Percy Mayfield - The Voice Within (re-up)

Side 1:
01. How Wrong Can A Good Man Be
02. Leary Blues
03. The Hunt Is On
04. Hopeless
05. Two Hearts Are Greater Than One
06. Lonesome Highway
07. I Dare You, Baby
08. How Deep Is The Well

Side 2:
01. The Lonely One
02. The Bachelor Blues
03. Sugar Mama - Peachy Papa
04. The Voice Within
05. My Heart
06. Are You Out There?
07. The Bluest Blues
08. My Story About A Woman

Ripped @ 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www18.zippyshare.com/v/yMV2UzRx/file.html

Re-upped in response to a request by Barefoot Boogaloo. Apologies for the delay, but I had to go out and buy a new scanner. I had become increasingly aware that my LP cover scans were suffering in quality due to fogging on the inside of my scanner glass. An attempt to fix this ended badly so there was nothing for it but to dig deep and invest in a new scanner. As for stitching together the LP cover scans (you need to do four to get a complete cover), I decided to try out Microsoft's ICE free software and the results are as you see on this post. I'm pretty pleased with the scanner and the software and I believe that scanning LP covers will not be such a laborious task as it used to be.

The original post (11th October, 2008) of "The Voice Within" is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/percy-mayfield-voice-within.html

It's worth a read - not only for an outline of the career of Percy Mayfield, but also for some melancholy musings over the corporatisation of Byres Road in the West End of Glasgow. Eight years on, and the trend continues unabated. Surely there can't be any business premises left to convert into coffee shops or pseudo hipster eateries? The 2008 post was prompted by the closure of Lost In Music where I bought this LP not long before the curtain came down on that source of second hand vinyl. The comments on the original post are also informative.

There is a reference to The Hound at the beginning of that post - he had posted a soundclip of the single "The Voice Within" on his blog a few weeks before I posted this LP on Be Bop Wino. A couple of years later The Hound posted an article on Percy Mayfield which you can find here:

http://thehoundblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/percy-mayfield.html

As for the sounds on this platter, I don't think I've listened to the tracks since I posted them originally and I must say on re-listening I've found that it makes for hypnotic listening, a litany of heartbreak and personal woe with only an occasional uptempo track to provide relief. I like it. Percy Mayfield was a true poet of the blues as his outstanding songwriting and performances on this album demonstrate.

There is some surface noise on some of these tracks, especially on the rockin' "I Dare You Baby" which has a few clicks and pops. Sorry about that folks. The sleevenotes by Dick Shurman include commentary on the tracks by Percy Mayfield himself.

Additional information:

How Wrong Can A Good Man Be / Leary Blues were released on Supreme 1549 in 1949. The A side was titled "How Wrong Can I Be". Re-released on Swing Time 262 in March 1951 with "Leary Blues" as the A side, and the B side titled "How Wrong Can a Good Man Be." Recorded in 1947. Personnel as per LP sleeve, i.e. Percy Mayfield (vocal); Vernon Smith (trumpet); Marshall Royal (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Floyd Turnham (baritone sax); Willard McDaniel (piano); Chuck Norris (guitar); Roy Hamilton (bass); Henry Williams (drums).

The Hunt Is On was released on Specialty SP 425 (B side of "The Big Question") in March 1952. Recorded in Los Angeles on January 22nd, 1952. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Jewell Grant (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); John Crawford (baritone and tenor saxes); Willard McDaniel (piano); Mitchell Webb (guitar); Ralph Hamilton (bass); Jesse Sailes (drums).

Hopeless was released on Specialty SP 416 (b/w "Cry Baby) in November 1951. Recorded in Los Angeles on July 27th, 1951. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); John Crawford (baritone and tenor saxes) Maurice Simon (baritone sax); Willard McDaniel (piano); Herman Mitchell (guitar); Billy Hadnott (bass); Lee Young (drums).

Two Hearts Are Greater Than One was released on Specialty SP 432 (B side of "Louisiana") in May 1952. Recorded in Los Angeles October 23rd, 1950. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Maxwell Davis and Jack McVea (tenor saxes); Charles Waller (baritone sax)); Lee Wesley Jones (piano); Chuck Norris (guitar); Red Callender (bass); Lee Young (drums).

Lonesome Highway was released on Specialty SP 439 (b/w "My Heart") in September 1952. Recorded in Los Angeles on March 31st 1952. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Jewell Grant (alto sax); Maxwell Davis and James Jackson (tenor saxes); Willard McDaniel (piano); Chuck Norris (guitar); David Bryant (bass); William "Bill" Douglass (drums).

I Dare You Baby was released on Specialty SP 451 (b/w "The River's Invitation") in January 1953. Recorded in Los Angeles on July 27th, 1951. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); John Crawford (baritone and tenor saxes); Maurice Simon (baritone sax); Willard McDaniel (piano); Herman Mitchell (guitar); Billy Hadnott (bass); Lee Young (drums).

How Deep Is The Well was released on Specialty SP 473 (b/w "The Bachelor Blues") in September 1953. Recorded in Los Angeles on July 27th, 1951. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); John Crawford (baritone and tenor saxes); Maurice Simon (baritone sax); Willard McDaniel (piano); Herman Mitchell (guitar); Billy Hadnott (bass); Lee Young (drums).

The Lonely One was released on Specialty SP 460 (b/w "Lost Mind") in April 1953. Recorded in Los Angeles on January 29th 1953. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Jewell Grant (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Hubert "Bumps" Myers (tenor sax); Willard McDaniel (piano); Ulysses Livingston (guitar); Ralph Hamilton (bass); Jesse Sailes (drums).

The Bachelor Blues was released on Specialty SP 473 (B side of "How Deep Is The Well") in September 1953. Recorded in Los Angeles on January 29th 1953. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Jewell Grant (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Hubert "Bumps" Myers (tenor sax); Willard McDaniel (piano); Ulysses Livingston (guitar); Ralph Hamilton (bass); Jesse Sailes (drums).

Sugar Mama - Peachy Papa was released on Specialty SP 499 (b/w "You Don't Exist Any More") in June 1954. Recorded in Los Angeles on March 23rd 1954. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Joy Hamilton (vocal); Jewell Grant (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Floyd Turnham (baritone sax); Willard McDaniel (piano); Herman Mitchell (guitar); Ralph Hamilton (bass); Jesse Sailes (drums).

The Voice Within was released on Specialty SP 544 (b/w "Baby You're Rich") in March 1955. Recorded in Los Angeles on October 18th 1954. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Jewell Grant (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Floyd Turnham (baritone sax); Willard McDaniel (piano); Harold Grant (guitar); Ralph Hamilton (bass); Jesse Sailes (drums).

My Heart was released on Specialty SP 439 (B side of "Lonesome Highway") in September 1952. Recorded in Los Angeles on January 22nd, 1952. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Jewell Grant (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); John Crawford (baritone and tenor saxes); Willard McDaniel (piano); Mitchell Webb (guitar); Ralph Hamilton (bass); Jesse Sailes (drums).

Are You Out There? was released on Chess 1599 (b/w "Double Dealing") in June 1955. Recorded in Chicago on April 12th 1955. Personnel: Percy Mayfield (vocal); Fred Clark (tenor sax) with unknown tenor sax, piano, bass, drums.

The Bluest Blues was released on Cash 1041 (B side of "Look The Whole World Over") in 1956. Recorded in Los Angeles. Date unknown - possibly in 1956 but possibly a late 1940s Supreme track leased to John Dolphin.

My Story About A Woman - unissued track recorded at Chess session in June 1955. Probably same session as "Are You Out There?"

As you can see from the above, Maxwell Davis was an ever present on the Los Angeles recordings, as tenor sax player, bandleader and arranger. A true giant of West Coast R&B whose vital role in the development of rhythm and blues is all too often forgotten, but on Be Bop Wino we do not forget!