Anybody ever hear of Joe Sodja?

[Notes_Norton]

Leilani and I rented an old movie last night and on one of the 'special features' on the DVD was a gem (we call the special features BVDs because they are 'shorts' <grin>).

 

Anyway, this short was of the Freddie Rich Orchestra featuring Nan Wynn, The Three Symphonettes and guitarist Joe Sodja. The 'video' was obviously pre-recorded and then 'lip synced' for the camera (check out the clarinetist who can play notes with his mouth open while breathing and the drummer who keeps playing even when he is picking up a dropped drumstic).

 

The music is swing era stuff, the conductor is extremely corny, but the music is actually well done and has it's shining moments (for the style). We were enjoying it for what it was, a trip in the time machine before our time, and this guitarist comes in between songs and asks to audition.

 

At about 8:15 through the video, conductor Freddie Rich finally lets the comic guitar player sit in. Wow, he is not only quite good, but throws out a few rock n roll string bending licks on the un-amplified archtop - plus later on in the song he is amazingly fast on that old guitar. (also, check out the ocarina solo).

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-fmWCc6dnI

 

I'd never heard of this guy, so of course I googled him. He doesn't have a Wiki page so I didn't find out that much about him (born in Clevelend, died in Miami starred in a movie we can't find) but I did find a second video of him playing an archtop electric.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR9B-Y2epS4

 

This guy is "one with the guitar".

 

Anybody know more about him? For those who like me never heard of him, what do you think?

 

BTW, he appears to be playing Gibsons, but I don't know enough about those old models to identify them.

 

BTW, since I have friends in both places, I'm posting this in both the Gibson and Epiphone lounge - I hope you don't mind.

 

Notes

[Twang Gang]

Nope, never hear of him. Pretty talented though.

[Pin]

Good God - a 1950s shredder!

 

But wonderful. Thanks for that Notes.

[The RandyMan]

Not sure, but he might possibly have something to do with Sodja Music, a older music store in Cleveland. I remember that it used to be one of the "go to" places before Guitar Center and Sam Ash moved into town. I was there a couple of times way back in the 70's or 80's, but haven't been back since (I live outside of Cleveland, so it was quite a trek for me).

[pippy]

Nope. I hadn't heard of him either.

 

Very enjoyable, though! Very Les Paul with the humour, too.

 

From the second link this one also popped up;

 

...and here is the accompanying blurb;

"His name resembling a Slovenian drink order, Joe Sodja is a highly original player of stringed instruments associated with the Cleveland music scene.

Sodja's history as a musician dates back to the mid-'20s and a family band he worked in alongside three of his brothers, the so-called "Arcadian Melody Pilots."

Without a doubt, the climax of his performing activity took place in 1957 when he co-starred in The Parson and the Outlaw, a low-budget independent western film with a soundtrack chock full of Sodja's intriguing banjo noodling."

 

Thanks for posting!

 

P.

[Notes_Norton]

<...snip...>

From the second link this one also popped up;

[/i]

 

Saw that one too!

 

<...>

Without a doubt, the climax of his performing activity took place in 1957 when he co-starred in The Parson and the Outlaw, a low-budget independent western film with a soundtrack chock full of Sodja's intriguing banjo noodling."<...>

 

I looked for that one on both Netflix and Classicflix and neither one had it.

 

Does anybody know what models the guitars are?

 

Notes

[pippy]

Amazon don't have it either.

 

The Wiki entry mentions the Internet Movie Database and the TCM movie database both of which have a precis of the story but not a whole lot else.

 

One of the four reviews posted says this about the soundtrack;

"...the film also features a very strange soundtrack by Joe Sodja, a Cleveland born banjo player whose score seems to be played on either a zither or a slack key guitar. It's odd to say the least."

 

FWIW here's what to look for next time you go past a cinema on the off chance...

 

As far as the guitars are concerned; I'm not up on those models either and although they do look like Gibsons I'm not 100% convinced they are Gibsons.

 

Hopefully someone who knows these models better will pitch in.

 

P.

[milod]

Dunno about the guitars or Joe, but...

 

I guess it pretty well goes along with what I've talked about in the past: Those old live radio guys were incredible musicians now mostly long forgotten. We're talking guys who could swap styles and genres as quickly as they could wink. A lot of them did have music stores, restaurants, saloons... whatever, if they were fairly successful because they wanted to be able to eat as the era came to a close roughly during WWII.

 

Thing is, they were all over the country, in the US at least. Often - sometimes mostly - self taught, they were making their living at music and that meant lots of travel and lots of different styles. I'm no real Lawrence Welk fan - although I've sung through the same mike his band used in some 30s live radio stuff - but the switching of styles, sometimes with a different "band name" and sometimes not, was quite typical. In fact... I know of some regional rock bands of the '60s that apparently were run about the same way where the band's schtick was the same, but the folks playing the music were talented guys who swapped band "uniforms" depending on who had what gig when and where...

 

m

[Notes_Norton]

Dunno about the guitars or Joe, but...

 

I guess it pretty well goes along with what I've talked about in the past: Those old live radio guys were incredible musicians now mostly long forgotten. We're talking guys who could swap styles and genres as quickly as they could wink. <...snip...>

 

m

 

Interesting. So they were in a way like the "Wrecking Crew" or "Funk Brothers" to the baby boomer generation as far as their talents are concerned.

 

There used to be a guy based out of Miami FL called Del Staton who played incredible guitar and kicked bass on organ type bass pedals at the same time. He released one LP (I have it on vinyl) and did nationwide and local radio and TV spots. He was a guitar player's guitarist. He has no YouTube page, nor a Wikipedia entry but was a huge force in the 1960s. BTW, the vinyl doesn't do him justice at all -- badly mixed (too much pedal) and he wasn't playing his best, probably too self-conscious about making mistakes on the recording.

 

In the 'old days' too many great people didn't get credited or have their work archived like more of them do today. It doesn't mean there wasn't huge talent back then, it just means archiving was much more difficult and crediting didn't seem as important.

 

I'm glad the Joe Sodja clips survived, they were a treat.

 

Notes

[milod]

I think a lotta good pickers today will be, in effect, as forgotten as the old radio pros regardless that they have something on Youtube, Facebook or whatever.

 

There's so much out there with so many electronic venues that it's impossible even for a search to find something. And that's also regardless of Google or Bing's efforts at indexing material.

 

And it's far more difficult to find "fame" across various groups as well, at least compared to the olden days when everybody knew of the top bands, singers and tunes. The era when everyone across age groups and music preferences would recognize even the name of a "famous" group or performer is long gone.

 

That comment comes without value judgment, by the way.

 

My one concern returns to whether or not there continues to be a marketplace for live music. This morning's anti alcohol commentary from America's National Transportation Safety Board wanting to further reduce BAC for prosecution may have as great an affect as some 45 years ago the drop from 15 to 8 cut live music venues.

 

Maybe there are other factors, and the anti-smoking laws play a role too, but the major drop I saw in the '70s. One "small" town I know well would have at least six or seven weekend bands playing. Last I saw, it seldom has been a single venue.

 

The thing is, this stuff is kinda sneaky in the way it affects us all. It tends to be relatively slow and... who's gonna complain?

 

m

[Notes_Norton]

Yes, the 'good old days' of being a musician are gone.

 

And it started with the MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and was escalated by the non-smoking laws and then compounded by the bad economy and a $200-$300 per month Cable TV subscription.

 

I remember when every hotel of Holiday Inn stature or better had a band 6 nights a week, and there were plenty of other venues in each town with 6 or 7 nights of bands.

 

I'm glad I did it during the golden age of working rock bands, and I fell sorry for the young musicians of today who do not have nearly as many venues as the members of my generation.

 

As per your comments...

 

Being predominantly a sax player, and having the good luck to play with a lot of bands, and warm up for a lot of headliner acts, I've had the opportunity to hear and play with a lot of great guitarists. In our local town, we had a guitarist who IMO could blow away 95% of the other guitarists on the planet. He had amazing technique, but you didn't hear the technique, you heard music. He had an array of about 30 pedals, and used them tastefully to get wonderful sounds out of his guitar. And he played many different genres of music. He died a couple of years ago and nobody but the locals will ever know his name or hear him play -- and when we are gone, so will he be gone.

 

I guess that's the same for most of us. When I'm gone the local people will remember me, perhaps some of the other people who I've played with or for through the years will also remember me until they are gone. My styles for Band-in-a-Box might live on after me, as long as BiaB is alive anyway. Of course, when I'm gone, it won't make a difference to me if anyone remembers me or not - I won't be able to tell.

 

To me the essence of playing music is the joy of playing live in front of an audience, and I still get to do that almost every week of every year. Like the music, life is good, and life is temporary.

 

Notes

[pippy]

One of the main reasons there was a death-knell for live music in the UK was the noise abatement enforcement laws.

 

It got to the point where every venue which wanted to host bands would effectively have had to make their premises virtually soundproof for any adjoining buildings and no sonic disturbance of any kind for the locals.

This meant that unless the place was stand-alone no noise transfer through party-walls could be tolerated.

 

The laws as originally envisaged were, as is often the case, well-intentioned but the nay-sayers found they had enough ammunition to cite the regulations at will and a vast number of pubs & clubs gave up rather than jump through all the hoops.

 

It even got to the stage where some of the biggest acts playing very famous venues had - literally - the power turned off whilst they were still playing as they had over-run their alloted time slot.

One of the most famous venues in the world, London's Royal Albert Hall, has to comply with these regs just the same as any spit-and-sawdust bar.

 

The rules - and the red-tape - have recently been relaxed, however, so we live in hope...

 

P.

[milod]

Pippy...

 

Maybe it's because I'm old, but I personally believe that as long as we keep passing laws to without consideration of consequences, and bowing to "logic" such as, "If it saves just one life," or "'We' shouldn't have to suffer from someone else's noise (smoke, kitchen smells, peanut vapors, etc.)," our Anglophone and probably world culture is almost doomed to turn us into a beehive of drones, workers and "queen" living a lowest common denominator of living standards.

 

m