{"id":1904,"date":"2025-04-25T14:45:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T19:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/?p=1904"},"modified":"2025-04-25T14:50:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T19:50:48","slug":"the-midway-dance-orchestra-1923","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/2025\/04\/25\/the-midway-dance-orchestra-1923\/","title":{"rendered":"The Midway Dance Orchestra – 1923"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Columbia<\/p>\n

Background information about the recordings can be found below the audio selections.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Lots O’ Mamma”
\nThe Midway Dance Orchestra
\n(Columbia 33-D mx 81311)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0October 18, 1923|<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“The Black Sheep Blues”
\nThe Midway Dance Orchestra
\n(Columbia 33-D mx 81312)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0October 18, 1923<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/The-Midway-Dance-Orchestra-The-Black-Sheep-Blues.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the Edward Mitchell Collection<\/a>, here are two 1923 sides by an early Chicago hot jazz band named after a Frank Lloyd Wright<\/a>-designed indoor\/outdoor entertainment complex that was demolished only 15 years after it opened.<\/p>\n

The short-lived band, led by Elmer Schoebel<\/a>, took its name from Midway Gardens<\/a>, a large entertainment complex designed by Frank Lloyd Wright where the band performed.\u00a0 Earlier in 1923, the band had made recordings for Gennett as the Original Memphis Melody Boys and for Columbia as the Chicago Blues Dance Orchestra.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Elmer Schoebel was a pianist and composer who also worked as an arranger for Isham Jones<\/a> and music publishing houses, including Warner Brothers. He is best remembered as the composer of jazz standards such as “Bugle Call Rag, ” “Stomp Off! Let’s Go!” “Farewell Blues” and “Prince of Wails.”<\/p>\n

Both of these recordings were made during a Columbia field trip to Chicago. Schoebel was also the composer of “Lots O’ Mamma.” “The Black Sheep Blues” was composed by Phil Baker<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Built in 1914, the massive and utterly unique Midway Gardens complex featured both indoor and outdoor dining and entertainment venues. As he did with other projects, Wright designed not only the interior and exterior but also associated items such as furniture, vases, linens, and china.\u00a0 \u00a0But the endeavor struggled financially, and the arrival of prohibition impacted attendance and cut off a much-needed source of revenue. Sadly, the entire complex was demolished in 1929, just 15 years after it was built.<\/p>\n

You can read more about Midway Gardens\u00a0on\u00a0this website<\/a>, which also features interesting galleries of\u00a0photos from the year it opened<\/a>, as well as photos\u00a0taken after an expansion and alterations<\/a> that took place the same month the recordings here were made, along with<\/span>\u00a0some additional photos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Drawing(Image courtesy University of Chicago Photographic Archive, [apf2-05121], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two 1923 recordings by an early Chicago hot jazz band, led by Elmer Schoebel, that was named after a large Frank Lloyd Wright indoor\/outdoor entertainment complex. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1905,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":89,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,37,35,36],"class_list":["post-1904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1920s","tag-chicago-recordings","tag-elmer-schoebel","tag-midway-dance-orchestra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1904"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1920,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904\/revisions\/1920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}