Bull Moose Jackson Sings His All-Time Hits

Side 1:
01) I Love You Yes I Do
02) I Can't Go On Without You
03) Cherokee Boogie
04) My Little Baby
05) I Want A Bowlegged Woman
06) Have You No Mercy

Side 2:
01) All My Love Belongs To You
02) Little Girl Don't Cry
03) Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me
04) Sometimes I Wonder
05) Sneaky Pete
06) I Never Loved Anyone But You

Bull Moose Jackson Sings (Mega)

Bull Moose Jackson Sings (Zippy)

Thanks to Marv for a "restoration" of Audio Lab AL-1524 which was released in March 1960. Of course the 12 sides were originally released as singles on King much earlier, in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Most of the music on this album consists of ballads which were big sellers for Bull Moose but there are a few rockers, including the risque "I Want A Bow Legged Woman" and "Sneaky Pete", and the R&B versions of two Country hits - "Cherokee Boogie" originally by "King Of The Hillbilly Piano Players" Moon Mullican, and "Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me" which was originally by harmonica ace Wayne Raney.

Billboard, 14th March 1960

I must also thank Joan who supplied the rip of track 4, "My Little Baby" and additional artwork below:

Original 78 rpm release of "Sneaky Pete"

King EP-211, released in 1953

Original release of the tracks on Audio Lab AL-1524

I Love You Yes I Do / Sneaky Pete - King 4181 - October 1947. A double sided hit with "I Love You Yes I Do" reaching number 1 in the R&B chart and number 24 in the pop chart.

All My Love Belongs To You / I Want A Bowlegged Woman - King 4189 - February 1948. The A-Side reached number 3 in the R&B chart, while the B-Side reached number 5.

I Can't Go On Without You / Fare Thee Well, Deacon Jones - King 4230 - June 1948. The A-Side was another number 1 R&B hit.

Moosey / Little Girl Don't Cry - King 4288 - April 1949. "Little Girl Don't Cry" was the fifth best selling R&B single of 1949.

Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me / Is That All I Mean To You - King 4322 - October 1949. A-Side was sitting at number 5 in the R&B chart in December 1949.

Sometimes I Wonder / Time Alone Will Tell - King 4373 - June 1950

Without Your Love / Have You No Mercy - King 4422 - December 1950

 

My Little Baby / Forget And Forgive - King 4433 - April 1951

Cherokee Boogie (Eh-Oh-Aleena) / I'm Lucky I Have You - King 4472 - September 1951

I'll Be Home For Christmas / I Never Loved Anyone But You - King 4493 - November 1951

Information from 45Worlds.com, Discogs.com and Billboard magazine.

Elsewhere On The Blog

Moose On The Loose (Original Post) 

Moose On The Loose Download (Mega)

Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again (Original Post)

Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again Download (Mega)

Thanks again to Marv and Joan.

Bull Moose Jackson - Two Re-Ups

In answer to a request for a re-up of the Bull Moose Jackson LP "Moose On The Loose" on Saxophonograph, here are re-ups of both Bull Moose LPs which I originally uploaded in 2011 and 2009 respectively: "Moose On The Loose" and "Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again."

Moose On The Loose:

Side A:
1. Chittlin' Switch (Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra)
2. Hold Him Joe
3. We Ain't Got Nothin'
4. Just In Case You Change Your Mind
5. Jammin' And Jumpin'
6. Bad Man Jackson, That's Me
7. Moose On The Loose
8. Sometimes I Wonder

Side B:
1. Houston Texas Gal
2. Moosey
3. We Can Talk Some Trash
4. Oh John
5. End This Misery
6. Bearcat Blues
7. Big Ten-Inch Record
8. Hodge-Podge

New download link:

Moose On The Loose (Mega)

Original post is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/bull-moose-jackson-moose-on-loose.html

Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again:

Side A:
1. I Know Who Threw The Whiskey (In The Well)
2. Bull Moose Jackson Blues
3. Sneaky Pete
4. Cleveland Ohio Blues
5. Fare Thee Well, Deacon Jones
6. Keep Your Big Mouth Shut
7. Miss Lucy
8. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide

Side B:
1. Memphis Gal
2. Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me
3. Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again
4. Cherokee Boogie (Eh-Oh-Aleena)
5. Nosey Joe
6. Bootsie
7. I Wanna Hug Ya, Kiss Ya, Squeeze Ya
8. Watch My Signals

New download link:

Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again (Mega)


Original post:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/bull-moose-jackson-big-fat-mamas-are.html


Check out the original posts for much more info on Bull Moose, the LPs, and loadsa label scans.

"Hot Jazz" and "Race" Records

 

I originally meant to make this post solely about a Leo Parker December 1947 single release on Savoy - "Wild Leo" / "El Sino" but while browsing online through the Billboard issues of the period (available free via Google Books) I found myself reading up on the reviews of other releases. That's how this post "growed and growed" as I found myself wandering down the highways and byways of  late 1940s jazz and R&B.

 

So let's start with "Wild Leo" / "El Sino" (Savoy 912):

 



Recorded in Detroit, October 4th, 1947. Personnel: Howard McGhee (trumpet); Gene Ammons (tenor sax); Leo Parker (baritone sax); Junior Mance (piano); Gene Wright (bass); Chuck Williams (drums).

The disc was reviewed in the Billboard issue of December 13th, 1947. Of "Wild Leo" Billboard said: "Showcase for the bary horn of Leo Parker with boppish backgrounds." As for "El Sino": "Medium tempoed be-bop riffer with top notch Parker bary, Navarro trumpet solos." The trumpet player was in fact Howard McGhee, but Fats Navarro performs on a track further down this post.

The Leo Parker platter was reviewed in the "Hot Jazz" section. On the same page were reviews under the heading "Race" which was the term used by Billboard at the time for what would later (from June 1949 onwards) be called "Rhythm and Blues" in the trade journal. The platter in this section which caught my eye was the Bull Moose Jackson release on King 4181, "I Love You, Yes I Do" / "Sneaky Pete":



Recorded in New York City, August 1947. Personnel, largely unknown, except Bull Moose Jackson (vocals, tenor sax). This disc went on to become the fourth largest rhythm seller of 1948, behind "Tomorrow Night" by Lonnie Johnson, "King Size Papa" by Julia Lee and "Long Gone, parts 1 and 2" by Sonny Thompson. Bull Moose was the top selling rhythm artist of 1948, easily outselling Louis Jordan thanks to big hits like "I Love You, Yes I Do", "All My Love Belongs To You", "I Can't Go On Without You" and "Love Me Tonight".

Many Bull Moose discs featured a ballad on one side and a jump tune on the other side. Collections of his material which were released from the 1980s onwards tended to feature the latter, often featuring "lee-rics" such as "Big Ten Inch" and "I Want A Bow Legged Woman." His ballads were generally consigned to the dustbin of musical history. However, I managed to resurrect "I Love You, Yes I Do" from a 1979 "Old King Gold" LP, hence the dodgy sound quality despite some TLC on my conversion software.

Continuing my Billboard search on Leo Parker, I came across this Savoy advert in the issue of 20th November, 1948:

 

What Billboard rather condescendingly labelled "race" records are advertised by Savoy under "Tops in Pops" and "Tops in Bop" is used for jazz releases, which is preferable to the rather archaic sounding "hot jazz." In the late 1940s, Savoy was a big backer of both be-bop and sax-driven r&b. The biggest seller of the discs advertised above was Hal Singer's storming "Corn Bread" which was the 9th biggest selling rhythm platter of 1948 and the second biggest selling  rhythm instrumental on the charts, behind Sonny Thompson's "Long Gone" (Miracle 126) which featured Eddie Chamblee on tenor sax.



Baritone sax man Paul Williams' "Waxie Maxie" was also a good seller, although his "Thirty-Five Thirty" was an even bigger success. Other sax instros on Savoy that year included "September Song" by Don Byas and two from Wild Bill Moore: "Bubbles" and "We're Gonna Rock." Other labels were in on the sax action too - King / Gotham with "Temptation" by Earl Bostic, and Atlantic with "Blue Harlem" and "Midnight Special" by the Tiny Grimes band featuring Red Prysock.

Enough from me, it's time to rock and bop to four of the tracks from the above advert: "Waxie Maxie" by Paul Williams; "Spinal" by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and his Be-Boppers (with Fats Navarro); "Cornbread" by Hal Singer; and "Barbados" by Charlie Parker.

Bull Moose Jackson - Moose On The Loose

Side A:
1. Chittlin' Switch (Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra)
2. Hold Him Joe
3. We Ain't Got Nothin'
4. Just In Case You Change Your Mind
5. Jammin' And Jumpin'
6. Bad Man Jackson, That's Me
7. Moose On The Loose
8. Sometimes I Wonder

Side B:
1. Houston Texas Gal
2. Moosey
3. We Can Talk Some Trash
4. Oh John
5. End This Misery
6. Bearcat Blues
7. Big Ten-Inch Record
8. Hodge-Podge

Back in September 2009 I posted the Route 66 LP “Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again” which is a humdinger of a collection of jumpin’ and jivin’ rhythm and blues by singer and saxman Benjamin “Bull Moose” Jackson. Looking back in the blog I see that it attracted just one comment which is a bit depressing. But nil desperandum, and on we go with the second Bull Moose LP issued on the Mr R&B group of labels: “Moose on the Loose,” a 1985 helping of jumping instrumentals, bluesy vocalisations, and probably the best example of early 1950s double entendre R&B – “Big Ten Inch.”

Scan courtesy Joan K

The career of Mr Jackson was briefly outlined in the “Big Fat Mamas” post. Suffice it to say that “Bull Moose Jackson and his Buffalo Bearcats” started out as a front for getting recordings by the Lucky Millinder Orchestra released on the Queen / King label as Millinder was under contract to Decca for most of the 1940s. This collection has one Millinder side, “Chittlin’ Switch” which features Bull Moose, who remained a member of the Millinder outfit until around 1948.

Another naughty scan from Joan  K

During 1948 and 1949 Bull Moose enjoyed huge record sales with a series of ballads such as “I Love You, Yes I Do” and “Little Girl Don’t Cry.” However on this LP it’s the jumping side of Bull Moose that is to the fore, with instrumentals such as “Hodge Podge,” “Moose on the Loose” and “Moosey.” Two easy swinging vocal efforts have long been among my favourite Bull Moose tracks: “We Ain’t Got Nothin’” and “We Can Talk Some Trash.”

“Big Ten Inch (Record)” is of course one of the all time favourites among fans of real R&B. Recorded with the Tiny Bradshaw band in 1952, it not only has wickedly salacious “leerics” but also equally brazen sax solos by Rufus Gore and Red Prysock.

As the 1950s wore on, Bull Moose’s fortunes faded and his King contract ended in 1955. Thereafter he had a few recordings issued on small labels, including a rerecording of “I Love You, Yes I Do” which had some modest sales in the early 1960s, but like so many of his R&B contemporaries he slipped into obscurity and a job outside music. However, when interest in 1940s jive and jump revived in the 1980s, Bull Moose was brought back from musical limbo for a series of festival appearances and new recordings. He died of lung cancer in July 1989.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

Moose On The Loose (Mega)

1. Chittlin' Switch – Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra (New York, February 26, 1946, Decca 18835)

2. Hold Him Joe (Cincinnati, August 1945, King 4100)

3. We Ain't Got Nothin' (Cincinnati, August 1945, King 4102)

4. Just In Case You Change Your Mind (New York, December 20, 1945, Queen / King 4109)

5. Jammin' And Jumpin' (New York, December 20, 1945, Queen / King 4107)

6. Bad Man Jackson, That's Me (New York, December 19, 1945, Queen / King 4116)

7. Moose On The Loose (New York, 1947, Super Disc 1056 / MGM 10234)

8. Sometimes I Wonder (Cincinnati, April 18, 1950, King 4373)

9. Houston Texas Gal (New York, August 1947, King 4305)

10. Moosey (St Louis, February 18, 1949, King 4288)

11. We Can Talk Some Trash (New York, September 15 or 17, 1947, King 4250)

12. Oh John (New York, September 15 or 17, 1947, King 4280)

13. End This Misery (New York, May 4, 1951, King 4462)

14. Bearcat Blues (New York, February 6, 1952, King 4551)

15. Big Ten-Inch Record (Cincinnati, October 6, 1952, King 4580)

16. Hodge-Podge (New York, May 27, 1953, King 4655)

Mo’ Bull Moose

On the blog:

“Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again”

“Moosey / “Little Girl Don’t Cry”

Recommended Purchases:

“Bad Man Jackson That’s Me” has been around since 1990. The 1997 Nestshare issue of this 22 track comp of the best bluesers and jumpers by Bull Moose has very informative liner notes by Dave Penny.

More recently there was a similar comp in the Proper Introduction series – “Bad Man Jackson” with a few extra tracks.

Those of you who wish to immerse yourself in the waxings of Bull Moose can seek salvation in the Chronological Classics series. Three CDs cover his output from 1945 to 1953.

At the time of writing all of the above were available as CDs from Amazon.co.uk and some were available as mp3 downloads.

Little Girl Don't Cry / Moosey - Bull Moose Jackson and his Buffalo Bearcats (King 4288)

Both sides were recorded in St Louis in February 1949.

Personnel: Benjamin "Bull Moose" Jackson (vocal / tenor sax), Harold "Money" Johnson (trumpet), Eugene "Heads" Adams (alto sax), Frank Wess (tenor sax), Ted "Snooky" Hulbert (baritone sax), Billy Mann (piano), Franklin Skeete (bass), Les Erskine (drums).

Listen to "Little Girl Don't Cry"

Listen to "Moosey"

It's time once more to pay a visit to El Enmascarados' record room where he slaves over that vintage Sparton radio / phono console and a heap of R&B seventy-eights. And of course this post also constitutes a sneak preview of an upcoming LP on Be Bop Wino - can anyone work out what that 12 incher is going to be?

My thanks to the mysterious masked one who has taken time out from his wrestling commitments south of the border to send in rips from shellac and label shots of Bull Moose Jackson's big 1949 hit "Little Girl Don't Cry" b/w "Moosey." This disc is an example of the two sides of Bull Moose - on one side the balladeer and on the other the sax blowin' leader of a jumpin' combo. It was the ballads which provided Bull Moose with his biggest hits. He was the top selling R&B artist of 1948 thanks to sentimental songs like "All My Love Belongs To You" and "I Love You, Yes I Do."

The A side of the disc featured here, "Little Girl Don't Cry" was the ninth top selling R&B record of 1949, but personally I've always preferred the B-side which is a storming little instrumental called "Moosey." You can also hear it on an LP which will soon be appearing on the blog, so keep tuning in for more Bull Moose.

Bull Moose Jackson - Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again

Benjamin Clarence Jackson was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1919. He took up the saxophone while at school. He formed a band called The Harlem Hotshots who played gigs around North Ohio, tried his luck with various bands in New York State, and then returned to Cleveland where he was discovered in 1943 by bandleader Lucky Millinder who gave him the saxophone chair recently vacated by Lucky Thompson.

Christened “Bull Moose” by his bandmates (perhaps because of his unprepossessing looks), Jackson soon added vocal duties to his repertoire, reportedly being given his start when band vocalist Wynonie Harris failed to show for a gig in Lubbock, Texas.

When Syd Nathan set up the King Label in Cincinnati in 1945, he concentrated at first on signing Country and Western artists from the burgeoning local scene which centred around the WLW “Midwestern Hayride” program. He soon set up an R&B subsidiary named Queen, with ex-Millinder trumpet player Henry Glover as A&R man. Glover was keen to have his old boss record for the new label, but as Millinder was already under contract to Decca, Bull Moose became the front man for a series of recordings by the Millinder orchestra in 1945/46. Some sides were recorded with the full orchestra, others with a small group of Millinder musicians which became The Buffalo Bearcats.

The glory years for Bull Moose were 1948 and 1949 when he had considerable chart success mostly with romantic ballads such as “I Love You, Yes I Do”, “All My Love Belongs To You”, “Don’t Ask Me Why” and “Little Girl Don’t Cry”. So successful was Bull Moose, he displaced Louis Jordan as top selling R&B artist in 1948 and, along with Wynonie Harris, helped King to become the top selling R&B label of that year.

This 1980 Mr R&B LP concentrates on the “other side” of Bull Moose Jackson – the stomping instrumentalist and the singer of some of the most infamous double entendre recordings in R&B history, and also of some fiery rabble rousing jump blues. One of his earliest successes was with an answer record to the Millinder/Harris hit “Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well?” “I Know Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well” gets this collection off to a fine start, and the saga of Deacon Jones and his devoted congregation continues with the raucous “Fare Thee Well, Deacon Jones”.

As we have already seen, Syd Nathan maintained strong Country and R&B rosters and he liked to exchange songs between the two styles. There are two examples here: the blasting version of Wayne Raney’s “Why Don’t You Haul Off And Love Me?” and a spirited rendition of Moon Mullican’s “Cherokee Boogie”. For me, the Bull Moose version of “Why Don’t You” easily eclipses the rather sedate original but personally I think Moon Mullican’s “Cherokee Boogie” is better than the cover by Bull Moose.

Neither of Bull Moose’s most infamous “dirty” records are here – “I Want A Bow Legged Woman” and “Big Ten Inch”, but “Nosey Joe”, a Leiber-Stoller composition from 1952, certainly runs them close in the double entendre stakes. Although he was still making fine records in the early 1950s, changing fashions in R&B meant that Moose’s music was going out of style and his King career came to an end in 1955. The final track on this LP was recorded in Los Angeles in 1957 for the small Encino label with backing by a group led by Rene Hall and the rather unfortunate addition of a vocal chorus.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again (Mega)

Thanks to Joan for the vintage King EP cover.

1. I Know Who Threw The Whiskey (In The Well)
2. Bull Moose Jackson Blues
3. Sneaky Pete
4. Cleveland Ohio Blues
5. Fare Thee Well, Deacon Jones
6. Keep Your Big Mouth Shut
7. Miss Lucy
8. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide
9. Memphis Gal
10. Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me
11. Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again
12. Cherokee Boogie (Eh-Oh-Aleena)
13. Nosey Joe
14. Bootsie
15. I Wanna Hug Ya, Kiss Ya, Squeeze Ya
16. Watch My Signals