Harlem Hamfats
| Harlem Hamfats | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Swing jazz, dixieland |
| Years active | 1936–1938 |
| Labels | Decca |
| Past members |
Kansas Joe McCoy Papa Charlie McCoy Herb Morand John Lindsay Odell Rand Horace Malcolm Freddie Flynn Pearlis Williams |
The Harlem Hamfats was a Chicago jazz band formed in 1936. Initially, they mainly provided backup music for jazz and blues singers, such as Johnny Temple, Rosetta Howard, and Frankie Jaxon, for Decca Records. Their first record, "Oh! Red", became a hit, securing them a Decca contract for fifty titles, and they launched a successful recording career performing danceable music.
The group's inclusion in the dirty blues genre is due to such songs as "Gimme Some of that Yum Yum" and "Let's Get Drunk and Truck".
The Harlem Hamfats were not from Harlem, nor were they "hamfats" (early 20th-century slang, used in a derogatory sense for something considered second rate or a poor substitute for something of higher quality). There is some disagreement about the roots of the word. Some believe it refers to a cut of ham that was cheaper and of poorer quality than the lean part. It has been suggested that ham fat was used by poor country musicians to grease the cork on their instruments, whereas city slickers could easily find and afford cork grease. Others hold that it refers to the ham fat used by blackface comedians to make their burnt cork makeup adhere. Regardless, the name was most likely adopted in a facetious spirit, since the band members were talented musicians.
Despite their name, the Hamfats were based in Chicago. They were assembled by record producer and entrepreneur J. Mayo Williams for the purpose of making records — perhaps the first group to be so created. None of the members of the band were actually from New York. Kansas Joe McCoy (guitar, vocals) and his brother Papa Charlie McCoy (guitar, mandolin) were from Mississippi; Herb Morand (trumpet, vocals), John Lindsay (bass), and Odell Rand (clarinet; 1905 – 22 June 1960) were from New Orleans; Horace Malcolm (piano), Freddie Flynn (drums) and Pearlis Williams (drums) were from Chicago.
The diverse geographical backgrounds of the musicians played a role in the band's sound, which blended blues, dixieland and swing jazz. Led by Morand and Joe McCoy, the main songwriters, the group initially provided instrumental backing to Williams's stable of artists, including Frankie Jaxon, Rosetta Howard, and Johnny Temple. They were perhaps the first studio recording band to become a performing act in their own right, and they recorded extensively.
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