Be Bop Wino Pages

Joan Selects - the complete Joan Selects Collection

Big Ten Inchers - 78rpm rips by El Enmascarado


Attention Mac Users!

Mac users have been experiencing problems in unpacking the WinRAR archives used on this blog. Two solutions have been suggested.

1. Use The Unarchiver - www.theunarchiver.com - see comments on Little Esther Bad Baad Girl post for details.

2. Use Keka - http://www.kekaosx.com/en/ - see comments on Johnny Otis Presents post.

Wednesday 26 March 2008

The Great Gates (West Coast R ’n B 1949-1952)

Edward Gates White aka “The Great Gates” enjoyed a recording career as an R&B vocalist from 1949 to 1955, before changing to recording jazz organ instrumentals. This Krazy Kat collection documents the first 3 years of his career during which he continually shifted between various small West Coast labels such as Selective, Kappa and Miltone. His backing band included Marvin Phillips on tenor sax. The sound quality on these recordings is on the rough side, as is the musicianship at times.

The back cover of the LP includes extensive sleevenotes.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/102625952/The_Great_Gates.rar

1. Rocking Time
2. Farewell Baby
3. Ain't Got No Money
4. Race Track Blues
5. Change Your Ways
6. Rock Me
7. Blue After Hours
8. Central Rocks
9. Rock Me Baby
10. Checkin' Up Blues
11. Home Town Boy
12. Teardrops Are Falling
13. Come Back Home
14. Sad And Lonesome
15. Evening Blues
16. Later After Hours

Friday 14 March 2008

Frank Culley and Buddy Tate - Rock'n Roll Instrumentals For Dancing The Lindy Hop

1984 Krazy Kat reissue of Baton LP 1201 from 1955 with two extra Buddy Tate tracks added. There’s an interesting contrast between R&B man Frank Culley and Jazz veteran Buddy Tate.

This is a re-up of an old Rockhall post with an improved front cover scan and a Joan K scan of a Baton EP derived from the original LP. Some of these tracks are currently available on the Flyright CD “Thunderbolt!”

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/99564085/Dancing_The_Lindy_Hop.rar

1. Nine O'Clock Express / Frank Culley
2. Lindy Rock / Frank Culley
3. Go, Floorshow! / Frank Culley
4. Bubbles / Frank Culley
5. Speed Limit / Frank Culley
6. Sent For You Yesterday / Buddy Tate
7. That Girl / Buddy Tate
8. Fatback And Greens / Buddy Tate
9. Tete-A-Tate / Buddy Tate
10. Skip-A-Page / Buddy Tate
11. Jackie / Buddy Tate
12. Blue Buddy / Buddy Tate

Wednesday 12 March 2008

Warren Lucky, Al King and Haywood Henry - Thunderbolt!

Another of the LPs I ripped to mp3 and posted on Rockhall last year. This 1983 Krazy Kat LP is a collection of real stompin’ R&B sax recorded for the Joe Davis group of labels between 1952 and 1956. The sound quality on these recordings is excellent. There is an expanded 20 track version still available on a Flyright CD.

Ripped from vinyl at 320kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download link:

http://www14.zippyshare.com/v/vx4sADHm/file.html

1. Paradise Rock / Warren Lucky
2. Thunderbolt / Warren Lucky
3. Paradise Roll / Warren Lucky
4. Fish Bait / Warren Lucky
5. Jay Bird / Al King
6. Melancholy Horn / Al King
7. Strollin' Out / Al King
8. Flyin' With The King / Al King
9. A King Is Blue / Al King
10. Big Wind / Al King
11. Royal Crown Blues / Al King
12. Sweet Georgia Brown / Haywood Henry
13. Easy Ridin' / Al King
14. Joy Ride / Al King

The Continuing Story of Washboard Bill ...

My plea for information on Washboard Bill brought a reply from none other than Marv Goldberg whose R&B website (the site for R&B vocal groups) is on the links panel on the right of this page.

Marv came up with the info that King Curtis plays sax and Mickey Baker plays guitar on "In The Morning". He also provided a couple of web links.

There's a link which leads to a myspace profile dedicated to Washboard Bill. I would urge you all to get yourselves over to that page to check out the sounds, pics and words of wisdom. There's four Washboard Bill tracks to listen to, some YouTube clips, some amazing pictures (including the one above) and a biography of Bill.

Somewhere on the page you'll find a link to scans of a letter written by Bill which tells a pretty heartbreaking story of how he earned no royalties from his King recordings despite the fact that the tracks sold pretty well. He talks of finding "In The Morning" featuring on an LP which must be "After Hours". Unfortunately these are circumstances with which many of the artists featured on this blog were familiar. The myspace page is here:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=203795247

Marv also provided another link confirming the presence of Mickey Baker and King Curtis on "In The Morning":

http://books.google.com/books?id=OGyWw-M5wFsC&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=%22washboard+bill%22+%22in+the+morning%22&source=web&ots=4fwmd9DhUI&sig=FPLlC4DVYu3fJZ5hUKShl_BWLeI&hl=en

Thanks for these links Marv.

Check out the Comments section on the "After Hours" post for further links from "Anonymous".

Lastly, this Ace CD of King and Federal R&B instrumentals has four Washboard Bill Tracks plus plenty of music from many of the artists on "After Hours", so if you dug my previous post, why not splash a bit of cash on "Honky Tonk!"? (Ace CDCHD 761)

Tuesday 11 March 2008

After Hours (King 528)

This is a 1987 reissue of the 1956 King LP “After Hours”. It’s a great collection of moody late night R&B instrumentals recorded from the late 1940s to the mid 1950s. I like all the tracks on this album but the one that really gets me is “In The Morning” by Washboard Bill. There’s washboard scraping going on in the background but it’s mainly a sax instrumental punctuated by the occasional drunken yell of “In the morning!”

I’d really like to know who Washboard Bill is or was and who is playing the great sax on the track, but as with so many early R&B albums the packaging is cut-price with no session details whatsoever on the sleeve. Instead you get a brief generalised essay and a few artist photos ALL of which are wrongly attributed. Of interest is the list of other King albums available back in the 50’s. Apart from the inevitable Earl Bostic and Bill Doggett albums, there are a few exotic (or cheesy?) titles such as “Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland” by “Paul Renard At The Hammond Organ” and “Love Is Here To Stay” by “Shura At The Piano”. What on earth did they sound like? Perhaps it is as well that I’ll never find out.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/98810970/After_Hours.rar

1. Long Gone Part 1 / Sonny Thompson
2. Long Gone Part 2 / Sonny Thompson
3. After Hours / Ace Harris
4. Midnight To Dawn / Earl Bostic
5. What's New / Bill Jennings
6. Ooh Midnight / Pete "Guitar" Lewis
7. After Hours / Jimmy Nolen
8. Eventide / Bill Doggett
9. Blues For The Red Boy / Todd Rhodes
10. Mellow Blues Part 1 / Sonny Thompson
11. Mellow Blues Part 2 / Sonny Thompson
12. In The Morning / Washboard Bill

Monday 10 March 2008

Chu Berry / Lucky Thompson - Giants of the Tenor Sax

Milt Gabler’s Commodore Records grew out of a New York music shop, at first pressing reissues of cut-out jazz classics from the back catalogues of the major companies, and then progressing to issuing discs cut from Commodore’s own recording sessions. From 1938 onwards Gabler recorded the small groups and musicians that were playing in the clubs of 52nd Street, thus providing us with a valuable record of the small group swing sound of the late 30s and early 40s which served as the midwife of both bebop and R&B.

The first four Chu Berry tracks were recorded in 1938 and the remainder in August 1941 shortly before his death in an automobile crash. The Lucky Thompson tracks are from March 1944 with the blues influenced Hot Lips Page band. Some of these tracks in particular sound like a template for early R&B with Page’s hoarse blues shouting and Thompson’s full toned tenor sax.

The full sleeve notes by Milt Gabler and Leonard Feather are included in the download.

Ripped at 320 kbps from vinyl. Password = greaseyspoon

Download link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/98519179/Giants_Of_The_Tenor_Sax.rar

1. Body And Soul / Chu Berry "Little Jazz" Ensemble with Roy Eldridge
2. Sittin' In / Chu Berry "Little Jazz" Ensemble with Roy Eldridge
3. Stardust / Chu Berry "Little Jazz" Ensemble with Roy Eldridge
4. Forty Six West Fifty Two / Chu Berry "Little Jazz" Ensemble with Roy Eldridge
5. On The Sunny Side Of The Street No. 2 / Chu Berry Jazz Ensemble with Hot Lips Page
6. My Gal Is Gone / Lucky Thompson with Hot Lips Page Orchestra
7. Rockin' At Ryans / Lucky Thompson with Hot Lips Page Orchestra
8. Blowing Up A Breeze / Chu Berry Jazz Ensemble with Hot Lips Page
9. On The Sunny Side Of The Street / Chu Berry Jazz Ensemble with Hot Lips Page
10. Monday At Minton's / Chu Berry Jazz Ensemble with Hot Lips Page
11. Gee, Baby Ain't I Good To You / Chu Berry Jazz Ensemble with Hot Lips Page
12. You'd Be Frantic Too / Lucky Thompson with Hot Lips Page Orchestra
13. Blues Jumped A Rabbit / Lucky Thompson with Hot Lips Page Orchestra

Commodore Record Shop, East 42nd Street

Saturday 8 March 2008

Buddy Tate - Jumpin' On The West Coast!

Count Basie tenor saxman Buddy Tate cut these sides for Jack Lauderdale’s Supreme label in Los Angeles in two sessions in December 1947. The Basie band was in Los Angeles for an engagement at the Meadowland ballroom. A recording strike was due to start at midnight on December 31st 1947 and record companies were frantically stockpiling recordings. The front line of the small group backing Tate was recruited from the Basie band, Jimmy Witherspoon (at that time with Jay McShann) sat in on a couple of numbers, and Bill Doggett (with the Willie Bryant band) was on piano.

These recordings sit nicely in what I like to call “The Bebopwino Zone” – where jazz meets jump and blues. There’s a bit of a bop influence as well, so fans of bop, swing and early R&B should be happy with this one.

Ripped at 320 kbps from the 1972 Black Lion LP. Password = greaseyspoon

Download link:

http://www60.zippyshare.com/v/rgPa25KO/file.html

1. Tate's A Jumpin' (Take 4)
2. Blue And Sentimental
3. Vine Street Breakdown (Take 4)
4. Ballin' From Day To Day **
5. Six Foot Two Blues *
6. Kansas City Local (Take 3)
7. Kansas City Local (Take 5)
8. The Things You Done For Me Baby **
9. Vine Street Breakdown (Take 1)
10. Early Morning Blues *
11. Good Morning Judge **
12. Tate's A Jumpin' (Take 2)

* vocal – Jimmy Witherspoon
** vocal – Charlie Price

Wednesday 5 March 2008

The El Dorados (with The Magnificents) - Crazy Little Mama

The first album released by VeeJay (in 1957) has ten tracks by the Eldorados, and when they ran out of title artist tracks, they added a couple of tracks by The Magnificents.

Sights and sounds on this post are by Joan K. There’s a great front cover scan of this very rare LP and plenty of label shots including some promos. Now the sound files are mostly ripped from original singles (not the album) so that means that there’s plenty of surface noise on some tracks. And yes, you can occasionally hear the needle hitting the groove! So just relax, crack open a can of beer, close your eyes and listen to these fifty year old slightly (!) scratchy discs. Sounds from the days when a record was a record.

Ripped at 192 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download link (including folder of scans):

http://rapidshare.com/files/97074997/Crazy_Little_Mama.rar

Thanks Joan!

1. At My Front Door / The Eldorados
2. Now That You've Gone / The Eldorados
3. Rock'n'Roll's For Me / The Eldorados
4. A Fallen Tear / The El Dorados
5. Up On The Mountain / The Magnificents
6. There In The Night / The El Dorados
7. I'll Be Forever Loving You / The El Dorados
8. My Lovin' Baby / The Eldorados
9. Annie's Answer / The El Dorados
10. I Began To Realize / The El Dorados
11. Caddy Bo / The Magnificents
12. I Need You / The El Dorados

The El Dorados - Low Mileage - High Octane

Founded in 1952 by pupils of Chicago’s Englewood High as the Five Stars, this group changed its name to the El Dorados in 1953. They signed for VeeJay Records in 1954 and in 1955 recorded the smash hit (both R&B and Pop) “At My Front Door”. The group continued to record for VeeJay until 1957, but without any more chart success. A short lived new line up made further recordings for VeeJay in 1958 but again success remained elusive.

This 1984 Solid Smoke LP compiles El Dorados sides recorded between 1954 and 1957 and includes two unissued sides – “Lord Knows I Tried” and “Love Of My Own”.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/97067212/Low_Mileage_-_High_Octane.rar

1. A Fallen Tear
2. My Loving Baby
3. At My Front Door
4. There In The Night
5. Love Of My Own
6. Bim Bam Boom
7. Now That You've Gone
8. I Began To Realize
9. A Rose For My Darling
10. I'll Be Forever Loving You
11. It's No Wonder
12. One More Chance
13. Rock 'N Roll's For Me
14. Lord Knows I Tried
15. 3 Reasons Why