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Green
Brothers Novelty Marimba Orchestra/Band
Photo courtesy James A. Strain
The
oldest of the Green brothers, Joseph Peter, was born
in Omaha, Nebraska on February 9, 1892, fifteen months
before his more famous younger brother, George Hamilton
Green. He died on October 16, 1939, at the age of 47.
Joseph
not only played the xylophone, but (unlike George) he
was also an excellent drummer. He studied with timpanist
Joseph Zettelman of the Chicago Symphony. Joe’s
early career included stints with Sousa’s band
and with the Victor Talking Machine Company as a sessions
man.
Joseph Green in his Sousa band uniform.
Photo courtesy James A. Strain
The
Green brothers co-led their own groups, which all featured
the two brothers playing xylophones and other percussive
instruments. In addition to their appearances and recordings
as the Green Brothers Novelty Marimba Orchestra/Band,
they also recorded in the United States as Joe Green’s
Novelty Orchestra (Edison Diamond Disc), The
Blue and White Marimba Band, Klein’s Serenading
Shoemakers, Joe Green’s International Novelty Orchestra
(Victor). In Canada they recorded as Joe Green’s
Ambassadors (Melotone), Joe Green’s Continental
Marimba Band, Joe Green’s Marimba Band, Joe Green’s
Royal Orchestra, and Joe Green’s Vibraphone
Dance Orchestra.
Leedy
Drum Topics No. 14 (April
1927). Gerhardt
Collection
William
L. Cahn notes that personnel and instrumentation on
the recordings produced by the Green Brothers Novelty
Marimba Band were never constant. He identifies the
personnel typically appearing on their early recordings
as George Hamilton Green and Joseph Green (xylophone/marimba/vibes/drums);
Earl Oliver, Hymie Farberman, and Harry Glantz (trumpet);
Tom Brown and Charles Randall (trombone); F. Wheeler
Wadsworth, Rudy Wiedoeft, and Sammy Feinsmith (also
saxophone); Ed Violinsky (violin); Victor Arden and
Phil Ohman (piano). Beginning in 1928, the youngest
Green brother, Lewis, joined his older brothers’
various ensembles on guitar and banjo.
The
father of the musical Green family in Omaha, Nebraska,
was coronet player and bandmaster George Green, Sr.
Over the course of a thirty-one year career, his band
played for four Presidents – Cleveland, McKinley,
Roosevelt, and Taft. His father, Joseph, was also a
bandmaster.
Cincinatti’s
Musical Messenger for June 1919 describes George
Sr. as a man who “takes great satisfaction in the
character and reputation of his boys, and justly so.
When they made known to him that they desired to be
musicians he said to them: ‘If you intend to be
musicians, be good ones or none at all.’ They accepted
the challenge, worked hard, against odds at times, but
soon attained an eminence in their profession that justifies
their fondest dreams. Father Green was not a man of
opulence, but optimistic as to the outcome of his boys’
ambitions. He sacrificed and endured hardships that
his boys might have every advantage possible to them
in the acquirement of a musical education, they denying
themselves likewise in the pursuit. Their place now
among musicians has fully repaid him for all his anxiety
and self-denials. He hears of their popularity and successes
and listens to their playing on the phonograph records.”
George H. and Joe Green, with the Castlewood
Marimba Band. Instruments by Leedy.
Gerhardt
Collection
George
Green Sr.’s youngest son, Lewis, joined his well-established
brothers’ ensembles in 1928, long after the cylinder
recordings in the Gerhardt Collection were made. Like
his brother, George Hamilton, Lewis was also a gifted
a visual artist. He joined the Fleischer studio in 1929
as an animator, working on Ko-Ko the Clown. He also
did the cartoon “Mike Sketches” which was
syndicated until 1935. The first three Disney films
(“Steamboat Willie,” “The Opry House”
and “Skeleton Dance”) all used Green Brothers
music. In the 1930s, Lew Green was accompanist for Kate
Smith, appearing with her in the movie “The Big
Broadcast of 1932.” As a cinematographer for the
Chicago Bears, Lew filmed game action for later viewing
by coaches and players. He became one of the first producers
of televised NFL games, including the home games of
the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals. Lewis G. Green
died on June 14, 1992 at the age of 82.
The Green Brothers' Novelty Orchestra
in an unidentified New York recording studio (c. 1930-31).
From the New Amberola Graphic No. 81 (July 1992).
Gerhardt
Collection
This
information is taken from William Cahn, The Xylophone
in Acoustic Recordings (1877 to 1929). Bloomfield,
NY: Cahn Publishing, 1996, and other sources collected
by Edwin Gerhardt.
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