Biographical Information.

Maureen Englin was born on August 18, 1891 in Rock Island, IL, and died in January, 1979 in Moline, IL.

In 1927 Maureen Englin went to England. She returned to New York on Sep 5, 1927 aboard the S.S. Hamburg. The "Hamburg" sailed from Southampton on Aug 27, 1927. The ship manifest shows that Maureen Englin was a United States Citizen, age 36, divorced, residing at the N. V. A. Club. The National Variety Artists Club was located at 222 West 46th Street, New York, NY. 

Discographical Information.

From "Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings, 1920-1933" by Ross Laird (Greenwood Press, 1996).

Labels of Gennett 5397.





Streaming Real Audio files of Gennett 5397.


http://bixography.com/wherethelazydaisiesgrow.ram

http://bixography.com/mindinmybusiness.ram


The Circumstances Surrounding the Recording of "Foolin' Me."



"Foolin' Me," recorded c. May 30, 1924 according to Brian Rust, "Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942), "Mainspring Press, 2002. Matrix number and record number are the same as in Ross Laird's discography, but Laird has a June 1924 date. According to the listings in the CD Clarence Williams - Clarence Williams, Vol. 2: 1923-1925,  Jazz Archives, No. 171) Miss Englin is accompanied by Clarence Williams on piano. However, according to the Sidney Bechet discography http://www.sidneybechet.org/sbr.pdf, the pianist is Art Sorenson.

From "Sidney Bechet: The Wizard of Jazz" by John Chilton, Oxford University Press, USA (February 1, 1988).
"In 1924 there was a gap in Bechet's recording activities, and for a period of ten months he made no recordings at all with Clarence Williams. His only session during this hiatus produced a curio. It is a recording of one of his compositions sung by a white vaudeville artiste, Maureen Englin, who reminisced about the session in 1962. Whilst visiting a New York publisher, she heard "soft beautiful saxophone music." She asked who was playing and was told Sidney Bechet. After the two had been introduced, Maureen Englin said: "That was a beautiful tune you were playing. Is it new? I am looking for new songs for my act." Bechet told her it was his own composition 'Foolin' Me.' Englin took a copy of the song away so she could use it for a recording date she was contracted to do the next day.
She asked Bechet if he would join pianist Art Sorenson in accompanying her for the recording and he readily agreed. Next day Bechet turned up at the studio on east 52nd Street and played some unobtrusive, mellow phrases behind the singer; the results were first issued on the Pathe label.
The publishing house referred to by Maureen Englin belonged to Fred Fisher who issued several songs of Sidney Bechet in 1924 including 'Foolin' Me,' 'Do That Thing' (which was recorded by Fletcher Henderson), and 'Pleasure Mad', a big early hit for Sidney which was recorded in the mid-1920s by Charlie Creath, Ethel Waters, Benny Krueger, Whitey Kaufman, and others."


To listen to a clip of "Foolin' Me,"  go to http://tinyurl.com/yogyh9 and click on the link.

Bix Remembered by Maureen Englin. From the June 1974 issue of Music Journal.




The cover of the sheet music of "That Old Gang of Mine."

     

Mentions of Maureen Englin in Newspapers. (Courtesy of Terry Moore)

Davenport Democrat and Leader for 20 November 1927.
"Comedy is the keynote at the Fort Armstrong Theatre today when Casey Jones and the Jazz Jesters will present comedy capers. Featured in the new show is Maureen Englin, former Rock Island girl who has just returned from a very successful tour of Europe. "
Here is some information about the Fort Armstrong Theater.
From

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1250/



Opened in 1921, the Fort Armstrong Theater was designed by architect Benjimin Horn of the Cervin & Horn practice, associate architect was W.T. Braun. The architectural style is Native Indian and it had a seating capacity of 1623.

The Fort, also known as the Fort Armstrong, is another classic theater that started off with silent pictures/vaudeville and then switched exclusively to movies.

The theater was decorated with a Western theme that was in keeping with its pioneer past, including teepee chandeliers.

In the late 70's, Dennis Hitchcock purchased the theatre, terraced the main floor, installed tables, and renamed it the 'Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse'. Mr. Hitchcock otherwise left the theater's color and style as they were .

From Terry Moore. "Maureen Englin performed in London, at least, as the following confirms:

Variety bill at the Palladium Theatre for week commencing 6 June 1927 - Nellie Wallace, Little Tich, Maureen Englin, Dollie and Billie, Nixon Grey, Ambrose and his Mayfair Orchestra. Englin appeared for the whole week.

She also appeared on radio on the BBC London 2LO service, at 9.35 on 2 July 1927 in the variety hour, with Clapham and Dwyer, Sydney Nesbit and Kel Keech, Ivan Firth and Phyliss Scott, billed as, 'light ballads at the piano by Maureen Englin'."

The London Palladium was, according to
http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/LondonPalladium.htm
the place where "everyone who was anyone played there." It is a huge theater with a capacity for over 2000 patrons. And here is the link to Bix. Bing performed at the Palladium Sep 26 - Oct 8, 1977. The last performance was four days before he died.





This page was uploaded on March 23, 2007. Modified on April 6, 2007.

I am grateful to Rob Rothberg for the scans of the discography pages and of the record labels of Gennett 5397,  to Anthony Baldwin for calling my attention to the information about Maureen Englin in the biography of Sidney Bechet,  to Terry Moore for the information about Maureen Englin in newpapers articles, and to Han Endeman for the scan of the label of "Foolin' Me."