The Fabulous Guitar Of Bill Jennings (King LP 295-106)

Side 1:
01) Big Boy
02) Darn That Dream
03) Soft Winds
04) Sophisticated Lady

Side 2:
01) They Can't Take That Away From Me
02) What's New
03) 633-Knock!
04) Danny Boy

The Fabulous Guitar Of Bill Jennings (Mega)

The Fabulous Guitar Of Bill Jennings (Zippy)

Back in November 2019 I posted a "reconstruction" of the Bill Jennings / Leo Parker King LP "Billy In The Lion's Den." That 12 incher from 1957 was an expanded version of an LP originally released as a 10 incher in 1955 - "Jazz Interlude" (King LP 295-105) -

At roughly the same time (going by the issue numbers) King released the 10 inch LP that I have "reconstructed" for this post - "The Fabulous Guitar Of Bill Jennings." Four of the eight tracks originated from the July 1954 sessions with Leo Parker ( but sans Parker, natch) and the remaining four tracks were from an October 1954 session on which Jennings was backed by the Bill Doggett combo.

A couple of the tracks recorded with Doggett are good R&B swingers ("Big Boy" and "633-Knock!") with "Big Boy" being a substantial R&B hit in 1955. The rest of the tracks are fine mellow jazz with "Soft Winds" perhaps being the closest to R&B in feel. It was interesting to find that Billboard reviewed some of the single releases of these tracks as jazz ("What's New" / "Soft Winds" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me") while the remaining tracks were reviewed under R&B. See below for details on the issue on single of the tracks on this LP.

Recording Details

They Can't Take That Away From Me; What's New; Soft Winds; Sophisticated Lady were recorded in Cincinnati on July 8th 1954 by the following personnel: Bill Jennings (guitar); Andrew Johnson (piano and organ); Joe Williams (bass); George DeHart (drums)

Big Boy; Darn That Dream; 633-Knock!; Danny Boy were recorded in Cincinnati in October 1954 by the following personnel: Bill Jennings (guitar); Bill Doggett (organ); Jimmy Glover (bass); Shep Shepherd (drums)

Single Release Details

What's New / Soft Winds - Bill Jennings Quartet - King 45-4735 - released August 1954

Big Boy / Danny Boy - Bill Jennings Quartet - King 45-4760 - released December 1954

Darn That Dream / Blue Grass - Bill Jennings Quartet - King 45-4771 - released February 1955

Sophisticated Lady / 633-Knock! - Bill Jennings Quartet - King 45-4786 - released April 1955

They Can't Take That Away From Me / Sweet And Lovely - Bill Jennings Quartet - King 45-4805 - released June 1955

Elsewhere On The Blog

Get yourself over to the post on the Bill Jennings / Leo Parker LP "Billy In The Lion's Den" for more of Bill's guitar stylings plus the lowdown on his career as an R&B session man (mostly with King) and as an exponent of soul jazz (mostly with Prestige).

My thanks to the original uploaders of the album artwork. The front and back covers were from amazon.it and the disc labels were adapted from discogs.com.

Etta Jones Sings (King LP 707)

Side 1:
01) Sweethearts On Parade
02) You Call It Madness But I Call It Love
03) Mountain Greenery
04) Don't Worry About Me
05) Sposin
06) I Thought About You

Side 2:
01) I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw Away The Key
02) Since I Fell For You
03) When I Fall In Love
04) White Cliffs Of Dover
05) People Will Say We're In Love

Etta Jones Sings (Mega)

Etta Jones Sings (Zippy)

Thanks to Marv for this reconstruction of the 1960 King LP "Etta Jones Sings" which was a reissue of the 1957 King LP 544 "The Jones Girl ... Etta Sings Sings Sings."

All tracks on this LP were recorded in New York City on the 18th and 20th April 1957 for what were Etta's only sessions for King.

Session details - 18th April 1957, NYC. Personnel: Etta Jones (vocal) with: Jerome Richardson (tenor sax, flute); Don Abney (piano); Bill Jennings (guitar); Tommy Potter (bass); Bobby Donaldson (drums):

People Will Say We're In Love; When I Fall In Love; Sposin; Mountain Greenery.

20th April 1957, NYC. Personnel as above except Skeeter Best replaced Bill Jennings on guitar:

Don't Worry About Me; White Cliffs Of Dover; Sweethearts On Parade; You Call It Madness; I Thought About You; Since I Fell For You; I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw Away The Key.

The collection was reissued in May or June 1960 as"Etta Jones Sings" (King LP 707). On June 21st of that year Etta recorded the tracks for her first Prestige LP "Don't Go To Strangers" (Prestige 7186) which was released in October and sold well. Even more successful was the single release of the title track "Don't Go To Strangers" / "If I Had You" (Prestige 180) in early September which soon climbed the R&B chart and then crossed into the pop chart, peaking at number 36 in December 1960.

This success for Etta on Prestige is probably what lay behind the rerelease in 1961 of her King LP with a new cover -

The success of  "Don't Go To Strangers" also led to King releasing her LP tracks on a series of singles, beginning with "When I Fall In Love" / "People Will Say We're In Love" (King 5424) in November 1960. The rest of the tracks were released on 45s as follows:

"Sweethearts On Parade" / "You Call It Madness But I Call It Love" - King 5443 - January 1961

"Since I Fell For You" / "Sposin'" - King 5475 - March 1961

"Don't Worry 'Bout Me" / "I Thought About You" - King 5501 - May 1961

"Mountain Greenery" / "White Cliffs Of Dover" - King 5549 - September 1961

"I Thought About You" / "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw away The Key" - King 5660 - July 1962

While King was releasing Etta's 1957 recordings from late 1960 - 1962, her new material was being released on LP and single on Prestige, with whom she recorded until February 1963.

Thanks once again to Marv. This was an education for me as I was unfamiliar with the work of Etta Jones. Her recording career stretched all the way from the mid 1940s Harlem swing scene to her final recordings for Muse in 1995. Her career definitely bears further investigation, but that lies outwith the scope of this post.

Wild, stompin' R&B coming up in the next post on Be Bop Wino!

The Bill Jennings - Leo Parker Quintet - Billy In The Lion's Den (King LP 395-527)

Side 1:
01) Picadilly Circus
02) May I
03) Billy In The Lion's Den
04) Sweet And Lovely
05) There Will Never Be Another You
06) Stuffy

Side 2:
01) Just You, Just Me
02) Down To Earth
03) What'll I Do
04) Fine And Dandy
05) Get Hot
06) Solitude

Billy In The Lion's Den (Mega)

Billy In The Lion's Den (Zippy)

Many thanks to The Magnificent Goldberg for donating this LP. Rips (m4a, variable bit rate, approx 260 - 270 kbps) are from the 1980s vinyl reissue on the European Swingtime label. Cover art is from the web. The King LP "Billy In The Lions Den" was originally issued in March 1957 and was in fact an extended 12" version of a 10" LP issued in 1955 under the title "Jazz Interludes."

There were contrasting fortunes for the two principals on this LP. Both had a heroin habit, but for bebop baritone sax man Leo Parker it was a career stopper while guitarist Bill Jennings kept on recording through the 1950s and on into the 1960s. Parker followed up this July 1954 session with one more alongside his old cohort Illinois Jacquet for Clef in December '54 and that was the end of his recording career until 1961 when he had a tragically brief comeback for Blue Note which was cut short by a fatal heart attack.

There is a more detailed rundown of Leo Parker's career on this post which includes lotsa links into more of his work featured on this blog:

Back To Back Baritones

Bill Jennings was a very busy musician indeed during the 1950s. He was with Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five from 1948 until the end of 1951. In the early 50s he also recorded for Gotham with a few singles issued under his own name plus a session as a sideman with Jimmy Preston. In 1951 he joined fellow ex-Tympany Five member organist Wild Bill Davis along with drummer Chris Columbus to form the kind of organ / guitar / drums trio which would become popular in the later '50s and early '60s. The Wild Bill Davis Trio recorded for Columbia / Okeh through to 1953.

In December 1952 Bill Jennings recorded his first session for King as a sideman with Roy Brown. Bill was on another Roy Brown session in June 1953. Just over a year later came the sides on this LP with Leo Parker, followed by Bill Jennings Quartet sides which were released on single, EP and LP by King. "Big Boy" on which Bill was backed by the Bill Doggett combo was a substantial R&B hit in 1955. In December 1955 Bill recorded an album "Mood Indigo" on which his guitar was accompanied only by vibes.

The Fabulous Guitar of Bill Jennings (King LP 295-106) 10" LP released 1955

Mood Indigo (King LP 395-508) 12" LP released 1956

From the end of 1955 through to 1958 Bill Jennings was occupied with session work for King. Earl (Connelly) King, Nita Lore, Little Willie John (3 sessions, including "Fever"), Etta Jones, Titus Turner (2 sessions) and Bubber Johnson all benefited from Bill's jazzy guitar playing. In 1957/8 Bill played alongside tenor sax man Willis Jackson on Little Willie John and Titus Turner sessions. In September 1957 Willis and Bill recorded a few sides for King accompanied by organ (James Orville Johnson) and drums (Alvin Johnson). The sax / guitar / organ /drums combo was very much the coming sound of soul jazz, a sound which would be popularized not at King, but at Prestige, especially when the Jackson / Jennings pairing was joined by Jack McDuff on organ.

From May 1959 the Jackson / Jennings / McDuff lineup (and variants thereof) began to record a series of LPs which stretched on through the 1960s. The Prestige albums were superior in their presentation when compared to the King LPs. The same could be said of another King sax / organ combo which crossed from King to Prestige, the Lockjaw Davis / Shirley Scott group. Production was superior (often by Rudy Van Gelder), sleeve design and sleeve notes were carefully prepared, and in the wax grooves the musicians were given time to stretch out as track lengths exceeded the normal running time of singles.

Prestige didn't neglect fans of singles or the juke box crowd as cut down versions of LP tracks were issued on 45. Unlike King, Prestige seemed to appreciate the potential of both the LP and the 45 rpm single in jazz, as did Blue Note. It's noticeable that on "Billy In The Lions Den" none of the track running times exceed those of a 45 rpm single, despite the fact that almost all the tracks never saw single release.

Willis, Bill and Jack on Prestige, 1959

Enough Said! (Prestige 7164) recorded with Jack McDuff, released 1959

Also released in 1959

More Fax On The Trax, Jack!

All tracks recorded in Cincinatti on 6th, 7th, 8th July 1954. Personnel: Leo Parker (baritone sax); Andrew Johnson (piano, organ); Bill Jennings (guitar); Joe Williams (bass); George De Hart (drums)

Leo Parker not on "Sweet And Lovely," which was the only track on the LP to be released on a single - They Can't Take That Away From Me / Sweet And Lovely - Bill Jennings Quartet - King 4805 - released in June 1955.

This collection first appeared in the form of a 10 inch, 8 track LP in 1955 - "Jazz Interludes."

The 12 inch, 12 track version, "Billy In The Lions Den" was issued in March 1957:

Billboard 2nd March 1957