(Week of 2/10/07 - 2/16/07)[Upgraded on 7/29/17]

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THIS WEEK'S SELECTIONS PROVIDED BY ANDREW BOHAN

"I Know We Will Never Meet Again"/"After All"
The Dixiaires with Muriel Gaines
on Queen 4111-A/B
released in 1946

Above: Muriel Gaines. She began her career as a dancer in Harlem's Cotton Club before turning to singing. She started singing calypso, becoming the "Queen of Calypso" in Europe when she toured there. Muriel had three calypso style records released on the National label in 1945 with Sam Manning's Serenaders (see clipping further down this page). Then the one known release, non-calypso, with "The Dixiaires" on Queen in 1946.

NEW YORK AGE, July 8, 1944: MURIEL GAINES, TORCH SINGER, MAKING A HIT AT VILLAGE VANGUARD—Muriel Gaines, beautiful blues and torch singer, seems to be a permanent fixture at the Village Vanguard. Miss Gaines is the wife of Lee Gaines, of the Delta Rhythm Boys, a Universal feature set. As Jeni LeGon's understudy in "Early To Bed," she did the part a dozen times to great audience acclaim and was offered the part on the road, but declined.

PITTSBURGH COURIER, December 22, 1945: MURIEL GAINES IN LE RUBAN BLEU—Muriel Gaines, the sophisticated songstress who opened at the Village Vanguard (New York) in 1944 for two weeks and remained there for a year and a half, closed at this spot on last Sunday, to move uptown where she opened on Monday, Dec. 17, at Le Ruban Bleu, replacing Maxine Sullivan. Muriel has been featured at the Moulin Rouge and the Ambassador in Paris, as well as the Palladium in London. Her calypso recordings are best-sellers, and she is currently understudying the part of the maid in the Broadway dramatic hit, "Deep Are The Roots."

BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, June 9, 1946: MURIEL GAINES TO DO CONCERT TOUR—Muriel Gaines, the popular night club songstress who was recently seen in "Deep Are The Roots" in the role of the maid, will do a two-week singing-dramatic concert tour in the South during the latter part of July. Muriel will do dramatic bits from several plays and will also do a program of popular and folk songs on the tour.

BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, July 8, 1946: Muriel Gaines sings in "Tidbits of 1946," which opens tonight at the Plymouth Theater.

PITTSBURGH COURIER, October 26, 1946: MURIEL GAINES SET FOR HAITI—Terrific songstress Muriel Gaines, who flew in from Hollywood in order to fulfill a headlining engagement at Le Ruban Bleu, will journey to Haiti for a personal appearance before the president of that republic. The big event will take place following her stay at the east side music room and is considered quite an honor, since the charming chanteuse will be the first American singer to make such a "command" performance.

NEW YORK AGE, February 19, 1949: Muriel Gaines, famed star of Ruban Bleu and other smart supper clubs, is the week-end attraction at "Red" Randolph's Shalimar. Muriel, the classy lassie with the chassis, will join the "Calvacade of Stars" on the Age-USO midnight benefit show at Loew's Victoria on Feb. 21st. Better not miss it.

NEW YORK AGE, November 26, 1949: Muriel Gaines, the famed chanteuse, is the star of a new show built especially around her at the veddy,veddy, elegant and swank Churchill's in old London Town. She is surrounded by a well trained chorus of five white girls. The sixth girl had to drop out of the show because her mother wouldn't allow her to perform in a show with a Negro star. The girl happens to be mulatto, which is irony from way back!

Above: Muriel Gaines on cover of Jet Magazine dated May 29, 1952.

ARTICLE FROM THE MAY 29, 1952 JET MAGAZINE: Muriel Gaines, an ex-Cotton Club dancer, started singing in 1940 so she could be with her husband, a member of Delta Rhythm Boys quartet. Today she has become a star in a career of her own. Her interpretation of Calypso tunes have caught on big in Europe, where she is now considered "Queen of Calypso." Before Muriel met Lee Gaines, Delta Rhythm Boys' bass singer, she was content with chorus dancing, occasional bits as an actress. But after she and Lee were married he began coaching her to be a singer. Wisely, he chose the Calypso idiom for her. From her first job at the Village Vanguard, Muriel soon graduated to the plush Ruban Bleu where she appeared for four straight years before turning to Europe and greater success with her ear-catching ditties.

Above: National Records clipping from 1945.

Above: Billboard clipping from 4/27/46.

Above: Photo (ca 1946-47) of The Jubalaires (Back L-R) Caleb N. Ginyard Jr., Ted Brooks, George McFadden, John Jennings and, in front with the guitar, Bill Johnson. Ginyard didn't form The Dixiaires, a different group, until late 1947. It is possible that The Jubalaires were still under contract with Decca at the time of the Muriel Gaines recording and used the name "The Dixiaires" as an alias (their last recording for Decca was in May 1946, the Muriel Gaines record was released in March 1946). The Jubalaires had several records released on the Queen label in 1947 under their own name.

From Todd Baptista 2/11/07: I couldn't help noticing that "I Know We Will Never Meet Again" (Dixiaires) was written by Newson-Jennings. Newson must be Thomas P. Newson - who also co-wrote "Before This Time Another Year" with Biggie McFadden - the Jubalaires first record on Decca in 1944. Jennings is most likely John Jennings, of the same Jubalaires group. Although the aural evidence is slim, I believe the group here is JC Ginyard, Jennings, Ted Brooks, McFadden, and guitarist Bill Lee Johnson.
 
It's interesting to note that in January of '47, the Jubalaires (at this time, Ginyard, Jennings, Ted Brooks, McFadden, and guitarist Johnson) recorded a disc for Harlem Records that wound up being reissued on 45 RPM in the '50s as by the Dixieiares. In February, the group cut 11 masters for King/Queen as the Jubalaires. The Dixieaires weren't born until Ginyard got upset - quit the Amos 'N' Andy gig they had on CBS, and formed the Dixieaires, first with James and Thomas Moran, Abe Green, and Johnny Hines. By the 1949 Houston story, only Hines remained.
 
In the late '40s, Ginyard and company recorded for well over a dozen labels using a multitude of names. Johnson, Brooks, McFadden, and Jennings, meanwhile, formed another Jubalaires group that recorded most of the transcription discs in '47-'49 and also hooked up with Orville Brooks on Coral for "I've Waited All My Life For You". One of the two Brooks men was also the nucleus of the "Original Jubalaires" on Crown/RPM/Modern later on, although that group is still a mystery!

MURIEL GAINES

New York Age 7/8/44.

New York Age 2/19/49.

New York Age 9/24/55.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle 7/7/46.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle 7/8/46.

Los Angeles Times 8/31/46.

EXTRA AUDIO (Windows Media Player):
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

Above Left: Label image of Queen 4163-A recorded in February 1947 and released in March 1947. It was their only record as "The Jubilaires," perhaps misspelled on the label. As "The Jubalaires," they had four additional records on the Queen label, all recorded in February 1947 and released in May and June 1947. Above Right: Photo (ca late 1945) of The Jubalaires (L-R) Orville Brooks, Ted Brooks, Caleb N. Ginyard Jr., and George McFadden. Listen to "Sunday Kind Of Love" - The Jubilaires - Queen 4163-A - 1947.

EXTRA EXTRA AUDIO (Windows Media Player):
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

Above Left: Label image of Continental C-1227-B released in March 1948. It was the first of five records The Dixiaires had on the Continental label (1948-49). Above Right: Picture of The Dixiaires from The Houston Informer newspaper dated July 30,1949... (Top) J.C. Ginyard, lead; (Left) Joe Floyd, tenor; (Right) Jimmy Smith, baritone; (Bottom) Johnny Hines, bass. This is the line-up that recorded for Continental. Listen to "Your Red Wagon" - The Dixiaires - Continental C-1227-A - 1948. Listen to "River Stay Away From My Door" - The Dixiaires - Continental C-1227-B - 1948. BOTH NOT FUNCTIONAL!.

Above: Label image for Queen 4111 recorded in 1945 and released in March 1946.

NOTE: Most discographical information provided at this website is from Ferdie Gonzalez' Disco-File.

Listen to this week's selections by The Dixiaires with Muriel Gaines on Queen 4111-A/B from 1946:
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

A. Stream Windows Media Player...             1. I Know We Will Never Meet Again           2. After All             BOTH NOT FUNCTIONAL!      B. Download Windows Media Player...             1. I Know We Will Never Meet Again           2. After All      C. Stream/Download Media Player...             1. I Know We Will Never Meet Again           2. After All             BOTH NOT FUNCTIONAL!

      [To download audio files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]