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Saturday 14 October 2017

(Dance To) The Best Of Bostic - Both Versions

 

Side 1:
01. Flamingo
02. Always
03. Deep Purple
04. Smoke Rings
05. What, No Pearls
06. Jungle Drums

Side 2:
01. Serenade
02. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
03. Seven Steps
04. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
05. Don't You Do It
06. Steamwhistle Jump


In my previous post on the Earl Bostic LP "Dance Time" I recounted how in 1959 he recorded stereo versions of his 12 inch LPs which had been issued in the King 500 series from February 1956 through to July 1958.

Back in 2010 I posted a 1980's reissue of King LP 500 "Dance To The Best Of Bostic" under the impression that the tracks it contained were the original early 1950's versions. I now know that that LP actually consists of stereo re-recordings from 1959. This post includes both a "reconstruction" of the original 1956 version of the album, "The Best Of Bostic" (King LP 395-500), and the 1980's reissue of the stereo version (originally issued in December 1959), retitled (on the front cover only) "Dance To The Best Of Bostic." (King LP S500.)

You can now download both versions of the album and compare them. They sound quite different, so it's not really like listening to the same album twice! "The Best Of Bostic" is a "reconstruction" of the original LP using tracks from various reissue sources and artwork from the internet.

King Records issued 10 inch LPs from March 1952 until the end of 1955. In early 1956 the label changed its album issues to the 12 inch LP format, launching its 500 series of LPs in February of that year with King LP 395-500 "The Best Of Bostic." The cover was as shown at the top of this post. The tracks were originally recorded and released as singles between 1950 and 1953.

Track Information for "The Best of Bostic" (King LP 395-500)

“Serenade” (T7) and “Seven Steps” (T9) were recorded in New York, March 23rd, 1950. Personnel: Earl Bostic (as) Count Hastings (ts) Gene Redd (vib) Clifton Smalls (p) Al Casey (g) Keter Betts (b) Joe Marshall (d)

“Serenade” was released as King 4369 (B Side of  "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams") in May 1950.

“Seven Steps” was released as King 4387 (b/w "Portrait Of A Faded Love") in July 1950.

“Don’t You Do It” (T11) was recorded in New York, October 13th, 1950. Personnel as above, except Eddie Barefield replaces Al Casey (g)

“Don’t You Do It” was released as King 4683 (B Side of  "Off Shore") in November 1953.

“Flamingo” (T1), “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (T8), “Always” (T2) and “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” (T10) were recorded in New York, January 10th, 1951. Personnel: Gene Redd (tp,vib) Earl Bostic (as) Count Hastings (ts) Clifton Smalls (p) Rene Hall (g) Keter Betts (b) Jimmy Cobb (d)

“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” was released as King 4437 (B Side of "Rockin' And Reelin') in March 1951.

“Always” was released as King 4454  (b/w "How Could It Have Been You And I") in June 1951.

“Flamingo” b/w "I’m Getting Sentimental Over You" was released as King 4475 in October 1951.

“Steamwhistle Jump” (T12) was recorded in New York, December 17th, 1952. Personnel: Richard "Blue" Mitchell (tp) Earl Bostic (as) Ray Felder (ts) Gene Redd (vib) Joe Knight (p) Mickey Baker (g) Ike Isaacs (b) George Brown (d)

“Steamwhistle Jump” (b/w "The Sheik Of Araby) was released as King 4603 in March 1953.

“What No Pearls” (T5) was recorded in Los Angeles, June 6th, 1953. Personnel: Blue Mitchell, Tommy Turrentine (tp) Earl Bostic (as) Stanley Turrentine (ts) Luis Rivera (p) Herman Mitchell (g) Mario Delagarde (b) Albert Bartee (d)

“What No Pearls” was released as King 4644 (B Side of  "Melancholy Serenade") in July 1953.

“Deep Purple” (T3), “Smoke Rings” (T4) and “Jungle Drums” (T6) were recorded in Cincinnati, August 24th, 1953. Personnel: Blue Mitchell, Tommy Turrentine (tp) Earl Bostic (as) Stanley Turrentine (ts) Edward Richley (vib) Alexander Sample (p) Charles Grayson (g) Bob Burton (b) Granville Hogan (d)

“Deep Purple” / “Smoke Rings” was released as King 4674 in October 1953.

“Jungle Drums” (b/w "Danube Waves") was released as King 4708 in April 1954.























This is a link to a volume boosted version of the LP, which therefore differs from previously posted versions. The posted LP is a 1980's reissue. The cover confusingly describes it as both monophonic and stereo. It is in fact in stereo.

The track list is the same as "The Best Of Bostic." The stereo version of "The Best Of Bostic" was originally issued in December 1959 with a new front cover and a new title (at least on the front cover - the disc labels and back cover retained the original title). The tracks were recorded as follows:

"Deep Purple," "Flamingo," "Smoke Rings," "Jungle Drums," "Seven Steps," "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" and "Steamwhistle Jump" were recorded in Cincinnati on March 26th, 1959. Personnel: Earl Bostic (alto sax); Roland Johnson (vibraphone); Jon Thomas (piano); Allan Seltzer (guitar); Herb Gordy (bass); William Erskine (drums).

"Always," "What No Pearls," "Serenade," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and "Don't You Do It" were recorded in Cincinnati on June 4th 1959. Personnel: same as above.

In this version of the LP the tracks are played at a slightly faster tempo with a more emphasized beat, and with Earl using a more abrasive tone. As the altered title indicates, these versions are probably more suitable for cuttin' a rug in the comfort of one's own home.

We're still a long way from definitively solving the mystery of what exactly is on all those Bostic LPs in their varied forms. For example do mono reissues of the albums which use the new cover art contain the original mono tracks or do they consist of mono mixes of the 1959 re-recordings? I have to say that at this stage I don't know.

I have a couple more 1980's reissue LPs of Earl Bostic to listen to, plus a couple of King CD reissues of his albums, but as I am currently on the verge of Bostic overload the investigation is temporarily suspended and the blog will move on to another aspect of 1950's R&B in the next post. If anyone can enlighten the far flung legions of Bostic fans, please send in a comment.

12 comments:

Daddy Cool said...

Hi
I did some work on this back in the 70s – sorted out the Bostic discog and tried to sort out old and new versions to compare on cassette but it was a headache. It may be time for me to look at CDs and mp3s accumulated since.
Anyway: BB 23/6/58 says that Johnnie Pate's LP 561 (released that week) was King's first stereo release and Syd said that all subsequent albums would be in mono and stereo. This would suggest that 571 would have been released in stereo but the fact that it and 583 were both amongst the albums recut in stereo belies that. I suspect that Pate's was an experimental stereo session issued in mono first then stereo a few months later.

So, I think that LP 597 was the first to be initially recorded in stereo. It seems amazing that between 25/3/59 and 15/6/59 he managed to cut ten albums - recuts of 500 → 583 plus 705.

Also Bostic's single 5229 was an experimental stereo issue.

I really like what you're doing here and look forward to more – what we need is original vinyl stereo copies of those nine albums to digitise (just dreaming)

Hope this makes sense.
Thanks again.

boogiewoody said...

Thanks for your detailed comment Daddy Cool. I think you're right about King LP 597. It wasn't included in the 1959 recording sessions. I accidentally put it on the list of re-recorded albums in my previous post after misreading a footnote in Bruyninckx.

I'm afraid the chances of me coming across a secret stash of original Earl Bostic LPs is less than zero! Still, you never know. I'll probably revisit Earl with a post or 2 on the remaining 1980s reissues I have.

Cheers DC!

phipps11 said...

Any Bostic is always welcome! Thanks for the detective work. Great sounds regardless of source. -- Jon

rm said...

thank you very much

Anonymous said...

Hi Boogiewoody,
I haven't been around the net too much lately, but am glad to see that you're back to posting with gusto!

Have you ever checked out the file service 'sendspace'? A friend of mine uses it on his private jazz/soul blog and it's wonderful for readers. None of the zippyshare nonsense, just a direct link straight from the blog page.

Hope you had a wonderful summer and that Hurricane Ophelia doesn't cause any damage your way.

boogiewoody said...

Hi Vintage Spins! Thanks for the tip about sendspace. I've tried it out by opening a free account, uploading a couple of files and downloading one of them. It seems so much better than zippyshare. I may start posting sendspace links but I wonder how they'd react to an influx of downloaders, or do they get them already?

Hurricane Ophelia has caused a lot of damage over in Ireland and is due to arrive in Glasgow shortly. I plan on sleeping through it, if possible!

BW

boogiewoody said...

The previous post "Earl Bostic - Dance Time" now has an interesting comment from Bear From Delaware, plus a reply from my good self. Just in case any Bostic fans miss out on reading it!

BW

B_B said...

I suppose this may be due to the recent troubles with Zippy-swear . . . ? Deletions, pop-ups from h-e-!!, etc.

Please be aware that Sendsp@cec@se has its limitations. Chiefly the fact that it limits the amount of D-Ls one can git without forking over $ome do-re-mi for a “premium” account, aka paying to play.

Mind you, it’s not as bad as some of the sites others use, such as Vapidgator, etc.

I’d say the all-time best these days is MEGA.NZ. Even the “ ‘Zonies ” over a the “T-Z!” web-blah-g seem to approve!

boogiewoody said...

Thanks for the tip re MEGA, I'll give it a whirl. Any relation to the previous megaupload site?

BW

B_B said...

I dunno. It may or may not be related to the long-gone (sorry King R&B on the mind. . .) NZ site run by that Bond villain look-alike “Kim Dotcom,” an Interwebs creep . . . er, or creepy crawler of some note (he even got his 15 mins. of fame on the US CBS-TV “newsmagazine,” “60 Minutes” a few years back . . .)

Other who may know more than I do of these “dark dealings” will have to elaborate more. In any case, those “T-Z!” file finger folks seem to be most pleased with the recent addition of “Mega” as a D-L option.

Oh, and speeching of things scary (and/or funny and/or “bumping in the night”?), any plans at BBW World HQs to do any “Halloween specials”???

I know, I know, it’s more of a U.S. thang.

And I don’t mean that they did NOT have “Scary” sounds coming out of the British isles back in the ‘50s & ‘60s . . .

Oh, and, thanks for all you do to make for a tuneful fall, spoonfuls and ladlings of boss (As opposed to boos?) Bostic & all!

Hmmm. . . Next thing you know it'll be THANKSGIVING . . . An all “FOOD” song set . . . ? Or two . . . Or three . . . ???

boogiewoody said...

What is this Thanksgiving of which you speak? It doesn't exist here in Bonnie Scotland. I have heard of it, but I have no idea what date it falls on. Coming up in the Republic of Scotland - Halloween (we practically invented it you know) and then St Andrew's Day (shamefully not a public holiday) at the end of November. No plans for holiday comps here on Be Bop Wino - we tend to ignore such goins on.

Anonymous said...

Danube Waves is the only 78-platter that I happen to have of Earl.
So I'm really glad when it is possible to find more
of that saxy music. Tuff enough. Thanks.
And blessings for You, Boogiewoody.
- Jay from North.