Paul Mertz
Paul Mertz participated in the January 26, 1925 recording session of Bix Beiderbecke and His Rhythm Jugglers, the historic session that brought us the immortal “Davenport Blues”. Paul Mertz also appeared in several other recordings of Bix with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra and in the February 4, 1927 session where Bix and Tram recorded the seminal jazz classic “Singin’ The Blues”. The silent 16 mm film of the Jean Goldkette Orchestra in its 1926 Eastern tour is sometimes known as the Paul Mertz film because he was given a copy of the film by Edith Horvath, the sister of Charlie Horvath who actually owned the original film. Stills from the film appear in Man and Legend and in The Leon Bix Beiderbecke Story courtesy of Paul Mertz and Edith Horvath. Paul Mertz was present on April 2, 1975, at the unveiling of the plaque at 1600 Broadway, the building where the Cinderella Ballroom was located. Clearly, Paul Mertz is an important figure in Bix’s lore.
Paul Madeira Mertz was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on September 1, 1904. Paul joined the Goldkette organization in 1923 and left in February 1927 to join Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians. Between March 1929 and 1933, Paul was with several bands -Irving Aaronson’s Commanders, Red Nichols, and Horace Heidt. Beginning in 1933, Paul was an arranger for some of Hollywood’s major studios, namely, Columbia, MGM, and Paramount.
Tom McIntosh published an article in the April 23, 1972 issue of the Los Angeles Times reporting his interview with Paul Mertz. [Incidentally, Tom Mc Intosh, a serious Bix fan, was involved with Lawrence Kersta in voice print analyses of Bix’s recordings and of recordings with Bix’s “sound-alikes”. This was reported in the liners for the LP album “It Sounds Like Bix” (Broadway # 104) and in the February 27, 1972 issue of the Los Angeles Times.] Perhaps the most significant quotes from the article with the report of Mertz’s interview are the following.
- 1. “Why, he had a wonderful, warm home life,” said Mertz. “He was a happy, relaxed, easygoing guy.”
2. “He [Mertz] is working on a musical now, based on the life and times of Bix Beiderbecke (Bix Beiderbecke, Superstar?). “A couple of young fellows from one of the studios came out a while back,” he said. “They wanted to do a movie on Bix -not a travesty like ‘Young Man With A Horn,’ but a serious film. Anyhow, one of their superiors killed the project when he found out there wasn’t any real love interest in Bix’s life, that all he cared about was drinking and playing music
3. “He sent me homemade tapes in which he played three of Bix’s fine piano compositions and one of his own.”
To see the complete article, kindly scanned by Rich Johnson, click here.
I am happy to report that in 1972 Rich Johnson and Jim Arpy were given a tape by Paul Mertz. In the tape, Paul Mertz plays Bix’s compositions (including Davenport Blues), some Jean Goldkette, some of his own compositions, some Eastwood Lane and Hurricane.
I am grateful to Rich Johnson and Jim Arpy for a copy of the tape and for their permission to upload it to this site. I thank Jean-Pierre Lion for his generous gift of a copy of the article of the Los Angeles Times of April 23, 1972.
Recordings of Paul Mertz with Bix
- January 26, 1925, Toddling Blues, Bix Beiderbecke and His Rhythm Jugglers.
- January 26, 1925, Davenport Blues, Bix Beiderbecke and His Rhythm Jugglers.
- January 28, 1927, Proud Of A Baby Like You, Jean Goldkette And His Orchestra.
- January 28, 1927, I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover, Jean Goldkette And His Orchestra.
- January 31, 1927, I’m Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now, Jean Goldkette And His Orchestra.
- January 31, 1927, Hoosier Sweetheart, Jean Goldkette And His Orchestra.
- February 1, 1927, Look At The World And Smile, Jean Goldkette And His Orchestra.
- February 1, 1927, My Pretty Girl, Jean Goldkette And His Orchestra.
- February 3, 1927, A Lane In Spain, Jean Goldkette And His Orchestra.
- February 4, 1927, Trumbology, Frank Trumbauer And His Orchestra.
- February 4, 1927, Clarinet Marmalade, Frank Trumbauer And His Orchestra.
- February 4, 1927, Singin’ The Blues, Frank Trumbauer And His Orchestra.
Paul Mertz on “Remembering Bix” by Ralph Berton
Following the publication of Leonard Feather’s review of Berton’s book in the April 7, 1974 issue of the Los Angeles Times, Paul Mertz sent a letter to the editor. Mertz commented on several aspects of Feather’s review.
Feather wrote:
Berton brings a picture which, though fictionalized to a degree, offers a perceptive insight into the Jazz Age from the perspective of Beiderbecke, Berton, and others similarly alienated.
Mertz comments on the phrase:
Fictionalized to a degree.
He writes:
That phrase is a pregnant one, best assessed by those of us who personally knew and associated with him.
Fictionality tends to thrive when reminiscences must surmount a 40-year interim, and it surely does in this book.
The purport of the title of the work is misleading. More apropos (sic) would have been, “A Hagiography of the Berton family”; and, possibly, subtitle, “Its help in the transfiguration of Bix.
Also, sporadically, there is “speculative” analysis of the Beiderbecke character from womb to tomb.
Paul Mertz also wrote a review of Berton’s book and sent copies to several of his friends. Here it is, in its totality through the courtesy of Tom Pletcher:
Ralph Berton’s book on Bix Beiderbecke compares favorably to that of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Both books are based on pipedreams.
Mr. Berton has talent as a writer but shows the inability to do any honest research into his subject. Mr. Berton, aside from possibly three interviews (and one of these claims he was misquoted!), relies on books that can be found at the nearest public library. Perhaps this book should have been retitled to deal solely with the sexual activities of the Berton family. There can be no explanation as to why Mr. Berton has sought to drag down the name of Bix Beiderbecke to that low level. It is sensationalism, alone, that Mr. Berton offers rather than a factual view of Bix’s life. Does Mr. Berton need a buck that badly?
What I can determine is that Mr. Berton has only a passing knowledge, at best, of what Bix Beiderbecke was doing during his professional career, and absolutely no knowledge of what Bix was doing in his adolescent years.
Where does one start to identify the mistakes? When an author is clearly in doubt as to the facts in his book, as Mr. Berton is, an attempt to try and list the mistakes would take more time than I care to devote. For the record, I was less than halfway through the book and had stopped counting the mistakes at twenty-five.
Mr. Berton would have the reader believe that as a youth of 13 years, (though, by his own admission, many thought that he looked eleven years old), he palled around with Bix, who was then 21. The constant reminders to the reader of how he amazed Bix by his vast knowledge of a variety of subjects, became increasingly hard to swallow.
Particularly intriguing was Mr. Berton’s account of Bix’s passing in Queens General Hospital. Yes, it was sad to read the account. Sad because it never happened that way! Bix died in his rooming house. A simple bit of research could easily have established this fact.
There are many injustices toward the Beiderbecke family, including the incorrect spelling of Bix’s father’s name. Any information about the family would have been easy to come by for there are many Beiderbeckes still living, including Bix’s sister Mary, and they could have supplied correct information. But again, that would mean doing a bit of research, and that would only get in the way of prefabrications.
Mr. Berton focuses the book on the summer of 1924 and the days that the Wolverine Orchestra spent in Gary, Indiana. It is understandable how, at that tender age, he was confused about how his brother, Vic Berton, could have been the drummer then with the band, while they still retained their own drummer, Victor Moore. Mr. Berton solves that mystery by alternating the two on drums. Amazing! Even goes so far as to identify a photo (# 6, sandwiched between pages 240 & 241) incorrectly to support his “theory.” The man identified as Vic Moore (#2) is Min Leibrook. Give a closer look. Where was Vic Moore? On vacation during the Gary engagement. Who said so? Vic Moore, himself. (By the way, on the opposite page, that is Sylvester “Hody [sic]” Ahola with the trumpet, not Howdy Quicksell, as identified. Howdy played the banjo.)
Mr. Berton falls repeatedly into the traps that have snared all past mythical accounts of Bix’s life. This is due to his heavy reliance on books that have previously been proven incorrect in their attempts to deal with Bix. Some of his mistakes are so unforgivable that they reduce his stature to that of a neophyte in the realm of the Beiderbecke world.
It is obvious that any effort toward true research would have caused Mr. Berton’s pipedreams to burst, and like Walter Mitty, he preferred to live in a dream world -not the world of reality. Too bad, for Bix deserves so much better than having a purple accounting of his life as written by Mr. Berton.”
I am grateful to Tom Pletcher for sending me a copy of Mertz’s review of Berton’s book.
Interview of Paul Mertz by Tim Fitak
On March 18, 1984, Tim Fitak interviewed Paul Mertz in his home in Hollywood Hills, California. To listen to the interview, generally provided by Linda and Tim Fitak, see the following.
Interview of Paul Mertz by Tim Fitak. Part 1. (46.54 min)
Interview of Paul Mertz by Tim Fitak. Part 2. (29.58 min)
The first photograph discussed in the interview is from February 1923. It was kindly sent to me years ago by Rickey Bauchelle, Doc Ryker’s daughter. I could not scan the whole photo, so I did it in two pieces. Rickey also sent me a copy of the back of the photo with the names of the musicians.
Photo of the Jean Goldkette Orchestra, February 1923:
- Front
- Back of Photo with signatures of musicians
The Compositions of Paul Mertz
The ASCAP website lists tens of compositions by Paul Mertz, mostly “cues” for Hollywood films. The tunes composed by Mertz are,
- Ennui
- Erratique
- Hurricane
- I’m Glad There is You
- Goodbye Blues
Ennui
Paul Mertz composed this tune in Paris in 1928. Mertz was in Paris at the time with the Fred Waring Orchestra. According to Warren K. Plath, writing in 1977 in the liners for the LP album “Lud Gluskin et son Jazz, Paris-Berlin, 1928-1932, Vol II, Wolverine 2, Paul Mertz “presented Gluskin with his arrangement of his composition which is basically a tribute to Bix’s piano chording. Play this one sometime alongside ‘In A Mist’.”
Lud Gluskin recorded the tune in Berlin on January 16, 1929; it was released as Homocord 4-3022. There was a typographical error in the title given on the label: “Enuli”, instead of “Ennui,” described as a slow-fox composed by Paul Mertz.
The musicians in the recording were:
- Eddie Ritten and Faustin Jeanjean (t);
- Emile Christian (tb);
- Gene Prendergast, Georges Charon, Maurice Cizeron, Serge Glykson (reeds);
- Spence Clark, bsx;
- Fred Zierer (vln);
- Paulie Freed (p);
- Howard Kennedy(bj);
- Arthur Pavoni (bb);
- Bart Curtis (d);
- Lud Gluskin (lead).
[Information from “Lud Gluskin, A Bio-Discography” by Horst Bergmeier and Rainer E. Lotz.]
“Ennui” was included in the LP album Wolverine 2, and in an Australian CD, Lyric CD73. A real audio streaming file is available here.
On March 18, 1984, Tim Fitak interviewed Paul Mertz in his home in Hollywood Hills, California. Paul Mertz recorded the tune on piano and provided some comments. Through the generosity of Linda and Tim Fitak, a copy of the tape of the interview is available here.
Erratique
As far as I know, “Erratique” was never recorded.
Hurricane
“Hurricane” was recorded several times in 1926 and 1927 by various bands that included Red Nichols and Miff Mole.
- 09/14/26 The Redheads
- 11/10/26 Miff and Red Stompers
- 01/26/27 Miff Mole and His Little Molers
- 03/03/27 Red Nichols and His Five Pennies
- 05/16/27 The Six Hottentots
I’m Glad There is You
The latter is Mertz’s most successful composition. It was co-composed with Jimmy Dorsey, published in 1941, and recorded by the following artists.
- ADDERLEY C
- AMMONS G
- ANITA KERR SINGERS
- ANKA PAUL
- ATWOOD E
- BERGAN P
- BURRELL K
- CASTLE L
- CLOONEY R
- CRAWFORD RANDY
- DAMONE
- DAMONE V
- DAMONE VIC
- DAVIS JR S
- DORSEY
- DORSEY J
- DORSEY J ORCH
- DORSEY J ORCH/CASTLE L
- DORSEY MADEIRA W
- DUNLAP L
- FITZGERALD E
- FLYNNE G
- GETZ AND PETERSON
- HARGROVE R
- HOLIDAY B
- HORNE L
- HORNE LENA
- HORNES LENA
- JONES, J
- KENTON
- KENTON S
- KERR A
- KESSEL B
- KING MORGANA
- LAMOTT N
- LEE P
- LETTERMEN
- LONDON J-S=A
- LYNNE G
- MARSHALL P
- MATHIS J
- MATT MONRO
- MCKENNA D
- MONRO M
- MONRO MATT
- NANCY LAMOTT
- NATIVE COLOURS
- NORRIS B
- NORRIS B/DUNLAP L
- PAOLI G
- PETER MARSHALL
- PETERSON O
- PIPPS
- PRYSOCK A
- RANDOLPH BOOTS
- REISMAN J
- ROY HARGROVE
- RUBIN VANESSA
- SINATRA F
- SLOANE C
- STAN GETZ AND OSCAR PETERSON
- TEMPTATIONS
- VAUGHAN SARAH
- WASHINGTON GROVER JR
Goodbye Blues
Note added September 30, 2005. Rob Roth informed me of an additional composition by Paul Mertz entitled “Good Bye Blues.” Here are the cover and first page of the sheet music. I thank Rob for sending the scans.
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Invitation to Delta Sigma Upsilon Fraternity “Leap Year” Dance.”
The dance took place on February 29, 1924, at the Lochmoor Golf Club in Detroit. The music was provided by “Mertz-Dorsey.”
Click here to see the image.
Kindly scan and sent by Rich Johnson.
Information about Mertz’s activities with Fred Waring.
Click here.
Kindly scan and sent by Rich Johnson.
Letter from Paul Mertz to Ben Denison.
Page 1.
Page 2.
Page 3.
Page 4.
Kindly scan and sent by Rich Johnson.
Ben Denison is the painter of “Rehearsing Davenport Blues” the Rhythm Jugglers in the legendary January 26, 1925 recording session at the Gennett studios in Richmond, Indiana.
Pass List from France – 1928
Paul Mertz was with Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians from 1927 to 1929. It is well known that Mertz went to France with Waring. Here is the passenger list showing Mertz returned to the US on the SS Ile de France, sailing from Plymouth on Jul 12, 1927. and arriving in New York on Jul 17, 1928.
From the 1910 US Census, Reading, PA. Living at 502 North Ninth Street
Jacob M. Mertz, Head, age 35, born in Pennsylvania, baker
Anna Mertz, wife, age 33, born in Pennsylvania
Paul M. Mertz, son, age 5, born in Pennsylvania
Earl M. Mertz, son, age 2, born in Pennsylvania
1920 US Census The family lives at 1019 Tenth Street and Jacob’s occupation is a real estate broker.