Biography
Multiple musical styles helped elevate the saxophone to widespread popularity across the United States, a development frequently ignored by admirers of leading jazz figures. Clyde Doerr’s nonstop appearances throughout the 1920s—on stage, over the airwaves, and on disc—poured fresh energy into the mainstream repertoire built around the instrument family. He spent his childhood in the Michigan town of Coldwater. Doerr began violin studies at age eight, then changed to saxophone during high school after a live minstrel-show soloist sparked his interest, an experience shared by countless young reed players.
Professional work began in a Detroit dance orchestra, after which he resumed formal violin training at San Jose’s King Conservatory. Metronome soon noted his direction of a thirty-two-piece group. His path alternated between scholarly pursuits and nocturnal performances, resembling the motion of a cable car on San Francisco’s steep streets, where he had relocated. By 1919 his Bachelor of Music degree and violin sat unused while he played saxophone in a Techau’s Tavern combo. Bandleader Art Hickman heard him there and offered a spot in his ensemble; within that group Doerr met Bert Ralton, and the pair created a landmark saxophone section.
After dominating the Bay Area, Hickman moved the band to New York City, where the Biltmore Hotel engaged them and Columbia began recording sessions featuring Doerr and Ralton on tracks such as the insistent “Dance It Again with Me” and the appealing “Rose of Mandalay.” Doerr later recounted to saxophonist and writer Clyde Leeson that he declined to refuse four hundred dollars weekly, the sum Columbia offered if he would supply saxophone solos on every popular vocal or dance orchestra date for the label. He also issued solo discs, steadily expanding an already sizable discography.
Praised in the press for his exceptional vibrato and for avoiding “reed-smacks,” Doerr took the helm of the Club Royal Orchestra with assistance from Paul Whiteman. Victor catalog number 18831 paired “Dapper Dan” with “The Sheik of Araby,” capitalizing on the Rudolph Valentino film success; the record’s impact cooled Whiteman’s earlier support and sparked a feud. Additional strong Victor sides included “The Sneak!,” while Doerr simultaneously cut releases as Clyde Doerr & His Orchestra for both Victor and Columbia. Bandleaders Nat Shilkret and Rosario Bourdon likewise supplied sessions whenever they could locate him.
Mid-decade attempts to establish the band in the Midwest gave way to a return to New York and continued session work, though solo output slowed. The first Clyde Doerr’s Saxophone Orchestra disc appeared in late 1925. Through the remainder of the decade he recorded for Cameo, Lincoln, Romeo, and Edison, generating material for early sound films along the way.
In the 1930s Doerr conducted for San Francisco’s NBC affiliate before moving east again. Citing repeated nights of only two hours’ sleep, he reduced freelance commitments and began teaching. Subsequent years proved unsettled: four years of chiropractic training led to his own office, yet focus proved elusive. By 1943 he was living with his sister in San Jose and employed by a lock company. Precision tool-room training opened a new path during wartime; he advanced to chief inspector for precision grinding at an Oakland plant, a role that sustained him into the 1970s. Later he also entered real estate sales. ~ Eugene Chadbourne
Professional work began in a Detroit dance orchestra, after which he resumed formal violin training at San Jose’s King Conservatory. Metronome soon noted his direction of a thirty-two-piece group. His path alternated between scholarly pursuits and nocturnal performances, resembling the motion of a cable car on San Francisco’s steep streets, where he had relocated. By 1919 his Bachelor of Music degree and violin sat unused while he played saxophone in a Techau’s Tavern combo. Bandleader Art Hickman heard him there and offered a spot in his ensemble; within that group Doerr met Bert Ralton, and the pair created a landmark saxophone section.
After dominating the Bay Area, Hickman moved the band to New York City, where the Biltmore Hotel engaged them and Columbia began recording sessions featuring Doerr and Ralton on tracks such as the insistent “Dance It Again with Me” and the appealing “Rose of Mandalay.” Doerr later recounted to saxophonist and writer Clyde Leeson that he declined to refuse four hundred dollars weekly, the sum Columbia offered if he would supply saxophone solos on every popular vocal or dance orchestra date for the label. He also issued solo discs, steadily expanding an already sizable discography.
Praised in the press for his exceptional vibrato and for avoiding “reed-smacks,” Doerr took the helm of the Club Royal Orchestra with assistance from Paul Whiteman. Victor catalog number 18831 paired “Dapper Dan” with “The Sheik of Araby,” capitalizing on the Rudolph Valentino film success; the record’s impact cooled Whiteman’s earlier support and sparked a feud. Additional strong Victor sides included “The Sneak!,” while Doerr simultaneously cut releases as Clyde Doerr & His Orchestra for both Victor and Columbia. Bandleaders Nat Shilkret and Rosario Bourdon likewise supplied sessions whenever they could locate him.
Mid-decade attempts to establish the band in the Midwest gave way to a return to New York and continued session work, though solo output slowed. The first Clyde Doerr’s Saxophone Orchestra disc appeared in late 1925. Through the remainder of the decade he recorded for Cameo, Lincoln, Romeo, and Edison, generating material for early sound films along the way.
In the 1930s Doerr conducted for San Francisco’s NBC affiliate before moving east again. Citing repeated nights of only two hours’ sleep, he reduced freelance commitments and began teaching. Subsequent years proved unsettled: four years of chiropractic training led to his own office, yet focus proved elusive. By 1943 he was living with his sister in San Jose and employed by a lock company. Precision tool-room training opened a new path during wartime; he advanced to chief inspector for precision grinding at an Oakland plant, a role that sustained him into the 1970s. Later he also entered real estate sales. ~ Eugene Chadbourne
Singles
