Wynonie Harris - Good Rockin' Blues

Volume One -

Side One:
01. Good Rockin' Tonight
02. I Feel That Old Age Coming On
03. Bloodshot Eyes
04. Rot Gut
05. Mr Dollar
06. Grandma Plays The Numbers

Side Two:
01. Good Morning Judge
02. Adam, Come Get Your Rib
03. All She Wants To Do Is Rock
04. Quiet Whiskey
05. Lovin' Machine
06. Tremblin'

Volume Two -

Side One:
01. Rose Get Your Clothes
02. Wynonie's Boogie
03. Good Morning Mr Blues
04. Blowin' To California
05. I Can't Take It No More

Side Two:
01. I Like My Baby's Pudding
02. Man, Have I Got Troubles
03. I'll Never Give Up
04. Drinkin' Blues
05. Mama Your Daughter's Done Lied On Me

Good Rockin' Blues (Mega)

A Gusto double LP set of Wynonie Harris King sides. Life just got a little bit better, didn't it? This the fourth Gusto 2LP set I've posted, the others being by Roy Brown, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and a set featuring Memphis Slim, Pete "Guitar" Lewis and Little Willie Littlefield.

I've mentioned on these previous posts that the Gusto reissues of King material were among the first "real R&B" records that I ever bought back in the late 70s / very early 80s and thus if you download and listen to these wild, wild sounds you will hear the beginnings of my downfall - a once respectable academic laid low by bop, beer, and hoochie coochie girls. Thank heavens I avoided drugs.

The Roy Brown and Cleanhead sets have excellent sound quality and sound on the Wynonie set is mainly just as good but there are a few tracks which have been mastered from noisy sources. These are mainly on disc two and are from the 1947 sessions. On the first disc "Grandma Plays The Numbers" has background hiss. Don't be put off - most of these wild and woolly platters are in suitably good punchy sound quality and should keep your neighbours awake as you party through the night or until the cops come calling.

For a brief account of the wild life of Wynonie Harris read my post of the Route 66 collection "Oh Babe! And we ain't done with Wynonie - the next post will be another LP of his King sides.

As is usual with the Gusto LP's, detailed information on the tracks is absent, so once more the intrepid blogger noses through websites, books and CD covers to track down the information without which your life would be incomplete.

Firstly here are the recording dates of the tracks -

Volume One:
01. Good Rockin' Tonight - 28th December 1947
02. I Feel That Old Age Coming On - 19th December 1948
03. Bloodshot Eyes - 27th February 1951
04. Rot Gut - 7th November 1952
05. Mr Dollar - 30th November 1954
06. Grandma Plays The Numbers - 19th December 1948
07. Good Morning Judge - 18th May 1950
08. Adam, Come Get Your Rib - 25th June 1952
09. All She Wants To Do Is Rock - 13th April 1949
10. Quiet Whiskey - 11th September 1953
11. Lovin' Machine - 2nd July 1951
12. Tremblin' - 27th February 1951

Volume 2:
01. Rose Get Your Clothes - 13th December 1947
02. Wynonie's Boogie - 13th December 1947
03. Good Morning Mr Blues - 23rd December 1947
04. Blowin' To California - 23rd December 1947
05. I Can't Take It No More - 13th April 1949
06. I Like My Baby's Pudding - 19th October 1949
07. Man, Have I Got Troubles - 24th October 1950
08. I'll Never Give Up -27th February 1951
09. Drinkin' Blues - 25th June 1952
10. Mama Your Daughter's Done Lied On Me - 11th March 1953


Now the recording session and release details in order of recording date:

Wynonie Harris vocal on all tracks

"Rose Get Your Clothes" and "Wynonie's Boogie" were recorded in NYC on the 13th December 1947. Backing was by Clyde Bernhardt's Blue Blazers. Personnel: Jesse Drakes (trumpet); Clyde Bernhardt (trombone); Elwyn Fraser (alto sax); Stafford "Pazuza" Simon (tenor sax); Archie "Skip" Hall (piano); Edgar Brown (bass); Clarence Donaldson (drums)

"Rose Get Your Clothes" / "Wynonie's Boogie" released on King 4202, January 1948

"Good Morning Mr. Blues" and "Blowin' To California" were recorded in Cincinnati on December 23rd, 1947. "Good Rockin' Tonight" was recorded in Cincinnati on the 28th December 1947. Backing was by the Hot Lips Page band. Personnel: Oran "Hot Lips" Page (trumpet); Joe Britton (trombone); Vincent Bair-Bey (alto sax); Hal Singer and Tom Archia (tenor saxes); Joe Knight (piano); Carl Wilson (bass); Clarence Donaldson (drums). Tom Archia and Vincent Bair-Bey not on "Good Rockin' Tonight."

"Good Rockin' Tonight" / "Good Morning Mr. Blues" released on King 4210 in April 1948.

"Blowin' To California" (B Side of "Bite Again, Bite Again") released on King 4252 in October 1948.

"Grandma Plays The Numbers" and "I Feel That Old Age Coming On" were recorded in Linden, New Jersey, on December 19th, 1948. Backing band: Cat Anderson (trumpet); Frank "Floorshow" Culley (alto sax); Hal Singer (tenor sax); Elmer Alexander (baritone sax); Albert "Birdie" Wallace (piano); Jimmy Butts (bass); Connie Kay (drums)

"I Feel That Old Age Coming On" / "Grandma Plays The Numbers" was released on King 4276 in February 1949. The take of "I Feel That Old Age Coming On" on this collection is an alternate take which was first released on King LP 607 - "Battle Of The Blues" - Wynonie Harris and Roy Brown.

"All She Wants To Do Is Rock" and "I Can't Take It No More" were recorded in Linden, New Jersey, on April 13th, 1949. Backing was provided by the Joe Morris band. Personnel: Joe Morris (trumpet); Matthew Gee (trombone); Fred Douglas and Johnny Griffin (tenor saxes); William McLemore (baritone sax); Elmo Hope (piano); Gene Ramey (bass); Kelly Martin (drums)

"All She Wants To Do Is Rock" was released on King 4304 (B Side of "I Want My Fanny Brown") in September 1949.

"I Can't Take It No More" was released on King 4342 (B Side of "I Like My Baby's Pudding") in February 1950.

"I Like My Baby's Pudding" was recorded in Cincinnati on the 19th October, 1949. Backing band: Bill Martin (trumpet); Moses Grant (trombone); LeRoy Harris (alto sax); Orrington Hall (tenor sax); Curtis Peagler (baritone sax); Simeon Hatch (piano); Frank Skeete (bass); Calvin Shields (drums)

"I Like My Baby's Pudding" / "I Can't Take It No More" released on King 4342 in February 1950.

"Good Morning Judge" was recorded in NYC, May 18th, 1950. Backing band: Joe Wilder (trumpet); Henderson Chambers (trombone); Bill Graham (alto and baritone saxes); Joe Alston and John
Hartzfield (tenor sax); Milt Buckner (piano); Bruce Lawrence (bass); Sammie "Sticks" Evans (drums)

"Good Morning Judge" released on King 4378 (B Side of "Stormy Night Blues") in July 1950.

"Man, Have I Got Troubles" recorded in NYC on October 23rd 1950. Backed by: Joe Wilder (trumpet); Alonzo Lucas (alto sax); Reuben Phillips (tenor sax); Numa "Pee Wee" Moore (baritone sax); Sonny Thompson (piano); Jimmy Shirley (guitar); Carl Pruitt (bass); Herman Bradley (drums)

"Tremblin'," "I'll Never Give Up" and "Bloodshot Eyes" were recorded in NYC on February 27th 1951.

"Tremblin," released on King 4448 (b/w "Just Like Two Drops Of Water") in March 1951.

"Bloodshot Eyes" released on King 4461 (B Side of "Confessin' The Blues") in July 1951.

"Man, Have I Got Troubles" / "I'll Never Give Up" released on King 4468 in September 1951.

"Lovin' Machine" recorded in Cincinnati on the 2nd of July 1951. Backed by the Todd Rhodes band. Personnel: Howard Thompson (trumpet); Ted Buckner (alto sax, baritone sax); Howard "Holley" Dismukes (alto sax); Charles Edwards (tenor sax); Todd Rhodes (piano); Joe Williams (bass); William Benjamin (drums)

"Lovin' Machine" was released on King 4485 (B Side of "Luscious Woman") in November 1951.

"Drinking Blues" and "Adam Come And Get Your Rib" were recorded in NYC on the 25th June 1952. Backed by The Lucky Millinder Orchestra. Personnel: Lamar Wright, Jimmy Nottingham, John Hunt, Hal Mitchell (trumpets); Henderson Chambers, Fred Zito (trombones); Burnie Peacock, Jimmy Powell (alto saxes); Count Hastings, Harold Clark (tenor saxes); Don Abney (piano); Clifton "Skeeter" Best (guitar); Aaron Bell (bass); James Crawford (drums)

"Drinking Blues" / "Adam Come And Get Your Rib" released on King 4565 in October 1952.

"Rot-Gut" was recorded in Cincinnati on the 7th November 1952. Backed by the Sonny Thompson band. Personnel: Dave Brooks, Wesley Brooks (tenor saxes); Walter Hiles (baritone sax); Sonny Thompson (piano); Bill Johnson (guitar); Oscar Crummie (bass); Isaac Cole (drums)

"Rot-Gut" (B Side of "Greyhound") was released on King 4592 in December 1952.

"Mama Your Daughter's Done Lied On Me" was recorded in Cincinnati on March 11th, 1953. Backed by the Frank (Fat Man) Humphries band. Personnel: Frank "Fat Man" Humphries (trumpet); Cornelius Tate (trombone); Rufus Gore, Robert Darby (tenor saxes) Walter Hiles (baritone sax); Eddie Smith (piano); Clarence Mack (bass) Bill Warren (drums)

"Mama Your Daughter's Done Lied On Me"  (b/w "Wasn't That Good?") was released on King 4620 in April 1953.

"Quiet Whiskey" was recorded in NYC on the 11th September 1953. Backing personnel: David Van Dyke, Red Prysock (tenor saxes); Sir Charles Thompson (piano, xylophone) Mickey Baker (guitar); George Duvivier (bass) Specs Powell (drums)

"Quiet Whiskey" (b/w "Down Boy Down") was released on King 4685 in January 1954.

"Mr. Dollar" was recorded in Cincinnati on 30th November 1954. Backed by the Sonny Thompson band. Personnel: Sonny Thompson (piano); Clarence Kenner (guitar); James Royal (bass); Steve Boswell (drums)

"Mr. Dollar" was released on King 4789 (B Side of "Fishtail Blues") in April 1955.

Information from -

"Rock Mr. Blues - The Life And Music of Wynonie Harris" by Tony Collins
"Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll" by Nick Tosches
Websites - Billboard articles via Google books; 45worlds.com; discogs.com

Stay tuned to Be Bop Wino for more "Mr Blues!"