Firehouse Five Plus Two

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From English Wikipedia @ Freddythechick
The band with Bing Crosby for an appearance on his CBS radio program, 1950

The Firehouse Five Plus Two was a Dixieland jazz band, popular in the 1950s, consisting of members of the Disney animation department.[1] Leader and trombonist Ward Kimball was inspired to form the band[1] after spending time with members of the Disney animation and sound department and finding that they had a lot in common as jazz aficionados. The lunchtime chats escalated into a full on lunchtime jam session as Kimball, an amateur trombonist, and animator Frank Thomas, a pianist, would find they "sounded pretty good all by ourselves."[2] The band went by two names, the Huggajeedy Eight and the San Gabriel Valley Blue Blowers. The "Firehouse" motif came from a 1916 American LaFrance fire engine that Kimball restored for the local Horseless Carriage Club, and the "Plus Two" was from the fact the band had seven people.

The band was also formative in creating the Good Time Jazz label under fellow aficionado Lester Koenig, who managed all the band's releases from 1940's The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story, Volume 1 to 1970's Live at Earthquake McGoon's. Walt Disney was approving of the band, letting them play at the company's Christmas parties, at Disneyland, and other social functions, on the single condition that they never fully leave their jobs at the studio.

Members

The formative members of the band, as listed in the liner notes for The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story.[3]

  • Danny Alguire — (Cornet), fingerprint expert formerly with L.A. police department, assistant director at Disney. (1949-1952; 1954-1972; 1980)
  • Harper Goff —(Banjo), illustrator at Warner Brothers and Colliers Magazine, Disney designer and Imagineer. (1949-1952; 1954-1956; 1980)
  • Ward Kimball — (Trombone, siren, tambourine, sound effects, washboard, leader), lead animator and director for Walt Disney Animation and Disney Studios. (1949-1952; 1954-1972; 1980)
  • Clarke Mallery — (Clarinet), animator for Superman and Aquaman cartoons of the 1960s. (1949-1952)
  • Monte Mountjoy — (Drums), formerly with Bob Wills. (1949-1952)
  • Erdman (Ed) Penner — (Soprano saxophone, bass saxophone on early recordings, later switched to tuba), story man for Walt Disney Animation, died in 1956. (1949-1952; 1954-1956)
  • Frank Thomas — Piano, lead animator for Walt Disney Animation. (1949-1952; 1954-1965; 1980)

Later, other Disney artists and professional jazz musicians joined in:

  • George Bruns - Tuba and trombone, substituting for Kimball, composer for many Disney animated and live action films. (1956-1966)
  • Eddie Forrest - Drummer for the Disney Studios Orchestra and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. (1955-1972; 1980)
  • Don Kinch - Tuba, substituting for Ed Penner following his death. (1960-1972)
  • Jimmy MacDonald - Drums, Voice Actor, Foley artist and head of Disney sound department. (1949; 1954-1955)
  • George Probert - Clarinet, and soprano sax, former assistant director at Disney. (1954-1972; 1980)
  • Dick Roberts - Banjo, leader of the Banjo Kings.[4] (1960-1966)

Timeline <timeline>ImageSize = width:850 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1949 till:12/31/1980 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1949 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1949

Colors = 

id:trombone value:red       legend:Trombone
id:piano    value:pink      legend:Piano
id:trumpet  value:green     legend:Trumpet
id:clarinet value:blue      legend:Clarinet
id:banjo    value:purple    legend:Banjo
id:sax      value:orange    legend:Saxophone
id:tuba     value:gray(0.8)   legend:Tuba
id:drums    value:yellow    legend:Drums
id:studio   value:black     legend:Studio_album
id:live     value:gray(0.5) legend:Live_album
id:bars     value:gray(0.9)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData = 

 layer:back
 at:01/01/1951 color:studio
 at:01/01/1951 color:studio
 at:01/01/1952 color:studio
 at:01/01/1952 color:studio
 at:01/01/1956 color:studio
 at:01/01/1956 color:studio
 at:01/01/1957 color:studio
 at:01/01/1960 color:studio
 at:01/01/1961 color:studio
 at:01/01/1962 color:live
 at:01/01/1964 color:studio
 at:01/01/1970 color:studio
 at:01/01/1970 color:live

BarData = 

bar:Kimball    text:"Ward Kimball"
bar:Thomas     text:"Frank Thomas"
bar:Lucas      text:"Johnny Lucas"
bar:Alguire    text:"Danny Alguire"
bar:Mallery    text:"Clark Mallery"
bar:Goff       text:"Harper Goff"
bar:Probert    text:"George Probert"
bar:McDonald   text:"James McDonald"
bar:Mountjoy   text:"Monte Mountjoy"
bar:Forrest    text:"Eddie Forrest"
bar:Roberts    text:"Dick Roberts"
bar:Penner     text:"Ed Penner"
bar:Kinch      text:"Don Kinch"
bar:Bruns      text:"George Bruns"
bar:Sharpsteen text:"Tom Sharpsteen"

PlotData= 

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4)
bar:Kimball     from:01/01/1949   till:05/31/1952  color:trombone
bar:Kimball     from:01/01/1954   till:12/31/1971  color:trombone
bar:Kimball     from:12/31/1979   till:01/01/1980  color:trombone
bar:Thomas      from:01/01/1949   till:05/31/1952  color:piano
bar:Thomas      from:01/01/1954   till:12/31/1964  color:piano
bar:Thomas      from:12/31/1979   till:01/01/1980  color:piano
bar:Lucas       from:01/01/1949   till:06/01/1949  color:trumpet
bar:Alguire     from:07/01/1949   till:05/31/1952  color:trumpet
bar:Alguire     from:01/01/1954   till:12/31/1971  color:trumpet
bar:Alguire     from:12/31/1979   till:01/01/1980  color:trumpet
bar:Mallery     from:01/01/1949   till:01/01/1952  color:clarinet
bar:Goff        from:01/01/1949   till:05/31/1952  color:banjo
bar:Goff        from:01/01/1954   till:12/31/1955  color:banjo
bar:Goff        from:12/31/1979   till:01/01/1980  color:banjo
bar:Probert     from:07/01/1954   till:12/31/1971  color:sax
bar:Probert     from:12/31/1979   till:01/01/1980  color:sax
bar:McDonald    from:01/01/1949   till:06/01/1949  color:drums
bar:McDonald    from:01/01/1954   till:12/31/1954  color:drums
bar:Mountjoy    from:01/01/1949   till:05/31/1952  color:drums
bar:Forrest     from:01/01/1955   till:12/31/1971  color:drums
bar:Forrest     from:12/31/1979   till:01/01/1980  color:drums
bar:Roberts     from:01/01/1954   till:11/01/1964  color:banjo
bar:Penner      from:01/01/1949   till:05/31/1952  color:tuba
bar:Penner      from:01/01/1954   till:11/10/1956  color:tuba
bar:Kinch       from:01/01/1960   till:12/31/1971  color:tuba
bar:Kinch       from:12/31/1979   till:01/01/1980  color:tuba
bar:Bruns       from:01/01/1956   till:12/31/1965  color:tuba
bar:Sharpsteen  from:01/01/1952   till:05/31/1952  color:clarinet
bar:Sharpsteen  from:01/01/1954   till:06/30/1954  color:clarinet

</timeline>

Discography

In addition to many singles, the band recorded at least thirteen LP records, starting in 1949.[5] The last album, Live at Earthquake McGoon's, was recorded in 1970 in San Francisco. They have subsequently been re-released on CD and remain available.

  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story*, Part One (1951)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story*, Part Two (1951)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story*, Part Three (1952)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story*, Part Four (1952)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Plays for Lovers (1956)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two, Volume Five: Goes South! (1956)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Goes To Sea (1957)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Dixieland Favorites (1960)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Crashes a Party (1960)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Around the World (1961)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two At Disneyland (1962)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Goes To a Fire (1964)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Twenty Years Later (1970)
  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two Live at Earthquake McGoon's (1970)

(* also released as a 4-record album)

In popular culture

In early Pogo comic strips, former Disney animator Walt Kelly featured a band called "The Firehouse Five Glee and Pilau Society". One 1950 Sunday strip featured a caricature of Ward Kimball as "Kimbo Cat".[6]

In 1977, comedian Ray Stevens recorded a "chicken clucking" version of Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" under the name "Henhouse Five Plus Too".

Televised/film appearances

The band appeared in several Disney television specials, including their first special in 1950, One Hour In Wonderland.[7] They also appeared on the early Mickey Mouse Club television shows[8] and appeared in animated form in the 1953 Goofy animated short, "How to Dance".[9]

The band also received an homage in the direct-to-video 1999 Disney movie Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, where a band composed of actual firefighters played a jazzy rendition of "Jingle Bells" to help with a toy drive along with Mickey in "The Gift of the Magi" segment.

The band received an homage in the ending of the 2009 Disney film The Princess and the Frog, with the jazz-playing alligator Louis now belonging to a group called "The Firefly Five Plus Lou". A caricature of Frank Thomas is seen playing the piano.

Besides appearing in Disney productions, the band also appeared with Teresa Brewer in the 1951 Universal short "Teresa Brewer and the Firehouse Five Plus Two"[10] and appeared as themselves in the 1951 Kathryn Grayson film, Grounds for Marriage.[11] The Firehouse Five Plus Two also appeared on A Merry Christmas with Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters on February 22, 1950, sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes.

References

  1. ^ 1.0 1.1 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 864. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ "FIREHOUSE FIVE PLUS TWO". Firehousefiveplustwo.com. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  3. ^ "The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story - The Firehouse Five Plus Two | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  4. ^ Lester Koenig, liner notes to Dixieland Favorites, Firehouse Five Plus Two, Good Time Jazz S 10040, vinyl record, 1960.
  5. ^ "Firehouse Five Plus Two". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  6. ^ R.C. Harvey; "Swamp Talk" entry for 1950-04-16; in Through the Wild Blue Yonder, Volume 1 of the complete Pogo, published by Fantagraphics (2001); also online at "Fantagraphics Books | Comics and Graphic Novels - the Unexpurgated "Swamp Talk" Annotations from Pogo Vol. 1". Archived from the original on 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  7. ^ "One Hour in Wonderland (TV Special 1950)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  8. ^ "Mickey Mouse Club: "I Want to Be a Fireman"". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  9. ^ "How to Dance (Short 1953)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  10. ^ "Teresa Brewer and the Firehouse Five Plus Two (Short 1951)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  11. ^ "Grounds for Marriage (1951)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2021-08-27.

External links

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