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Saturday 10 November 2012

Odd-En-Dow / Dues In Blues - Gene Ammons And His Orchestra (Mercury 8080)



"Odd-En-Dow" was recorded on December 1st, 1947 and "Dues In Blues" was recorded on December 10th, 1947. Both sides were recorded in Chicago.

Personnel: Gail Brockman (trumpet); John "Raps" Dungee (alto and baritone sax); Gene Ammons (tenor sax); Junior Mance (piano); Gene Wright (bass); Ellis Bartree (drums)

Mercury 8080 was released in May 1948.





Billboard reviewed the disc in its Race Records section on May 8th, 1948. "Odd-En-Dow" was a "light bop riffer, with string of fair solo rides" while "Dues In Blues" received the slightly off hand comment: "instrumental with more bop touches."

Gene Ammons was the son of renowned boogie woogie piano man Albert Ammons. He played tenor sax in his school band, and got his first professional gig with the King Kolax band. His subsequent spell with Billy Eckstine's bop-leaning big band shot him to fame, most memorably on the searing tenor sax battle with Dexter Gordon, "Blowing The Blues Away." In 1947 he left the Eckstine outfit to start a solo recording career on Mercury. He had a hit with "Red Top" (Mercury 8048) and recorded a series of fiery bop sides for the label in 1947 and 1949 before signing for Chess for whom he had another big chart hit in 1950 with "My Foolish Heart." He had brief spells with Woody Herman and Count Basie before forming the legendary Gene Ammons - Sonny Stitt combo. But that may be another story for another post.

With many thanks to El Enmascarado  for ripping these sides from an original 78 rpm disc and for the label scans.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is yet another disc from the radio station batch I got a while back. The record is not made out of the customary shellac. It's thinner and lighter, although still brittle-seeming. It's kind of like the substance the earliest LPs are pressed on. That might very well be why it looks perfect on visual inspection, but had a fair amount of noise. The next record I'm working on is a white label DJ pressing from the same batch...The Masked One

Dirk Bill said...

Any download link? I love it!

Dirk Bill said...

P.S. I bet the writer is A. K. Salim.

boogiewoody said...

Hi Dirk, these tracks will be included on the next volume of "Jump & Jive On 78" which will be available for download. It's shaping up as a good mix of jazz and r&b - one to look forward to!

You had me googling on A.K. Salim who looks to be a very interesting musician / arranger. Has anyone out there got a copy of his Savoy album "Pretty For The People"?

Dirk Bill said...

I look forward to your next 78 comp; the one you already posted is outstanding. I have to admit I was so addicted to your blog that I took a few months off! But who can stay away from this place. Anyway, I found a Savoy Japan CD of "Blues Suite" (1958) by A.K. Salim that is pretty amazing. I haven't researched his discog to see what is still available, but he is indeed a unique character. I will update you when I learn more. And I can't thank you enough for all you do, but I will try!

boogiewoody said...

Thanks for the kind comments and for pointing the blog contributors and followers towards A.K. Salim, Dirk.

I know he worked with Machito and Dizzy Gillespie among others before going on to work with Basie.

I had a look at a Dizzy Gillespie big band album I have on RCA wich includes lots of Latin influenced tracks, but no mention of Salim in the notes

LC said...

A(hmad) K(hatab) Salim's real name was Albert Atkinson. He was born in CHicago on July 29, 1922 and, as far as I know, is still alive. Marc Myers' blog, JazzWax, ran a feature on him and his work some years ago. Here's the link:

http://www.jazzwax.com/2008/12/ak-salim-flute.html

best, LC

boogiewoody said...

Thanks for the link, LC. Fascinating stuff on A.K.Salim.