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| Hometown Scamps Return to 2005 Kansas City Blues & Jazz Festival Kansas City is where it all started for the Scamps, a veteran Rhythm and Blues band that launched their jazz careers more than six decades ago. Now, the group is home again and part of a key lineup of entertainers scheduled to perform at the Labor Day 2005 Kansas City Music Blues and Jazz Festival at the Woodlands Horse Track. This historic vocal group came together during their days in the Civilian Conservation Camp (CCC) workforce of the late 1930s. Two of the group’s members, Earl Robinson and James Whitcomb, regularly passed the days singing and harmonizing with their colleagues and earned the nickname “The Scamps of CC Camp.” Later, siblings Wyatt and Torrence Griffin joined the group and gave the foursome a foothold in the jazz arena until World War II came along and put a halt to their prosperity. By 1946, the Griffin brothers had returned to their hometown of Kansas City, rejoined Robinson and Whitcomb and added pianist Rudy Massingale to the ensemble. After making their professional debut at Kansas City's Sherman Bar, the Scamps traveled to California at the behest of manager Johnny Tumino, and there they signed with the Modern Music label to cut their debut single, January 1947's “Don't Cry Baby.” Two months later, they recorded “That's My Desire, ” followed in May by “Sweet Slumber.” After two more Modern releases, “Solitude” and 1948's “I'll Never Smile Again, ” the Scamps' recording career came to an abrupt halt when the American Federation of Musicians went on strike. During the layoff, Torrance Griffin was killed in a hunting accident, forcing the addition of tenor Edward Stafford. After the musicians' strike ended in late 1948, the group became the Five Scamps and signed on to Columbia Records, releasing “Chicken Shack Boogie” and “Red Hot.” Subsequent hits, “How Nice, “ “The Fishing Song, ” and “I Love the Way You Walk” soon followed. By 1951 the Five Scamps began a Midwestern tour. At that time, they added guitarist Harold Slaughter and his vocalist wife Theresa as his temporary replacement when Griffin went on a brief hiatus. Griffin never did rejoin the group, but later started his own band, Wyatt Griffin and the Five Scamps, with lead Earl Garnett, tenor Arthur Jackson, bass Edwin Fountaine and pianist Louis Wright. This lineup recorded 1951's Columbia release “Gonna Buy Myself a Mule, ” prompting the original group to rechristen itself the Red Hot Scamps. Several more member changes occurred before Griffin rejoined Robinson and Whitcomb in the Red Hot Scamps. In 1955, the group cut its final sides for the Peacock label, with “Waterproof.” Even more changes took place between mid 1950 through 1970. Today, however, the Scamps remain a Kansas City favorite and include Lucky Wesley on bass fiddle, Rudy Massingale on piano, Eddie Saunders and Dwight Foster, both on saxophone, and Rusty Tucker on drums. In May 2002, Kansas City leaders renamed the section of H Street spanning from Broadway to Central as “Scamps Alley” in their honor. Both Robinson and Massingale were present at the ceremony. That same year, British reissue label Ace released Red Hot, a 22-track collection of the group's vintage recordings. Throughout the years, one thing has never changed: the Scamps’ appeal to jazz enthusiasts all over. They were considered one of the hippest groups around, singing in four-part harmony and performing skits alongside their energizing music selections. Amazingly, in the last 55 years, there's been very little time when there wasn't a Scamps group playing around. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |