Detour Records

Some time ago I posted a couple of LPs from the UK Detour Records reissue label – “Groove Jumping!” and “The Best of Doo Wop Classics Volume 2.” The “Groove Jumping!” post kicked off speculation among blog followers concerning the identity of other Detour releases, with The Hound reminding us of the follow up to “Groove Jumping!” and a couple of 45 rpm issues, dbtb weighing in with the info that volume 1 of “The Best of Doo Wop Classics” was a Du-Droppers LP and most recently Grant informing us that there was a Champion Jack Dupree LP on Detour.

Recently I came across an obituary for mastering engineer and founder of Detour Records, Bob Jones, in the June 2009 issue of Blues & Rhythm magazine. Written by Tony Burke, it includes a list of releases on Bob’s Detour label and I have taken the liberty of extracting the list from the very informative article.

"Boppin'" Bob Jones worked initially for Decca, then later for Pye where he was involved in re-mastering tapes for specialist reissue labels. For many years he was involved with Ace and also worked on Bear Family reissues. In the early 1980s he set up his own reissue label, Detour, releasing a limited number of LPs and singles which were distinguished by superb sound quality. Most of the material consisted of R&B and Hillbilly / Rockabilly from Groove and RCA, with issues being concentrated in two time periods, 1982-83 and 1987-89.
 

Juke Blues No. 11 Winter 1987/88

Ten LPs were issued:
In 1982 – “Ballroom King” by Pee Wee King. In 1983 – “Skeeter Davis Sings Buddy Holly,” and “Groove Jumping!” In 1987 – “Just Keep A-Movin’” by Hank Snow, “More Ballroom Kings” (a Hillbilly compilation), “Still Groove Jumping!” and the Champion Jack Dupree set “Shake Baby Shake.” In 1989 – “Hillbilly Hound Dawgs And Honky Tonk Angels,” “The Best Of Doo Wop Classics Volume 1 featuring The Du-Droppers (Bambalam!)” and “The Best of Doo Wop Classics Volume 2 featuring The 5 Keys and The Nitecaps.”

I have a vague memory that a Piano Red LP was in the pipeline, but it seems to have never been released.

Blues & Rhythm No. 38 August 1988

There were also some 45 rpm singles:

Cecil McCullough And The Border Boys - “Pick ‘Em Up And Shake ‘Em Up” / “Nothing Else,” Laura Lee Perkins - “Gonna Rock My Baby Tonight” / “Come On Baby,” Clarence Garlow - “Route 90” / “Crawfishin’” and Benny Barnes – “You Gotta Pay” backed with Les Cole – “Be Boppin’ Daddy.”

The Clarence Garlow single was a reissue of a Flair disc from 1953. Both sides were also on the early Ace (UK) LP “Texas Rhythm & Blues.”

Sources:

Tony Burke – Bob Jones obituary, Blues & Rhythm Magazine number 240, June 2009.

“Jump Man Jump” and “Midnight Hours” were downloaded from a posting of the "Still Groove Jumping!" LP on the cool “Twilightzone!” blog.

The Clarence Garlow tracks are from the Ace LP "Texas Rhythm & Blues." Both are now available on the Ace CD "Long Gone Daddies," a top notch comp of R&B and Rockabilly from the Bihari group of labels.

Juke Blues No. 12 Spring 1988

T-Bone Walker - T-Bone Walker Sings The Blues

It's not my name written on the cover - I bought the LP 2nd hand many years ago!

Side 1:
1. Strollin' With Bone
2. You Don't Love Me
3. You Don't Understand
4. Say! Pretty Baby (Welcome Blues)
5. Tell Me What's The Reason
6. Blue Mood
7. Railroad Station Blues

Side 2:
1. The Sun Went Down
2. The Hustle Is On
3. Evil Hearted Woman
4. Cold Cold Feeling
5. I Got The Blues Again
6. Blues Is A Woman
7. Get These Blues Off Me

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www5.zippyshare.com/v/bOmEhkV8/file.html

After his successful spell with Black and White Records, T-Bone Walker’s next recording contract was with Imperial Records for whom he recorded between April 1950 and June 1954. This 1983 Pathe Marconi release of an LP originally released by Imperial in 1960 (with 12 tracks only) finds T-Bone at the very top of his game. The April 1950 session used his road band, that of Big Jim Wynn, as backing musicians.

With Eddie Davis on tenor sax and Big Jim Wynn on baritone sax, from the very first session T-Bone’s Imperial sides delivered a far greater punch than his Black and White recordings of 1946 – 1947. The rollicking opening instrumental “Strollin’ With Bone” sets the tone and then it’s straight into the blues with “You Don’t Love Me.” Try listening to this LP with your media player on cross fade and hoo boy are you in for one hell of a musical treat.

Subsequent Los Angeles sessions through to March 1952 used musicians from Big Jim Wynn’s band mixed with former T-Bone cohorts such as Willard McDaniel, Billy Hadnott and Oscar Lee Bradley, with Maxwell Davis coming in on tenor sax. In March 1952 T-Bone’s nephew R.S. Rankin came in on second guitar. The Imperial label had established a strong New Orleans connection in 1949 – 1950, most notably with Fats Domino and Smiley Lewis, and in March 1953 T-Bone travelled to the Crescent City to record with the top local session men such as Lee Allen and Herb Hardesty. This LP features one side from those sessions – “Railroad Station Blues.”

There were further recordings with the New Orleans gang through to November 1953. Meanwhile in October 1953 T-Bone recorded in Detroit with the T.J. Fowler band which also backed him in his final recordings for Imperial in June 1954.

So download, sit back and savour R&B at its best with these great, great recordings which are probably the last sides T-Bone recorded with the rhythm and blues market in mind. Ill health brought a temporary hiatus to T-Bone’s recording career. In 1955 through to 1957 he recorded intermittently for Atlantic. Most of the sides made their first appearance on the LP “T-Bone Blues.” T-Bone’s career picked up in the 60’s when he became part of the blues revival. His subsequent recordings were all for the LP market, his final sides being recorded in 1973. He died in March 1975 at the comparatively young age of 64.

1. Strollin' With Bone
2. You Don't Love Me
3. You Don't Understand
4. Say! Pretty Baby (Welcome Blues)
5. Tell Me What's The Reason
6. Blue Mood
7. Railroad Station Blues
8. The Sun Went Down
9. The Hustle Is On
10. Evil Hearted Woman
11. Cold Cold Feeling
12. I Got The Blues Again
13. Blues Is A Woman
14. Get These Blues Off Me

All sides recorded in Los Angeles, 1950 – 1952, except “Railroad Station Blues.” T-Bone Walker, guitar, vocal on all tracks with:

April 1950 sessions personnel:

Eddie Hutcherson (tp); Edward Hale (as); Eddie Davis (ts); Big Jim Wynn (ts and bs); Zell Kindred (p); Buddy Woodson (b); Robert “Snake” Sims (d):

“Strollin’ With Bone,” “The Sun Went Down,” “You Don’t Love Me,” were recorded on April 5th, 1950. “Travelin’ Blues” and “Evil Hearted Woman” were recorded on April 6th, 1950.

August 1951 sessions personnel:

Unidentified (tp); Edward Hale (as); Maxwell Davis (ts); Willard McDaniel (p); Billy Hadnott (b); Oscar Lee Bradley (d):

“You Don’t Understand” and “Welcome Blues” (aka “Say Pretty Baby) were recorded on August 15th, 1951. “Tell Me What’s The Reason” was recorded on August 20th, 1951.

March 1952 sessions personnel:

Unidentified (tp); Edward Hale (as); Maxwell Davis (ts); possibly Big Jim Wynn (bs); Willard McDaniel or Zell Kindred (p); Buddy Woodson (b); R.S. Rankin (g); Oscar Lee Bradley or Robert “Snake” Sims (d):

“Cold, Cold Feeling,” “Get These Blues Off Me,” “I Got The Blues Again,” “Blues Is a Woman,” and “Blue Mood” were recorded in March, 1952 (exact date unknown.)

The March 1953 session was recorded in New Orleans. Personnel:

Dave Bartholomew (t); Wendell Duconge (as); Lee Allen (ts); Herb Hardesty (bs); Walter Nelson (g); Frank Fields (b); Cornelius Coleman (d); unidentified (p) Baby Davis or Tiny Brown (vocal):

“Railroad Station Blues” was recorded on March 20th, 1953 in New Orleans.

Sources: Pete Welding – liner notes to “The Complete Imperial Recordings, 1950 – 1954."

Recommended purchase:

“T-Bone Walker – The Complete Imperial Recordings, 1950-1954” is a double CD set issued in 1991 in the EMI Blues Series. Compiled by Pete Welding. 52 brilliant tracks.

T-Bone Walker - T-Bone Jumps Again

Side 1
1. Hypin' Woman Blues
2. Too Much Trouble Blues
3. I Got A Break Baby
4. Mean Old World
5. Bobby Sox Blues
6. I Know Your Wig Is Gone
7. T-Bone Jumps Again
8. Call It Stormy Monday

Side 2
1. You're My Best Poker Hand
2. First Love Blues
3. She's My Old Time Used To Be
4. On Your Way Blues
5. I Wish You Were Mine
6. Wise Man Blues
7. Born To Be No Good
8. T-Bone Shuffle

This is a glorious Charly collection of pioneer of the electric blues guitar T-Bone Walker’s classic 1946-47 sides which he recorded for LA indy label Black and White, plus two sides he recorded for Capitol in 1942 while with the Freddie Slack Orchestra. I bought it way back in 1981 at a time when my jump blues collection consisted of little more than a handful of Swing House LPs, a best of Louis Jordan compilation on MCA, a scratched second hand Amos Milburn comp on United Artists and some imported King releases on Gusto. So you can imagine the impact these jumpers, jivers, shuffles and blues had on the as yet youthful Be Bop Wino.

Oh sure, I could write at length about the importance of T-Bone Walker in the history of R&B. About how every blues guitarist and (shudder) blues-rawk axeman owes him a debt of gratitude. Or perhaps I would be better looking back to the influences and experiences that shaped T-Bone’s music and stage act, influences that reach back through string bands, Blind Lemon Jefferson, medicine shows, classic blues divas, chumming around with Charlie Christian, big bands, jamming all night with Lester Young, and just corny old showbiz in the shape of musical reviews and song and dance acts. But what this post is really about is the fantastic music contained in these sixteen tracks. They may be slightly crackly and scratched but I’ve had the LP for around thirty years, so what do you expect?

Quite simply this is probably the coolest music you’ll ever hear. It’s real relaxed West Coast Rhythm ‘n’ Blues with small jump bands led by Jack McVea and Bumps Myers providing subtle accompaniment to T-Bones’ smoky vocals and tasteful guitar licks.

Texan T-Bone arrived in California sometime in the mid 1930s. Big Jim Wynn remembered him in the Little Harlem Club in Watts in 1936: “He was dancing and picking up tables with his mouth. He’d dance on a table and then grip it in his teeth and whirl it around. That’s what Miss Brown booked him for, as a dancer. He started singing with the first small band I had and the people went mad about him. He had a funny little box he’d play, a contraption he had made himself …” Sounds like T-Bone was already experimenting with an amplified guitar.

In 1939 T-Bone joined the big band of Les Hite as a vocalist. In fact this was a new edition of the long established band as in September 1939 Hite had dismissed his own band and taken over that of Floyd Turnham. The band went on an extensive tour, opening in Dallas at the end of September (they may have picked up T-Bone in his old home town), and in January 1940 arrived in New York. “Downbeat” noted that “his new star is T-Bone Walker with choruses on ‘I wonder why she don’t write to me.’” While in New York, the band recorded for Varsity with T-Bone’s vocals (but not guitar) being showcased on “T-Bone Blues.”

During the tour T-Bone experimented backstage with a Gibson electric guitar and on his return to LA he developed a sensational crowd pulling act with his new instrument. He had the tricks which in later years would be used by Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix – playing the guitar behind his head and while doing the splits. Club success brought him to the attention of new label Capitol Records. In July 1942 T-Bone was on several Capitol sessions with the Freddie Slack Orchestra, a boogie based big band which had the fabulous Ella Mae Morse on vocals (along with Johnny Mercer).

At the end of his first session with the full band (having recorded “Mister Five By Five” and several other tracks), T-Bone was backed by a rhythm trio from the band (including Freddie himself) on “Mean Old World” and “I Got A Break Baby.” This was the first time that T-Bones’ by now fully developed vocal / guitar style was recorded. However, the first Petrillo recording ban brought a temporary hiatus to his recording career. It would be over two years before T-Bones’ electric blues guitar would be captured on wax again, this time for the Chicago based Rhumboogie label, which was a promotional tie-in for the successful Chi-Town Rhumboogie night club.

The Rhumboogie opened in April 1942 with a show headlined by the Tiny Bradshaw band. In August 1942 T-Bone opened at the club as the headliner in “The Dream Revue,” a show which featured singers, dancers, chorus girls and the Milt Larkin band with Arnett Cobb and Tom Archia on saxes. The Revue, which ran until October, was a massive success and in January 1943 T-Bone was back at the club, once again with the Milt Larkin band providing backing. T-Bones’ 1944 run at the club was another success, being repeatedly extended until Wynonie Harris took over as the headliner.

As T-Bones’ 1944 spell at the Rhumboogie drew to an end at the beginning of October, he recorded six tracks for the new Rhumboogie record label backed by the Marl Young band who were by now the house band at the club. “Sail On Boogie” in particular was a storming showcase for T-Bones’ electric guitar. Three singles were released from this session, and a further session of four songs was recorded in December 1945, but none of these later recordings was released on Rhumboogie. However, two of the tracks were released as a single on Mercury.

In September 1946 T-Bone signed up with the Los Angeles based Black and White label for whom he  recorded under the supervision of Ralph Bass until the end of 1947. At the two 1946 sessions T-Bone was backed by label mate Jack McVea’s band, with trumpeter Al Killian being added on the second session in December 1946. For the 1947 sessions, studio bands centred on tenor sax man Bumps Meyers and former Les Hite drummer Oscar Lee Bradley provided sterling support. Other musicians involved included pianists Lloyd Glenn and Willard McDaniel, trumpet players Teddy Buckner and George Orendorff and bass player Billy Hadnott.

The Black and White recordings had considerable commercial success with “Bobby Sox Baby,” “Stormy Monday,” “Long Skirt Baby Blues,” “I Want A Little Girl,” “I’m Waiting For Your Call,” “Midnight Blues,” “West Side Baby,” “Description Blues” and “T-Bone Shuffle” all entering the R&B charts between 1947 and 1949.

Despite achieving good sales for records by Jack McVea and T-Bone, Black and White ran into financial problems during 1948, eventually going out of business. The T-Bone masters were bought up by Capitol in April 1949. Their new owners remastered and renumbered the tracks and reissued many of them, leading to considerable discographical confusion, which is reflected in the sleevenotes to this LP. When T-Bone resumed his recording career in 1950, he had signed with Lew Chudd’s Imperial label. That story, however, is for another post and another day.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www104.zippyshare.com/v/pFGTa3PK/file.html

1. Hypin' Woman Blues
2. Too Much Trouble Blues
3. I Got A Break Baby
4. Mean Old World
5. Bobby Sox Blues
6. I Know Your Wig Is Gone
7. T-Bone Jumps Again
8. Call It Stormy Monday
9. You're My Best Poker Hand
10. First Love Blues
11. She's My Old Time Used To Be
12. On Your Way Blues
13. I Wish You Were Mine
14. Wise Man Blues
15. Born To Be No Good
16. T-Bone Shuffle

“I Got A Break Baby” and “Mean Old World” were recorded in Hollywood on July 20th, 1942, with Freddie Slack and His Orchestra, rhythm section only. Freddie Slack (p); Jud De Naut (b); Dave Coleman (d)

“Bobby Sox Blues” aka “Bobby Sox Baby” was recorded in Hollywood on September 30th, 1946 with the Jack McVea All Stars. Joe “Red” Kelly (tp); Jack McVea (ts); Tommy “Crow” Khan (p); Frank Clarke (b); Rabon Tarrant (d)

“I Know Your Wig Is Gone,” “T-Bone Jumps Again” and “Call It Stormy Monday” were recorded in Hollywood on September 13th, 1947. Teddy Buckner (tp); Bumps Myers (ts); Lloyd Glenn (p); Arthur Edwards (b); Oscar Lee Bradley (d)

“She’s My Old Time Used To Be” and “Too Much Trouble Blues” were recorded in Los Angeles on November 6th, 1947. “Hypin’ Woman Blues” and “On Your Way Blues” were recorded in Los Angeles on November 7th, 1947. Teddy Buckner (tp); Bumps Myers (ts); Willard McDaniel (p); Billy Hadnott (b); Oscar Lee Bradley (d)

“First Love Blues” was recorded in Los Angeles on November 12th, 1947. George Orendorff (tp); Bumps Myers (ts); Willard McDaniel (p); Billy Hadnott (b); Oscar Lee Bradley (d)

“T-Bone Shuffle” was recorded in Los Angeles on November 13th, 1947. George Orendorff (tp); Bumps Myers (ts); Willard McDaniel (p); John W. Davis (b); Oscar Lee Bradley (d)

“Wise Man Blues” and “I Wish You Were Mine” were recorded in Los Angeles on December 17th, 1947. “Born To Be No Good” was recorded in Los Angeles on December 18th, 1947. Jack Trainor (tp); Bumps Myers (ts); Willard McDaniel (p); Billy Hadnott (b); Oscar Lee Bradley (d)

“You’re My Best Poker Hand” was recorded in Los Angeles on December 29th, 1947. George Orendorff or Jack Trainor (tp); Bumps Myers (ts); Willard McDaniel (p); Billy Hadnott (b); Oscar Lee Bradley (d)

Sources:

Mark Humphrey – liner notes to the Capitol Blues Collection 3CD set “T-Bone Walker: The Complete Capitol / Black & White Recordings”

Helen Oakley Dance – “Stormy Monday: The T-Bone Walker Story”

Robert Pruter and Robert L Campbell - "The Rhumboogie: the rise of a great black and tan" in Blues and Rhythm, number 190, June 2004

Bill Millar – “Let The Good Times Rock!”

Albert McCarthy – Big Band Jazz

The Bruyninckx Discography

Arnold Shaw: Honkers And Shouters

Big Al Pavlow’s R&B Book

Cliff White: sleevenotes to Charly LPs “The Natural Blues” and “Plain Ole Blues.”

Mo’ T-Bone:

“The Complete Capitol / Black & White Sessions” – a 3CD set issued in the Capitol Blues Collection series in 1995. It includes the 48 recordings made for Black & White in 1946 and 1947, the 2 recordings with Freddie Slack for Capitol from 1942, and “T-Bone Blues” made with the Les Hite band for Varsity in 1940. There are 75 tracks in total on this set with the balance being made up of alternate takes of many of the Black & White tracks. Immaculate packaging and sound quality. Indispensable but almost impossible to find.

You might have a better chance of finding the Proper 4 CD set “The Original Source” which has 90 tracks recorded between 1930 and 1951.

Don't Move A Vip Till I Say Vop - Doles Dickens Quartet

El Enmascarado has edited another cool video to accompany the B-Side of "Sing Re-Bop." The Doles Dickens Quartet are in hepcat jive mode once more with "Don't Move A Vip Till I Say Vop," a piece of advice with which I find it hard to disagree.

The video incorporates sequences from "Jivin' in Bebop" and "Juke Joint." Both of these films can be viewed on the Internet Archive. Go to http://www.archive.org/ then select "moving images." Put the movie title into the search box and wham bam, thank you ma'am, you can watch or download the complete movie.

Despite the impression given by El Enmascarado's video, Dizzy Gillespie is NOT playing on this record. See the previous "Sing Re-Bop" post for the Doles Dickens story.

And lastly you can listen to "Don't Move A Vip Till I Say Vop" on streaming audio here:

Listen to "Don't Move A Vip Till I Say Vop"

Audio clip ripped by El Enmascarado from the original 78 rpm disc. Thanks to our benefactor for taking us down the road to an obscurer corner of R&B history.