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!

Rock Around The Clock! Again!

Side One:
01. Around The Clock Part 1 - Wynonie Harris
02. Around The Clock Part 1 - Big Vernon
03. Rock Around The Clock - Sonny Dae & His Knights
04. Move It On Over - Hank Williams
05. (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley And His Comets
06. Thirteen Women And One Man - Dickie Thompson

Side Two:
01. Thirteen Women - Bill Haley And His Comets
02. Shake, Rattle And Roll - Joe Turner and his Blues Kings
03. Shake, Rattle And Roll - Bill Haley And His Comets
04. Later For You Baby - Guitar Slim
05. Later Alligator - Bobby Charles
06. See You Later, Alligator - Bill Haley And His Comets

Download from:

http://www19.zippyshare.com/v/BIPlCjtA/file.html

To paraphrase the great Hank Ballard - "... what is this I see?" An ultra rare rock 'n' roll LP issued on Essex, the tiny label which gave Bill Haley his first big pop hit "Crazy Man, Crazy"? Or is it some dodgy bootleg from the '50s, or 60's or ... ? Nope it's another Be Bop Wino homemade comp which was the best way I could think of to rescue an old post from November 2011 - Rock Around The Clock.

That post used streaming audio to illustrate the origins of Bill Haley's biggest hit (and probably still the top selling 1950's rock and roll single) "(We're Gonna) Rock around The Clock." It was conceived as a follow-up to the original "Destination Rock and Roll!" post which told the story of how Bill Haley and His Comets moved from their country roots to an R&B based sound which became rock and roll. Unfortunately the streaming audio host, Divshare, mysteriously vanished from the web, leaving "Rock Around The Clock" and various other posts soundless and more or less wrecked.

I've decided to restore a couple of the streamed tracks on "Rock Around The Clock" but the story will now be illustrated by providing a downloadable "album" featuring the tracks mentioned in the post. I've added the three tracks used to illustrate the background to another big Bill Haley hit, "See You Later, Alligator" about which I wrote a post back in December 2011.

The story of how "Rock Around The Clock" became a worldwide hit is told in depth in Jim Dawson's marvelous book "Rock Around The Clock: The Record That Started The Rock Revolution!" If you should come across a copy going for a reasonable price, grab it! It's an enthralling read for all fans of rock 'n' roll and r&b.

It's quite a story, so get yourself over to my original "Rock Around The Clock" post to discover the roots of the song, who actually recorded it first, why it was a B Side on Bill Haley's disc, how it bombed, how Big Joe Turner provided Haley with the long awaited follow up hit to "Crazy Man, Crazy" and why "Rock Around The Clock" had a second coming and became a monster hit. Oh yeah, and where did the money go? Not to all The Comets, that's for sure. Find out who left the band and who replaced them. And what about poor Danny Cedrone, the guy who played the world's first rock 'n' roll guitar break? It's all in the post, bud!

And as though that weren't enough excitement for one evening, the story continues in my post on "See You Later, Alligator." From Guitar Slim to Bill Haley And The Comets via a Bobby Charles B Side.  It's crazy man, crazy!

More Bill coming soon. Keep yer peepers on this blog.

Around The Clock Battle - Wynonie Harris v Big Vernon

Wynonie Harris: Around The Clock Blues, Parts 1 and 2:

Philo 103, recorded in Los Angeles in July, 1945.

Personnel: Wynonie "Mr Blues" Harris (vocal) accompanied by Johnny Otis' All Stars - Teddy Edwards (tenor sax); Lee Jones (piano); Stan Morgan (guitar); Bob Kesterton (bass); Johnny Otis (drums). Also at session but not audible on these sides - Howard McGhee (trumpet).

"Big Vernon": Around The Clock Parts 1 and 2:

Stag 508, recorded in San Francisco in November, 1947.

Personnel: "Big Vernon" (Joe Turner) vocals; Pete Johnson (piano).

In our previous post we looked at the possible origins of "Around The Clock" in Trixie Smith's "My Man Rocks Me" from 1922. The Wynonie Harris two parter on Philo (soon to become Aladdin Records) kicked off a series of cover versions by Jimmy Rushing (with Johnny Otis), Numa Lee Davis (with Russell Jacquet), Willie Bryant, Pearl Traylor (with Howard McGhee) and "Big Vernon" who was Big Joe Turner going under a pseudonym.

"Well, sometimes I think I will,

 Yes, and sometimes I think I won't,

 Sometimes I think I will,

 Yes, and sometimes I think I won't,

 Sometimes I believe I do,

 And then again I believe I don't."

This introduction to the Wynonie version will be familiar to rock and roll fans - Chuck Berry used it in his recording of "Reelin' And Rockin'" which I guess is a continuation of the "Around The Clock" theme, only with the activity described now being dancing at the teen hop. Times and audiences had changed by 1958.

So to our battle of the blues - Wynonie v Big Vernon. Who is the winner? Wynonie with his jazz band backing or Joe with just his old cohort Pete Johnson bangin' the boogie on the keyboard? You decide!

Okay, I can't resist getting back to Chuck, so here is "Reelin' And Rockin'" recorded at the end of 1957, with Lafayette Leake on piano, Willie Dixon on bass and Fred Below on drums. The target audience is now high school hop teenagers and not the drunken reprobates who constituted Wynonie's record buying public. But Chuck being Chuck he manages to work in a sly

"I looked at my watch, and to my surprise,

 I was dancin' with a woman that was twice my size"

In 1972 Mr Berry recorded a live version at a gig in England. This time "Reelin' And Rockin'" was restored to the pantheon of "Around The Clock" as Chuck tore through a no holds barred description of a sexual marathon of truly staggering proportions. Here's the 1957 version suitable for the kids, ripped from a vinyl copy of the "One Dozen Berrys" LP:

Chuck Berry: Reelin' And Rockin':

It's half a century and a world away from Trixie Smith ...

Howlin' Winds / Rocks In My Bed (National 9144) - Joe Turner

Released April 1951. "Rocks In My Bed" recorded in Chicago, November 29th, 1947. "Howlin' Winds" recorded in Chicago, December 9th, 1947.

Personnel: Joe Turner (vocal), accompanied by: Charles Gray (trumpet); Riley Hampton (alto sax); Otis Finch (tenor sax); Robert Moore (piano); Ike Perkins (guitar); Ellsworth Liggett (bass); James Adams (drums). Meade Lux Lewis replaces Moore on piano on "Howlin' Winds."

"Howlin' Winds" was the last track recorded by Big Joe Turner for National. It was a rerecording of a track he'd originally laid down for that label back in 1945 (that version was never released as a single). After his last session for National, Big Joe spent a few years label hopping from Modern to Swing Time to MGM to Freedom to Imperial before finally landing at Atlantic in 1951 where his flagging career would be revived in a spectacular manner.

National continued to release Big Joe Turner disks right through to 1951, with "Howlin' Winds" being their last Turner release in April of that year. The disk was reviewed in Billboard on the 28th of April. "Howlin' Winds" was deemed to be a "fine mood blues by Turner with first-rate jazz combo backing" while "Rocks In My Bed" was hailed as "one of Turner's standout blues jobs; could make a dent."

It was indeed a rousing release but by the time the review was written, Big Joe had already recorded his first session for Atlantic on April 19th. On the 19th May Billboard reviewed Big Joe's first Atlantic release - "After My Laughter Came Tears" / "Chains Of Love" - which entered the national R&B chart at number ten on the 30th June. It would spend six months on the chart, peaking at number two, and was followed by a series of further hits for Big Joe - "Sweet Sixteen", "Honey Hush", "TV Mama" and "Shake, Rattle And Roll."

And what of the fine "Howlin' Winds" and "Rocks In My Bed"? No chart action, although National did make a gesture on 9th June with this rather low key Billboard advert:

I'm sure Big Joe wasn't particularly worried as thanks to Atlantic he was on his way to being restored to his rightful position as King of the Blues Shouters.

Be Bop Wino Wails!

It’s about time we had another Be Bop Wino comp and so here’s a nifty little eighteen track collection of late 1940s’ and early 50’s R&B. There may be a modest number of tracks but I like to think that this collection displays a certain robustness which demands attention. All tracks are sourced from vinyl, mainly from LPs which were on the original Be Bop Wino blog but which have not yet reappeared on the new blog. Some might never reappear so this could be your only chance to grab some of these tracks if you missed them the first time around.

As for the music, as you would expect there’s jump, boogie, honkin’ saxes and blues bawlin’ aplenty, but there’s also a dash of jazz and an outstanding tenor sax ballad performance. This being Be Bop Wino, the tenor sax predominates. Hal Singer, Gene Ammons, Big Jay McNeely and James Von Streeter are the credited saxmen, but let us also pause and give a thought to the tenor players on some of the other tracks: Maxwell Davis appears on the Pete Johnson and Amos Milburn tracks, Red Prysock squares off against the guitar of Tiny Grimes, the Lucky Millinder line-up includes Ike Quebec and Paul Quinichette in the horn section which blows mightily on a familiar riff, the late great Johnny Griffin is on the stomping Joe Morris instrumental “The Applejack”, Johnny Fontenette is the sax blaster in Roy Brown’s Mighty, Mighty Men and Ben Webster turns in a marvellous interpretation of “Stardust” in the Johnny Otis Orchestra’s Mercury recording.

All tracks ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www68.zippyshare.com/v/FdWmlDjc/file.html

Tracks:

1. Midnight Jump - Hal Singer – Savoy (unreleased), February 1949

2. Rockin' - Bobby Nunn & The Robins – Modern 807, 1951

3. Rocket Boogie "88" Part 1 - Pete Johnson & His Orchestra – Downbeat / SwingTime 169, April 1949

4. Skid Row Boogie - Pete Johnson & His Orchestra – Downbeat / SwingTime 168, April 1949

5. Bye Bye Boogie - Amos Milburn – Aladdin 206, October 1947

6. Blue Roller - Gene Ammons – Prestige 911, February 1955

7. Cadillac Baby - Roy Brown – DeLuxe 3308, April 1950

8. What's Mine Is Mine - The Ray-O-Vacs – Decca 48234, January 1950

9. Stardust - Johnny Otis & His Orchestra – Mercury 8263, December 1951

10. Hot In Harlem - Tiny Grimes – Atlantic 869, May 1948

11. Careless Love - Big Joe Turner –National (unreleased), November 1947

12. The Applejack - Joe Morris – Atlantic 866, September 1948

13. Mumblin' Blues - Jack McVea & His All Stars – Exclusive 270, December 1947

14. Slow Blues - James Von Streeter – Savoy (unreleased), July 1949

15. D'Natural Blues - Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra – Victor 20-3351, January 1949

16. Deceivin' Blues - Johnny Otis & His Orchestra (vocal - Little Esther & Mel Walker) – Savoy 759, June 1950

17. Two Guitar Boogie - Rene Hall – Victor 20/47-5407, March 1953

18. Wild Wig - Big Jay McNeely – Savoy 682, November 1948

Big Joe Turner - Jumpin' Tonight

There was never another blues shouter who could match Big Joe Turner for sheer volume (it was as though the guy was equipped with an internal echo chamber) or for the ability to bawl out verse after verse of real and righteous blues. His vast repertoire was acquired during a remarkably long career which stretched back to the bars and clubs of 1920s Kansas City and forward to the dawn of rock and roll in the studios of Atlantic Records in the 1950s and onward ever onward, yea even unto the 1980s, that accursed decade of synth pop and big hair.

This 1985 Pathe Marconi LP brings together tracks from two stages of Big Joe Turner’s long career. The first nine tracks were recorded for Aladdin in 1947 while the remainder are from a 1950 Imperial session at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studio in New Orleans.

In truth these years were not a happy time for Joe. His records were selling poorly and the glory days of his partnership with boogie woogie pianist Pete Johnson were a fading memory. Back in 1938 they had travelled from KC to take part in John Hammond’s “From Spirituals To Swing” concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall and had taken The Big Apple by storm. There were successful records such as “Roll ‘Em Pete” and “Cherry Red” on Vocalion, Okeh and Decca. Their music was a precursor to post war rockin’ R&B and yet as swing gave way to rhythm and blues Big Joe found himself being elbowed aside (at least as far as record sales were concerned) by newer younger talents.

He recorded some terrific sides for National (1945 – 1947) and Swing Time (1949) but as the track list below shows, little of his Aladdin material was thought worthy of release at the time. This is a pity, because the reworking of “Roll ‘Em Pete”, “Ice Man Blues” and especially “Nobody In Mind” are all rousing blues. The released “Low Down Dog” and “Back Breaking Blues” are good rockers. The sides recorded with Wynonie are probably best regarded as curiosities, live versions of cutting contests, rather than potential chart breaking recordings.

With his Aladdin recordings failing to sell, Big Joe took to the road, playing clubs around the South and frequently stopping over in New Orleans where he recorded a session for Imperial with Dave Bartholomew’s band in 1950. The band line up included Herb Hardesty on sax, Fats Domino on piano and Earl Palmer on drums. Yet even with such sterling backing and Joe himself on fine form, the Imperial recordings stiffed.

A year later, however, with Joe signed on at Atlantic, his career would take a very different turn. And that, my rocking friends, was our previous post!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://www5.zippyshare.com/v/ZfRc9Na0/file.html

1. Battle Of The Blues (Part 1) * (unreleased until 1968)
2. Battle Of The Blues (Part 2) * (Aladdin 3036)
3. Going Home * #
4. Blues * #
5. Roll 'Em Pete #
6. Ice-Man Blues #
7. Nobody In Mind #
8. Low Down Dog (Aladdin 3013)
9. Back Breaking Blues (Aladdin 3070)
10. Story To Tell (Imperial 5090)
11. Jumpin' Tonight (Midnight Rockin’) (Imperial 5090)
12. Lucille (Imperial 5093)
13. Love My Baby (Little Bitty Baby) (Imperial 5093)
14. Blues Jump The Rabbit (Bayou 015)

* with Wynonie Harris
# = previously unreleased

tracks 1 – 4 recorded for Aladdin in New York, July 1947
tracks 5 – 9 recorded for Aladdin in San Francisco, November 1947
tracks 10 – 14 recorded for Imperial in New Orleans, April 1950


Recommended purchase:

The complete Aladdin and Imperial recordings are on this EMI America CD, "Jumpin' With Joe" which is now quite hard to find. The set is also available as an Amazon mp3 download at an amazingly cheap price. Go git it.

Big Joe Turner - Jumpin' With Joe

By 1951 Big Joe Turner could fairly be described as a “veteran” blues singer and just as fairly his career could have been described as going nowhere. In 1949 and 1950 he had released recordings on a dizzying variety of labels including Excelsior, Swing Time, MGM, Modern, National, Freedom, Imperial and Aladdin. In the spring of 1951 he fronted the Count Basie band at the Apollo, replacing an ill Jimmy Rushing. The gig proved to be a disaster as Joe, who was unfamiliar with the band’s arrangements, missed cues and fluffed endings.

With the jeers of the audience echoing in his ears, Big Joe headed for the Braddock Bar to drown his sorrows. Following closely behind was Atlantic Records honcho Ahmet Ertegun who had witnessed the Apollo debacle but who had also helped promote Joe back in the day, booking him and Pete Johnson for a concert in Washington DC in 1942. And so in the highly suitable surroundings of a barroom Ertegun informed Joe that he was going to record him.

Success came instantly with “Chains of Love”, written by Ertegun especially for Big Joe. The record was a massive hit, staying in the R&B charts for six months and peaking at number two. It also crossed over into the pop charts, reaching number thirty. Along with The Clovers and Ruth Brown, Big Joe established Atlantic as the top selling R&B label in the country. “Bump Miss Susie”, recorded at his first Atlantic session on April 19th, 1951, was a forerunner of the pounding, rocking R&B which would bring Big Joe success not only with rhythm and blues audiences, but also with the rapidly growing number of young rock and roll fans. “Honey Hush” and “Shake Rattle and Roll” both broke into the pop charts in 1953 and 1954.

Further frantic rockers on this LP include “Well Alright”, “Morning Noon and Night”, “Hide and Seek”, and “Flip Flop and Fly”, by which time Atlantic were making a more conscious effort to cater for the rock and roll youth market, rather than relying on young white hipsters picking up on rhythm and blues records. Just compare the arrangements on the early 1950s discs with those from the second half of the decade. Perhaps getting Big Joe to record something like “Teenage Letter” was taking things a bit too far. Although it’s the rockers which dominate this compilation, there are a few good blues performances too, especially “TV Mama” (with Elmore James on slide guitar) and the New Orleans-influenced “Ti-Ri-Lee”.

78 rpm issue of Flip Flop and Fly courtesy El Enmascadero Del Platter

78 rpm issue of Ti-Ri-Lee courtesy of El Enmascadero Del Platter

In the midst of R&B and rock and roll success Big Joe recorded an LP of blues arranged in the Kansas City style of his younger days – “Boss of the Blues.” With hindsight it can be seen as an insurance policy against the inevitable time when chart success would elude the veteran. And yea when that time came, our hero was well placed to attract a new audience of jazz fans and thus keep his career rolling on for a few more decades.

Many thanks to Joan for the folder of vintage label shots.

1984 Charly LP ripped from vinyl. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://www22.zippyshare.com/v/30601318/file.html


1. Bump Miss Susie
2. Honey Hush
3. Oke-She-Moke-She-Pop
4. TV Mama
5. Shake, Rattle And Roll
6. In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)
7. Well All Right
8. Ti-Ri-Lee
9. Morning Noon And Night
10. Hide And Seek
11. Flip Flop And Fly
12. The Chicken And The Hawk
13. Boogie Woogie Country Girl
14. Lipstick, Powder And Paint
15. Teenage Letter
16. We're Gonna Jump For Joy

Recommended purchase:

There are plenty of CD collections of Big Joe Turner’s Atlantic sides. The Rev-Ola CD “Flip Flop and Fly 1951 - 1955” is a fine 27 track compilation of the man’s Atlantic heyday.