Red Hot & Blue

Side 1:
01. Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston
02. Red Hot And Blue - Dewey Phillips
03. Red Hot - Billy The Kid Emerson
04. Gee, I Wish - Billy Love
05. Baby Please Don't Go - Guitar Red
06. Love My Baby - Little Junior's Blue Flames
07. Bop With Me Baby - Rosco Gordon
08. The Hucklebuck - Earl Hooker
09. Strange Kinda Feeling - Tiny Kennedy

Side 2:
01. Bear Cat - Rufus Thomas
02. Ain't That Right - Eddie Snow
03. It Ain't Gonna Be That Way - Pat Hare
04. Oh Red - Howlin' Wolf
05. Mystery Train - Little Junior's Blue Flames
06. Doctor Ross' Boogie - Doctor Ross
07. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie - Pinetop Perkins
08. Blues Disease - Tiny Kennedy

Download from:

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Red Hot & Blue (Mega)


A 1983 Charly compilation of blues sides recorded at Sam Phillip's studio at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee. Some of these sides were released on Sam's own label, Sun. Others were released on Chess (Jackie Brenston, Howlin' Wolf) and Trumpet (Tiny Kennedy) and many remained unreleased for decades. See the Facts on the Tracks below for more details.

The "hook" for this LP lies with the figure of wild man Memphis deejay Dewey Phillips, whose "Red Hot And Blue" show on WHBQ is credited with turning on the white youth of Memphis to rhythm and blues. He also helped to break the early Elvis records on Sun. Track 2 is a brief sample of the man a-hootin' and a-hollerin' over the rock 'n' roll airwaves.

Above: "Dewey and Elvis: The Life And Times Of A Rock 'n' Roll Deejay" by Louis Cantor, Illinois University Press, 2005. The Dewey Phillips story - a tale of hubris and nemesis, the rise and the downfall of one of rock 'n' roll's great characters. An all too human tragedy. At least his old pal Elvis turned up for the funeral.

Above: My beat-up copy of Robert Gordon's "It Came From Memphis". It has a chapter on Dewey - "Tell 'Em Phillips Sentcha." There's also a chapter titled "The World's Most Perfectly Formed Midget Wrestler."

The facts on the tracks, Jack. All the way from Memphis.

01. Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on March 5th 1951. Personnel:
Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats: Jackie Brenston (vocal, baritone sax); Raymond Hill (tenor sax); Ike Turner (piano); Willie Kizart (guitar); Jesse Knight (bass); Willie Sims (drums). Released on Chess 1458 in April 1951.

02. Red Hot And Blue - Dewey Phillips - airshot, unknown date.

03. Red Hot - Billy "The Kid" Emerson - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on May 31st 1955. Personnel: Billy "The Kid" Emerson (vocal); Moses Reed, Jewell Briscoe (tenor saxes); Billy "Red" Love (piano); Calvin Newborn (guitar); Kenneth Banks (bass) Phineas Newborn Sr. (drums); Released on Sun 219 in June 1955.

04. Gee, I Wish - Billy Love - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on January 19th 1954. Personnel - Billy "Red" Love (vocal, piano); Harvey Simmons, Jewell Briscoe, Lucian Coleman (saxes); Charles McGowan (guitar); Kenneth Banks (bass) Houston Stokes (drums). "Gee, I Wish" was unreleased in the 1950s as were the rest of the tracks recorded at this session. Billy "Red" Love Memphis recordings were released on Chess in 1951 and 1952.

05. Baby Please Don't Go - Guitar Red - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on unknown date circa 1953 or 1954. Personnel - Guitar Red (vocal, guitar)  A.C. Reed (tenor sax); Dennis Binder (piano) Robert Prindell (drums). Unreleased.

06. Love My Baby - Little Junior's Blue Flames - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in September / October 1953. Personnel: Little Junior Parker (vocal); unknown (alto sax); Raymond Hill, James Wheeler (tenor saxes); William Johnson (piano); Floyd Murphy, Pat Hare (guitars); Kenneth Banks (bass); possibly Houston Stokes (drums). Released on Sun 192 (b/w "Mystery Train") in December 1953.

07. Bop With Me Baby - Rosco Gordon - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, possibly on June 9th 1955. Rosco Gordon (vocal, piano) with unknown tenor sax, baritone sax, guitar, bass and drums. Unreleased in the 1950s. A single, Sun 801, "Bop With Me Baby" / "Let's Get High" was released in the early 1980s.

08. The Hucklebuck - Earl Hooker - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on July 15th 1953. Personnel: Earl Hooker (guitar); Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (piano); Edward Lee "Shorty" Irvin or Willie Nix (drums). Possibly with unknown bass player. Unreleased.

09. Strange Kinda Feeling - Tiny Kennedy - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on September 25th 1952. Personnel: Tiny Kennedy (vocal); Bill Fort, Robert Hamp, Richard Sanders (saxes); Ford "Alfordson" Nelson (piano); Calvin Newborn (guitar); Williams Steinberg (bass); Houston Stokes (drums). Released on Trumpet 187 in December 1952.

10. Bear Cat - Rufus Thomas - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, March 8th 1953. Personnel: Rufus "Hound Dog" Thomas Jr. (vocal); Joe Hill Louis (guitar); Tuff Green (bass); Houston Stokes (drums). released on Sun 181 in March 1953.

11. Ain't That Right - Eddie Snow - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on July 19th 1955. Personnel: Eddie Snow (vocal, piano); Benny Moore (alto sax); possibly Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (tenor sax); Floyd Murphy (guitar); Jeff Greyer (drums). Released on Sun 226 in August 1955.

12. It Ain't Gonna Be That Way - Pat Hare - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on May 14th 1954. Personnel: Pat Hare (vocal, guitar); Billy Love (piano); Israel Franklin (drums). Also known as "Bonus Pay." Unreleased.

13. Oh Red - Howlin' Wolf - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on October 7th 1952. Personnel: Howlin' Wolf (vocal, guitar); Walter "Tang" Smith (trombone); Charles Taylor (tenor sax); James Cotton (harmonica); Bill Johnson (piano); Willie Johnson (guitar); unknown (bass); Willie Steele (drums). Released on Chess 1528 in January 1953.

14. Mystery Train - Little Junior's Blue Flames - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in September / October 1953. Personnel: Little Junior Parker (vocal); unknown (alto sax); Raymond Hill, James Wheeler (tenor saxes); William Johnson (piano); Floyd Murphy, Pat Hare (guitars); Kenneth Banks (bass); possibly Houston Stokes (drums). Released on Sun 192 (b/w "Love My Baby") in December 1953.

15. Doctor Ross' Boogie - Doctor Ross - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in July 1954. Personnel: Doctor Ross (vocal, harmonica, guitar); Tom Troy (guitar); Roosevelt Parker (drums). Unreleased.

16. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie - Pinetop Perkins - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on August 10th, 1953. Personnel: Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (vocal, piano); Earl Hooker (guitar); Kenneth Banks (bass); Edward Lee "Sorthy" Irvin (drums). Unreleased.

17. Blues Disease - Tiny Kennedy - recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on September 25th 1952. Personnel: Tiny Kennedy (vocal); Bill Fort, Robert Hamp, Richard Sanders (saxes); Ford "Alfordson" Nelson (piano); Calvin Newborn (guitar); Williams Steinberg (bass); Houston Stokes (drums). Released on Trumpet 188 in August 1953.

If you have a week or so to spare you may wish to immerse yourself in this website:

http://www.706unionavenue.nl/

Elsewhere on Be Bop Wino:

The Blues Came Down From Memphis

Jackie Brenston - Rocket 88

Side A
1. Rocket 88
2. I Want To See My Baby
3. Jackie's Chewing Gum
4. Make My Love Come Down
5. My Real Gone Rocket
6. Mule
7. My Baby Left Town

Side B
1. Hi Ho Baby
2. Lovin' Time
3. Fat Meat Is Greasy
4. 88 Boogie
5. You Won't Be Comin' Back
6. True Love
7. The Blues Got Me Again

My thanks to our new donor – Big Al (The Bloggers’ Pal) for sending in this Green Line LP of Jackie Brenston Chess sides. Big Al is a fellow pilgrim on the Way of the Wailin’ Tenor Sax and has sent in several contributions which will appear on the blog.

The story behind “Rocket 88” has been told often – in Robert Palmer’s “Deep Blues,” in Jim Dawson and Steve Propes’ “What Was The First Rock ‘N’ Roll Record?” and perhaps most memorably in Nick Tosches’ “Unsung Heroes of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

It is a cautionary tale, of hopes raised and dashed, of friendships betrayed, of resentment and forgiveness, and, sadly, of an inordinate amount of boozing. The story unfolds in the year of Our Lord 1951, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, far from the usual Bebopwino arenas of Los Angeles and New York. Here we find ambitious young bandleader and deejay Ike Turner playing a few local gigs, and impressing guitarist B.B. King who was just passing through on the way to Sam Phillip’s Memphis Recording Service.

On B.B.’s recommendation, a recording date was arranged for Turner’s outfit (modestly named The Kings of Rhythm) at Sam Phillip’s studio at 706 Union Avenue where he recorded local blues musicians and leased or sold the masters to the Bihari Brothers’ Modern label in Los Angeles. And here we enter the realm of divine intervention, for lo, guitarist Willie Kizart’s amp was damaged in transit but on Sam’s insistence the session went ahead with paper stuffed into the cone. The result was a distorted fuzztone which dominated the best track on the session, “Rocket 88,” a paean to the Oldsmobile automobile of that name.


The song was written by band baritone sax player Jackie Brenston but it was really just an updated version of Jimmy Liggins’ 1947 jump blues “Cadillac Boogie.” The fortuitously distorted guitar gave the recording a sound which was different from other records of that era. The vocal was performed by Brenston, a long-time friend (some say they were cousins) of Ike. And here Sam Phillips takes another hand, for from the session he credited “Rocket 88” and “Come Back Where You Belong” to “Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats” while the other two sides, “Heartbroken and Worried” and “I’m Lonesome Baby” were credited to “Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm.” The sides were sent off to Chicago to be released on Chess.

“Rocket 88” was an immediate smash, tearing up the R&B charts to the number one spot and finishing as the 8th best selling R&B record of 1951. This was great news for Jackie and the Chess brothers, but not so hot for Ike Turner (whose Chess single bombed) and the Biharis. In the blink of an eye Jackie was out of the Kings of Rhythm and touring the country with a new set of Delta Cats. Sam Phillips started to think more seriously about starting his own record label and a corny country musician called Bill Haley brought out a good cover version of “Rocket 88” and decided that covering R&B records might prove to be both artistically and financially advantageous.


As for Jackie, his star was soon on the wane. The follow up release on Chess, “My Real Gone Rocket” went nowhere and there were signs of trouble when his next release, “Independent Woman,” was backed by a Billy Love side, “Juiced,” which was credited to Jackie despite his total lack of involvement in that recording. Jackie’s Chess career finally faded out in 1953. There was a brief spell in Lowell Fulson’s band before Jackie found himself back with Ike Turner, this time as a salaried sax player.

By now the Turner outfit was more like a rhythm and blues review than the tight little group which had entered Phillip’s studio only a few years before. They were signed to Federal Records and released sides credited to Ike Turner and his Orchestra, Billy Gayles, The Gardenias and even two records credited to Jackie Brenston – “What Can It Be” / “Gonna Wait For My Chance” and “The Mistreater” / “Much Later”, both in 1956.

They were reasonably good records, especially the hard rocker “Much Later,” but they were not to be the route back to stardom for Jackie. Indeed that route was now closed forever as Jackie took to some serious boozing with fellow band member (and one of the original Kings of Rhythm) Raymond Hill. He remained with Ike Turner into the early sixties and was on the international smash hit for Ike and Tina Turner “A Fool In Love” which was released on Sue in 1960. Jackie had his own single on Sue, “Trouble Up The Road” but naturally it didn’t sell. In 1962 Jackie parted with Ike Turner for the final time, worked for a while with Sid Wallace, and now sober again, made his last recording with the Earl Hooker band for the Mel-Lon label in 1963.

He returned to Clarksdale where he took up the insanely lethal combination of truck driving and wine drinking, finally passing in December 1979 while being treated in a veterans’ hospital in Memphis.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

Rocket 88 (Mega)


1. Rocket 88 (Memphis, March 1951, Chess 1458)

2. I Want To See My Baby (Memphis, December 1951, unreleased)

3. Jackie's Chewing Gum (Memphis, December 1951, unreleased)

4. Make My Love Come Down (Memphis, July 1951, unreleased)

5. My Real Gone Rocket (Memphis, July 1951, Chess 1469)

6. Mule (Chicago, April 1953, unreleased)

7. My Baby Left Town (Memphis, December 1951, unreleased)

8. Hi Ho Baby * (Chicago, December 1951, Chess 1496)

9. Lovin' Time (Chicago, December 1951, unreleased)

10. Fat Meat Is Greasy (Memphis, December 1951, unreleased)

11. 88 Boogie (Chicago, December 1951, unreleased)

12. You Won't Be Comin' Back (Chicago, December 1951, unreleased)

13. True Love (Chicago, April 1953, unreleased)

14. The Blues Got Me Again (Chicago, December 1951, Chess 1532)

* duet with Edna McRaney

Recommended purchase:

“The Mistreater” (Rev-Ola Bandstand), a 24 track collection of all the Chess and Federal sides.