Big Jay McNeely

I've just read the news that Big Jay McNeely passed away on September 16th 2018. This really is the end of an era. It was Big Jay's recording of "The Goof" (on a volume of "Old King Gold") which was my introduction to genuine blasting, honking, screeching sax-driven R&B. Over the years I acquired more Big Jay sounds - the Pathe Marconi release of his Imperial sides on "Deacon Rides Again," his Savoy recordings on the double LP set "Honkers and Screamers," two compilations of tracks from various labels on Saxophonograph, and a 1980s issue of "Big "J" In 3-D" which had 12 of his Federal sides.

Most of these LPs have been posted on Be Bop Wino over the years. Some links have expired, so here it all is again so that you can blast 'em out while raising a glass (while perhaps reflecting on the transcience of everything) to the memory of the King of the Honkers, Big Jay McNeely.

Wild Wig - a homemade compilation of his Savoy sides, taken from the "Honkers And Screamers" Double LP. Big Jay's first solo recordings from 1948.

Wild Wig (Mega)

Wild Wig (Zippy)

Original Post

Deacon Rides Again - Pathe Marconi reissue of sides recorded for Imperial in 1950 - 51.

Deacon Rides Again (Mega)

Deacon Rides Again (Zippy)

Original Post

Big "J" In 3-D - Reissue on Sing of sides recorded for Federal in 1952 - 54.

Big "J" In 3-D (Mega)

Big "J" In 3-D (Zippy)

Original Post

Road House Boogie - Saxophonograph compilation of sides recorded for Exclusive (1949), Aladdin (1950) and Federal (1952).

Road House Boogie (Mega)

 Road House Boogie (Zippy)

Original Post
 

The Best Of Big Jay McNeely - career spanning Saxophonograph compilation, from his early recordings with Johnny Otis (1947) to his biggest hit "There Is Something On Your Mind" in 1958.

The Best Of Big Jay McNeely (Mega)

The Best Of Big Jay McNeely (Zippy)

Original Post

Matt The Cat's tribute to Big Jay on his "Juke In The Back" show is here - Juke In The Back # 438 

The show includes Matt's interviews with Big Jay as well as a selection of his best tracks.

Ted Carroll's tribute to Big Jay can be read on the Ace Records Website.

Ace Records issued recordings made by Big Jay in the UK in 1983 and therefore helped to revive his career after he had fallen into decades long obscurity.

Cecil J. McNeely, April 29th, 1927 - September 16th, 2018

Rhythm and Blues Volume 1 (Savoy LP MG 15008)

Side A:
01. The Hucklebuck - Paul Williams
02. The Deacon's Hop - Big Jay McNeeley
03. 35-30 - Paul Williams

Side B:
01. Bubbles - Bill Moore
02. Corn Bread - Hal Singer
03. Lights Out - Milton Buckner

Download from here:

http://www48.zippyshare.com/v/UiU25ocr/file.html

Here's a bit of fun for the weekend! This is a "reconstruction" of the Savoy 10 inch LP MG 15008, issued in 1952, although some sources give 1951 as the year of issue. I've been unable to find any reference to this LP in Billboard or The Cash Box, so the exact year remains in doubt.

The front cover was "borrowed" from Discogs.com, and the label shots are from ebay. According to various websites the back cover of this LP was blank. I have the first five tracks of the compilation on a slightly scratched copy of the classic Savoy 2LP set from the 1970's, "The Roots Of Rock'N Roll," so this download contains that authentic crackly vinyl experience. The Milt Buckner track is from a Chronological Classics download from Uncle Gil.

Track details:

1. The Hucklebuck - Paul Williams. Personnel: Phil Guilbeau (trumpet); Miller Sam (tenor sax); Paul Williams (baritone, alto sax); Floyd Taylor (piano); Herman Hopkins (bass); Reetham Mallett (drums). Recorded in Detroit, 15th December, 1948.

Released on Savoy 683 (b/w ""Hoppin' John"), January 1949. "The Huckle-Buck by Paul Williams and his Hucklebuckers."

2. The Deacon's Hop - Big Jay McNeeley. Personnel (possibly - opinion varies!): John Anderson (trumpet); John "Streamline" Ewing (trombone); Big Jay McNeely (tenor sax); Bob McNeely (baritone sax); pbly Jimmy O'Brien (piano); Ted Shirley (bass); Leonard "Tight" Hardiman (drums). Recorded in Los Angeles, December 15th, 1948.

Released on Savoy 685 (b/w "Artie's Jump"), January 1949. "The Deacon's Hop by Deacon McNeeley's Blue Jays."

3. 35-30 - Paul Williams. Personnel: John Lawton (trumpet); Walter Cox (tenor, alto sax); Paul Williams (baritone sax); T.J. Fowler (piano); Hank Ivory (bass); Clarence Stamps (drums). Recorded in Detroit, 6th October, 1947.

Released on Savoy 661 (b/w "Come With Me Baby"), December 1947. "Thirty-Five Thirty by Paul Williams Sextette."

4. Bubbles - Bill Moore. Personnel: Phil Guilbeau (trumpet); Wild Bill Moore (tenor sax); Paul Williams (baritone, alto sax); Floyd Taylor (piano); Herman Hopkins (bass); Reetham Mallett (drums). Recorded in Detroit, 21st November, 1947.

Released on Savoy 662 (B Side of "Swingin' For Pappy"), January 1948. "Bubbles by Bill Moore And His Band."

5. Corn Bread - Hal Singer. Personnel: Milt Larkin (trombone); Hal Singer (tenor sax); Wynton Kelly (piano); Franklin Skeete (bass); Heywood Jackson (drums). Recorded in NYC, circa June 1948.

Released on Savoy 671 (b/w "Plug For Cliff"), August 1948. "Corn Bread by Hal Singer Sextette."

6. Lights Out - Milton Buckner. Personnel: Pazzuza Simon (tenor sax); Milt Buckner (piano); Curly Russell (bass); Arthur Herbert (drums). Recorded in NYC, 28th October, 1946.

Released on Savoy 653 (b/w "Raising The Roof"), July 1947. Credited to "The Beale St. Boys" with no mention of any of the performers on the label. The composer credit "A.M. Brunner" was a pseudonym for Savoy owner Herman Lubinsky. "Lights Out" was subsequently reissued on a 45 rpm disc, Savoy 45-797, still credited to The Beale St. Boys. The reverse side of this release was "Corn Bread" by Hal Singer.

"Lights Out" was first credited to Milt Buckner on this LP, and is a terrific late night slow blues instrumental which is similar to Sonny Thompson's "Long Gone." This track was also released as a single on Savoy 1136 in September 1954 under the title "Blue Nights" (b/w "Blue Dreams"), credited to "The Hot Shots." This time round the composer credit was given to "L. Herman," another pseudonym for Herman Lubinsky.

Label shot from Discogs .com

All of the tracks on this LP also appeared spread across two Savoy EPs confusingly titled "Rhythm and Blues Volume 1" and "Rhythm and Blues Volume 2" with the exact same front cover artwork as the LP. The front cover of the  Volume 1 EP was coloured red and that of the Volume 2 EP was coloured blue (see below).

Sleeve shot from Discogs.com

The Volume 1 EP (XP 8049) had the Paul Williams tracks "The Hucklebuck" and "35-30" plus "Bubbles" by Bill Moore and "Corn Bread" by Hal Singer. Volume 2 (XP 8050) had "The Deacon's Hop" by Big Jay McNeely (note that his surname was now spelled without the extra "E") and "Lights Out" by Milton Buckner. The two additional tracks were "Back Biter" by T.J. Fowler and "Cooking With Cookie" by Sir Charles Thompson with Hal Singer on tenor sax.

We may well be digging out more gems from the 1940s Savoy vaults in upcoming posts. Have a groovy weekend!

Imperial R&B All-Stars re-upped

Side 1
01. The Fat Man - Fats Domino
02. Rootin' And Tootin' - Smiley Lewis
03. All That Wine Is Gone - Big Jay McNeely
04. Fats' Frenzy - Fats Domino
05. An Old Cow Hand From A Blues Band - Dave Bartholomew
06. Don't Cry Baby - Big Jay McNeely

Side 2
01. Ain't Gonna Do It - The Pelicans
02. '44' - Fats Domino
03. Shame, Shame, Shame - Smiley Lewis
04. Good News - Dave Bartholomew
05. I Don't Need You - James "Sugar Boy" Crawford
06. Don't Leave Me This Way - Fats Domino

New download link:

http://www22.zippyshare.com/v/QblBgxzw/file.html

Original post (19th September 2011) is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/imperial-r-all-stars.html

A re-up for this short (but fine as wine) homemade comp of Imperial sides. The R&B All-Stars series only ever ran to two comps! I think this is the only post on Be Bop Wino which features some Fats Domino tracks. I must do something about that ...

Big Jay McNeely - Road House Boogie

Side A:
01. Blow Big Jay
02. Road House Boogie
03. Willie the Cool Cat
04. Midnight Dreams
05. Hoppin' With Hunter
06. K & H Boogie
07. Gingercake
08. Boogie in Front

Side B:
01. Junie Flip
02. Jaysfrantic
03. Real Crazy Cool
04. Tondalayo
05. Deac's Blowout
06. Let's Split
07. Just Crazy
08. Penthouse Serenade

Download from:

Road House Boogie (Zippy)

or

Road House Boogie (Mega)

This 1985 Saxophonograph LP is the final installment of my Big Jay McNeely vinyl uploads to the blog. On consideration I may well have inadvertently saved the best for last. With the exception of the vocal ballad "Midnight Dreams" and the hep blues "Junie Flip", the music on this album rocks, swings, howls, honks and hoots like crazy. Moreover, the gatefold sleeve has an extended biographical essay (based on interviews) by Bill Millar. The same essay constitutes one of the chapters in his book "Let The Good Times Rock!"

The back cover of the LP has full details of the recording sessions for these tracks, February and April 1949 for the Exclusive sessions, January 1950 for the Aladdin session and August 1952 for the featured Federal tracks. As has become customary on Be Bop Wino I have added the details of the original single releases of the tracks.

Original release details:

Midnight Dreams / Blow Big Jay - Exclusive 90X - April 1949

Road House Boogie / Willie The Cool Cat - Exclusive 96X - May 1949

Hoppin' With Hunter / Tondalayo - Exclusive 108X - July 1949

K&H Boogie / Junie Flip - Exclusive 122X - ? 1949

Boogie In Front / Gingercake - Exclusive 149X - ?1949

Jaysfrantic / Deac's Blowout - Aladdin 3050 - March 1950

Just Crazy / Penthouse Serenade - Federal 12111 - December 1952

Let's Split / Real Crazy Cool - Aladdin 3242 - May 1954

This LP follows on from the previous post "Wild Wig!" which featured Big Jay's first recordings for Savoy. Indeed while the Savoy disc "The Deacon's Hop" was climbing the R&B chart to the number one spot in February 1949, Big Jay was already recording for Leon Rene's Exclusive label. Less than a year later he recorded four tracks for Aladdin, two of which were not released until 1954. The final two tracks on this collection are from Big Jay's first session for Federal in August 1952. In between the Aladdin and Federal sessions Big Jay recorded for Imperial from late 1950 until late 1951.

If you download all the Big Jay McNeely LPs available on this blog, then you will have almost all the tracks he issued in the 1940s and 1950s.

Above: "Wild Wig" is a homemade comp of Big Jay's eight sides for Savoy, recorded in November / December 1948.

"Road House Boogie" contains his Exclusive sides recorded in February / April 1949, his four Aladdin sides recorded in January / February 1950 and two sides recorded for Federal in August 1952, neither of which are on the Federal LP "Big "J" In 3-D".

"Deacon Rides Again" contains most of his Imperial sides, recorded between December 1950 and November 1951.

"Big "J" In 3-D" has twelve of his Federal sides, recorded between August 1952 and April 1954.

"The Best Of Big Jay McNeely" is a career spanning collection which duplicates some of the above, but also fills in a few gaps from the Imperial and Federal collections. Also included are two of the four tracks Big Jay recorded for Vee-Jay in March 1955, his late 1950s hit "There Is Something On Your Mind" recorded in Seattle in January 1958 for Hunter Hancock's Swingin' label, and an unreleased version of "Flying Home" also recorded for Swingin'.

Recommended for your bookshelf:

I can't stop raving about this book! "Nervous Man Nervous: Big Jay McNeely And The Rise Of The Honking Tenor Sax!" by Jim Dawson.

"Let The Good Times Rock!" by Bill Millar. An anthology of Bill's well researched liner notes for roots music albums, including Hillbilly, Rockabilly, Rock 'n' Roll, R&B, Doo-Wop, Swamp Rock and Blue-Eyed Soul. R&B artists featured are: Etta James, Albert Collins, Herb Hardesty, Gatemouth Brown, Ivory Joe Hunter, Stick McGhee, Big Jay McNeely, Young Jessie, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Big Jim Wynn, Bullmoose Jackson and Sonny Knight.

Big Jay McNeely - Wild Wig

Side 1:

01. Wild Wig

02. Benson's Groove

03. The Deacon's Hop

04. Artie's Jump

Side 2:

01. California Hop

02. Sunday Dinner

03. Man Eater

04. Cherry Smash

Download from:

Wild Wig (Mega)

Wild Wig (Zippy)

We've been working our way through Big Jay's career on the blog, although backwards! Let's skip back to the very beginning, with his first records which were recorded in late 1948 and released during 1949 on four singles on Savoy. I've presented them in a made-up LP complete with front cover shamelessly ripped off from the Savoy LP "Big Maybelle Sings."

"Wild Wig" and "The Deacon's Hop" were both released at the beginning of 1949 and quickly hit the Billboard chart, "Wild Wig" reaching number 12 and "The Deacon's Hop" going all the way to number one. At the end of July 1949, in Billboard's half yearly survey of the top selling singles of the year so far, "The Deacon's Hop" was the thirteenth best selling Rhythm and Blues record. The top three were "The Hucklebuck" by Paul Williams, "Trouble Blues" by Charles Brown, and "Chicken Shack Boogie" by Amos Milburn.

In the same survey Big Jay was the thirteenth top selling R&B artist of the half year, thanks to sales of three Savoy discs, "The Deacon's Hop", "California Hop", and "Wild Wig", plus one release on Exclusive, "Blow Big Jay" which was recorded in February 1949 and released a few weeks later in April. By the time his Savoy releases were charting, Big Jay had already moved on and was recording for Exclusive. In our next post on Big Jay we'll be looking at his Exclusive and Aladdin releases.

In 1955 Savoy released a 10" LP, "Big Jay McNeeley Plays A Rhythm And Blues Concert" which featured his eight tracks recorded for the company in 1948.

As can be seen on the LP cover above, Big Jay's surname is spelled with an extra "e" and "Benson's Groove" has been renamed "Deacon's Groove." This same track was included in the Savoy 2LP set "Honkers and Screamers" as "Cold Blood."

The Savoy recording sessions:

November 29th, 1948, at Radio Recorders, Santa Monica Bvd, Hollywood, California -

John Anderson (trumpet); Jesse "Streamline" Ewing (trombone); Big Jay McNeely (tenor sax); Bob McNeely (baritone sax); Jimmy O'Brien (piano); Ted Shirley (bass); William Streetser (drums):

Wild Wig
Sunday Dinner
Benson's Groove
Man Eater

December 15th, 1948, venue as above -

John Anderson (trumpet); Britt Woodman (trombone); Big Jay McNeely (tenor sax); Jimmy O'Brien (piano); Ted Shirley (bass); William Streetser (drums):

California Hop
Cherry  Smash
The Deacon's Hop
Artie's Jump

The tracks were released as follows:

Benson's Groove / Wild Wig - Savoy 682. Released January 1949. Big Jay McNeely And His Bluejays.

The Deacon's Hop / Artie's Jump - Savoy 685. Released January 1949. Deacon McNeeley's Blue Jays.

California Hop / Sunday Dinner - Savoy 698. Released June 1949. Deacon McNeeley and his Blue Jays.

Cherry Smash / Man Eater - Savoy 713. Released October 1949. Big Jay McNeeley.

Note that the spelling of Big Jay's surname varied on the Savoy releases. Only Savoy 682 had the now universally recognised spelling of "McNeely." The other releases had "McNeeley."

Session information from "Nervous Man Nervous: Big Jay McNeely and the Rise of the Honking Tenor Sax!" by Jim Dawson. Additional release information from contemporary issues of Billboard and rateyourmusic.com which is a useful visual source for the labels on the original 78 rpm discs. 1955 Savoy LP cover from discogs.com.

Big Jay McNeely - Deacon Rides Again

Side A:
01. Deacon Rides Again
02. Blow Blow Blow
03. Jay Walk
04. Night Ride
05. Jet Fury w/ Cheers
06. Deacon's Express
07. Insect Ball

Side B:
01. Sad Story
02. All That Wine Is Gone
03. Don't Cry Baby
04. Let's Do It (Deacon's Hop)
05. I'll Never Love Again
06. Love From The Heart (True Love)
07. Old Black Mule

Download from here:

Deacon Rides Again (Mega)

Deacon Rides Again (Zippy)

This is the return of an LP which I posted in the very earliest days of the blog. Back then I couldn't scan in LP covers properly so the rather tawdry looking post was quietly allowed to die following one of the takedowns of the blog. The return of "Deacon Rides Again" includes new cover and label scans. The sound files are the same but with a volume boost.

The tracks on this LP date from a couple of years before the Federal recordings on "Big "J" In 3-D," being recorded for Imperial between December 1950 and November 1951. This was the era captured in the photographs of Bob Willoughby taken at Hunter Hancock's Midnight Matinee on October 6th 1951 in the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium. The Imperial sides differ from the Federal sides in that few of them are instrumentals. Half of the tracks feature vocal accompaniment by "Three Dots And A Dash", a group with a varying lineup which featured Jesse Belvin and then Marvin Phillips as lead vocalist.

In fact there are only four original instrumental tracks in this collection: "Deacon Rides Again", "Blow Blow Blow", "Jay Walk" and "Night Ride." "Jet Fury w/ Cheers" and "Deacon's Express" have a murky origin, being spliced together extracts from the four original instrumentals with dubbed on crowd noise. See below for details!

The first six tracks of this collection are a non-stop tenor sax blast which brings to mind a quote from LeRoi Jones' sleevenotes for the Willis Jackson album "Thunderbird" on Prestige:

“Lloyd’s Manor in Newark, N.J., was a place where they’d have groups, like Illinois Jacquet’s, Erskine Hawkins', Earl Bostic’s, Tab Smith’s, Big Jay McNeely’s and all the other wild swingers of the day ….. It was a loud blur, climaxed by those shattering saxophone battles which featured heavy horns like Jacquet, McNeely and Ammons-Stitt groups and big throated singers like Wynonie Harris, Larry Darnell and Little Esther.” (Quoted in Charlie Gillet's "The Sound Of The City")

As I mentioned at the start of this post, two of the tracks on Side A have dubbed on crowd noise and are not what they seem to be. They are in fact cut-and-paste jobs, consisting of extracts from previously issued tracks spliced together. Listen to "Jet Fury w/ Cheers" and you can hear the intro to "Jay Walk" followed by "Deacon Rides Again" and then maybe some of "Blow Blow Blow." My head is still reeling from trying to deconstruct the track.

Similarly "Deacon's Express" combines pieces of different tracks, starting off as pieces of "Blow Blow Blow" then throwing in the "Ooh!" from "Deacon Rides Again" then back to the beginning of "Blow Blow Blow" for a complete reprise of that track. I think. I'm beyond all caring!

But what of the vocal sides which form more than half of this collection? The frantic "Insect Ball" features the voices of Little Arthur Matthews and Ernest Mayhand (aka Dope and Skillet). Jesse Belvin provides the vocal on "Sad Story", and leads Three Dots And A Dash (Jimmy Huff, Undine Harris and Marvin Phillips) on "All That Wine Is Gone" and "Don't Cry Baby". The final four tracks on the LP again feature Three Dots And a Dash, but with a different lineup without Jesse Belvin, lead vocals being provided by Marvin Phillips.

Big Jay releases on Imperial:

Imperial 5115 - All That Wine Is Gone / Don't Cry Baby - April 1951

Imperial 5130 - Insect Ball / Sad Story - summer 1951

Imperial 5164 - Let's Do It (Deacon's Hop) / I'll Never Love Again (credited to "Three Dots And A Dash with Big Jay McNeely And His Orchestra") - late summer 1951

Imperial 5169 - Tall Brown Woman / The Deacon Blows For Ray - late 1951

Imperial 5170 - Deacon Rides Again / Blow Blow Blow - January 1952

Imperial 5176 - Jay Walk / Night Ride - March 1952

Imperial 5186 - Love From The Heart / Old Black Mule (credited to "Three Dots And A Dash with Big Jay McNeely And His Orchestra") - mid (?) 1952

Imperial 5219 - Deacon's Express / Jet Fury - January 1953

As noted above, "Deacon's Express" and "Jet Fury - Cheers" are spliced extracts from Imperial 5170 and Imperial 5176, with dubbed on crowd noise. Two 1953 releases on the Imperial subsidiary Bayou are similar - Hometown Jamboree / Teenage Hop (Bayou 14) and Catastrophe / Calamity (Bayou 18). Someday, someone will risk their sanity by sitting down and listening to all these sides in order to analyse the ingredients of these cut 'n' paste jobs. It won't be me.

Elsewhere on the blog:

The Best Of Big Jay McNeely (Saxophonograph)

Big "J" In 3-D (Sing)

No R&B fan should be without this book:

Nervous Man Nervous by Jim Dawson (Big Nickel Publications, 1994) goes way beyond Big Jay to take a broad look at the honking sax phenomenon in rhythm and blues. Honk fans, this is your bible.

Big Jay McNeely - Big "J" In 3-D

Side 1:
01. The Goof
02. Ice Water
03. Big Jay Shuffle
04. Rock Candy
05. Whipped Cream
06. Hot Cinders

Side 2:
01. 3-D
02. Hardtack
03. Nervous Man Nervous
04. Mule Milk
05. Let's Work
06. Beachcomber

Download from here:

Big "J" In 3-D (Mega)

Big "J" In 3-D (Zippy)

This is a 1988 bootleg reissue of a Big Jay McNeely Federal / King LP from the 1950s. This LP first appeared in 1955 as an eight track, ten inch LP called simply "Big Jay McNeely" (Federal 295-96). In December 1956 it reappeared as a 12-inch, 12 track LP with the title "Big Jay In 3-D" (Federal 395-530). The four additional tracks were "Rock Candy", "Hardtack", "Let's Work" and "Beachcomber", with the track order as on this 1988 Sing label repro.

In 1959 the album was re-released on the King label with the title changed to "Big "J" In 3-D" (King 650). The front cover was similar to the cover of the Sing repro. There have also been issues on King which combined the "3-D" background effect of the Federal issue with the title design seen on the Sing front cover. This version survived as a CD issue on King:

This LP was originally posted on the blog in November 2007. The original upload used the King CD front cover as album art, but this time round I've replaced it with the Sing front cover. Back in 2007 I was under the impression that the King CD cover was the original 1956 front cover, but I was mistaken, as I have detailed above.

Federal may have issued this LP as an answer to two LPs released by Combo in 1956. These were compilations of sax instros by Joe Houston and Chuck Higgins. Federal had 16 Big Jay recordings which he had cut for the label between August 1952 and April 1954 and which had been released as singles between October 1952 and August 1954. When this album was released Big Jay was long gone from the label, having recorded for Vee-Jay in March 1955 and for Atlantic in September 1956. The latter session was never released.

In a post on the Baton LP "Rock 'n' Roll Instrumentals For Dancing The Lindy Hop" (Buddy Tate and Frank Culley) I mentioned that Billboard had noted an upsurge of tenor sax instrumental releases by record companies during 1955-56, inspired by the success of Red Prysock's "Hand Clappin'." Most of these sides failed to chart with the notable exceptions of Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk" (the top selling R&B record of 1956) and Sil Austin's "Slow Walk." The 1956 charts were dominated by singers such as Fats Domino, Clyde McPhatter, Little Richard, Little Willie John and Ray Charles, and also by vocal groups such as The Clovers, The Cadillacs, The Five Satins and The Dells.

Indeed, several years before, Big Jay had noticed that even at concerts where he was the headline act, vocal group support acts were greeted more enthusiastically by the mainly young audiences. The 1956 sleeve notes on the back cover of "Big "J" In 3-D" describe the wild reaction of his teenage audiences at "Jazz Concerts" at Los Angeles venues such as the Shrine Auditorium and the Olympic Auditorium, but this was an accurate description of his concerts around 1950-51 not in 1956. "Mule Milk" attempts to capture this kind of atmosphere by dubbing on crowd noises to a run-through of "Night Train" by Big Jay and his band.

However, the music contained in this LP remains impressive. "The Goof" was the first wild honk track I ever heard, on one of those Old King Gold albums in the 1970s. "Nervous Man Nervous" is even better, but I must be getting old because nowadays I prefer some of the slower, more relaxed tracks such as "Big Jay Shuffle" with which Mark Lamarr used to close his much missed "Shake, Rattle and Roll" show on BBC Radio 2. Speaking of whom, a version of "Mule Milk" with no added crowd noise is / was available on the Westside CD "Mark Lamarr Presents Mule Milk 'N' Firewater", a compilation of rocking King / Federal / De Luxe sides which was released in 2000.

The front cover of the CD uses one of the photographs taken by Bob Willoughby at a Big Jay performance during Hunter Hancock's "Midnight Matinee" at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium in 1951.

JazzWax blog has Bob's description of Big Jay in action at the Midnight Matinee. It's a must-read for the eyewitness account of Big Jay and his audience and for the accompanying photographs.

Big Jay McNeely releases on Federal:

Federal 12102 - Big Jay Shuffle / The Goof - October 1952

Federal 12111 - Penthouse Serenade / Just Crazy - February 1953

Federal 12141 - Nervous Man Nervous / Rock Candy - August 1953

Federal 12151 - 3D / Texas Turkey - late 1953

Federal 12168 - Ice Water / Mule Milk - February 1954

Federal 12179 - Hot Cinders / Whipped Cream - April 1954

Federal 12186 - Hard Tack / Let's Work - June 1954

Federal 12191 - Strip Tease Swing / Beachcomber - August 1954 *

* "Beachcomber" was reviewed in Billboard, but "Strip Tease Swing" was omitted from the R&B review section!

A download of the original Federal LP "Big Jay In 3-D" is available on the "Don't Ask Me ... I Don't Know" blog - that's where I found the front cover shown above . Thanks to Xyros. If it's authenticity you're after, download the original instead of the reissue on offer here!

'Tis the Season of Honk - Freddie Mitchell, Noble Watts and Big Jay

And here's a belated ending to our round up of NYC tenor sax heroes of R&b and early rock 'n' roll. Freddie's here at last, in the shape of an Official LP compilation of some of his sides for Derby, where his outfit was virtually the house band, plus good stuff for Mercury and a few other labels. When Derby closed down, its masters were sold off and Freddie Mitchell sides turned up on LPs on the "X" subsidiary of RCA and on the Allegro / Royale budget label.

The latter was an imprint of a different RCA - not the well established Radio Corporation, but a budget label outfit called the Record Corporation of America. At least they reissued Freddie's sides under his own name, unlike the Remington / Masterseal / Plymouth budget LPs which released Freddie Mitchell sides under the pseudonym "Hen Gates" which is a saga which featured a few years ago on this blog. Just use the search window!

New download link:

http://www11.zippyshare.com/v/4962321/file.html

Original post is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/freddie-mitchell-rockn-roll.html

And here's a reminder of a great Noble "Thin Man" Watts comp that has been re-upped. More NYC tenor sax action:

Download from:

http://www61.zippyshare.com/v/1169533/file.html

We now turn our rockin' attention to the West Coast and Big Jay McNeely.

It looks like all rapidshare links are now dead. I've been expecting this but I wish I'd re-uploaded more stuff before it happened. I'll deal with requests for re-ups as and when I can. A request last week drew my attention to the situation and here is the new link for the in-demand LP - The Best of Big Jay McNeely. The download includes new label scans. Full gatefold sleeve is also included. Download from here:

http://www24.zippyshare.com/v/42177317/file.html

The original post is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/big-jay-mcneely-best-of-big-jay-mcneely.html

Honk on, children!

Head Hunter / Cool And Easy – Johnny Otis Orchestra (Regent 1028)

“Head Hunter” was recorded in Los Angeles on the 23rd December, 1949. Probable personnel: Lee Graves, Don Johnson (trumpets); George Washington (trombone); Big Jay McNeely, Lorenzo Holden (tenor saxes); Walter Henry (baritone sax); Johnny Otis (vibes); Devonia Williams (piano); Pete Lewis (guitar); Mario Delagarde (bass); Leard Bell (drums)

“Cool And Easy” was recorded in Los Angeles on the 27th February, 1950. Personnel are as above except James Von Streeter replaces Big Jay McNeely on tenor sax and Redd Lyte is added on vocals.

Listen to "Head Hunter"

Listen to "Cool And Easy"

Many thanks to El Enmascarado for this 78 rpm disc which was released in January 1951. Billboard reviewed “Head Hunter” favourably: “Walkin’ and honkin’ medium blues refers to ‘Pinetop’s BW’ for backdrop riffs. Striding tenor sax and heavy bottom, rocking beat set this lung buster up for at least moderate coin collection.”

The B side was reviewed thus: “Redd Lyte warbles a southern style blues chant with a strong ork backdrop. Fine beat helps throughout.”

Billboard, January 1951

Released initially on Herman Lubinsky’s secondary label Regent, rather than his Savoy label, “Head Hunter” failed to chart, possibly because the Otis band was still riding high in the charts with “Rockin’ Blues.” In 1950 the Johnny Otis Orchestra was the nation’s top selling R&B act mainly thanks to a series of hits featuring the vocal pairing of Little Esther and Mel Walker. “Cupid’s Boogie,” “Mistrustin’ Blues,” “Deceivin’ Blues,” and “Wedding Blues” were all big hits for the duo in 1950, along with “Dreamin’ Blues” and “Rockin’ Blues” (both featuring Mel Walker) and the biggest seller for the band, “Double Crossing Blues” (Little Esther and The Robins).

The band failed to maintain the same level of success in 1951, however, mainly due to disagreements with Herman Lubinsky, the notoriously tight-fisted honcho of Savoy and Regent. In late 1950, Ralph Bass, the Savoy A&R man on the West Coast was lured away by Syd Nathan of King Records who set him up with his own subsidiary label, Federal. One of the first signings made by Bass for the new label was Little Esther who began recording for Federal in late January 1951. Backing for her recordings through 1951 and 1952 was provided by a moonlighting Johnny Otis Orchestra which made their last recordings for Savoy in March 1951 and later signed for Mercury towards the end of the year.

Given such a background it was no surprise that the Johnny Otis Orchestra failed to reach the levels of success it had achieved in 1950. There were only three chart entries for the group in 1951: “Rockin’ Blues” (released in late 1950), “Gee Baby” / “Mambo Boogie” and “All Nite Long.”

“Head Hunter” (a tribute to deejay Hunter Hancock) may have failed to chart but as you can hear, it’s a tremendous instrumental featuring great guitar work from Pete Lewis followed by screeching sax by Big Jay McNeely and all underpinned by driving horns and brass. There is some doubt as to the personnel performing on the number. Both Bruyninckx and the jazzdisco.org website list the band as consisting of only one horn player, Big Jay McNeely, plus vibes, piano, guitar, bass and drums. As you can hear on this post, however, it’s pretty obvious that there is more than one sax plus brass present on the track.

Our benefactor, El Enmascarado, says: “There's certainly more than one saxophone playing on Head Hunter- in the opening seconds, the huge saxophone "power chord" couldn't be less than two, and could easily be three. The lower note of the "power chord" is below the range of the tenor, and is a baritone sax.”

For “probable personnel” on the track, I’ve stuck with the complete band which was present at this session according to jazzdisco.org and ignored their suggestion that only Big Jay plus rhythm played on “Head Hunter.” Of course there is always the possibility that it isn’t Big Jay but James Von Streeter or Lorenzo Holden on lead tenor sax here.

Big Jay McNeely

Big Jay had started his recording career with the Johnny Otis Orchestra on Excelsior in 1948 before going solo on Savoy in late 1948 and then Exclusive in the first half of 1949. However in late 1949 and early 1950 Big Jay is credited on sitting in with the Otis band on several sessions, perhaps because regular Otis honker Von Streeter was becoming unreliable due to “lifestyle issues.” Moreover at the time of this session Big Jay was “between” recording commitments as Exclusive was about to go out of business and he was about a month away from signing with Aladdin. So let’s stick with Big Jay. Judge for yourselves!

Redd Lyte

The B-side “Cool And Easy” is another excellent track with fine blues guitar from Pete Lewis and a fine vocal from shouter Redd Lyte. Both Lewis and Lyte had graduated to the Otis band via the talent show at The Barrelhouse Club where Otis had a long standing residency. All in all this is a first class record with two strong sides. Thanks again to El Enmascarado for his rips from shellac (in very good sound quality) and label scans.

We’re not quite finished yet! Here’s a little bonus streaming audio playlist of Big Jay McNeely’s other tribute to Hunter Hancock – “Hoppin’ With Hunter” recorded for Exclusive in April 1949. Also present is a track recorded by James Von Streeter & His Wig Poppers for the small Scoop label in August 1949. The similarity to Big Jay’s style is remarkable. Keep on honkin’ and bluesin’, Be Bop Winos!

Listen to "Hoppin' With Hunter"

Listen to "Landslide"