Victor Aloysius Meyers was born in mid -1898 as the 15th of 16 children in Little Falls, Minnesota. Vic's father was County Treasurer for Morris County, Minnesota, a position he held for 30 years. When the family moved West to Oregon in the mid-'teens, Vic started on a musical career. He could play violin, but by the age of 18, he was a drummer in a three piece group that played each summer at Seaside, an ocean resort. At 21, in 1919 he got a two year contract to play with a full size band in the Rose Room in Seattle’s Hotel Butler, located at the corner of 2nd Avenue and James Street. Its construction started around 1900 and when it opened it "immediately became the jewel in the City’s crown. Its lavish Rose Room grill featured magnificent cuisine in an atmosphere of top recording orchestras, cut-glass chandeliers, thick imported carpets and sterling silver."
Five of the best southern territory bands of the 1920s are represented on this intriguing CD: Blue Steele, Slim Lamar, Mart Britt, Sunny Clapp, and Phil Baxter. The only sidemen who became known a little bit later on were cornetist Tony Almerico, clarinetist Sidney Arodin, and pianist Terry Shand (with guests Hoagy Carmichael and guitarist Roy Smeck), but the musicianship is pretty decent and the music generally swings well. Serious 1920s jazz collectors will want this CD, which is full of worthy obscurities.