Pupi Campo - The Missing Pepi Campellio?

In a previous post, I made note of the mention of John's arranging work on page 5 in "New York Doings," part of the Nov/Dec 1945 newsletter,  The Score of ASMA  (American Society of Music Arrangers), now known as ASMAC American Society of Music Composers & Arrangers.

JOHN BARTEE scored a Columbia short

for Noro Morales and is making up arrangements for Pepi Campellio's new band, while still continuing his regular arranging for Machito's Orchestra, of the London Club

 

For a long time, I searched for Pepi Campellio with no luck.  The name Pupi Campo kept popping up in all my research.  I didn't go down that path much, even though the names were similar; I had no real connection.  If you Google Pepi Campellio, you'll find this website and the original SCORE article.

I had no link until I started a new game: finding album covers with some connection to John. One thing led to another, and I found this note on Pupi Campo.

"Pupi Campo was born in Havana, Cuba, on May 1st, 1920. Campo was born Jacinto Campillo, and was the second of five children: Georgina, Alejandro, Armando, and Josephina. While dancing in a Havana nightclub in 1940, New York club owner Irving Sussman noticed Campo. Sussman invited the young man to look him up "if he were ever in New York City." Campo and his friend Armando Guin began selling raffle tickets for a nickel the next day, and within a month, Campo took a boat called the "Floridita" to Miami, and was in New York and knocking on Mr.Sussman's door..."

Campo was born Jacinto Campillo; now that's not too much of a stretch to get to Campellio.  Researchers of census records will tell you that that name spelling is often recorded as the writer hears it.  Given that Pupi is Pepi now, that's possible.    Could Pepi Campellio actually be Pupi "Campillio" Campo?

Last night my search got interesting when I searched for more personal information on Pupi Campo.  Not much is written online, and I didn't want to pull out all my books where I have seen a bit of info on him.  Online, we see his listing on the Internet Movie Database, where a few details are listed.

Pupi Campo was born May 1, 1920... I am not sure if the year is correct, as I have found mention of him being 81 in 2007 and that he came to the United States in 1940 at age 16.

The IMDb listing gives the name of his second wife as  Betty Clooney, whom he was married to from
7 September 1955 - until her early death on 7 August 1976.   Mmmm.... could this be Rosemary & Nick's younger sister?  You know it was. They met while working on the CBS Morning Show, which Jack Parr took over from Walter Cronkite.

IMDb gives this bit of info for Pupi Campo:

Where Are They Now

(September 2009) In Las Vegas, where he lives
(September 2009) In Virginia Beach visiting his son Carlos, who is Chief Academic Officer at Regent University

Now this is good... as I live within a fifteen-minute drive of Regent University.  I did a search on Carlos.  Betty & Pupi must have been great role models for their 4 children... as on August 1, 2010, Dr. Carlos Campo became the new President of Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

So... could Pupi Campo be a link to John Bartee's music?   A  Man whose story of coming alone to the United States at age 16 was shared by Dr. Carlos Campo to an audience at The Latin Chamber of Commerce’s Career Day Scholarship Program in 2007.  After the story, Dr. Campo surprised everyone by introducing his 81-year-old father, who was sitting in the audience. Pupi Campo stood and received a long, loud ovation. It was a moving moment for Carlos and his father.

Is... Pepi Campellio...  Pupi Campo... whose new band John Bartee was doing arrangements for in 1945?

From the music I have listened to, and the fact that Chico O'Farrill & Tito Puente, also with connections to Machito, were involved musically with Pupi Campo. There does seem to be a connection to John's hand.

I guess I will have to see if I can meet Dr. Carlos Campo very soon.  Maybe, somewhere in Las Vegas, there are some original arrangements from 1945 that still have the memories of an 84- to 90-year-old bandleader attached.


An added note regarding Betty Clooney:  In 1983, her sister & extended family started the  Betty Clooney Foundation in her honor.

NOTE:  Pupi Campo died December 12, 2011  (click link for more information)

"The Savory Collection" - Performances by Jazz Greats

Since I don't get the New York Times or watch television news...  I rely on Journalists like Doug Ramsey and his arts journal, Rifftide.  Lots of good stuff that you aren't going to find on the evening news there. He has been following "the Savory Collection" and the copyright issues that will probably slow the public release of the large collection of recordings made from radio broadcasts in the late 30s by audio engineer William Savory.  I include links here to the original New York Times article on August 16th, 2010, and their follow-up article on August 17th.   The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, which has acquired the collection, and others are restoring & digitizing the music.  In the meantime, they have given us a taste of the music we can look forward to hearing in the years ahead.  If you don't have time to wait, or you just want to listen ASAP, maybe look into the copyright issue & debate around these one-of-a-kind recordings.  I am sure a few people out there have ways to get things moving with the powers that be.  Whatever way it goes... likely someone is already positioning themselves for a payday.

Treat this newly found treasure as something freely given up by the people involved in its origins.  Years ago, as it went out over the airwaves, no one alive saw it return to the World. 

  Sure, license the right to compile the recordings for commercial sale and distribution.  Once the National Jazz Museum deducts the cost of acquiring, restoring, remastering, and preserving the collection.  Grant a special, perpetual copyright for this Special Collection. Any profits/royalties could first go toward ensuring any musician or composer identified on the records has a memorial marker on their grave, and that these places of rest are properly cared for, so future generations might remember the individuals.  Then establish a Trust that would receive any royalties, along with other private donations, for the future preservation of Music History.   

This was an unseen gift from History; its beneficiary should be History.  Just a thought...

UPDATE:  A CBS News Story Video

Memories & Stories Told...

1930: The Great Migration from Southern intolerance to Chicago Jazz and the Great Depression.  

I started this post ages ago, only to put it away while searching for more information.  I've found out now that I am only at the beginning of my journey into John's life & influences in Chicago.  This will be an ongoing post with additions & edits, but I think I might find more answers if I open the door to input from people out there in the wide world of the Internet.

Somehow back in 2003/04  I got a hit on an Internet search that referred me to Central High in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Locals know the school as Mary "Bradford High".  They had a registration card on file for John with his local Kenosha address and his father's name & address in Florida.  Other than a 1932 date and a note saying he left the school as a sophomore, there was nothing else to go on.  For many years, I was stuck, not knowing why a young man who had been living in Florida in the 1920s was now near Chicago.  But even though he was in Kenosha, I knew then he was just a commuter train ride from Chicago, where the Music surely was. A big new theater was in town, and it did seem like a nice place to live & work. Cynthia Nelson, Curator of Collections/Archivist/Educator at the Kenosha History Center, has told me the town was very forward-thinking about the importance of education and the Arts early on.  I also heard his oldest sister, Julia, attended a Music College in Chicago... but other stories put her at Juilliard.  So where do you go looking?  Well, I did start listening to Lou Rugani on WLIP radio in Kenosha online.  I hear Lou is the go-to person for a lot of the area's history, including the music he's involved in.  Hope to chat with him one day, give his show a listen, "Remembering Kenosha" during the week, and "Music of the Stars" on Sunday morning.

I just left Chicago alone, and time has brought new clues.  Last month, I contacted Bradford High again because I had misplaced the copy of the student registration card they sent me years ago.  I got lucky, and JoAnn H. got back to me with a record she had located for John.  It wasn't the one from years before,  but a transcript of his studies, and yes... he was taking Band.  It showed he enrolled on October 7th, 1930, with his records transferred from Baldwin High School in Florida. This was great because no one in the family knew he went to High School in Baldwin, as he had been on his own since about age 16.  The story was that John stayed behind in a town where he worked at a drug store when his father once again packed up the family to move.

From Kenosha, it seems John left Bradford High on April 18th, 1932, the file noting "sophomore to Florida". It isn't clear whether he went back to Florida, but any Snowbird will tell you you don't fly south to Florida in May.  Maybe you head to Chicago for the summer and maybe do something involving the 1933 World's Fair. The new school record did show me this...  On February 15, 1933, John enrolled in Nicholas Senn High School in Chicago. Take note of an alumnus of Senn at the link who would have graduated around 1948/49; he shares a few common associates mentioned on this website.

I would say John picked one of the best high schools in the area for its music programs.  Some Austin High Alumni would probably say their school put out a fine group of musicians across town. I just mailed the forms to the Chicago Board of Education to see what they can dig up in their records, and the School opens next week, so you can bet I will be contacting the head of the Music Department to see what was happening there in 1933.  I know yearbooks existed, so I asked an online company to check the ones they have from 32 to 36; who knows what they will find, or what kind of dollars they'll want me to pay if they do locate it.   So, to my Chicago alumni and readers only second in number to John's followers in New York... do me a favor and check John's yearbooks for  1933 & 34.  He might also have been enrolled as a night student, since he was 20-21 years old.  But my own grandmother didn't graduate until age 20, and she still went to college & taught school for 40 years.

Just down the L from Senn High was the Aragon Ballroom, with easy access for Chicago residents, where, in a six-day week, it wasn't uncommon for 18,000 patrons to enjoy the Bands. Right nearby was The Green Mill Jazz Club, from which it is said Al Capone could walk via an underground tunnel to enter the Aragon's basement. The Uptown area had the Uptown & Rivera Theaters, and just down the L on N.Broadway was the Arcadia Ballroom.

This all puts John near the music of Goodman, the Dorseys, and all the Big Bands of the day.  But he wasn't only near these modern-day musicians'   influence in Chicago. His older sister, Julia, probably helped draw him north, as she attended Chicago Music College. In 1928, Rudolph Ganz returned after serving as director of the St. Louis Orchestra to teach & become the school's longtime director.

 
John's son, whom I recently contacted, shared a childhood memory of his father playing the piano while another man stood beside it singing "Opera Music".  Could it have been that John's original goal was to be a classical composer and arranger?  Even though he was very talented on Sax, clarinet, and piano, his family has always said his focus was not about being a performing musician... but about creating Music. I believe there is a difference between the two... especially for someone whose musical mind is always playing.

So, as you can read, we are just at the beginning of our journey
into Chicago and all that was happening in the early thirties.

MUSIC BUSINESS UPDATE:
And it seems fitting to talk about payoffs and Chicago in the 30s in the same breath.

Another childhood memory from his son was men coming into the house and counting out rolls of money for music papers. This would have been after his return from California, where it seems he was left unemployed in 1946 by maybe some of the same men that came to see him before the end of 1948.

Why am I not amazed at this memory... seems perfectly fitting for what I have learned about the Music business of years past.  Today it is done with more class... a nice corporate check through a third party.

On a brighter note... Two cousins met in person this past week for the first time in 70 years.  John Forrest told my Mother that his last visit with his father, at age 8, was going fishing with cane poles near Port Washington, New York.  I think that memory alone... would give a father reason to think of a son in the last years of his life.

"I'll Never Sing with a Dance Band Again" - Billie Holiday

I was searching DownBeat's archives and came across an interview Billie Holiday did in November 1939.  It was worth a laugh,  and I can see it all happening the way she says.  Now I have records for two individuals that it seems Artie didn't pay them.  Billie says Artie Shaw never paid her for the Bluebird recording of Any Old Time; to think the people I bought my 78 from made more money off one copy than she did.  I pulled my record out and noticed Back Bay Shuffle on the other side, with credits to (Macrae-Shaw).  Funny,  John probably got a very small amount of money for the arrangement, and Artie got fame & fortune that he says he hated.   I guess John outfoxed Mr. Shaw on that deal!

                                                     Lady Day   1915-1959

An Interview with Artie Shaw - David Susskind Show / 12/23/84

There were a lot more fun things to do in 1984 than listening to Artie Shaw talk... Still are, but since I just read "Three Chords for Beauty's Sake," I thought I'd check it out.  This was a good time in his life for an interview; he's 74, living with a 28-year-old, and he has a new band on the road. 

I did like his reasoning behind a kid wanting an autograph... because he idolized Shaw.  I believe Shaw basically felt we, as individuals, need to take more pride in ourselves and develop our own abilities than worship some flavor-of-the-month celebrity.  Isn't that in the Old Testament somewhere?  Something about False Idols...  In the interview with Cannonball Adderley over at Stomp Off, in part #2, Mr. Adderley basically says the same thing: as humans, we need to respect & take more pride in ourselves first.  Don't base our identity only on the organizations we belong to.  Artie would probably tell a lot of kids to start by pulling up their pants and reading a book.

The problem is, you can't convey that message when you call the autograph seekers "Idiot Fans"... 

Tony Martin - Singer / Actor & 1st Husband of Alice Faye

Seeking contact with Tony Martin.  John's oldest sister's daughter shared a story that he once dated Alice Faye.  I never put too much into this, other than that it might have happened, maybe at least one date of some kind.

She married Tony Martin in 1937 and divorced in 1940.  She married Phil Harris in 1941, so I believe it would have been prior to this, as Harris & Faye had a long partnership and marriage.  John married in December 1938 and wasn't separated from his wife until at the earliest mid-1940.  So, at least legally, they both were in relationships after 1937.  Before Faye married Martin, that might have been the case.  An even earlier period, between 1932-1934, when Miss Faye was a radio singer living in New York before movies & Hollywood, seems more likely.  Official Alice Faye Website

On January 8, 2009, Tony Martin, a 95-year-old widower, returned to the stage at San Francisco's Hotel Nikko in the Rrazz Room to sing many of his hit songs from the motion pictures he had been in.  Mr. Martin has many memories of the era and the musicians & actors of the day.  He himself picked up a saxophone at age 10.

If anyone can reach him for me and let him know about my search, and share anything he might be able to, I'd greatly appreciate it.

    Alice Faye & Phil Harris











Although Alice Faye ended up with Phil Harris.  Mr. Martin seemed to have found the Fountain of Youth in his marriage with Cyd Charisse.

Tony Martin sang the theme song in the movie Party Girl.

Rhapsody in Rhumba? You Best, Hold your Hats!

Update to Mambo Man & Music DNA 

And a

French Connection to the Roots of Mambo

The Love of Susannah McCorkle

Often, we start a journey believing we understand our destination.  But as our trip unfolds, we may realize Life has a way of letting us venture down paths with breathtaking scenery.  More often, though...we humans rush and assume the best route is the shortest distance from point A to B at the speed of light, often missing possible joys & rewards.

Sometimes we get lucky, and an event slows us down so that we get a taste of the riches around us.  The sad part is, these times don't always fit into our plans or predictions. 

Recently, life slowed me down from a constant focus on designing & building cabinetry.  A profession that has often been directed at getting the job done and leaving the client smiling at the results, then rushing on to a list of wants & challenges for the next project.

One constant distraction from the world of creating & building has been the search for my great-uncle John Bartee.  So a few months back, when my body made me listen.... No longer could I  continue to fix bleeding hands & fingers with duct tape, or a bad knee with a brace, and ignore all other health issues just to complete a day's work.  I had to finally realize what was going on inside me could do two things... kill me or lead me to a stroke, unable to care for myself.  I could deal with death,  though it's a done deal... It's a new beginning.  But the possibility of being unable to explore and live, even if you're still breathing, just didn't seem like something I wanted to try.  I stopped right then... and let Life take control of my journey.

And it was weird that the stuff I had searched for answers about in John's life finally had a chance to find me. Now my body had created a situation that let me sit down and pull out all the notes & research, trying to make something of them.  

This blog seemed like a format that would let me take one subject at a time and organize what I found, without feeling overwhelmed.  I didn't know that it would also start to unveil what I had learned about myself.

I am not a Writer... At my expense, I failed to learn sentence structure and punctuation in school, and  I know that this alone probably drives readers away from my words. Still, I try to convey the thoughts and images that reside within my heart & mind, even if I am my only reader.

The search for John has opened many new doors I may have never walked through.  One new door I have arrived at is Chris Albertson's...   His blog, Stomp Off, opens the door for readers and listeners to the many lives and voices of the music world.  In my previous post, I tried to express my ideas about John's music... and the world he lived in, as it has started to make itself known to me.

Through Chris... I feel I have been shown the lyrical Voice of Life's Music...  Susannah McCorkle... A name that crossed my path years ago, but apparently I was too busy planning my life to truly hear her.  She not only gives Music a voice by vocalizing the poetry of her lyrics, but she also breathes heartfelt emotion into her songs, allowing us to be part of them.  Watching a partial interview she did with Charlie Rose, one can easily see she was her Music.  The music she felt guided her journey, letting the influences of others, travel, and language all become part of her voice.

I can understand how a person's life could have been enriched by crossing paths with her, sharing a conversation, or maybe just a glance into her eyes... she was beautiful in so many ways... I so thank technology for creating the means to save her feelings for us to enjoy... She truly speaks to life's emotions in her Music.

The Love of Susannah McCorkle is truly part of Life's journey, and I think we all should make time to experience it.

Start your experience now... feel Susannah's love of music.

My Beginner's Playlist:

        My New Celebrity is You

      
      Felicidade (Happiness)


      No More Blues


      One For My Baby


      Something to Live For


      Nuages


      Laughing At Life


      The People You 
       Never Get To Love


      Along Too Long


      I'm Pulling Through


      Sabia


      If I Only Had A Heart


      Better Luck Next Time


      P.S. I Love You




Susannah McCorkle - An Interview with Charlie Rose / May 1990






The Music of Life fills Everything...

Update 8/8/2010: After posting the above, I found the following broadcast on NPR's Fresh Air with Host Terry Gross on May 25, 2001.

The Music of John Bartee

To the question, where is The Music of John Bartee?   Why are you posting about Earl Bostic?

I answer...  Since this site was created to document the life & work of John, I'm part of it.  To find John, I have had to open myself to the world he traveled in.  Music... its sounds, places, and participants are all a part of John Bartee's Music.  Every artist is a product of the world around them; their ideas and thoughts are influenced by Life.

When you listen to Charlie Parker and know he was influenced by the sounds of Jimmy Dorsey, it offers another perspective on the man & his music.

I have read many accounts of popular music's history, and it's not hard to see an evolution from earlier influences. Bostic had  Sidney Bechet, and Coltrane had Bostic.  Good music combined talented instrumentalists & vocalists with a composition/arrangement that shared their voice,  all influenced by the vices & environments the music came from.  Then you had individuals like Raymond Scott, whose creative abilities & ideas let him see a world of music that didn't depend on whether a man had a true gift for playing an instrument.  It wouldn't matter if the musician had the chemistry to mesh with a group in an impromptu jam, or whether he had just shot up heroin or smoked a joint before the performance.  Scott was a pioneer, yet he focused more on sound through his electronic inventions & recording devices.  Technology was more forgiving than live performance and masked an individual's actual abilities.    But after 70 years, and with all the innovative technologies that have shaped the evolution of music, it is clear that the heart & soul of the art still requires individuals who live the music, even if the industry chooses not to produce it.

John's music isn't about the Paris Hilton who goes into a music studio where an electronic illusion is created of their abilities. It relies more on the kid that picks up an instrument and practices for years without any promise of reward.  The musician who studies and listens to the music of the world because it is part of who they are.  They are the stewards of the True Music of Life, the music that lets its audience forget today's problems and feel good about what tomorrow will bring.

That is... the Music of John Bartee... the sounds & emotions of our world.

A note of another musician... one that takes me back to the sixties.... My folks weren't big music collectors, but I at least knew the names of Al Hirt, Henry Mancini  & "Cannonball" Adderley from the few albums in the house.  What kid would forget a nickname like "Cannonball"?  Chris Albertson, a TRUE Music writer, has a blog called Stomp Off where he posted a two-part audio interview he did with Cannonball Adderley in 1969.  The second 30 minutes, Part II, is a must-listen for all Americans... if not all Humans.

I leave you with the sounds of "Cannonball" Adderley, and his truly gifted fellow Musicians.  One day the electric will go out... allowing the world to play the great Music that never really died again.

Earl Bostic - Takes you Away

Just posting Earl's Music because you can't do the sound of the saxophone justice without him.

If you know of his music, I am sure you have enjoyed it... If you don't know the name,  treat yourself and look him up.

Now play Artie Shaw's version of  Man from Mars

1 Artie Shaw - The Man From Mars
2 ARTIE SHAW - THE SAME OLD LINE
3 artie shaw - The Yam
4 ARTIE SHAW - THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE AIR
5 artie shaw - They Say
6 artie shaw - Thou Swell
7 artie shaw - Whistle While You Work
8 artie shaw - You Got Me
9 artie shaw - You're A Sweet Little Heartache
10 Artie Shaw - You're So Indifferent - LIVE

Music linked from Internet Archive

Cab Calloway Orchestra & C. Calloway Brooks

The Music of Cab Calloway continues to live on through his first grandson, C. Calloway Brooks.

An updated web link to the “Swing that is king and Jive that’s alive” .  A special video in the top right of the page.