All the rare music of Bill Erickson on this website can be found here . . .
Plus stories, commentary by friends and associates, and other miscellany.
On many tapes Bill Erickson, right is accompanied by Earl Scheelar, left (trumpet, clarinet, banjo) and Bret Runkle, center (washboard) Photo by William Carter, Courtesy of Earl Scheelar
Bill Erickson’s one-man-band recordings of the early 1950s are gems, and among the more successful of their kind. Musically and technically the tunes are tight and polished, providing some delightful Bixian trumpet solos and overdubbed horn section passages.
This is excellent arranging aimed to satirize some of the ‘mouse music’ played by the dance-bands and hotel-orchestras of the late-1920s, a tongue-in-cheek send-up and affectionate tribute to the popular music of an earlier generation. Erickson’s gentle parodies are showcases for his formidable arranging, detailed section work, and clangorous musical jokes that utilize advanced harmony and modern composition.
As a sound engineer, I’m baffled how such clean undistorted sound was achieved with the recording equipment then available, requiring at least half a dozen overdubs.
New 8.2014
Bill Erickson One Man Band Early 1950's, Woodmont Ave.
Great thanks to Richard Hadlock for sharing these unique treasures.
ARCHIVE Addendum: Bill Erickson sings.
Bill Erickson sings These songs were associated with Erickson and never commercially issued. They are recovered here thanks to Dave Greeer, Oscar Anderson, and Richard Hadlock.
My Sunday Girl.mp3 Dick Oxtot Birthday 1965: P.T. Stanton (cornet) Earl Scheelar (clarinet) Bob Mielke (trombone) Dick Oxtot (banjo) Bill Erickson (piano) Peter Allen (string bass) Bill Dart (drums) Green Light.mp3 Erickson One-Man-band early 1950s. Bill plays all instruments.
ARCHIVE I. Bill Erickson piano solos, duos and trios
Bill Erickson in the 1950s
Oxtot collection
Bill Erickson piano solos.
Multiple takes recorded above Earl Scheelar’s garage by Dave Greer in 1963.
A note on these recordings: The archival recordings heard on these
pages are offered as historic artifacts. They contain many musical and
technical flaws, or are incomplete or poorly balanced in places.
Personnel are listed as available, or as deduced from educated guesses.
ARCHIVE II Bandleader and piano
(NEWLY AVAILABLE 2014)
MONKEY INN TAPES from the personal collection of Bob Mielke
Bill Erickson Quartet, 6.24.61 Trumpet unknown Bob Mielke (trombone) Bill Erickson (piano) Don Marchant (drums)
Correction: Jerry Blumberg is not the horn player on the Bill Erickson Quintet Monkey Inn tapes of 1961-62, contrary to Bob Mielke’s recollection, and notations on the tape reel boxes. Blumberg recently broke a long silence about his San Francisco years to send me correspondence stating that he was not the horn player on those recordings. According to his own records, Blumberg was not in the Bay Area when this series of recordings began, yet he does recall playing with Mielke at the Monkey Inn.
The notations in pencil on the Monkey Inn tape boxes regarding personnel might not be contemporaneous, but added later when the tapes were in the possession of collector Bill Raynolds. Suggestions regarding who this horn player might be include: RCH Smith, Eddie Smith, Ted Butterman or Jack Minger.
Trumpet player Byron Berry has been suggested by several including Blumberg. But my careful audition of contemporaneous Berry tapes leads me to reject this candidate.
Bill Erickson Quartet Monkey Inn, Berkeley, CA c. 1961-62
Frank "Big Boy" Goudie (clarinet) Bob Mielke (trombone) Bill Erickson (piano) Jimmy Carter (drums)
PIER 23 June 25, 1960 Jam Ray Ronnei (trumpet) Frank Big Boy Goudie (clarinet) Jim Leigh (trombone) Bill Erickson (piano) Pete Allen (bass) Jimmy Carter (drums)
PIER 23 Jam session, Spring 1962 Amos White, Bob Hodes (trumpets) Frank Big Boy Goudie (clarinet) Bill Erickson (piano) Mike Prince (bjo) Jimmy Carter (drums) (bass unknown)
PIER 23 Jam session, 6.25.60 Ray Ronnei (trumpet) Frank Big Boy Goudie (clarinet) Jim Leigh (trombone) Bill Erickson (piano) Pete Allen (bass) Jimmy Carter (drums)
[These historic tracks are made available despite being rough or incomplete in places.]
Great thanks to recordist, Dave Greer.
New 10.2014
ARCHIVE MUSIC
“The Fabulous Byron Berry – Pier 23 Polecats, April 11, 1960" "Recording
by Jack Stratford, initiated by Grayson ‘Ken’ Mills. Recorded zon
Wollensack tape recorder with stock microphone. Personnel identified by
Jerry Stanton.”
Byron Berry (trumpet) Bill Napier (clarinet) Bob Mielke (trombone) Bill Erickson (piano) Dick Oxtot (banjo) Al Conger (bass)
Robin Hodes (trumpet) Jim Leigh (trombone) Frank Goudie (clarinet) Dave Clarkson (tenor sax) Bill Erickson (piano) Squire Girsback (bass) Jimmy Carter (drums)
Earl Scheelar recalls: “The Jazz House was an old Victorian, that was torn down not long after this event. I remember this session: Dick Oxtot, Bill Erickson, and Pete Allen (bass), Frank Goudie clarinet on all five songs.
'Just
Because' and 'Under the Bamboo Tree' have Ray Ronnie (cornet) and a
friend Ray came up from southern California with on trombone. [Others
are] P. T. Stanton (trumpet) and Bob Mielke (trombone).” Ray Ronnei (cornet) Frank Goudie (clarinet) unknown (trombone) Dick Oxtot (banjo) Bill Erickson (piano) Pete Allen (bass)
Just Because 5:24 Under the Bamboo Tree 4:25 P. T. Stanton (trumpet) Frank Goudie (clarinet) Bob Mielke (trombone) Dick Oxtot (banjo) Bill Erickson (piano) unknown (drums)
Great thanks to recordist, Dave Greer. Hear more from the Berkeley Jazz house, here. [These historic tracks are made available despite being rough or incomplete in places.]
ERICKSON ARCHIVE III Erickson bandleader and playing trumpet
New 5.2.2014
Pier 23 Live KOFY broadcast, c. 1959 "WATERFRONT JAZZ SOCIETY" This
is an amazing live performance and extraordinary audio document that
has everything.
Bill Erickson leads the band in fine form on trumpet,
Burt Bales and Bob Mielke are at the top of their games, both Oxtot and Bales sing, Frank Goudie gives a swashbucking
performance, and the electric
atmosphere of a jazz broadcast from the San Francisco waterfront is on full display. There's even an
appearance by club owner Havelock Jerome (a world-class weirdo).
L to R: Erickson, Goudie, Oxtot broadcasting from Pier 23.
Photo: Oxtot collection
Despite heroic restoration efforts, this tape contains unavoidable gaps, distortion and musical flaws. Bill Erickson (trumpet) Frank Goudie (clarinet) Bob Mielke (trombone) Dick Oxtot (banjo, vocals) Burt Bales (piano, vocals) Squire Girsback (string bass) Bob Osibin (drums) Suzane Summers (vocals) Lee Crosby (on-air host)
Bill Erickson, trumpet with the Estuary Jazz group, 1959 Live broadcast from Pier 23, San Francisco, California KGO (AM & FM dual mono/stereo broadcast)
Note:
Estuary was an outgrowth of the Pier 23 jam sessions. Musically, it
was directed by Erickson's strong trumpet lead, and featured soloists Frank Goudie (clarinet) and Bob Mielke (trombone). All the players were bandleaders, except for drummer Bob Osibin.
The two 1959 broadcasts from Pier 23 were a pioneering experiment in
stereo: the left and right signals transmitted simultaneously via AM and
FM radio.
(Thanks to Bob Mielke and Bill Raynolds.)
Broadcasts from Pier 23
These broadcasts feature everything great about Pier 23. Most of these swinging dixieland shows featured Burt Bales, then at his peak as an entertainer, clarinetist Frank "Big Boy" Goudie, and the singing of "Uncle Dick" Oxtot.
On-air host and producer 'Hambone Lee' Crosby self-consciously evoked the piquant waterfront atmosphere, "a little slice of old SanFransciscanner." Occasional local adverts and off the wall comments by Pier owner/host Havelock Jerome added local color.
The fine Estuary Jazz group
broadcast band was closely related to Bob Mielke's Bearcats. Featuring
Bill Erickson on horn, it's a rare opportunity to hear his fine, and
hard to classify trumpet sound.
Several of these remotes were heard in 1959, nobody recalls how many.
Some were transmitted as early experiments in stereo radio,
simultaneously broadcast on AM and FM mono stations. It seems the hoped
for TV coverage did not develop.
New 9.2015
ARCHIVE MUSIC
PIER 23 Stereo Broadcast KGO 1959
Sound quality is mostly quite good except for some bad speed flutter toward the end.
Bill Erickson (trumpet) Frank Goudie (clarinet) Bob Mielke (trombone) Burt Bales (piano, vocals) Dick Oxtot (banjo, vocals) Squire Girsback (string bass) Bob Osibin (drums) Suzanne Summers (vocals)
A note on these recordings: The archival recordings heard on these
pages are offered as historic artifacts. They contain many musical and
technical flaws, or are incomplete or poorly balanced in places.
Personnel are listed as available, or as deduced from educated guesses.
ERICKSON ARCHIVE IV. Playing trumpet or piano as sideman
Bob Mielke's Jazz Band, 1951 Bill Erickson (trumpet) Bob Mielke
(trombone) Bill Napier (clarinet) Jerry
Stanton (piano) Bob Mussiter (guitar) John Schuler (string bass) Jack
Lowe (drums)
The Jack Sheedy Dixeland Band, c. 1950 Sheedy's was the first to play San Francisco's
famed Club Hangover in 1949.
Jack Minger (trumpet) Vince Cattolica
(clarinet) Jack Sheedy (trombone, vocal) Paul Miller (guitar) Bill Erickson (piano) Vernon Alley (bass) Bill Dart (drums)
Bill Erickson archive
New 8.2014
New 5.2.2014
