If It's Not A Hit I'll Eat My Hat

Side 1:
01. Hound Dog - Big Mama Thornton
02. Pledging My Love - Johnny Ace
03. I Love My Baby - Little Richard
04. I Wanna Ramble - Little Junior Parker
05. Farther Up The Road - Bobby Bland
06. Keep On Doggin' - Rosco Gordon
07. To The End - The Sensational Nightingales

Side 2:
01. Texas Flood - Larry Davis
02. Okie Dokie Stomp - Gatemouth Brown
03. Taxi Blues - Little Frankie Lee
04. Spunky Onions - Billy Davis & The Legends
05. Blue Monday - James Davis
06. Funny How Time Slips Away - Joe Hinton
07. Treat Her Right - Roy Head

If It's Not A Hit (Mega)

If It's Not A Hit (Zippy)

Nice little Ace comp of sides recorded and issued on Don Robey's labels - both his original Houston-based Peacock label and the Memphis founded Duke label which he acquired under, er, forceful circumstances and subsequently relocated to Houston. See the recent Johnny Ace post for more about this tale of robust business practices and alleged use of firearms as an aid to bringing negotiations to a successful conclusion.

David Mattis, the founder of Duke Records, was far from being the only victim of Robey's methods. Little Richard was assaulted by Robey when the two met to discuss the lack of success of the Georgia Peach's recordings for Peacock. "He jumped on me, knocked me down, and kicked me in the stomach. It gave me a hernia that was painful for years. I had to have an operation. Right there in the office he beat me up." (The Life and Times of Little Richard - Charles White)

Little Richard's final session for Peacock was on October 5th, 1953 in Houston when he cut four tracks backed by the Johnny Otis Orchestra. None of the tracks were released at the time, but when he started getting multi million selling hits on the Specialty label in 1955-56, Robey dug out the discarded tracks and released them on two singles one of which featured the track included on this collection - "I Love My Baby."

As for the rest of the music on this collection - it's a nice mix of R&B, Blues, Soul, Rock 'n' Roll and Gospel. Included are two number one R&B hits, "Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton and "Pledging My Love" by Johnny Ace. Both acts were featured together on a regular touring show arranged by another Robey enterprise, the Buffalo Booking Agency. Until that fateful Christmas Night of 1954 at the Houston City Auditorium ...