George Wettling
George Godfrey Wettling (November 28, 1907 – June 6, 1968) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Topeka, Kansas, United States, and from his early teens was living in Chicago, Illinois. He was one of the young Chicagoans who fell in love with jazz as a result of hearing King Oliver's band (with Louis Armstrong on second cornet) at Lincoln Gardens in the early 1920s. Oliver's drummer, Baby Dodds, made a particular and lasting impression on Wettling. Wettling went on to work with the big bands of Artie Shaw, Bunny Berigan, Red Norvo, Paul Whiteman, and Chico Marx, but he was at his best with bands led by Eddie Condon, Muggsy Spanier, and himself. In these small bands, Wettling demonstrated the arts of dynamics and responding to a particular soloist that he had learned from Baby Dodds. Wettling was a member of some of Condon's bands, which included Wild Bill Davison, Billy Butterfield, Edmond Hall, Peanuts Hucko, Pee Wee Russell, Cutty Cutshall, Gene Schroeder, Ralph Sutton, and Walter Page. In 1957, he toured England with a Condon band that included Davison, Cutshall, and Schroeder. Toward the end of his life, Wettling, like his friend clarinetist Pee Wee Russell, took up painting and was influenced by the American cubist Stuart Davis. He has been said to have believed that "jazz drumming and abstract painting seemed different for him only from the point of view of craftsmanship: in both fields he felt rhythm to be decisive". |
Birth and Death Data: Born Topeka (capital of the state of Kansas, United States; county seat of Shawnee County), Died June 6, 1968 (New York City (most populous city in the United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1925 - 1956
Roles Represented in DAHR: drums, traps
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 151-159 of 159 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decca | N 1781 | 10-in. | 2/29/1944 | High society | Joe Marsala Orchestra | instrumentalist, drums | ||
| Decca | N 1782 | 10-in. | 2/29/1944 | Wolverine blues | Joe Marsala Orchestra | instrumentalist, drums | ||
| Decca | N 1783 | 10-in. | 2/29/1944 | Blues in C | Joe Marsala Orchestra | instrumentalist, drums | ||
| Decca | N 2944 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | Jam session jump | Eddie Condon | instrumentalist, drums | ||
| Decca | N 2945 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | Jam session blues | Eddie Condon | instrumentalist, drums | ||
| Decca | N 2946 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | Someone to watch over me | Eddie Condon | instrumentalist, drums | ||
| Decca | N 2947 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | The sheik of Araby | Eddie Condon ; Jack Teagarden | instrumentalist, drums | ||
| Decca | N 2948 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | The man I love | Eddie Condon ; Lee Wiley | instrumentalist, drums | ||
| Decca | N 2949 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | Somebody loves me | Eddie Condon Orchestra ; Jack Teagarden | instrumentalist, drums |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Wettling, George," accessed January 6, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105504.
Wettling, George. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105504.
"Wettling, George." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 6 January 2026.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: George Wettling
Discogs: George Wettling
Allmusic: George Wettling
Grove: George Wettling
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Wettling, George, 1907-1968 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n87114958
Wikidata: George Wettling - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q352034
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/34644891
MusicBrainz: George Wettling - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/d04f4968-e801-434a-8e41-a9e0d184df7a
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/204176 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/204176
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