​On June 14, 1929 24-year-old Chick Webb and his “Jungle Band” made their first record and it was called Dog Bottom. On the flip side of the record was a tune called Jungle Mama. This was Webb’s first time in the studio as a leader and was part of his musical journey that had begun when he bought his first set of drums using the money he made selling newspapers and started playing dance gigs on pleasure boats around his home town of Baltimore, Maryland.

At the age of 17, Chick moved to New York City and was soon performing in jam sessions at Small’s Playhouse with musicians like Bobby Stark, Duke Ellington and with Webb’s cousin, Johnny Hodges. By 1933 Chick Webb would be leading an energetic band with expanded instrumentation and be offered the position of house band at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. There he and his orchestra became the premier “battling band” of the swing era, according to Ellington baritone saxophonist Harry Carney. Their manager would make sure that any “name band” that came to town was booked for a stop at the Savoy to take on the Chick Webb organization. Most did not fare well when pitted against Webb’s group, including Benny Goodman’s orchestra. The Chick Webb ensemble finally achieved widespread national popularity when they signed a teenaged Ella Fitzgerald as their vocalist in 1935 and recorded a series of hit records with her.

Chick Webb was a small man with physical disabilities that often left him in great pain as he played the drums. He suffered from tuberculosis of the spine and succumbed to that ailment in 1939, leaving leadership of his band to Fitzgerald.
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Dog Bottom includes performances by Louis Jordan and Hilton Jefferson in the reed section and Ward Pinkett on trumpet. The tempo is extremely fast (238 bpm) which would make it a tune that would be almost impossible to dance to, except for the most proficient hoofer.

Here is a link to the 1929 Brunswick recording of Chick Webb’s Jungle band performing Dog Bottom:

"DOG BOTTOM"