Danny "Run Joe" Taylor

Side 1:
01. Drinkin' Little Woman
02. Coffee Daddy Blues
03. Come On Home Baby
04. Blues Got Me Rockin'
05. I've Been Doin' It Too
06. Sweet Lovin' Daddy
07. Gator Tail
08. You Look Bad

Side 2:
01. Love to Spare
02. Leavin' Tonight
03. Makeena
04. Ain't Nothin' Wrong With This World
05. Shoemaker Man
06. Will Ya Please?
07. Two More Days
08. Mind On Loving

Danny "Run Joe" Taylor (Mega)

Danny "Run Joe" Taylor (Zippy)

Every now and again fellow blues 'n' rhythm fans get in touch asking if I know anything more about such-and-such an artist who has appeared on the blog and very occasionally this leads to me coming up with a home made comp such as this one. Four of Danny "Run Joe" Taylor's sides recorded for Joe Davis turned up on the "Listen To Dr. Jive" post from May last year and this led to an enquiry which in turn led to me trawling through my gramophone records, CDs and mp3s to come up with everything that I had on this undeservedly obscure blues shouter and song writer.

I'm afraid I've only managed to find minimal information on Danny. According to the sleevenotes to the CD "Stompin' 12," he was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1931. His discography shows that he had a fairly steady recording career in New York City, although there was much label hopping. According to the Bruyninckx discography his first recording session was in August 1949 for the Parody label, the result being one single, "Butter Beans And Rice" / "Come Back Connie" (Parody 1002/3)

This comp starts circa September 1951 when under the name of "Little Boy Blues" Danny recorded a vocal for the Champion Jack Dupree band on "Drinkin' Little Woman" (Derby 770). The other side of the disc had a vocal by Bobby Harris. In February 1952 Danny recorded sides for the Wheeler label which was owned by bandleader Doc Wheeler. He was backed by a band led by former Doc Wheeler guitarist Leroy Kirkland. One single from the session was released - "Coffee Daddy Blues" / "Come On Home Baby" (Wheeler 105). Unissued Wheeler sides were - "Blues Got Me Rockin'" and "Moanin' And Groanin' For You."

The label was short lived and its masters were bought by Coral who re-released the single on Coral 65082. In June 1952 Danny and the Leroy Kirkland Orchestra recorded sides for Coral with two singles being released - "Sittin' Here Thinkin'" / I've Been Doin' It Too" (Coral 65097) and "Walkin' In My Sleep" / "Sweet Lovin' Daddy" (Coral 65101). One Coral side was not released - "Three Little Words."

In 1953 he recorded an excellent single for Victor - "Gator Tail" / "You Look Bad" (Victor 47-5558) which was released in December of that year. The backing band included Budd Johnson and Buddy Tate on saxes. In October 1953 he was the vocalist on a Jesse Powell session for Federal. His two sides, "Love To Spare" and "Leavin' Tonite" were released on Federal 12159 and 12171 respectively with the other sides of the discs being instrumentals.

In 1954 he recorded an answer record to The Midnighter's "Annie Had A Baby" - "I'm The Father Of Annie's Baby" / "Bad, Bad, Draws" appeared on Bruce 118. Danny was backed by The Shytans on both sides.

In 1955 he released a single on Saxony backed by the Louis Payne Orchestra - "You Ain't Crazy" / "I Know What I Want" (Saxony 101).

In 1956 he recorded a session for Joe Davis backed by a band which included Haywood Henry and Sam "The Man" Taylor. The released single was "Makeena" / "Ain't Nothin' Wrong With This World" (Davis 454). Two other sides, "Shoemaker Man" and "Will Ya Please?" were not released.

Two sides recorded for Chess in 1959, "Believe These Words" and "Mom And Pop" were also not released.

In September 1959 he recorded some sides for Memo backed by Buddy Lucas. For some unknown reason he was going under the name of "Little Eddie Mint." In November 1959 "Bring Yourself Back Here" / "Two More Days" was released on Memo 17921. A third track was recorded - "Don't Fall In Love With Me." According to Bruyninckx this was released on Memo 17911 with "Bring Yourself Back Here" but I haven't come across any other reference to it.

In 1960 he was back to being Danny (Run Joe) Taylor again for a single on Jo-Par - "Things Are Tough"/ No One But You (Jo-Par 518). Also in 1960 he recorded a session as "Little Danny" for Sharp. "Your Precious Love" / "Mind On Loving" (Sharp 112) was released in November 1960. The latter was a soul style pleader with Danny, backed by Wild Jimmy Spruill on guitar, in very good voice indeed. Three other sides from the session were not released - "Stop Cheating On Me," "Tell It" and "Can't Help It."

And that is where the trail runs cold. Bruyninckx says that he also recorded for Rim but has no more details. As for the ultimate fate of Danny "Run Joe" Taylor, I'm afraid I know nothing. In fact I don't even know where the nickname "Run Joe" comes from. Perhaps these mysteries will be solved by readers of this blog?

I was pretty impressed by many of Danny's sides and I hope that someday a reissue company will bring out a comprehensive collection of this fine singer's music.

Danny "Run Joe" Taylor Trax Fax

All dates are recording dates except where otherwise noted

01. Drinkin' Little Woman - Jack Dupree Orchestra - vocal by Little Boy Blues: Derby 770 – September 1951

02. Coffee Daddy Blues - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Wheeler 105, Coral 65082 – February 1952

03. Come On Home Baby - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Wheeler 105, Coral 65082 – February 1952

04. Blues Got Me Rockin' - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Wheeler / Coral unissued – February 1952

05. I've Been Doin' It Too - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Coral 65097 – June 1952

06. Sweet Lovin' Daddy - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor And Leroy "Ike" Kirkland And His Orchestra: Coral 65101 – June 1952

07. Gator Tail - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Victor 47-5558 – released December 1953

08. You Look Bad - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Victor 47-5558 – released December 1953

09. Love to Spare - Jesse Powell Orchestra vocal by Dan Taylor: Federal 12159 – October 1953

10. Leavin' Tonight - Jesse Powell Orchestra vocal by Dan Taylor: Federal 12171 – October 1953

11. Makeena - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Davis 454 – August 1956

12. Ain’t Nothin' Wrong With This World - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Davis 454 – August 1956

13. Shoemaker Man - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Davis unissued – August 1956

14. Will Ya Please? - Danny "Run Joe" Taylor: Davis unissued – August 1956

15. Two More Days - Little Eddie Mint: Memo 17921 – September 1959

16. Mind On Loving - Little Danny: Sharp 112 – September 1960

Piano Red In Concert

Side 1:
01. Wrong Yo-Yo
02. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
03. Umph-Umph-Umph
04. Got You On My Mind
05. Fattenin' Frogs For Snakes
06. Rockin' With Red

Side 2:
01. Jump Man Jump
02. Do She Love Me
03. Real Good Thing
04. Pay It No Mind
05. Six O'Clock Bounce
06. Please Tell Me Baby
07. Jumpin' With Daddy
08. Goodbye

Piano Red In Concert (Mega)

Piano Red In Concert (Zippy)

A rather beat up second hand copy of a repro (or bootleg if you prefer) issue of an LP which was originally released in July 1956 on Groove as LG-1002, along with two EPs (both titled "Piano Red In Concert") which between them featured 8 of the tracks on this album.

The LP title is slightly misleading as only Side 1 was recorded live in March 1956 at the Magnolia Ballroom in Atlanta. The tracks on Side 2 were recorded at two sessions in Nashville in the Spring of 1955, with five out of the eight being issued on single while the remaining three tracks made their debut on this album.

I love this ragged but right 12-inch helping of raucous honky tonk piano, shouted blues, real down in the alley gutbucket sax honking, and if you listen carefully, some tasty guitar. And yes I know this is getting slightly repetitive but when I bought the LP second hand through mail order about 5 years ago, I wasn't very impressed with it. The sound quality was rather indistinct on the studio tracks on Side 2 and there were quite a few clicks and pops so I'm delighted to report that it scrubs up very well on mp3, although there is still some surface noise.

The music? Well, Piano Red sounds like he could have been thumping the ivories in a Wild West Saloon in the 1870s, or perhaps in a New Orleans bordello around 1905, or maybe even in a Chicago speakeasy in the Roaring 20s, so what the heck is he doing producing wild R&B in the 1950s? His is an unusual background when you look at the rest of his R&B contemporaries of the time. He was born Willie Lee Perryman in Hampton, a small town 30 miles from Atlanta in 1911. Both he and his elder brother Rufus were albino. Rufus carved out a successful career as a blues pianist under the name "Speckled Red," a reference to his skin colour.

Willie followed in his brother's footsteps in the 1930s but didn't have the same success. Although he took part in a recording session for Vocalion in 1936 along with Blind Willie McTell his sides weren't released. "Piano Red" as Willie was now known gave up being a full time professional musician and went to work as an upholsterer. He kept playing gigs at small local joints at weekends and in 1950 he was "spotted" at one of these by Atlanta record shop owner John Young who tipped off the local RCA Victor distributor who in turn alerted the company and a recording session was arranged for the 25th July 1950 in Atlanta.

When Piano Red's first single "Rockin' With Red" / "Red's Boogie" came out in late 1950 it was a double sided hit, becoming the 25th best selling R&B record of 1951. More hits followed - "Right String But The Wrong Yo-Yo," "Just Right Bounce" and "Layin' The Boogie" all charted in 1951, making Piano Red the 9th best selling R&B artist of that year.

Although the chart hits dried up, he continued to be a big live attraction and his records on RCA and its subsidiary Groove had a good following. What was surprising was that he had considerable appeal with a younger audience, both white and black, despite the fact that his style was rooted in the pre-war era. Perhaps the explanation for this lies in the mix of material he performed - the double entendre of  the likes of "Rockin' With Red"and "Wrong Yo-Yo" was mixed in with rockers like "Jump, Man, Jump," sentimental standards like "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and even country hits such as Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'." This was backed up by raucous R&B bands, perhaps the best being the one on this record, the "Blow Top" Lynn band out of Atlanta.

Piano Red was dropped by RCA / Groove in 1958 and his career seemed to have finally reached the end but there was another comeback in the first half of the 1960's with a new name, a new band and a new sound. This time Willie Perryman was Doctor Feelgood who along with his Interns recorded for Columbia and Okeh from 1961 - 1966. And when that was played out,well there were plenty more albums to record and jazz and blues festivals to play, both in Europe and America. In fact his last recording was in late 1984, about 10 months before he passed away in July 1985.

EP covers courtesy Joan K

Fax On The Piano Poundin' Trax

Side 1, tracks 1-6 recorded live at the Magnolia Ballroom, Atlanta, Georgia on March 5th, 1956. Personnel: Willie Lee Perryman (Piano Red) vocal / piano with - John Peek (trumpet); Clyde "Blow Top" Lynn (tenor sax); Wesley Jackson (guitar); Kid Miller (bass); Put Jackson (drums). Also present was Bertha Colbert (vocal) who duetted with Piano Red on "I'm Nobody's Fool" (not included on this LP). 

Side 2.

"Pay It No Mind",  "Jump Man Jump"  and "Do She Love Me" were recorded in Nashville on February 14th, 1955. Personnel: Piano Red (vocal, piano) with Clyde "Blow Top" Lynn (tenor sax); Wesley Jackson (guitar); George "Kid" Miller (bass); James "Put" Jackson (drums).

Pay It No Mind / Jump Man Jump - released on Groove 4G-0101 in March 1955.

Do She Love Me - first released on this LP and EP EGA 6 (Piano Red In Concert).

"Real Good Thing", "Six O'Clock Bounce", "Please Tell Me Baby", "Jumpin' With Daddy," and "Goodbye" aka "Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye" were recorded in Nashville on July 25th, 1955. Personnel - same as February 14th, 1955 session, add The Four Students (vocal group) on "Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye."

Six O' Clock Bounce / Goodbye - released on Groove 4G-0118 in August 1955.

She Knocks Me Out / Jumpin' With Daddy - released on Groove 4G-0136 in January 1956.

Real Good Thing; Please Tell Me Baby - first released on this LP. "Real Good Thing" also released on EP EGA 6 (Piano Red In Concert). "Please Tell Me Baby" also released on EP EGA 7 (Piano Red In Concert).

I'm off to Amsterdam this weekend so the next blog post will be around the middle of next week. Keep a rockin'! Tot ziens!

Otis Blackwell On RCA And Groove

01. Wake Up Fool

02. Please Help Me Find My Way Home

03. Fool That I Be

04. Number 000

05. Oh! What a Babe

06. Here Am I

07. O-O-O-Oh!

08. I Face This World Alone

Otis Blackwell On RCA And Groove (Mega)

Otis Blackwell On RCA And Groove (Zippy)

As a follow up to the previous post of Otis Blackwell's sides recorded for Joe Davis between September 1953 and April 1955, here's a little homemade compilation of the sides he recorded for RCA Victor in October 1952 and for the Groove subsidiary of RCA in June 1954. The bit rates are variable which reflects the "cobbled together" nature of this collection, but that shouldn't spoil your listening pleasure too much.

Tracks 1-4 were recorded in New York on October 22nd 1952. Personnel: Otis Blackwell (vocal) with: Sammy Watkins (trumpet); Frank "Floorshow" Culley (tenor sax); Budd Johnson (baritone sax); Freddy Redd (piano); Rene Hall and Napoleon Allen (guitars); Gene Smith (bass); Roland Jefferson (drums).

Wake Up Fool / Please Help Me Find My Way Home - released on RCA Victor 20-5069 in December 1952.

Fool That I Be / Number 000 - released on RCA Victor 20-5225 in March 1953.

adapted from Discogs.com

Tracks 5-8 were recorded in New York on June 24th 1954. Personnel: Otis Blackwell (vocal) with: Sam "The Man" Taylor (tenor sax); Haywood Henry (baritone sax); Fred Washington (piano); Mickey Baker (guitar); Lloyd Trotman (bass) Martin Wilson (drums).

Oh! What A Babe / Here Am I - released on Groove 4G-0034 in September 1954.

O-O-O-Oh! and I Face This World Alone were not released.

As a sort of aside, I came across a vivid short portrait of Otis Blackwell's early days as a blues singer in what is one of the best music books I have read in the last few years - "Lonely Avenue - The Unlikely Life And Times Of Doc Pomus" by Alex Halberstadt (Jonathan Cape, 2007). The book and the related film "AKA Doc Pomus" were discussed below the line in the comments section of the post "Joe Turner and Pete Johnson - Jumpin' The Blues."

The Pismotality blog has an in-depth review of both the film and book (plus other relevant books) here:

http://sweetwordsofpismotality.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/doc-pomus-and-mort-shuman-documentary.html#more

Warning - once you find yourself on Pismotality you may not escape for many hours such is the quality of writing. It's happened to me on numerous occasions.

Illinois Jacquet - King Jacquet

Side 1:

01. Jet Propulsion

02. King Jacquet

03. Try Me One More Time

04. Embryo

05. Riffin' At 24th Street

06. Mutton Leg

07. Symphony In Sid

08. A Jacquet For Jack The Bellboy

Side 2:

01. Bigfoot

02. Black Velvet

03. B-Yot

04. Adam's Alley

05. Blue Satin

06. Slow Down Baby

07. Hot Rod

08. You Gotta Change

Download from here:

http://www3.zippyshare.com/v/kRxM9ymo/file.html

It's time to get back to some hot tenor sax action with this 1977 French RCA compilation of sides recorded by Illinois Jacquet for RCA Victor in 1947, 1949 and 1950. This album follows on neatly from an LP I posted (and subsequently re-upped) many years ago - "Illinois Jacquet And His Tenor Sax" which is a 1980s Pathe Marconi reissue of a 1950s Aladdin LP. "King Jacquet" picks up where that album left off - Illinois recorded his last Aladdin session on November 28th 1947 and a few weeks later (December 18th, to be precise) he was in a New York studio recording his first session for Victor.

As I wrote in the "Illinois Jacquet And His Tenor Sax" post, this is the kind of music that is at the very core of Be Bop Wino - fiery swing-derived small group jazz, not be-bop, but that hard to define post-war style which hovered berween R&B and jazz. Jukebox Jazz, if you like.

The cover art is firmly in the 1970s, with a mature Illinois dressed in the style of the day. If like me you prefer your 1940s music accompanied by 1940s styles, then you may wish to make use of an alternative front cover I have included with the download. Like the alternative cover I included with the recent Gene Ammons / Leo Parker compilation, it's based on the Savoy Jazz / RCA reissue style.

Recording dates and personnel are included in the gatefold sleeve. I have listed the original release details of the tracks below.

The tracks on Side 1 were recorded at two sessions in New York City in December 1947 as follows:

December 18th, 1947 session : Jet Propulsion, King Jacquet, Try Me One More Time, Embroyo.

December 19th, 1947 session: Riffin' At 24th Street, Mutton Leg, Symphony In Sid, A Jacquet For Jack The Bellboy.

They were released on the following singles:

Riffin' at 24th Street  / King Jacquet - on RCA Victor 20-2702, released in February 1948.

Jet Propulsion / Try Me One More Time - on RCA Victor 20-2892, released in May 1948.

Mutton Leg / Symphony In Sid - on RCA Victor 20-3060, released in August 1948.

Embroyo / A Jacquet For Jack The Bellboy - on RCA Victor 20-3278, released in December, 1948.

The first four tracks on Side 2 were recorded in Los Angeles on April 6th, 1949 and were released as follows:

Adam's Alley / Black Velvet - on RCA Victor 22-0027, released in June, 1949.

B-Yot / Big Foot - on RCA Victor 22-0037, released in July 1949.

Track 5, Side 2, "Blue Satin" was recorded in New York City on December 14th, 1949 along with "Stay Away" (not on this LP). "Stay Away" was a vocal performance by Joe Bailey. The tracks were released as follows:

Stay Away / Blue Satin - on RCA Victor 22-0062, released in January 1950.

Ouch! This explains the absence of "Stay Away" from this LP.

The last three tracks on Side 2 were recorded in New York City on May 22nd, 1950, along with "My Old Gal" (not on this LP). "My Old Gal" was a vocal performance by Sid McKinney. The tracks were released as follows:

My Old Gal / You Gotta Change - on RCA Victor 22-0087 (78 rpm) and 50-0087 (45 rpm), released in June 1950.

Slow Down Baby / Hot Rod - on RCA Victor 22-0097 (78 rpm) and 50-0097 (45 rpm), released in August 1950.

This LP contains the complete RCA Victor output of the Illinois Jacquet band, apart from "Stay Away" and "My Old Gal." As noted in the track details above, both of these tracks are vocal performances backed by the Jacquet band.

I have listened to both of these tracks on the Properbox "The Illinois Jacquet Story" 4CD set. "Stay Away" has not worn well, and that's me being diplomatic. "My Old Gal" is rather better, i.e. a fair to mediocre swing ballad. The two Russell Jacquet vocal sides included on the LP are much better as they are sung in an R&B style and also leave solo space to the musicians.

Elsewhere on the blog - "Illinois Jacquet And His Tenor Sax"

Recommended purchase - "The Illinois Jacquet Story" (Properbox 49) - 4CDs covering 1944 - 1951. Includes Jazz at the Philharmonic sides from the first JATP concert in 1944, plus studio sides for Philo, Aladdin, Apollo, Savoy, Victor and Clef. Outstanding set. As with all Properbox sets, there is a substantial and well researched 40 page booklet (in this case compiled by Joop Visser) with detailed background information on Illinois and on the 79 tracks.

A couple of years ago I picked up "Illinois Jacquet - Six Classic Albums", a 4 CD set on the budget label Real Gone Jazz - RGJCD 392. There is no information booklet, in fact there is little information apart from the album titles, the year they were issued, and a list of musicians present on each album. The collection seems to include only tracks which were on the original issues of these albums, and omits tracks which were added on subsequent reissues. For instance "Illinois Jacquet And His Tenor Sax" only has 12 tracks here, as opposed to the 18 tracks on the Pathe Marconi reissue.

All in all it's a bit of a cheap 'n' cheerful approach, but if you're looking for a bunch of Illinois Jacquet tracks at a bargain price then you may care to indulge in a purchase.

Albums in the collection are: Illinois Jacquet Collates (1951); The Kid And The Brute (1954); Groovin' With Jacquet (1954); Illinois Jacquet and His Tenor Saxophone (1956); Swings The Thing (1957); Illinois Jacquet Flies Again (1958). There are also three bonus tracks from "Jazz By Jacquet" (1952). Available at a knock down price on Amazon Marketplace.

Note - there is a remarkably similar set on Avid Jazz - "Five Classic Albums." The same LPs as the Real Gone Jazz set, but omitting "Illinois Jacquet and His Tenor Sax" and the "Jazz By Jacquet" tracks. All squeezed on to 2 CDs and even cheaper than the "Six Classic Albums" set. Ah, the joys of public domain collections. They're practically giving the stuff away.

The RCA Victor Blues & Rhythm Revue

Side 1:

01. Romance In The Dark - Lil Green

02. Why Don't You Do Right? - Lil Green

03. After Hours - Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra

04. Stormy Monday Blues - Earl Hines & His Orchestra (vocal - Billy Eckstine)

05. Jelly, Jelly - Earl Hines & His Orchestra (vocal - Billy Eckstine)

06. I Sold My Heart To The Junkman - Etta Jones with J.C. Heard & His Band

07. Hot Rod - Illinois Jacquet

Side 2:

01. Dry Bones - The Delta Rhythm Boys

02. Take The 'A' Train - The Delta Rhythm Boys

03. Rock With It - Johnny Moore's Three Blazers

04. Two Guitar Boogie - Rene Hall

05. Rooming House Boogie - Cab Calloway & His Cab Jivers

06. Moanin' The Blues - Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra (vocal - Annisteen Allen)

07. Hey, Pretty Baby - Count Basie & His Orchestra (vocal - Jimmy Rushing)

Download LP 1 from here:

http://www5.zippyshare.com/v/UMmXnjeQ/file.html

Side 3:

01. Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? - Count Basie & His Orchestra

02. D'Natural Blues - Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra

03. Cole Slaw - Jesse Stone & His Orchestra

04. Butcher Boy - Mr. Sad Head

05. Reliefin' Blues - Blow-Top Lynn & His House Rockers

06. Get Rich Quick - Little Richard

07. Squeeze Me - Milt Trenier & His Solid Six

Side 4:

01. Thinkin' 'Bout My Mother - Little Richard

02. Rockin' Daddy-O - The Heartbreakers

03. All Night Baby - The Robins

04. Bam Balam - The Du Droppers

05. Boot 'Em Up - The Du Droppers

06. Open Up - King Curtis

07. Shout Parts 1 And 2 - The Isley Brothers

Download LP 2 from here:

http://www109.zippyshare.com/v/58ssKrDU/file.html

A great 2LP compilation tracing the history of R&B from big band blues, through jump, honk, and dynamite vocal groups all the way to proto soul with The Isley Brothers. This was one of the first LPs I ripped and it was originally a very early post on Be Bop Wino, complete with terrible partial scan of the front cover. Then I lost the rips in one of the several computer crashes which have occasionally wiped out my digital music collection.

And that was that, or so I thought until just the other day when I came across an audio CD which I'd ripped from the original mp3s and so here they are again with proper scans of the whole gatefold sleeve. The good news is that there are a few more audio CDs containing digitised tracks from LPs, all of which I had presumed lost, including Charlie Parker on Savoy and Leo Parker on Gotham.

As for this set, the absolute highlights for me (out of many marvelous tracks) are the sides by Mr. Sad Head and Clyde "Blow Top" Lynn. If you dig your R&B loud and crude then the following 2 CDs on the Official label are worth chasing up:

The Jackson Brothers, Mr. Sad Head, Blow Top Lynn, Jesse Stone, Gay Grosse and others. Rousing stuff for the discerning drinker, sorry, music fan.

Even more howl 'n' honk with Big John Greer, TNT Tribble, Mr. Sad Head, Lloyd Thompson, Hot Lips Page, Arbee Stidham and others. Guaranteed to get the police banging on your door should you choose to play this disc at 3 o'clock in the morning.

No sleevenotes but nice retro style covers and several hours of the wilder side of R&B. From reviews I read when these discs came out, Volumes 1 and 2 were by far the best while Volume 3 and 4 dropped off in quality, hence my recommendation for the first 2 volumes, which were the only ones I bought.

The bad news is, they may be hard to find! In the meantime groove to the LP on this post.

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.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

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

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.

Rockin' With Red / Red's Boogie - Piano Red (RCA Victor 22-0099)

Listen to "Rockin' With Red"


Listen to "Red's Boogie"

Both sides recorded in Atlanta on July 25th, 1950. Willie Lee Perryman (aka "Piano Red"), piano and vocal; William Jones, bass, William Green, drums.

Imagine my  deep joy when I wended my way home from the pub last night (with a belly full of Deuchar's IPA) to find this gem in my email inbox courtesy of El Enmascarado. Piano Red has been a longtime favourite of mine and pretty soon I was regaling the neighbours with multiple plays of "Rockin' With Red." Both sides of this disc were big R&B hits in early 1951, with "Rockin' With Red" reaching number 5 and "Red's Boogie" reaching number 4. Piano Red had three further chart hits in 1951, including the immortally risque "Right String But The Wrong Yo-Yo."

It's not just a cliche to say that this kind of music is timeless. Piano Red's musical career stretched back to the dawn of the 1930's and carried on through the R&B era into the early Rock and Roll period when he attracted a big following of rockers and then on into the early 1960s when he was reincarnated as Doctor Feelgood. He was still recording in the 1980s almost up until his death in July 1985.

You can imagine Piano Red pounding out these tracks in a saloon or bordello in the 1890s, never mind the 1950s!

Thanks to El Enmascarado for theses rips from a 78 disc and the label scans. I've added some 1950s EP covers on RCA and its subsidiary Groove sent in by Joan K. Thanks Joan.

And lastly we've just got time for another visit to El Enmascarado's record room where we can admire a heap of his latest shellac acquisitions - a sight to gladden the eye.

Groove Jumping!

Back in the early days of Be Bop Wino a post would occasionally appear with the introductory words “here’s one I posted on Rock Hall.” Unfortunately coinciding with the demise of the Rock Hall forum, here is an LP which I originally posted there way back in 2007 and subsequently never got round to posting on Be Bop Wino.

In the 1980s a series of LPs was issued by the Detour label in the UK. They were collections of sides originally issued on the Groove subsidiary of RCA Victor from 1954 to 1956. The sound quality on these Detour albums was top notch but they always seemed to be a little harder to find than the Ace, Charly and Mr R&B LPs which occupied the rockin’ record racks back then. This LP has always been a favourite of mine with its fourteen tracks of blastin’ New York rhythm ‘n’ blues. The Groove label may have been short lived and with one significant exception it failed to achieve chart success, but some mighty fine music was released by the diskery.

By the early 1950s the major record companies were losing ground in the R&B field to the independent labels which had been springing up since the mid 1940s. In 1952 the top five R&B labels were Atlantic, King, RPM, Specialty and Mercury with only the last being a major label. The rest of the top ten places were also occupied by independents with the exception of Okeh, a subsidiary label reactivated by Columbia in an attempt to combat the growing sales power of the independents. Decca came eighteenth in the R&B labels list and RCA Victor an even more catastrophic twenty-first.

In 1953 RCA Victor improved its R&B standing to twelfth best selling label thanks to a couple of biggies from dynamic vocal group The Du Droppers (“I Wanna Know” and “I Found Out.”) The stranglehold of the independents had tightened even further with Atlantic, Chess, King, Duke, Apollo, Aladdin, Herald, RPM, Jubilee, Specialty and Imperial occupying the top eleven places.

Probably somewhere around late 1953 RCA decided that they would make a stab at breaking into the R&B market in a bigger way by launching a new subsidiary label with the hep sounding name “Groove.” The launch was trailed in “Billboard” in early January 1954 and on the 8th February Groove issued its first sides – The Du Droppers with “Dead Broke” / “Speed King” and Big John Greer with “You’ll Never Be Mine” / “Bottle It Up And Go.” All of these sides had been recorded in December 1953.

In total 38 singles were issued before A&R man Danny Kessler resigned and Groove was put on temporary hiatus between late 1954 and March 1955 when the label was relaunched with Bob Rolontz as A&R man. A further 179 singles were issued before the label was finally wound up in December 1956. Ironically the end came just as “Love Is Strange” by Mickey and Sylvia was about to provide Groove with its only major hit.

It’s hard to put a finger on the reason for Groove’s lack of success. Backing was provided by the best of New York session musicians including Mickey “Guitar” Baker (who as Mickey of Mickey and Sylvia also provided the label’s only substantial hit), Sam “The Man” Taylor, King Curtis and Heywood Henry. A potentially fruitful session by established vocal group The Five Keys was wasted when they quickly moved to Capitol and their Groove sides remained in the can. The “lost” Five Keys session is featured on the Detour LP “The Best of Doo-wop Classics Volume 2.” Not all Groove releases were up to the standard of the sides on “Groove Jumping!” but there was plenty of good rockin’ R&B from the likes of Milt Trenier, Buddy Lucas, Larry Dale, The Du Droppers, Chris Powell, Big Al Sears and the king of low life philosophers, Mr Bear.

I seem to remember back in the old Rock Hall days that I tried to get a “Mr Bear for President” campaign going. He’d have told those bankers where to get off. Fans of R&B esoterica should note the presence of another Be Bop Wino hero on Mickey and Sylvia’s “No Good Lover”: Washboard Bill! Mr Bear and Washboard Bill on the same LP? There can be no higher recommendation!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/327220834/Groove_Jumping_.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N7X0PD80

1. Ride And Roll / Sonny Terry
2. No Good Lover / Mickey & Sylvia
3. Strange Kind Of Feeling / Tiny Kennedy
4. Bottle It Up and Go / 'Big' John Greer
5. Boot 'Em Up / The Du Droppers
6. Talk That Talk / The Du Droppers
7. Lawdy Miss Mary / The Five Keys
8. Worried 'Bout You Baby / Roy 'Mr Guitar' Gaines
9. Dat Dat De Dum Dum / Roy 'Mr Guitar' Gaines
10. Radar / Mr Bear
11. How Come? / Mr. Bear
12. Dead Broke / The Du Droppers
13. Speed King / The Du Droppers
14. Smack Dab In The Middle / The Du Droppers

Recommended purchases:

The Westside label released two compilation CDs of Groove and RCA material in 1998: “Honkin’ ‘n’ Hollerin’” and “The Groove Story.” Both CDs are long out of print but you might find them at your local second hand CD dealer.