Side 1
1 Woman Is A Five Letter Word
2 Tell Me So
3 Got You On My Mind
4 Let Me Hold You
5 You Played On My Piano
6 Lonesome And Blue
7 I Need You
8 I'll Never Let You Go
Side 2
1 I'm The Fat Man
2 Beginning To Miss You
3 Rhythm In The Breeze
4 Drinkin' Fool
5 Getting Mighty Lonesome For You
6 Too Long
7 Come Back Maybelline
8 Night Crawlin'
This LP was originally uploaded to Be Bop Wino about 5 years
ago. Ye gods, we’ve passed our 5th anniversary – 5 years of online rhythm ’n’
bluesin’ – doesn’t time fly? Back then I hadn’t worked out how to scan complete
LP covers, so the accompanying scans were pretty poor. The previous post of El
Enmascarado’s Big John Greer disc on Sittin’ In With gives me a good excuse to re-up
this collection with all new Be Bop Wino standard cover scans and present them
for your pleasure. Plus I can also include a little more info on Mr Greer. It’s
still the same sound files though …
Tenor sax man and vocalist John Greer arrived in New
York to join the Lucky Millinder Orchestra in 1948,
on the recommendation of his former school bandmate Henry Glover. As we saw in the previous post he recorded four sides for Bobby Shad’s Sittin’ In With label
before his first session on RCA Victor with Millinder which came in January
1949. Possessor of a pleasant singing voice, able to handle sweet ballads and
more raucous jump material as well as being more than handy on the tenor sax,
he was a natural replacement for Bull Moose Jackson, who had left the Millinder
outfit to embark on a very successful solo career.
Greer’s career path closely followed that of Jackson
– recording simultaneously with the Millinder band and with his own Rhythm
Rockers. When Millinder left RCA in 1950, Greer continued to record for the
label and its Groove R&B subsidiary until 1955. Many of his releases were
ballads but they failed to bring the success that Bull Moose enjoyed with
similar material in the late 1940s and early 50s. In the meantime, Greer
continued to record with the Millinder band through 1950 after they had moved
to King, most noticeably at a May 1950 session where he was the featured vocalist on several sides including "Let It Roll Again."
Also on King, Greer recorded with Wynonie Harris (“Oh Babe!”
“Teardrops From My Eyes” and “Bloodshot Eyes”), Bull Moose Jackson
(“Nosey Joe” and “Bearcat Blues”), and Annisteen Allen. His only substantial
hit on RCA was “Got You On My Mind” which reached number two on the Billboard
R&B chart in the spring of 1952. His contract with RCA / Groove was not
renewed in 1955, and he had two sessions for King in 1956 before his recording
career was brought to a premature end by what are euphemistically called
“lifestyle issues” aka booze.
“R&B In New York City ”
was released in 1988. As well as the big hit “Got You On My Mind,” there are a
few good rockers such as the raunchy “You Played On My Piano” (with Dolores
Brown), “I’m The Fat Man” and “Come Back Maybelline” – a fine answer record to
Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline.” Ballads predominate on this collection, but they aren’t
too sickly sweet and in fact make for pleasantly relaxed listening.
Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.
Download from here:
Recommended purchase – “I’m The Fat Man” (Rev-ola CR Band
17)
This thirty track collection compiled by Dave Penny
concentrates on the swinging, jumping and rocking side of Big John Greer’s
music. It includes four tracks recorded with The Du Droppers and comes with
very informative notes. An excellent purchase for rockin’ R&B fans.
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