Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra play "It Won't Be Long Now". This is a rejected take (take 4), and is considerably longer (and slower!) than the issued take 8. Tommy Dorsey plays the cornet breaks heard towards the end of the side, including a very Bix-like coda!
PAUL WHITEMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Paul Whiteman, directing: Henry Busse and Vic D'Ippolito - trumpets / Tommy Dorsey - trombone, cornet / Wilbur Hall - trombone, guitar / Jimmy Dorsey and Chester Hazlett - alto sax, clarinet / Charles Strickladen - tenor sax, baritone sax / Max Farley - baritone sax, flute / Matty Malneck - violin / Harry Perrella - piano / Al Armer - string bass / Mike Pingitore - banjo / Harold McDonald - drums / Bing Crosby, Al Rinker and Harry Barris (the Rhythm Boys) - vocals
Recorded in Camden, New Jersey, August 20, 1927
BVE-39577-4…….It Won't Be Long Now…….Victor unissued master (vinyl test pressing)
Don Rayno's discourse on this side, in his bio-discography "Paul Whiteman: Pioneer In American Music", is reproduced here in full:
"This is one of the outstanding Whiteman records made in the months preceding Bix Beiderbecke's entrance into the band. The Dorsey brothers are heavily featured in what is arguably the hottest Whiteman disc made thus far. Jimmy Dorsey opens the record with four bars of bluely clarinet, Malneck follows with a two-bar low-register violin break, and then a small ensemble, consisting of Malneck on violin, Farley on hot flute and Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet, anchored by Al Armer's pizzicato string bass, provides the un-dergirding for some fine hot trombone work by Tommy Dorsey. Brother Jimmy ad libs for sixteen bars of the verse in the key of C, trading two-bar breaks with the band. Malneck, with Hall accompanying on guitar, plays a four-bar solo which leads into the Rhythm Boys' vocal chorus. After a key change back to F, there is a succession of hot solos: Malneck (four bars), Tommy Dorsey (having now switched over to the little cornet he often played backstage to entertain the band) (four bars), Jimmy Dorsey (four bars), brother Tommy again on cornet (four bars), and Farley on baritone sax (eight bars). Tommy's breaks are plenty hot; one can readily detect the influence of both Louis Armstrong and Bix. The ritarded coda at the end is all Dorsey brothers.
There is an interesting comparison between the two issued takes. Take four ambles along at a very slow tempo, which really brings out the best in the Dorsey's' solo work, but causes the Rhythm Boys' vocals to drag considerably. This is apparently why it was decided to speed up the tempo dramatically, as reflected in take eight, released by Victor in 1927."
Do the Rhythm Boys drag in this slower take? I don't think so. Otherwise, I totally agree with what Don Rayno says.
Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra play "It Won't Be Long Now". This is a rejected take (take 4), and is considerably longer (and slower!) than the issued take 8. Tommy Dorsey plays the cornet breaks heard towards the end of the side, including a very Bix-like coda!
PAUL WHITEMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Paul Whiteman, directing: Henry Busse and Vic D'Ippolito - trumpets / Tommy Dorsey - trombone, cornet / Wilbur Hall - trombone, guitar / Jimmy Dorsey and Chester Hazlett - alto sax, clarinet / Charles Strickladen - tenor sax, baritone sax / Max Farley - baritone sax, flute / Matty Malneck - violin / Harry Perrella - piano / Al Armer - string bass / Mike Pingitore - banjo / Harold McDonald - drums / Bing Crosby, Al Rinker and Harry Barris (the Rhythm Boys) - vocals
Recorded in Camden, New Jersey, August 20, 1927
BVE-39577-4…….It Won't Be Long Now…….Victor unissued master (vinyl test pressing)
Don Rayno's discourse on this side, in his bio-discography "Paul Whiteman: Pioneer In American Music", is reproduced here in full:
"This is one of the outstanding Whiteman records made in the months preceding Bix Beiderbecke's entrance into the band. The Dorsey brothers are heavily featured in what is arguably the hottest Whiteman disc made thus far. Jimmy Dorsey opens the record with four bars of bluely clarinet, Malneck follows with a two-bar low-register violin break, and then a small ensemble, consisting of Malneck on violin, Farley on hot flute and Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet, anchored by Al Armer's pizzicato string bass, provides the un-dergirding for some fine hot trombone work by Tommy Dorsey. Brother Jimmy ad libs for sixteen bars of the verse in the key of C, trading two-bar breaks with the band. Malneck, with Hall accompanying on guitar, plays a four-bar solo which leads into the Rhythm Boys' vocal chorus. After a key change back to F, there is a succession of hot solos: Malneck (four bars), Tommy Dorsey (having now switched over to the little cornet he often played backstage to entertain the band) (four bars), Jimmy Dorsey (four bars), brother Tommy again on cornet (four bars), and Farley on baritone sax (eight bars). Tommy's breaks are plenty hot; one can readily detect the influence of both Louis Armstrong and Bix. The ritarded coda at the end is all Dorsey brothers.
There is an interesting comparison between the two issued takes. Take four ambles along at a very slow tempo, which really brings out the best in the Dorsey's' solo work, but causes the Rhythm Boys' vocals to drag considerably. This is apparently why it was decided to speed up the tempo dramatically, as reflected in take eight, released by Victor in 1927."
Do the Rhythm Boys drag in this slower take? I don't think so. Otherwise, I totally agree with what Don Rayno says.
