Some members of the Goodman band were in on it: they snuck Christian's amplifier onto the stage before that night's performance, and arranged for Charlie himself to come through the kitchen door. Which he did.
Benny Goodman, who had already auditioned Oklahoma City's Charlie Christian and dismissed him as an "impossible rube," was pissed not amused.
So, irked and onstage that night at the Victor Hugo restaurant in Los Angeles, he called for "Rose Room," which featured a series of changes he was confident Christian didn't know, and wouldn't be able to handle.
But Christian loved "Rose Room," and knew it well, and could handle the changes. And the solos as well -- matching Goodman, and offering twenty of his own, according to legend, each one unlike the last. That version of "Rose Room" lasted three quarters of an hour, by the end of which Charlie Christian was in. Charlie Christian, who had been offered $2.50 a night and the possibility of playing with the Goodman bands, was on the payroll at a hundred and fifty bucks a week, and found the Benny Goodman Sextet formed around him.
Earlier in 1939, John Hammond had informed Benny Goodman that Charlie Christian was the best electric guitarist he'd ever heard, and that Goodman should give him a listen, and should consider placing him in one of his bands. Goodman's response: "Who the hell wants to hear an electric guitarist?"
But that was before "Rose Room."
So, this afternoon I created a separate Charlie Christian links section, with recordings, books of his solos (analyses and transcriptions), and websites, all of which I recommend and hope you check out. What Chuck Berry and Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman were to rock guitar, Charlie Christian was to jazz and to all subsequent electric guitar. In fact, he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "early influence." Be kind to yourself: check him out. Start with the recommended Benny Goodman Sextet CD and with the Leo Valdes web site.
Charlie Christian wasn't the first electric guitarist, or the first recorded jazz guitarist, or the first one to record a guitar solo. But he had something none of his predecessors had: he was Charlie Christian.
Try the Goodman CD and the Valdes website. You won't need more. You'll be hooked.
Posted by Craig Ceely at January 7, 2007 11:46 PM