Listen To Dr. Jive

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

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

Listen To Dr. Jive (Mega)

Listen To Dr. Jive (Zippy)

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

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

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

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

Fax On The Trax

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

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

adapted from popsike.com

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

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

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

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

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

Elsewhere On The Blog

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

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

Vocal Group R'nB Volume One

Side A:

01. Milk And Gin - The Crickets

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

03. Please Take Me Back - The Blenders

04. Fine As Wine - The Five Barons

05. Eat 'Em Up - The Eddie Carter Quartet

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

07. Kansas Capers - The Blenders

Side B:

01. Fine As Wine - The Crickets

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

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

04. Why Did You Leave Me - The Sparrows

05. Hey! - The Sparrows

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

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

Download from here:

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

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

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

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

Release details of the tracks:

The Crickets - 

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

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

The Blenders -

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

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

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

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

The Five Barons -

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

Eddie Carter Quartet -

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

The Sparrows -

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marv Goldberg links:

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

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

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

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

Ivory Joe Hunter - 7th Street Boogie

Side 1:

01. 7th Street Boogie

02. Blues At Sunrise *

03. Boogin' In The Basement

04. Reconversion Blues

05. High Cost Low Pay Blues

06. Grieving Blues

07. Siesta With Sonny

08. Send Me Pretty Mama

Side 2:

01. I Quit My Pretty Mama

02. Woo Wee Blues

03. Don't Fall In Love With Me

04. What Did You Do To Me

05. I Got Your Water On

06. SP Blues

07. Leave Her Alone

08. Don't You Believe Her

*Ivory Joe Hunter with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers

Download from:

http://www60.zippyshare.com/v/DFYyq3Rt/file.html

Go West, young man! Ivory Joe Hunter ('twas his actual name) was one of a number of Texas pianists / singers who moved to California during and after World War Two and helped kick start the growth of R&B on the West Coast. Charles Brown, Amos Milburn, Floyd Dixon and Little Willie Littlefield all spring immediately to mind.

When Ivory Joe arrived in Oakland, California in 1942, he was already an experienced club pianist, deejay and bandleader. He formed a jump band while performing at Slim Jenkins' club on 7th Street in Oakland, but was unable to attract the attention of any of the new West Coast record labels that were springing up. His first record, "Blues At Sunrise" was therefore recorded for his own short lived label, Ivory. It became a hit when it was picked up by Exclusive, reaching number 3 in the R&B charts at the end of 1945. In 1946/7 Ivory Joe issued singles on Pacific, a label in which he was a co-owner.

Sales of the Pacific records were poor, so Joe sold his masters to 4 Star who re-issued some sides which had originally appeared on Pacific and also gave a first time issue to some of Joe's hitherto unreleased masters. It was a reissue, "Pretty Mama Blues" (Pacific 637, 4 Star 1254) which became Joe's biggest success so far, reaching number 1 on the R&B chart in September 1948. By this time Joe had been recording for King for a year. He stayed with them until August 1949, having hits with "Don't Fall In Love With Me", "What Did You Do To Me", "Guess Who" / "Landlord Blues", and "Jealous Heart."

In October 1949 Joe started recording for MGM and hit it big, reaching the number 1 R&B spot with "I Almost Lost My Mind." His next MGM disc, "S.P. Blues" was a top ten hit and he was back at number 1 again with "I Need You So." "It's A Sin" was a lesser hit but as all of these chart successes came in 1950, Ivory Joe Hunter was the 3rd top selling R&B artist of that year, ahead of such luminaries as Roy Brown, Dinah Washington and Louis Jordan. There were no more hits on MGM and in 1954 Ivory Joe signed with Atlantic Records where he recorded more hit material, most noticeably "Since I Met You Baby" which was an R&B and pop hit in 1957. In the same year he had another hit with "Empty Arms."

In 1959 he recorded for Dot without much success and the 1960s were spent label hopping but without achieving any significant sales. He did, however, have a more productive time as a songwriter in both the Soul and Country & Western fields. A successful appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1970 led to recording sessions for Epic and Paramount, but in late 1973 he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Ivory Joe Hunter passed away in November 1974.

Most of the above info is from an article by Dik De Heer on rockabilly.nl. Additional information from Big Al Pavlow's "R & B Book" and Bill Millar's sleevenotes to this LP. There is an extended essay on Ivory Joe Hunter by Bill Millar in his excellent book "Let The Good Times Rock."

Article by Dik De Heer:

http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/ivory_joe_hunter.htm

Original release details:

01. 7th Street Boogie - Pacific 601

02. Blues At Sunrise - Originally on Ivory, then Exclusive 56

03. Boogin' In The Basement - Pacific 602

04. Reconversion Blues - Pacific 601

05. High Cost Low Pay Blues - Pacific 630

06. Grieving Blues - Pacific 634

07. Siesta With Sonny - King 4220

08. Send Me Pretty Mama - King 4424

09. I Quit My Pretty Mama - King 4326

10. Woo Wee Blues - King 4455

11. Don't Fall In Love With Me - King 4220

12. What Did You Do To Me - King 4232

13. I Got Your Water On - King 4347

14. SP Blues - MGM 10618

15. Leave Her Alone - MGM 10663

16. Don't You Believe Her - MGM 10818

Many of the Pacific sides were re-released on 4 Star.

Explore further with:

"Jukebox Hits 1945 - 1950" on Acrobat,

"Blues, Ballads & Rock 'N' Roll" - collection of Atlantic sides on Ace,

"Woo Wee!" - collection of King sides on Ace.

And, joy of joys, Bill Millar's book "Let The Good Times Rock" is still available at reasonable prices on Amazon marketplace. A rippingly good read.

Bill Ramal – Screamin’ Saxes (MGM E/SE 4051)

 

 

 

 

 

Side 1

1. Hand Clappin'

2. Hard Times

3. Cloudburst

4. Walkin' With Mr Lee

5. Em-Bee

6. Ichi-Ban

Side 2

1. Back Street

2. Castle Rock

3. Blow Your Horn

4. Sting Ray

5. Honky Tonk

6. Hot Rod

Here’s something that differs from the usual Be Bop Wino fare. It’s not quite the usual cool R&B / Jazz / Rock ‘n’ Roll that I like to think is the staple diet of this august blog. The album title, the front cover art, the track list, it all looks right and yet it’s kind of “off kilter.” There’s positively lurid use of stereo separation as the tenor saxes of Bill Ramal and big band veteran Georgie Auld tear through 12 honking sax instros but the feeling I get from listening to this set is that it consists of R&B by the numbers, or ersatz R&B.

“Screamin’ Saxes” was released in 1962. The sleeve notes assure us that the sounds contained therein are “… big and driving and new; this sound of the 60s.” In fact it’s a compilation of cover versions of 1950s R&B honking sax juke box hits, plus 3 original compositions by Bill Ramal: “Em-Bee”, “Ichi-Ban” and “Sting Ray.”

The cover versions are – “Hand Clappin’” and “Blow Your Horn” both originally by Red Prysock, “Hard Times” by Noble Watts, “Cloudburst” by “Claude Cloud and his Thunderclaps" (really the Leroy Kirkland band with Sam “The Man” Taylor on tenor sax), Lee Allen’s “Walkin’ With Mr. Lee”, Eddie Chamblee’s “Back Street”, “Castle Rock” by Johnny Hodges (Al Sears on tenor sax),” Honky Tonk” by Bill Doggett (Clifford Scott on tenor sax) and “Hot Rod” by Hal Singer.
 

 

There’s an interesting post on Bill Ramal at the Ill Folks blog. He was a saxophone player and arranger who worked with Del Shannon and Johnny And The Hurricanes. He also arranged and composed novelty records with Dickie Goodman. The Ill Folks post has a sound sample from Ramal’s 1963 LP “Young America Dances To TV’s Greatest Themes.”

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/157902047/Screamin_%20Saxes.rar

Or here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?wv7d6wbe6471cbc

The password on the rapidshare download is greaseyspoon. There is no password on the mediafire download.