Listen To Dr. Jive

Side 1:
01. Steady Grind - Warren Lucky
02. Will Ya Please? - Danny Taylor
03. Makeena - Danny Taylor
04. There's Nothin' Wrong With This World - Danny Taylor
05. Shoemaker Man - Danny Taylor
06. Bartender Fill It Up Again - Otis Blackwell
07. Oh! What A Wonderful Time - Otis Blackwell

Side 2:
01. Listen To Dr. Jive - Dean Barlow
02. I Got A Letter - Lem Johnson
03. It Takes Money, Honey - Lem Johnson
04. Eatin' And Sleepin' Blues - Lem Johnson
05. Tall Tall Women - Nat Foster
06. Dog House Blues - Nat Foster
07. Lonely Soldier Blues - Nat Foster

Listen To Dr. Jive (Mega)

Listen To Dr. Jive (Zippy)

First time on the blog for this collection of R&B / Rock and Roll sides recorded by NYC label owner Joe Davis. There are comprehensive notes by Bruce Bastin who released collections of Joe Davis material on Krazy Kat during the 1980s.

Joe Davis was a pioneering NYC R&B label owner who founded Beacon in 1942 and had quick success with Savannah Churchill and The Five Red Caps. He kept Beacon going during the 1950s and also launched the Davis and Jay-Dee labels as well as recording material for MGM.

There is something ironic about the front cover picture of this LP as Dean Barlow's "Listen To Dr. Jive" was recorded as a theme for a rival of Alan Freed, Tommy "Dr Jive" Smalls whose afternoon R&B show on WWRL matched the Freed show in popularity, just as his onstage R&B concerts competed strongly with Freed's live reviews.

In common with many LPs in my collection, this one languished forgotten on the shelf but repeated listens in the last couple of weeks have led me to conclude that it's a cracking little compilation which deserves the attention of seasoned (and not so seasoned) fans of New York rhythm 'n' blues.

Fax On The Trax

Warren Lucky - "Steady Grind." Unreleased take of "Fish Bait" (Beacon 105). Personnel and recording date as on LP cover.

Danny "Run Joe" Taylor - "Will Ya Please" and "Shoemaker Man" were unreleased. "Ain't Nothin' Wrong With This World" / "Makeena" released on Davis 454 in October 1956. Personnel and recording date as on LP cover.

adapted from popsike.com

Otis Blackwell - "Bartender, Fill It Up Again" / "You're My Love" was released on Jay-Dee 787 in late January 1954. Possible personnel - Otis Blackwell (vocal) with Lem Johnson (tenor sax); Bill Graham (baritone sax); Conrad Frederick (piano); Arvell Shaw (bass) Cozy Cole (drums). Recording date was possibly December 30th 1953.

"Oh ! What A Wonderful Time" / "Let The Daddy Hold You" released on Jay-Dee 808. Recorded on March 9th 1955. Personnel: Otis Blackwell (vocal); Sam "The Man" Taylor (tenor sax); Haywood Henry (baritone sax); Ernest Hayes (piano); Mickey Baker (guitar); Milt Hinton (bass); Specs Powell (drums); Leroy Kirkland (arranger).

Dean Barlow - "Listen To Dr. Jive" was probably not released on a single. Recorded January 18th 1956. Personnel: Dean Barlow (vocal) with Sam "The Man" Taylor (tenor sax); Haywood Henry (baritone sax); Howard Biggs (piano, arranger); Everett Barksdale (guitar); Lloyd Trotman (bass); Panama Francis (drums).

Lem Johnson - "I Got A Letter" / "It Takes Money, Honey" released on MGM 11467 in March 1953. "Eatin' And Sleepin' Blues" was released on MGM 11532 in July 1953. B Side of "Never Love Anybody Better Than You Do Yourself." Personnel and recording date as on LP cover.

Nat Foster - "Lonely Soldier Blues" / "Tall, Tall Woman" released on MGM 11445 in 1953. "Dog House Blues" was not released. Personnel and recording date as on LP cover.

Elsewhere On The Blog

Thunderbolt! Honkin' R&B Instrumentals 1952-1956 is a fine collection of sax sides recorded by Joe Davis. Warren Lucky, Al King, Haywood Henry and a collection of NYC's finest session men.

Vocal Group R&B From Joe Davis Volume One 1952-1953 early vocal group stuff from Joe Davis labels. The Crickets feature Dean Barlow as lead vocalist and the collection does not have THAT Blenders' track!

Vocal Group R'nB Volume One

Side A:

01. Milk And Gin - The Crickets

02. If That's The Way You Want It Baby - The Blenders

03. Please Take Me Back - The Blenders

04. Fine As Wine - The Five Barons

05. Eat 'Em Up - The Eddie Carter Quartet

06. Don't Turn Your Back On Me - The Eddie Carter Quartet

07. Kansas Capers - The Blenders

Side B:

01. Fine As Wine - The Crickets

02. Don't Play Around With Love - The Blenders

03. You'll Never Be Mine Again - The Blenders

04. Why Did You Leave Me - The Sparrows

05. Hey! - The Sparrows

06. I'm Gonna Do That Woman In - The Sparrows

07. I'm Gonna Hold My Baby Tight - The Sparrows

Download from here:

Vocal Group R'n'B Volume One (Mega)

A good compilation of early 1950s vocal group sides recorded in New York by Joe Davis, either for leasing to MGM or for release on his own Jay-Dee label. As is usual with vocal group posts I'll be providing links to Marv Goldberg's site where you can read up on the background of some of the groups on this record.

Joe Davis was a pioneer of R&B in New York, founding one of the earliest NYC indie labels, Beacon, in 1942. His biggest artists at that time were The Five Red Caps and Savannah Churchill. The 1950s vocal group sides on this LP are very different from the emerging doo-wop sound. They seem to be more rooted in the sound of the jive groups of the late 1930s and 1940s and it's strange to think that they are contemporary with the sounds of The Dominoes, The Clovers and The Five Keys.

Surface noise is audible on some tracks as this LP was not in the best of condition.

Release details of the tracks:

The Crickets - 

"Milk And Gin" originally released on MGM 11428 in February 1953: "You're Mine" / "Milk And Gin".

"Fine As Wine" originally released on Jay-Dee 781 in September 1953: "I'm Not The One You Love" / "Fine As Wine."

The Blenders -

"If That's The Way You Want It Baby" originally released on MGM 11488 in May 1953: "I Don't Miss You Anymore" / "If That's The Way You Want It Baby".

"Please Take Me Back" originally released on MGM 11531 in July 1953: "Please Take Me Back" / "Isn't It A Shame?"

"You'll Never Be Mine Again" / "Don't Play Around With Love" originally released as Jay-Dee 780 in August 1953.

"Kansas Kapers" originally released on Davis 441 in September 1955. "Somebody's Lyin'" / "Kansas Kapers" by The Millionaires.

The Five Barons -

"Fine as Wine" was cut in 1952 as a one-sided promotional disc (Beacon 9144), probably with a view to pitching the song which was later recorded by The Crickets in May 1953. This is the only known recording by The Five Barons.

Eddie Carter Quartet -

"Don't Turn Your Back On Me" / "Eat 'Em Up" was originally released on MGM 11405 in January 1953.

The Sparrows -

"Why Did You Leave Me" was originally released on Jay-Dee 783 in November 1953. "Tell My Baby" / "Why Did You Leave Me".

"Hey!" was originally released on Jay-Dee 790 in February 1954. "Hey!" / "I'll Be Lovin' You."

"I'm Gonna Do That Woman In" and "I'm Gonna Hold My Baby Tight" were not released in the 1950s.

"I'm Gonna Hold My Baby Tight" was first released on this LP.

"I'm Gonna Do That Woman In" (a charming call to domestic abuse) was released as the B Side of a bootleg single on Kelway 101 in 1971. The A Side was the notorious "Don't Fuck Around With Love" by The Blenders - a naughty version of "Don't Play Around With Love" which Joe Davis recorded as a novelty promo item for deejays.

"Don't Fuck Around With Love" has reared its head on various bootleg singles over the years possibly most memorably as one side of the single on X Rated Records which also featured the amazingly filthy "Rotten Cocksuckers Ball" by The Clovers. In comparison with that effort, The Blenders' opus is very tame indeed as it is basically just "Don't Play Around With Love" with one word substituted.

Anecdote time - in June of 2015 I was on a drunken weekend trip to Munich in the company of ex work colleagues. Having tried to drink the Hofbräuhaus dry during Saturday afternoon and then having stopped off at a beer stall in the Viktualienmarkt for a few more for the road, we piled into a couple of taxis to make our way to the West End. I was astonished to hear the strains of "Don't Fuck Around With Love" on the taxi driver's sound system. Turned out he was a fellow vintage R&B fan. It was a real "hands across the sea" moment. I hope he found his way to this blog ...

Bruce Bastin's sleeve notes on this LP are very comprehensive. He wrote a biography of Joe Davis which originally appeared under the title "Never Sell A Copyright" and then in a revised form as "The Melody Man: Joe Davis & The New York Music Scene 1916 - 1978." Copies are available on a certain well known Marketplace website at a pretty high price.

Marv Goldberg links:

The Blenders - http://www.uncamarvy.com/Blenders/blenders.html

The Crickets - http://www.uncamarvy.com/Crickets/crickets.html

The Sparrows - http://www.uncamarvy.com/Sparrows/sparrows.html

Further listening - "Fine as Wine" CD on Flyright (Fly CD 30) has 20 Joe Davis vocal group tracks including The Mellows, The Crickets, The Sparrows, Dean Barlow, The Scale-Tones and The Goldentones. It's interesting to contrast the sides recorded by Davis in 1954-1956 with the '52-'53 sides on the posted LP as the later sides are much more "rock and roll" in style. CD issued in the 1980s and probably hard to find nowadays.