A Few Things About Joe Venuti.. Here are a few things I've picked up over the years on Joe. Some are funny, some are a bit sad, but all of it is very interesting. Up to the day he died, Joe always defended Paul Whiteman! One thing can be said for certain about Joe, he had a very interesting life..to say the very least. After Eddie Lang's death, Joe really wasn't on the New York Scene very often. He had a good reason too. It was one hell of a long commute from Texas to New York! Joe had formed his own Orchestra and then spent a few years in the mid-1930's in the Dallas-Houston parts of Texas. And as usual for Joe, he would make his mark down there in more ways than just music! We start with Joe and his Band opening in Dallas in 1935. Dallas! A fine town with plenty of good music! What could possibly happen here?
Joe Venuti and his Venutia ns! HA!
You know, there's no need for me to tell you of the amazing talent of Joe Venuti. I'm just another guy who didn't know the man, so who wants to hear another jazz fan think up a bunch of flowery prose about Joe Venuti? I sure don't! However, I sure as hell enjoy hearing from someone who knew Joe in his prime, and gives HIS opinion! And as you may have noticed a couple of pages back, a guy who didn't hold back his opinion on anything was Al Rinker! For myself, history should be taught to us by those who were there, if possible. Unfiltered truth. Al Rinker was there. So here's Al on Joe Venuti, thanks to Phil Evans!
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Of course I love Joe as much as everyone else does. Yet for some unknown reason, I just have doubts about Joe's version of this event. Doesn't he have a kind of young Orson Wells look to him in this photo? And yet another photo of Joe with his head all bandaged up. I DO believe the cops played a tune on his head. What's a "Slipper Heel? Heels on Slippers?
I have a confession to make here. I TRULY HATE HARPIES! You would think that they would show just a little respect for a fellow string player. But noooo! The last good one that I can think of, would have been Joe Marsala's wife Adele. But since then, they've become more like terrorists than musicians. And here is that reference again to someone wearing high heeled slippers! <---------- High Heeled Harpies! Not to mention getting bludgeoned by a slipper! If you go out at night, just be careful! It's not too difficult to outrun a Harpie. Those things weigh a ton, and if they are wearing high heels, you should be able to walk away from them. But if they catch you...Oh Brother! Another Community Service Message brought to you by the good folks at Kazoo Lips Productions.
Joe's wife was able to divorce him for using horrible words? Joe Venuti? I don't believe that for a second! Joe was full of love! He loved kids, why just look at the photo on the upper right corner! Joe loved animals too, just ask Trigger! Joe loved bass players
he once hired every one he knew for a job. Horrible words indeed! OK, so he sang "Barnacle Bill The Shithead" on a 1930 recording. That doesn't make you a serial swearer, or prone to profanity! He was better off without her.
<---Another one of those Jazz vs The Classics Battles from 1942.
John S. Wilson was a very popular writer. I think that Joe enjoyed having a bit of fun with the guy. The above was written in 1968. He gives Joe's age as 71. Joe was born in 1903.
So...the following year of course would be 1969, when the above was written by John S. Wilson. But now Joe is only a mere 70 years old instead of 71 as he was last year.
Leonard doesn't seem to go out of his way to check facts either. For now it's 1974, Joe is 79 years old! Nice title for the article however!
A couple of months before his death in 1978, John S. Wilson wrote another article on Joe. Now Joe is supposed to be 81 years old!
The above article seems to be Joe's last hurrah. It came out about a month or two before his death. I love his answer when idiots would say "I thought you were dead!"
