Ladies Sing The Blues Volume 2 (Roots of Rock N' Roll Vol. 12)

Side A:
01) Fine And Mellow - Albinia Jones
02) Silver Dollar Blues - Albinia Jones
03) What's The Matter With Me (Don't You Wear No Black) - Albinia Jones
04) Ee Baba Leba - Helen Humes
05) If I Could Be With You - Helen Humes
06) Take Out Some Time - ‎Little Miss Sharecropper
07) I'll Try (I've Tried) - Little Miss Sharecropper
08) I Want To Rock - ‎Little Miss Sharecropper

Side B:
01) Alley Cat - Dolly Cooper
02) I Need Romance - Dolly Cooper
03) I Wanna Know (What'cha Doin' Down There) - Dolly Cooper
04) Me And My Baby - Dolly Cooper
05) You Promised Love - Annie Laurie
06) I Can't Stop Being A Fool - Annie Laurie
07) Stop, Don't Go - Annie Laurie
08) Rockin' And Rollin' - Annie Laurie

Side C:
01) No Kinda Good No How - Varetta Dillard
02) Johnny Has Gone - Varetta Dillard
03) So Many Ways (To Love You) - Varetta Dillard
04) Hurry Up - Varetta Dillard
05) Please Tell Me Why - Varetta Dillard
06) Love That Man - Varetta Dillard
07) I Cried And Cried - Varetta Dillard
08) A Letter In Blues - Varetta Dillard

Side D:
01) All Of Me - Big Maybelle
02) Baby Won't You Please Come Home - Big Maybelle
03) Rockhouse - Big Maybelle
04) Jim - Big Maybelle
05) It's A Sin To Tell a Lie - Big Maybelle
06) I Could Make You Care - Big Maybelle
07) I Don't Want To Cry - Big Maybelle
08) Stay As Sweet As You Are - Big Maybelle

Ladies Sing The Blues Volume 2 (Mega)

Ladies Sing The Blues Volume 2 (Zippy)

Thank you once more to Steve Barrow as we feature his donation of Volume 2 of "Ladies Sing The Blues" which was also Volume 12 of the great Savoy series "Roots Of Rock 'N' Roll." The tale of how these LPs were transferred from vinyl to CD-R and then once they'd come to me by mail to mp3 is told in the previous post.

Let's get down to a brief resume of what's hot on these discs. The Albinia Jones tracks are from her first session in 1944 for National which remained unreleased in its entirety. Included is an early version of "Don't You Wear No Black" (aka "What's The Matter With Me") which she recorded again for release the following year.

Helen Humes was of course a big name act. Her disc featured here consists of live recordings from a 1950 "Blues Jubilee" concert promoted by Frank Bull and Gene Norman. Included is a short reprise of her big 1945 hit on Philo / Aladdin, "Be Baba Leba." Backing is probably by Roy Milton's Solid Senders.

"Little Miss Sharecropper" (or "Miss Sharecropper" as she is billed on the original single releases on National of these tracks) is Dolores Baker, better known as LaVern Baker, the big, big R&B star of Atlantic Records from 1953 into the early 1960s. The story not only of her time at Atlantic, but also how she found herself being billed as a Little Miss Cornshucks ripoff is told in this post - 

https://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2018/01/lavern-baker-real-gone-gal.html

-And while you're there pick up an LP of LaVern's Atlantic sides -

Of Dolly Cooper I know but little - but here she is backed by bands led by Hal Singer and Leroy Kirkland. "I Wanna Know" is a cover of the hit disc on RCA by The Du Droppers.

I compared and I'm not convinced

Annie Laurie is in rip roaring blues belting form on her tracks here. She is of course always associated with the New Orleans based outfit led by Paul Gayten with whom she enjoyed considerable chart success in the late 1940s and early 1950s on DeLuxe and Regal. On these 1956 sides for Savoy she is backed by some of New York's finest session players including Hal Singer, Buddy Lucas, Budd Johnson and Mickey Baker. For the Paul Gayten and Annie Laurie story see this post -

https://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2018/06/paul-gayten-annie-laurie-creole-gal.html

And of course while you're perusing the fascinating info over there, pick up this Paul Gayten / Annie Laurie LP -

Varetta Dillard - a bloozy chantoozy to match the best of 'em. She was with Savoy from 1951 to 1956 when she decamped to the Groove subsidiary of RCA. Her biggest hits on Savoy were "Mercy Mr. Percy," "Easy, Easy Baby" and included here "Johnny Has Gone," the exploitative tribute to the recently deceased Johnny Ace in January 1955.

For more info, more Savoy sides, plus Groove and other platters by Varetta, go to this post -

https://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2011/12/varetta-dillard-double-crossing-daddy.html

Here's the LP you can pick up there. It is most definitely all killer and no filler -

Side D and it's Big Maybelle time again but with a change of style from the R&B tracks of "Ladies Sing The Blues." The 8 tracks here were all included on a 1957 ten track LP "Big Maybelle Sings" (Savoy MG 14005). This consisted almost entirely of standards recorded in a soft pop-jazz style with backing by Ernie Wilkins. The one exception, which is included here on "Ladies Sing The Blues Volume 2,"  is "I Don't Want To Cry" which was recorded in 1956 with an R&B backing which included Warren Lucky, Buddy Lucas and Mickey "Guitar" Baker. Some of the tracks were also released on singles. For details see below.

Billboard 7th October 1957

Original Release Details

Albinia Jones:

Fine And Mellow; Silver Dollar Blues; What's The Matter with Me - unissued National session, December 1944.

Helen Humes:

Ee-Baba-Le-Ba / If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight - Helen Humes with Orchestra - Discovery 530 - released in December 1950.

Little Miss Sharecropper:

I've Tried / How Long - Miss Sharecropper - National 9151 - released in April 1951.

Take Out Some Time / I Want To Rock - Miss Sharecropper - National 9153 - released in June 1951.

Dolly Cooper:

Me And My Baby - unissued

I Wanna' Know / I'd Climb The Highest Mountain - Dolly Cooper with Hal Singer's Orch. - Savoy 891 - released in April 1953.

Alley Cat / I Need Romance - Dolly Cooper with Orchestra - Savoy 898 - released in June 1953.

Annie Laurie:

I Can't Stop Being A Fool; Stop, Don't Go - unissued

Rockin' And Rollin' Again / You Promised Love - Annie Laurie - Savoy 1197 - released in August 1956

Varetta Dillard:

Love That Man - unissued

Please Tell Me Why / Hurry Up - Varetta Dillard - Savoy 839 - released in February 1952.

Easy, Easy Baby / A Letter In Blues - Varetta Dillard - Savoy 847, released in May 1952.

I Cried And Cried / Double Crossing Daddy - Varetta Dillard - Savoy 871 - released in November 1952.

Mercy, Mr. Percy / No Kinda Good, No How - Varetta Dillard - Savoy 897 - released in May 1953.

Johnny Has Gone / So Many Ways - Varetta Dillard - Savoy 1153 - released in January 1955.

Big Maybelle:

All of the Big Maybelle tracks on this LP were included on the LP Savoy MG 14005 - "Big Maybelle Sings" - released in October 1957.

Some of the tracks were also released on singles as follows -

All Of Me / I Don't Want To Cry - Big Maybelle with Ernie Wilkins' Orch. - Savoy 1512 - released in April 1957.

Rock House / Jim - Big Maybelle with Ernie Wilkins' Orch. - Savoy 1519 - released in August 1957

Baby Won't You Please Come Home / Say It Isn't So - Big Maybelle - Savoy 1558 - released in January 1959.

It's A Sin To Tell A Lie; I Could Make You Care; Stay As Sweet As You Are - not released on single.

Of the ten tracks on "Big Maybelle Sings," the following are not included on "Ladies Sing The Blues Volume 2" - "Say It Isn't So" and "If I Could Be With You."

With many thanks to Steve Barrow who kindly supplied the sounds and cover art for "Ladies Sing The Blues" and "Ladies Sing The Blues Volume 2."