Aeolian Arrangers George Swift & Herman Avery Wade
By Ed Sprankle
In 001220 MMDigest Adam Ramet inquired about George Swift. Many of
us have inquired about George Swift and equally, Herman Avery Wade.
These two arrangers were responsible for hundreds of top-notch medley
and popular rolls. Nobody has ever had success in finding out anything
at all about them, as far as I know.
Both worked for Aeolian and examples of their rolls can be found in
almost any collection of popular and light classical rolls. Their rolls
are collected avidly.
Herman Avery Wade arranged some of his own tunes and issued them on the
Aeolian labels, for example, "Gravel Walk". He was also a published
composer whose most easily found sheet music is "I've Got A Pain In My
Sawdust", a ditty about a child's ailing dolly.
A few collectors have speculated that H. A. Wade and George Swift might
be the same person! Comparisons of arrangements don't confirm or deny
this possibility.
Adam's inquiry reminded me that the MMD network would be the perfect
place to post a request about these two incredibly talented arrangers.
Anybody?
Ed Sprankle
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(Message sent Thu 21 Dec 2000, 21:38:21 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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