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Saturday 28 March 2020

Sonny Thompson - Mellow Blues For The Late Hours (King LP 655)























Side 1:
01) Mellow Blues (Part 1)
02) Palmetto
03) Clang, Clang, Clang
04) Sugar Cane
05) Cat On The Keys (Part 1)
06) Cat On The Keys (Part 2)
07) Cotton Ball
08) Single Shot

Side 2:
01) Smoke Stack Blues
02) Real, Real Fine
03) Let's Move
04) Behind The Sun
05) Blues Mambo
06) First Base
07) Gum Shoe
08) Frog Legs






Released in October 1959, this King collection of Sonny Thompson instrumentals doesn't consist solely of late night, closing time "slows", there are some shufflers and jumpers in here too. It's the echo drenched sleazy sax and piano after hours instros that appeal to me but the tracks aimed at the dance crowd are also worth a listen.

I've reconstructed the album using tracks from various reissue compilations kicking around in my collection plus artwork found on the internet. My thanks to the original uploaders. Note that some of the tracks on this album were originally released as two part singles. In such cases I have assumed that the "part 1" from these singles are the tracks featured on the LP. The release details of the singles are given below. The information was gathered from 45worlds.com, discogs.com and Billboard magazine which can be searched via google.

Original Release Details:

Sugar Cane / I'm Coming Back Home To Stay - King 4345 - April 1950

After Sundown / Frog Legs - King 4364 - June 1950

Nightfall / Palmetto - King 4384 - July 1950

Smoke Stack Blues / Uncle Sam Blues - King 4431 - March 1951

Mellow Blues (Part 1) / Mellow Blues (Part 2) - King 4488 - December 1951

I'll Drown In My Tears / Clang, Clang, Clang - King 4527 - April 1952

Let's Call It A Day / Blues Mambo - King 4541 - June 1952

Real, Real Fine (Part 1) / Real, Real Fine (Part 2) - King 4554 - October 1952

Let's Move / My Heart Needs Someone - King 4657 - September 1953

I'm Beggin' And Pleadin' / Single Shot - King 4718 - May 1954

Cotton Ball (Part 1) / Cotton Ball (Part 2) - King 4729 - July 1954

Cat On The Keys (Part 1) / Cat On The Keys (Part 2) - King 4746 - October 1954

Behind The Sun (Part 1) / Behind The Sun (Part 2) - King 4791 - April 1955

First Base / Lonely Moon - King 4809 - July 1955

Gum Shoe / Stop, Come See Me - King 5055 - June 1957


Elsewhere On The Blog:

Cat On The Keys

A 1980s Swingtime collection with quite a few tracks in common with the Mellow Blues For The Late Hours LP. The original post in 2007 has a write up on the career of Sonny Thompson and can be found here:


The LP was later re-upped with more complete artwork in 2017 here:


There are now updated download links on both of these posts.

For an in-depth look at a couple of Sonny Thompson 78 rpm singles thanks to El Enmascarado, go to the following posts which still have working links for your listening pleasure -





I see my write up on "Cotton Ball" inadvertently anticipated the feel of the "Mellow Blues For The Late Hours" LP. The comments are worth reading!

A Request!

This was the second Sonny Thompson LP released on King. The first Sonny LP, "Moody Blues - Play Only After Midnight" was released in April 1958. I have the tracks to reconstruct it except one - "Low Down" which was released on the single King 4992 b/w "Lost In This Great Big City" in December 1956. If anyone out there has a decent rip of "Low Down" and is willing to see it posted on the blog, please get in touch via email.

3 comments:

Bob Mac said...

Many thanks BW. love these reconstructions of rare LPs.

Zesty said...

Love it!

Though I went on a Sonny Thompson CD shopping rampage after a previous post, there's always room for another good download.

Thank you!

boogiewoody said...

Cheers Guys. The reconstruction business started slowly here on BBW but seems to have accelerated a bit. I like it too for various reasons -

1. Bite sized chunks of music with anything from 10 - 16 tracks and therefore a better chance to get to know each track than if you downloaded (or bought) a box set from somewhere. Or even a 28 track CD.

2. An insight into an under documented aspect of R&B and early rock'n'roll history - the development of the LP.

3. Period artwork - from the tasteful to the hilariously shoddy.

4. Exploitation a go go! Cheapo LPs issued to piggy back on whatever the latest craze might be - Twist with Etta James! Rock and Roll with Hen Gates (who turns out to be a mix of Freddie Mitchell and Lockjaw Davis)! Surf with Joe Houston! Keep rockin' and rollin' with Lucky Millinder, etc etc.

Caution - difficulties can be caused by not using the right "take" or even a totally wrong version of a track when compiling the reconstruction. Also, when all is said and done, you simply can't beat having the real thing - the actual physical LP itself. What you get online is a only a digital approximation of the real deal.