New York Blues Volume 2

Tracklist:

Side 1

01. Angel Child - Sammy Myers

02. Little Girl - Sammy Myers

03. You Don't Have To Go - Sammy Myers

04. Sad, Sad Lonesome Day - Sammy Myers

05. Rockin' With B - B. Brown & His Rockin' McVouts

06. The Pleasure Is All Mine - Bobby Long

07. I'm Tired Of It - Dr. Horse

Side 2

01. I Go Into Orbit - Johnny Acey

02. What Am I Going To Do - Johnny Acey

03. Why Baby - Mighty Joe Young

04. Empty Arms - Mighty Joe Young

05. Jack That Cat Was Clean - Dr. Horse

06. Think I Know - Dr. Horse

07. Go Away Mr. Blues - Noble Watts and June Bateman

Download from:

New York Blues Volume 2 (Mega)

New York Blues Volume 2 (Zippy)

Second compilation of blues sides from Bobby Robinson's labels. These are all early 1960s recordings from Fire, Fury, Fling and Everlast. Two of the Sammy Myers sides (recorded with Elmore James in 1961) were unissued as singles. Original release details are given below:

01. Angel Child - Sammy Myers - unissued recording (1961)

02. Little Girl - Sammy Myers - unissued recording (1961)

03. You Don't Have To Go - Sammy Myers - Fury 1035 (1960)

04. Sad, Sad Lonesome Day - Sammy Myers - Fury 1035 (1960)

05. Rockin' With B - B. Brown & His Rockin' McVouts - Everlast 5014 (1961)

06. The Pleasure Is All Mine - Bobby Long - Everlast 5020 (1963)

07. I'm Tired Of It - Dr. Horse - Fire 501 (1961)

08. I Go Into Orbit - Johnny Acey - Fling 728 (1962)

09. What Am I Going To Do - Johnny Acey - Fling 728 (1962)

10. Why Baby - Mighty Joe Young - Fire 1033 (1961)

11. Empty Arms - Mighty Joe Young - Fire 1033 (1961)

12. Jack That Cat Was Clean - Dr. Horse - Fire 514 (1962)

13. Think I Know - Dr. Horse - Fire 501 (1961)

14. Go Away Mr. Blues - Noble Watts and June Bateman - Everlast 5033 (1965)

Bobby Robinson was an example of that comparative rarity in the world of 1950s R&B - a black entrepreneur who owned record companies catering for the musical tastes of the black community. Other examples include Don Robey, John Dolphin and the Rene Brothers. His first label, started in 1951, was Robin (quickly renamed Red Robin) on which the first record issued was "Bobby's Boogie" / "Ghost Town" by saxman Morris Lane. Other Bobby Robinson labels were Fire, Fury and Fling. He had a brief business relationship with Jerry Blaine with whom he co-owned the Whirlin' Disc label. With his brother Danny, Bobby also ran Everlast and Enjoy. Danny owned Holiday and Vest.

The music issued on these labels covered most R&B bases, from sophisticated sax outings to fiery electric guitar blues to doo wop. The only really big pop hit was Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City" but Buster Brown's "Fannie Mae" and "Sugar Babe", Bobby Marchan's two parter "There Is Something On Your Mind", and "Soul Twist" by King Curtis also saw a bit of pop action while selling well in the R&B market.

In the UK, JSP Records have issued a 4 CD collection, "The Bobby Robinson Story, Selected Sides 1951 - 1960."

There are no doo wop or vocal groups sides included. Disc A is drawn from the Red Robin label and includes sides by Morris Lane, Charlie Singleton, Red Prysock, Tiny Grimes, Sonny Terry, Champion Jack Dupree and Brownie McGhee. Disc B has Fire and Fury sides from Hal Paige & The Wailers, Wilbert Harrison, Junior Lewis, Sam Myers and Tarheel Slim. Disc C has Fire sides by Willis Jackson, Mary Ann Fisher, Buster Brown, Wild Jimmy Spruill, Riff Ruffin, Tarheel Slim & Little Ann, Elmore James and Bobby Marchan. Disc D has Fury, Fire, Vest and Everlast sides by, inter alia, Tarheel Slim, Buster Brown, Bobby Marchan, Elmore James, Lightnin' Hopkins, Wild Jimmy Spruill and B.Brown.

If that don't whet your appetite then Jack you're dead.

Also worth looking out for is the 2 CD letter box set on Charly from 1996 - "The Fire & Fury Story."

Disc One is titled "The Doo Wop Years" and includes sides by The Du-Droppers, The Channels, The Teenchords, The Kodoks, The Vocaleers and others. Disc Two is a more eclectic mix with quite a few sides and artists to be found on the JSP collection plus Arthur Crudup, King Curtis, Titus Turner and the one and only Doctor Horse.

'Tis the Season of Honk - Freddie Mitchell, Noble Watts and Big Jay

And here's a belated ending to our round up of NYC tenor sax heroes of R&b and early rock 'n' roll. Freddie's here at last, in the shape of an Official LP compilation of some of his sides for Derby, where his outfit was virtually the house band, plus good stuff for Mercury and a few other labels. When Derby closed down, its masters were sold off and Freddie Mitchell sides turned up on LPs on the "X" subsidiary of RCA and on the Allegro / Royale budget label.

The latter was an imprint of a different RCA - not the well established Radio Corporation, but a budget label outfit called the Record Corporation of America. At least they reissued Freddie's sides under his own name, unlike the Remington / Masterseal / Plymouth budget LPs which released Freddie Mitchell sides under the pseudonym "Hen Gates" which is a saga which featured a few years ago on this blog. Just use the search window!

New download link:

http://www11.zippyshare.com/v/4962321/file.html

Original post is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/freddie-mitchell-rockn-roll.html

And here's a reminder of a great Noble "Thin Man" Watts comp that has been re-upped. More NYC tenor sax action:

Download from:

http://www61.zippyshare.com/v/1169533/file.html

We now turn our rockin' attention to the West Coast and Big Jay McNeely.

It looks like all rapidshare links are now dead. I've been expecting this but I wish I'd re-uploaded more stuff before it happened. I'll deal with requests for re-ups as and when I can. A request last week drew my attention to the situation and here is the new link for the in-demand LP - The Best of Big Jay McNeely. The download includes new label scans. Full gatefold sleeve is also included. Download from here:

http://www24.zippyshare.com/v/42177317/file.html

The original post is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/big-jay-mcneely-best-of-big-jay-mcneely.html

Honk on, children!

Tiny Bradshaw LPs and those mighty 78s

It seems fitting to post the new links to 2 Tiny Bradshaw LPs as three of our recently featured tenor sax men had spells in his band - Red Prysock, Sil Austin and Noble Watts.

The main post on Tiny is about the King LP "A Tribute To The Late Tiny Bradshaw, The Great Composer." This magnificent post which is guaranteed to treble your brainpower, increase your vocabulary tenfold and transform you into the hippest character in your neighbourhood (if you aren't already) can be found here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/tribute-to-late-tiny-bradshaw-great_03.html

Not only do you get a fantastic LP to download, you also get biographical details and a pile of scans of labels and EP covers from Joan.

For those of you with a short attention span or who are already at the top of the hipness scale, the new download link for "The Great Composer" is:

Tiny Bradshaw The Great Composer (Mega)

The Krazy Kat LP "Stomping Room Only" can be found at:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/tiny-bradshaw-stomping-room-only.html

There is some duplication of tracks with "The Great Composer" but there are enough dynamite extras such as "T-99" and "Walk That Mess" to make it well worth your while downloading both albums.

The new download link for "Stomping Room Only" is:


Tiny Bradshaw Stomping Room Only (Mega)


We mustn't forget 3 superb 78s that El Emascarado ripped and sent in. These posts are well worth investigating for the streaming audio, label shots, and insights of El Enmascarado ( a real musician as well as failed Mexican wrestler). These posts can be found at:

Well Oh Well / I Hate You











http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/well-oh-well-tiny-bradshaw.html

South of the Orient / Later











http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/south-of-orient-later-tiny-bradshaw-his.html

Walkin' The Chalk Line / Bradshaw Boogie










http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/walkin-chalk-line-bradshaw-boogie-tiny.html

These tracks were featured in the downloadable series "Jump & Jive On 78".

Riffin’ With The Griffin Brothers Orchestra

 

 

 

 

 

Side A

1. Little Red Rooster

2. Weepin' And Cryin'

3. Griff's Boogie

4. Blues All Alone

5. The Teaser

6. Pretty Baby

7. Blues With A Beat

8. Stubborn As A Mule

 

Side B

1. I Wanna Go Back

2. I'm Gonna Jump In The River

3. Comin' Home

4. Tra-La-La

5. Shuffle Bug

6. Ace In The Hole

7. Hot Pepper

8. It'd Surprise You

 

Here’s a cracking little collection released on UK Ace in 1985. There’s enough jumpin’ and jivin’ and bluesin’ chantoosin’ and weepin’ and cryin’ to keep any R&B fan happy. Not only do you get a tight jump combo, you also get star vocalists Margie Day and Tommy Brown and bootin’ tenor sax from Noble “Thin Man” Watts. You have probably concluded that I quite like this LP.

 

Trombonist James Griffin and his pianist and occasional vocalist brother Edward “Buddy” Griffin hailed from Norfolk, Virginia. In the late 1940s they formed a jump combo which became prominent on the Washington DC rhythm and blues scene. The band was taken under the managerial wing of local music entrepreneur Lillian Claiborne who in 1950 fixed them up with Dot Records, a recently founded label out of Gallatin, Tennessee.

A few months before signing with Dot, the Griffin Brothers band had been augmented by singer Margaret Hoffler, another native of Norfolk, who had moved to New York in the mid 1940s to pursue a singing career and had performed vocal duties with a group called “Four Bars And a Melody”.

In 1947 they had released a single “Near You” / “It Shouldn’t Happen To A Dream” on Savoy. The platter had been mercilessly panned in a Billboard review, with Margaret’s song stylings receiving some especially cutting remarks – “thin and listless”, “straining uncomfortably in her chant.” As you can hear on the featured LP Margaret would prove to be a dynamic and earthy blues singer when she recorded with the Griffin Brothers.

Marriage, pregnancy and a subsequent marital breakup brought Margaret’s musical career to a halt and she moved back to Norfolk in 1950. The Griffin Brothers asked her to join their band and after the Dot signing, she changed her name to Margie Day at the suggestion of label owner Randy Wood.

The band’s first release “Street Walkin’ Daddy” / “Riffin’ With Griffin” sold well, and their next release, with both sides featuring Margie, “Little Red Rooster” / “Blues All Alone”, was a bigger hit, reaching number 5 in the R&B charts in 1951.

In early 1951, the Griffin Brothers recruited Atlanta based blues singer Tommy Brown as another vocalist. Brown had recorded some raucous sides for Savoy in January 1951, including “Atlanta Boogie” which featured a chorus of “Let’s rock and roll till the break of day.” It’s possible that the backing band on the session was the Griffin Brothers outfit, but this has never been confirmed.

The band recorded a cover version of Dave Bartholomew’s “Tra La La” with Tommy on vocals, achieving another R&B top ten hit in the summer of 1951 and then gained even more success with a Margie Day double sider, “Pretty Baby” / ”Stubborn As A Mule” which reached number 10 in the R&B charts.

Tommy Brown’s “Weepin’ And Cryin’” which was released late in 1951 became the band’s biggest chart hit, reaching number 3 but by then Brown was already in the process of leaving, having been called up for military service after which he pursued a solo career.

Margie Day left the band in August 1952, toured and recorded with Paul Williams on Dot and Decca, and made further R&B and jazz recordings on various labels, eventually returning to Norfolk where she organised a community project to help children wishing to develop careers in the performing arts.

The Griffin Brothers Orchestra continued to record for Dot into 1954 when the band split with Buddy joining Chess Records.

Sources:

Sleevenotes to “Riffin’ With The Griffin Brothers Orchestra” by Ray Topping

Notes to Acrobat CD “The Griffin Brothers: Blues With A Beat” by Dave Penny

Article on Margie Day in “Dancing On The Edge” Vol 1 No 3 by ‘Fessa John Hook

Ripped from vinyl @ 320 kbps. No password.

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/share/7779E7D9C25DCC179D146FA40187A3A7

Or here:

http://www34.zippyshare.com/v/86222640/file.html

1. Little Red Rooster – vocal: Margie Day (December 1950, Dot 1019)

2. Weepin' And Cryin' – vocal: Tommy Brown (February 1951, Dot 1071)

3. Griff's Boogie – instrumental (December 1950, Dot 1020)

4. Blues All Alone - vocal: Margie Day (December 1950, Dot 1019)

5. The Teaser – instrumental (February 1952, Dot 1095)

6. Pretty Baby – vocal: Margie Day and Tommy Brown (February 1951, Dot 1070)

7. Blues With A Beat – instrumental (December 1950, Dot 1020)

8. Stubborn As A Mule - vocal: Margie Day (February 1951, Dot 1070)

9. I Wanna Go Back – vocal: Buddy Griffin (mid 1952, Dot 1117)

10. I'm Gonna Jump In The River – vocal: Margie Day (mid 1952, Dot 1104)

11. Comin' Home – instrumental (mid 1952, Dot 1105)

12. Tra-La-La – vocal: Tommy Brown (February 1951, Dot 1060)

13. Shuffle Bug – instrumental (February 1951, Dot 1071)

14. Ace In The Hole – vocal: Margie Day (mid 1952, Dot 1108)

15. Hot Pepper – instrumental (December 1950, Dot 1024)

16. It'd Surprise You – vocal: Margie Day (February 1952, Dot 1094)

 

All sides recorded in Washington DC.

 

Band personnel in 1950: Jimmy Griffin (tb); Wilbur Dyer (as); Virgil Wilson (ts); Buddy Griffin (p); Jimmy Reeves (b) Emmett "Nab" Shields (d); Margie Day (vcl).

 

Band personnel in 1951-52: Jimmy Griffin (tb); Wilbur Dyer (as); Noble Watts (ts); Buddy Griffin (p,vcl); Wilbur Little (b); Belton Evans (d); Margie Day (vcl); Tommy Brown (vcl).

 

Listen Up! Griffins, Margie and Tommy on streaming media player:
 

 

Buying The Griffin Brothers – 2 CDs were released on Acrobat about 10 years ago – “Blues With A Beat” Volumes 1 and 2. Volume 1 includes some of Tommy Brown's sides recorded on Savoy before he joined the Griffin Brothers. Volume 2 includes some tracks recorded by Buddy Griffin with his wife Claudia Swann after the band broke up.

 

 

Noble “Thin Man” Watts - Blast Off!

This is an “upgraded” post from the old Be Bop Wino blog. I've added a new front cover scan plus back cover and label scans, sorted a mistake in the tagging, and equalized the volume across the sound files.

Like fellow Rock ’n’ Roll / R&B honkers Sil Austin and Red Prysock, Noble Watts was a veteran of the Tiny Bradshaw band. Sol Rabinowitz’s NYC based Baton label had enjoyed minor chart success with Buddy Tate’s “Fatback and Greens” in 1955 and a couple of years later Watts was signed in the hope of producing another instrumental hit. Among the tracks recorded by Watts at his second Baton session in October 1957 was a greasy grinding dance instro with the vaguely suggestive title “The Slop”. After some heavy airplay it was renamed “Hard Times” and became a good seller on the pop charts as well as an r&b hit.

This 1979 Flyright LP compiles some great late 50s R&B / Rock ‘n’ Roll instrumentals. It was one of the first such albums I bought and tracks like “Blast Off!” and “Hot Tamales” remain firm favourites on my turntable. The original LP didn’t include “Hard Times” but I’ve added it in as a bonus.

Ripped from vinyl at 256 kbps. (Hard Times = 320 kbps). No password.

Download from here:

Blast Off (Mega)

1. Blast Off
2. Easy Going Pt. 1
3. Flap Jack
4. The Slide
5. Mashed Potatoes
6. Original Boogie Woogie
7. The Creep
8. Shakin'
9. Easy Going Pt. 2
10. The Beaver
11. Great Times
12. The Frog Hop
13. Hot Tamales
14. Walking The Floor Over You
15. Hard Times (The Slop) *

* = bebopwino bonus track

All together now: “Hot Tamales and Cha-Cha!”

Tiny Bradshaw - Stomping Room Only

This is another old post revamped with an improved cover scan and new links. This 1983 Krazy Kat LP presents a nice mix of vocal and instrumental sides by the stonkingly rocking Tiny Bradshaw band. Tiny is in fine form, shouting the blues on classics such as “Walk That Mess”, “T-99”, “Well Oh Well” and “The Train Kept A-Rollin’.” The band is of course famous for having three of the all time honking tenor sax greats in its line up – Red Prysock, Sil Austin and Noble Watts, but this LP gives us a chance to appreciate the work of Rufus Gore who preceded and outlasted the three big names associated with the Bradshaw outfit.

The career of Tiny Bradshaw is looked at more closely on the post “A Tribute To The Late Tiny Bradshaw”, which concentrates more on his instrumental sides.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

Stomping Room Only (Mega)


1. Walk That Mess
2. Bradshaw Boogie
3. T-99
4. Breaking Up The House
5. Well Oh Well
6. The Train Kept A-Rollin'
7. Cat Fruit
8. Stomping Room Only
9. Gravy Train
10. Newspaper Boy Blues
11. I'm Going To Have Myself A Ball
12. Long Time Baby
13. Mailman's Sack
14. The Blues Came Pouring Down
15. Heavy Juice
16. Cat Nap

Those of you (and that should be just about everyone who digs real R&B) who would like to investigate further are commanded to purchase the following CDs:

Breaking Up The House, a 2CD set on Proper which has tracks from Tiny’s big band days, through to his King sides.



Heavy Juice – The King Recordings 1950-55 on the Rev-Ola label.



If you come across a second hand copy of the old See For Miles CD, “The EP Collection …Plus”, grab it!

A Tribute to the Late Tiny Bradshaw, the Great Composer (King LP 653)

Let us start the New Year of 2009 by paying tribute to a true giant of rhythm and blues: Myron “Tiny” Bradshaw, bandleader, drummer, blues shouter and tunesmith. If ever one musician encapsulated what Bebopwino is about then that musician is Tiny Bradshaw, a man whose musical career started in a college swing band in the 1920s, progressed through various big bands in the 1930s and 1940s, and then switched to small group jump and R&B in the late 1940s and thereafter had an influence on rock and roll in the 1950s via his song “The Train Kept A’Rollin’” which was covered by Johnny Burnette and the Rock’n’Roll Trio. Of course during the 1960s the Burnette version was covered in turn by The Yardbirds who then covered themselves by regurgitating the number as “Stroll On” in the Antonioni film “Blowup.” But I am getting somewhat ahead of myself. Let’s go back to the 1920s …

… back to Wilberforce University where we find young Tiny drumming and singing in Horace Henderson’s Collegians. Henderson (brother of Fletcher) broke up the band in 1928 and Bradshaw moved to New York where he played in a succession of big bands including Marion Hardy’s Alabamians, Duncan Mayer’s Savoy Bearcats and The Mills Blue Rhythm Band. When Bradshaw formed his own band in 1934, he took on the role of singing, dancing frontman inspired partly by Mills Blue Rhythm Band frontman Baron Lee, and partly by Cab Calloway. The band quickly secured a recording contract with Decca and although they had some success with “Shout Sister Shout” and “Darktown Strutters’ Ball”, the contract was not renewed and the Bradshaw band remained unrecorded for more than a decade.

Despite the lack of records being issued, the Bradshaw outfit remained a popular live attraction throughout the rest of the 1930s and into the wartime era. Tiny’s next recordings were Jubilee recordings for the Armed Forces in early 1944. Later that year his band was recording for the Regis and Manor labels in a jump-blues style. When Bradshaw signed with the Savoy label in 1947, he had slimmed the band down to a small group and was now recording tracks like “Take The Hands Off The Clock” in a rhythm and blues style.

In late 1949 Tiny Bradshaw signed for the King label and his powerful swing influenced R&B was soon hitting the charts. “Well Oh Well”, “Walking The Chalk Line”, “Soft” and “Heavy Juice” (the latter two tracks being instrumentals featuring Red Prysock on tenor sax) all charted between 1950 and 1953. Although there were no more chart hits for Tiny, his extremely danceable sax driven music was a big live attraction. When Red Prysock left the group in 1953, he was replaced by Sil Austin, who was replaced in turn by Noble Watts in mid-1954.

It was at this time that Tiny’s ever growing health problems forced him to cut back drastically on touring and recording. A stroke or heart attack left Tiny paralysed in both legs and although the band continued to record under his name until January 1958, he was actually present on only a handful of the recordings. In November 1958 it all came to an end when Tiny suffered a fatal heart attack.

This LP is a 1980s reissue on Sing of King LP 653 “A Tribute to the Late Tiny Bradshaw, the Great Composer” which was released in 1959. The 1959 tribute was in fact a reissue, with four additional tracks, of the 1958 King LP 395-501 “Tiny Bradshaw.” There are only two vocal tracks on the album, “Well Oh Well”, and “The Train Kept A’Rollin’”, with the bulk of the tracks made up of instrumentals recorded in 1953 and 1954. The three big hitting tenor sax men, Red Prysock, Sil Austin and Noble Watts are all well represented but we should also sing the praises of tenor sax man Rufus Gore who is present on most of these tracks.

Most of the above information on the career of Tiny Bradshaw was taken from Joop Visser’s sleevenotes to the “Tiny Bradshaw The EP Collection” CD. Label shots supplied by Joan K. If you are interested in investigating the early career of Tiny Bradshaw then CD1 of the Proper 2CD set “Breaking Up The House” has his pre-King recordings. CD2 of the set has a selection of his early King material. 43 tracks for a budget price – it has to be a bargain!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

Tiny Bradshaw The Great Composer (Mega)


1. Soft
2. Off And On
3. Heavy Juice
4. Well Oh Well
5. Free For All
6. Choice
7. Bushes
8. Stack Of Dollars
9. Later
10.Powder Puff
11. South Of The Orient
12. The Train Kept A’Rollin’
13. Light
14. Ping Pong
15. Come on
16. Cat Fruit