The Wolverines (also Wolverine Orchestra, Wolverines Orchestra, The Original Wolverines) were an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

band. They were one of the most successful

territory band Territory bands were dance bands that crisscrossed specific regions of the United States from the 1920s through the 1960s. Beginning in the 1920s, the bands typically had 8 to 12 musicians. These bands typically played one-nighters, six or seven n ...

s of the

American Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

in the 1920s.

History

The Wolverine Orchestra first played at the Stockton Club, a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

south of Hamilton, Ohio, in September 1923. Many of its players were transplanted

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

musicians, and it was led by pianist Dudley Mecum. Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke joined the group toward the end of the year after the lead cornetist left. Mecum named the group based on the fact that they so often performed the

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...

tune, "Wolverine Blues". However, he quit at the end of 1923, and was replaced by Dick Voynow, from St. Louis. When the Stockton Club closed after a New Year's Eve brawl, the group moved to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

to play at Doyle's Dance Studio. They did a three-month stay there and became one of the city's most popular attractions, and on February 18, 1924, they recorded for the first time at Gennett Records. These were the first recordings Beiderbecke ever played on.

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...

was in the Gennett studio when the Wolverines recorded his tune, "Free Wheeling", on May 6, 1924. It was Beiderbecke's idea to rename it "

Riverboat Shuffle "Riverboat Shuffle" is a popular song composed by Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Mills, and Dick Voynow. Lyrics were later added by Carmichael and Mitchell Parish. First recorded by Bix Beiderbecke and The Wolverines in 1924, the piece was Carmichae ...

". The recording was released as a Gennett 78, 5454-A. As a live act, they were so popular that the owner of Doyle's locked their instruments in his club to keep them from skipping town, but the group eventually sneaked out in order to take a job in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

. However, when they reached Bloomington, they found their gig had been cancelled. Instead, Bernie Cummins began booking gigs for them at colleges in Ohio and Indiana; they became a popular attraction at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

, and recorded again in May and June 1924. Vic Berton replaced Vic Moore on drums just before their June recording date. However, Berton's tenure did not last long, and Moore returned to the band before the end of the year. In September 1924, they booked dates at the

Roseland Ballroom The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theater district, on West 52nd Street in Manhattan. The venue, according to its website, accommodat ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and recorded for Gennett again in New York in September and October. After finding out that the Roseland engagement was to be cancelled in November, Beiderbecke left the group to play with

Jean Goldkette John Jean Goldkette (March 18, 1893 – March 24, 1962) was a jazz pianist and bandleader. Life Goldkette was reportedly born on March 18, 1893 in Valenciennes, France,Russel B. Nye (1976). Music in the Twenties: The Jean Goldkette Orchestra ...

Jimmy McPartland James Dugald "Jimmy" McPartland (March 15, 1907 – March 13, 1991) was an American cornetist. He worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Tommy Dorsey, often leading his own bands. He was married to pi ...

eventually replaced him, and they recorded yet again for Gennett in December, before taking off for a gig in Palm Beach, Florida. After 1925, the group's history is less well documented, since the intense interest in the group centers mainly on Beiderbecke's tenure. Voynow sold the rights to the name "Wolverine Orchestra" to a promoter named Husk O'Hare, who began booking several different ensembles under that name through the end of the decade. One of the bands remained popular in the Midwest and played for radio station

WLW WLW (700 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as The Big One. WLW operates with around the clock. Its daytime signal provides ...

, though they only recorded once for

Vocalion Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

in 1928. O'Hare's Wolverines disbanded in 1931, and Al Gande, the original group's trombonist, began touring as the New Wolverine Orchestra in 1936. He remained at the helm of this ensemble until his death in a car crash in 1946. Since then many jazz revival groups have performed under the name "Wolverines".

Members

* Cecil Downs - director * Dudley Mecum - piano * Dick Voynow - piano * Jimmy Hartwell - clarinet * Turk Savage - clarinet *

Rosy McHargue James "Rosy" McHargue (April 6, 1902 in Danville, Illinois – June 8, 1999 in Santa Monica, California) was an American jazz clarinetist, associated principally with the Dixieland jazz scene. McHargue worked professionally from age 15, with The ...

- clarinet * Bix Beiderbecke - cornet *

- trumpet * Min Leibrook - tuba * Bob Gillette - banjo * Al Gande - trombone *George Johnson - tenor saxophone *

Vic Moore Victor Moore (born August 23, 1943) holds a 10th Degree Black Belt in Karate and was one of the late Robert Trias' Chief instructors of the Shuri-ryū Karate system. Moore was one of the first ten original members of the Trias International ...

- drums * Vic Berton - drums

Major recordings

* "Fidgety Feet"/"Jazz Me Blues," recorded on February 18, 1924, in Richmond, Indiana, and released as Gennett 5408 * "Oh Baby"/"

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

," recorded on May 6, 1924, and released as Gennett 5453 and Claxtonola 40336 * "

"/"Susie," recorded on May 6, 1924, and released as Gennett 5454 * "I Need Some Pettin'"/"Royal Garden Blues", recorded on June 20, 1924 in Richmond, Indiana and released as Gennett 20062 * "

Tiger Rag "Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard that was recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions. In 2003, the 1918 recording of "Tiger Rag" was entered into the U.S. Library of Cong ...

", recorded on June 20, 1924 in Richmond, Indiana, unissued test pressing. It was released in 1936 by English Brunswick as 02205-B and as Hot Record Society 24 * "Sensation"/"Lazy Daddy," recorded on September 16, 1924 and released as Gennett 5542 * "Tia Juana"/"Big Boy", recorded on October 7, 1924 in New York and released as Gennett

References

;Footnotes ;General references * The Wolverinesat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolverines, The American jazz ensembles Musical groups from Ohio Gennett Records artists Jazz musicians from Ohio