composers in 1963, after Parrish was dead and buried.
Whether or not Feyne and Bruce actually had anything to do with the so-called “orchestration” is a mute point, as there really is no orchestration at all. Parrish clearly composed (and recorded) "After Hours" as a piano blues. By no stretch of the imagination are Feyne and Bruce true co-composers of this tune. That single honor belongs to the great Avery Parrish.
Muddy
<small>[ May 13, 2002, 12:34 PM: Message edited by: Muddy Lives ]</small>
Hi,
My father was Buddy Feyne - and I'd like to add some info to this stream. Erskine Hawkins had an agreement with the music publisher - Lewis Music, run by Mort Browne. Many of his songs were instrumentals (including Tuxedo Junction) but when they were published, lyrics were added. This seemed to be fairly standard practice as sheet music sold better with lyrics.
Neither Feyne nor Bruce were arrangers or orchestrators - that was Erskine Hawkins' perview.
The comment about the recording is right - I have a copy of the Hawkins band with Avery Parrish on piano - it's hot.
Buddy Feyne wrote lyrics for several Erskine Hawkins' songs (notably Tuxedo Junction) and also to After Hours by Avery Parrish since it was recorded by Hawkins. Robert Bruce was the name that Mort Browne took for getting songwriter credits on songs he published. This was fairly standard. Billy Rose's name is on lots of songs he didn't write, but in order to get published many songwriters allowed the publisher to get paid for those songs.
I believe the reason my dad's name was not included till 1963 was that for the first 28 years of the copyright, only Parrish and Bruce were listed. My dad never got any royalties for the lyrics he wrote on any of these songs until the second copyright period came around. So even though his songs were on the hit parade (Tuxedo Junction, Jersey Bounce, etc.) he didn't get a dime till the renewal of the copyrights and his name was added.
He was just proud to be a lyricist for such great music.
The copyright clearly shows that Avery Parrish composed the tune, and that lyrics were by Feyne and the everpresent Bruce.
My dad wrote for many of the jazz bands of the time. If you want to see his songs, feel free to check him out - www.buddyfeyne.com.
The versions you are mentioning here of the song are all great.
May 31 2002, 10:38 AM
