Frank Culley - Rock And Roll

Side 1:

01. The Snap

02. Floorshow

03. Cole Slaw

04. Central Avenue Breakdown

05. Waxie Maxie Boogie

06. After Hour Session

07. Rumboogie Jive

Side 2:

01. Hop'N Twist

02. My Silent Love

03. Mona Lisa

04. Gone After Hours

05. Little Miss Blues

06. I've Got You Under My Skin

07. Culley-Flower

Download from:

http://www47.zippyshare.com/v/aGAjwTzN/file.html

Hold it! Where did that Frank Culley front cover come from? A reissue of one of the Atlantic Rock & Roll series of albums from 1956 / 1957? Nope, there never was such an LP. It's a clever 1989 pastiche created for this compilation of Frank's Atlantic sides recorded between 1949 and 1951. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing, where reissue companies make the effort to "get in period." But if Frank Culley was honking and hooting in the late 1940's and early 1950's, surely it's stretching things a bit to pass his music off as "rock and roll"?

Well, Atlantic themselves set the precedent back in 1957 when a couple of Culley sides turned up on the LP with the worst ever cover in the history of rock and roll -

A rock and a roll, geddit? It was in fact a compilation of R&B instrumentals from the late 1940's to the mid 1950's' including sides by Tiny Grimes, Willis Jackson, Joe Morris, and Arnett Cobb among others. I reconstructed the LP for the blog in 2014 (using tracks from the "Atlantic Honkers" collection) and you can download it from here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/dance-rock-roll-atlantic-lp-8013.html

In the first half of the 1950's Atlantic was probably THE R&B record company which helped to get rock and roll going with its roster of artists such as Ruth Brown, The Clovers, Joe Turner, Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters, Lavern Baker and Ray Charles. Frank Culley belongs to the earlier phase of Atlantic when they were peddling a jazzier form of R&B via the bands of Tiny Grimes and Joe Morris, featuring tenor sax men Red Prysock and Johnny Griffin respectively.

Some of his tracks turned up on Atlantic retrospectives such as the aforementioned "Atlantic Honkers" and the first volume of "Atlantic Rhythm and Blues 1947 - 1974." That's where I first heard Frank Culley and I was immediately taken with his warm toned sound. He could do the honkin' wild man stuff, but without going overboard and his handling of ballads and moody after hours blues material was very good, as you can hear on this collection.

There's no need for me to go into any great detail about Frank Culley as the admirable sleeve notes by Peter Grendysa have it all covered. You can get Frank's 1955 sides for Baton Records on another Be Bop Wino post here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/frank-culley-and-buddy-tate-rockn-roll.html

... and it's a good read too!

And to finish, a couple of questions. 

Question one - Frank recorded four sides for Lenox in 1948. Does anyone know if these sides ended up on the infamous Hen Gates and his Gaters budget LPs? Some Lenox sides by Lockjaw Davis certainly did.

Question two - the 1999 Ace CD "Let The Boogie Woogie Rock and Roll" has an instrumental track listed as "Rhumboogie Jive" by Frank Culley. It obviously isn't the real "Rumboogie Jive" as you can hear from listening to this LP or going to this blog post. Does anyone know what that track on the Ace CD is?

Keep a-blowin' and a -bluesin', fellow groovers!

Clubbing, Early 1950s Style

Sunday double of sides about nightlife. The way the youth of today (and I mean anyone under 40) go on about "clubbing" you'd think they'd invented all night dancing /drinking / socialising. Well here's a couple of early 1950s R&B tracks to demonstrate that there's nothing new under that lucky old sun. Oh, and by "R&B" I mean REAL R&B.

First up, Frank Culley and Harry Van Walls rap about the Rhumboogie Club in Columbus, Ohio. Recorded in late 1949, "Rumboogie Jive" was the B Side of "After Hours Session" (Atlantic 888) which reached number 10 in the R&B charts in February 1950.



The "Coffee Grinder" referred to was a dance. Wonder what it was like?

After boogieing our woogies for a few hours, it's time to move on to an after hours joint where we can chill out to some slinky sax and hear Jimmy Coe and his drummer Earl "Fox" Walker exchanging hip observations. The scene described on the record was inspired by Jimmy and the band's visits to an after hours joint called "The Royal Roost" in Indianapolis. "After Hour Joint" was released on States 118 in June 1953. There was a follow up a few months later, "Raid On The After Hours Joint." We're gonna split before that happens, but remember, if the cops grab you, don't give your real name.



As an aside, the excellent Ace CD "Let The Boogie Woogie Rock And Roll" has a totally different track under the title "Rhumboogie Jive." Does anyone know what that track really is?

Great article on Jimmy Coe on Red Saunders Research Foundation here:

http://myweb.clemson.edu/~campber/coe.html

Have a restful Sunday.

Dance The Rock & Roll (Atlantic LP 8013)

Side 1

1. Willis Jackson - Gator's Groove

2. Chuck Calhoun - Hey Tiger

3. Tommy Ridgley - Jam Up

4. Arnett Cobb - Flying Home Mambo

5. Joe Morris - Wow!

6. Arnett Cobb - Mr Pogo

7. Frank Culley - Gone After Hours

Side 2

1. Arnett Cobb - Light Like That

2. Joe Morris - Weasel Walk

3. Frank Culley - Culley Flower

4. Willis Jackson - Rock! Rock! Rock!

5. Frank Culley - Hop 'N' Twist

6. Chuck Calhoun - Barrel House

7. Tiny Grimes - Midnight Special

LP cover from the PopBopRockTilUDrop blog.

LP originally released in 1958

Download from:

Dance The Rock & Roll (Mega)

Ah yes, there's nothing like a bit of rock 'n' roll exploitation to bring in the money, and here's as fine an example as any, although with a lot more class than budget label "Hen Gates" albums. Atlantic Records, despite being the premier R&B label in the land, wasn't above recycling its back catalogue under a slightly misleading cover. They even had a Ray Charles twist album, and to describe the tracks on "Dance The Rock & Roll" as, well, rock 'n' roll, was surely stretching things a bit.

That said, from a 21st century perspective this is a fine collection of R&B sax tracks. They date from 1948 through to 1955. No doubt some of them could be considered to be genuine rock 'n' roll or as near as dammit, but Tiny Grimes, Joe Morris and Frank Culley surely don't come under that description. Fifty six years later, however, arguing over which tracks can be described as R&B, rock 'n' roll, or even jazz just doesn't seem to matter any more. It's a cracking collection of New York Big Beat Honk with, as well as the credited artists, Hal Singer, Sam "The Man" Taylor, Red Prysock, Lee Allen (on temporary transfer from New Orleans) and Johnny Griffin on board. "Chuck Calhoun" is the pseudonym of Jesse Stone who was very much the creator of the backbeat based Atlantic sound of the 1950s.

This is a reconstruction of the original LP. Twelve of the fourteen tracks are from the "Atlantic Honkers" double LP set. The exceptions are the Tiny Grimes and Tommy Ridgley tracks which are from the first two volumes of the double LP series "Atlantic Rhythm And Blues 1947 - 1974." The cover is from the admirable PopBopRockTilUDrop blog. It is probably the worst designed LP cover in the entire history of recorded music, but don't let that put you off. Download this latest episode of the Big Beat Honkfest and play loud, loud, loud!

The tracks:

1. Willis Jackson - Gator's Groove

2. Chuck Calhoun - Hey Tiger

3. Tommy Ridgley - Jam Up

4. Arnett Cobb - Flying Home Mambo

5. Joe Morris - Wow!

6. Arnett Cobb - Mr Pogo

7. Frank Culley - Gone After Hours

8. Arnett Cobb - Light Like That

9. Joe Morris - Weasel Walk

10. Frank Culley - Culley Flower

11. Willis Jackson - Rock! Rock! Rock!

12. Frank Culley - Hop 'N' Twist

13. Chuck Calhoun - Barrel House

14. Tiny Grimes - Midnight Special

Recording details:

Willis Jackson (tenor sax) - "Gator's Groove" and "Rock! Rock! Rock!" recorded in NYC on May 23rd, 1952. Rest of personnel unknown. "Rock! Rock! Rock!" originally released on Atlantic 976. "Gator's Groove" originally issued on Atlantic 975.

Chuck Calhoun and his Atlantic All-Stars - "Hey Tiger" and "Barrel House" recorded in NYC on 24th June, 1955. Personnel: Jesse Stone, aka "Chuck Calhoun" (leader, arranger); Hal Singer, Sam "The Man" Taylor (tenor saxes); Mickey Baker (guitar), rest unknown. Both sides originally released on Atlantic 1120.

Tommy Ridgley - "Jam Up" recorded in NYC, August 8th 1954. Personnel: Lee Allen (tenor sax); Alvin "Red" Tyler (baritone sax); rest unknown. Originally released on Atlantic 1039.

Arnett Cobb - "Mr Pogo" recorded NYC, 19th April, 1954. Personnel: Ed Lewis (trumpet); Al Grey (trombone); Arnett Cobb (tenor sax); Charlie Ferguson (tenor and baritone saxes); George Rhodes (piano); Walter Buchanan (bass); Al Walker (drums); Bill Sanford (arranger). Originally released on Atlantic 1042.

"Light Like That" and "Flying Home Mambo" recorded in NYC on January 19th, 1955. Personnel same as for "Mr Pogo". Both sides originally released on Atlantic 1056.

Joe Morris - "Wow!" recorded in NYC on September 19th, 1948. "Weasel Walk" recorded in NYC on December 22nd, 1948. Personnel on both tracks:  Joe Morris (trumpet); Matthew Gee (trombone); Johnny Griffin (tenor sax); Bill McLemore (baritone sax); Elmo Hope (piano); Percy Heath (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Both sides originally released on Atlantic 870.

Frank Culley - "Hop 'n' Twist" (aka "Fish Tail") recorded in NYC, September 1949. Personnel: Frank Culley (tenor sax); Harry Van Walls (piano); rest unknown. Originally released on Atlantic 902.

"Gone After Hours" recorded in NYC, August 12th, 1950. Personnel as for "Hop 'n' Twist." Originally released on Atlantic 922.

"Culley Flower" recorded in NYC on 27th February, 1951. Personnel: Wallace Wilson (trumpet); Walter "Phatz" Morris (trombone); Frank Culley (tenor sax); Randy Weston (piano); Count Edmondson (bass); Connie Kay (drums). Originally released on Atlantic 935.

Tiny Grimes - "Midnight Special" (aka "See See Rider") recorded in Cleveland on May 1st, 1948. Personnel: The Tiny Grimes Quintet -  Red Prysock (tenor sax); Jimmy Saunders (piano); Tiny Grimes (guitar), Ike Isaacs (bass); Jerry Potter (drums). Originally released on Atlantic 865 (B side of "Annie Laurie"). 

Frank Culley And Buddy Tate - Rock'n Roll Instrumentals For Dancing The Lindy Hop

Side A (Frank Culley)

1. Nine O'Clock Express
2. Lindy Rock
3. Go, Floorshow!
4. Bubbles
5. Speed Limit

Side B (Buddy Tate)
1. Sent For You Yesterday
2. That Girl
3. Fatback And Greens
4. Tete-A-Tate
5. Skip-A-Page
6. Jackie
7. Blue Buddy

Previously posted in 2008. I have added new front and back cover and label scans. Volume on the sound files has been equalized. There has also been a complete rewrite of the post.

This is a 1984 Krazy Kat reissue of Baton BL-1201 which was released in May or June 1955. A brief note in the May 28th 1955 issue of Billboard announced that Baton intended to release "a package of rock and roll instrumentals for lindy hoppers." It was also noted that Frank Culley had "inked an exclusive deal with Baton." The Buddy Tate tracks "Jackie" and "Blue Buddy" were not on the original Baton LP.

Side A was recorded in NYC in May or June 1955. The musicians accompanying Frank Culley (tenor sax) are unknown although it is possible that Harry Van Walls was on piano.

Side B was recorded in NYC on the 29th March 1954. Personnel: Pat Jenkins (tp); Eli Robinson (tb); Ben Richardson (cl,as,bar); Buddy Tate (ts); Skip Hall (p,org on "Jackie"); Flat Top Wilson (b); Clarence "Fats" Donaldson (d)

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from:

http://www11.zippyshare.com/v/38827329/file.html

Baton Records was founded in New York City towards the end of 1953 by Sol Rabinowitz. He had recorded four sides by The Rivileers with the intention of selling them to an existing record company, but having failed to strike a deal, he started his own record company and had a major hit with his first release, "A Thousand Stars" by the aforementioned Rivileers. Baton's second release was a Rivileers' follow up "Darling Farewell" / "Forever" which had good sales although rather less than a "Thousand Stars."

For the label's third release, Sol turned to ex Count Basie tenor sax player Buddy Tate who in early 1954 was leading a small band which played regularly at Harlem's Celebrity Club. The band recorded a session for Baton on 29th March 1954, resulting in the release of two singles. The first release (Baton 202), "Blue Buddy" / "Fatbacks And Greens", had good sales in the Philadelphia area as it was featured heavily on the local "Bandstand" TV show. A second Buddy Tate single, "Jackie" / "Sent For You Yesterday" failed to sell despite airplay from DJ Alan Freed after whose wife the A side was named.

Buddy Tate

In September 1954 amid much hoopla Alan Freed relocated to NYC from Cleveland and began broadcasting his R&B / Rock 'n' Roll show six nights a week on WINS. Rock and Roll was suddenly big news in the Big Apple and the record companies were soon scrambling aboard the bandwagon. At the end of May 1955 Baton announced that they had signed former Atlantic Records R&B tenor sax star Frank "Floorshow" Culley and that an LP of rock 'n' roll instrumentals was in the pipeline.

Culley had enjoyed R&B chart success on Atlantic in 1949 - 1951 with hits such as "Cole Slaw", "After Hour Session", "Hop 'N' Twist" and "Gone After Hours." His record sales along with those of Tiny Grimes and Joe Morris had helped to establish Atlantic in its early years, before the really big hits of Ruth Brown, The Clovers, and Big Joe Turner transformed the label into the number one R&B outfit of the 1950s.

Frank "Floorshow" Culley (Atlantic LP cover)

The five tracks recorded by Culley for Baton, probably at the end of May or during June 1955, were combined with five of the more uptempo Buddy Tate tracks from the March 1954 session to make up the LP "Rock'n Roll Instrumentals For Dancing the Lindy Hop" a title which may have caused some bemusement among dance purists, but may have been aimed at the older swing generation as well as the new rock 'n' roll generation in the hope that neither would be too fussy about the number of beats to the bar.

Baton EP cover courtesy Joan K

In May 1956 Baton released a two part instrumental single by Frank Culley, "After Hours Express, Parts 1 and 2" (Baton 226), which was an edit of "Nine O'Clock Express" from the "Rock'n Roll Instrumentals" LP. Billboard opined:"This is a pair of sides given over entirely to solid instrumental jamming. It's wild, fast-moving stuff and should drive those terping kids crazy. Culley blows tenor for all he's worth. Should be a good box entry."

The arrival of the rock and roll craze prompted a slew of instrumental releases in 1955-56, kicking off with the success of Red Prysock's "Hand Clappin'" on Mercury. The June 16th 1956 issue of Billboard noted the phenomenon but cautioned "Rock and Roll has retired some of the formerly popular instrumental groups ... new bands and new dance steps have taken their place; some of the veterans are converting successfully. Lack of disk jockey support seems to be the only drawback to producing big instrumental hits with greater frequency in the next months."

Although the biggest selling R&B record of 1956 was an instrumental, Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk," many of the rush of  instrumental releases such as "After Hours Express" failed to chart. Sil Austin's "Slow Walk" and its subsequent cover version by Doggett were the exceptions. Two years later Baton finally had a national R&B and pop instrumental success with Noble "Thin Man" Watts' "Hard Times (The Slop)."

Swingin' Saxophones

Side One
1. Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
2. Flying Home No 2 - Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra
3. Honeysuckle Rose - Ben Webster
4. Blowing The Blues Away - Billy Eckstine & His Orchestra
5. Lunatic - John Hardee
6. IQ Blues - Ike Quebec

Side Two
1. Riffin' At 24th Street - Illinois Jacquet
2. I'm Confessin' - Lester Young
3. The Spider - Joe Morris
4. Long Tall Dexter - Dexter Gordon
5. Hot In Harlem - Tiny Grimes
6. Cole Slaw - Frank Culley

My thanks to the anonymous donor who sent in this comp. It’s a good collection of 1940s tenor sax sides, beginning with some big band swing, and ending with some jazzy R&B combos via detours into boppish small group jazz. However you want to label it, it makes for some mighty fine listening. In fact never mind the label thing, just call it good music.

The sleeve notes are pretty uninformative as you would expect from a bootleg. I’ve looked up the recording details of all the tracks on the LP and listed them at the end of the post. Ben Webster is the soloist on “Cottontail,” Arnett Cobb is on “Flying Home No. 2” and Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons serve up an early example of a tenor sax “chase” on “Blowing The Blues Away.”

On Side Two, Johnny Griffin delivers the most frantic performance of the set on “The Spider” while Red Prysock is the tenor man on “Hot in Harlem.” Ike Quebec’s “I.Q. Blues” on Savoy is really just another version of “Blue Harlem” which he had previously recorded for Blue Note in July 1944. I think I actually prefer the Savoy version for its gorgeous piano break by Johnny Guarnieri. The Blue Note original does have some nice guitar from Tiny Grimes, though.

As for the origins of this comp – there is no label number on the front or back cover, although the back cover does bear the legend “Bop u Rhythm Schallplatten, Saarland.” The sleeve notes are written pseudonymously and claim to date from 1952. I think this is probably a bootleg of a bootleg, or a reissue of an album which originally appeared in the mid to late 1950s on the legendary Bop-Rhythm label. I’m sure that the original release would have had a different front cover from the one which was sent to me. It doesn’t look like a 1950s style cover at all.

Bop-Rhythm was a strictly “underground” label whose issues of jazz, R&B and even some early rock and roll were much coveted by hopheads and beatniks around Europe. Their operation was based in the Saarland which for much of the 1950s was detached from the German Federal Republic and thus provided a haven for a motley group of jazz fanatics and dope fiends who were zealous spreaders of the gospel of groove. They took advantage of the Saarland’s unique status of being beyond the reach of German civil law and set up a record pressing plant from which they distributed all kinds of bopmungous vinyl goodies to adjacent countries. The music was sourced from records provided by American service personnel based in West Germany.

When the Saarland was incorporated into West Germany in 1957, Bop-Rhythm Records was doomed, although they managed to keep going until 1960 when their pressing plant (situated in the basement of a house of ill repute in Fraulautern, Saarlouis) was raided by an Interpol organised task force of police from three different countries – France, Germany and Belgium – plus a contingent of US Military Police. I hope that at the last, the stoned jazzers of Bop-Rhythm went down swinging as the forces of law and order stormed into their HQ.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www29.zippyshare.com/v/7xovktql/file.html

Recording Details:

1. Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra

Recorded in Hollywood CA, 4th May, 1940. Released on Victor 26610
Personnel: Rex Stewart (cnt) Cootie Williams, Wallace Jones (tp) Joe Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown (tb) Barney Bigard (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Otto Hardwick (as, bassax) Ben Webster (ts) Harry Carney (bar,as,cl) Duke Ellington (p) Fred Guy (g) Jimmy Blanton (b) Sonny Greer (d )

2. Flying Home No 2 - Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra

Recorded in New York City, 2nd March, 1944. Released on Decca.
Personnel: Cat Anderson, Lamar Wright Jr., Roy McCoy (tp) Joe Morris (tp,arr) Al Hayse, Michael "Booty" Wood, Fred Beckett (tb) Earl Bostic, Gus Evans (as) Al Sears, Arnett Cobb (ts) Charlie Fowlkes (bar) Lionel Hampton (vib,p) Milt Buckner (p) Eric Miller (g) Vernon King (b) Fred Radcliffe (d)

3. Honeysuckle Rose – The Ben Webster Quartet

Recorded in New York City, 17th April, 1944. Released on Savoy 506.
Personnel: Ben Webster (ts) Johnny Guarnieri (p) Oscar Pettiford (b) David Booth (d)

4. Blowing The Blues Away - Billy Eckstine & His Orchestra

Recorded in New York City, 5th September, 1944. Released on Audiolab.
Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, Shorty McConnell, Gail Brockman, Boonie Hazel (tp) Gerald Valentine, Taswell Baird, Howard Scott, Chips Outcalt (tb) John Jackson, Bill Frazier (as) Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons (ts) Leo Parker (bar) John Malachi (p) Connie Wainwright (g) Tommy Potter (b) Art Blakey (d) Billy Eckstine (vcl)

5. Lunatic – The John Hardee Quintet

Recorded in New York City, November, 1947. Released on Savoy 703.
Personnel: Joe Jordan (tp) John Hardee (ts) Billy Kyle (p) John Simmons (b) Cozy Cole (d)

6. I.Q. Blues – The Ike Quebec All Stars

Recorded in New York City, 7th August, 1945. Released on Savoy 570.
Personnel: Ike Quebec (ts) Johnny Guarnieri (p) Bill De Arango (g) Milt Hinton (b) J.C. Heard (d)

7. Riffin' At 24th Street - Illinois Jacquet & His Orchestra

Recorded in New York City, 18th December, 1947. Released on Victor 20-2702.
Personnel: Joe Newman (tp) Russell Jacquet (tp) Jay Jay Johnson (tb) Illinois Jacquet (ts) Leo Parker (bar) Sir Charles Thompson (p) John Collins (g) Al Lucas (b) Shadow Wilson (d)

8. I'm Confessin' - Lester Young & His Band

Recorded in New York City, 2nd April, 1947. Released on Aladdin 212.
Personnel: Shorty McConnell (tp-1) Lester Young (ts) Argonne Thornton (p) Nasir Barakaat (g) Rodney Richardson (b) Lyndell Marshall (d)

9. The Spider - Joe Morris & His Orchestra

Recorded in New York City, 23rd December, 1947. Released on Atlantic 859.
Personnel: Joe Morris (tp) Johnny Griffin (ts) Bill McLemore (bar) Wilmus Reeves (p) George Freeman (g) Emmett Dailey (b) Leroy Jackson (d)

10. Long Tall Dexter – The Dexter Gordon Quintet

Recorded in New York City, 29th January, 1946. Released on Savoy 603.
Personnel: Leonard Hawkins (tp) Dexter Gordon (ts) Bud Powell (p) Curly Russell (b) Max Roach (d)

11. Hot In Harlem – The Tiny Grimes Quintet

Recorded in Cleveland, 1st May, 1948. Released on Atlantic 869.
Personnel: Red Prysock (ts) Jimmy Saunders (p) Tiny Grimes (g) Ike Isaacs (b) Jerry Potter (d)

12. Cole Slaw - Frank “Floorshow” Culley

Recorded in New York City, 17th January, 1949. Released on Atlantic 874.
Personnel: Frank Culley (ts) Harry Van Walls (p) Tiny Grimes (g) unknown b and d.

Frank Culley and Buddy Tate - Rock'n Roll Instrumentals For Dancing The Lindy Hop

1984 Krazy Kat reissue of Baton LP 1201 from 1955 with two extra Buddy Tate tracks added. There’s an interesting contrast between R&B man Frank Culley and Jazz veteran Buddy Tate.

This is a re-up of an old Rockhall post with an improved front cover scan and a Joan K scan of a Baton EP derived from the original LP. Some of these tracks are currently available on the Flyright CD “Thunderbolt!”

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/99564085/Dancing_The_Lindy_Hop.rar

1. Nine O'Clock Express / Frank Culley
2. Lindy Rock / Frank Culley
3. Go, Floorshow! / Frank Culley
4. Bubbles / Frank Culley
5. Speed Limit / Frank Culley
6. Sent For You Yesterday / Buddy Tate
7. That Girl / Buddy Tate
8. Fatback And Greens / Buddy Tate
9. Tete-A-Tate / Buddy Tate
10. Skip-A-Page / Buddy Tate
11. Jackie / Buddy Tate
12. Blue Buddy / Buddy Tate