After Hours (King LP 528) - re-up

Side 1:
01. Long Gone Part 1 - Sonny Thompson
02. Long Gone Part 2 - Sonny Thompson
03. After Hours - Ace Harris
04. Midnight To Dawn - Earl Bostic
05. What's New - Bill Jennings
06. Ooh Midnight - Pete "Guitar" Lewis

Side 2:
01. After Hours - Jimmy Nolen
02. Eventide - Bill Doggett
03. Blues For The Red Boy - Todd Rhodes
04. Mellow Blues Part 1 - Sonny Thompson
05. Mellow Blues Part 2 - Sonny Thompson
06. In The Morning - Washboard Bill

Download from here:

After Hours (King LP 528) Mega

Originally posted on March 11th, 2008:

http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/after-hours-king-528_246.html

New cover scans and label shots have been added. The original back cover managed to attribute all four artist photos wrongly, so in the new version I have moved the photos around to match the names. The original back cover scan is included in the download for completists.

This LP was first issued in late 1956 with subsequent reissues appearing in the late 1950s and early 1960s as this collection was a fairly good seller for King. The copy on this post is a 1987 reissue. The music can be summed up as late night blues smooch with a hint of sleaze. Terrific stuff!

You'll find a little "Easter Egg" in the download. Happy listening!

Diggin' deeper:

"Long Gone, Parts 1 & 2" by Sonny Thompson - originally released on Miracle 126 in April 1948. Recorded in Chicago in late 1947. Personnel: Sonny Thompson with the Sharps and Flats : Eddie Chamblee (tenor sax - Part 2); Sonny Thompson (piano); Alvin Garrett (guitar); Leroy Morrison (bass); Thurman "Red Cooper (drums).

"After Hours" by Ace Harris - originally released on Hub 3019 in May 1946. B Side of "Shorty's Got To Go." Recorded in NYC on unknown date in 1946. Ace Harris (piano) and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (tenor sax), other personnel unknown. Also included on King EP 344 "After Hours with Ace Harris."

King EP from 1955 - scan from 45worlds.com

"Midnight To Dawn" by Earl Bostic - originally released on King 4302 in June 1949 as "From Midnight To Dawn." Recorded in Cincinnati on January 12th 1949. Personnel: Roger Jones (trumpet); Earl Bostic (alto sax); Count Hastings (tenor sax); John Byard (piano); Vernon King (bass); Shep Shepherd (drums).

"What's New" by Bill Jennings - originally released on King 4735 in August 1954. The Bill Jennings Quartet - "Soft Winds" / "What's New?" Recorded in Cincinnati on July 8th 1954. Personnel - Andrew Johnson (piano); Bill Jennings (guitar); Joe Williams (bass); George De Hart (drums).

"Ooh Midnight" by Pete "Guitar" Lewis - originally released on Federal 12103 in October 1952. B Side of "Scratchin'." Recorded in Los Angeles on August 28th 1952. Personnel: Pete "Guitar" Lewis (guitar) with Don Johnson (trumpet); George Washington (trombone); James Von Streeter (tenor sax), Fred Ford (baritone sax); Johnny Otis (vibes); Devonia Williams (piano); Albert Winston (bass); Leard Bell (drums); Little Esther Phillips (orgiastic moaning).

"After Hours" by Jimmy Nolen - originally released on Federal 12252 in January 1956. B Side of "Strollin' With Nolen." Recorded in Los Angeles in November 1955. Personnel: Jimmy Nolen (guitar); Eldee Williams (tenor sax); Kenny Battle (baritone sax); Clarence "Bubber" Cyphers (piano); Johnny House (bass); Earl Hyde (drums).

"Eventide" by Bill Doggett - originally released on King 4690 in January 1954. B Side of "And The Angels Sing." Recorded in Cincinnati on 15th December 1953. Personnel: Percy France (tenor sax); Bill Doggett (organ); Jerry Lane (guitar); Clarence Mack (bass); Shep Shepherd (drums).

"Blues For The Red Boy" by Todd Rhodes - originally released on King 4240 in August 1948. B side of "Sportree's Jump," however "Blues For The Red Boy" was the  major hit. Recorded in Chicago in October 1947. Personnel: Howard Thompson (trumpet); Hallie (Holley) Dismukes (alto sax); Louis Barnett (tenor sax); George Favors (baritone sax); Todd Rhodes (piano); Joe Williams (bass) Huestell Tally (drums).

The Todd Rhodes Band in 1947

"Mellow Blues, Parts 1 & 2" by Sonny Thompson - originally released on King 4488 in January 1952. Recorded in New York on 9th April 1951. Personnel: Robert Hadley (tenor sax); Sonny Thompson (piano); Hurley Ramey (guitar); Carl Pruitt (bass); Harold Austin (drums).

"In The Morning" by Washboard Bill - originally released on King 4983 in November 1956, b/w "River Boat Dock." Recorded in New York in 1956(?). Personnel - William E. Cooke aka "Washboard Bill" aka "Hobo Bill" (washboard, vocals); Mickey Baker (guitar); King Curtis (tenor sax); possibly also: Herman Foster (piano), Lloyd Trotman (bass), Joe Marshall or Panama Francis (drums).

Mo' jump 'n' jive re-ups comin' soon - all the way from Detroit and LA. Take me home, mama!

Harlem Heavies

I picked this one up second hand a few months back. It’s a Dutch LP from sometime in the 1980s and is in fact volume 2 of a series of perhaps five collections of New York rhythm ‘n’ blues. Some of these LPs were posted on the original Twilightzone blog which was taken down by the Gestapo sometime ago. There were titles like “Leapin’ On Lennox” and “New York Notables” but I don’t think they have appeared yet on the reincarnated Twilightzone.

In the meantime while we await the second coming of the poster of these gems, Gyro1966, who simply must repost the whole shebang, let us make do with my rips of this superb collection of rhythmatic stompers. Of course there are some old Be Bop Wino favourites here – Mr Bear and Washboard Bill. They, along with many other artists on this LP, were also featured on the Detour comp of Groove sides I posted recently – Groove Jumping! The sound quality on this LP (which was probably a bootleg) doesn’t quite match that of Groove Jumping, but it’s still a rousing heap of clangin’ and bangin’ blues that’s guaranteed to get even the squarest of listeners shakin’ their booty. Or something like that – you know what I mean.

The back of the record sleeve has session details. The usual NYC suspects are on these tracks – Sam “The Man” Taylor, King Curtis, Heywood Henry, Wild Jimmy Spruill, Panama Francis and Leroy Kirkland. We are in safe hands. As you can see from the tracklist I’ve done some digging around to add details of the record labels on which these tracks were originally released. That’s enough jabbering from me. Download and groove, baby, groove!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/343444390/Harlem_Heavies.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=480AO32P

1. Let The Doorbell Ring - Larry Dale (Glover 208, 1960)
2. Let Your Love Run To Me - Larry Dale (Glover 208, 1960)
3. Big Muddy - Larry Dale (Glover 203, 1960)
4. Please Tell Me - Larry Dale (Groove 4G-0029, 1954)
5. Shake Baby Shake - Jack Dupree (Vik – X 0304, 1957)
6. Mind On Loving - Little Danny (Sharp 112, 1960)
7. Up The River - Cousin Leroy (Ember E-1023, 1957)
8. Help Me Baby - Stick McGhee (Savoy 1148, 1955)
9. Hold Out Baby - Mr Bear (AMP 3129, 1958)
10. Shake Me Up Baby - Little Terry (Savoy 1520, 1956)
11. Off To Work Again - Wilbert Harrison (Neptune 123, 1961)
12. Sad Sad Affair - Dossie Terry (Victor 20/47-4864, 1951)
13. Hi-Fi Baby - Mr Bear (AMP 3129, 1958)
14. This Little Letter - James Wayne (Angletone 540, 1960)
15. In The Morning Part 2 - Washboard Bill (King 4983, 1956)
16. Anna Mae - Brownie McGhee (Savoy 1177, 1955)
17. Don't Drop It - Wilbert Harrison Savoy 1138, 1954)
18. Do What You Do - Mickey Baker (King LP839, 1962)

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.

The Continuing Story of Washboard Bill ...

My plea for information on Washboard Bill brought a reply from none other than Marv Goldberg whose R&B website (the site for R&B vocal groups) is on the links panel on the right of this page.

Marv came up with the info that King Curtis plays sax and Mickey Baker plays guitar on "In The Morning". He also provided a couple of web links.

There's a link which leads to a myspace profile dedicated to Washboard Bill. I would urge you all to get yourselves over to that page to check out the sounds, pics and words of wisdom. There's four Washboard Bill tracks to listen to, some YouTube clips, some amazing pictures (including the one above) and a biography of Bill.

Somewhere on the page you'll find a link to scans of a letter written by Bill which tells a pretty heartbreaking story of how he earned no royalties from his King recordings despite the fact that the tracks sold pretty well. He talks of finding "In The Morning" featuring on an LP which must be "After Hours". Unfortunately these are circumstances with which many of the artists featured on this blog were familiar. The myspace page is here:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=203795247

Marv also provided another link confirming the presence of Mickey Baker and King Curtis on "In The Morning":

http://books.google.com/books?id=OGyWw-M5wFsC&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=%22washboard+bill%22+%22in+the+morning%22&source=web&ots=4fwmd9DhUI&sig=FPLlC4DVYu3fJZ5hUKShl_BWLeI&hl=en

Thanks for these links Marv.

Check out the Comments section on the "After Hours" post for further links from "Anonymous".

Lastly, this Ace CD of King and Federal R&B instrumentals has four Washboard Bill Tracks plus plenty of music from many of the artists on "After Hours", so if you dug my previous post, why not splash a bit of cash on "Honky Tonk!"? (Ace CDCHD 761)