The Best Of New Orleans R & B (Chess Masters)

This was one of the first LPs I ever converted to mp3 and then I uploaded it to Rock Hall. I never got round to posting it on the original Be Bop Wino blog and anyway other blogs posted the album around that time. So having let a decent amount of time pass since I last saw this album on a blog, I’ve now re-uploaded my original rips along with new cover scans.

Chess came to the New Orleans music scene rather late in the day. Imperial and Specialty had already been there for a few years before Chess started issuing New Orleans recordings in 1953, kicking off with James “Sugarboy” Crawford’s “I Don’t Know What I’ll Do”. His follow up record “Jockomo” was a moderate local hit but has since become a classic of New Orleans R&B, being covered later as “Iko Iko” by the Dixie Cups and Doctor John.

As for this compilation, it’s a mixture of classics (“Mardi Gras Mambo”, “Flat Foot Sam”, “Country Boy” and “This Should Go on Forever”), and a surprising number of sides that weren’t issued at the time of recording and only appeared years later in compilation LPs. As with the Bobby Charles Chess LP I posted a few weeks back, the influence of Paul Gayten permeates this collection. He started recording for Chess in 1954 and in 1956 was appointed the label’s A&R man and general factotum in New Orleans. Many of these sides were produced by Paul Gayten and his band provided the backing at the Cosimo Matassa studio.

There are a couple of points to note. Track 9, “What Can I Do”, was wrongly attributed to Charles “Hungry” Williams who was the drummer in Gayten’s band around 1956 to 1957. The vocal on the track was actually by Robert Green who had been drummer in the Gayten band in the late 1940s. The Eddie Bo track “Walk That Walk” which was unreleased in the 1950s turned up a few years back in a TV commercial for Fiat Spirito de Punto. I guess that proves that there is at least one subversive hipster lurking in the world of advertising.

Ripped from vinyl at 224 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

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1. Loud Mouth Annie - Myles & Dupont (Argo 5326 – 1959)
2. Rhythmatic Rhythm - Charles "Hungry" Williams (unissued 1958)
3. Jockomo - James "Sugarboy" Crawford (Checker 787 – 1954 as Sugar Boy and his Cane Cutters)

4. Mardi Gras Mambo - The Hawketts (Chess 1591 – 1955)
5. Country Boy - Clarence "Frogman" Henry (Argo 5266 – 1957)
6. Flat Foot Sam - T.V. Slim (Checker 870 – 1957)
7. Ding Dong Darling - Allen Brooks (unissued 1958)
8. Lawdy Mama - Edgar Blanchard (unissued 1958)
9. What Can I Do - Charles "Hungry" Williams (actually Robert Green – unissued 1957)
10. The Joke - Reggie Hall (Chess 1816 – 1962)
11. Walk That Walk - Eddie Bo (unissued 1957)
12. I Cried All The Way Home - Charles "Hungry" Williams (unissued 1958)
13. Foolish Woman - Allen Brooks (unissued 1958)
14. Oh Oh - Eddie Bo (Chess 1698 – 1958)
15. This Should Go On Forever - Rod Bernard (Argo 5327 – 1959)
16. Needing Your Love - Bobby Blanquet (Paul Gayten unissued 1955)
17. Baby Please - Clifton Chenier (unissued 1956)

Smiley Lewis - Caldonia's Party

This LP of early (1950-54) Smiley Lewis tracks was issued on the K.C. label in 1984. Judging by the rough sound quality on some of the tracks it was probably a bootleg mastered from 45s. I posted “Caldonia’s Party” on the original Be Bop Wino blog back in May 2009 and prior to reposting I’ve been giving it another listen. It’s a blast. A fantastic sequence of R&B pounders with shrieking sax solos by the likes of Lee Allen and Herb Hardesty. There are only two of Smiley’s hits in this selection (“The Bells Are Ringing” and “Blue Monday”) but there just ain’t a weak track on the LP.

On many of these tracks Smiley sounds remarkably like Big Joe Turner. It’s rough, raw stuff with lots of blistering rockers included, especially “Dirty People”, “Ain’t Gonna Do It”, “Big Mamou”, “Playgirl” and “Caldonia’s Party”. Sure, there are plenty of crackles and pops on this old slice of vinyl, but those of you who like your R&B rowdy and raucous will not be deterred by that.

Born Overton Amos Lemons on July 5th, 1913, near Lake Charles, Louisiana, Smiley moved to New Orleans in 1931 where he boarded with a family whose surname (Lewis) he adopted, or so the story goes. He spent the 1930’s working as a guitarist and vocalist in jazz bands performing in and around New Orleans and in the late 1940’s, billed as Smiling Lewis, cut his first records for De Luxe Records. In 1950 he began a decade long recording stint with Lew Chudd’s Imperial Records.

Smiley had good selling R&B hits with “Tee Nah Nah” (1950) and “The Bells Are Ringing” (1952). “Blue Monday”, written by Dave Bartholomew, was another good seller in 1954, but became a much bigger hit when covered by Fats Domino two years later. In mid 1955 Smiley had his biggest hit by far with “I Hear You Knocking”, reaching number two in the R&B chart. Unfortunately for Smiley, a cover version by Gale Storm cornered the pop sales, taking the record to number two in the Billboard pop chart.

Recorded in late 1955, “One Night” was a number eleven R&B hit for Smiley in early 1956. Elvis released a cleaned up version two years later, reaching number four in the pop charts and number ten in the R&B charts. Smiley’s “One Night Of Sin” (with all that that implies) had somehow become “One Night With You” and that was the way to pop success back then. However, many years later another version by Elvis which was much closer to the Smiley original did surface on some compilations.

As the 1950’s wore on, Smiley’s record sales fell away although there was the occasional good rocker like “Rootin’ and Tootin’”. His recording contract with Imperial was terminated in 1960. He had a few more releases on Okeh and Loma but died from cancer in 1966.

Smiley’s chart career may not have brought him the success his talent deserved, but he has left us a legacy of prime New Orleans R&B which we can still enjoy today. Both Rev-Ola and Bear Family have CD reissues of Smiley’s work currently available. See the bottom of this post for more details.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

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1. My Baby Was Right
2. Growing Old
3. Lowdown
4. Where Were You
5. Dirty People
6. Sad Life
7. Bee's Boogie
8. The Bells Are Ringing
9. Gumbo Blues
10. Ain't Gonna Do It
11. You're Not The One
12. Big Mamou
13. Caldonia's Party
14. Oh Baby
15. Playgirl
16. Blue Monday

Be Bop Wino recommends:

Mama Don’t Like It! 1950 – 56 (Rev-Ola Bandstand) – 33 tracks of primo Smiley, also available as an mp3 download from Amazon UK. A good value comp which comes in at a nice mid price.

Smiley Rocks (BCD 16676 AR) is a recently released 36 (!) tracker on Bear Family. This one costs rather more than the Rev-Ola comp, as Bear Family (like Ace) use original masters and don’t confine themselves to public domain recordings.

If you’re browsing the second hand CD racks you should look out for this 30 track compilation which came out on Sequel in 1990 – “New Orleans Bounce: 30 Of His Best”. 1990: that’s twenty years ago. Where has the time gone? Or more pertinently, where is it going?

Aaron Neville - Like It Is (Minit LP 40007)

Thanks to Joan for sending in this LP of Art Neville’s younger brother Aaron. Released by Joe Banashak’s Minit label in 1967, this LP consists of tracks recorded between 1960 and 1963. The album was an attempt to cash in on Aaron’s big hit for Par-Lo Records, “Tell It Like It Is”, which climbed to number 2 on the Billboard pop charts in December 1966. The original LP had twelve tracks but “Tell It Like It Is” has been added here. There is some surface noise and a bit of “stuttering” but the needle makes it through the decades old grooves in the end!

This post originally appeared on the old Be Bop Wino blog in May 2009.

Download from here:

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http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9Y59YZC1

Ripped from vinyl at 128 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

1. Over You
2. Get Out Of My Life
3. I Found Another Love
4. Don't Cry
5. Sweet Little Mama
6. I'm Waitin' At The Station
7. How Many Times
8. Let's Live
9. Everyday
10. Reality
11. Wrong Number (I'm Sorry Goodbye)
12. How Could I Help But Love You
13. Tell It Like It Is

Art Neville - Mardi Gras Rock'n'Roll

New Orleans native Art Neville first made a splash on the local recording scene as lead singer and pianist of the Hawketts on their disc “Mardi Gras Mambo” recorded for Chess in 1955. The following year Harold Battiste, Specialty’s man in New Orleans, signed Art to a solo deal and younger brother Aaron Neville took Art’s place in the Hawketts.

Only 3 Art Neville singles were released by Specialty – “Oooh-Whee Baby” / “The Whiffenpoof Song” in 1957, “Zing Zing” / “Cha Dooky-Doo” in 1958, and “Arabian Love Call” / “What’s Going On” in 1959. That means that the bulk of the tracks on this Ace LP were unreleased in the 1950s. Of particular interest to rock’n’roll fans is the shared vocal with Larry Williams on “Rocking Pneumonia”. This side originates from a series of sessions that the two singers shared at Cosimo Matassa’s studio in 1958 as Specialty owner Art Rupe attempted to get Williams’ career back on track following a slump in his record sales.

In 1961 Art moved to Minit Records owned by Joe Banashak. Younger brother Aaron had already signed for that label in 1960, which is actually a very good link to our next post …

There’s some good New Orleans rock’n’roll to hear on this 1986 LP, so download and dance your little hearts out, my fellow boppers!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

Mardis Gras Rock'n'Roll (Mega)


1. Zing Zing
2. Oooh-Whee Baby
3. Bella Mae
4. I'm A Fool To Care
5. Cha-Dooky-Doo
6. Back Home To Me
7. What's Going On
8. Old Time Rock'n'Roll
9. Rocking Pneumonia & The Boogie Woogie 'Flu *
10. Bring It On Home Baby
11. The Dummy
12. Oooh-Whee Baby (No 1)
13. Let's Rock
14. Arabian Love Call
15. Please Listen To My Song
16. The Whiffenpoof Song

* with Larry Williams

Sil Austin Plays Pretty For The People Again (Mercury LP SR 61126)

A big thank you to Oracle for kindly sending in this 1967 Sil Austin follow-up to his "Plays Pretty For The People" LP. Oracle used to run a very distinctive Lounge - Latin - Retro - Jazz - What the Heck blog called Portal of Groove which sadly seems to have disappeared from the blogosphere.

Once again Sil is in a romantic mood with settings varying from full on string accompaniment with choir to small group with vibes (like a laid back Earl Bostic.) I have no discographical details of these sessions so I can't comment on the accompanying musicians.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. No password.

http://www17.zippyshare.com/v/RLn3RX9h/file.html

Side A
1. I'm In The Mood For Love
2. The Lonely One
3. Cry Me A River
4. The Rose Tattoo
5. To Love Again

Side B
1. Harlem Nocturne
2. Broken Promises
3. Save The Last Dance For Me
4. On A Tropic Night
5. Oh Rose, My Rose
6. Good Night

Thank you Mr Oracle!

Sil Austin - Everything's Shakin' (MGW 12227)

Side 1
1. Everything's Shakin'
2. Fall Out
3. Tell Your Story
4. The Square From Cuba
5. Late Show

Side 2
Sil Austin - Balin' Wire
Sil Austin - So Slow
Sil Austin - Green Blazer
Sil Austin - Yipe
Sil Austin - I'm Back

Download from:

http://www13.zippyshare.com/v/cvAVFvYr/file.html

Get ready to dance, ‘cos here’s a 1957 collection of wild R&B screechers by one of the great tenor sax honkers, Sil Austin. This LP was originally issued as Mercury LP MG20320 and is presented here in its Wing reissue incarnation. Long time followers of Be Bop Wino will remember that I posted this album on the original blog and before that on Rock Hall, but this time round you get a scan of the whole front cover plus back cover and label scans.

Sil Austin was born in Florida in 1929. A performance of “Danny Boy” at an Apollo Theatre amateur night in 1948 led to a gig with Roy Eldridge. The following year he replaced Willis Jackson in the Cootie Williams band and in 1953 he joined the Tiny Bradshaw band as a replacement for Red Prysock. He stayed with Bradshaw for about a year, featuring on eight sides, the best known being “Ping Pong.” In the spring of 1954 Sil went solo (Noble Watts stepped into the vacant Bradshaw spot) and recorded two sessions for Jubilee, with three singles being released.

Two years later Sil signed for Mercury Records where he remained until 1964. His biggest hit “Slow Walk” was recorded in September 1956 and the following month his first album, “Slow Walk Rock” was recorded. That LP used to be on the old Baikinange’s Schadenfreudian Therapy blog which has since gone to the great blog bin in the sky. I have reuploaded the LP and now you can download it from this blog. The front cover should look kinda familiar as it has the same dancing couple as the cover of “Everything’s Shakin’”.

The sides for “Everything’s Shakin’” were recorded in April and May of 1957. In 1959 Sil changed his sound, laying down the sides for his “Plays Pretty for the People” LP accompanied by an orchestra and choir. You can download a reissue version of that LP from Be Bop Wino here. One of the tracks, “Danny Boy,” was a pop hit, which encouraged Sil to continue recording with strings and choir. But “Everything’s Shakin’” is a feast of greasy R&B, Rock and Roll, and even a touch of Latin.

Side 1
1. Train Whistle
2. Shufflin' Home
3. Pink Shade Of Blue
4. Walkin' And Talkin'
5. Oochie John
6. Birthday Party

Side 2
7. The Last Time
8. One Plus Two Is Nine
9. Dogwood Junction
10. Bout Time
11. A Mother's Child
12. He's A Real Gone Guy

Download "Slow Walk Rock" from here:

http://www20.zippyshare.com/v/uiXZbtj7/file.html

"Slow Walk Rock" is a tremendous album, probably better than "Everything's Shakin'" and although it is in a lower bitrate, it certainly behooves beholding (to borrow a phrase from Nick Tosches.)

Harlem Heavies

I picked this one up second hand a few months back. It’s a Dutch LP from sometime in the 1980s and is in fact volume 2 of a series of perhaps five collections of New York rhythm ‘n’ blues. Some of these LPs were posted on the original Twilightzone blog which was taken down by the Gestapo sometime ago. There were titles like “Leapin’ On Lennox” and “New York Notables” but I don’t think they have appeared yet on the reincarnated Twilightzone.

In the meantime while we await the second coming of the poster of these gems, Gyro1966, who simply must repost the whole shebang, let us make do with my rips of this superb collection of rhythmatic stompers. Of course there are some old Be Bop Wino favourites here – Mr Bear and Washboard Bill. They, along with many other artists on this LP, were also featured on the Detour comp of Groove sides I posted recently – Groove Jumping! The sound quality on this LP (which was probably a bootleg) doesn’t quite match that of Groove Jumping, but it’s still a rousing heap of clangin’ and bangin’ blues that’s guaranteed to get even the squarest of listeners shakin’ their booty. Or something like that – you know what I mean.

The back of the record sleeve has session details. The usual NYC suspects are on these tracks – Sam “The Man” Taylor, King Curtis, Heywood Henry, Wild Jimmy Spruill, Panama Francis and Leroy Kirkland. We are in safe hands. As you can see from the tracklist I’ve done some digging around to add details of the record labels on which these tracks were originally released. That’s enough jabbering from me. Download and groove, baby, groove!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/343444390/Harlem_Heavies.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=480AO32P

1. Let The Doorbell Ring - Larry Dale (Glover 208, 1960)
2. Let Your Love Run To Me - Larry Dale (Glover 208, 1960)
3. Big Muddy - Larry Dale (Glover 203, 1960)
4. Please Tell Me - Larry Dale (Groove 4G-0029, 1954)
5. Shake Baby Shake - Jack Dupree (Vik – X 0304, 1957)
6. Mind On Loving - Little Danny (Sharp 112, 1960)
7. Up The River - Cousin Leroy (Ember E-1023, 1957)
8. Help Me Baby - Stick McGhee (Savoy 1148, 1955)
9. Hold Out Baby - Mr Bear (AMP 3129, 1958)
10. Shake Me Up Baby - Little Terry (Savoy 1520, 1956)
11. Off To Work Again - Wilbert Harrison (Neptune 123, 1961)
12. Sad Sad Affair - Dossie Terry (Victor 20/47-4864, 1951)
13. Hi-Fi Baby - Mr Bear (AMP 3129, 1958)
14. This Little Letter - James Wayne (Angletone 540, 1960)
15. In The Morning Part 2 - Washboard Bill (King 4983, 1956)
16. Anna Mae - Brownie McGhee (Savoy 1177, 1955)
17. Don't Drop It - Wilbert Harrison Savoy 1138, 1954)
18. Do What You Do - Mickey Baker (King LP839, 1962)