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Attention Mac Users!

Mac users have been experiencing problems in unpacking the WinRAR archives used on this blog. Two solutions have been suggested.

1. Use The Unarchiver - www.theunarchiver.com - see comments on Little Esther Bad Baad Girl post for details.

2. Use Keka - http://www.kekaosx.com/en/ - see comments on Johnny Otis Presents post.

Showing posts with label Lucky Millinder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucky Millinder. Show all posts

Monday, 5 March 2018

Ruth Brown - Rockin' With Ruth (re-up)





































































Side 1:
01. Teardrops From My Eyes
02. 5-10-15 Hours
03. Daddy Daddy
04. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
05. Wild Wild Young Men
06. Love Contest
07. Hello Little Boy
08. Oh, What A Dream

Side 2:
01. Somebody Touched Me
02. Bye Bye Young Men
03. I Can See Everybody's Baby
04. As Long As I'm Moving
05. This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'
06. I Can't Hear A Word You Say
07. Papa Daddy
08. Don't Deceive Me






Note: download includes bonus folder of label scans from Joan. "Rockin' With Ruth" was originally posted on this blog on the 9th March 2010. This re-up has new cover and label scans. The archive is a Zip file generated by PeaZip. Some downloaders have been unable to open the RAR archive files since WinRAR was updated, so I thought I would try an alternative archiver. Please let me know if there are any problems.

This post started as a response to a re-up request but just kinda grew and grew. Here we go -

Ruth Brown - The Atlantic Years

Ruth Brown's massive record sales helped establish Atlantic as the top R&B label of the 1950s, so much so, that Atlantic was sometimes referred to as "The House That Ruth Built." Her best selling years were from 1951 - 1954, although she continued to have R&B chart entries (and some pop hits too) until 1960.

She was born Ruth Weston in Portsmouth, Virginia, on January 12th 1928. "Brown" was the surname of her first husband, trumpet player Jimmy Brown, whom she married early in her career. Like many R&B artists, Ruth's earliest exposure to music came through the church, in Ruth's case through the different styles of music in two churches - the organ / piano accompanied music of the African Methodist Episcopal church of which her father was a member, and the acapella singing of the North Carolina Baptist church to which her mother's family belonged.

Her father sang in the church choir and played the piano at home where family singsongs would consist mainly of sacred songs and old fashioned sentimental (and 100% "clean") pop songs. When a teenage Ruth started to get gigs singing blues songs at local clubs and USO venues, she had to "sneak out" to perform. Her most spectacular feat of fooling her parents came in 1944 when she took a bus to New York under the pretext of visiting her uncle but in reality with the intention of entering the amateur night at the Apollo, which she won.

Once she had graduated from high school Ruth was in a position to be more open about her musical ambitions and took gigs from bigger and more distant venues. It was while performing at a club in Detroit that she was spotted by bandleader Lucky Millinder and it seemed that her big break had arrived when he signed her as a vocalist for his band. The big break proved to be illusory as he already had a strong female vocalist in Anisteen Allen, and Ruth was fired on the flimsiest of pretexts after singing at just one gig in Washington D.C.

Left stranded by Millinder, Ruth had the good luck to get an audition for former bandleader Blanche Calloway, the older sister of Cab, who was running a Washington club called the Crystal Caverns. Blanche was impressed enough to offer young Ruth a temporary spot at the club to help her get back on her feet and back home. This was the real career break for Ruth, because her performances went down so well that word got to Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson at Atlantic Records. The two diskery honchos made the trek to Washington and were impressed enough to offer Ruth the chance to sign up to what was still a pretty small recording company without a hit record to its name.

Blanche Calloway who had become Ruth's manager phoned the Apollo Theater in New York and arranged an appearance for her new client with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, and so in October 1948 Ruth set out by car for NYC to appear at the premier black entertainment venue and to record for Atlantic. She made it as far as Chester, Pennsylvania, when the car crashed and Ruth wound up in hospital for months. She was still in crutches when she made her delayed recording debut in April 1949 at a session credited to Texas Johnny Brown, who was backed by Amos Milburn and his band. Ruth sang one track, "Rain Is a Bringdown" which was unreleased until it appeared many years later on a Route 66 LP.

Ruth's recording debut proper came on May 25th, 1949 when she cut "So Long," a tear-jerking ballad previously popularized by Little Miss Cornshucks. Coupled with "It's Raining," it was a hit, reaching number six in the Billboard R&B chart. This was the second hit that Atlantic had produced as earlier in the month Stick McGhee and His Buddies had stormed to number 3 in the charts with "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee O-Dee."


The follow up, another sentimental ballad, "I'll Get Along Somehow," was another success in late 1949, but in October 1950 Ruth recorded the side which really propelled Atlantic to its position as number 1 R&B label, the rocking Rudy Toombs composition, "Teardrops From My Eyes"  which was her first number 1 R&B hit. It was the second highest selling single of 1951 (behind "Sixty Minute Man" by The Dominoes). The following release, "I'll Wait For You," reached number 8 in the R&B chart in March 1951, while "Teardrops From My Eyes" was still high in the same chart at number 5.

Her next release, "I Know," reached number 7 in August 1951, then in the spring of 1952 came another massive hit, the Rudy Toombs stomper "5 - 10 - 15 Hours." Backed by the sinuous sax of her second husband, Willis Jackson, Ruth's raunchy performance was a mile and more away from her early ballad successes.


The follow-up, "Daddy Daddy" another Rudy Toombs composition, which was much more explicit in its expression of lustful longing, also featured sax by Willis Jackson but somehow lacked the appeal of  "5 - 10 - 15 Hours" and stalled at number 5 in the charts in October 1952. Thanks to the sales of records by The Clovers, Ruth Brown and Joe Turner, Atlantic was the top selling R&B label again in 1952.


In early 1953 Ruth was back at the top of the R&B chart with "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean," a disc which sparked a slew of answer discs by other artists. Ruth's next disc, the hard rocking "Wild, Wild Young Men" kept up the chart momentum, reaching number 3 at the end of June.


Ruth's autumn 1953 release, "The Tears Keep Tumbling Down" failed to chart nationally although it sold strongly in a few locations. This trend continued with Ruth's early 1954 releases - "Love Contest" sold well regionally but failed to crack the national charts, a reissue of a 1950 recording of "Sentimental Journey" with The Delta Rhythm Boys didn't do much while "Hello Little Boy" picked up some regional action in Chicago.

The second half of 1954 saw a revival in Ruth Brown's record sales, beginning with the Chuck Willis composition "Oh What A Dream" which reached number 1 in September. The follow up, "Mambo Baby" / "Somebody Touched Me" was released in October and reached number 1 in the R&B charts on November 20th, to give Ruth a successful close out to the year.

At this point, it's worth looking back over the years 1951 - 1954. In each of these years Ruth had finished in the top ten best selling R&B artist list. In 1951, '52 and '53 she was the top selling female R&B vocalist and in 1954 she came second to Faye Adams. In each of these years Atlantic was the top selling R&B label. In '51, '52 and '53 the top selling Atlantic act was The Clovers, and in '54 it was Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters, an indication that vocal groups were emerging as the most popular form of R&B. From the point of view of consistent record sales, these years were the most successful that Ruth would enjoy as the second half of the 1950's would prove to be much more uneven.


Above - Atlantic ad from January 1955. The old order changeth, giving way to the new. 1955 would bring great success to Ray Charles, LaVern Baker and Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters. Joe Turner continued to sell reasonably well, but it wasn't such a good year for Ruth Brown or for The Clovers. Ruth's January 1955 release of "Bye Bye Young Men" didn't chart but in April she had a double sided hit with "I Can See Everybody's Baby" reaching number 7 while the reverse side "As Long As I'm Moving" did even better, climbing to number 4 in the R&B chart.


She recorded some duets with Clyde McPhatter but only one of their collaborations was a good seller - "Love Has Joined Us Together" which was released in November 1955, made it to number 8 on the R&B chart. In 1956 Ruth could only scrape into the top fifty list of best selling R&B artists but 1957 brought an improvement with her recording of a jaunty Leiber - Stoller pop song, "Lucky Lips" which reached number 6 in the R&B chart and climbed to number 25 in the pop chart in March.

In 1958 a Leiber - Stoller production of the Bobby Darin penned "This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'" brought more pop success for Ruth, as it reached number 24 in the Billboard Hot 100 in October, and number 7 in the R&B chart. Ruth was now 30 years old so there was definitely something incongruous about her performance as a teenybopper telling her mama about the completion of her household chores before going out to sample the delights of rock and roll.

A Leiber - Stoller composition "Jack O'Diamonds" earned Ruth a number 23 R&B chart place in July 1959. It was essentially a pop production, with the superior (and very cynical) "I Can't Hear A Word You Say," which was reminiscent of Leiber - Stoller's material for The Coasters, relegated to the B-Side. Later in the year a fine bluesy production of "I Don't Know" reached number 5 in the R&B chart and number 64 in the Hot 100. A very convincing performance indeed

In April 1960 Ruth's recording of a Chuck Willis song "Don't Deceive Me," complete with string section and choir, made it to number 10 in the R&B chart and number 62 in the Hot 100 for Ruth's last chart hit on Atlantic.

Ruth's bluesy soulful vocals on "I Don't Know" and "Taking Care Of Business" (from September 1960) show a performer of great maturity and technique yet her career with Atlantic had stalled as far as chart action was concerned. In December 1959 Atlantic issued an LP of Ruth performing standards - "Late Date With Ruth Brown." With tasteful big band and string accompaniment, some tracks work well, while others don't. If more material like "I Don't Know" or "Taking Care Of Business" had been made available to Ruth then perhaps her Atlantic recording career wouldn't have petered out the way it did in the early '60's.

Cover shot from Discogs.com

In 1962 she left Atlantic and signed with Philips where she recorded "Along Came Ruth" - an album of cover versions of R&B hits such as "Sea Of Love" and "Cry Cry Cry." She also recorded an album of gospel songs but left the label sometime in 1963.

Ruth's career continued to decline and for some years was virtually dead as she took up jobs outside the music business in order to raise her sons and put them through university. However her fortunes began to revive in the 1980's with parts in stage shows "The Amen Corner," "Staggerlee" and the original Paris production of "Black and Blue." She was Motormouth Maybelle in John Waters' 1988 movie "Hairspray" and when "Black and Blue" opened on Broadway in January 1989 her comeback was complete - a Tony and a Grammy (for the original cast recording) followed.

When a lawyer fan learned that she was receiving no royalty payments from Atlantic (they claimed SHE owed them money) he took on her case and won substantial compensation not only for Ruth but for other surviving R&B veterans. This led to the setting up of The Rhythm and Blues Foundation, an organisation dedicated to the interests and welfare of a generation of forgotten (and often cheated) R&B performers.

Ruth Brown passed away in Las Vegas in November 2006 having suffered a heart attack and stroke.


The Facts On The Tracks on "Rockin' With Ruth"




"Teardrops From My Eyes" recorded in NYC in September 1950. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: 2 unknown, trumpet; unknown, alto sax; Willis Jackson (tenor sax); probably Haywood Henry (baritone sax); unknown, piano, guitar, bass, drums; Budd Johnson (arranger).

Released in October 1950, b/w "Am I Making The Same Mistake Again" on Atlantic 919. Number 1 in the Billboard R&B chart for 11 weeks.

"5 - 10 - 15 Hours" recorded in NYC on February 13th, 1952. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: unknown, trumpet; Willis Jackson (tenor sax); 2 unknown, saxes; Harry Van Walls (piano); unknown, guitar; unknown, bass; Connie Kay (drums).

Released in March 1952, b/w "Be Anything (But Be Mine)" on Atlantic 962. Number 1 in the Billboard R&B chart for 7 weeks.


"Daddy Daddy" was recorded in NYC on July 2nd, 1952. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: Willis Jackson (tenor sax); unknown, cello; Harry Van Walls (piano); unknown, guitar; unknown, bass; unknown, drums; The James Quintet (vocal group).

Released in August 1952, b/w "Have A Good Time" on Atlantic 973. Number 5 in the Billboard R&B chart in October 1952.

"(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" was recorded in NYC on 19th December, 1952. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocal) with: Taft Jordan (trumpet); Paul Williams (alto sax); Sam "The Man" Taylor (tenor sax); Jesse Stone (piano); Mickey Baker (guitar); Lloyd Trotman (bass); Connie Kay (drums); Hal Jackson (tambourine).

Released in January 1953, b/w "R.B. Blues" on Atlantic 986.  Number 1 on the Billboard R&B charts for 5 weeks. 6th best selling R&B record of 1953.


"Wild Wild Young Men" was recorded in NYC on 10th April 1953. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: Taft Jordan (trumpet); Freddie Mitchell (tenor sax); Haywood Henry (baritone sax); Harry Van Walls (piano); Rector Bailey (guitar); George Duvivier (bass); Connie Kay (drums); Jesse Stone (arranger).

Released in April 1953, b/w "Mend Your Ways" on Atlantic 993. Number 3 in Billboard R&B chart, 27th June 1953.

"Love Contest" was recorded in NYC on 16th December 1953. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: Sam "The Man" Taylor (tenor sax); Paul Williams (baritone sax); Kelly Owens (piano); Mickey Baker (guitar); Lloyd Trotman (bass); Joe Marshall (drums); Jesse Stone (arranger).

Released in January 1954, b/w "You Don't Want Me" on Atlantic 1018.

"Hello Little Boy" was recorded at the same session as "Love Contest." Personnel as above except John Lewis replaces Kelly Owens on piano.

Released in April 1954, b/w "If I Had Any Sense" on Atlantic 1027.

"Oh What A Dream" was recorded in NYC on 7th May 1954. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: Ed "Tiger" Lewis (trumpet); Richard Harris (trombone); Arnett Cobb (tenor sax); Sylvester Thomas (baritone sax); Bu Pleasant (piano); Mickey Baker (guitar); Benny Moten (bass); Noruddin Zafer (drums); The Rhythmakers (vocal group).

Released in July 1954, b/w "Please Don't Freeze" on Atlantic 1036. Number 1 in Billboard R&B chart, first two weeks of September 1954, 16 weeks in chart in total.

"Somebody Touched Me" was recorded at the same session as "Oh What A Dream." Personnel as above (the Arnett Cobb band plus The Rhythmakers vocal group).

Released in October 1954, B-Side of "Mambo Baby" on Atlantic 1044. "Mambo Baby" reached number 1 in the Billboard best selling R&B chart on 20th November 1954.

"Bye Bye Young Men" was recorded in NYC on 11th August, 1954. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: unknown trumpet, tenor and baritone saxes, piano, bass and drums. The Rhythmakers (vocal group).

Released in January 1955 b/w "Ever Since My Baby's Been Gone" on Atlantic 1051.


"I Can See Everybody's Baby" and "As Long As I'm Moving" were recorded in NYC on 1st March 1955. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: Sam "The Man" Taylor (tenor sax); The Rhythmakers (vocal group); rest unknown.

Released in April 1955, "I Can See Everybody's Baby" / "As Long As I'm Moving" on Atlantic 1059. "I Can See Everybody's Baby" reached number 7 on the Billboard R&B chart and "As Long As I'm Moving" reached number 4.

Above: 1955 Atlantic EP "Ruth Brown Sings."

"This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'" was recorded in NYC on 30th July 1958. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocal) with: Joe Wilder, Steve Lipkin (trumpets); King Curtis (tenor sax); Mike Stoller (piano); Charles Macey, Everett Barksdale (guitars); Lloyd Trotman (bass); Joe Marshall (drums) Bradley Spirmer (percussion); unknown vocal group; Howard Biggs (arranger).

Released in August 1958, b/w "Why Me" on Atlantic 1197. Number 24 in the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, October 1958 and number 7 in the R&B chart. "Why Me" reached number 17 in the Billboard Hot R&B Sides chart in November 1958.

"I Can't Hear A Word You Say" was recorded in NYC on 7th March 1959. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: Jimmy Cleveland (trombone); King Curtis, Budd Johnson (tenor saxes); Ernie Hayes (piano); Bill Suyker, Wally Richardson (guitars); Earl Mays (bass); Sticks Evans (drums); Howard Biggs (arranger).

Released in May 1959, B-Side of "Jack O'Diamonds" on Atlantic 2026. "Jack O'Diamonds" was number 23 in the Billboard Hot R&B Sides chart in July 1959.

"Papa Daddy" was recorded at the same session as "I Can't Hear A Word You Say" with the same personnel.

Released in August 1959, B-Side of "I Don't Know" on Atlantic 2035. "I Don't Know" was number 5 in the Billboard Hot R&B Sides chart and number 64 in the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1959.

May 1959 compilation LP

"Don't Deceive Me" was recorded in NYC on 30th September 1959. Personnel: Ruth Brown (vocals) with: Sol Gubin (vibes); Mickey Baker, Mundell Lowe, Carl Lynch (guitars); Abie Baker (bass); Sticks Evans (drums); Elise Bretton, Jerome Graff, Bill Marine, Merrill Ostrus, Marcia Patterson, Nelson Starr, choir; 8 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli, Reggie Obrecht, Richard Wess, conductor.

Released in February 1960, b/w "I Burned Your Letter" on Atlantic 2052. Number 10 in the Billboard Hot R&B Sides chart and number 62 in the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1960.

Thanks to Joan K for label scans and cover scans used throughout this post. Information sources include Billboard, The Cash Box, www.45worlds.com, www.discogs.com, www.jazzdisco.org, YouTube, Spotify, Bruyninckx discography, and most of all "Blue Rhythms: Six Lives In Rhythm And Blues" by Chip Deffaa, Da Capo Press, 2000 edition.


Sunday, 27 March 2016

Big John Greer Is Back!






Tracklist:

Side 1
01. Woman Is A Five Letter Word
02. Tell Me So
03. Got You On My Mind
04. Let Me Hold You
05. You Played On My Piano
06. Lonesome And Blue
07. I Need You
08. I'll Never Let You Go

Side 2
09. I'm The Fat Man
10. Beginning To Miss You
11. Rhythm In The Breeze
12. Drinkin' Fool
13. Getting Mighty Lonesome For You
14. Too Long
15. Come Back Maybelline
16. Night Crawlin'

Download from:

http://www10.zippyshare.com/v/OuBdX17M/file.html

In answer to a request here is a new link to the 1980s Official LP "R&B In New York City" starring former Lucky Millinder vocalist and sax player Big John Greer.

The Lucky  Millinder Orchestra begat three spin off small jump groups which in their earliest incarnations consisted mostly of musicians from Lucky's band. In chronological order of breakaway these were the groups led by Tab Smith, Bullmoose Jackson and Big John Greer. There are already 2 Bullmoose Jackson LPs on the blog and Tab Smith will be back on the blog soon. In the meantime here's Big John Greer and you can find his story in this post:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/big-john-greer-r-b-in-new-york-city.html

As you can read in the above post, Big John continued to record occasionally with the Millinder outfit while starring with his own Rhythm Rockers group. Here are three sides he recorded with Millinder for King in 1950:

Let It Roll Again:



The Jumpin' Jack:



Clap Your Hands:



"Let It Roll Again" was released on King 4379 in August 1950, "The Jumpin' Jack" was released on King 4436 in March 1951, and "Clap Your Hands" was released on King 4398 in September 1950.

Billboard August 1950

Tuesday, 26 January 2016

Lucky Millinder Special!


Side 1
1 - Apollo Jump
2 - Ride, Red, Ride
3 - That's All!
4 - Shipyard Social Function
5 - Hurry, Hurry!
6 - Shout, Sister, Shout!
7 - Mason Flyer
8 - Slide, Mr Trombone
9 - There's Good Blues Tonight

Side 2
1 - Let Me Off Uptown
2 - Rock Me
3 - Little John Special
4 - Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well
5 - Trouble In Mind
6 - Big Fat Mama
7 - Rock Daniel
8 - All The Time
9 - I Want A Tall Skinny Papa

Download from:



Side 1
1 - Ram-Bunk-Shush
2 - Oh Babe!
3 - Please Open Your Heart
4 - Silent George
5 - I'm Waiting Just For You
6 - No One Else Could Be
7 - It's Been A Long, Long Time
8 - Please Be Careful

Side 2
1 - Loaded With Love
2 - When I Gave You My Love
3 - Heavy Sugar
4 - Old Spice
5 - I'm Here Love
6 - It's A Sad, Sad Feeling
7 - Ow!
8 - Goody Good Love

Download from:





Two more re-ups for you fans of swing and big band R&B. I've added new cover and label scans to the "Ram-Bunk-Shush" collection. This time you get the complete front cover, unlike my previous effort.

Lucius "Lucky" Millinder could neither read music nor play an instrument, yet he led one of the best of the big blues bands, invariably packed with superb musicians and vocalists. His band was one of the most enduring, making its recording debut for Decca in 1941 and outlasting most of the competition by having a final recording session (for King) as late as 1955.

"Apollo Jump" features 18 sides recorded for Decca between 1941 and 1945. The band line up for the first session (June 1941) includes Bill Doggett on piano, Panama Francis on drums, Trevor Bacon (guitar and vocals) and the great gospel singer and guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The good sister's tracks are very much highlights of this set, along with the Wynonie Harris sides. "Trouble In Mind", "Rock Daniel", "Shout, Sister, Shout!", "Rock Me", "That's All!" and "I Want A Tall Skinny Papa" are a blast, although how Lucky persuaded Sister Rosetta to record the raunchy "Tall Skinny Papa" is beyond me.

Trevor Bacon filled the male vocal slot and his light singing voice suits "Slide, Mr. Trombone", "Let Me Off Uptown" and "Big Fat Mama." Bacon left the band in 1944 along with Lucky's alto sax player Tab Smith to form a new small jump band. His replacement was the sensational Wynonie Harris whose powerhouse blues shouting couldn't have been a greater contrast in style. His stay was short, less than nine months, and he only recorded two sides with Millinder in May 1944: "Hurry, Hurry!" and the massive hit "Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well?"

Listen to "Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well":



By the end of 1944 Harris had left the band and settled in Los Angeles. His vocal duties were taken up by sax player Bullmoose Jackson who would go on to find great success as a solo, firstly being backed by players from the Millinder band and then going on to form his own group.

Other personnel to note on "Apollo Jump" are: Dizzy Gillespie who plays on the instrumental flag wavers from July 1942, "Mason Flyer" and "Little John Special"; alto sax man Preston Love and tenor sax star Sam "The Man" Taylor.

Lucky Millinder's last Decca session was in October 1947. The band recorded for RCA and its Vik subsidiary from January to November 1949. Personnel included saxophonist / vocalist Big John Greer, female vocalist Annisteen Allen and saxmen Ike Quebec and Paul Quinichette. The biggest hit for the band at this time was "D Natural Blues" which used the same riff as Charlie Parker's "Now's The Time" and Paul William's "The Hucklebuck."

The "Ram-Bunk-Shush" LP brings us to Lucky's King sides. In February 1950 the Lucky Millinder Orchestra started recording for King. There were regular sessions through 1950 and 1951 up to the middle of 1952. After a gap of nearly three years the band recorded one last session for King in March 1955. The four tracks from that session are the last four tracks on this LP.

Highlights? There's the October 1950 session with Wynonie Harris which gave us a stonkingly good cover version of "Oh Babe!" Another classic from the same session is everybody's favourite song about a peeping tom / stalker, "Silent George" memorably hollered by Myra Johnson. There are some good band instrumentals in "Ram-Bunk-Shush", "Heavy Sugar", "Old Spice" and "Ow!" The rest of the tracks are mostly pop ballads but they make for pleasant enough listening, especially Annisteen Allen's "I'm Waiting Just For You", her duet with Melvin Moore, "No-One Else Could Be" and the Corky Robbins / Johnny Bosworth rendition of "Loaded With Love."

Listen to "Silent George":



Original "Apollo Jump" (August 2010) post is here:


It includes extensive write up, photos and a recommended purchase. Worth checking out!

Original "Ram-Bunk-Shush" (September 2008) is here:


More big bands coming soon - re-ups and new stuff. We're goin' down swingin'!

Saturday, 2 May 2015

Bull Moose Jackson - Two Re-Ups

In answer to a request for a re-up of the Bull Moose Jackson LP "Moose On The Loose" on Saxophonograph, here are re-ups of both Bull Moose LPs which I originally uploaded in 2011 and 2009 respectively: "Moose On The Loose" and "Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again."


Moose On The Loose:

Side A:
1. Chittlin' Switch (Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra)
2. Hold Him Joe
3. We Ain't Got Nothin'
4. Just In Case You Change Your Mind
5. Jammin' And Jumpin'
6. Bad Man Jackson, That's Me
7. Moose On The Loose
8. Sometimes I Wonder

Side B:
1. Houston Texas Gal
2. Moosey
3. We Can Talk Some Trash
4. Oh John
5. End This Misery
6. Bearcat Blues
7. Big Ten-Inch Record
8. Hodge-Podge

New download link:

Moose On The Loose (Mega)

Original post is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/bull-moose-jackson-moose-on-loose.html





















Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again:

Side A:
1. I Know Who Threw The Whiskey (In The Well)
2. Bull Moose Jackson Blues
3. Sneaky Pete
4. Cleveland Ohio Blues
5. Fare Thee Well, Deacon Jones
6. Keep Your Big Mouth Shut
7. Miss Lucy
8. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide

Side B:
1. Memphis Gal
2. Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me
3. Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again
4. Cherokee Boogie (Eh-Oh-Aleena)
5. Nosey Joe
6. Bootsie
7. I Wanna Hug Ya, Kiss Ya, Squeeze Ya
8. Watch My Signals

New download link:

Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again (Mega)


Original post:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/bull-moose-jackson-big-fat-mamas-are.html


Check out the original posts for much more info on Bull Moose, the LPs, and loadsa label scans.

Sunday, 30 September 2012

Big John Greer - R & B In New York City






Side 1
1 Woman Is A Five Letter Word
2 Tell Me So
3 Got You On My Mind
4 Let Me Hold You
5 You Played On My Piano
6 Lonesome And Blue
7 I Need You
8 I'll Never Let You Go

Side 2
1 I'm The Fat Man
2 Beginning To Miss You
3 Rhythm In The Breeze
4 Drinkin' Fool
5 Getting Mighty Lonesome For You
6 Too Long
7 Come Back Maybelline
8 Night Crawlin'

This LP was originally uploaded to Be Bop Wino about 5 years ago. Ye gods, we’ve passed our 5th anniversary – 5 years of online rhythm ’n’ bluesin’ – doesn’t time fly? Back then I hadn’t worked out how to scan complete LP covers, so the accompanying scans were pretty poor. The previous post of El Enmascarado’s Big John Greer disc on Sittin’ In With gives me a good excuse to re-up this collection with all new Be Bop Wino standard cover scans and present them for your pleasure. Plus I can also include a little more info on Mr Greer. It’s still the same sound files though …

Tenor sax man and vocalist John Greer arrived in New York to join the Lucky Millinder Orchestra in 1948, on the recommendation of his former school bandmate Henry Glover. As we saw in the previous post he recorded four sides for Bobby Shad’s Sittin’ In With label before his first session on RCA Victor with Millinder which came in January 1949. Possessor of a pleasant singing voice, able to handle sweet ballads and more raucous jump material as well as being more than handy on the tenor sax, he was a natural replacement for Bull Moose Jackson, who had left the Millinder outfit to embark on a very successful solo career.

Greer’s career path closely followed that of Jackson – recording simultaneously with the Millinder band and with his own Rhythm Rockers. When Millinder left RCA in 1950, Greer continued to record for the label and its Groove R&B subsidiary until 1955. Many of his releases were ballads but they failed to bring the success that Bull Moose enjoyed with similar material in the late 1940s and early 50s. In the meantime, Greer continued to record with the Millinder band through 1950 after they had moved to King, most noticeably at a May 1950 session where he was the featured vocalist on several sides including "Let It Roll Again."

Also on King, Greer recorded with Wynonie Harris (“Oh Babe!” “Teardrops From My Eyes” and “Bloodshot Eyes”), Bull Moose Jackson (“Nosey Joe” and “Bearcat Blues”), and Annisteen Allen. His only substantial hit on RCA was “Got You On My Mind” which reached number two on the Billboard R&B chart in the spring of 1952. His contract with RCA / Groove was not renewed in 1955, and he had two sessions for King in 1956 before his recording career was brought to a premature end by what are euphemistically called “lifestyle issues” aka booze.

“R&B In New York City” was released in 1988. As well as the big hit “Got You On My Mind,” there are a few good rockers such as the raunchy “You Played On My Piano” (with Dolores Brown), “I’m The Fat Man” and “Come Back Maybelline” – a fine answer record to Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline.” Ballads predominate on this collection, but they aren’t too sickly sweet and in fact make for pleasantly relaxed listening.

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Recommended purchase – “I’m The Fat Man” (Rev-ola CR Band 17)


This thirty track collection compiled by Dave Penny concentrates on the swinging, jumping and rocking side of Big John Greer’s music. It includes four tracks recorded with The Du Droppers and comes with very informative notes. An excellent purchase for rockin’ R&B fans.

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra - Apollo Jump


Side 1:
1. Apollo Jump
2. Ride, Red, Ride
3. That's All!
4. Shipyard Social Function
5. Hurry, Hurry!
6. Shout, Sister, Shout!
7. Mason Flyer
8. Slide, Mr Trombone
9. There's Good Blues Tonight

Side 2:
1. Let Me Off Uptown
2. Rock Me
3. Little John Special
4. Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well?
5. Trouble In Mind
6. Big Fat Mama
7. Rock Daniel
8. All The Time
9. I Want A Tall Skinny Papa

They say that the real swing that was generated in live performance by the Lucky Millinder Orchestra was never captured on their recordings and that you really had to be there in a packed ballroom to appreciate just how good they actually were. Well there are plenty of tracks throughout this superfine 1983 Affinity LP which get my toes a-tappin’ so this band must have really been something else live.

Lucky Millinder couldn’t play an instrument or even read a music sheet, if we are to believe some accounts. What made him a great bandleader was his ability to choose performers and arrangers who could bring his musical dreams to reality. A dazzling parade of future R&B and jazz stars came through the ranks of this band, especially during the years they recorded for Decca (1941 – 47), the period of the recordings on this selection.

Here’s a sample of the instrumental talent on these tracks: Bill Doggett, Panama Francis, Tab Smith, Bull Moose Jackson, Stafford Simon, Sir Charles Thompson, Dizzy Gillespie, Sam “The Man” Taylor, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Clyde Hart and Preston Love.

Vocal numbers were an important feature in Millinder’s live set and his recordings. In 1941 the band had Trevor Bacon and the remarkable Sister Rosetta Tharpe at the mic. The good Sister was a gospel singer and guitarist who for a time was not averse to performing more worldly material. She left the band in 1942 to perform at Café Society before finally giving up the sinful blues in order to devote herself to The Lord’s music. All of her tracks on this LP are superb. A mixture of the sacred and the not exactly profane. Check her out on YouTube to see some incredible performances with Lucky Millinder in the 1940’s through to television broadcasts from the 1960’s.

Trevor Bacon was a guitarist with a pleasant, if limited singing voice who could handle blues and ballads. His biggest hits with the band, “When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World)” and “Sweet Slumber” aren’t on this collection, but “Big Fat Mama” and “Let Me Off Uptown” are fine swinging showcases for his vocal ability. In 1944 he left the Millinder outfit to hook up with a “breakaway” group led by Tab Smith. See the Be Bop Wino post “I Don’t Want To Play In The Kitchen” for more of the Tab Smith / Trevor Bacon story.

After the departure of Bacon, Millinder picked up Wynonie Harris as a replacement, and it’s hard to think of a greater contrast in voices. Wynonie’s powerhouse blues shouting is a world away from Bacon’s light voiced singing. “Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well?” was a number one R&B hit in 1945, by which time Wynonie had already disappeared over the horizon in search of solo glory.

His replacement came from within the ranks of the band – tenor sax man Benjamin “Bull Moose” Jackson stepping forward to take up vocal duties. Unfortunately his singing doesn’t feature on this collection. He fronted a series of recordings on the Queen and King labels which were really Millinder band performances issued under a different name to get round the Decca contract. See the Be Bop Wino post “Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again” for more Bull Moose.

Annisteen Allen recorded with the Millinder band between 1945 and 1951. Her only performance on this LP is “There’s Good Blues Tonight” which is a kind of precursor to “Good Rockin’ Tonight.” Other notable recordings by this fine singer include “Let It Roll” and “In The Middle Of The Night” but you’ll have to look elsewhere to find them, my swinging friends.

There’s a fair sprinkling of good instrumental numbers in this collection. “Mason Flyer” and “Little John Special” are most often cited by jazz critics as the best Millinder recordings. Both have solos by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, alto sax man Tab Smith and tenor sax player Stafford “Pazuzza” Simon. The propulsive “Apollo Jump” has a riff which Chuck Higgins fans will find oddly familiar.

Lucky Millinder himself was an occasional vocalist (“Shorty’s Got To Go”) with the one example here being “Ride Red Ride” which is a hangover from his days fronting the Mills Blue Rhythm Band back in the 1930’s. The Millinder Orchestra switched to RCA Victor in 1949 (“D Natural Blues”) and finally got to record officially for King between 1950 and 1952, including a reunion with Wynonie Harris for a great cover of Louis Prima’s “Oh Babe!” and a tremendous "Night Train." The break up came around that time, although Millinder did come out of musical semi retirement to front one last King session in 1955. See the Be Bop Wino post “Ram-Bunk-Shush” for Lucky Millinder’s 1950's King recordings.


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1. Apollo Jump
2. Ride, Red, Ride (vocal – Lucky Millinder)
3. That's All! ((vocal – Sister Rosetta Tharpe + band)
4. Shipyard Social Function
5. Hurry, Hurry! (vocal – Wynonie Harris)
6. Shout, Sister, Shout! (vocal – Sister Rosetta Tharpe)
7. Mason Flyer
8. Slide, Mr Trombone (vocal – Trevor Bacon)
9. There's Good Blues Tonight (vocal – Anisteen Allen)
10. Let Me Off Uptown (vocal – Trevor Bacon)
11. Rock Me (vocal – Sister Rosetta Tharpe)
12. Little John Special
13. Who Threw The Whiskey Down The Well (vocal – Wynonie Harris)
14. Trouble In Mind (vocal – Sister Rosetta Tharpe)
15. Big Fat Mama (vocal – Trevor Bacon)
16. Rock Daniel (vocal – Sister Rosetta Tharpe + band)
17. All The Time (vocal – The Lucky Seven)
18. I Want A Tall Skinny Papa (vocal – Sister Rosetta Tharpe + band)

Recommended purchase:

“Jukebox Hits 1942-1951” on the Acrobat label (has it been revived?) is available both as a CD and mp3 collection on Amazon. It has 20 tracks including 2 under Bull Moose Jackson’s name. Recordings from Decca, RCA and King, including many not on the LP posted here. Go git it! The world needs to swing more.

Thursday, 24 September 2009

Bull Moose Jackson - Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again

Benjamin Clarence Jackson was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1919. He took up the saxophone while at school. He formed a band called The Harlem Hotshots who played gigs around North Ohio, tried his luck with various bands in New York State, and then returned to Cleveland where he was discovered in 1943 by bandleader Lucky Millinder who gave him the saxophone chair recently vacated by Lucky Thompson.

Christened “Bull Moose” by his bandmates (perhaps because of his unprepossessing looks), Jackson soon added vocal duties to his repertoire, reportedly being given his start when band vocalist Wynonie Harris failed to show for a gig in Lubbock, Texas.

When Syd Nathan set up the King Label in Cincinnati in 1945, he concentrated at first on signing Country and Western artists from the burgeoning local scene which centred around the WLW “Midwestern Hayride” program. He soon set up an R&B subsidiary named Queen, with ex-Millinder trumpet player Henry Glover as A&R man. Glover was keen to have his old boss record for the new label, but as Millinder was already under contract to Decca, Bull Moose became the front man for a series of recordings by the Millinder orchestra in 1945/46. Some sides were recorded with the full orchestra, others with a small group of Millinder musicians which became The Buffalo Bearcats.

The glory years for Bull Moose were 1948 and 1949 when he had considerable chart success mostly with romantic ballads such as “I Love You, Yes I Do”, “All My Love Belongs To You”, “Don’t Ask Me Why” and “Little Girl Don’t Cry”. So successful was Bull Moose, he displaced Louis Jordan as top selling R&B artist in 1948 and, along with Wynonie Harris, helped King to become the top selling R&B label of that year.

This 1980 Mr R&B LP concentrates on the “other side” of Bull Moose Jackson – the stomping instrumentalist and the singer of some of the most infamous double entendre recordings in R&B history, and also of some fiery rabble rousing jump blues. One of his earliest successes was with an answer record to the Millinder/Harris hit “Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well?” “I Know Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well” gets this collection off to a fine start, and the saga of Deacon Jones and his devoted congregation continues with the raucous “Fare Thee Well, Deacon Jones”.

As we have already seen, Syd Nathan maintained strong Country and R&B rosters and he liked to exchange songs between the two styles. There are two examples here: the blasting version of Wayne Raney’s “Why Don’t You Haul Off And Love Me?” and a spirited rendition of Moon Mullican’s “Cherokee Boogie”. For me, the Bull Moose version of “Why Don’t You” easily eclipses the rather sedate original but personally I think Moon Mullican’s “Cherokee Boogie” is better than the cover by Bull Moose.

Neither of Bull Moose’s most infamous “dirty” records are here – “I Want A Bow Legged Woman” and “Big Ten Inch”, but “Nosey Joe”, a Leiber-Stoller composition from 1952, certainly runs them close in the double entendre stakes. Although he was still making fine records in the early 1950s, changing fashions in R&B meant that Moose’s music was going out of style and his King career came to an end in 1955. The final track on this LP was recorded in Los Angeles in 1957 for the small Encino label with backing by a group led by Rene Hall and the rather unfortunate addition of a vocal chorus.

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Thanks to Joan for the vintage King EP cover.

1. I Know Who Threw The Whiskey (In The Well)
2. Bull Moose Jackson Blues
3. Sneaky Pete
4. Cleveland Ohio Blues
5. Fare Thee Well, Deacon Jones
6. Keep Your Big Mouth Shut
7. Miss Lucy
8. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide
9. Memphis Gal
10. Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me
11. Big Fat Mamas Are Back In Style Again
12. Cherokee Boogie (Eh-Oh-Aleena)
13. Nosey Joe
14. Bootsie
15. I Wanna Hug Ya, Kiss Ya, Squeeze Ya
16. Watch My Signals

Saturday, 29 November 2008

Tab Smith - I Don't Want To Play In The Kitchen

With this compilation of mainly mid 1940s sides by alto sax player Tab Smith we continue our exploration of early jump groups that started with the Buddy Banks post. Tab Smith’s music career started in the 1920s with territory bands in the Carolinas and Midwest and really took off when he joined the Lucky Millinder led Mills Blue Rhythm band in 1936.

When the band broke up in 1938 Tab Smith went on to record with (among others) Red Allan, Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday and Count Basie. In 1942 Tab joined the Lucky Millinder Orchestra and left in early 1944 to form his own small group which usually consisted of ex Millinder sidemen. Tab’s group followed the R&B route rather than that of bebop. His swing and jump dominated sound was released on a succession of labels including King, Gotham, Hub, Regis, Manor, Atlantic and Premium. In 1951 he recorded for the United label of Chicago with whom he stayed until 1957. His first release for the label, “Because of You” was a massive hit and set the pattern for most of his subsequent releases – an echo drenched ballad on the A side and a jump number on the B side.

This 1984 Mr R&B LP concentrates on Tab’s 1944 – 45 output when his sound was still heavily influenced by big band swing. There are good vocal performances, especially from ex Lucky Millinder vocalist Trevor Bacon. “Echo Blues”, recorded for Atlantic in 1949, is a forerunner of the sound that would sell so well for United. Only the last two tracks on this collection are from the United era.

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1. I Don't Want To Play In The Kitchen (v – Roebie Kirk)
2. Tab Steps Out
3. All Night Long (v- Trevor Bacon)
4. Roebie's Blues (v – Roebie Kirk)
5. Riffin' The Bass
6. Granny Dodging At The Savoy
7. You Lovely You (v- Trevor Bacon)
8. Rosa Lee (v- Trevor Bacon)
9. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
10. Fat Mouth Blues (v- Betty Mays)
11. Darling, You're All I Need (v – Tab Smith)
12. Jumpin' At The Track
13. Morning Blues (v – Jack Galbreath)
14. Echo Blues
15. Feel Like I Wanna Die (v- Ray King)
16. Boogie Joogie

Thursday, 4 September 2008

Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra - Ram-Bunk-Shush


This is a 1989 Official LP of tracks recorded by Lucky Millinder for the King label between 1950 and 1955, the year when the band finally broke up. In some ways the Millinder outfit was an anachronism by the mid-fifties as they were one of the last big bands left on the R&B circuit. The music is mainly a mixture of jivey instrumentals (the title track – later recorded by Bill Doggett and even later by The Ventures, “Ow!”, “Old Spice”, and “Heavy Sugar”), good swinging ballads (“Loaded With Love”, “I’m Waiting Just For You”) a couple of duffers (“Please Open Your Heart”) and three standout vocal efforts: Wynonie Harris on “Oh Babe!”, Myra Johnson on the salacious “Silent George” and Pigmeat Pederson on the bluesy “Please Be Careful”. Bubber Johnson’s semi-rock ‘n’ roll effort “Goody Good Love” is also goody good.

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1. Ram-Bunk-Shush
2. Oh Babe! (vocal – Wynonie Harris)
3. Please Open Your Heart (vocal – Lee Richardson)
4. Silent George (vocal – Myra Johnson)
5. I'm Waiting Just For You (vocal – Anisteen Allen)
6. No One Else Could Be (vocal – Anisteen Allen & Melvin Moore)
7. It's Been A Long, Long Time
8. Please Be Careful (vocal – Pigmeat Pederson)
9. Loaded With Love (vocal – Corky Robbins & Johnny Bosworth)
10. When I Gave You My Love (vocal – Corky Robbins & Johnny Bosworth)
11. Heavy Sugar
12. Old Spice
13. I'm Here Love (vocal – Cathy Ryan)
14. It's A Sad, Sad Feeling (vocal – Cathy Ryan)
15. Ow!
16. Goody Good Love (vocal – Bubber Johnson)