C90 Savoy and National – Side B

As promised, here’s the second side of my old mixtape of Savoy and National sides from the mid forties to the early fifties. Honkin’, shoutin’, boogyin’ and bluesin’ from the dawn of R&B. The program has been uploaded as one continuous mp3 ripped from cassette (and before that, vinyl) at 192 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon.

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/294725135/C90_Savoy_and_National_Side_B.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=X8JKX6TY

We’re Gonna Rock, We’re Gonna Roll – Wild Bill Moore
Cornbread – Hal Singer
Ain’t Nothin’ Shakin’ – Redd Lyte
Double Trouble Hop – Dee Williams and the California Playboys
My Brown Frame Baby – H-Bomb Ferguson
Wild Wig – Big Jay McNeely
Lunatic – John Hardee
Ain’t Gonna Quit You Baby – Helen Humes with the Dexter Gordon Orchestra
Blues Nocturne – Johnny Otis
Old Man River – The Ravens
Watch That Jive – Big Joe Turner
Preachin’ The Blues – H-Bomb Ferguson
Wine Cooler – T.J. Fowler
Mercy Mr. Percy – Varetta Dillard
Head Hunter – Johnny Otis
Let’s Make Love Tonight – Earl Williams with Lee Allen
The Eel – Lee Allen
35-30 (Fadeout) – Paul Williams

C90 Savoy and National - Side A

Here’s an idea I’ve “borrowed” from the boplicious Rockerstomp blog, where sometime back in the past Javi posted some cassettes he compiled in his rock’n’roll youth.

So it’s the Boogster’s Mixtape madness on this post. I’m clearing out Bebopwino Towers aka Chateau Despair prior to extensive and ruinously expensive renovations. From the depths of my vinyl cupboard I’ve salvaged several cases of cassette tapes, including a case of mixtapes I made up mostly between 10 and 15 years ago. There are titles like “Dig This!” (8 volumes), “The Cool and The Crazy”, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Rampage” (4 volumes), “Rambunctious!”, and suchlike. Some are R&B, others are mixes of R&B, Rockabilly, Hillbilly, etc. One even includes 1930s jazz/drugs songs alongside early 1960s surf.

When I started listening to the tapes again I couldn’t remember what many of the tracks were or what albums I’d nicked them off. Then I found a bunch of tracklists, so we’re in business. I’m gonna try posting a few on the blog to see if any of you fans of good music are interested in this kind of format.

First up we have a C90 of R&B and some jazz from the Savoy and National labels. This post has Side A, and Side B will be along soon. I’ve converted each side to one long mp3 at 192 kbps. So we don’t have separate tracks. Just regard it as a low tech podcast.

Most of the tracks date from the mid to late 1940s which were the formative years of rhythm and blues. I won’t take up any more of your time with attempts at supplying info or descriptions of the music. Just let me say that there’s plenty of rootin’ and tootin’ and honkin’ and hootin’ for all you rockers and rollers and boppers and strollers out there

The tracks were taped from vinyl so not only do you get some tape hiss, you get the joyful sound of crackle and pop from the discs. Download this mp3 for some of my favourite sounds from some of my favourite labels.

Ripped from vinyl via cassette at 192 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/294386628/C90_Savoy_and_National_Side_A.rar

Or here:

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

Side A:

All Night Long – Johnny Otis
I Got Love For Sale – Big Joe Turner
The Twister – Paul Williams
I Ain’t Mad At You – Gatemouth Moore
Hollerin’ And Screamin’ – Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and his Be Boppers
The Milk Shake Stand – The Three Barons
Now’s The Time – Charlie Parker’s Reboppers
The Hucklebuck – Paul Williams
Double Crossing Blues – Little Esther and The Robins
T.J. Boogie – T.J. Fowler
I Keep Rollin’ On – Hot Lips Page
Smack That Mess – Clyde Hart, vocal – Joe Gregory
Rockin’ Blues – Mel Walker
Midnight Jump – Hal Singer
Red Hot Blues – T.J. Fowler
Boogie Guitar (fadeout) – Johnny Otis

Maxwell Davis And His Tenor Sax

My thanks to the anonymous donor who has sent in some great instrumental albums and has supplied this 1980s re-issue (on the Official label) of a Maxwell Davis album which was first released on Aladdin in 1954.

The influence of Maxwell Davis as a tenor sax player, producer, arranger, bandleader and A&R man permeates many other posts on the blog, a prime example being the post on Percy Mayfield: “The Voice Within”, where most of the tracks were arranged and backed by Maxwell.

1956 12 inch release

This album was originally released in 1954 as a 10-inch LP with only 8 tracks. It was part of a series of Aladdin LPs with titles ending in “… and his Tenor Sax”, the other releases being by Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet and Lynn Hope. In 1956 a 12-inch edition containing 11 tracks was released. In 1957 this 11 track version was re-released on the Aladdin budget subsidiary Score with a new title – “Blue Tango” and a new cover featuring an attractive young lady pouting provocatively at the camera. I have included an illustration of that cover for purely educational purposes while thoroughly deploring the use of sexist imagery to sell records. You can find similarly regrettable illustrations on the Both Sides Now website, from which I stole this example.

Budget release on Score, 1957

For better or for worse, this extended 1980s reissue on the Official label restores the original artwork to the album. However, the lack of a seductive temptress on the sleeve is more than compensated for by the music contained within.

Maxwell Davis originally hailed from Independence, Kansas where he was born in 1916. By the age of twelve he was practising hard on the saxophone having already tried the violin and piano. A few years later he had formed his own group and at the age of seventeen earned a berth in the territory band of Gene Coy. In 1937 he moved to Los Angeles and began working with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra before forming a small group for club gigs. As the war came to an end, the Los Angeles R&B scene boomed and Maxwell worked as a freelance musician and arranger for the numerous record companies which were springing up on the West Coast.

In 1948 he signed a contract with Aladdin Records which within a year became the top selling R&B label in the country. The late 40s and early fifties were the great years for Aladdin with Maxwell Davis working alongside top stars such as Amos Milburn, Charles Brown, Floyd Dixon and Peppermint Harris. The sides on this LP were recorded between November 1951 and November 1953, all of them being released on singles except “Kiss Me Again.” Of the three LPs which I have posted from this series, this is probably the “poppiest”, but is still essential listening for tenor sax fans.

By 1954 Maxwell was working full time for Modern where he worked on many of the sides which brought success for the label as the rock and roll era took off. Among the artists he worked with were Etta James, B.B. King, Richard Berry, Marvin & Johnny, The Teen Queens, Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Jesse Belvin. In the late sixties Maxwell was working on Modern’s re-activated Kent label, producing blues hits by Lowell Fulson, Z.Z. Hill and B.B. King. He was still working when he died of a heart attack in September 1970.
Most of the above information is from Ray Topping’s liner notes to the Ace LP “Father of West Coast R&B.”

Download from here:


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


Or from here:


Maxwell Davis And His Tenor Sax (Mega)


1. Blue Tango
2. Popsicle
3. Blue Shuffle
4. Glory Of Love
5. Hey, Good Lookin'
6. Joe Louis Story Theme
7. Gomain Nasai (Forgive Me)
8. Ooh!
9. Hey Boy
10. C'est Si Bon
11. Look Sharp
12. Strange Sensation
13. Kiss Me Again
14. Hot Point
15. No Other Love
16. Charmaine

Recommended purchase:

Wailin' Daddy: The Best Of Maxwell Davis (Fantastic Voyage FVTD130)

A 3CD collection compiled by Dave Penny for the Fantastic Voyage label. CD 1 has 30 tracks by Maxwell including some of the tracks on "Maxwell Davis And His Tenor Sax." The other 2 CDs are collections of 1940s and 1950s tracks he produced, arranged or played on as a sideman. Many obscure and little known gems are to be found here! The 20 page booklet has a biographical essay on Maxwell. Highly recommended.
 
Full review can be read here.

Illinois Jacquet And His Tenor Sax

Honk starts with Illinois Jacquet, more or less. Born in 1922 in Louisiana into a French speaking family which migrated to Houston, Texas when he was only six months old, Jean Baptiste Illinois Jacquet started his professional music career playing alto sax in a band formed by his older brothers. In 1937 he graduated to the legendary (though sadly unrecorded) territory band of Milt Larkins which included Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Arnett Cobb in its reed section. Jacquet became an admirer of Count Basie tenor sax man Herschel Evans, who died at the tragically young age of 30.

Determined to make it as a jazzman, Jacquet moved first to New York and then to Los Angeles where he studied music at the City College, and more importantly fell in with Nat “King” Cole who secured him a place as tenor sax player in Lionel Hampton’s new band which formed in May 1940. Alongside Jacquet sat fellow tenor sax player Dexter Gordon and on baritone sax was Jack McVea. In May 1942 the Hampton band recorded a version of “Flying Home” which featured a soaring solo by Jacquet which is often thought of as the start of the honking saxophone phenomenon. Jacquet left the Hampton outfit in January 1943 and his place was taken by Arnett Cobb whose big, BIG tenor tone blasted out on a second version of “Flying Home.”

After a short spell with the Cab Calloway band, Illinois stopped in Houston long enough to pick up his trumpet playing brother Russell and the pair hot footed it back to LA where they immersed themselves in the local music scene, forming a small group and jamming at Billy Berg’s Swing Club in Hollywood. Illinois also took part in jam sessions organised by Norman Granz and when the latter staged a jazz concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium in July 1944, Jacquet was among the musicians who took part. His solo on “Blues” was perhaps the real birth of honk – a screeching, squealing, howling epic that drove the audience wild. As Jim Dawson wrote in “What Was The First Rock ‘N’ Roll Record?” – “This was clearly something new, a mixture of stage antics and musical pyrotechnics that, in only a few manic choruses blew open the boundaries of jazz and rhythm and blues.”



Among those who witnessed the enthusiasm that Illinois could generate with such wild performances were brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner, owners of The Philharmonic Music Store who set up their own record label in 1945, naming it Philo. Six months later, following objections by the Philco radio company, the label would be renamed Aladdin.

All of which brings us to this 1983 Pathe Marconi reissue of an LP which originally appeared in 1954 as a ten inch disc (Aladdin 708) and was re-released in 1956 as a twelve inch platter Aladdin 803). Once again I must thank Joan for the scan of an EP with tracks from the LP:

The first four tracks are from the very first Philo recording session in July 1945, with the two parter “Flying Home” being the first single released on Philo. The band includes Russell Jacquet and Johnny Otis. The rest of the tracks are from four sessions recorded for Aladdin during 1947 with various backing bands. The January session is with a big band which includes Joe Newman, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, Leo Parker and Bill Doggett among its personnel. The other sessions are with the small group usually billed as Illinois Jacquet and his All Stars, a band which included Leo Parker on baritone sax, Al Lucas on bass, Sir Charles Thompson on piano and Shadow Wilson on drums. This was a busy time for Illinois, as in between the sessions on this LP he also recorded for Savoy and Apollo (including backing Wynonie Harris). There was even time for a spell in the Count Basie band.

This music is a prime example of that unnameable genre that treads the line between R&B and jazz, although perhaps in this case veering more heavily towards the jazz side. But in the end categories don’t matter. When I listen to this LP I know I’m hearing the very stuff of Be Bop Wino Done Gone!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www6.zippyshare.com/v/HLWPEO4w/file.html

1. Flying Home, Part 1
2. Flying Home, Part 2
3. Uptown Boogie
4. Throw It Out Of Your Mind Baby
5. For Europeans Only
6. Big Dog
7. You Left Me All Alone
8. Jivin' With Jack The Bellboy
9. Blow Illinois Blow
10. Illinois Blows The Blues
11. Goofin' Off
12. Riffin' With Jacquet
13. Don't Push Daddy
14. Sahara Heat
15. It's Wild
16. Destination Moon
17. For Truly
18. I Surrender Dear

Recommended purchase - it just has to be the Properbox 4 CD set, "The Illinois Jacquet Story" which deals in detail with his recordings from July 1944 (including "Blues") up to May 1951.

Lynn Hope And His Tenor Sax

This is the first “revamped” post from the old blog. This 1983 Pathe Marconi reissue of a Lynn Hope Aladdin LP was the second album I posted on the original Be Bop Wino. Looking back from two years down the line, the post definitely needed improving, especially the very poor front cover scan! So here is a re-up with new front and back cover scans and new links.

Lynn Hope was one of the top-selling R&B saxmen in the early ‘50’s. His hit-making formula was similar to that of Earl Bostic – take a well-known standard, give it an overheated arrangement, and watch the money roll in. He was a member of the King Kolax band before forming his own combo. He signed for Premium Records in 1950 where he recorded his big hit ‘Tenderly’, a re-recording of which is presented here. His stay at Premium was brief, as was a spell at Chess. He signed with Aladdin in late 1950 or early 1951 where he stayed until 1957. He recorded an album for King Records in 1960 (“The Maharajah of the Saxophone”) which featured former Bostic vibes player Gene Redd, and then faded from the music scene.

Although he failed to recreate the chart success of “Tenderly” during his tenure at Aladdin, Hope remained a big draw at live gigs for much of the 50’s. He was certainly an unusual sight – wearing a bejewelled turban and accompanied by a band resplendent in red fezzes. Two of his brothers and his sister were in the band, and like Lynn, they were converts to Islam. Although such an exotic stage appearance may have been the ideal complement to numbers such as the latin-tinged “Blues for Anna Bacoa” or the traditional Lebanese tune “Miserlou”, there is no doubt that Lynn’s conversion to Islam was sincere and he even made the pilgrimage to Mecca.



Although his forte was the ballad (“Tenderly”, “September Song”, and not on this compilation – “Poinciana” and “Star Dust”), Lynn manages to squeeze in a variety of styles but usually with a certain restraint. So you won’t get any Big Jay style honking and squealing but there is one searing piece of striptease jazz in “Summertime”. Overall the atmosphere is one of the exotic and romantic. Think Earl Bostic or Morris Lane in his “Magic Saxophone” phase.

This album was originally issued as a 10 inch LP (Aladdin 707) in 1954 with just eight tracks. In 1956 it was reissued as a 12 inch LP (Aladdin 805) with twelve tracks. The front cover remained identical through to this 1983 reissue. Thanks to Joan for the cover of an Aladdin EP with tracks from the LP:



Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www33.zippyshare.com/v/oSTGRgvm/file.html

Lynn Hope And His Tenor Sax (Mega)

1. Tenderly
2. Driftin' (Goin' Home)
3. Hope, Skip And Jump
4. Blue Moon
5. Blues For Anna Bacoa
6. Eleven Til Two
7. Miserlou
8. Blow Lynn Blow
9. Move It
10. Don't Worry 'Bout Me
11. South Of The Border
12. September Song
13. Summertime
14. The Scrunch

If you want more Lynn Hope, then you’ll probably have to get yourself along to a second hand dealer.

This 1985 Saxophonograph LP (“Morocco”) was also issued as a CD and includes the original version of “Tenderly”:



Lynn Hope’s complete “Maharajah of the Saxophone” sessions for King are on this 1991 Charly CD (“Juicy!”), along with five tracks by Clifford Scott, sax player with the Bill Doggett band:



In 2006 the sadly now defunct Acrobat label issued this 25 track compilation (“Blow Lynn Blow”) of Lynn’s Aladdin sides. It may still be possible to pick up a new copy from some distributors.

Amos Milburn - 13 Unreleased Masters

Back around 1980, when I started getting into the R&B sounds of the 1940s and 1950s, one name I was always on the lookout for in my searches through the record bins was Amos Milburn. For a few years all I could find was a scratched-to-hell copy of a 1978 United Artists LP called “Chicken Shack Boogie”. Then along came a series of reissue LPs of the great man himself on Pathé Marconi: “Let’s Have A Party”, “Vicious Vicious Vodka” and another LP named after one of his biggest hits: “Chicken Shack Boogie”.

Which brings me to the latest offering here on Bebopwino – one of those Amos Milburn LPs from Pathé Marconi – “13 Unreleased Masters”. It’s something of a cliché for reviewers to claim that a collection of unreleased tracks stacks up well against the released output of a performer, but in this case it’s true, bud, it’s true. And listening to these tracks while processing them from vinyl brought back to me the reasons why I became such a big fan of Amos Milburn all those years ago.

He’s one of those rare artists to whom I could happily listen for hour after hour. His piano playing ability combined with his smoky, slightly hoarse voice meant that he was equally at home with boogie woogie, early rock and roll, blues and ballads. You could imagine him performing in a rowdy dance hall or in the more intimate setting of a barroom or late night club.

This small but career-spanning collection shows the various sides of Amos. “Shake, Shake” is from late in his Aladdin career when he was no longer hitting the R&B charts. In December 1956 he recorded a session at Cosimo Matassa’s studio in New Orleans. The best known track from that session is his pounding reworking of “Chicken Shack Boogie”, but “Shake, Shake” can’t hope to equal that masterpiece. It may be rock and roll by-the-numbers, but Lee Allen’s tenor sax solo just about saves it. “I’ll Be True” recorded earlier in the year in Los Angeles is a nice pleading ballad which suits Amos’ voice perfectly. “After Awhile” is a good New Orleans influenced easy rocker recorded in LA in 1954.

“Without Someone To Call Your Own” and “Sorrowful Heart” are from a session recorded in New York in June 1953 with Sam “The Man” Taylor and Mickey “Guitar” Baker included in the backing band. “Without Someone …” is a fine moody blues, with “Sorrowful Heart” being a rather subdued ballad performance. “Stormy Weather”, the final track on side 1 of the LP, is a terrific performance recorded in LA in August 1952.

The seven tracks on side 2 were all recorded in LA in 1947 under the direction of Maxwell Davis. The storming “Nickel Plated Baby” (with nice guitar work by an unnamed player) dates from April while the rest of the tracks are from the November 19th session which produced the first version of “Chicken Shack Boogie.” One possible reason for these sides remaining unreleased is that they were recorded when an AFM strike was looming (to start on January 1st 1948) and record companies were frantically stockpiling masters to enable them to keep issuing material through the recording ban.

“I’m Gonna Leave You” is a rollicking boogie with great sax by Maxwell Davis “Hard Driving Blues” is either an instructional course on how to maintain your automobile at peak performance, or it’s a piece of utter filth. Here at Bebopwino our unofficial motto is “fun for all the family”, so any double entendres are purely in the minds of our listeners. Now go wash your brains out.

The final four tracks are all “slows”. The ballads “Rapture In Bloom” and “Don’t Tell Her” have no accompanying sax and sound uncannily like the King Cole Trio, which is no bad thing. “My Tortured Mind” and “It’s A Married Woman” are slow blues with sax fills by the maestro, Maxwell Davis.

The front cover of this LP is adapted from the cover of the 1952 Aladdin LP “Rockin’ The Boogie.” Thanks to Joan for a copy of that cover.

Ripped from slightly crackly vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www21.zippyshare.com/v/BD8KucmC/file.html

1. Shake, Shake
2. I'll Be True
3. After Awhile
4. Without Someone To Call Your Own
5. Sorrowful Heart
6. Stormy Weather
7. I'm Gonna Leave You
8. Hard Driving Blues
9. Nickel Plated Baby
10. Rapture In Bloom
11. Don't Tell Her
12. My Tortured Mind
13. It's A Married Woman

Gabe's Dirty Blues

“When I bought the Shamrock Tavern in Seattle, the seamen and street people didn't cotton up to me at first. It took 6 months for me and my crazy music to win them over - and then it was standing room only for years. You see we started with blues and never changed except for jazz. That was it for 17 years. Jazz and blues - you never had it so good …

… The tunes in this album were basically the tunes I played on a juke box at the original Shamrock and later 'Gabe's' a downtown Seattle joint in the 1950s and 1960s.

Now we had an old juke box with one speaker and we would turn it up as loud as we could. The customers were mostly seamen and street people - pimps, hustling broads and chippies - gamblers and boozers - pinball mechanics (some of the most loveable bastards of all) - pill-heads and addicts.

It was a rough joint and we only had one light in the place - the juke box. Constant fights - the seamen were mean. But it was exciting too. Seamen and street people are something else and we never knew what the hell would happen any given moment.

Wow, did seamen love to fight - drink - screw and listen to jazz and the blues…”- from Gabe McManus’s liner notes to “Gabe’s Dirty Blues

And if the above quotes don’t get you all of a quiver to download and listen to this 1978 collection of King / Federal R&B pounders then you may well be dead. If you ain’t already droolin’ then you certainly ain’t no bebop wino and you are definitely on the wrong blog. Maybe you should go hang around “too-square-to-bop.com” or some such.

We must thank “Issaquah” for this superb 2 LP set. So let the man himself give the lowdown on just what’s cookin’ here:

Gabe McManus had a passion for R&B music and owned a couple of bars in Seattle in the 40's, 50's & 60's. He wanted everyone to get a flavor of some of the music that wasn't too popular with the main stream at the time, so he compiled a 2-album compilation of some great old R&B music.

It took me months to track down a true vinyl copy of the album (circa 1978), which I eventually found through a wanted ad on Craigslist! The album & cover were in super-good condition and I had them ripped, scanned the covers and finally compiled GABE'S DIRTY BLUES in 100% digital format!

The complete 2-album set has 30 tracks totalling 78:05 minutes, so it can be burned in CDA format onto 1 CD! I did compress the entire set, forcing everyone to download, and then seed, the complete 30 song album. This helps preserve the entire torrent and prevents "cherry picking" of favorite songs. It is compressed with 7-Zip format (Windows). WINRAR & WINZIP will both decompress this file. Don't waste time complaining, just enjoy.
I've included the following in the archive:
* All 30 songs in MP3 format (320)
* All 30 songs in WAV format (original RIP from vinyl to WAV)
* Album cover (front & back) Scans in high res
* Album center scans
* Both MP3 & WAV files have ID3 tags + cover art embedded
* PDF file with play list & details

Thank you, “Issaquah”. As you can all appreciate, the inclusion of WAV files makes for a rather large download – seven downloads in fact. Out of consideration for non-premium account holders, there are TWO versions of this album available for download from rapidshare and megaupload. The DELUXE version is as detailed above by “Issaquah”. The BASIC version does not include the WAV files, but does have everything else.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password on all downloads = greaseyspoon

DELUXE download currently unavailable

The Basic Version (mp3 only) can be downloaded from here:

http://www10.zippyshare.com/v/28020718/file.html


1. Fever / Little Willie John
2. Walkin' The Blues / Champion Jack Dupree
3. Sick & Tired / Lula Reed
4. Shake 'em Up, Baby / Roy Brown
5. Work With Me Annie / Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
6. Cherry Wine / Little Esther Phillips
7. 60-Minute Man / Billy Ward & The Dominoes
8. Ride, Jockey, Ride / The Lamplighters
9. Keep On Churnin' / Wynonie Harris
10. Rocket 69 / Todd Rhodes
11. 10-Inch Record / Bull Moose Jackson
12. Black Diamond / Roy Brown
13. Jealous Love / Lula Reed
14. Bloodshot Eyes / Wynonie Harris
15. Sexy Ways / Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
16. Salty Dog / The Lamplighters
17. Monkey, Hips and Rice / The “5” Royales
18. T-99 / Tiny Bradshaw
19. Rock Love / Lula Reed
20. Wasn't That Good / Wynonie Harris
21. Annie Had A Baby / Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
22. Girl From Kokomo / Roy Brown
23. All Around the World / Little Willie John
24. I Want a Bow-Legged Woman / Bull Moose Jackson
25. Quiet Whiskey / Wynonie Harris
26. Use What You Got / Freddy King
27. Queen Of Diamonds / Roy Brown
28. Loving Machine / Wynonie Harris
29. Shake That Thing / Wynonie Harris
30. Adam Come Get Your Rib / Wynonie Harris

Thank you Issaquah!

Buddy Johnson And His Orchestra (Silver Star Swing Series)

The third post on Buddy Johnson and this guy was such an important figure in the development of R&B that he thoroughly deserves such exposure on the blog. The first two posts on Buddy looked at his mid-fifties Mercury output, when his band, which had previously survived the transition from swing to R&B, was managing just fine as rock and roll rose to prominence. In this post we jump back a decade and look at tracks he recorded for Decca for whom he signed in 1939. This 1976 LP (complete with surface noise, natch) compiles tracks recorded between 1944 and 1952 and provides us with an insight into why this band survived through the R&B years, long after most big bands had broken up.

Firstly, Buddy himself was a talented pianist, arranger, composer and vocalist. Every track on this LP, with the exception of “Fine Brown Frame”, is a Buddy Johnson composition. Then there was his sister Ella who joined the band in 1940 and was one of the outstanding blues and ballad vocalists of her day. If you want to hear her absolutely best performances such as “Please Mr Johnson”, “Since I Fell For You”, “When My Man Comes Home” and “That’s The Stuff You Gotta Watch”, then you’re going to have to buy the great Ace CD recommended at the end of this post. In the meantime there’s enough of Ella on this selection to give you a taste of what a tremendous talent she was. The Bee Jays vocal group who accompany her on two of the tracks here was an in-house studio aggregation made up of band members Julius Watson, Steve Pulliam and Purvis Henson.

Balladeer Arthur Prysock was another formidable vocal talent who joined the band in 1943 and left for a successful solo career in 1952. His combination of suave good looks and Billy Eckstine influenced singing of lovelorn ballads was just what was needed to get the female members of the audience in a swoon. But most of all, this band was a dance band. Whether wowing the Harlem dancers at the huge Savoy Ballroom or blowing the roof off some chitlin’ circuit venue in the Midwest or the deep South, this was an outfit that guaranteed its audience a good time. “Walk ‘em”, with its heavy backbeat, was composed by Buddy when he noticed that many of the less proficient dancers couldn’t cope with the big band swing rhythms. There are some tremendous examples of Buddy’s stomping dance numbers on this collection.



Side two of this LP (tracks 9 – 16) has to be one of the best LP sides I’ve ever heard. There are five storming instros interspersed with some lovely blues by Ella. Tracks 11, 12 and 13 constitute a triple instrumental whammy, kicking off with the stomping “Down Yonder”, and then going into the real down-in-the-alley raunch of “Shake ‘em Up”, complete with “real gone” yells of “Stop me! Stop me!” and finishing up with the killer “Dr Jive Jives”. It’s just as well that Ella cools things down with a couple of slower numbers, because if we’d gone straight into the blasting finale of “Shufflin’ And Rollin’” I would have been an ambulance case for certain. DOA. “OD’d on Boogie, Doc.”



And there’s one more ingredient in this rhythm recipe – Buddy let those saxes wail. From the very first track, the decidedly swing era “South Main”, right through to the big band R&B of “Shufflin’ And Rollin’”, the saxes rarely let up. In the earlier line ups Frank Henderson and Jimmy Stanford provide the muscular tenor work and later Dave Van Dyke and Purvis Henson do the blastin’. And there’s also Geezil Minerve on alto and underpinning the reeds from first to last, the beefy baritone of Cherokee Conyers.

So there you have it folks - The People’s Band. And Buddy and his cohorts most certainly did play it pretty for the people.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www118.zippyshare.com/v/8BxLFjy3/file.html

1. South Main
2. Fine Brown Frame (vcl – Buddy Johnson)
3. Opus Two
4. Walk 'em (vcl – Buddy Johnson)
5. You'll Get Them Blues (vcl – Ella Johnson)
6. Hey, Sweet Potato (vcl – Buddy Johnson)
7. Far Cry
8. Serves Me Right (vcl – Arthur Prysock)
9. Li'l Dog
10. You Can't Tell Who's Lovin' Who (vcl – Ella Johnson)
11. Down Yonder
12. Shake 'em Up
13. Dr Jive Jives
14. I'm Gonna Jump In The River (vcl – Ella Johnson & The Bee Jays)
15. Baby You're Always On My Mind (vcl – Ella Johnson & The Bee Jays)
16. Shufflin' And Rollin'

My recommended purchase is this outstanding CD on the UK Ace label: “Walk ‘Em: The Decca Sessions” (CDCHD 623).



A compilation of 24 tracks in exemplary sound quality, this disc concentrates on the vocal recordings of Buddy Johnson’s band, so you get the best of Ella and a smattering of instrumentals. Times are tough for reissue companies like Ace, so please go out and buy this superlative compilation. This is definitely one of the best CDs Ace have issued.

Original Rhythm 'N Blues

Here’s the first all new, entirely original post on the resurrected blog. It’s another example of a 1980s purchase which has remained forgotten and ignored for years in my vinyl cupboard.

From what I can glean from the rockin’ interweb, this collection originally appeared on the Sunbeam label. This particular LP from the Wino’s vaults was issued on the “Arbee” label. The back cover credits it to Arbee Records, England, 1977, while the actual record label says it was made in France in 1985. To add to the delicious confusion it has three different titles on the cover – “Original Rhythm ‘N Blues 1948-‘52” on the front, “Rhythm & Blues Anthology” on the spine and “Rhythm & Blues In The 40’s & 50’s” on the back. There is no title on the record label.

But what the heck, let’s not get too “record collectory”. It’s the music that matters and this is a little gem of a collection which shows the jazz and swing influences on R&B and at the other end of the timescale here (actually 1947-56) the influence of R&B on rock and roll. There’s lots of jumpin’ and jivin’ from big band veterans like Joe Thomas, Cootie Williams and Eddie Wilcox. The influence of the Jimmie Lunceford band in particular looms large here. There are also plenty of contributions from the following generation of rockin’ R&B musicians like Plas Johnson and “Mad Mel Sebastian.” Does anyone know who “Mad Mel” really was?

The information on the LP cover is pretty cursory, so I’ve done some digging round the worldwide R&B internet to get the low down on these wild waxings. ‘Scuse me if I don’t say too much about Earl Bostic and Bill Doggett. They’re both either on the blog or are about to be partially restored to the blog (no CDs!). Let us content ourselves with the observation that, like many other musicians on the LP, they both came out of the big band and jazz scene of the 1940s to make a mark on the R&B scene of the 1950s.

The tracks:

1. The Bo-Do Rock - Earl Bostic
2. Lavender Coffin - Joe Thomas
3. Typhoon - Cootie Williams
4. Serenade To Twins - Johnny Sparrow
5. Shuffle Express - Eddie Wilcox
6. Blow Mr Low - Joe Williams
7. Charmaine - Burnie Peacock
8. Just Fall In Love - Dan Grissom
9. Dungaree Hop - Plas Johnson
10. Honkin' - Jimmy Jackson All Stars
11. Goodnight, Irene - Mighty Man Maxwell
12. Gin And Coconut Milk - Wilburt Harrison
13. Aviator Papa - Lolly Pop Jones And Ethel Morris
14. Rain - Oscar McLollie
15. Pachuco Bop - Mad Mel Sebastian
16. Cherry - Clarence Palmer & The Jive Bombers

The info (updated June 2017):

1. The Bo-Do Rock - Earl Bostic
recorded in Los Angeles, April 19, 1956 for King Records (King 4930) – Earl Bostic with the Bill Doggett combo. No need to say any more about these giants of R&B. A sample of their work is already on the blog or will appear soon.

2. Lavender Coffin - Joe Thomas
recorded for King Records, Linden NJ, May 21, 1949 released on King 4296 in June 1949. Joe Thomas spent 15 years as tenor sax player and vocalist with the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. Started his own small band and recorded for King 1949 – 1951.

3. Typhoon - Cootie Williams
recorded for Mercury, December 1947 and released on Mercury 8083 in May 1948. Cootie Williams was for many years trumpeter in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In the early 1940s he formed his own big band which had Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson”, Sam “The Man” Taylor and Bud Powell in the line up. By the time this side was recorded all of these musicians had left and the band had slimmed down to 9 or 10 pieces. The following year Willis Jackson joined and the band had a hit with the two-parter which gave Jackson his nickname – “Gator Tail”.

4. Serenade To Twins - Johnny Sparrow
recorded for National Records in NYC in March 1950 and released on National 9121 in October 1950. Tenor sax man Johnny Sparrow played in Jay McShann’s band (alongside Paul Quinichette) then in Louis Armstrong’s big band. He replaced Johnny Griffin in Lionel Hampton’s band, playing alongside Morris Lane. In 1949 he left the Hampton outfit to form his own small band known as “Johnny Sparrow and his Bows and Arrows”. He recorded some sides for Melford, including the hit “Sparrow’s Flight”, then signed for National in 1950 and moved on to Gotham in 1952.

5. Shuffle Express - Eddie Wilcox
recorded for Derby Records, New York, June 1951 and released on Derby 766 in August 1951. Another alumnus of the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, pianist Eddie Wilcox led small bands which recorded for New York based labels Abbey and Victor in 1949-50. In 1951 he signed for Derby Records, acting as an arranger, producer, A&R man and band leader for the label. “Shuffle Express” was originally released as the B-side of Betty McLaurin’s “The Masquerade Is Over”. On this session the band included tenor sax men Freddie Mitchell and Lucky Thompson.

6. Blow Mr Low - Joe Williams
recorded in Chicago, September 1953 with the Red Saunders band. Released on Savoy 1165 in July 1955. Joe Williams was a blues shouter who had spells with the Coleman Hawkins and Lionel Hampton bands and is best remembered for his tenure in the Count Basie band in the 1950s. His biggest hit was “Every Day I Have The Blues.”

7. Charmaine - Burnie Peacock
recorded for King in New York, November 1951, and released on King 4506 in December 1951. Burnie Peacock was a clarinet and alto sax player who played in the big bands of Lucky Millinder, Jimmie Lunceford, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton and Count Basie, all in the space of three years from 1945 - 48. He stood in for Earl Bostic when the latter was recovering from a car crash.

8. Just Fall In Love - Dan Grissom
recorded for Million, Los Angeles 1955, released on Million 2011 in May 1955. The vocal group on the record is The Ebb Tones. This was the B-side of “Recess in Heaven”. Dan Grissom was a vocalist and alto sax player with the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. He was rather uncharitably nicknamed “Dan Gruesome” by jazz fans who were less than enamoured by his song stylings. From 1945 onwards he made records as a vocalist for various small labels in Los Angeles.

9. Dungaree Hop - Plas Johnson
recorded for the Tampa label in Los Angeles in 1956 and released on Tampa TP-116 in August 1956. Tenor sax man active in R&B and the poppier side of rock and roll in the mid to late 50’s, recording LPs for Capitol and Score. Also active in session work and in the jazz field. That’s his sax work on Henry Mancini’s “Pink Panther Theme.” See plasjohnson.com for much more info on this prolific musician.

10. Honkin' - Jimmy Jackson All Stars
released as RPM 349 in 1952. Evidence from the matrix numbers points towards this recording actually originating from a session by Benny Carter recorded for Modern in 1949 with Ben Webster on tenor sax. Moreover, like “Honkin’”, Carter’s “Cottontail” / “Time Out For The Blues” (released on Modern 858) also has dubbed on crowd noises. If you would like to investigate further then please buy the wonderful Ace (UK) compilation “Let’s Jump! Swingin’ Humdingers From Modern Records” (CD CHD 809). This Billy Vera compiled CD has Benny Carter’s “Cottontail” / “Time Out For The Blues” plus “Deep Purple” which is credited to the Jimmy Jackson All-Stars.

The Jazz West Coast Research blog has a post on the renaming of jazz tracks on the Modern/RPM/Crown labels, including the Benny Carter / Jimmy Jackson tracks. Discographies do list a Jimmy Jackson session in 1952 with musicians such as Billy Hadnott and Devonia Williams taking part,but the master numbers seem to show that the tracks originate from the Carter session of 1949.

11. Goodnight, Irene - Mighty Man Maxwell
recorded for Discovery in Los Angeles on August 9th, 1950. Released on Discovery 524 in September 1950. Billboard announced the recording artist as "Mad Man Maxwell."Discovery was a small jazz label which was taken over by Savoy.

12. Gin And Coconut Milk - Wilburt Harrison
recorded for DeLuxe in Miami, November 1953. B-Side of “Nobody Knows The Trouble” (DeLuxe 6031). Yes, it’s Wilbert Harrison who had the massive hit “Kansas City” for Fury in 1959, and who also recorded “Let’s Stick Together” which was covered by Canned Heat and later by Bryan Ferry.

13. Aviator Papa - Lolly Pop Jones And Ethel Morris
recorded for DeLuxe in New Orleans in 1948. Lollypop Jones “starred” in 3 films in 1946 – two musical shorts, “Chicago After Dark” and “Lucky Gamblers”, and a grade Z all-black horror movie “Midnight Menace” in which he got to sing “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Don’t Sell My Monkey Baby”.

14. Rain - Oscar McLollie
Recorded for Class, Los Angeles, 1953, released on Class 503 in March 1953. Oscar McLollie recorded two singles for Leon Rene’s Class label in 1952/53, his first release being “The Honey Jump”. During 1953 he transferred to Modern Records and recut “The Honey Jump” with his group now called The Honeyjumpers. After a series of good records such as “All That Oil In Texas” and “Lolly Pop”, he recorded briefly for Mercury in 1956. In 1957 he was back recording for Class, including several duets with Jeanette Baker. One of their numbers “Hey Girl - Hey Boy” was covered by Louis Prima and Keely Smith in the film of the same name.

15. Pachuco Bop - Mad Mel Sebastian
recorded for M & S in 1952, probably in Los Angeles. B Side of "Raven Hop." “Mad Mel Sebastian” is a pseudonym for …? Is it Chuck Higgins? Or someone cashing in on Chuck’s “Pachuco Hop”? Does anyone know anything about Mad Mel? A comment on the original post says that he had a disc on the small "R&B" label called "Walkin' On The Ceiling."

16. Cherry - Clarence Palmer & The Jive Bombers
recorded for Savoy (Savoy 1515) in New York in May 1957, released in June 1957. Very similar sound to their 1956 Savoy hit “Bad Boy.” The Jive Bombers were a group whose origins lie back in the 1930s as does “Bad Boy” which descends from Lil Armstrong’s “Brown Gal.” Now that would be worth a post on its own!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

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Buddy Johnson & His Orchestra - Walkin'

Here’s a second helping of Buddy Johnson sides from Mercury with this follow up LP (originally issued as Mercury MG-20322 in 1957) to “Rock’n Roll”. This re-issue on Official dates from 1988.

When I dug this LP out of the vinyl vault a couple of years ago for a post on Rockhall, I wasn’t particularly impressed by the contents and, rushing to judgement, I decided that the majority of the tracks weren’t worthy of a post by a hip rockin’ cat like myself. So I extracted 5 tracks (the whole of side 1 minus track 3) and added them to the tracks from “Rock’n Roll” to make up a collection of jumping big band rock ‘n’ roll.

Well I’m not ashamed to admit that I was wrong, for this is one cracking little album. Of the tracks I originally rejected, only two fall into the sentimental ballad category: Nolan Lewis’s Eckstine-style singing on “There’s No One Like You”, and the slightly hipper Floyd Ryland’s 1950’s crooner effort on “You’re Everything My Heart Desires.” Ella Johnson’s vocal efforts on side two are absolutely outstanding. “You’d Better Believe Me” is a sultry blues while “So Good” is a rocker with an irresistible dance beat.

The final two tracks are contrasting instrumentals which demonstrate Buddy Johnson’s talent as an arranger. “Bitter Sweet” conjures up pictures in my mind’s eye of deserted city streets at dawn. It’s like a moody piece from the soundtrack of a 50’s crime film or perhaps an episode of “The Naked City” (“there are eight million stories in New York …”) “Gone Walkin’” on the other hand is all hustle and bustle, evoking the streets in the rush hour.

As for the rest of the LP, it’s rock’n roll time again, with blaring saxes by Purvis Henson, Dave Van Dyke and Johnny Burdine. I’m glad I listened more carefully this time around. Download and appreciate the many sides of the Buddy Johnson Orchestra: blues, boogie, ballads, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll.

Ripped from vinyl at 256 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

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1. Rockin' Time
2. They Don't Want Me To Rock No More (vcl – Ella Johnson)
3. There's No One Like You (vcl - Nolan Lewis)
4. Rock On! (vcl – Buddy Johnson)
5. Ain't Cha Got Me (Where You Want Me) (vcl – Ella Johnson)
6. Buddy's Boogie
7. Oh! Baby Don't You Know (vcl – ensemble)
8. You'd Better Believe Me (vcl – Ella Johnson)
9. You're Everything My Heart Desires (vcl – Floyd Ryland)
10. So Good (vcl – Ella Johnson)
11. Bitter Sweet
12. Gone Walkin'