Frank “Big Boy” Goudie: Jazz on Three Continents Part 3 of 3, San Francisco 1956-64

The Legendary Pier 23

Pier 23 back in the day. Courtesy San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation.

Pier 23 was (and still is) a small dive and jam bar on the San Francisco waterfront. Once Goudie cast his lot with the young Revival Jazz crowd he was working there regularly with piano player Burt Bales (1916-1989).

Noted music critic Ralph J. Gleason memorialized the joint in his liner notes to Bales’ 1958 album, On the Waterfront:

“In San Francisco for some years now the Embarcadero (the dockside road than runs along the Bay waterfront wharves) has been a sort of North Rampart Street with Dixieland jazz floating out over the waters of the Bay every night from the Tin Angel and Pier 23, that converted dock wallopers lunchroom where Burt plays.”

SF – 2 Goudie at Pier 23 with Erickson and Bales.mp3

‘Estuary Jazz group’ broadcasting at Pier 23, San Francisco 1959. L to R: Bill Erickson (trumpet), Frank Goudie, Dick Oxtot (banjo). Oxtot collection.

Estuary Jazz Broadcast, Pier 23

Briefly in 1959 few broadcast remotes (possibly only two) emanated briefly from Pier 23 promoted and hosted by radio personality and disc jockey “Hambone” Lee Crosby. He touted the exotic dockside setting with its, “tugboats, switch engines and glasses clinking.”

Estuary jazz group (aka Waterfront Jazz Society) existed only for broadcast and was similar to Mielke’s band except that Burt Bales directed from the piano and sang, plus there was a girl singer (actually under 18 years of age). The multi-talented Bill Erickson blew trumpet, Mielke played trombone and the swinging four-beat rhythm section was equivalent to The Bearcats.

An early experiment in stereo broadcasting — the left and the right signals were transmitted simultaneously on mono AM and FM stations (note that the recovered audio is stereophonic). But neither a sustaining radio broadcast nor the hoped-for TV coverage ensued.

“Mack the Knife” sung by Burt Bales is a rare example of Goudie accompanying a vocalist. The clarinet feature, “High Society” echoed Goudie’s Louisiana youth. In Golden Age New Orleans he’d heard early jazz reed players Barney Bigard and Johnny Dodds, pioneering horn masters Papa Celestin, Freddie Keppard, Mutt and Jack Carey — and known Bunk Johnson.

Pier 23 Estuary Jazz group Broadcast excerpts, San Francisco, CA 1959

Frank “Big Boy” Goudie (clarinet), Bill Erickson (trumpet), Bob Mielke (trombone), Burt Bales (piano, vocal), Dick Oxtot (banjo), Squire Girsback (string bass), Bob Osibin (drums), “Hambone” Lee Crosby (announcer):

Pier 23 – Estuary Jazz Broadcast.mp3

Burt Bales, Pier 23 proprietor, Havelock Jerome and the cover of Bales’ 1958 album, On the Waterfront. The Pier has changed little since Goudie’s time, except that Jerome and the sawdust on the floor are long gone. Courtesy of Richard Hadlock.

Bill Erickson Trio, Pier 23

In 1960 pianist Bill Erickson (1929-1967) took charge of the jam sessions after Burt Bales was badly injured. Goudie remained a regular fixture and became a close working associate of the pianist, trumpet player, arranger and musical genius some called ‘Willie the Master.’ Bill was skilled at setting the stage for the horns to shine.

Erickson plays all the piano parts heard here except the Pier 23 broadcast where he blew trumpet, a sparkling testament to their partnership. In the trio setting Goudie was relaxed, soloing easily at length. Frank had trained himself to play unlimited variations, a talent he’d admired saxophone master Coleman Hawkins when he heard him in Europe in the 1930s.

Pier 23 Trio, 6/60

Frank “Big Boy” Goudie (clarinet) Bill Erickson (piano), Jimmy Carter (drums):

You’re Driving Me Crazy

Pier 23 Jam Session, 1963

Trumpeter Robin (aka Bob) Hodes (1926-2005) was comfortable in several modes at Pier 23. Originally from Ohio, Hodes was a veteran of the Dixieland Rhythm Kings, Red Onion Jazz Band and worked with Don Ewell, Bob Helm and Burt Bales.

Hodes rounded up the posse for a 52^nd Street-style session teetering on the cusp of Bop. Homage to saxophone master Lester Young is apparent in “The King” (sadly incomplete) and not just Dave Clarkson coming on like “Prez.” By 1963 Goudie had absorbed and resynthesized large swathes of jazz saxophone style into his personal clarinet sound, including Lester’s intense urgency. Frank’s searing solo demonstrates vigorous fluency in the contemporary idiom unsheathing a growling edge he’d been honing since the 1930s.

Pier 23, Modern Swing session, San Francisco, CA 5/63

Frank “Big Boy” Goudie (clarinet), Robin Hodes (trumpet), Jim Leigh (trombone), Dave Clarkson (tenor sax), Bill Erickson (piano), Squire Girsback (bass), Jimmy Carter (drums)

The King (incomplete)