1920's Austin! "Milenberg Joys" Jimmie Joy's St. Anthony Hotel Orchestra (Okeh, 1924)

Jimmie Joy’s St. Anthony Hotel Orchestra
Jimmie Maloney (Joy), cl, dir: Rex Preis, c / Jack Brown, tb / Gilbert O'Shaughnessy, Norman Smith, as, ts / Lynn Harrell, p / Clyde Austin, bj / Johnny Cole, bb / Dick Hammell, d.
Recorded by General Phonograph Company (field recording unit).
Dallas, ca. 18 or 19 October, 1924
8754-A Milenberg Joys (Mares–Roppolo–Morton) OK 40251

Transferred with 3.0ML lateral stylii via VM95SP cartridge in an Audiotechnica AT-LP120 Turntable. Declicked and given light EQ by Colin Hancock. Discs from Colin Hancock Collection. Discographical Information from Kevin Coffey, Colin Hancock, Rust’s “Jazz Records,” Jazz Oracle 8021, Jazz Oracle 8067, and DAHR. Photo from Colin Hancock collection.

Formed at the University of Texas at Austin in the early 1920s, Jimmie’s Joys were by far the most popular jazz outfit from Texas in the 1920s. James Maloney aka “Jimmie Joy” was a clarinetist and saxophonist from Commerce, TX in Hunt County. He initially attended Texas A&M University but got wise and switched to the University of Texas where he was a member of the famous Longhorn band and founded the Joys. They named themselves after Joyland Park, the famous beachside resort on the Texas Coast, and touted a logo on the bass drum “if you can’t dance, get on and ride!” In 1923 the band embarked on a vaudeville tour that took them to Los Angeles, where they recorded for the fledgling Golden Record Co., operated by Theophilus Fitz. These records were sold in limited quantities but helped establish the Joys as a truly great band, and probably aided in landing them a contract with Okeh Records, whom this recording was made for. In October of 1924, while playing an engagement at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio (where Chris Alvarado’s Dirty River Jazz Band still holds court to this day), they travelled up to Dallas to record, cutting three wonderful sides including this hot strutting version of “Milenberg Joys.” The band already showed a strong influence of both the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and the Wolverine Orchestra, something which would continue to permeate their music for the next year.