Buddy Johnson Special!

Be Bop Wino continues its look at big big band rhythm 'n' blues with re-ups of 3 Buddy Johnson LPs. 

First up is the Silver Star Swing Series compilation of Decca sides recorded by Buddy in the 1940s and early 50s.

Tracklist:

Side 1

1 - South Main

2 - Fine Brown Frame

3 - Opus Two

4 - Walk 'em

5 - You'll Get Them Blues

6 - Hey, Sweet Potato

7 - Far Cry

8 - Serves Me Right

Side 2

1 - Li'l Dog

2 - You Can't Tell Who's Lovin' Who

3 - Down Yonder

4 - Shake 'em Up

5 - Dr Jive Jives

6 - I'm Gonna Jump In The River

7 - Baby You're Always On My Mind

8 - Shufflin' And Rollin'

Download link:

http://www118.zippyshare.com/v/8BxLFjy3/file.html

Original post (well worth reading!) from 9th October 2009 is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/buddy-johnson-and-his-orchestra-silver.html

In 1953 Buddy moved to the Mercury label and I've re-upped two Mercury LPs which were originally released in the 1950s. One of them, "Rock 'N Roll," was donated in its 1950s form by a kindly saxophonist, and the other, "Walkin'," is a 1980s re-release on Official. Buddy's band was perhaps the longest surviving of the big swing bands, playing through the swing and r&b years and on into the rock 'n' roll era, so here's the Mercury LP "Rock 'N Roll", with additional artwork from the 1980s re-release on Official:

Tracklist:

Side1

1 - I Don't Want Nobody

2 - Doot Doot Dow

3 - Bring It Home To Me

4 - You Got It Made

5 - A Pretty Girl

6 - Any Day Now

Side 2

1 - It's Obdacious

2 - Crazy 'Bout A Saxophone

3 - Upside Your Head

4 - Ain't But One

5 - A-12

6 - I'm Just Your Fool

Download link:

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

Original post from 26th September 2009 is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/buddy-johnson-his-orchestra-rock-n-roll.html

This post is well worth checking out for insights from our anonymous sax playing donor plus other commentators, and my take on the role of Buddy's band in the early rock 'n' roll era.

On the 27th September 2009 I posted an Official re-release of another Buddy Johnson LP on Mercury, "Walkin'."

Tracklist:

Side 1

1 - Rockin' Time

2 - They Don't Want Me To Rock No More

3 - There's No One Like You

4 - Rock On!

5 - Ain't Cha Got Me (Where You Want Me)

6 - Buddy's Boogie

Side 2

1 - Oh! Baby Don't You Know

2 - You'd Better Believe Me

3 - You're Everything My Heart Desires

4 - So Good

5 - Bitter Sweet

6 - Gone Walkin'

New download link:

http://www118.zippyshare.com/v/uk1EfX7I/file.html

Original post from 27th September 2009 is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/buddy-johnson-his-orchestra-walkin.html

Once again, please read the wise words, especially if you're just discovering Buddy Johnson.

In the original posts I recommended 2 CDs for purchasing:

"Walk 'Em: The Decca Sessions" (Ace CDCHD 623) is still available. A superb collection which is one of my all time favourite Ace CDs and you can't get any higher praise than that!

For the Mercury sides I recommended a Rev-Ola compilation, "Gotta Go Upside Your Head" (CR Band 6) which at that time was an easily available mid-price CD. A search through Amazon and a few other sites has revealed that it is now a rarity and dealers are asking big bucks for it. If you come across a reasonably priced copy, snap it up. Otherwise, there is a 28 track CD on Hoodoo Records called "Rock On! The 1956-62 Recordings" or there is a 2CD compilation on Jasmine Records called "Rock On! The 100th Anniversary Collection - Twenty Years of Blues, Boogie and Ballads 1941-1961" which may be worth investigating.

Buddy Johnson And His Orchestra (Silver Star Swing Series)

The third post on Buddy Johnson and this guy was such an important figure in the development of R&B that he thoroughly deserves such exposure on the blog. The first two posts on Buddy looked at his mid-fifties Mercury output, when his band, which had previously survived the transition from swing to R&B, was managing just fine as rock and roll rose to prominence. In this post we jump back a decade and look at tracks he recorded for Decca for whom he signed in 1939. This 1976 LP (complete with surface noise, natch) compiles tracks recorded between 1944 and 1952 and provides us with an insight into why this band survived through the R&B years, long after most big bands had broken up.

Firstly, Buddy himself was a talented pianist, arranger, composer and vocalist. Every track on this LP, with the exception of “Fine Brown Frame”, is a Buddy Johnson composition. Then there was his sister Ella who joined the band in 1940 and was one of the outstanding blues and ballad vocalists of her day. If you want to hear her absolutely best performances such as “Please Mr Johnson”, “Since I Fell For You”, “When My Man Comes Home” and “That’s The Stuff You Gotta Watch”, then you’re going to have to buy the great Ace CD recommended at the end of this post. In the meantime there’s enough of Ella on this selection to give you a taste of what a tremendous talent she was. The Bee Jays vocal group who accompany her on two of the tracks here was an in-house studio aggregation made up of band members Julius Watson, Steve Pulliam and Purvis Henson.

Balladeer Arthur Prysock was another formidable vocal talent who joined the band in 1943 and left for a successful solo career in 1952. His combination of suave good looks and Billy Eckstine influenced singing of lovelorn ballads was just what was needed to get the female members of the audience in a swoon. But most of all, this band was a dance band. Whether wowing the Harlem dancers at the huge Savoy Ballroom or blowing the roof off some chitlin’ circuit venue in the Midwest or the deep South, this was an outfit that guaranteed its audience a good time. “Walk ‘em”, with its heavy backbeat, was composed by Buddy when he noticed that many of the less proficient dancers couldn’t cope with the big band swing rhythms. There are some tremendous examples of Buddy’s stomping dance numbers on this collection.



Side two of this LP (tracks 9 – 16) has to be one of the best LP sides I’ve ever heard. There are five storming instros interspersed with some lovely blues by Ella. Tracks 11, 12 and 13 constitute a triple instrumental whammy, kicking off with the stomping “Down Yonder”, and then going into the real down-in-the-alley raunch of “Shake ‘em Up”, complete with “real gone” yells of “Stop me! Stop me!” and finishing up with the killer “Dr Jive Jives”. It’s just as well that Ella cools things down with a couple of slower numbers, because if we’d gone straight into the blasting finale of “Shufflin’ And Rollin’” I would have been an ambulance case for certain. DOA. “OD’d on Boogie, Doc.”



And there’s one more ingredient in this rhythm recipe – Buddy let those saxes wail. From the very first track, the decidedly swing era “South Main”, right through to the big band R&B of “Shufflin’ And Rollin’”, the saxes rarely let up. In the earlier line ups Frank Henderson and Jimmy Stanford provide the muscular tenor work and later Dave Van Dyke and Purvis Henson do the blastin’. And there’s also Geezil Minerve on alto and underpinning the reeds from first to last, the beefy baritone of Cherokee Conyers.

So there you have it folks - The People’s Band. And Buddy and his cohorts most certainly did play it pretty for the people.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www118.zippyshare.com/v/8BxLFjy3/file.html

1. South Main
2. Fine Brown Frame (vcl – Buddy Johnson)
3. Opus Two
4. Walk 'em (vcl – Buddy Johnson)
5. You'll Get Them Blues (vcl – Ella Johnson)
6. Hey, Sweet Potato (vcl – Buddy Johnson)
7. Far Cry
8. Serves Me Right (vcl – Arthur Prysock)
9. Li'l Dog
10. You Can't Tell Who's Lovin' Who (vcl – Ella Johnson)
11. Down Yonder
12. Shake 'em Up
13. Dr Jive Jives
14. I'm Gonna Jump In The River (vcl – Ella Johnson & The Bee Jays)
15. Baby You're Always On My Mind (vcl – Ella Johnson & The Bee Jays)
16. Shufflin' And Rollin'

My recommended purchase is this outstanding CD on the UK Ace label: “Walk ‘Em: The Decca Sessions” (CDCHD 623).



A compilation of 24 tracks in exemplary sound quality, this disc concentrates on the vocal recordings of Buddy Johnson’s band, so you get the best of Ella and a smattering of instrumentals. Times are tough for reissue companies like Ace, so please go out and buy this superlative compilation. This is definitely one of the best CDs Ace have issued.

Buddy Johnson & His Orchestra - Walkin'

Here’s a second helping of Buddy Johnson sides from Mercury with this follow up LP (originally issued as Mercury MG-20322 in 1957) to “Rock’n Roll”. This re-issue on Official dates from 1988.

When I dug this LP out of the vinyl vault a couple of years ago for a post on Rockhall, I wasn’t particularly impressed by the contents and, rushing to judgement, I decided that the majority of the tracks weren’t worthy of a post by a hip rockin’ cat like myself. So I extracted 5 tracks (the whole of side 1 minus track 3) and added them to the tracks from “Rock’n Roll” to make up a collection of jumping big band rock ‘n’ roll.

Well I’m not ashamed to admit that I was wrong, for this is one cracking little album. Of the tracks I originally rejected, only two fall into the sentimental ballad category: Nolan Lewis’s Eckstine-style singing on “There’s No One Like You”, and the slightly hipper Floyd Ryland’s 1950’s crooner effort on “You’re Everything My Heart Desires.” Ella Johnson’s vocal efforts on side two are absolutely outstanding. “You’d Better Believe Me” is a sultry blues while “So Good” is a rocker with an irresistible dance beat.

The final two tracks are contrasting instrumentals which demonstrate Buddy Johnson’s talent as an arranger. “Bitter Sweet” conjures up pictures in my mind’s eye of deserted city streets at dawn. It’s like a moody piece from the soundtrack of a 50’s crime film or perhaps an episode of “The Naked City” (“there are eight million stories in New York …”) “Gone Walkin’” on the other hand is all hustle and bustle, evoking the streets in the rush hour.

As for the rest of the LP, it’s rock’n roll time again, with blaring saxes by Purvis Henson, Dave Van Dyke and Johnny Burdine. I’m glad I listened more carefully this time around. Download and appreciate the many sides of the Buddy Johnson Orchestra: blues, boogie, ballads, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll.

Ripped from vinyl at 256 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://www118.zippyshare.com/v/uk1EfX7I/file.html

1. Rockin' Time
2. They Don't Want Me To Rock No More (vcl – Ella Johnson)
3. There's No One Like You (vcl - Nolan Lewis)
4. Rock On! (vcl – Buddy Johnson)
5. Ain't Cha Got Me (Where You Want Me) (vcl – Ella Johnson)
6. Buddy's Boogie
7. Oh! Baby Don't You Know (vcl – ensemble)
8. You'd Better Believe Me (vcl – Ella Johnson)
9. You're Everything My Heart Desires (vcl – Floyd Ryland)
10. So Good (vcl – Ella Johnson)
11. Bitter Sweet
12. Gone Walkin'

Buddy Johnson & His Orchestra - Rock 'N Roll (Mercury LP 20209)

Thanks to an anonymous donor who sent in vinyl rips and cover scans of this Buddy Johnson LP which was originally released on Mercury in 1956 and reissued on the Official label in 1988.

Our donor is a sax player who provides an interesting sidelight on the influence of this album and of Buddy Johnson’s tenorman Purvis Henson (that’s him with Buddy on the front cover of the Official issue) on the players who were keeping this music going back in the 1980s:

“This record was a major influence on almost all of the White Blues and Rhythm and Blues Bands that were working the East Coast circuit in the 80's including Roomful. We all circulated tapes of this Album to each other. It is not all that surprising considering that Little Walter listed Buddy Johnson as a major influence and even covered “I'm Just Your Fool”. The main Sax player Purvis Henson has been an influence on all of us Sax players, what an incredible player. I am including both the original Mercury cover art and the Official release. Hope you dig it Bro.”

I dig it, I dig it.

Bandleader, pianist, arranger, songwriter and vocalist Buddy Johnson was a major figure in R&B history, not just because of the longevity of his recording career (1939 – 1964) but also because of the sheer quality and versatility of his band. In the 1940s The Buddy Johnson Orchestra had a string of hits on Decca (many featuring vocalists Ella Johnson, Buddy’s sister, and Arthur Prysock) and was a huge live attraction in their New York base and in the Southern States. Like other top big bands of the era, their repertoire included dance tunes, boogies, blues and ballads. As the era of the big band faded in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Buddy managed to keep his band together, both on the road and in the studio.

In early 1953 Buddy signed for Mercury, revitalising his chart career and starting a new phase of success for the band which had already survived the transformation from swing to R&B and now found itself at the forefront of the rise of rock ‘n’ roll as it became part of the live shows promoted by Alan Freed and his New York rival Tommy “Doctor Jive” Smalls.

The precedent was set in 1953 when The Buddy Johnson Orchestra was part of the first of the really big R&B touring package shows – The Big Rhythm and Blues Show organised by the Moe Gale agency - which also included Ruth Brown, Wynonie Harris, The Clovers and Lester Young. The show drew huge audiences as it travelled through the Eastern States, The Midwest and The South. In Cleveland it drew 10,000 to a show hosted by Alan Freed who would use the band on his own rock ‘n’ roll package shows such as his Boston show of May 1955 which included Bo Diddley, Nappy Brown, The Five Keys, The Moonglows, Dinah Washington, Little Walter, Al Hibbler and Dakota Staton. As late as January 1959, with its hit making days long gone, the band was on the “Biggest Show of Shows” along with The Platters, Jimmy Clanton, Clyde McPhatter, The Crests, The Cadillacs, Bo Diddley and Duane Eddy.



In the same month Buddy’s contract with Mercury was not renewed and the band signed for Roulette but their only single release on the label met with indifference, for the days of that now largely forgotten genre, Big Band Rock ‘n’ Roll, were well and truly over. Before the end of 1959 Roulette released an LP titled “Go Ahead and Rock Rock Rock” credited to both Buddy and Ella. In the early 1960s deteriorating health brought Buddy’s retiral from the music scene. Ella also retired, to take care of Buddy who passed away in 1977, with Ella passing away in 2004.



Ripped from vinyl at 256 kbps.

Download from here:

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


1. I Don't Want Nobody v – Ella Johnson
2. Doot Doot Dow
3. Bring It Home To Me v – Ella Johnson
4. You Got It Made v – Floyd Ryland
5. A Pretty Girl v – Ricky Harper
6. Any Day Now v – Ella Johnson
7. It's Obdacious v – Buddy Johnson & Gil Askey
8. Crazy 'Bout A Saxophone v – Buddy Johnson
9. Upside Your Head v – Ella Johnson
10. Ain't But One v – Ella Johnson
11. A-12
12. I'm Just Your Fool v – Ella Johnson

If you want to hear more of Buddy Johnson on Mercury, I recommend this excellent CD on Rev-Ola: “Gotta Go Upside Your Head” (CR Band 6).



Note: Mercury LP MG-20209 was originally issued on the Wing subsidiary of Mercury as MGW-12005. The cover was similar to the Mercury issue MG-20209, although with the tracklist on the other side of the cover photo (see below) –



"Ex-Rhode Islander" pointed out that after the Mercury issue, the LP was again reissued on Wing as MGW 12111. This time round it was retitled "Rock'n Roll Stage Show" and the adman's dream couple photo was replaced by a photo of the band with Buddy and Ella centre front.