Guitar great George Barnes' big band adaptation of "St. James Infirmary Blues" recorded in 1965 as a B-Side for his single with partner Carl Kress, "Watusi for Luci." 

Single

THE JAZZ MAN BLUES

During the presidential campaign of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson heard recordings of the George Barnes & Carl Kress guitar duo on his campaign train (thanks to the impeccable programming taste of Willis Conover, jazz producer and broadcaster on the Voice of America). LBJ couldn’t get enough, and requested the duo’s presence at the White House Staff Christmas Party in 1964 – the same year First Daughter Luci became famous for dancing the Watusi in New York discos.

Immediately after receiving the invitation, George composed “Watusi for Luci” in her honor, and George and Carl rocked the East Room with the song’s debut, 52 years ago today. Mrs. GB was there, too; she clearly recalls how tall and charming LBJ was -- and that he offered her his elbow to shake instead of his hand, as he’d lost his grip after thousands of campaign handshakes!

A few weeks later, George and Carl went into the studio to record George’s big band arrangement of “Watusi,” joined by the cream of New York horn players, including Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Bill Watrous, Wayne Andre, Al Cohn, and Bill Stegmeyer, and a stellar rhythm section featuring Carl, Panama Francis and Milt Hinton. Recorded at A&R Recording by engineer Joe Jorgensen, the record got fair airplay and became the theme for the American Bandstand-style Clay Cole Show. 

When the single hit the charts, they were invited to appear at Palisades Amusement Park, where they, like every other performer at the park, would sync their performance to their record. GB didn’t think the kids in the audience would respond to two middle-aged guys in suits, so he asked his 11-year-old actress/dancer daughter, Alexandra, to put on her go-go boots and join them onstage. 

The DJ placed the single on the turntable without noticing it was a 33 1/3 rpm promo copy and ran it at 45! George and Carl looked at each other and laughed while Alexandra gamely danced in double-time until the DJ realized his mistake. GB later professed his pride in his professional daughter, who, as he told all of his friends, “shook up a storm and never missed a beat!”

WATUSI FOR LUCI

Composed and arranged by George Barnes for his Jazz Renaissance Quintet on the Mercury album "Movin' Easy."

Lead guitar - George Barnes
Clarinet - Hank D'Amico
Rhythm Guitar – Billy Bauer
Bass – Jack Lesberg
Drums – Cliff Leeman
Engineer – Phil Ramone

For stereophiles - George Barnes' guitar and Hank D'Amico's clarinet are on one channel; the rhythm trio are on the other.

This album was recorded at A&R Recording, New York City, with Phil Ramone at the engineering controls. 
Microphones used: 
solo guitar - Electrovoice 666
clarinet - Sony
rhythm guitar - RCA 77DX
bass - Electrovoice 666
drums - Altec Lipstick
The session was recorded on Ampex tape recorders at 15 inches per second.

Movin' Easy

Frisky

A George Barnes original, composed for his then-partner Ruby Braff, and performed at their quartet's debut at Carnegie Hall, 29 June 1973.

GeorgeBarnesLegacy

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