Dave Bartholomew - Shrimp And Gumbo

Side 1:
01) Snatchin' Back
02) No More Black Nights
03) Stardust
04) You Got A Time
05) That'll Get It
06) Love Is So Low Down
07) Texas Hop
08) The Ice Man

Side 2:
01) Cat Music
02) Every Night, Every Day
03) An Old Cow Hand From A Blues Band
04) Shrimp And Gumbo
05) Ivy League
06) Love No More
07) Somebody New
08) Honky Tonk Trumpet

Shrimp And Gumbo (Mega)

Shrimp And Gumbo (Zippy)

The third and final Pathe Marconi collection of Dave Bartholomew's Imperial sides. There may be a couple of weaker tracks but there are some real finger poppers which demand attention, especially "The Ice Man" and "An Old Cow Hand From A Blues Band" which had me bopping round the room yesterday. "Texas Hop" is nothing like the Pee Wee Crayton classic but is nevertheless a fine instrumental outing for a lineup which includes Fats Domino.

There are informative sleeve notes by Jeff Hannusch and a discography by Kurt Mohr and Gilles Petard, so no need for me to add anything!

I found this little insert inside the sleeve (in fact two of them), and how I wish I had bought more of these releases back then -

Keep a knockin' and keep a rockin'!

Dave Bartholomew - The Monkey

Side 1:
01) That's How You Got Killed Before
02) When The Saints Go Marching In Boogie
03) Another Mule
04) Shout, Sister, Shout
05) I Want To Be With Her
06) Would You
07) Turn Your Lamps Down Low

Side 2:
01) Lovin' You
02) Three Time Loser
03) The Monkey
04) In The Evening
05) Barrel House
06) Cinderella
07) Hard Times (The Slop)

The Monkey (Mega)

The Monkey (Zippy)

Second of the three Dave Bartholomew LPs issued by Pathe Marconi in the 1980s. The title track is an absolute classic, while the version of  Noble Watts' "Hard Times(The Slop)" is a a cracker. Full notes by John Broven on the back cover along with a discography by Kurt Mohr. Happy listening, lockdown downloaders.

Dave Bartholomew - Jump Children

Side 1:
01) Country Gal
02) Carnival Day
03) Ain't Gonna Do It
04) Country Boy Goes Home
05) Oh Cubanas
06) Who Drank My Beer While I Was In The Rear
07) Little Girl Sing Ding A Ling

Side 2:
01) Jump Children
02) The Shufflin' Fox
03) How Could You
04) Can't Take It No More
05) Good News
06) Yeah Yeah
07) People Are Talkin'

Jump Children (Mega)

Jump Children (Zippy)

During the 1980s Pathe Marconi issued 3 collections of Imperial sides by Dave Bartholomew. I think they have appeared on other blogs over the years, but heck, here come my rips and scans! Bartholomew was of course a pivotal figure in New Orleans R&B as trumpeter, bandleader, song writer, producer and arranger. His work on Fats Domino's hits (writing many, producing, leading the backing band) overshadows his own recordings, which is  unfortunate to say the least.

In addition to collaborating with Fats he worked with just about anybody who was anybody in New Orleans R&B, Smiley Lewis, Shirley And Lee, The Spiders, Tommy Ridgely, Chris Kenner, Lloyd Price among others. His band was another Who's Who of New Orleans R&B, boasting musicians such as Earl Palmer, Herb Hardesty, Lee Allen, Frank Fields and Charles "Hungry" Williams.

Bartholomew spent most of his recording career with Imperial except for a brief period in the early 1950s when he left following a dispute with owner Lew Chudd. During this period he recorded "My Ding-A-Ling" which was of course later revived by Chuck Berry with worldwide success. An unreleased version recorded for Imperial when Bartholomew returned to the label is included here.

Although none of the sides in this collection were chart breakers, there's plenty of good stuff including the classic "Who Drank My Beer While I Was In The Rear" and "Ain't Gonna Do It" which was recorded by Smiley Lewis in an absolutely storming version.

The biographical sleeve notes by John Broven are a must read and full recording and discographic information is on the back cover.

The Fats Domino Story Volume 2 - Ain't That A Shame

Side 1:
01. Please Don't Leave Me
02. You Said You Love Me
03. Don't Leave Me This Way
04. Fat's Frenzy
05. Goin' Back Home
06. '44'
07. If You Need Me
08. Where Did You Stay?

Side 2:
01. Don't You Hear Me Calling You
02. Love Me
03. Little Mama
04. Don't You Know
05. I Know
06. All By Myself
07. La La
08. Ain't It A Shame

The Fats Domino Story Volume 2 (Mega)

The Fats Domino Story Volume 2 (Zippy)

I bought this one a few years ago in a second hand record shop (now deceased) in Shawlands in the South Side of Glasgow, not far from Be Bop Wino HQ. In fact I picked up three volumes of the Fats Domino story - 2, 3 and 4, covering the years 1953 - 1958. Sorry, folks, no volume 1, so no "Fat Man" and the very early R&B hits.

Volume 2 finds Fats on the cusp of becoming a Rock 'n' Roll superstar. The final track, which was originally titled "Ain't It A Shame" was covered by Pat Boone whose version (titled "Ain't That A Shame") reached number one in the Billboard Hot Hundred. Fats' original version reached number ten in the same chart and number one in the R&B chart, becoming the second biggest R&B seller of 1955, behind "Only You" by The Platters.

As you can see from the cover scan, this LP was probably a record library disc. The record itself was in reasonable shape so it scrubs up fairly well in its digitised form. The tracks are a selection from Fats' output on Imperial from mid-1953 to mid-1955, beginning with one of the great rockers, "Please Don't Leave Me." As usual, you can find full details of the tracks below.

Fax On The Trax

Some sources list Cosimo Matassa's J & M Studio in New Orleans as the recording location of all the sides on this compilation, but Rick Coleman, author of "Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll" and annotator of the Ace 5 CD collection of Fats Domino's Imperial singles 1950 - 1965, is certain that the "Please Don't Leave Me" and "Ain't It A Shame" sessions were recorded in Los Angeles while Fats and his band were on tour, "Please Don't Leave Me" being recorded at Radio Recorders and "Ain't It A Shame" being recorded at Master Recorders. There is also uncertainty regarding who exactly played on some of the sessions, so what follows below should be regarded as an approximation.

Please Don't Leave Me and You Said You Love Me recorded on the 18th April, 1953. Personnel: Fats Domino (vocal, piano) with - Wendell Duconge, Robert "Buddy" Hagans, Herb Hardesty (saxes); Walter Nelson (guitar); Frank Fields (bass); Cornelius Coleman (drums).

Please Don't Leave Me / The Girl I Love - released on Imperial 5240 in June 1953. Number 3 R&B.

Rose Mary / You Said You Love Me - released on Imperial 5251 in September 1953. Number 10 R&B.

Don't Leave Me This Way and Fat's Frenzy recorded on the 2nd September, 1953. Personnel as for 18th April 1953 session.

Something's Wrong / Don't Leave Me This Way - released on Imperial 5262 in November 1953. Number 6 R&B.

Fat's Frenzy - released on EP IMP-143 "Fats Domino Rock And Rollin' Vol. 3" in August 1956. Also on Imperial LP 9009 "Fats Domino Rock And Rollin'" in August 1956.

Goin' Back Home and "44" recorded on September 19th, 1953. Personnel as for 2nd September session, although Lee Allen possibly replaces Herb Hardesty.

"44" - released on Imperial LP 9055 "The Fabulous Mr D" in 1958.

Goin' Back Home - released on Imperial LP 9227 "Walking To New Orleans" in January 1963.

If You Need Me recorded on the 27th October, 1953. Personnel - same as previous session.

If You Need Me - released on EP IMP-143 "Fats Domino Rock And Rollin' Vol. 3" in August 1956. Also on Imperial LP 9009 "Fats Domino Rock And Rollin'" in August 1956.

Where Did You Stay recorded on the 14th March, 1954. Personnel - Fats Domino (vocal, piano) with Dave Bartholomew (trumpet); Lee Allen and Herb Hardesty (saxes); Walter Nelson (guitar); Frank Fields (bass); Cornelius Coleman (drums).

Where Did You Stay / Baby Please - released on Imperial 5283 in May 1954.

Little Mama and I Know recorded on the 10th July, 1954. Personnel - similar to previous session but Wendel Duconge and Buddy Hagans replace Lee Allen and Herb Hardesty on saxes.

Thinking Of You / I Know - released on Imperial 5323 in December 1954, Number 14 R&B.

Little Mama - released on Imperial LP 9227 "Walking To New Orleans" in January 1963.

Love Me and Don't You Hear Me Calling You recorded on the 13th August 1954. Personnel as in previous session but Lee Allen and Herb Hardesty replace Wendel Duconge and Buddy Hagans on saxes.

Love Me / Don't You Hear Me Calling You - released on Imperial 5313 in October 1954.

Don't You Know recorded on the 27th January, 1955. Personnel as on 13th August session.

Don't You Know /Helping Hand - released on Imperial 5340 in February 1955. Number 7 R&B.


All By Myself and Ain't It A Shame recorded on the 15th March, 1955. Personnel: similar to above.

La-La recorded on the 30th March, 1955. Personnel probably similar to above.

Ain't It A Shame / La-La - released on Imperial 5348 in April 1955. Number 1 R&B. Number 10 in Billboard Hot 100.

All By Myself / Troubles Of My Own - released on Imperial 5357 in August 1955. Number 1 R&B.

Further Listening

As with Little Richard, the back catalogue of Fats Domino has remained in print in one form or another over the decades. In the UK you can buy public domain CD collections of both the Imperial singles and LPs at what sometimes seems to be almost giveaway prices. For example Not Now Music has a 3CD set "The Imperial Singles Collection" which has 75 tracks and which you may be able to pick up for £5.

Fats fans who hanker after every single he released on Imperial will want the 5 CD series released on Ace Uk. I've got the first 3 volumes and can recommend them most highly.

And that still wouldn't be the complete Fats output on Imperial as some tracks were only released on LP.

Recommended reading - "Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll" by Rick Coleman. Da Capo Press, 2007.

More Fats to be digitised soon ...

King Porter - Special Request (re-up)

Side 1:
01. Russel St Hussel
02. Porter's Ball
03. Shuffling Boogie
04. Russell Street Hustle
05. King Porter Special
06. Bar Fly
07. Come On In
08. Battle Ax

Side 2:
01. Charlie The Boogie Man
02. Bumps Boogie
03. Hey Little Brownie
04. Should Have Rationed Myself
05. Chidtlin' Ball
06. Don't Let Fletcher Getcha
07. Special Request
08. I've Tried

Download from here:

http://www22.zippyshare.com/v/USk0eJuE/file.html

A re-up (with new cover and label scans) for a fine set of swingin' jump blues. Unusually, this compilation features sides by two completely different artists using the same moniker - "King Porter."

Side 1 features the Detroit based King Porter who was trumpeter James Poe. The two earliest sides, "Russel St. Hussel" and "Porter's Ball" (released in June / July 1948) are rumoured to have Paul Williams present on alto sax, but his name isn't among the musicians named on the label of the release.

Wild Bill Moore is very much present on the remaining Detroit sides. "King Porter Special" / "Shuffling Boogie" (King 4267 - released in February / March 1949) and "Russel St. Hustle" / "Bar Fly" (King 4295 - probably released June / July 1949) were possibly recorded for the local JVB label but sold on to King for release. The Detroit group recorded for King in Cincinnati on June 7th 1949, with one single, "Battle Ax" / "Come On In" being released on King 4333 in January 1950.

Meanwhile in California another King Porter band, led by trumpeter Vernon, "Jake" Porter (who would found the Combo label in the early '50s) was recording for Imperial and this outfit is featured on Side 2. Among the musicians were Marshall Royal, Gene Porter, Gene Philllips, and Bumps Myers. They were part of a group of musicians who recorded for several record companies under various identities, i.e as Gene Phillips and His Rhythm Aces for Modern, and on Imperial as Lloyd Glenn and His Joymakers or King Porter.

The final two tracks in the compilation are a bit of a puzzle. "I've Tried" / "Special Request" was released on West Coast label 4 Star in October 1952, but it's uncertain which of the two combos recorded these sides, or perhaps it was a third outfit using the King Porter name.

It's all good, clean jumpin' and jivin' fun!

Imperial R&B All-Stars re-upped

Side 1
01. The Fat Man - Fats Domino
02. Rootin' And Tootin' - Smiley Lewis
03. All That Wine Is Gone - Big Jay McNeely
04. Fats' Frenzy - Fats Domino
05. An Old Cow Hand From A Blues Band - Dave Bartholomew
06. Don't Cry Baby - Big Jay McNeely

Side 2
01. Ain't Gonna Do It - The Pelicans
02. '44' - Fats Domino
03. Shame, Shame, Shame - Smiley Lewis
04. Good News - Dave Bartholomew
05. I Don't Need You - James "Sugar Boy" Crawford
06. Don't Leave Me This Way - Fats Domino

New download link:

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

Original post (19th September 2011) is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/imperial-r-all-stars.html

A re-up for this short (but fine as wine) homemade comp of Imperial sides. The R&B All-Stars series only ever ran to two comps! I think this is the only post on Be Bop Wino which features some Fats Domino tracks. I must do something about that ...

Lost Dreams: The New Orleans Vocal Groups

Side 1:
01. Drunk Drunk Drunk - The Kidds
02. Why Fool Yourself - Bernie Williams
03. Bluesy Me - Dave Collins & The Scrubs
04. Lost Dreams - The Dukes
05. Sunny Side Of The Street - The Bees
06. Eternally Yours - The Barons
07. Cotton Picking Hands - The Dukes

Side 2:
01. Later, Baby - Fat Man Matthews & The Four Kittens
02. Boom Boom - The Barons
03. Teardrop Eyes - The Dukes
04. Ain't Gonna Do It - The Pelicans
05. Shake The Dice - The Barons
06. Darling, Please - The Bees
07. Last Ride - The Dukes

Lost Dreams: The New Orleans Vocal Groups. EMI America ST-17232. Sleeve notes by Jim Dawson and Steve Brigati. Design by Henry Marquez and Lou Beach. Issued in 1987.

Download from here:

http://www23.zippyshare.com/v/GU3mJ5sr/file.html

Having spotlighted The Spiders in the previous post, we remain on the New Orleans vocal groups theme with this compilation of sides from the label which hosted The Spiders, Imperial. This LP has been on the blog off and on over the years but for the purpose of this post I've added new cover and label scans. There is also a folder of 45 rpm scans provided by Joan K.

The notes on the back cover of the LP are very comprehensive and I've based the notes below on the sleeve notes. I have, however, added some extra info and corrected a couple of points regarding release numbers and release dates. See the tracklist below for a summary and then read on!

01. Drunk Drunk Drunk - The Kidds (Imperial 5335) February 1955
02. Why Fool Yourself - Bernie Williams (Imperial 5360) July 1955
03. Bluesy Me - Dave Collins & The Scrubs (Imperial 5294) July 1954
04. Lost Dreams - The Dukes (unreleased, 1956)
05. Sunny Side Of The Street - The Bees (unreleased, 1955)
06. Eternally Yours - The Barons (Imperial 5343) March 1955
07. Cotton Picking Hands - The Dukes (Imperial 5415) November 1956
08. Later, Baby - Fat Man Matthews & The Four Kittens (Imperial 5211) December 1952
09. Boom Boom - The Barons (Imperial 5343) March 1955
10. Teardrop Eyes - The Dukes Imperial 5401) July 1956
11. Ain't Gonna Do It - The Pelicans (Imperial 5307) October 1954
12. Shake The Dice - The Barons (unreleased, 1955)
13. Darling, Please - The Bees (unreleased, 1954)
14. Last Ride - The Dukes (unreleased, 1956)

The earliest side on this compilation, "Later, Baby" by Fat Man Matthews & The Four Kittens, was released on Imperial 5211 in December 1952. The B Side was "When Boy Meets Girl." The group was actually a gospel group, The Humming Four, who backed Allen "Fat Man" Man Matthews (at that time singing with The Dave Bartholomew Band) on these two sides. The disc didn't do much business and singer and group went their separate ways for a while.

At the end of 1953 Matthews and a changed line up of The Humming Four re-united in the recording studio as The Hawks. They released a total of five singles in 1954 and in June of that year also backed up Dave Collins (adopting the moniker The Scrubs) on "Bluesy Me" (Imperial 5294) which was released the following month.

The full story of The Hawks, The Four Kittens, and The Scrubs can be found on Marv Goldberg's site here:

http://www.uncamarvy.com/Hawks/hawks.html

The Pelicans and The Kidds were the same group recording under different names. "Ain't Gonna Do It" (Imperial 5307), released in October 1954, was the B Side of "Chimes". In February 1955 the same group, now renamed The Kidds, released "Drunk, Drunk, Drunk" (Imperial 5335). Both of these discs were equally raucous and unruly. Versions of "Ain't Gonna Do It" were also recorded by Smiley Lewis and Fats Domino.

The Bees were brought to New Orleans from New York by Dave Bartholomew. They recorded the double entendre "Toy Bell" which was released in October 1954. Many years later Chuck Berry covered the song as "My Ding-A-Ling". The Bees tracks on this comp, "Darling Please" (1954) and "Sunny Side Of The Street" (1955) were not released

"Eternally Yours" / "Boom Boom" (Imperial 5343) by The Barons was released in March 1955. Billboard described "Boom Boom" as being "in dubious taste." Note that the release number given to "Boom Boom" in the LP sleeve notes is wrong. Imperial 5359 was another disc by the Barons - "My Dream, My Love" / "I Know I Was Wrong" (July 1955). The rousing "Shake The Dice" is an unreleased Barons track from 1955.

The Barons may be the group backing Bernie Williams on "Why Fool Yourself" (Imperial 5360) which was released in July 1955, b/w "Don't Tease Me".

The Dukes recorded  a couple of sessions for Imperial in 1956. "Teardrop Eyes" (Imperial 5401) was released in July 1956 and was highly rated by Billboard. "A highly effective side, sparked by the unusually distinctive vocal work of the lead singer on a moving theme." "Cotton Picking Hands" (Imperial 5415) was the B Side of "Wini Brown" which was released in November 1956. Neither "Lost Dreams" nor the supremely weird "Last Ride" were released in the 1950s.

A disc listed by some websites as a Dukes release on Imperial from 1954, "Come On And Rock" / "I'll Found A Love", is in fact a bootleg issue of two unreleased sides recorded for Specialty by a different group called The Dukes. A listen to "Come On And Rock" on YouTube confirms that these Dukes sound nothing like Imperial's Dukes. See Marv Goldberg's article on The Dukes who recorded for Specialty for details:

http://www.uncamarvy.com/Dukes/dukes.html

You can hear more Imperial vocal group sides on the BGO CD reissue of 2 LPs originally issued on the Imperial label in the US and on Liberty in the UK around 1970: "Rhythm 'N' Blues Vol. 1: The End Of An Era" and "Rhythm 'N' Blues Vol. 2: Sweet N' Greasy". The LPs were part of a series of 8 "Legendary Masters" LPs inspired by Bob Hite of Canned Heat.

BGOCD466. The Dukes, The Bees, The Kidds / The Pelicans, and The Barons are featured, and sides not on "Lost Dreams" are on this CD. The Spiders, The Hawks and The Shaweez provide more New Orleans sounds.

Included in the download is a folder of scans by Joan K, so let's close the post with a visual feast.

The Spiders - 2LPs Re-upped

Side 1:
01. I Didn't Want To Do It
02. You're The One
03. I'm Slippin' In
04. Mmm Mmm Baby
05. Walkin' Around In Circles
06. I'm Searching

Side 2:
01. That's Enough
02. Sukey, Sukey, Sukey
03. Am I The One
04. Don't Knock
05. (True) You Don't Love Me
06. Witchcraft

Download "I Didn't Wanna Do It" from here:

http://www8.zippyshare.com/v/oVHoDWSq/file.html

Side A:

01. Don't Pity Me

02. How I Feel

03. Bells In My Heart

04. For A Thrill

05. Lost And Bewildered

06. The Real Thing

07. Honey Bee

Side B:

01. That's The Way To Win My Heart

02. Goodbye

03. I'll Stop Crying

04. Tears Began To Flow

05. Dear Mary

06. A1 In My Heart

07. You Played The Part

Download "The Best Of The Spiders" from here:

http://www103.zippyshare.com/v/jgrUOGlJ/file.html

I've reposted the two Spiders' LPs in response to a request for a re-up of the 1961 Imperial LP "I Didn't Wanna Do It." The version posted on Be Bop Wino is a "reconstruction" of the original LP from vinyl rips sent in by Joan, so the version of "Mmm Mmm Baby" here is the original 1954 single release track (Imperial 5305), instead of the second hitherto unreleased version  (also recorded in 1954) which was used on the LP. Both versions can be found on YouTube.

For "The Best Of The Spiders Volume 1" I've added new cover and label scans. I've also run the tracks from both LPs through MP3 Gain to increase and normalize the volume.

There is no duplication of tracks between these LPs, so you get 26 primo sides by the number one vocal group in New Orleans, recorded between the beginning of 1954 and the end of 1956. "I Didn't Want To Do It", "You're The One", "I'm Slippin' In", "21", and "Witchcraft" were all top ten R&B chart entries. For the full story of The Spiders go over to Marv Goldberg's web site here:

http://www.uncamarvy.com/Spiders/spiders.html

"I Didn't Wanna Do It" was posted on Be Bop Wino on 19th March 2010. You can find the post here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/spiders-i-didnt-want-to-do-it-imperial.html

"The Best Of The Spiders Volume 1" was originally posted on 22nd March 2010. That post is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/best-of-spiders-volume-1.html

I see by the short review I wrote of the LP that I was really enthusiastic about it, singing the praises of Chuck Carbo's performance on the bluesy sax-laden "You Played The Part."

"I Didn't Wanna Do It" was ripped at 128 kbps and "The Best Of The Spiders" was ripped from a scratched bootleg LP, so the tracks aren't very Hi in the Fi, but nevertheless they demand attention!

Big Jay McNeely - Deacon Rides Again

Side A:
01. Deacon Rides Again
02. Blow Blow Blow
03. Jay Walk
04. Night Ride
05. Jet Fury w/ Cheers
06. Deacon's Express
07. Insect Ball

Side B:
01. Sad Story
02. All That Wine Is Gone
03. Don't Cry Baby
04. Let's Do It (Deacon's Hop)
05. I'll Never Love Again
06. Love From The Heart (True Love)
07. Old Black Mule

Download from here:

Deacon Rides Again (Mega)

Deacon Rides Again (Zippy)

This is the return of an LP which I posted in the very earliest days of the blog. Back then I couldn't scan in LP covers properly so the rather tawdry looking post was quietly allowed to die following one of the takedowns of the blog. The return of "Deacon Rides Again" includes new cover and label scans. The sound files are the same but with a volume boost.

The tracks on this LP date from a couple of years before the Federal recordings on "Big "J" In 3-D," being recorded for Imperial between December 1950 and November 1951. This was the era captured in the photographs of Bob Willoughby taken at Hunter Hancock's Midnight Matinee on October 6th 1951 in the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium. The Imperial sides differ from the Federal sides in that few of them are instrumentals. Half of the tracks feature vocal accompaniment by "Three Dots And A Dash", a group with a varying lineup which featured Jesse Belvin and then Marvin Phillips as lead vocalist.

In fact there are only four original instrumental tracks in this collection: "Deacon Rides Again", "Blow Blow Blow", "Jay Walk" and "Night Ride." "Jet Fury w/ Cheers" and "Deacon's Express" have a murky origin, being spliced together extracts from the four original instrumentals with dubbed on crowd noise. See below for details!

The first six tracks of this collection are a non-stop tenor sax blast which brings to mind a quote from LeRoi Jones' sleevenotes for the Willis Jackson album "Thunderbird" on Prestige:

“Lloyd’s Manor in Newark, N.J., was a place where they’d have groups, like Illinois Jacquet’s, Erskine Hawkins', Earl Bostic’s, Tab Smith’s, Big Jay McNeely’s and all the other wild swingers of the day ….. It was a loud blur, climaxed by those shattering saxophone battles which featured heavy horns like Jacquet, McNeely and Ammons-Stitt groups and big throated singers like Wynonie Harris, Larry Darnell and Little Esther.” (Quoted in Charlie Gillet's "The Sound Of The City")

As I mentioned at the start of this post, two of the tracks on Side A have dubbed on crowd noise and are not what they seem to be. They are in fact cut-and-paste jobs, consisting of extracts from previously issued tracks spliced together. Listen to "Jet Fury w/ Cheers" and you can hear the intro to "Jay Walk" followed by "Deacon Rides Again" and then maybe some of "Blow Blow Blow." My head is still reeling from trying to deconstruct the track.

Similarly "Deacon's Express" combines pieces of different tracks, starting off as pieces of "Blow Blow Blow" then throwing in the "Ooh!" from "Deacon Rides Again" then back to the beginning of "Blow Blow Blow" for a complete reprise of that track. I think. I'm beyond all caring!

But what of the vocal sides which form more than half of this collection? The frantic "Insect Ball" features the voices of Little Arthur Matthews and Ernest Mayhand (aka Dope and Skillet). Jesse Belvin provides the vocal on "Sad Story", and leads Three Dots And A Dash (Jimmy Huff, Undine Harris and Marvin Phillips) on "All That Wine Is Gone" and "Don't Cry Baby". The final four tracks on the LP again feature Three Dots And a Dash, but with a different lineup without Jesse Belvin, lead vocals being provided by Marvin Phillips.

Big Jay releases on Imperial:

Imperial 5115 - All That Wine Is Gone / Don't Cry Baby - April 1951

Imperial 5130 - Insect Ball / Sad Story - summer 1951

Imperial 5164 - Let's Do It (Deacon's Hop) / I'll Never Love Again (credited to "Three Dots And A Dash with Big Jay McNeely And His Orchestra") - late summer 1951

Imperial 5169 - Tall Brown Woman / The Deacon Blows For Ray - late 1951

Imperial 5170 - Deacon Rides Again / Blow Blow Blow - January 1952

Imperial 5176 - Jay Walk / Night Ride - March 1952

Imperial 5186 - Love From The Heart / Old Black Mule (credited to "Three Dots And A Dash with Big Jay McNeely And His Orchestra") - mid (?) 1952

Imperial 5219 - Deacon's Express / Jet Fury - January 1953

As noted above, "Deacon's Express" and "Jet Fury - Cheers" are spliced extracts from Imperial 5170 and Imperial 5176, with dubbed on crowd noise. Two 1953 releases on the Imperial subsidiary Bayou are similar - Hometown Jamboree / Teenage Hop (Bayou 14) and Catastrophe / Calamity (Bayou 18). Someday, someone will risk their sanity by sitting down and listening to all these sides in order to analyse the ingredients of these cut 'n' paste jobs. It won't be me.

Elsewhere on the blog:

The Best Of Big Jay McNeely (Saxophonograph)

Big "J" In 3-D (Sing)

No R&B fan should be without this book:

Nervous Man Nervous by Jim Dawson (Big Nickel Publications, 1994) goes way beyond Big Jay to take a broad look at the honking sax phenomenon in rhythm and blues. Honk fans, this is your bible.