Tiny Bradshaw - Breaking Up The House

Side 1:
01) Breaking Up The House
02) Walk That Mess
03) The Train Kept A-Rollin'
04) T-99
05) Bradshaw Boogie
06) Walkin' The Chalk Line
07) Mailman's Sack
08) Snaggle Tooth Ruth

Side 2:
01) Rippin' And Runnin'
02) The Blues Came Pouring Down
03) Two Dry Bones On The Pantry Shelf
04) Brad's Blues
05) Boodie Green
06) Well Oh Well
07) Newspaper Boy Blues
08) One, Two, Three, Kick Blues

Breaking Up The House (Mega)

Breaking Up The House (Zippy)

A 1980s Charly comp which includes some (but not all) of Tiny Bradshaw's R&B hits from the early 1950s. The emphasis on this collection is on the vocal efforts of bandleader Bradshaw who was a fine blues shouter, plus sides featuring vocalists Tiny Kennedy and Dorena Deane.

In an earlier post of the LP "A Tribute To The Late Tiny Bradshaw" there is an overview of Bradshaw's career detailing his evolution from 1930s big band front man, through small group swing in the mid 1940s, to leader of a stomping R&B jump band when he joined King Records in late 1949. His raucous brand of hard rocking jump blues sold well in the early 1950s with "Well Oh Well" reaching number 2 in the R&B charts in May 1950 while "I'm Going To Have Myself A Ball" was at number 5 in October 1950, and "Walkin' The Chalk Line" reached number 10 in September 1951.

Billboard, July 1950

Two hits in 1953, "Soft" and "Heavy Juice" were instrumentals featuring Red Prysock on tenor sax. These set the pattern for much of the band's remaining recorded output in 1954 and 1955 as ill health (a series of strokes or heart attacks depending on who you read) forced Tiny to increasingly take a back seat as far as musical activity was concerned. The band however did keep going, with Red Prysock being replaced by Sil Austin who was in turn replaced by Noble "Thin Man" Watts on a series of good instrumental releases for the juke box crowd.

Billboard June 1954 - the last Tiny disc to see chart action

The tracks on this LP were recorded between 1950 and 1952 when Bradshaw's blues ballin' and squallin' was at its artistic and commercial height. His powerful voice was backed by a suitably powerful band which featured tenor sax man Rufus Gore and Orrington Hall on alto and baritone saxes. When Gore left he was replaced by former Tiny Grimes sax player Red Prysock although Gore would return to join Prysock and Hall in a blow the roof off the joint sax lineup.

So this LP is mostly classic Tiny although there are a couple of tracks ("Rippin' And Runnin'" and "Newspaper Boy Blues") where vocals, both male and "female" parts, are by Tiny Kennedy. There's also "One, Two, Three, Kick Blues" where the band backs bloozy chantoozy Dorena Deane. A welcome bonus is a hitherto unreleased track "Snaggle Tooth Ruth" which is lots of fun. All this and a classic 1980s Nozbig cover by Dave Gibson. What more could you want, rhythm fans?

Original Release Details:

Well Oh Well / I Hate You - King 4357 - April 1950

Boodie Green / After You've Gone - King 4376 - August 1950

Breaking Up The House / If You Don't Love Me, Tell Me So - King 4417 - December 1950

Walk That Mess / One, Two, Three, Kick Blues - King 4427 - February 1951

Two Dry Bones On The Pantry Shelf / Brad's Blues - King 4447 - April 1951

Bradshaw Boogie / Walkin' The Chalk Line - King 4457 - June 1951

T-99 / Long Time Baby - King 4487 - September 1951

The Train Kept A-Rollin' / Knockin' Blues - King 4497 - February 1952

Mailman's Sack / Newspaper Boy Blues - King 4537 - April 1952

Lay It On The Line / Rippin' And Runnin' - King 4547 - July 1952

Heavy Juice / The Blues Came Pouring Down - King 4621 - May 1953

Snaggle Tooth Ruth - first issued on this LP

Elsewhere On The Blog:

A Tribute To The Late Tiny Bradshaw The Great Composer

King LP of mainly instrumental sides by the Bradshaw band. Includes the two big hits featuring Red Prysock, "Soft" and "Heavy Juice." Post includes biography of Tiny Bradshaw.

Tiny Bradshaw - Stomping Room Only

Krazy Kat compilation of best of Bradshaw (no "Soft" though) quite a bit of duplication with "Breaking Up The House."

General update post on all things Tiny Bradshaw on the blog, including links to El Enmascarado's 78 rpm singles:

Tiny Bradshaw LPs and those Mighty 78s

Scan by El Enmascarado

Above 2 scans from Joan

More R&B coming soon including loose as a goose West Coast sounds from Marv, untamed Detroit vocal group shenanigans from Charlie B and an LP by an old favourite ripped by my good self. Perhaps another look at Earl Bostic to be thrown in? Stay tuned.

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".

Red Prysock LPs

On with the Big Beat honkfest! In this post we feature updates to previous Red Prysock posts, especially the revamped "Cryin' My Heart Out" Saxophonograph LP. For a little bit of fun I thought I'd come up with a new front cover which is more "in period" as it utilizes a 1940s photo of Red with Tiny Grimes in New York. The real cover and label artwork is below.

The original (improved) "Cryin' My Heart Out" post is here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/red-prysock-cryin-my-heart-out.html

Download "Cryin' My Heart Out" from here:

http://www17.zippyshare.com/v/6bATpyif/file.html

An anonymous donor sent in "The Big Sound Of Red Prysock" which is a 1964 LP on the budget Forum Circle label. The original post is here: 

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/big-sound-of-red-prysock-fc-9083_4157.html

I can't find any discographical information on this release but having listened to it earlier today I can say that "Castle Rock" is one of the best honk tracks I've ever heard.

Download "The Big Sound Of Red Prysock" from here:

http://www90.zippyshare.com/v/uVi8bBTY/file.html

Back in 2010, Jeff sent in a copy of the Sil Austin v Red Prysock sax duel LP, "Battle Royal." You can read the original post with comments from Jeff here:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/sil-austin-red-prysock-battle-royal-mg.html

Download "Battle Royal" from here:

http://www8.zippyshare.com/v/iAsYLY6f/file.html

Coming soon - more New York honk with Sil Austin, Buddy Lucas and Freddie Mitchell.

Walkin’ The Chalk Line / Bradshaw Boogie – Tiny Bradshaw (King 4457)

“Walkin’ The Chalk Line” was recorded in Cincinnati on February 8^th, 1950. Personnel : Tiny Bradshaw (lead vocal); Jimmy Robinson piano); Clarence Mack (bass); Calvin Shields (drums). Also present at the session, but sitting this track out, were Leslie Ayres (trumpet); Orrington Hall (alto and baritone sax); Rufus Gore (tenor sax) and Leroy Harris (guitar).

“Bradshaw Boogie” was recorded in New York on January 16^th, 1951. Personnel: Tiny Bradshaw (vocal); Leslie Ayres (trumpet); Andrew Penn (trombone); Orrington Hall (alto and baritone sax); Red Prysock (tenor sax); Jimmy Robinson (organ); Willie Gaddy (guitar); Eddie Smith (bass); Calvin Shields (drums).

Listen to "Walkin' The Chalk Line

Listen to "Bradshaw Boogie"

King 4457 was released in mid-June 1951. The disc was reviewed in Billboard on June 30^th. Of “Walkin’ The Chalk Line” Billboard said – “Bradshaw and male trio, backed by rhythm section only here, register with a hard-hitting little jingle with a recurring refrain.” And on “Bradshaw Boogie” the comment was: “Tiny and the boys come thru with one of their typical hard driving boogie blues novelties.”

“Walkin’ The Chalk Line” wasn’t a big seller despite being featured in the King / Federal / DeLuxe adverts in Billboard during July and August alongside Lucky Millinder’s “I’m Waiting Just For You,” “Sleep” by Earl Bostic, “Bloodshot Eyes” by Wynonie Harris, “Sixty Minute Man” and “Do Something For Me” by The Dominoes and Roy Brown’s “Wrong Woman Blues.”

Enough platters were sold to make King 4457 the 90^th best-selling R&B record of 1951. The really big hits around the middle of the year included the aforementioned “I’m Waiting Just For You,” “Sixty Minute Man” and “Do Something For Me” plus “Don’t You Know I Love You” by The Clovers, “Chains Of Love” by Big Joe Turner, “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston and “Too Young” by Nat King Cole.

The “Bradshaw Boogie” session marked Red Prysock’s recording debut with the band and his fiery, rabble rousing tenor sax solo really brings what could have been a formulaic side to life.

As always we have El Enmascarado to thank for yet another slice of R&B history from his growing stash of 78 rpm discs. The sound quality on these two rips is remarkable, considering that they originate from shellac that is over sixty years old. I’ve been listening to these sides on my new laptop (a necessary buy after my 11 year old Pentium 4 PC took its final, fatal crash) which I’ve hooked up to my hifi and they pack quite a wallop. Thank you, o masked one!

Swingin' Saxophones

Side One
1. Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
2. Flying Home No 2 - Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra
3. Honeysuckle Rose - Ben Webster
4. Blowing The Blues Away - Billy Eckstine & His Orchestra
5. Lunatic - John Hardee
6. IQ Blues - Ike Quebec

Side Two
1. Riffin' At 24th Street - Illinois Jacquet
2. I'm Confessin' - Lester Young
3. The Spider - Joe Morris
4. Long Tall Dexter - Dexter Gordon
5. Hot In Harlem - Tiny Grimes
6. Cole Slaw - Frank Culley

My thanks to the anonymous donor who sent in this comp. It’s a good collection of 1940s tenor sax sides, beginning with some big band swing, and ending with some jazzy R&B combos via detours into boppish small group jazz. However you want to label it, it makes for some mighty fine listening. In fact never mind the label thing, just call it good music.

The sleeve notes are pretty uninformative as you would expect from a bootleg. I’ve looked up the recording details of all the tracks on the LP and listed them at the end of the post. Ben Webster is the soloist on “Cottontail,” Arnett Cobb is on “Flying Home No. 2” and Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons serve up an early example of a tenor sax “chase” on “Blowing The Blues Away.”

On Side Two, Johnny Griffin delivers the most frantic performance of the set on “The Spider” while Red Prysock is the tenor man on “Hot in Harlem.” Ike Quebec’s “I.Q. Blues” on Savoy is really just another version of “Blue Harlem” which he had previously recorded for Blue Note in July 1944. I think I actually prefer the Savoy version for its gorgeous piano break by Johnny Guarnieri. The Blue Note original does have some nice guitar from Tiny Grimes, though.

As for the origins of this comp – there is no label number on the front or back cover, although the back cover does bear the legend “Bop u Rhythm Schallplatten, Saarland.” The sleeve notes are written pseudonymously and claim to date from 1952. I think this is probably a bootleg of a bootleg, or a reissue of an album which originally appeared in the mid to late 1950s on the legendary Bop-Rhythm label. I’m sure that the original release would have had a different front cover from the one which was sent to me. It doesn’t look like a 1950s style cover at all.

Bop-Rhythm was a strictly “underground” label whose issues of jazz, R&B and even some early rock and roll were much coveted by hopheads and beatniks around Europe. Their operation was based in the Saarland which for much of the 1950s was detached from the German Federal Republic and thus provided a haven for a motley group of jazz fanatics and dope fiends who were zealous spreaders of the gospel of groove. They took advantage of the Saarland’s unique status of being beyond the reach of German civil law and set up a record pressing plant from which they distributed all kinds of bopmungous vinyl goodies to adjacent countries. The music was sourced from records provided by American service personnel based in West Germany.

When the Saarland was incorporated into West Germany in 1957, Bop-Rhythm Records was doomed, although they managed to keep going until 1960 when their pressing plant (situated in the basement of a house of ill repute in Fraulautern, Saarlouis) was raided by an Interpol organised task force of police from three different countries – France, Germany and Belgium – plus a contingent of US Military Police. I hope that at the last, the stoned jazzers of Bop-Rhythm went down swinging as the forces of law and order stormed into their HQ.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www29.zippyshare.com/v/7xovktql/file.html

Recording Details:

1. Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra

Recorded in Hollywood CA, 4th May, 1940. Released on Victor 26610
Personnel: Rex Stewart (cnt) Cootie Williams, Wallace Jones (tp) Joe Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown (tb) Barney Bigard (cl,ts) Johnny Hodges (as,sop) Otto Hardwick (as, bassax) Ben Webster (ts) Harry Carney (bar,as,cl) Duke Ellington (p) Fred Guy (g) Jimmy Blanton (b) Sonny Greer (d )

2. Flying Home No 2 - Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra

Recorded in New York City, 2nd March, 1944. Released on Decca.
Personnel: Cat Anderson, Lamar Wright Jr., Roy McCoy (tp) Joe Morris (tp,arr) Al Hayse, Michael "Booty" Wood, Fred Beckett (tb) Earl Bostic, Gus Evans (as) Al Sears, Arnett Cobb (ts) Charlie Fowlkes (bar) Lionel Hampton (vib,p) Milt Buckner (p) Eric Miller (g) Vernon King (b) Fred Radcliffe (d)

3. Honeysuckle Rose – The Ben Webster Quartet

Recorded in New York City, 17th April, 1944. Released on Savoy 506.
Personnel: Ben Webster (ts) Johnny Guarnieri (p) Oscar Pettiford (b) David Booth (d)

4. Blowing The Blues Away - Billy Eckstine & His Orchestra

Recorded in New York City, 5th September, 1944. Released on Audiolab.
Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, Shorty McConnell, Gail Brockman, Boonie Hazel (tp) Gerald Valentine, Taswell Baird, Howard Scott, Chips Outcalt (tb) John Jackson, Bill Frazier (as) Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons (ts) Leo Parker (bar) John Malachi (p) Connie Wainwright (g) Tommy Potter (b) Art Blakey (d) Billy Eckstine (vcl)

5. Lunatic – The John Hardee Quintet

Recorded in New York City, November, 1947. Released on Savoy 703.
Personnel: Joe Jordan (tp) John Hardee (ts) Billy Kyle (p) John Simmons (b) Cozy Cole (d)

6. I.Q. Blues – The Ike Quebec All Stars

Recorded in New York City, 7th August, 1945. Released on Savoy 570.
Personnel: Ike Quebec (ts) Johnny Guarnieri (p) Bill De Arango (g) Milt Hinton (b) J.C. Heard (d)

7. Riffin' At 24th Street - Illinois Jacquet & His Orchestra

Recorded in New York City, 18th December, 1947. Released on Victor 20-2702.
Personnel: Joe Newman (tp) Russell Jacquet (tp) Jay Jay Johnson (tb) Illinois Jacquet (ts) Leo Parker (bar) Sir Charles Thompson (p) John Collins (g) Al Lucas (b) Shadow Wilson (d)

8. I'm Confessin' - Lester Young & His Band

Recorded in New York City, 2nd April, 1947. Released on Aladdin 212.
Personnel: Shorty McConnell (tp-1) Lester Young (ts) Argonne Thornton (p) Nasir Barakaat (g) Rodney Richardson (b) Lyndell Marshall (d)

9. The Spider - Joe Morris & His Orchestra

Recorded in New York City, 23rd December, 1947. Released on Atlantic 859.
Personnel: Joe Morris (tp) Johnny Griffin (ts) Bill McLemore (bar) Wilmus Reeves (p) George Freeman (g) Emmett Dailey (b) Leroy Jackson (d)

10. Long Tall Dexter – The Dexter Gordon Quintet

Recorded in New York City, 29th January, 1946. Released on Savoy 603.
Personnel: Leonard Hawkins (tp) Dexter Gordon (ts) Bud Powell (p) Curly Russell (b) Max Roach (d)

11. Hot In Harlem – The Tiny Grimes Quintet

Recorded in Cleveland, 1st May, 1948. Released on Atlantic 869.
Personnel: Red Prysock (ts) Jimmy Saunders (p) Tiny Grimes (g) Ike Isaacs (b) Jerry Potter (d)

12. Cole Slaw - Frank “Floorshow” Culley

Recorded in New York City, 17th January, 1949. Released on Atlantic 874.
Personnel: Frank Culley (ts) Harry Van Walls (p) Tiny Grimes (g) unknown b and d.

Jealousy / The Sidewalks Of New York - Tiny Grimes' Quintet (Atlantic 886)

Listen to "Jealousy"

Listen to "The Sidewalks Of New York"

Once more the Be Bop Army assembles in El Enmascarado's record room, where there are Joe Houston LP covers on the wall, several crates of 78 rpm discs, and a vintage Sparton radio / record player. The fridge is well stocked with beer and there's a disc on the turntable - and it sports a familiar red and black label. Yep, it's an early Atlantic record and oh joy, it's the Tiny Grimes band with Red Prysock on tenor sax.

These performances were recorded in New York on March 16th, 1949. The band consisted of: Tiny Grimes (guitar); Red Prysock (tenor sax); George Kelly (piano); Ike Isaacs (bass) and Sonny Payne (drums).

Tiny Grimes had been recording for Atlantic since the end of 1947, first with John Hardee on tenor sax and then in May 1948 with Wilbur "Red" Prysock taking over as axeman and occasional vocalist (in the style of his balladeer brother Arthur Prysock). The May 1948 session yielded a national R&B hit with "Midnight Special" which reached number 12 in November of that year.

Red Prysock and Tiny Grimes

Further releases on Atlantic failed to chart and in mid 1949 Tiny Grimes moved to the Gotham label. Around that time the band was kitted out in an approximation of Scottish highland dress and were billed as Tiny Grimes and his Rocking Highlanders.

The two sides on this disc predate that change of image. They are both "slow burners" - starting off as cool interpretations of old standards before the heated sax work of Red Prysock ups the ante.

With thanks to El Enmascarado for the rips from shellac and label scans.

Sil Austin & Red Prysock - Battle Royal! (MG 20434)

Man oh man! This is the holy grail of honk. Sil Austin and Red Prysock, two of the all time great R&B tenor sax men, square off for a “battle royal” on this 1959 Mercury LP.

Thanks to sax fan Jeff who sent in these rips from vinyl, plus label and cover scans. One of the best things about music blogging is that fellow enthusiasts get in touch and send in contributions. This is an LP I’ve wanted to hear for some time now and it’s all due to Jeff that not only do I finally have the chance to hear these tracks, but so do you oh fellow boppers de wino.

Here’s some of Jeff’s thoughts on hearing this album -

“It is one of the most incredible sax records I have ever heard. A real joy, and I am so happy I saw it. The two of them were at the top of their form, and go at it like there is no tomorrow. It's actually just an unbelievable experience.

Incidentally, the record is heavily jazz with an R&B cornerstone. Both of them seemed like they were still into the 50s R&B but had recognized the death of the genre and were shifting into real jazz.

But then, of course, Sil went over to the ballad syndrome, and took a complete about face with his career. He was great in either genre, but what an absolute difference. I do feel we lost something in the transition. I'd love to know if he consciously went where the money was, or decided himself that R&B was dead, or lost his enthusiasm for uptempo honking.

And lastly incidentally, in case you aren't up on modern sax people, Sax Gordon has made a couple of CDs and truly is a throwback to the days of both Austin and Prysock. If you haven't heard him you should.

I sure hope you enjoy this one as much as I do. It just builds and builds and builds.

It is truly a shame that these two didn't get more popular acclaim. They are certainly way up there with the R&B afficionados, but they stand out so far from many of the other R&B sax men that more fame would have been warranted and well-deserved. This record is a gem.”

Recorded in New York, 1959. A stereo version, SR 60106, was also released on Mercury. A two part version of “Kenny’s Blues” was issued on a 45 rpm disc, Mercury 71683x45.

“No 1 Sil” and “Take The A Train” are extended frantic tenor sax duels. The shorter and slower “Kenny’s Blues” showcases the guitar of Kenny Burrell as well as the saxes of Austin and Prysock.

Personnel: Red Prysock, Sil Austin (ts) Dave Martin (p) Kenny Burrell, Everett Barksdale (g) Milt Hinton (b) Panama Francis (d)

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www8.zippyshare.com/v/iAsYLY6f/file.html

1. No.1 Sil
2. Kenny's Blues
3. Take The 'A' Train

Thanks for this post, Jeff.

Red Prysock - Cryin' My Heart Out

Side 1

1. Wiggles

2. Cryin' My Heart Out

3. Jump For George

4. Hard Rock

5. The Hammer

6. Jackpot

7. Rock The House

8. 125th Street Sunrise

Side 2

1. Body And Soul

2. Red Speaks

3. Hey There

4. Short Circuit

5. Finger Tips

6. Head Snappin'

7. Teenage Rock

8. Paquino Walk

“Red Prysock is a tenor man who swims smack-dab in the mainstream of jazz. By mainstream I mean that belly part of the water where many years ago you could find Coleman Hawkins, Chu Berry, Herschel Evans, Vido Musso and literally hundreds of musicians who surrounded the melodic line with their big, fat tones and pronounced vibratos and honked unashamedly with passion and muscle.”

- Lou Sidran

Wilbert “Red” Prysock started playing the saxophone around 1943. His favourite players during that period were Coleman Hawkins, Don Byas, Lester Young, Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon. From 1944 to 1947 he served in the armed forces. On his return to civilian life he became a professional musician when he was discovered by Tiny Grimes. He played with the Grimes band on sessions for Atlantic and Gotham, before joining Roy Milton for a very brief spell in 1950.

However it was Red’s spell with the Tiny Bradshaw band through 1951 and 1952 which really brought him to the attention of honk fans. He played on frantic numbers like “Bradshaw Boogie” and “The Train Kept A Rollin’” and in October 1952 he was playing lead on his own composition, the big instrumental hit “Soft”. He recorded one more session with Bradshaw before moving on (being replaced by Sil Austin) in early 1953 to the Cootie Williams orchestra.

In March 1954 Red was leading his own band at his first session for Mercury. Red went on to great success with the company with whom he stayed until 1961, releasing 5 LPs and numerous singles including his big hit “Hand Clappin’”. His muscular style was highly suited to the emerging rock and roll music. He recorded a blistering number called “Rock’n Roll” in January 1955 and played live dates as a member of the Alan Freed Rock and Roll Orchestra.

The tracks on side A (tracks 1-8) of this 1983 compilation were recorded for Bobby Robinson’s Red Robin label. Tracks 1-6 were Red’s first recordings as a bandleader made in January 1952 while he was still with the Bradshaw outfit. “Cryin’ My Heart Out” is the only slow track from this session, the rest being rousing swingers. “The Hammer” is a particularly torrid performance. Tracks 7 and 8 are unreleased tracks from a 1953 Tiny Grimes session. “Rock The House” sounds like a rehearsal track with the band vocals rendered almost inaudible in the mix.

All the tracks on side B were recorded for Mercury, ranging from the first session in March 1954 (“Body and Soul”) to January 1957 (“Head Snappin’”). “Body and Soul” and “Hey There” are good ballad performances. The rest of the tracks are wild blasters which will please all you honk fans out there.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www17.zippyshare.com/v/6bATpyif/file.html

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