Check and Double Check was RKO Pictures' failed attempt at bringing the popular radio program Amos 'N' Andy to the big screen. The film made good money at the box office due to the popularity of the Amos 'N' Andy show, but it was a resounding critical flop and audiences were generally disappointed with the film. Fortunately, it includes a short segment featuring Duke Ellington and his Orchestra.
Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, the creators of Amos and Andy, were popular vaudeville and radio stars during the 1920's. Their act centered around "blackface," whereby a white performer impersonates a black character. Blackface was mainly used by white performers in order to give their characters a degree of freedom that would not be acceptable otherwise. This was based on the notion that blacks were less morally strict than whites; consequently, playing a black character allowed a white performer to give more of an "anything goes" or "jazzy" aspect to their show. And if the performer was a comedian, blackface gave the show an entire range of language, dress, and other social dimensions to make fun of.
Blackface (and variations where white performers played oriental, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern characters) was also used because of restrictions that prevented whites from performing together on stage with actors of other races. This was especially true in the South, where "mixed" entertainment was strictly forbidden. Despite its questionable nature, blackface was an extremely popular form of entertainment for nearly a century, from the end of the Civil War through the end of World War II. If you would like to read a good discussion of the stereotypes and other racial issues that plagued Amos 'N' Andy and other entertainment from the first half of the twentieth century, then you will enjoy this essay.
And here is an early recording of Correll and Gosden performing a routine featuring their first two blackface characters, Sam and Henry:
Download Correll and Gosden - Let's Talk About My Sweetie.mp3
One of Check and Double Check's biggest defects stemmed from the awkwardness of integrating real African Americans with Correll and Gosden's blackface characters. One of the solutions to this problem was to feature a popular African American orchestra in the film. This also solved another problem, which was how to establish a plausible relationship between Amos and Andy and the film's white characters. In blackface as Amos and Andy, Correll and Gosden operated the Fresh Air Taxi Cab Company, which serviced Harlem. The duo was hired to cram the Ellington orchestra into their rickety cab and drive them to a country estate, where they performed for a white high-society audience. At the estate, Ellington's orchestra is seen performing "Three Little Words" and "Old Man Blues."
Curiously, film producers were concerned that valve trombonist Juan Tizol (who was Cuban) and reedman Barney Bigard (a Creole from New Orleans) did not look black enough. RKO planned to heavily promote this film in the South, so in order to avoid a scandal that would surely arise from any scene where blacks and whites appeared to be mixed, RKO chiefs ordered Bigard and Tizol to wear blackface makeup during the filming of the scene.
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra recorded all the music that appeared in the film. He recorded "Three Little Words" and "Old Man Blues" twice, once for Victor under his own name and again for Okeh as The Harlem Footwarmers. He also recorded "Double Check Stomp" three times, for Victor under his own name, for Okeh as Mills' Ten Blackberries, and for Brunswick as The Jungle Band.
Here are the Victor recordings of "Three Little Words" and "Old Man Blues." These are the best-known versions of these two tunes. These records were made in Hollywood, while the Ellington band was filming its segment for the movie. The vocal group on "Three Little Words" is Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys (Al Rinker, Harry Barris, and Bing Crosby). The Rhythm Boys also sing the refrain heard in the film, although the Ellington trumpet section lip-syncs the vocal using megaphones.
Download duke_ellington_three_little_words.mp3
Download duke_ellington_old_man_blues.mp3
And here are all three versions of "Double Check Stomp." Although this tune was not used in the film, it was written in celebration of Duke's invitatin to appear in the film. Ellington often recorded the same compositions multiple times contemporaneously during his career, and with this tune we get a great opportunity to study how Ellington accomplished this difficult feat.
"Double Check Stomp" was originally recorded for Victor on April 11, 1930. Not quite two weeks later, Ellington was in the Brunswick studios, where he recorded the tune again; its release was credited to The Jungle Band. The Jungle Band version includes an expanded opening ensemble, re-voiced and with the brass added. Accordion virtuoso Cornell Smelser was also on hand for this record; the flip side was a Smelser feature, "Accordion Joe". Finally, Ellington recorded "Double Check Stomp" again for Okeh in June 1930. This recording is much more relaxed than the two earlier versions, and illustrates the stylistic transition that was occurring at the time, as bands moved away from playing "hot" and gravitated toward swing.
Download duke_ellington_double_check_stomp_victor_version.mp3
Download duke_ellington_double_check_stomp_brunswick_version.mp3
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