Fud Livingston: A Charleston favorite son

"Upon entering a nightclub, Fud would slip the doorman a $20 bill for a front row seat whereupon he would be recognized by the bandleader who would then have his band play 'I'm Thru (cq)with Love' while the house spotlight was turned upon the table with Fud and his date. Not many of us could use a technique like that!"

William Gaffield

Fud Livingston nephew

I first heard of Fud Livingston many years ago from his great-nephew and my friend John Tecklenburg, a businessman and jazz pianist.

I listened intently as he told me about the irrepressible Charleston gentleman, his work in jazz and some of his poignantly humorous escapades.

I filed it away in my mind after responding to Tecklenburg that Livingston's story needed to be told. It was perfect material for study by the Charleston Jazz Initiative, then a fledgling research project run by Dr. Karen Chandler and me.

Fast forward to March of 2005 when I met Tecklenburg's cousin, Leonard Long, executive vice-president of Kiawah Island Development Co. I was at his office, chatting about music after viewing some Elizabeth O'Neill Verner art he has for a story I was working on about Verner and the Charleston flower ladies in the '40s.

He got around to telling me about Livingston, making me even more fascinated than when I talked to Tecklenburg. He told me about the time Livingston got homesick while in New York City where he was making music for a living and decided to take a cab to Charleston. Yes, a cab. He had to charm the fare from relatives when he got here.

He was that kind of guy. He was larger than life, even in the whacky world of the jazz lifestyle in the middle of the twentieth century.

Throughout all the shenanigans, though, Livingston's professional output was extensive. He played in many of the great bands of the time and wrote arrangements for the likes of Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman.

Charleston Jazz Initiative still studies Livingston and has acquired an extensive, rich collection of related items contributed by descendants of his. His relatives have also contributed money for travel to explore Livingston's career.

Over the years, Tecklenburg has done some very heavy lifting researching this tragic-comic story.

Hot off the presses last month is a CD titled "Fud Livingston." The release of this recording marks a landmark happening in Charleston jazz history.

Joseph "Fud" Livingston was born in Charleston in 1906. He went on to a prolific career in performing, arranging and composing. He was a multi-instrumentalist who specialized in the clarinet and saxophone.

From about 1924 to 1940, the colorful, quintessential Charlestonian was a little known but seminal figure in American popular music, which at the time was jazz. Musicians, bandleaders, record producers and critics certainly knew who he was. Until this record, nothing much has been heard about the affable character for the last 50 years.

The recording contains 26 tracks that fabulously represent Livingston's body of work as a composer and arranger.

His signature song, "I'm Thru With Love," is included. It is an enduring American music evergreen.

Some of you may remember Alfalfa, of TV's Little Rascals, singing in one of the gang's backyard shows a ballad of unrequited love to Darla. That was "I'm Thru With Love."

It was a huge hit in the '30s that went on to become a classic. Everyone from Nat King Cole to Marilyn Monroe to Dick Hyman to Sarah Vaughan performed it over the years.

In March of last year, I had Ann Caldwell sing a version of it by local arranger John Slate in front of the Charlton Singleton Orchestra as part of the South Carolina Hit Parade, a tribute to Palmetto State composers and musicians such as Livingston. Tecklenburg played piano.

The new CD is available on the Jazz Oracle label on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. It's handsome, well produced and includes copious notes that are very nicely laid out with attractive graphics.

Livingston, who died in 1957 a broken man, was loved by everyone he encountered.

My work brings me many pleasures and one of them came last year when I conducted an oral history on Livingston and his family with Betty Long, his niece, for the Jazz Initiative. Long is a grand, gracious Charleston lady who regaled me with loving stories of Livingston. Her stories brought deep feelings, bordering on tears, of joy and sadness.

Livingston was an alcoholic. Typical of those trapped in that illness, he often found himself in compromising situations. By all accounts, he was charming, charismatic and hugely talented. He had a great sense of humor, didn't take himself too seriously and he never met a person with whom he couldn't have a good time.

He was forward thinking, progressive. That trait revealed itself in his music.

Livingston's place in American music history is that of an ultra-modernist. In an era with a simplistic, brittle, tinny feel to its soundtrack, Livingston's music was lyrical, lush and smooth by comparison.

In my opinion, which is shared by others, Livingston's "Charlestonness" brought that to his art. He was grounded in tradition but not bound by it. He re-invented the status quo without sacrificing its good characteristics. He improvised on them and took them to another level through the prism of his humanity. Charlestonians' sense of place has always evolved out of their relationship with their environment, family, customs and institutions.

Livingston was a ne'er do well but he was civilized.

So was his jazz.

Jack McCray, author of "Charleston Jazz," can be reached at jackjmccray@aol.com.