Leo Parker and Sax Gill - Back To Back Baritones

Side A:

01. Woody - Leo Parker

02. Rolling With Parker - Leo Parker

03. Leo Leaps In - take 2 ** - Leo Parker

04. Solitude ** - Leo Parker

05. Rolling With Parker * - Leo Parker

06. Leo Leaps In - take 1 ** - Leo Parker

07. Leo Leaps In - take 3 ** - Leo Parker

Side B:

01. Crisco Jump ** - Sax Gill

02. Dancer's Delight - Sax Gill

03. Shortning Bread ** - Sax Gill

04. Bull Frog Bounce * - Sax Gill

05. That's The Groovy Thing * - Sax Gill

06. Mel's Jump ** - Sax Gill

07. That's The Groovy Thing * - Sax Gill

* = unreleased take
** = unreleased title

Back To Back Baritones (Mega)

Back To Back Baritones (Zippy)

Here's a blast from the past! This compilation of sides recorded by baritone sax men Leo Parker and Sax Gill for Gotham was on the original Be Bop Wino blog about 10 years ago but with incomplete cover scans. Situation remedied for this re-up - there are new cover and label scans to go with the sound files.

Dave Penny's notes on the back cover are very thorough so there's little for me to add, except some links to other posts on Be Bop Wino where you can find more music featuring Leo Parker.

Of the two featured artists on the LP Leo Parker is by far the better known, being a major figure in the development of be bop who recorded with many of the well known musicians of the time. Originally an alto sax player, Leo shifted to baritone while with that nursery for bop, the Billy Eckstine band. He was with Eckstine from 1944 - 1946. Also in 1946 he recorded with Tadd Dameron and Sarah Vaughan for Musicraft and had a spell with Dizzy Gillespie.

1947 - 1948 was a very prolific spell for Leo who recorded for Savoy under his own name and also for various labels in groups led by Illinois Jacquet, Gene Ammons, Sir Charles Thompson, Fats Navarro, Dexter Gordon, J.J. Johnson and Russell Jacquet.

In January 1947, Leo featured on an Illinois Jacquet session for Aladdin, soloing on "Jivin' With Jack The Bellboy." You can hear that track on this LP - "Illinois Jacquet And His Tenor Sax" On the same LP Leo also solos on "For Truly" which was recorded in December 1947.

At the end of January 1947 Leo featured on a Fats Navarro Savoy session. In May and September he was with the Illinois Jacquet band for sessions on Apollo. During the summer of 1947 Leo was on a Sir Charles Thompson session for Apollo, featuring strongly on "Tunis In" and "Mad Lad." In September 1947 Leo was on a Gene Ammons Quintet session for Aladdin and on October 4th he recorded four tracks for Savoy under his own name - "El Sino," "Ineta," "Wild Leo" and "Leapin' Leo." The Savoy tracks are on this LP - "Gene Ammons - Red Top - The Savoy Sessions."

On December 11th 1947 Leo recorded three sides for Savoy with the Dexter Gordon Quintette - "Settin' The Pace," "So Easy" and "Dexter's Riff." These can be heard on the LP "Dexter Gordon Master Takes."

On December 19th 1947 Leo was with the Illinois Jacquet band for a Victor session. He solos on "Embroyo," "Mutton Leg" and "Symphony In Sid." These tracks are on the LP "King Jacquet."

In December 1947 Leo recorded sides for Savoy under his own name and also as part of a band led by J.J. Johnson. Leo was back for another Savoy session in March 1948. In May he was on a Russell Jacquet session for Sensation. You can hear two of these tracks on streaming audio on the post "Suede Jacket" / "Lion's Roar" which features two of the sides on a 78 rpm disc sent in by El Enmascarado.

You can also find these sides on the homemade compilation "Jump & Jive On 78 Volume 3."

In July 1950 Leo recorded for Prestige and in December of that year he recorded a session for Gotham as featured in this post! Only one single resulted from the Gotham session - "Woody" / "Rolling With Parker" (Gotham 262).

In July 1951 Leo recorded for Chess and in November of 1952 he cut a single for United - "Cool Leo" / "Leo's Boogie" (United 141) which you can find on the compilation LP "Screaming Saxophones Have A Ball."

Leo was back at Chess in August 1953. The effects of a long standing heroin addiction were badly affecting his career and his next session was not until July 1954 when he cut an LP with guitarist Bill Jennings for King - "Billy In The Lion's Den." In December of that year he recorded with Illinois Jacquet for Clef and then ill health took over, stopping his recording activity for nearly seven years.

In September and October of 1961 he had an all too brief comeback with Blue Note - recording two albums - "Let Me Tell You 'Bout It" and "Rollin' With Leo." The latter album was not released until 1980. He was scheduled to record a Blue Note LP with Dexter Gordon in early 1962 but in February of that year he died of a heart attack.

Sax Gill had three singles released on Gotham, but of the six sides, only one is on this LP in its original release take - "Dancer's Delight." The singles were -

"Drigo's Serenade" / "Bull Frog Bounce" (Gotham 192), released in September 1949.

"Snaperoo" / "Rhythm Fantasy" (Gotham 205), released in November 1949.

"Dancer's Delight" / "That's The Groovy Thing" (Gotham 217), released in January 1950.

For the Melvin "Sax" Gill story, read Dave Penny's notes on the cover of this LP.

If you follow all the links above you are now in a position to make up your own Leo Parker compilation. Have fun!

Leo Parker discographical information from JazzArcheology.com:

http://www.jazzarcheology.com/leo-parker/

Joe Turner and Pete Johnson - Jumpin' The Blues

Side 1:

01. Wine-O-Baby Boogie - Joe Turner

02. B & O Blues - Joe Turner

03. Rocket Boogie "88" Part 1 - Pete Johnson & His Orchestra

04. Old Piney Brown's Gone - Joe Turner

05. Baby, Won't You Marry Me - Joe Turner

06. Skid Row Boogie - Pete Johnson & His Orchestra

Side 2:

01. Christmas Date Boogie - Joe Turner

02. Radar Blues - Joe Turner

03. Tell Me Pretty Baby - Joe Turner

04. Rocket Boogie "88" Part 2 - Pete Johnson & His Orchestra

05. Trouble Boogie - Joe Turner

06. Half Tight Boogie - Pete Johnson & His Orchestra

Joe Turner & Pete Johnson - Jumpin' The Blues (Mega)

Joe Turner & Pete Johnson - Jumpin' The Blues (Zippy)

When Big Joe Turner left Decca in 1944 having recorded a series of classic sides from November 1940 to October 1944, he couldn't have foreseen that he would spend nearly seven years hopping from label to label in the search for recording success. In 1945 and 1946 he was with National, in July 1947 he recorded a couple of sides for Imperial ("Ice Man Blues" and "Roll 'em Pete"). In November 1947 he recorded a version of "Around The Clock Blues" for Stag under the pseudonym Big Vernon and in the same month he had a session for Aladdin, and at the end of that month and in early December he had his final sessions for National.

At the end of 1947 he was recorded live at a Gene Norman promoted "Just Jazz" concert for RPM. The AFM recording ban brought a temporary halt to Joe's discographic wanderings, but when he resumed recording in June 1948, it was for yet another label, Jack Lauderdale's Down Beat which was renamed Swing Beat in October 1949 and then six months later Swing Time.

On June 28th, 1948, in Los Angeles, Joe Turner and his longtime collaborator, boogie pianist Pete Johnson, recorded eight sides for release on Down Beat. They were accompanied by what was essentially the Jay McShann band at that time. Personnel - Joe Turner (vocals) with: James Ross, Art Farmer (trumpets); Frank Sleet (alto sax); Pete Peterson (tenor sax); Milburn Newman (baritone sax); Pete Johnson (piano); unknown (guitar); Addison Farmer (bass) Robert Brady (drums).

Four singles were released from the session. Tracking down the original release dates of these singles has proved to be more difficult than usual and indeed there seems to be some contradiction in the information I found. For once I've failed to find label shots for all of the original discs, so I can't be sure of the original artist attribution on the first of these records. Anyway, here goes -

Down Beat 151 - Radar Blues / Trouble Blues presumably issued in 1948.

Down Beat 152 - Wine-O-Baby Boogie / B&O Blues - Joe Turner with orchestral accompaniment featuring Pete Johnson at the "88". This disc was reviewed in Billboard on 28th May 1949 and also featured in an ad in Billboard on 9th April 1949. The take of "B&O Blues" on this LP is probably a different take to the one issued on 78rpm single.

Down Beat 153 - Tell Me Pretty Baby / Christmas Date Boogie - Joe Turner's Orchestra with Pete Johnson at the "88". Release date unknown. Presumably before Christmas 1948. This disc was re-released on Swing Time 269 as "How D'Ya Want Your Rollin' Done" / "Christmas Date" in December 1951 and was credited to Joe Turner, with no mention of Pete Johnson.

Down Beat 154 - Baby Won't You Marry Me / Old Piney Brown's Gone - Joe Turner's Orchestra with Pete Johnson. "Old Piney Brown Is Gone" was number 10 in the Hot In New Orleans chart in The Cash Box magazine on October 9th, 1948. Either this disc was issued before Down Beat 152 or else "Wine-O-Baby Boogie" was issued earlier than the Billboard review and ad of 1949. It may be that all 4 Joe Turner discs were issued in the second half of 1948.

adapted from audiopreservationfund.org

In late 1948 or early 1949 (exact date unknown), Pete Johnson was back in the studio to record some sides for Down Beat, this time without Joe Turner but instead in the company of a group led by Maxwell Davis. Three singles were released from this session, two of which are on this LP. The missing single is Wrinkle Head Boogie / Roadhouse Boogie (Swing Time 175).

Personnel - Jewell Grant (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Pete Johnson (piano); Herman Mitchell (guitar); Ralph Hamilton (bass); Jesse Sailes (drums).

Down Beat 168 - Skid Row Boogie / Half Tight Boogie - Pete Johnson Sextette. Released in February 1949. The single was featured in Billboard ads on the 12th February and 9th April 1949. "Skid Row Boogie" was number 4 in The Cash Box magazine's "Hot In Other Cities" chart for Merion, Pennsylvania, on March 19th, 1949.

Billboard, 12th February 1949

adapted from Discogs.com

Swing Time 169 - Rocket Boogie "88" Part I / Rocket Boogie "88" Part II - Pete Johnson. Probable release in November 1950. Reviewed in the "Hot Jazz" section of Billboard, 11th November 1950.

adapted from rateyourmusic.com

"Rocket Boogie 88 - Part I" and "Rocket Boogie 88 - Part II" are virtually identical on this LP. It's possible that the "Part - II" issued on the original 78rpm single was a different track.

Joe Turner's label hopping continued after his Down Beat session. In the second half of 1948 he had two Los Angeles sessions for MGM in which he was backed by much the same band which featured in Pete Johnson's Down Beat session. He recorded two sides for the small Coast label with the same musicians in October 1948.

After a barren recording period which lasted most of 1949, he cut sides for Houston label Freedom in December 1949 and early 1950. The 1949 session was with Connie Johnson's band which included Joe Houston, Lonnie Lyons and Goree Carter, while the early 1950 session was backed by the Pluma Davis Orchestra.

April 1950 found Joe in New Orleans recording for Imperial with Dave Bartholomew's band. Joe was then without a recording contract for a year until April 1951 when he was signed by Atlantic. And the rest is history ...

Elsewhere On The Blog

Have No Fear, Big Joe Turner Is Here - the National sides

Jumpin' Tonight - Aladdin and Imperial sides

Jumpin' With Joe - Atlantic sides

That's all on Joe Turner for the moment. Once I get round to buying a new turntable I'll be able to add another LP with sides from Big Joe's pre-Atlantic years.

Have No Fear, Big Joe Turner Is Here (2LP)

Side 1:

01. SK Blues, Part 1

02. SK Blues, Part 2

03. Johnson And Turner Blues

04. Johnson And Turner Blues - Master

05. Watch That Jive

06. Howlin' Winds

07. Low Down Dog

Side 2:

01. I Got My Discharge Papers

02. Miss Brown Blues

03. I'm Still In The Dark

04. My Gal's A Jockey

05. I Got Love For Sale

06. Sunday Morning Blues

07. Mad Blues

08. Playboy Blues (aka It's A Low Down Dirty Shame)

Side 3:

01. I'm Still In The Dark

02. Miss Brown Blues

03. Sally Zu-Zazz

04. Rock Of Gibraltar

05. Milk And Butter Blues

06. That's When It Really Hurts

07. I'm Sharp When I Hit The Coast

08. New Wee Baby Blues

Side 4:

01. Nobody In Mind

02. Lucille Lucille

03. Rocks In My Bed

04. Careless Love

05. Last Goodbye Blues

06. Whistle Stop Blues

07. Hollywood Bed

08. Howlin' Winds

Have No Fear, Big Joe Turner Is Here (Mega)

Have No Fear, Big Joe Turner Is Here (Zippy)

An excellent 2LP set containing everything Joe Turner recorded for National between February 1945 and December 1947. The gatefold sleeve has an excellent essay on Joe's life prior to his signing for National as well as a review of the sides on this collection. Warning - this is a larger than usual download as both discs plus artwork are contained in the Zip file. Be prepared for 186 rockin' megabytes.

Joe Turner's long career took him from the clubs of prohibition Kansas City to the Spirituals To Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 and onwards through the boogie woogie craze, the rise of R&B, and almost unbelievably when in his mid 40s to rock and roll. And when that turned to crap he simply went back to jazz and blues and kept ballin' and squallin' into the 1980s. Through it all he sounded much the same and quite a few of the songs were the same too. All that changed was the backing, and when he fetched up at Atlantic Records in 1951 he was given the best recording facilities and the best backing groups (usually produced and arranged by Jesse Stone), all of which brought him commercial success and a string of R&B hits.

The National sides, while not having the impact that his Atlantic sides would bring, were mostly very good indeed. The January 1946 sides featuring groups led by Wild Bill Moore are raucous but not as focused as the Atlantic material. If you're familiar with the Atlantic stuff and / or Joe's earlier oeuvre, quite a few of these tracks will sound familiar as earlier hits such as "Cherry Red, " "Careless Love" and "It's A Lowdown Dirty Shame" resurface, sometimes under new titles. And of course quite a few of Joe's songs consisted of familiar blues verses mixed into various concoctions. You know what you're going to get - and it's good. All killer, no filler!

Above: dapper Joe in 1944

Above: Joe's longtime collaborator Pete Johnson

Note - the Fax On The Trax section has the song titles as they were on the original releases on 78 rpm singles. Some titles on the LP track list are inaccurate. Joe Turner was never billed as "Big Joe Turner" on these releases. The actual artist attributions are also detailed below.

Fax On The Trax

Side 1, Tracks 1-5: S.K. Blues Part 1; S.K. Blues Part 2; Johnson And Turner Blues; Johnson And Turner Blues -master; Watch That Jive - recorded in NYC, February 2nd, 1945. Personnel: Joe Turner (vocals) with - Frank Newton (trumpet); Don Byas (tenor sax); Pete Johnson (piano); Leonard Ware (guitar); Al Hall (bass); Doc West (drums).

The second take of "Johnson And Turner Blues," labelled "master" on this collection is the released take (National 9011).

S.K Blues Part I / S.K. Blues Part II - Joe Turner with Pete Johnson's All Stars, released on National 9010, February, 1945.

Watch That Jive / Johnson & Turner Blues - Joe Turner with Pete Johnson's All Stars, released on National 9011, April, 1945

Side 1, Tracks 6 and 7: Howlin' Winds; Low Down Dog - recorded in Chicago, May 10th, 1945. Joe Turner with Dallas Bartley and his Small Town Boys. Personnel: Joe Turner (vocals) with - Bill Martin (trumpet); Flaps Dungee (alto sax); Josh Jackson (tenor sax); Pete Johnson (piano); unknown  (guitar); Dallas Bartley (bass); unknown (drums).

Howlin' Winds; Low Down Dog - not issued on singles.

Side 2, Tracks 1-5: I Got My Discharge Papers; Miss Brown Blues; I'm Still In The Dark; My Gal's A Jockey; I Got Love For Sale - recorded in Los Angeles, January 23rd, 1946. Personnel: Joe Turner (vocals) with - Warren Brocken (trumpet); Lloyd Harrison and Wild Bill Moore (tenor saxes); Al Williams (piano); Teddy Bunn (guitar); John "Shifty" Henry (bass); Alray Kidd (drums).

My Gal's A Jockey / I Got Love For Sale - Joe Turner with Bill Moore's Lucky Seven Band, released on National 4002, June 1946.

Rest of this session not released on singles.

Side 2, Tracks 6-8: Sunday Morning Blues; Mad Blues; Playboy Blues - recorded in Los Angeles, January 30th, 1946. Personnel - Joe Turner (vocals) with - Russell Jacquet (trumpet); Wild Bill Moore and Lou Simon (tenor saxes); Camille Howard (piano); Teddy Bunn (guitar); John "Shifty" Henry (bass); Walter Murden (drums).

Mad Blues / Sunday Morning Blues - Joe Turner with Bill Moore's Lucky Seven, released on National 4009, October 1946.

"Playboy Blues" was re-titled "It's A Lowdown Dirty Shame" and released on National 9099 b/w "Nobody In Mind" in January 1950.

Side 3, tracks 1-8 recorded in Chicago, tracks 1-4 (I'm Still In The Dark; Miss Brown Blues; Sally Zu-Zazz; Rock Of Gibraltar) recorded on October 11th 1946. Tracks 5-8 (Milk And Butter Blues; That's When It Really Hurts; I'm Sharp When I Hit The Coast; New Wee Baby Blues) recorded on October 12th 1946. Personnel on tracks 1-4: Joe Turner (vocals) with - Sonny Cohn (trumpet); Porter Kilbert or possibly Tab Smith (alto sax); probably Leon Washington (tenor sax); Albert Ammons (piano); Ike Perkins (guitar); Mickey Simms (bass); Theodore "Red" Saunders (drums).

Similar personnel on Side 3, tracks 5-8, but Albert Ammons drops out, replaced by Rudy Martin (probably).

Miss Brown Blues / I'm Sharp When I Hit The Coast - Joe Turner And His Boogie Woogie Boys, released on National 4011, January 1947.

Rock O' Gibralter / Sally Zu-Zazz - Joe Turner And His Boogie Woogie Boys, released on National 4016, May 1947.

That's What Really Hurts / Whistle Stop Blues - Joe Turner and his Boogie-Woogie Boys, released on National 4017, April 1948.

Above: Billboard, April 1948

Hollywood Bed / New Oo-Wee Baby Blues - Joe Turner, released on National 9100 in February (?) 1950.

Still In The Dark / My Gal's A Jockey - Joe Turner, released on National 9106 in March 1950.

Side 4, Tracks 1-4 (Nobody In Mind; Lucille Lucille; Rocks In My Bed; Careless Love), recorded in Chicago on November 29th, 1947. Personnel: Joe Turner (vocals) with - Charles Gray (trumpet); Riley Hampton (alto sax); Otis Finch (tenor sax); Ellsworth Liggett (piano); Ike Perkins (guitar); Robert Moore (bass); James Adams (drums). 

Side 4, Tracks 5-8 (Last Goodbye Blues; Whistle Stop Blues; Hollywood Bed; Howlin' Winds) recorded in Chicago on December 9th, 1947. Personnel as November 29th session.

Lucille Lucille, Careless Love, and Last Goodbye Blues were not released on singles.

That's What Really Hurts / Whistle Stop Blues - Joe Turner and his Boogie-Woogie Boys, released on National 4017, April 1948.

It's A Lowdown Dirty Shame / Nobody In Mind - Joe Turner, released on National 9099, in January 1950.

Hollywood Bed / New Oo-Wee Baby Blues - Joe Turner, released on National 9100 in February (?) 1950.

Rocks In My Bed / Howlin' Winds - Joe Turner, released on National 9144 in April 1951.

The last Joe Turner release on National. By the time this ad ran he had signed to Atlantic

Elsewhere On The Blog

Joe Turner - Jumpin' Tonight is a Pathe Marconi collection of sides recorded for Aladdin in July and November 1947 and for Imperial in April 1950. Originally posted in October 2009.

Joe Turner - Jumpin' With Joe is a Charly collection of sides recorded for Atlantic from 1951 to 1958. Originally posted in October 2009.

More Joe Turner coming soon. Jump with joy!