Let’s Recapitulate. The Evidence for Bix’s Breakdown(s)
by
The reports of three of Bix's fellow musicians
Roy Bargy, "Man and Legend." "It was a breakdown all right, a major one. He was unable to make our evening performance. Paul took charge, and got him a doctor. As far as I remember, he was left at the hotel in the care of a male nurse."
Bill Rank, "Man and Legend." "He cracked up, thats all. Just went to pieces; broke up a full room of furniture in the hotel."
Charlie Margulis, "The Leon Beiderbecke Story." (I-3/27/66): "Bix had too much to drink before the concert and passed out as we were playing. He was sitting on my right, and I am normally left-handed. So I was able to play the trumpet with my left hand and hold him upright with my right Paul witnessed the incident and immediately had him hustled back to the hotel."
Roy Bargy, "The Leon Beiderbecke Story." (5/9/59): Bix had a breakdown at the hotel where Whiteman and some of us were staying, after the evening performance. Paul called a doctor and we moved on the next day, Paul left Bix here under the doctor and nurses care. I think Bix remained at the hotel but perhaps he was transferred to a hospital? The concert tour continued but Bix never caught up with it. He somehow managed to escape his keepers and made his way back to New York.
Frank Trumbauer's Diary.
2 Dec 1928: Taft auditorium, Cincinnati, OH: Bix still gone. Stayed in Cleveland with Dts. I spent four years on him to no avail.
3 DEC 1928: Arcadia Auditorium Detroit, MI: "No Bix. When he should be here, he missed the best town on the map."
The Cleveland Press.
Jan 21 (Mon) Cleveland Press, reviewing Whitemans orchestra opening night, reported: "One of his best musicians is absent."
Jan 25-From the Cleveland Press: "Beiderbecke is recovering from an illness at his home in Davenport, Ia." And "Whiteman hopes to have his star hot cornet player back by February 5 on time for opening of Old Gold Broadcast series Feb. 5."
The only firm date for a Bix breakdown is Trams diary. "2 Dec 1928: Stayed in Cleveland with DTs.
The reports from Bixs fellow musicians are assigned to Jan 20, 1929 (Sudhalter and Evans) or Dec 20, 1928 (Evans and Evans). These are not firm dates. They are educated guesses, as I pointed out in my previous posting.
Sudhalter and Evans: They knew that Whiteman was in Cleveland on Jan 20, 1929. They knew that Bix had a breakdown from the reports of his fellow musicians. They knew that Bix missed the Jan 20, 1929 performance (Cleveland Press). They did not have access to Tram's diary. Ergo, Bix's breakdown was on Jan 20, 1929.
Evans and Evans: They knew that Whiteman was in Cleveland on Nov 30, 1928. They knew that Bix had a breakdown from the reports of his fellow musicians. They knew that Bix was not with the Whiteman band on Dec 2, 1928, he had been left in Cleveland with DTs (Trams diary). Ergo, Bixs breakdown was on Nov 30, 1928.
The fellow musicians reports are applicable to either Nov 30, 1928 or Jan 20, 1929. They provide no information about dates. The only discrepant report is Bargy's account of the breakdown in "Man and Legend." Bargy specifically states that Bix did not make the evening performance. Bargys account in Evans and Evans simply tells us that the breakdown took place after the performance, but does not tell us if Bix was or was not at the concert. The presence of Bix at the concert is reported by Margulis.
It is unlikely that Bix's fellow musicians recalled a specific date for Bix's breakdown(s). They were interviewed decades after the events took place. With the grueling tour schedules, dates and places get merged, and I would venture to guess that they would not remember precisely whether Bix had a breakdown in the first visit of the second visit to Cleveland, if, indeed, they remembered that there were two visits within less than two months. None of Bix's fellow musicians reported two breakdowns, at least in Sudhalter and Evans or Evans and Evans. Sudhalter and Evans assign all the quotes from musicians to Jan 20, 1929. Evans and Evans assign all the quotes from musicians to Nov 30, 1928.
The only two firmly documented facts are that Bix had a breakdown in Cleveland on Nov 30, 1928 (Tram's diary) and that he was not present (Cleveland Press) at the Whiteman concert in Cleveland on Jan 20, 1929. The rest are recollections from musicians, conjecture, educated guesses, and speculation.
It is possible that Bix went to Cleveland with Whiteman on Jan 20, 1929, that he had a breakdown in his hotel room, that he was sent to Davenport, that on the way to Davenport he stopped in Chicago, got in touch with Spanier, went into the Brusnwick recording studio with Miller and his boys, and that he recorded the solos in "Cradle of Love." It is just as possible that Bix went to Davenport from Cincinnati, did not have to wait four hours for a train to Davenport, continued on home, never got in touch with Spanier, did not go to the Brusnwick studios with Ray Miller and his band, and did not record "Cradle of Love." Both scenarios are hypothetical, speculative. If the aural evidence convinces you that Bix is the mystery soloist, then you accept the first scenario. If you don't hear Bix in the mystery cornetist solos, then you favor the second scenario or any other plausible account of Bix's chronology between Jan 10 and Feb 5, 1929. The firmly established chronological facts do not favor one scenario over others. We need a smoking gun.