Fred Rich & His Orchestra - What Would I Care? Fox Trot (Kalmar-Ruby) from the Film “Top Speed”, Columbia 1930 (USA)
NOTE: The heroes of the American film comedy “Top Speed” (1930) are the racing speedboats, however in this clip, they have been displaced by the speedy cars. Moreover: those breathtakingly smart automobiles are presented to the camera by their famous owners. I feel, all that matches well the elegant 1930s dance music played by fabulous Freddie Rich’s orchestra. I am happy to add, that Fred Rich belongs to a really large group of American dance band leaders, composers and instrumentalists whose ancestry is Polish: it’s enough to mention Benny Goodman, Victor Young, Bronislaw Kaper, Gene Krupa, Marek Weber or Ziggy Elman.
Fred (“Freddie”) RICH (1898 -1956) was born and got his early musical education (piano) in Warsaw, Poland. His family emigrated to the US when he was a teenager. In early 1920s he was successful in establishing his own dance band, which gained certain popularity, so in 1925 they went on tour to Europe. After that, Rich was engaged as studio band that featured many famous musicians, including Bunny Berigan, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang. He recorded for Okeh, Columbia, Paramount, Camden and Vocalion and several others, often recording under the names Fred Richards, the Astorites, the Hotel Astor Band (Rich and his band served as their house band for a time in the 1920s) and many others. Most of Rich's records are typical ordinary dance fare of the era, however, during the period 1929 -1931, there was a scattering of outstanding hot jazz versions of popular tunes with notable instrumental solos. Rich continued to lead studio bands into the 1950s.
