Joe Liggins And His Honeydrippers

Side 1:
01. Pink Champagne
02. I've Got A Right To Cry
03. The Honeydripper
04. Rhythm In The Barnyard Part 1
05. Little Joe's Boogie
06. So Alone
07. Rain, Rain, Rain

Side 2:
01. Boogie Woogie Lou
02. Tanya
03. Dripper's Boogie
04. Freight Train Blues
05. The Big Dipper
06. Whiskey, Women & Loaded Dice
07. Do You Love Me Pretty Baby?

Joe Liggins And His Honeydrippers (Mega)

Joe Liggins And His Honeydrippers (Zippy)

A 1980s compilation of some of the sides Joe Liggins recorded for Specialty between 1950 and 1954. The Joe Liggins story has already been outlined on previous posts of his 1940s Exclusive sides compiled on the Jukebox Lil LPs "The Honey Dripper" and "Darktown Strutters Ball."

This collection includes some of the Specialty re-recordings of Joe's Exclusive hits - "The Honeydripper" (his big 1945 hit), "I've Got A Right To Cry" and "Tanya" which were both originally hits in 1946, plus "Dripper's Boogie," another 1946 side.

However it was Joe's new material which provided a short series of big sellers on Specialty. "Pink Champagne" was the top selling R&B record of 1950. "Little Joe's Boogie" was a hit in 1951 along with a side not on this compilation, "Frankie Lee." Compared to the 1940s sides, the tracks on this LP are punchier, with the regular Honeydrippers lineup being augmented by sax players such as Maxwell Davis and Floyd Turnham. This is good California jump with extra zing!

Fax on the Jumpin' Trax

Pink Champagne recorded in Los Angeles on January 20th, 1950. Personnel: Joe Liggins (vocal , piano), with Willie Jackson (alto and baritone saxes); James Jackson and Maxwell Davis (tenor saxes); Frank Pasley (guitar); Eddie A. Davis (bass); Peppy Prince (drums).

Rhythm In The Barnyard Part 1; I've Got A Right To Cry - recorded in Los Angeles on April 13th, 1950. Personnel as above.

The Honeydripper - recorded in Los Angeles on April 24th, 1950. Personnel as above except Floyd Turnham replaces Maxwell Davis on tenor sax.

Little Joe's Boogie - recorded in Los Angeles on October 1st, 1950. Personnel as above.

So Alone - recorded in Los Angeles on June 28th, 1951. Personnel:  Joe Liggins (vocal, piano) with: Willie Jackson (alto and baritone saxes); James Jackson (tenor sax); William Woodman (tenor sax); Floyd Turnham (sax, clarinet); Harold Grant (guitar); William Cooper (bass); Nathaniel McFay (drums).

Boogie Woogie Lou; Rain, Rain, Rain - recorded in Los Angeles on October 11th, 1951. Personnel: Joe Liggins (vocal, piano) with: Floyd Turnham (sax, clarinet); Maxwell Davis and William Woodman (tenor saxes); Harold Grant (guitar); William Cooper (bass); Nathaniel McFay (drums); Candy Rivers (vocal) on "Rain, Rain, Rain".

Tanya; Dripper's Boogie - recorded in Los Angeles on March 20th, 1952. Personnel: Joe Liggins (vocal, piano) with: Willie Jackson (alto and baritone saxes); William Woodman (tenor sax); Floyd Turnham (sax, clarinet); Harold Grant (guitar); William Cooper (bass); Nathaniel McFay (drums).

Freight Train Blues - recorded in Los Angeles on December 10th, 1952. Personnel: as above but add Dell (Christine) St. John (vocal). 

The Big Dipper; Whiskey, Women & Loaded Dice - recorded in Los Angeles on July 8th, 1953. Personnel: Joe Liggins (vocal, piano) with: Jewell Grant (alto sax); Ewell "Bo" Rhambo and William Woodman (tenor saxes); Floyd Turnham (clarinet, sax); Harold Grant (guitar); Red Callender (bass); Nathaniel McFay (drums).

Do You Love Me Pretty Baby? - recorded in Los Angeles on March 12th, 1954. Personnel: Joe Liggins (vocal, piano); with: Lawrence E. Lofton (trombone); Floyd Turnham (tenor sax); Harold Grant (guitar); Theodore Shirley (bass); Earl Carter (drums).

The Releases:

Pink Champagne / Sentimental Lover - released on Specialty 355 in April 1950.

I've Got A Right To Cry / The Honeydripper - released on Specialty 338 in June 1950.

Rhythm In The Barnyard Part 1 / Rhythm In The Barnyard Part II - released on Specialty 368 in July 1950.

Little Joe's Boogie / Daddy On My Mind - released on Specialty 379 in December 1950. 

Oh How I Miss You / So Alone - released on Specialty 413 in October 1951.

Boogie Woogie Lou / Rain, Rain, Rain - released on Specialty 426 in March 1952.

Tanya / Dripper's Boogie - released on Specialty 430 in April 1952.

Freight Train Blues / Blues For Tanya - released on Specialty 453 in January 1953.

The Big Dipper / Everyone's Down On Me - released on Specialty 474 in September 1953.

Whiskey, Women & Loaded Dice / Do You Love Me Pretty Baby? - released on Specialty 529 in August 1954.

Elsewhere On The Blog

Joe Liggins & His Honey Drippers - Darktown Strutters Ball

Joe Liggins - The Honey Dripper

El Enmascarado 78 rpm rips:

Dripper's Boogie Parts 1 and 2 (Exclusive 232)

Lover's Lament / Miss Betty's Blues (Exclusive 213)

Blow Mr. Jackson / The Blues (Exclusive 244)

Worried / How Come (Exclusive 262)

Joe Liggins & his Honeydrippers - Darktown Strutters Ball

Side 1
1. Miss Betty's Blues
2. Got Your Love In My Heart (Herb Jefferies)
3. Caravan
4. I Know My Love Is True
5. Got A Right To Cry
6. Walkin'
7. Tanya
8. Sugar Lump

Side 2
1. The Darktown Strutters Ball
2. Downhome Blues
3. Breaking My Heart
4. Sweet Georgia Brown
5. The Blues
6. Loosiana
7. Spooks Holiday
8. Daddy On My Mind

Way back in the blog we had a look at the early part of Joe’s career and in particular at the impact of his 1945 hit “The Honeydripper.” The LP featured on this post was the first of the two Joe Liggins compilations issued by Jukebox Lil back in the 1980s. It includes the follow up hit to “The Honeydripper” – “Got A Right To Cry.” Other R&B chart hits included here are “Tanya,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” and “Darktown Strutters Ball,” all recorded for Exclusive, a label for which Joe had a total of 10 hits between 1945 and 1948.

In 1949 Exclusive closed down as they were unable to convert their operation to accommodate the new 45 rpm format. In January 1950 Joe and the Honeydrippers started recording for Specialty, the label for which his brother Jimmy was already recording. Joe’s first session for his new label produced the biggest R&B hit of 1950 – “Pink Champagne.” There were further hits on Specialty including “Frankie Lee” and “Little Joe’s Boogie,” both in 1951, with Joe’s flow of hits finally drying up in 1952 with “Cryin’ Over You.”

Joe left Specialty in 1954, moving to Mercury where he recorded a session which failed to arouse public interest. From then on Joe’s recording career was intermittent, his next session being for Aladdin in 1957 with no further recordings until 1962 when he returned briefly to Mercury. In 1965 he cut a few sides for his brother Jimmy’s Duplex and J & J labels, then four years later he recorded an album for Johnny Otis’ Blues Spectrum label. Joe reformed the Honeydrippers for occasional live gigs, and in the 1980s as interest in jump blues revived, the band started making appearances at the major jazz and blues festivals, bringing the sound of the 1940s to a new generation of fans. The final curtain came down on a long and distinguished career when Joe died in July 1987.

Two of my favourite Joe Liggins sides are here – “Miss Betty’s Blues” and “Walkin’.” Both feature that relaxed shuffle rhythm coupled with appealing melodies which was the trademark of the best of Joe’s music.

Ripped from vinyl at 320kbps.

Download from here:

http://www93.zippyshare.com/v/4QZ4uLXs/file.html


1. Miss Betty's Blues (1946, Exclusive 213)
2. Got Your Love In My Heart (Herb Jefferies, April 20, 1945)
3. Caravan (April 20, 1945, Exclusive 216)
4. I Know My Love Is True (1946, Exclusive 212)
5. Got A Right To Cry (April 20, 1945, Exclusive 210)
6. Walkin' (late 1946, Exclusive, 242)
7. Tanya (July 8, 1946, Exclusive 231)
8. Sugar Lump (April 20, 1945, Exclusive 219)
9. The Darktown Strutters Ball (1947, Exclusive 49X)
10. Downhome Blues (1947, Exclusive 250)
11. Breaking My Heart (July 8, 1946, Exclusive 231)
12. Sweet Georgia Brown (1947, Exclusive 271)
13. The Blues (late 1946, Exclusive, 244)
14. Loosiana (1948, Exclusive 132X)
15. Spooks Holiday (1947, Exclusive, 49X)
16. Daddy On My Mind (April 24, 1950, Specialty 379)

Further listening:

Elsewhere on the blog - "The Honeydripper"  - the complete LP.

"Miss Betty's Blues" with the story of the origin of this track, streamed audio of the vinyl rip and YouTube videos of El Enmascarado's original 78 rpm. This includes the other side of the disc - "Lover's Lament."

Drippers' Boogie Parts 1 & 2 - streamed audio plus YouTube videos from El Enmascarado's channel of both sides of the original 78 rpm disc.

The Classics series covers Joe's career from 1946 - 1952 in 3 CDs. Look 'em up on Amazon.co.uk.

Also of interest is the Ace CD "Jazz Me Blues" by Joe's sax player Little Willie Jackson, backed by the Honeydrippers including Joe on piano. This is a set of sides recorded for Modern in 1947. I guess it almost qualifies as a "moonlighting" sesssion as the band were under contract to Exclusive at the time.

Joe Liggins - The Honeydripper

1945 was a transitional year in R&B history. Big band records and releases on the major labels still featured prominently on the charts, but independent labels were starting to make inroads. The top selling R&B record of the year was Joe Liggins’ “The Honeydripper” on Leon René’s Exclusive label. The success of this record embodied several trends that would dominate R&B in the next few years: the rise of small jump bands in the wake of the success of Louis Jordan (the year’s top selling R&B artist); the challenge of new independent labels to the dominance of the major labels; and the development of Los Angeles as a major R&B recording centre.

Joe Liggins was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma in 1915. His family emigrated to San Diego, California in 1932. For much of the 1930’s Joe played trumpet and wrote arrangements for a variety of local bands in the San Diego area, but in 1939 he moved to Los Angeles to further his musical career. He played in a quartet with Illinois Jacquet and then with the bands of Cee Pee Johnson and Sammy Franklin. The latter band featured Joe’s composition “The Honeydripper” in its stage act. When Franklin refused to finance a recording of “The Honeydripper”, Joe formed his own small group, The Honeydrippers, with himself on piano, “Little” Willie Jackson and James Jackson on saxes, and Eddie Davis on bass.

By now “The Honeydripper” was a 15 minute long riffer which closed the Liggins’ band’s act every night. Leon René, owner of Exclusive and Excelsior Records heard it, liked it and got the band into the studio in April 1945. The number was released as a two parter and by the end of 1946 had shifted an estimated two million units and inspired a string of cover versions by artists including Roosevelt Sykes, Cab Calloway and Jimmie Lunceford. Two other big hits were also recorded at that session: “Left A Good Deal In Mobile” on which the band backed Duke Ellington vocalist Herb Jeffries, and “I Got A Right To Cry” which was another hit for Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers.

Released in 1988, this Mr R&B LP was the second Joe Liggins compilation on that label. The music is a mix of instrumental shuffles, some of Joe’s more romantic song compositions, a bit of jive, and in “Yvette” and “Lonesome Guitar” a couple of instrumentals that sound like background music from a film noir. These sides were recorded for Exclusive between 1945 and 1949.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www96.zippyshare.com/v/jUN52yGk/file.html


1. The Honeydripper Part 1
2. The Honeydripper Part 2
3. Left A Good Deal In Mobile (v – Herb Jeffries)
4. Key Jam
5. How Come
6. Apple Of My Eye
7. Doddle-Do-Da-Deet
8. Yvette
9. Drippers' Boogie Part 1
10. Drippers' Boogie Part 2
11. Lonesome Guitar
12. You Ain't Goin' To Heaven No How
13. Three O'Clock Jump Part 1
14. Three O'Clock Jump Part 2
15. Some Of These Days
16. Ruth