 WELCOME TO CAPTAIN KAZOOZ BLOG ! written by Kaz Cap aka Captain Kazoo aka H. Capp
The description of this BLOG is "An inquiry into the LIFE & TIMES of KAZOO INVENTOR, ALABAMA VEST".
What it is IS...A SEARCH for the TRUTH or at the very least a search for some facts concerning Alabama Vest, the legendary inventor of the KAZOO.
FACT: There is not a shred of evidence , outside of folklore, that Alabama Vest ever existed !
Let's start at the beginning...
The Mirliton (KAZOO) could easily be regarded as mankind’s first musical instrument.
Mirliton: If you've ever heard "Dance of the Mirlitons" from the "Nutcracker", but couldn't find mirliton in any dictionary, here you are: it's a kind of kazoo - a cylinder with one end closed with a stretched diaphragm. Humming into it produces a buzzing noise that follows the tune (sort of).
The KAZOO (mirliton) as we know it today was designed and built by Alabama Vest and Thaddeus Von Clegg in Macon, Georgia in the early 1840’s. In 1852 it was exhibited at the Georgia State Fair and was later manufactured under the name, because of its shape, DOWN SOUTH SUBMARINE...
Back To Basics. It could have been called an Alabama Buzzer after Alabama Vest, the man who invented it. Or a Clegghorn, after Thaddeus Von Clegg, the clock master who fabricated the first one. But the hand-crafted 4-3/4" long steel instrument was a simple amusement, and the 1840s were a simple time. So it's simply a kazoo.
SO WHO WAS ALABAMA VEST ? We think that it is possible that Alabama Vest was a Minstrel Man and may have been the model for the DANCING MINSTREL KAZOO.
What is a Minstrel... in past centuries, a minstrel was anyone making a living from music, especially someone who was a traveller. Their social positions varied from street singers to members of a royal court. One step up was the troubadour, a somewhat more lofty position: the ranks of troubadours (skilled musicians of social rank) included nobility, and even kings. The job seems to have been predominantly male. In medieval France, the minstrels were called jongleurs. A step up from the troubadour was the trouvere, who was pretty much the equivalent of a professional composer, since they weren’t noted for public performances. The trouveres were first documented around the 12th century. The travelling minstrel shows of the 19th-century US were the forerunners of vaudeville. Although the shows are often associated with the south, in fact they began in New York City. An offshoot were the medicine shows, sort of minstrels with a sponsor. In the US in the 19th century, the shows featured both black performers and white people in blackface singing plantation songs and spirituals (often ersatz). It’s of interest to note that black people often wore blackface, with its exaggerated eyes and white-outlined mouth. In early years, particularly the 1820s through the 1830s, many of the songs written by the performers were based on much older stage and folk songs from the UK (which had a blackface minstrel show tradition as well). The "big four" in the mid-19th century US minstrel tradition were Emmett, Dan, Frank Bower, Dick Pelham, and Billy Whitlock. As this died away, the minstrel show became a way of making a living for many of the black people. Some of its alumni went on to greater fame in blues music, such as Rainey, Ma, Handy, W.C., and Smith, Bessie. Some of the minstrel songs ended up in (or back in) the folk tradition, with "Golden Slippers" by Bland, James being one example. A highly readable work on the entire topic of the minstrel-show tradition is "Dan Emmett and Early Negro Minstrelsy", Hans Nathan, University of Oklahoma Press, 1962. See also goliard.
The word minstrel has been used loosely to indicate a musical entertainer, providing his own accompaniment to his singing.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ? The following tidbits of information, mostly hearsay, have been gleaned from a variety of web sites using SEARCH or KEY WORDS e.g.. ALABAMA VEST, VEST, KAZOO etc. Google Search Results about 1,200,000 for Alabama Vest Google Search Results about 49,100,000 for vest Google Search Results about 1,710,000 for kazoo Google Search Results about 9,810 for DANCING MINSTREL KAZOO Google Search Results about 43,700 for JIGGER DANCING TOY
FYI: I have deliberately omitted the names and/or web sites of those that I am quoting from below in order to protect the innocent as well as the guilty. "Credit for the modern Kazoo goes to Alabama Vest. The African-American performer thought up the idea for a funky new sound while kicking around the South and took that thought to a German-American clock maker named Thaddeus Von Clegg".
"In the 1840s. Alabama Vest drew up the plans for the instrument and had it made by a clockmaker named Thaddeus Von Clegg".
"The kazoo is an American version of the instrument, whose creator, Alabama Vest, probably witnessed an African slave playing an original instrument".
"A guy by the name of Alabama Vest got the idea for the kazoo in the 1840's" ?
"the kazoo as we know it was invented in the 1840s by Alabama Vest, an African-American performer
"Alabama Vest of Macon, who invented the kazoo, made quite an impression with the musical instrument at the 1852 state fair ".
Each one of the above quotes leaves us with a single question...Who was Alabama Vest ?
How could history ignore an individual that has allegedly by a single thought/idea brought so much pleasure and enjoyment to the whole world ? There is not a shred of evidence anywhere that Alabama Vest ever existed. No Birthday, No Birthplace, No Relatives, No Friends except Thaddeus Von Clegg, No information of any kind that might shed some light on this most creative character. The same simple statements are repeated by everyone referring to Alabama Vest... ("he invented the Kazoo"). What if ALL inventors were treated so shabbily. I really find it hard to believe that no one has, at least to my knowledge, ever researched any records, uncovered any details, found any friends or relatives or if they did, just decided to hide this information from the rest of the world. Does that sound reasonable ?
And that's why this BLOG has been created...to find out everything we can about Alabama Vest.
Let's start by analizing what we do know or at least what we have been told. Is this stuff TRUE, FALSE or FICTION ?
1. "Alabama Vest drew up the plans". 2. "thought up the idea for a funky new sound". 3. "probably witnessed a slave playing an original instrument". 4. "was an African-American performer". 5. "made quite an impression with the musical instrument at the 1852 state fair ".
AND THAT'S ABOUT IT !
So lets see... 1. If AV "drew up the plans", then he may have been educated or at least had some knowledge of design. 2. If AV "thought up the idea for a funky new sound", then it stands to reason that he was a musician. What instrument did he play ? 3. "probably witnessed a slave playing an original instrument". Was AV a slave ? 4. If AV "was an African-American performer". What was his act, did he sing or dance or juggle or perform magic tricks or tell jokes or WHAT ? 5. If AV "made quite an impression with the musical instrument". We have not heard anything about AV actually playing a Kazoo.
Which brings up another question...
If AV showed his planz to Thaddeus in the early 1840's. Why did it take over 10 years to fabricate and demonstrate the NEW KAZOO at the Georgia State Fair in 1852 ?
And what about the Georgia Music Hall of Fame ? "We even have the Georgia Music Hall of Fame located in Macon. In the Hall of Fame you will find a list of “Who's Who” in Georgia music history. All of these people were born in or lived in Georgia at one time in their life. But there is one name missing from the list...Alabama Vest. When it comes to placing Alabama Vest in his rightful place as a member of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. How much longer will this great musical pioneer go without being given his due reward? Break out your kazoo and let the battle cry for Vest be heard".
Could it be possible that AV may have joined the Georgia Minstrels in 1865 as the lead Kazooist ? The Georgia Minstrels were the first black minstrel troupe (formed in 1865), and remained the exception until the last decade of the century. Only in the 1890s did the demand for black musicians increase rapidly, and minstrel shows became launching pads for the careers of several black singers and actors. ____________________________________________________ TO CONTINUE GO TO CAPTAIN KAZOOZ KAZOO MUSEUM AT: http://www.captainkazoo.com
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