Big Jay McNeely !




Cecil McNeely and his older brother Bob grew up in Los Angeles, where jazz reigned on Watts' bustling nightlife strip. Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and tutored by Jack McVea, McNeely struck up a friendship with Johnny Otis, co-owner of the popular Barrelhouse nitery. McNeely's live shows were the stuff that legends are made of -- he electrified a sweaty throng of thousands packing L.A.'s Wrigley Field in 1949 by blowing his sax up through the stands and then from home plate to first base on his back! A fluorescently painted sax that glowed in the dark was another of his showstopping gambits !
You can read more here

Big Jay McNeely - Jay Walk
Big Jay McNeely - Just Crazy



Comments

The DoorKeeper said…
I saw Big Jay in the early eighties in London - he was still tearing it up. The place was an old theatre with balconies and boxes and was about half full - lots of seats empty but he just walked around the place with a radio mike and blew in peoples ears til they grooved. At one point he was sat on the back of the seat next to me with his feet on the seat in front:

For a few mad minutes I had the Blues on my shoulder !!

Cool guy.
9:25 PM
Reverend Frost said…
You lucky bastard :)
1:29 PM
Anonymous said…
I love Big Jay! In fact, I use "The Deacon's Hop" as a ringtone. I'm gonna post some Big Jay on Tuwa's Shanty, too.

Did you know Big Jay is still alive and working with a group called The Hollywood Combo? Check it out:
http://www.swinginrecords.com/hwcombo/
5:31 PM
protogenes said…
wow, zoom
6:47 PM
Chris Oliver said…
Wow, he is torturing that sax! There's a lot of material on Big Jay in Central Avenue Sounds, the oral history of the L.A. Jazz scene. According to several of the old guys interviewed, he was a fine bebop player before he switched over. There's a great quote where Jay talks about all the training he was going through (there were a lot of good music teachers in L.A., and all the Watts musicians were classicaly trained), but then when he recorded Deacon Hop, he had to empty all that training out of his mind and just wail.
8:26 PM
Reverend Frost said…
Thanx pals, I like that !
9:44 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THEE BLOODY END !!!

Image
ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END. Yes my dear friends/readers, I've decided to end this very blog ! No particular reason to be frank, I've just decided to put this site to bed. So alas, another (fantastic/brilliant/extraordinary, you choose) blog goes away. Well, you all know I'm a (fantastic/brilliant/extraordinary/bad, you choose) musician and that it takes a LOT of my time, that maybe explains the sporadic nature of posting here, so here we go... its' a FAREWELL ! Well, don't be sad my friends, remember what the great Criswell said: ' We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future.' ! So, I can't really express myself on HOW MUCH this lil' internet page was important to me, and how much it was fun to make/search/create ! You can't imagine how crazy it was to make those halloween/western/...
Read more

Halloweeeeeeeen (Part 17) !!!

Image
MUWUWUHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA !!!! Yes my zombies friends ! It's the mighty horrific horrible bloody return of the most downloaded mix of the year, I say A BLOODY HALLOWEEEEEEEN MIX, freaking part n°17 ! Holy Bela, it sounds like this blog is 17 years old...but wait ! STGW is already 7 years old ! Amazing ! Amazing ! Amazing ! Amazing ! (sorry, there's a bug). & I know some of you awaited the whole year to hear these 31 bloody bloody songs ! MUWUWUHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA !!!! This Rev. frost sure looks strange to me ! (ok ok I wanted to make 2 mixes this year, but aaaaaaaargh, I can't find the proper time - so enjoy this one !) The mix has everything you wanted in it, even a polka ! Ok and while you're here, grag you bloody copy of the Bloody Tomahawks first 7'' 45 HERE ! Children of the night ! What music they make ! And bloody hell (new game, count how many 'bloody' appear on this post), sorry in advance (or really late) to y'all who emailed me those last pas...
Read more

A Bloody Summer Mix 2012 !!!

Image
HOWDY, ALL YOU SHARKS AND WHALES !  Yes, a bit in advance, but before you all get the summertime blues in September, here's yer annual Summertime Bloody Mix! SHAAAAARKS!  (yes, it's a vicious mix) And I want to thank from the bottom of my heart those hundred and something crazies who bought my last cd the first month, and I don't count the downloads ! MERCI !!! Well, until next time, have a great summer, have some good sunburns ! Rev. Frost Presents...A Bloody Summer Mix 2012 ! (55:01)   Tracklist:  01. Robert Johnson And Punchdrunks - Surf As Houdini 02. Carl Perkins - Big Bad Blues 03. Johnny Horton - The Train With The Rhumba Beat 04. Johnny & The Hurricanes - Crossfire 05. Gene Lewis - Too Young To Settle Down 06. The Daytonas - Dare Devil 07. Bob Jaxon - Ali Baba 08. Al Casey - Surfin' Blues (Part 2) 09. Annette - The Battle Of San Onofre 10. Cliff Richard & The Shadows - No Turning Back 11. Deane Hawley - Bossman ...
Read more