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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 29 October 2008

"Rockin' with Chuck Willis" - The Atlantic Years

I should really have called this “Strollin’ With Chuck Willis”, but it’s too late now! Thanks to Joan for providing these rips from 1950s 45 rpm singles and EPs. There are 15 tracks here from Chuck’s all too short (two years, 1956 – 1958) tenure at Atlantic Records. There was one track lacking to reconstitute Chuck’s 1958 Atlantic LP “King of the Stroll”, so I’ve used Joan’s rips to make up a Bebopwino comp of the “Sheik of Shake”.

Chuck’s time at Atlantic saw him reach the national pop charts with 3 discs: “C.C. Rider” reached number 12 in May 1957, “Betty and Dupree” reached number 33 in March 1958, and the ominously titled “What Am I Living For”/ “Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes” reached number 2 in May 1958, by which time Chuck was dead following surgery for a perforated ulcer and the disc was a posthumous hit.

In the second half of the 1950s Atlantic were adding girly choruses and sometimes strings to their R&B productions and many sides cut at this time haven’t worn well with the passing of the years, sounding rather corny to modern ears. However Willis’ performances and songwriting are strong enough to overcome this kind of backing, although I can’t help but wish that he’d been allowed to cut more discs like “What’cha Gonna Do When Your Baby Leaves You” where there are no unnecessary embellishments.

Thanks to Joan for the rips and scans. And of course you’ll find some crackling and hissing on these 50 year old discs.

Ripped at 192 kbps (from m4a files which are included). Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/158130898/Rockin__With_Chuck_Willis.rar

Or here:

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

1. Betty And Dupree
2. That Train Has Gone
3. Love Me Cherry
4. Juanita
5. It's Too Late
6. C.C. Rider
7. My Life
8. What'cha Gonna Do When Your Baby Leaves You
9. Kansas City Woman
10. You'll Be My Love
11. Ease the Pain
12. Thunder And Lightning
13. My Crying Eyes
14. Keep A-Driving
15. What Am I Living For

5 comments:

Diving Dwarf said...

Good you're still alive!
Thanks mate

boogiewoody said...

Yep, we're back! Let's just hope that the letter was a one off, but no matter what happens Bebopwino will live on in some form somewhere.

I hope your blog survives its receipt of the same warning that seems to be going round.

"They may take down our posts, they may take down our blogs, but they'll never take down our FREEDOM!" as Mel Gibson didn't quite say in the ludicrously inaccurate Braveheart.

Spike said...

Really glad lad to see you've made it through....

Word to the wise, start caching the comments and make a spreadsheet of your uploads now - they will survive even if the blog is removed.

Red Neckerson said...

Glad to see the return of the Wino de be bop! Excellent return with Chuck Willis! C C Rider/Ease the pain 45 is played on my seeburg more than anything! Thanks for remembering him!

Baron said...

Artist I've not heard - thank you BoogieWoody