Mound City Blue Blowers

The Mound City Blue Blowers take their name from St. Louis’s nick name, “Mound City.” (At the time of its founding, St. Louis was home to a few dozen Native American mounds, only one of which remains today.) The Mound City Blue Blowers’ founding members were: Red McKenzie (comb and tissue paper), Dick Slevin (kazoo), Jack Bland (banjo), and Frank “Josh” Billings, (suitcase played with foot and whisk brooms). The Brunswick recording below — “Arkansaw Blues/Blue Blues” — was their first. Members of the group went on to record with many jazz greats, including Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and Coleman Hawkins. More about their career and recordings at Wikipedia.

The Recordings

Red Hot
	Group:	Mound City Blue Blowers
	Label:	Brunswick	Matrix Number:	Brunswick (2602)
	Record Type:	Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
	Date Recorded:	3/14/1924
	Listen:	Click to play in popout player
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San
	Group:	Mound City Blue Blowers
	Label:	Columbia	Matrix Number:	Columbia (2602)
	Record Type:	Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
	Date Recorded:	3/14/1924
	Listen:	Click to play in popout player
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Blue Blues
	Group:	Mound City Blue Blowers
	Label:	Brunswick	Matrix Number:	Brunswick (2581)
	Record Type:	Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
	Date Recorded:	February 23, 1924
	Listen:	Click to play in popout player
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Arkansaw Blues
	Group:	Mound City Blue Blowers
	Label:	Brunswick	Matrix Number:	Brunswick (2581)
	Record Type:	Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
	Date Recorded:	February 23, 1924
	Listen:	Click to play in popout player
	Share: