Danny "Run Joe" Taylor

Side 1:
01. Drinkin' Little Woman
02. Coffee Daddy Blues
03. Come On Home Baby
04. Blues Got Me Rockin'
05. I've Been Doin' It Too
06. Sweet Lovin' Daddy
07. Gator Tail
08. You Look Bad

Side 2:
01. Love to Spare
02. Leavin' Tonight
03. Makeena
04. Ain't Nothin' Wrong With This World
05. Shoemaker Man
06. Will Ya Please?
07. Two More Days
08. Mind On Loving

Danny "Run Joe" Taylor (Mega)

Danny "Run Joe" Taylor (Zippy)

Every now and again fellow blues 'n' rhythm fans get in touch asking if I know anything more about such-and-such an artist who has appeared on the blog and very occasionally this leads to me coming up with a home made comp such as this one. Four of Danny "Run Joe" Taylor's sides recorded for Joe Davis turned up on the "Listen To Dr. Jive" post from May last year and this led to an enquiry which in turn led to me trawling through my gramophone records, CDs and mp3s to come up with everything that I had on this undeservedly obscure blues shouter and song writer.

I'm afraid I've only managed to find minimal information on Danny. According to the sleevenotes to the CD "Stompin' 12," he was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1931. His discography shows that he had a fairly steady recording career in New York City, although there was much label hopping. According to the Bruyninckx discography his first recording session was in August 1949 for the Parody label, the result being one single, "Butter Beans And Rice" / "Come Back Connie" (Parody 1002/3)

This comp starts circa September 1951 when under the name of "Little Boy Blues" Danny recorded a vocal for the Champion Jack Dupree band on "Drinkin' Little Woman" (Derby 770). The other side of the disc had a vocal by Bobby Harris. In February 1952 Danny recorded sides for the Wheeler label which was owned by bandleader Doc Wheeler. He was backed by a band led by former Doc Wheeler guitarist Leroy Kirkland. One single from the session was released - "Coffee Daddy Blues" / "Come On Home Baby" (Wheeler 105). Unissued Wheeler sides were - "Blues Got Me Rockin'" and "Moanin' And Groanin' For You."

The label was short lived and its masters were bought by Coral who re-released the single on Coral 65082. In June 1952 Danny and the Leroy Kirkland Orchestra recorded sides for Coral with two singles being released - "Sittin' Here Thinkin'" / I've Been Doin' It Too" (Coral 65097) and "Walkin' In My Sleep" / "Sweet Lovin' Daddy" (Coral 65101). One Coral side was not released - "Three Little Words."

In 1953 he recorded an excellent single for Victor - "Gator Tail" / "You Look Bad" (Victor 47-5558) which was released in December of that year. The backing band included Budd Johnson and Buddy Tate on saxes. In October 1953 he was the vocalist on a Jesse Powell session for Federal. His two sides, "Love To Spare" and "Leavin' Tonite" were released on Federal 12159 and 12171 respectively with the other sides of the discs being instrumentals.

In 1954 he recorded an answer record to The Midnighter's "Annie Had A Baby" - "I'm The Father Of Annie's Baby" / "Bad, Bad, Draws" appeared on Bruce 118. Danny was backed by The Shytans on both sides.

In 1955 he released a single on Saxony backed by the Louis Payne Orchestra - "You Ain't Crazy" / "I Know What I Want" (Saxony 101).

In 1956 he recorded a session for Joe Davis backed by a band which included Haywood Henry and Sam "The Man" Taylor. The released single was "Makeena" / "Ain't Nothin' Wrong With This World" (Davis 454). Two other sides, "Shoemaker Man" and "Will Ya Please?" were not released.

Two sides recorded for Chess in 1959, "Believe These Words" and "Mom And Pop" were also not released.

In September 1959 he recorded some sides for Memo backed by Buddy Lucas. For some unknown reason he was going under the name of "Little Eddie Mint." In November 1959 "Bring Yourself Back Here" / "Two More Days" was released on Memo 17921. A third track was recorded - "Don't Fall In Love With Me." According to Bruyninckx this was released on Memo 17911 with "Bring Yourself Back Here" but I haven't come across any other reference to it.

In 1960 he was back to being Danny (Run Joe) Taylor again for a single on Jo-Par - "Things Are Tough"/ No One But You (Jo-Par 518). Also in 1960 he recorded a session as "Little Danny" for Sharp. "Your Precious Love" / "Mind On Loving" (Sharp 112) was released in November 1960. The latter was a soul style pleader with Danny, backed by Wild Jimmy Spruill on guitar, in very good voice indeed. Three other sides from the session were not released - "Stop Cheating On Me," "Tell It" and "Can't Help It."

And that is where the trail runs cold. Bruyninckx says that he also recorded for Rim but has no more details. As for the ultimate fate of Danny "Run Joe" Taylor, I'm afraid I know nothing. In fact I don't even know where the nickname "Run Joe" comes from. Perhaps these mysteries will be solved by readers of this blog?

I was pretty impressed by many of Danny's sides and I hope that someday a reissue company will bring out a comprehensive collection of this fine singer's music.

Danny "Run Joe" Taylor Trax Fax

All dates are recording dates except where otherwise noted

01. Drinkin' Little Woman - Jack Dupree Orchestra - vocal by Little Boy Blues: Derby 770 – September 1951

02. Coffee Daddy Blues - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Wheeler 105, Coral 65082 – February 1952

03. Come On Home Baby - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Wheeler 105, Coral 65082 – February 1952

04. Blues Got Me Rockin' - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Wheeler / Coral unissued – February 1952

05. I've Been Doin' It Too - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Coral 65097 – June 1952

06. Sweet Lovin' Daddy - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Coral 65101 – June 1952

07. Gator Tail - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Victor 47-5558 – released December 1953

08. You Look Bad - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Victor 47-5558 – released December 1953

09. Love to Spare - Jesse Powell Orchestra vocal by Dan Taylor: Federal 12159 – October 1953

10. Leavin' Tonight - Jesse Powell Orchestra vocal by Dan Taylor: Federal 12171 – October 1953

11. Makeena - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Davis 454 – August 1956

12. Ain’t Nothin' Wrong With This World - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Davis 454 – August 1956

13. Shoemaker Man - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Davis unissued – August 1956

14. Will Ya Please? - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Davis unissued – August 1956

15. Two More Days - Little Eddie Mint: Memo 17921 – September 1959

16. Mind On Loving - Little Danny: Sharp 112 – September 1960

Morris Lane - Tenor Saxsation (Re-up)

Side1:

01. Bobby's Boogie

02. Ghost Town

03. Luke The Spook

04. Down The Lane

05. Blue Jeans

06. BO Plenty's Return

07. Midnight Sun

08. Pale Moon (An Indian Love Song)

Side 2:

01. Moon Ray

02. I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire

03. It Ain't Necessarily So

04. Stairway To The Stars

05. Poinciana

06. Blues In The Night

07. Twilight Time

08. Everything I Have Is Yours

Download from:

Tenor Saxsation (Mega)

Original post (1st March, 2009) is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/morris-lane-tenor-saxsation.html

Good compilation of sides by ex-Lionel Hampton tenor sax player Morris Lane. Sides recorded 1947 - 1952. The first six tracks (recorded for Savoy, Apollo and Robin) are good rousing jump blues. In 1952 Lane changed style, recording a series of swing standards for Coral with a band featuring Bill Doggett on organ and Leroy Kirkland.  He recorded another four sides in the same vein for the small Scooter label. The Coral and Scooter sides are comparable to the sax stylings of Earl Bostic and Lynn Hope and obviously aimed at the same audience.

Not covered in this comp are sides Lane recorded in 1946 for Savoy with, inter alia, Sonny Stitt, Fats Navarro, Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke as part of a group billed as the "Be-Bop Boys." They may well be coming up in a future post.

The Rockin' And Walkin' Rhythm Of Eddie Chamblee (Re-up)

Side 1:

01. Back Street

02. Last Call

03. Song Of India

04. Dureop pt 1

05. Dureop pt 2

06. Cradle Rock

07. Lazy Mood

08. Blue Steel

09. All Out

Side 2:

01. Wooden Soldiers Swing

02. 6 String Boogie

03. Walkin' Home

04. Lonesome Road

05. Come On In

06. La! La! La! Lady

07. Goin' Long

08. Back Up

Download from:

http://www18.zippyshare.com/v/ISfxYctJ/file.html

Original post (13th March, 2011):

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/eddie-chamblee-rockin-and-walkin-rhythm.html

The original post is well worth reading for the background info on Eddie Chamblee. Peruse and get hip!

All sides recorded in Chicago, 1947 - 1957. Original releases on Miracle, Coral, United and Mercury.

Eddie Chamblee - The Rockin' And Walkin' Rhythm Of Eddie Chamblee

Side 1
1. Back Street
2. Last Call
3. Song Of India
4. Dureop pt 1
5. Dureop pt 2
6. Cradle Rock
7. Lazy Mood
8. Blue Steel
9. All Out

Side 2
1. Wooden Soldiers Swing
2. 6 String Boogie
3. Walkin' Home
4. Lonesome Road
5. Come On In
6. La! La! La! Lady
7. Goin' Long
8. Back Up


“Rockin’ rhythm is what Eddie (Long Gone) Chamblee and his combo call it … It combines blues, bop and swing in a manner fit for the most severe critic of present day music. A favourite on the juke box, Eddie has hit the top with his sax solos on “Long Gone” and “Late Freight” (quoted from The Chicago Defender on The Red Saunders Research Foundation Website.)

I guess the above quote neatly sums up my favourite kind of music – the sax led R&B or jazz of the 1940s and early 1950s when the boundary between the two kinds of music wasn’t as rigid as it would become as the ‘50s wore on. Eddie Chamblee was one of many musicians who were comfortable in both spheres. He played on some of the biggest R&B hits of the day and also played tenor sax in the Lionel Hampton big band in the mid 1950s.

He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1920 but grew up in Chicago. Although he had been playing tenor saxophone since the age of twelve, he really learned his chops while playing in Army bands during his war service from 1941 to 1946.

On his return to Chicago, Eddie started gigging around local clubs such as The Blue Heaven Lounge and was soon involved in sessions for a new label, Miracle, for whom he would record until 1950. In June 1946 he was in the Dick Davis Sextette session at which “Tenor-mental Moods” was recorded – an instrumental which boasted a triple tenor sax line up of Davis, Chamblee and Tommy “Madman” Jones.

In October 1947 Eddie was back at Miracle, this time recording a session under his own name, backed by a basic guitar, piano and bass trio. “Last Call,” a competent enough instrumental, dates from this session. The other side of the disc (Miracle 119) was “Certain Other Someone” a vocal performance featuring Browley Guy.

A month later Eddie joined Sonny Thompson and The Sharps and Flats to record the side which was to be his most successful – “Long Gone, Part 2.” Before the end of 1947 Eddie featured on more Sonny Thompson sides as Miracle stockpiled recordings in the face of the looming AFM recording ban. Among those sides was “Late Freight” which like “Long Gone” would be another huge hit in 1948.


Scan courtesy of El Enmascarado

Eddie’s second session for Miracle under his own name took place in July 1948. This time he was backed by a larger band which included baritone sax player Andrew “Goon” Gardiner who features prominently on the rollicking “Back Street.” The fiery version of “Song of India” also dates from the same session as do the two part jam session “Dureop” and the easy going “Cradle Rock.” The nice and bluesy “Lazy Mood” was recorded a month later at the tail end of a St. Louis Jimmy Oden session.

In 1949 Eddie was a big name thanks to his work on the Sonny Thompson hits “Long Gone” and “Late Freight.” Eddie was featured on another Sonny Thompson session in April 1949, laying down solos on “Still Gone, Part 3,” and “The Fish” aka “Jam, Sonny, Jam.”

1950 was the year that Miracle went bust. On January 25th, Eddie Chamblee was the leader at the second last recording session held by the doomed label, laying down “Blue Steel” and “All Out,” the latter featuring good interplay between Eddie and baritone sax player Charles Stewart.

In May 1950, Lee Egalnick, the founder of the failed Miracle label started a new label, Premium. In July 1950, Eddie recorded four sides for the label, with two being released on Premium 856 – “Sweet Lucy” and “Every Shut Eye Ain’t Sleep,” the latter featuring Danny Overbea on vocal. In early 1951 Eddie cut another couple of sides for Premium – “Laughing Boogie” and “This Is It.”

In the summer of 1951 Premium went the way of Miracle. One of the honchos at the latest failed label, Lew Simpkins (he had also been with Miracle) quickly helped to found a new Chicago diskery – United – which signed up several former Miracle and Premium acts, including Eddie Chamblee.

The next session under Eddie’s name was in 1952 for Coral. Two excellent tracks from the session are on this LP – “Wooden Soldiers Swing” and “6 String Boogie” with the latter track being a showcase for some great guitar work by “Sir” Walter Scott. In the meantime Eddie was backing jive group The Four Blazes on United at several sessions between January 1952 and August 1953. Eddie was on the group’s biggest hit, “Mary Jo” which was recorded in January 1952 and reached number one in the R&B charts in August 1952.

United had a particularly strong roster of R&B leaning jazz artists, or should that be jazz leaning R&B artists? Eddie Chamblee, Tab Smith, Jimmy Forrest, Paul Bascomb, Cozy Eggleston, Jimmy Coe, Leo Parker, Gene Ammons and Tiny Grimes all recorded for United (or its States subsidiary) at one time or another. The label’s policy of aiming jazz oriented releases at the R&B market provided it with two massive hits – “Because of You” by former Lucky Millinder alto sax man Tab Smith and “Night Train” by Jimmy Forrest who adapted a riff he picked up while with Duke Ellington to fashion one of the all time great tenor sax instrumental numbers.

Tab Smith - "Because of You"

Jimmy Forrest - "Night Train"

Unfortunately there was to be no such success for Eddie Chamblee. His first recordings for United as the named artist came at the end of a Four Blazes session on August 17th, 1953. “Walkin’ Home” and “Lonesome Road” were released as United 160, with Eddie billed as “The Rockin’ and Walkin’ Rhythm of Eddie Chamblee.” Both are good performances with “Walkin’ Home” being a growler very much in the vein of “Long Gone” and “Lonesome Road” being a fine slow ballad.

Eddie’s next and last recordings for United came at the end of a session backing the Five C’s on July 30th 1954. “Come On In” and “La! La! La! Lady” were released as United 181. Both feature vocal performances by Eddie. “Come On In” is a good swinger with tasty guitar fills by Leo Blevins as well as the expected driving sax work from Eddie. “La! La! La! Lady” is another great combo performance - a sly, hip shuffler with Eddie in particularly good vocal form.

In 1955 Eddie did some band leading work for a new label, Club 51, and some session work for Chess. He then toured and recorded with the Lionel Hampton big band into 1956. The tour took the band to France, where a concert at The Paris Olympia was recorded, which you can find here.

In 1957 Eddie was back in Chicago and married to his former school friend Ruth Jones, better known as Dinah Washington, the queen of R&B. He joined his wife on the Mercury label, recording a session under his own name in New York on March 7th, 1957. “Goin’ Long” b/w “Back Up” was released as Mercury 71107. “Goin’ Long” was another “Long Gone” retread while “Back Up” was a more up-tempo swingin’ jazz instro.

In early October Eddie was busy at Mercury – backing Dinah Washington in a studio orchestra credited as the Ernie Wilkins Orchestra on October 1st and 2nd and on the 4th of October with a similar group of musicians billed as the Eddie Chamblee orchestra. The following day he recorded tracks for an LP with a small group of musicians from the big band, billed as the Eddie Chamblee Septet. The album appeared on EmArcy as “Chamblee Music.”

Eddie continued to back Dinah on Mercury on several more sessions in late 1957 and recorded two tracks under his own name, “One for Dinah” and “Body and Soul,” which remained unreleased. In January 1958 Eddie was back in the studio, recording tracks with his septet which would appear on the EmArcy LP “Doodlin’” and also backing Dinah. Her presence at the sessions allowed “Doodlin’” to be billed as by “Eddie Chamblee and Friend” with Dinah featuring on the front cover photo and also on the back cover.

Scans from anonymous donor - restored by "Brian with a B"

The marriage lasted two years and Dinah’s subsequent sessions for Mercury were without Eddie, and he moved to New York where he based himself for the rest of his life. In 1964 he recorded an LP with an organ combo for Prestige, “Rockin’ Tenor Sax,” but his next and last recordings as session leader were not until 1976 when he recorded the album “Twenty Years After” for the French Black and Blue label with Arnett Cobb, Milt Buckner and Panama Francis. He continued to make live appearances with a jazz combo in New York in the 1980s, eventually dying in a nursing home in the city in 1999.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www18.zippyshare.com/v/ISfxYctJ/file.html

1. Back Street
2. Last Call
3. Song Of India
4. Dureop pt 1
5. Dureop pt 2
6. Cradle Rock
7. Lazy Mood
8. Blue Steel
9. All Out
10. Wooden Soldiers Swing
11. 6 String Boogie
12. Walkin' Home
13. Lonesome Road
14. Come On In
15. La! La! La! Lady
16. Goin' Long
17. Back Up

Mo’ Eddie to buy:

Honkers and Bar Walkers Volume Three (Delmark DE-542) has ten tracks recorded for United by Eddie -the four that were released, plus some unreleased tracks and a couple of Four Blazes tracks. Also on the CD – T.J. Fowler, Floyd Taylor, J.T. Brown, Sax Mallard, Wild Bill Moore, Swinging Sax Kari, and Jim Conley.

The other two volumes in this series are highly recommended and a visit to the Delmark website is a must for those of you who like your R&B jazzy or your jazz with an R&B sensibility. They’ve got CDs by Tab Smith, Jimmy Forrest and J.T Brown. Well worth a look.

The Four Blazes – Mary Jo (Delmark DE-704) has lots of slinky sax fills by Eddie Chamblee, all in fantastic sound quality.

For those who like to dig deep:

Eddie Chamblee – The Complete Recordings 1947-1952 (Blue Moon)

Eddie Chamblee, Julian Dash, Joe Thomas – The Complete Recordings (Blue Moon) has Eddie’s sides from 1953-54.

Sources: The Red Saunders Research Foundation website; The Jazz Discography website; sleevenotes from “The Rockin’ and Walkin’ rhythm of Eddie Chamblee” – Dave Penny; The Bruyninckx Discography; sleevenotes from “Honkers and Bar Walkers, Volume Three” – Bob Porter; sleevenotes from “Mary Jo – The Four Blazes” – Peter Grendysa.

Morris Lane - Tenor Saxsation

This is yet another LP which has languished on my shelves for many years. I’ve been a fan of honkin’ tenor sax for nearly thirty years and when I bought this 1988 Official album I was anticipating a honk fest. Only the first six tracks are jump blues blasters, while the rest of the album consists of organ backed swing standards, so my initial response to the LP was one of disappointment. A couple of decades down the line I can now better appreciate the artistry that is contained in this excellent collection.

Perhaps Morris Lane is best remembered today for his spell in the Lionel Hampton band in 1947 when he and Johnny Sparrow manned the tenor saxes. But before that, in September 1946, Lane had taken part in a recording session for Savoy as part of a group called the Bebop Boys, who included Sonny Stitt, Fats Navarro, Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke. The tracks from that session are available on the Proper 4CD set “Sonny Stitt: Sax O’ Bebop.” In January 1947, Lane returned to the Savoy studio and recorded the fiery “Luke The Spook” b/w “Down The Lane.”

In 1951 Lane recorded a couple of jumping sides for Apollo which were released on Apollo single 808: “Blue Jeans” and “B.O. Plenty’s Return.” Later in 1951 Lane recorded several fine jump sides for Bobby Robinson’s new label Robin. “Bobby’s Boogie” and “Ghost Town” were in fact the first sides released on Robinson’s label.

In February and May 1952, Lane recorded two sessions for Coral, backed by a quartet led by organist Bill Doggett. This was a change of sound from the first six tracks on this collection, with swing era standards featuring prominently on releases aimed at the late night smooch crowd. “Moon Ray” in particular is a haunting performance, right up there with Earl Bostic’s “Serenade”, in my opinion. There’s also a beautiful treatment of “Stairway To The Stars” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So” starts off by quoting Jimmy Forrest’s “Night Train.”

In December 1952, billed as “Morris Lane & His Magic Saxophone”, Lane recorded four sides for the tiny Scooter label in the same vein as his Coral material. This time Billy Taylor was on organ while Art Blakey was on drums. “Poinciana” and “Blues In The Night” are particularly fine efforts.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps

Download from here:

Tenor Saxsation (Mega)


1. Bobby's Boogie
2. Ghost Town
3. Luke The Spook
4. Down The Lane
5. Blue Jeans
6. B.O. Plenty's Return
7. Midnight Sun
8. Pale Moon (An Indian Love Song)
9. Moon Ray
10. I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire
11. It Ain't Necessarily So
12. Stairway To The Stars
13. Poinciana
14. Blues In The Night
15. Twilight Time
16. Everything I Have Is Yours