Tubby the Tuba from my childhood

A friend of mine is currently writing an article on "Tubby the Tuba" for the ITEA Journal, and I'm eager to read it! Personally, I've always enjoyed the 1994 version recorded by the Manhattan Transfer (I really got into that group back in college - 1979-1984):

But there was a short version, on an old 78 record, that I listened to when I was a child back in the 1960s. Someone posted that version on YouTube (from a later LP), and I was thrilled to find it online. It features Jerry Bruno as Tubby. Man, does that bring me back!

Here's the artwork from the original Cricket 78 record that we had:

Sousaphone-related stuff this week

While continuing to research giant tubas this past week, I received, or stumbled upon the following items that are Sousaphone-related. The first is from around 1899, and is almost certainly a bit of promotional silliness - Elephants with helicon basses!

The second is a 1928 cereal ad that features, of all things, an upright bell Sousaphone - something that, by that time, had long-since fallen out of favor. The forward-facing bell Sousaphone, introduced by Conn in 1908, had been ruling the day for almost two decades (but, to be fair, it's easier to stuff people into an upright bell!):

Finally, the cover of The Saturday Evening Post from October 19, 1946 features a bell-front Sousaphone at a football game (check out the reflection in the bell):

Sousaphone sighting at Amazon.com!

My son hollered over to me last night, saying, "Dad, the Amazon home page is featuring a Sousaphone!" It turns out it's actually pieces of a marching band, but the Sousaphone does stand out.

Here's a close of up their interpretation of this type of bass horn. Is it just me, or are the valves missing? And what about the octagonal bell? Interesting idea!

Mr. Wm. J. Bell, Sousaphone Soloist

The legendary tubist Bill Bell joined Sousa's Band in 1921, when he was a mere 18 years old. But man, could that guy play a mean Sousaphone! For the four years that Bell was in the band, Sousa occasionally featured the youngster as a soloist. Here he is in 1921, and below that are the pages from a couple of Willow Grove programs that list Bell as soloist, playing "The Mighty Deep" by William Herbert Jude:

While I couldn't locate a recording of "The Mighty Deep" featuring the tuba, here is the vocal version, to give you a feel for how the piece would have sounded when Bell played it on his Sousaphone. Enjoy!

Conn's bogus boast from back in 1926

A friend of mine recently sent me images of a small brochure that Conn produced in 1926 that is devoted to the big horns. Here's the cover:

Not surprisingly, when it talks about Sousaphones, Conn once again boasts - wrongly - of having created the very first one:

While that page gets it wrong, another page provides a fascinating list of tuba players - past and present - that played Conn basses at one time in their career.

While he had passed away six years earlier, Herman Conrad, the very first Sousaphonist, made the list (which is alphabetized, if you didn't catch that). But he is listed as playing in the "Victor Talking Machine Band, New York City."

Conrad was with Victor from 1903, when he left the Sousa Band, until he died in 1920. But to my knowledge, he always worked with Victor in Camden, NJ, and lived in Philadelphia.