Maxwell Davis - Father Of West Coast R&B (re-up)

Side 1:
01. Boogie Cocktails - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
02. Bristol Drive - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
03. Flying Home - Gene Phillips & His Orchestra
04. Royal Boogie - Gene Phillips & His Rhythm Aces
05. Resistor - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
06. Belmont Special - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
07. Jumpin' With Lloyd - Lloyd Glen & His All Stars

Side 2:
01. Thunderbird - Maxwell Davis & His Rock'n'Roll Orchestra
02. Cool Diggin' - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
03. Bluesville - Maxwell Davis & His Rock'n'Roll Orchestra
04. Rocking With Maxie - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
05. Tempo Rock - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
06. Gene Jumps The Blues - Gene Phillips & His Rhythm Aces
07. Boogie Cocktails - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra

Father Of West Coast R&B (Mega)

Father Of West Coast R&B (Zippy)

Outstanding 1988 Ace LP of instros from the Modern / RPM stable presented in an attractive gatefold sleeve. This LP was originally posted on the blog in October 2009. For this re-up I've added label shots. The full gatefold which contains a very informative biographical article on Maxwell Davis by Ray Topping is included in the download.

It's now almost a cliche to say that Maxwell Davis is an unsung hero of rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll. He worked for a multiplicity of Los Angeles based record labels from the 1940's to 1970 in a variety of roles including tenor sax sideman'  arranger, producer and bandleader. The gatefold sleeve includes a long list of the R&B hits to which he contributed including "Safronia B." by Calvin Boze, "Please Send Me Someone To Love" by Percy Mayfield, "I Got Loaded" by Peppermint Harris, "Call Operator 210" by Floyd Dixon, and a whole heap o' hits by B.B. King and Amos Milburn.

Fax On The Trax, Jack

Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra - Los Angeles, circa November 1950. Personnel: Jake Porter (trumpet); Jack McVea (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Maurice Simon (baritone sax); Austin McCoy (piano); Chuck Norris (guitar); Red Callender (bass); Lee Young (drums):

Boogie Cocktail, Belmont Special, Resistor, Bristol Drive.

Boogie Cocktail / Belmont Special released on Modern 20-791 in January 1951.

Bristol Drive / Resistor released on Modern 20-805 in March 1951.

Maxwell Davis and his Rock and Roll Orchestra - Los Angeles , 1955. Personnel: Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); unknown others:

Thunderbird, Bluesville, Tempo Rock, Cool Diggin'.

Thunderbird / Bluesville released on RPM 449 in December 1955.

Above: The Cash Box, 17th December 1955

Tempo Rock / Cool Diggin' released on RPM 482 in December 1956.

Rocking With Maxie - unreleased mid 1950's track.

Gene Phillips And His Rhythm Aces - Los Angeles, 1948. Possible personnel: Gene Phillips (guitar); Jake Porter (trumpet); Marshall Royal (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Lloyd Glenn (piano); Arthur Edwards (bass); William Streets (drums).

Gene Jumps The Blues, Flying Home, Royal Boogie.

Gene Jumps The Blues unreleased.

Royal Boogie / Stinkin' Drunk released on Modern 20-586 in June 1948.

Flying Home -Bruyninckx lists its release on Modern 20-614, possibly in October 1948. I can find no other mention of such a release. This is the same track which was released in November 1951 as "New Flying Home" (RPM 332x45) with overdubbed crowd noise and credited to the "Lloyd Glenn All Stars featuring Maxwell Davis."

The B Side of RPM 332x45 was "Jumpin' With Lloyd" which also had overdubbed crowd noise, as can be heard on this LP. There has also been a release of this disc with both sides credited simply to "Maxwell Davis." "Jumpin' With Lloyd" was originally an unreleased Gene Phillips recording from 1947 / 1948 which was "transformed" into the Lloyd Glenn / Maxwell Davis instro with the addition of crowd noise and some echo.

Elsewhere On The Blog:

Maxwell Davis And His Tenor Sax:

A 1980's reissue of a 1950's Maxwell Davis Aladdin LP. The original article with background information on Maxwell and on the evolution of this LP through various reissues can be found here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/maxwell-davis-and-his-tenor-sax.html

The LP can be downloaded from here:

http://www53.zippyshare.com/v/2veIHSnf/file.html

or here:

Maxwell Davis And His Tenor Sax (Mega)

Recommended purchase:

Triple CD set on the Fantastic Voyage label. Compiled by Dave Penny, CD1 has 31 tracks issued on various labels (Aladdin, Modern, Pacific, Down Beat, Miltone, etc) under Maxwell Davis' name. CD2 and CD3 contain tracks from the '40's and '50's on which Maxwell played, including records by Helen Humes, Charles Mingus, Jimmy Witherspoon, Calvin Boze, Jimmy Nelson and Percy Mayfield. The collection deliberately avoids the big R&B hits on which he played, opting instead for lesser known sides. Very highly recommended, especially if like me you're into the more obscure areas of West Coast R&B. There's a review of this set on the blog here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/review-wailin-daddy-best-of-maxwell.html

Happy Easter, music fans.

King Porter - Special Request

This 1989 Official LP features not one, but two jump groups going under the name of “King Porter and His Orchestra”. Tracks 1 – 8 were recorded between 1947 and 1949 by a Detroit-based group led by trumpet player James Poe. The first two tracks were recorded for the small Paradise label. Tracks 3 to 6 were recorded for Joe Von Battle’s JVB label but sold to King who released them in 1949. Tracks 7 and 8 were recorded for King in Cincinnati. The Paradise sides probably have Paul Williams on alto sax, while the JVB and King sides have Wild Bill Moore on tenor sax.

Meanwhile out on The Coast, another King Porter was recording for Imperial. This was trumpeter/arranger Jake Porter who would found Combo Records a few years later. The group backing him was in fact guitarist Gene Phillips’ band which at various times featured Bumps Myers, Marshall Royal and Lloyd Glenn.

This leaves the last two tracks on the LP which were recorded in 1952 for the 4 Star label. It’s not certain which of the King Porter groups was on these recordings. Perhaps there was even a third band using the name?

As for the music, both bands put in good shifts with plenty of tough tenor work (especially from Wild Bill) on show.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/218186462/Special_Request.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MZSZQPCK

1. Russel St Hussel
2. Porter's Ball
3. Shuffling Boogie
4. Russell Street Hustle
5. King Porter Special
6. Bar Fly
7. Come On In
8. Battle Ax
9. Charlie The Boogie Man
10. Bumps Boogie (vocal – Gene Phillips)
11. Hey Little Brownie (vocal – Gene Phillips)
12. Should Have Rationed Myself (vocal – Gene Phillips)
13. Chidtlin' Ball (vocal – Gene Phillips)
14. Don't Let Fletcher Getcha
15. Special Request
16. I've Tried (vocal – Marie Wells)

Jack McVea & His All Stars - New Deal

We continue our occasional look at the jump blues bands of the 1940s with this Mr R&B LP of tenor sax man and bandleader Jack McVea.

The sleeve notes by Jim Dawson provide an excellent overview of Jack’s career and the background to the tracks on this compilation, which includes the first ever track recorded by the band, backing the sultry Betty Roché on “Rainy Day Blues” in 1944. The tracks are the standard mix of ballads, novelties, blues and boogies, in other words the staple fare of the 1940s jump blues scene. Along with Roy Milton and Joe Liggins, Jack McVea was a pioneer of West Coast jump blues. Like so many of the musicians in these bands he was a veteran of the big band scene, particularly with the Lionel Hampton band between 1940 and 1943. In the interview with Jim Dawson, Jack maintains that it wasn’t just economics that caused the demise of the big bands, it was also down to the more spontaneous nature of the music generated by the small groups who were developing R&B. This collection is a fine insight into a period of rapid change in swing, jazz and R&B.

There is a fair amount of surface noise present on most of the tracks.

Ripped from vinyl at 320kbps.

Download from here:

New Deal (Mega)

1. My Business Is C.O.D. (v – Estelle Edson)
2. Play It Over
3. Rainy Day Blues (v- Betty Roché)
4. F Minor Boogie
5. It Never Should Have Been This Way (v- Rabon Tarrant)
6. Jack's Boogie
7. Baby Make Up Your Mind (v – Estelle Edson)
8. Butch (v – Arthur Duncan)
9. Two Timin' Baby Boogie
10. Evening (v – Arthur Duncan)
11. Fish For Supper (v – Rabon Tarrant)
12. New Deal
13. Naggin' Woman Blues (v – Rabon Tarrant)
14. You Can Come Back Home (v – Gene Phillips)
15. Tatoe Pie
16. Carlos (v – Rabon Tarrant and Sammy Yates)