West Coast Blues

Side 1:
01. Stubborn Woman - Mercy Dee
02. Have You Ever - Mercy Dee
03. T-99 Blues - Jimmy Nelson
04. Blues After Hours - Pee Wee Crayton
05. Texas Hop - Pee Wee Crayton
06. S.K. Blues (Part 1) - Saunders King

Side 2:
01. Sitting Here Wondering - J.W. Walker
02. J.W.'s Blues - J.W. Walker
03. Dr. Brown - James Reed
04. You Better Hold Me - James Reed
05. Strange Land - Roy Hawkins
06. S.K. Blues (Part 2) - Saunders King

West Coast Blues (Mega)

West Coast Blues (Zippy)

This is the last of the Musidisc re-releases of the Kent Anthology of the Blues series that I have. West Coast Blues was number 12 and the last in this series which explored the blues sides in the vaults of the Bihari brothers' Modern / RPM labels. This collection differs from the others that I have posted as it includes some really big R&B hits. Pee Wee Crayton's "Blues after Hours" and "Texas Hop" were big sellers, making the higher reaches of the national R&B chart, as did Jimmy Nelson's "T 99 Blues."

The J.W. Walker ("Big Moose" Walker or "Moose John Walker") recorded for Trumpet Records in Jackson, Mississippi. The sides on this comp were recorded in St. Louis with backing provided by Ike Turner and therefore have no connection with the West Coast!

One circumstance common to all the other artists on this record is that they had a Bay Area connection. Pee Wee Crayton, for example, started his professional music career playing with Ivory Joe Hunter's band in San Francisco. Saunders King and Jimmy Nelson both lived in San Francisco and worked the local clubs there. Roy Hawkins was discovered by Bay Area record man Bob Geddins playing in a club in Oakland. James Reed also recorded for Geddins, in fact it was the latter who sent the sides featured on this comp to the Biharis. Mercy Dee Walton cut his first record in Fresno (admitedly well south of The Bay) for the Spire label.

All started their playing and recording careers away from LA, usually recording their earliest sides for Bob Geddins who then brought them to the attention of the Biharis. As with the LPs in the Anthology of the Blues series, there is now an expanded and carefully researched CD equivalent available on the Ace UK label:

The Downhome Blues Sessions Volume 5

Here is the complete list of the Anthology of the Blues series:

1. The Legend Of Elmore James
2. Memphis Blues
3. California Blues
4. Deep South Blues
5. Texas Blues
6. Detroit Blues
7. Arkansas Blues
8. Lightnin' Hopkins: A Legend In His Own Time
9. Mississippi Blues
10. The Resurrection Of Elmore James
11. B.B. King 1949-1950
12. West Coast Blues

West Coast Blues - The Who, The Where and The When (Perhaps)

Mercy Dee - "Stubborn Woman" and "Have You Ever" recorded in Los Angeles in 1955. Released on Flair 1078 in November 1955. "Have You Ever" on this LP is probably an alternate take to the version on the Flair single.

Jimmy Nelson - "T 99 Blues" recorded at the Clef Club, Richmond, California, in June or July 1951. Jimmy Nelson with the Peter Rabbit Trio. Released on RPM 325 in June / July 1951.

Pee Wee Crayton - "Blues After Hours" recorded in Los Angeles in September 1948. Released on Modern 624 in October 1948. "Texas Hop" recorded in Los Angeles in 1948, released on Modern 643, late 1948.

Saunders King - original version of "S.K. Blues" recorded in San Francisco, June 1942 and released on Rhythm 3. New version recorded in San Francisco in 1948 or 49 and released on Rhythm 302 as "Saunders Blues, Pts 1 and 2" in 1949. Reissued on RPM 375 as "New S.K. Blues Parts 1 and 2" in December 1952. Also reissued on RPM 497 as "S.K. Blues, Pts 1 and 2" in 1957. As to which version is on this LP, I'm not sure!

J.W. Walker - "Sitting Here Wondering" and "J.W.'s Blues" recorded in St. Louis, November 11th, 1955, with the Ike Turner band. First released on this compilation.

James Reed - "You Better Hold Me" and "Dr. Brown" recorded in Oakland in March 1954. With the Que Martyn Orchestra. Both sides released on Flair 1042 in July 1954. The version of "You Better Hold Me" released on Big Town 117 in 1955 is a different recording.

Roy Hawkins - "Strange Land" was recorded in San Francisco circa 1948. Released on Down Town 2025 in April 1949. Remastered and reissued on Modern 693 in September 1949.

Maxwell Davis - Father Of West Coast R&B (re-up)

Side 1:
01. Boogie Cocktails - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
02. Bristol Drive - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
03. Flying Home - Gene Phillips & His Orchestra
04. Royal Boogie - Gene Phillips & His Rhythm Aces
05. Resistor - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
06. Belmont Special - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
07. Jumpin' With Lloyd - Lloyd Glen & His All Stars

Side 2:
01. Thunderbird - Maxwell Davis & His Rock'n'Roll Orchestra
02. Cool Diggin' - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
03. Bluesville - Maxwell Davis & His Rock'n'Roll Orchestra
04. Rocking With Maxie - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
05. Tempo Rock - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra
06. Gene Jumps The Blues - Gene Phillips & His Rhythm Aces
07. Boogie Cocktails - Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra

Father Of West Coast R&B (Mega)

Father Of West Coast R&B (Zippy)

Outstanding 1988 Ace LP of instros from the Modern / RPM stable presented in an attractive gatefold sleeve. This LP was originally posted on the blog in October 2009. For this re-up I've added label shots. The full gatefold which contains a very informative biographical article on Maxwell Davis by Ray Topping is included in the download.

It's now almost a cliche to say that Maxwell Davis is an unsung hero of rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll. He worked for a multiplicity of Los Angeles based record labels from the 1940's to 1970 in a variety of roles including tenor sax sideman'  arranger, producer and bandleader. The gatefold sleeve includes a long list of the R&B hits to which he contributed including "Safronia B." by Calvin Boze, "Please Send Me Someone To Love" by Percy Mayfield, "I Got Loaded" by Peppermint Harris, "Call Operator 210" by Floyd Dixon, and a whole heap o' hits by B.B. King and Amos Milburn.

Fax On The Trax, Jack

Maxwell Davis & His Orchestra - Los Angeles, circa November 1950. Personnel: Jake Porter (trumpet); Jack McVea (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Maurice Simon (baritone sax); Austin McCoy (piano); Chuck Norris (guitar); Red Callender (bass); Lee Young (drums):

Boogie Cocktail, Belmont Special, Resistor, Bristol Drive.

Boogie Cocktail / Belmont Special released on Modern 20-791 in January 1951.

Bristol Drive / Resistor released on Modern 20-805 in March 1951.

Maxwell Davis and his Rock and Roll Orchestra - Los Angeles , 1955. Personnel: Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); unknown others:

Thunderbird, Bluesville, Tempo Rock, Cool Diggin'.

Thunderbird / Bluesville released on RPM 449 in December 1955.

Above: The Cash Box, 17th December 1955

Tempo Rock / Cool Diggin' released on RPM 482 in December 1956.

Rocking With Maxie - unreleased mid 1950's track.

Gene Phillips And His Rhythm Aces - Los Angeles, 1948. Possible personnel: Gene Phillips (guitar); Jake Porter (trumpet); Marshall Royal (alto sax); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Lloyd Glenn (piano); Arthur Edwards (bass); William Streets (drums).

Gene Jumps The Blues, Flying Home, Royal Boogie.

Gene Jumps The Blues unreleased.

Royal Boogie / Stinkin' Drunk released on Modern 20-586 in June 1948.

Flying Home -Bruyninckx lists its release on Modern 20-614, possibly in October 1948. I can find no other mention of such a release. This is the same track which was released in November 1951 as "New Flying Home" (RPM 332x45) with overdubbed crowd noise and credited to the "Lloyd Glenn All Stars featuring Maxwell Davis."

The B Side of RPM 332x45 was "Jumpin' With Lloyd" which also had overdubbed crowd noise, as can be heard on this LP. There has also been a release of this disc with both sides credited simply to "Maxwell Davis." "Jumpin' With Lloyd" was originally an unreleased Gene Phillips recording from 1947 / 1948 which was "transformed" into the Lloyd Glenn / Maxwell Davis instro with the addition of crowd noise and some echo.

Elsewhere On The Blog:

Maxwell Davis And His Tenor Sax:

A 1980's reissue of a 1950's Maxwell Davis Aladdin LP. The original article with background information on Maxwell and on the evolution of this LP through various reissues can be found here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/maxwell-davis-and-his-tenor-sax.html

The LP can be downloaded from here:

http://www53.zippyshare.com/v/2veIHSnf/file.html

or here:

Maxwell Davis And His Tenor Sax (Mega)

Recommended purchase:

Triple CD set on the Fantastic Voyage label. Compiled by Dave Penny, CD1 has 31 tracks issued on various labels (Aladdin, Modern, Pacific, Down Beat, Miltone, etc) under Maxwell Davis' name. CD2 and CD3 contain tracks from the '40's and '50's on which Maxwell played, including records by Helen Humes, Charles Mingus, Jimmy Witherspoon, Calvin Boze, Jimmy Nelson and Percy Mayfield. The collection deliberately avoids the big R&B hits on which he played, opting instead for lesser known sides. Very highly recommended, especially if like me you're into the more obscure areas of West Coast R&B. There's a review of this set on the blog here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/review-wailin-daddy-best-of-maxwell.html

Happy Easter, music fans.

Joe Houston - Rockin' 'n' Boppin'

Tracklist:

Side 1

01. Rockin' 'n' Boppin'

02. Flying Home

03. Walking Home

04. Earthquake

05. Waycross Mama Blues

06. Moody

07. Hurricane

08. Go Joe Go

Side 2

01. Cornbread & Cabbage

02. Jay's Boogie

03. Doin' The Lindy Hop

04. Boogie Woogie Woman

05. Hog Maws Part 2

06. Dig It

07. Shtiggy Boom

08. Joe's Gone

09. The Hully

Download from here:

Joe Houston - Rockin' 'n' Boppin' (Mega)

Joe Houston - Rockin' 'n' Boppin' (Zippy)

Bought second hand. There is damage to the inner sleeve which renders a small part of the notes unreadable.

We continue our tribute to the late Joe Houston with a Saxophonograph LP which hasn't been on the blog before.

I was saddened to read in the March edition of "Blues & Rhythm" that Joe Houston had passed away last December after a long period of ill health. One of my favourite LPs of the 1980s R&B reissue craze was "Rockin' At The Drive In" on Ace. This was a reworking of an LP originally issued on Combo in 1956. The honking sax was awesome, relentless even, and as for the cover art, ye gods! There in the car park of a Googie architecture drive in restaurant was the man himself, blowing his sax to an admiring crowd of teens plus DJ Art Laboe and, artfully placed in the picture, a couple of open top cars each about the size of a small house (by UK standards). 1950s California seemed impossibly cool to somebody living in gloomy, rain soaked Glasgow in the 1980s.

"Rockin' 'n' Boppin'" provides a good overview of Joe's 1950s recording career. The gatefold sleeve contains notes by Ken Mills which at times could be called "fervent" as he preaches the glories of the Southern California R&B scene and Joe's contribution thereto. Included in the notes is a section on another LP already on this blog, "Earthquake," which was released by Pathe Marconi in the early 1980s. This was a compilation mainly consisting of sides originally recorded for Imperial. Unfortunately some of the tracks were wrongly titled and the original versions of "Hurricane" and "Earthquake" were not actually on that LP. However, they are here on "Rockin' 'n' Boppin'!" Read Ken Mills's notes for the full story.

Original release info plus reviews culled from the pages of Billboard:

01. Rockin' 'n' Boppin' - Cash 1018, late 1955.

02. Flying Home - Cash 1013, c September 1955.

03. Walking Home - Cash 1013, c September 1955.

Billboard, 1st October 1955

04. Earthquake - Imperial 5201, 1952.

05. Waycross Mama Blues - Freedom 1526, late 1949 /early 1950.

06. Moody - Bayou 004, May 1953. "Houston is the honking tenor type as he and the ork read off a riff-built instrumental for a good side."

07. Hurricane - Imperial 5196, July 1952. "The ork under Houston drives hard on a rhythm instrumental cleffed by the leader. Results are adequate."

08. Go Joe Go - Lucky 004, May 1954.

09. Cornbread & Cabbage - Hollywood 423, May 1953. "Houston shows a lot of sax on this side, a dynamic riff effort."

10. Jay's Boogie - Hollywood 423, May 1953. "More sax work with abandon by Houston, this time to a boogie beat by the ork."

11. Doin' The Lindy Hop - Modern 863, April 1952

12. Boogie Woogie Woman - Modern 879, August 1952. "A jump boogie gets a solid go from the ork and Lois Butler helps it along with her vocal. Material is not impressive."

13. Hog Maws Part 2 - Magnum 45-723, 1964.

14. Dig It - Modern 879, August 1952. "The ork enjoys itself jamming away on this riff item with lots of solo work featured thruout. Tune builds a bit, but not as much as it could. Jazz fanciers may like."

15. Shtiggy Boom - RPM 426, February 1955. "Swingy new rocker that has all the West Coast record firms excited is handed a driving reading by the Houston ork, with the sidemen on the vocal. Houston turns in some solid work on sax, and the side builds all the way. This could happen."

Scan from Joan K

16. Joe's Gone - RPM 426, February 1955. "And Joe Houston does go in this swinging instrumental side. Both jazz and blues fans will be interested in this wild cutting. Houston comes thru with excitement. Two potent juke sides."

17. The Hully - Combo 157, August 1959. "A blues-oriented instrumental with a rocking rhythm. Some good horn passages and interesting musical figures."

Recommended site:

http://www.colorradio.com/joe-houston.html

Now somebody get me a time machine. I gotta get back to 1950s LA!

Everything I Do Is Wrong / Don't You Want A Man Like Me - B.B. "Blues Boy" King And His Orchestra (RPM 411)

Both tracks recorded in Los Angeles in February / March 1954. Released on RPM 411 in June 1954.

Listen to "Everything I Do Is Wrong"

Listen to "Don't You Want A Man Like Me"

We're back with another El Enmascarado "Blues on 78" post. Sound quality is a bit rough on these shellac rips but the Masked One has performed a minor miracle to fashion listenable mp3s, especially on "Don't You Want A Man Like Me" which had a persistent sticky on the disc surface. Over to the Masked One who has consented to address his adoring R&B public in between suffering horrendous defeats in the wrestling ring, usually at the hands of tag teams consisting of small shrieking girls:

Don't You Want a Man Like Me has a bit of the dreaded Victrola Tonearm syndrome, but I went with it. B.B.'s chords behind the tenor sax solo are interesting- on first listen I thought it was a steel guitar of some sort. Notice how much the band speeds up at 1:58 when they shift back to the Latin feel. You gotta love old school Everybody In The Room At Once-style recording!

"Don't You Want a Man Like Me" was a rerecording of a number first recorded by B.B. in 1951. The title harks back to Walter Brown's "Confessin' The Blues" recorded with the Jay McShann Orchestra in 1941. The line also occurs in another 1941 recording, "Take Me Back Baby" sung by Jimmy Rushing with the Count Basie Orchestra.

1954 was a good year for B.B. King. He had two big hits with "You Upset Me Baby" and "My Heart Beats Like a Hammer." This disc wasn't quite up there with the other two, but still sold well in some locations.