The Best Jazz Drama, featuring Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge and Jo Jones

October 6, 1961, CBS-TV, Route 66, "Good Night Sweet Blues" starring Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Jo Jones and Ethel Waters. A former singer with a short time to live asks Todd and Buzz to find the members of the band she sang with 30 years before,
#colemanhawkins #royeldridge #jojones #route66 #martinmilner #georgemarharis #cbstv

[@CarlitosMayo]

No other channel could bring this. Thanks.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Thank you!

[@tomsmith522]

Being 75 l remember route 66 , l watched it when l was young... thanks again for posting this great episode 😀🎶🕉️👍

[@JazzVideoGuy]

great series, George Maharis just passed away last week

[@djl906]

So beautiful! thanks Bret, I love being able to see classics like this that no other TV or cable station seems to even think about playing anymore, we can't do it without you!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Appreciate the kind words

[@fbeve10040]

I'm to old to be tearing up like this... thank you guys,,,

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Great drama should produce an emotional reaction.

[@DreBDrums]

I took the time to watch the whole thing last night, and it was really amazing to see Papa Jo in dialogue in a movie. A real tear-jerker. Thanks for sharing this. I shared it on my FB, and always give you kudos as a content creator when I do so. What a touching film. Thanks, Bret. 🙏

[@henridelagardere264]

Thank you, Bret, for spreading the feeling of real jazz! Jo Jones and Roy Eldridge in particular had two appealing, expressive faces. I dare anyone _not_ to smile when seeing them, their sunny disposition was as contagious as their swing. I've got that edition of _On the Road,_ was also thinking of Mark Murphy, who once told me about what Kerouac meant to him. He was a real jazz singer.

[@Sassyjass2012]

Thank you for mentioning Mark. We became friends later in his life, and Kerouac always remained important to him.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Mark was great

[@nilkilnilkil]

This is good ...

[@JazzVideoGuy]

I think so

[@luiszuluaga6575]

I really appreciate you putting this out into the world for us to discover. Ethel Waters was multi talented performer and had amazing presence.

[@donaldraby2892]

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Thanks Bret for everything 💙

[@JazzVideoGuy]

no, thank you

[@jambonejim1249]

That was fabulous Bret, thoroughly enjoyable on a lot of levels.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

It's a classic, for sure.

[@debbiedailey8048]

Thank you 😢

[@rayoll]

who dreamt up putting the guys on the wrong instruments?? This is super cool Thanks Bret!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

I have no idea why they did that. But Jo Jones could play the trumpet and obviously Roy could play the drums.

[@DanielBarberMusic]

I had just turned 4 when this aired, so didn't see it, but it's fascinating to watch now, at so many levels. Thank you so much!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Glad you finally got to see it.

[@JazzRockswithAdam]

This is awesome! I bet if I saw that episode as a kid it would of spoke to me somehow too, I bet!!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

I was only 12 when I saw on TV and it certainly spoke to me, and still does.

[@JazzRockswithAdam]

@@JazzVideoGuy great to see some real jazz stars in there too. I remember ADAM 12 reruns, but Route 66 was just a little before my time.

[@barneylessing4781]

Next to “Round midnight” this is the best depiction of jazz musicians on film in my opinion--the way that jazz music can affect one’s personal spirit and how jazz musicians are affected by it --the freedom and spirituality of the art form.Thank you Bret…

[@JazzVideoGuy]

well said, thanks Barnety

[@thelonious-dx9vi]

Yeah man .... Dexter as Dale. I think he was nominated for an Oscar for that too. Because he was perfect. I mostly liked the Bird movie too ... but for Forrest Whittaker flapping his fingers all over the joint, whereas Bird's barely moved at all. I think of that so often when picking up my instrument. But I mean, it's such a major thing ... Clint couldn't have showed him the Hot House clip from TV? Rhetorical question. And I'm not talking to Clint these days.

[@reisserjean-michelakabeeth8551]

Fantastic !!! Never heard about that one. Really fantastic !

[@JazzVideoGuy]

so glad you dig

[@dwayneclemons5497]

This is one of my all-time favorites, that happens to feature my musical favorites: Ms. Waters, Roy Eldridge, Papa Jo Jones and Coleman Hawkins. Juano Hernandez is also one of my all-time favorite actors, who I've seen and enjoyed in several movies produced by the legendary Oscar Micheaux, back in the 1920s and 1930s. Hernandez also plays in the movie, Young Man With A Horn, featuring Kurt Douglas. I really love it the way you'd put it, in reference to the actors portraying the roles of jazz musicians! "Once they'd start playing, the element of believability was all lost." 😂🤣 I've always thought that actors playing the roles of jazz musicians were hams, at best. I'm really not so good with bio-dramas as it is. So I am totally with you on this!

[@RoryVanucchi]

Great video out there of Papa Joe and Krupa circa 1970 teaching drums and playing, it's a good one for drummers. Ethel a legend of course and I always think of her singing Taking a Chance on Love from the movie Cabin in the Sky. Before Ella and Billie there was Ethel Waters.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Exactly, Tony.

[@kfranco145]

Wow, this was so great. Thank you for posting. I would have never known of this had you not.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Glad you dig!

[@nige3801]

This is gold, many thanks!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Couldn't agree more. I watched this program when it was first broadcast in 1961 and its stayed with me my entire life.

[@louiscarrillo5873]

Wow.just wow .

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Agreed

[@HANDSnSTICKS]

Thank you -

[@JazzVideoGuy]

You're welcome!

[@bmbacchus]

Thank you Bret. I've never seen this one!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

You're welcome!

[@idnemgk]

❤I had no idea. Thank you, Bret!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Glad you dig

[@mrdog66]

The best jazz film by far is Round Midnight. In the late 50's and early 60's there was more jazz on TV. Such as the The Subject is Jazz and The Sound of Jazz.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Jazz film yes, and The Subject is Jazz, and the Sound of Jazz are classics. But this rare episode of Route 66 captures a side of these musicians that most people simply don't know.

[@thoughtsforthebuilders]

13:36 so sweet

[@JazzVideoGuy]

exactly

[@jazzcornertv]

Wow String Bean on film. Great.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

ha!

[@borgullet3376]

Bret, you Next Leveled it.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Thanks. I saw that program when I was twelve years old and its stayed with me my entire life.

[@borgullet3376]

@@JazzVideoGuy and that's why you're My Dude

[@shrinkprof]

I saw this when it originally aired. Interestingly enough, Waters had been billed as "Mama Stringbean," while Hawkins was known to his intimates as "Bean." A couple of years after this, I saw Hawkins perform at Connelly's, a little jazz club in South Boston. Roy Eldridge stopped by (but didn't play) to see his old friend. Eldridge, by the way, could play drums. Same for Harry James. Their like shall not pass this way again.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

They were remarkable people and creators.

[@paulgibby6932]

I see Bill Gunn was Hank. He was a screenwriter...and great actor IMHO. Was someone else playing the guitar for him? Who was it, if that was the case? Anybody know?

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Not sure who's on guitar. Obviously a guitarist who played with Nelson Riddle in the LA studios. Bill Gunn was a interesteing guy. A writer, director, actor, novelist, playwright: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gunn_(writer)

[@wylieroth3145]

What a gas!

[@wylieroth3145]

This would probably be banned in Florida.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

anything is possible

[@wylieroth3145]

@@JazzVideoGuy Yeah, that's no shit.

[@wylieroth3145]

@@JazzVideoGuy I dig the shit out of Mexico. I only spent 2 weeks in PV back in '94. Shead tears as we approached the airport for our flight home. Didn't want to go back to the States, even though I live in beautiful SW MT. I know a LOT has changed since then, but you seem to be in a groovy place. Don't be surprised if I show up on your doorstep...

[@martarodriguez538]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@RoryVanucchi]

all heavyweights. Papa Joe a favorite. Eldridge invented that unique style of his that Hubbard improved on, Hawkins and Lester Young are the daddies on the sax.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Very unique people.

[@bryandickerson5365]

This is awesome Bret! It originally came out when I was a toddler and my folks didn’t even have a TV yet. The only time I’ve ever seen it was as a rerun on Nickelodeon back in the ‘80s when I was getting a music degree at NTSU. I was blown away that my jazz heroes had been featured on a TV show! Here’s another show that I did see originally - Cannonball Adderley and Jose Feliciano featured on ‘Kung Fu’! kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4vcZKWwg8aZos0

[@JazzVideoGuy]

I remember that Kung Fu, and thanks for posting the clip. Man, I forgot how much weight Cannonball picked up in his final years. He left us much much too soon. Only wish he had taken better care of himself.

[@bryandickerson5365]

@@JazzVideoGuy No kidding! Jon Hendriks’ vocalese lyrics to Cannonball’s ‘Freddie Freeloader’ solo come to mind. A friend of mine was young and just getting into jazz when he got a chance to hear Cannonball. Being new to jazz, though, and not hip to Cannonball yet, he declined. Very soon he learned about Adderley - about the same time Adderley passed away. My friend has always regretted that.

[@thelonious-dx9vi]

Bret strikes again. Wow, how cool is this. Not to nitpick, but I wish Papa Jo and Roy didn't swap instruments, I wonder why they did that.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

I wonder too. Papa Joe and Ethel Waters had some wonderful chemistry, that's for sure.

[@thelonious-dx9vi]

@@JazzVideoGuy oh, big time. And I'd sort of gotten used to the idea of Papa Jo smiling when he was playing, and being real serious and a maybe little edgy at other times😉. I particularly recall the look on his face that time they ended up backing Chuck Berry at ... I think it was one year at Newport?? He seemed to think that was ... not proper, and I'm inclined to agree with him. Not throwing shade at Chuck of course, whose genius doesn't get the juice it deserves. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man alone, which is essentially Back Door Man in sheep's clothing (sort of), was in heavy rotation on white bread Top 40 radio in 1956. I mean, you want to talk about rock 'n roll being subversive? To me, that record is the most brilliantly subversive act in the the history of pop culture. I mean, just think about it ... then listen to Howlin' Wolf sing Back Door Man (that record being a miracle unto itself) ... then listen to Brown-Eyed Handsome Man ... Chuck put his fastball right past all of them, right under their noses. And it's like a built-in metaphor of itself, where the act of doing it is acting out what the song is saying! It's almost, like, too great. Pure genius.

[@kankannou5718]

🥲🎶🎺