Let's Love Again / The Mojo - Sax Mallard & Orch (Aristocrat 2001)

Listen to "Let's Love Again"

Listen to "The Mojo"

Recorded in Chicago in December 1947. Released in March 1948. Personnel: Sax Mallard (clarinet on "Let's Love Again" and alto sax on "The Mojo"); Jimmy Bowman (piano on "The Mojo" and vocal / piano on "Let's Love Again"). Other possible personnel according to the Red Saunders Foundation website: Bill Casimir (tenor sax); W.B "Sleepy" Nelson (drums); Johnny Morton (trumpet on "The Mojo").

This record on Aristocrat (the predecessor of Chess) came from Oett "Sax" Mallard's first session as a leader. He already had considerable musical experience, starting out with the big band led by his high school class mate Nat "King" Cole which toured with the "Shuffle Along" review in 1937 and ended up stranded in California. Nat opted to stay out on the Coast which proved to be a fortuitous career move, while Sax worked his way back to the Windy City.

Mallard's subsequent career included spells in the big bands of Duke Ellington and Floyd Campbell before becoming part of the early R&B scene in Chicago as part of the "Jump" Jackson band from 1946 onwards. Full discographical and biographical details are on that unrivalled repository of all things to do with Chicago R&B history, the Red Saunders Foundation website. The lengthy page devoted to Sax Mallard is here:

http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/mallard.html

The history of the Aristocrat label is here:

http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/aristocrat.html

"Let's Love Again" / "The Mojo" was released in March 1948 and sold well in Los Angeles but failed to make the local charts in Chicago or New York. The A Side is a pleasant ballad nicely interpreted by Jimmy Bowman. Unlike some ballad sides from this era it hasn't dated too badly, in my opinion. It has a certain coolness a la Nat "King" Cole. "The Mojo" is a piece of instrumental exotica with good "growl" trumpet and fine guitar work.

Once again we must pay tribute to El Enmascarado for his sterling work in reviving these sides from very worn shellac. The Masked One says: "Before cleaning I couldn't get the B side to play through at all. I especially like how at :10, Sax's guitar player slips and unintentionally hits the open E and B strings on his guitar. They kept it ..."

There you have it - musician, record collector, reviver of battered shellac and masked wrestler. A CV that yells defiance against this crazy corporatized world.

More Jumpin' and Jivin' on 78

I hope all you jumpin' jive fans out there have been following the links to the revised posts of El Enmascarado's 78 rpm discs. With the imminent demise of El Enmascarado's YouTube channel, I've been revamping the posts from last year which featured videos of the records spinning on a vintage Sparton consol.

Our mysterious masked wrestling amigo has been busy ripping mp3s from the shellac ten inchers and you will now find that these cuts on streamed audio have replaced the videos in the new versions of the posts. You may also find that the writing has occasionally been updated too. We here at Be Bop Wino believe in quality, not quantity, so we put in that extra bit of effort on each and every post.

Click on the links on this post and the previous post to experience R&B as it was back in the day!

As El Enmascarado says about the 78 rpm discs: "In 1948, if you liked this music, this is what you bought and listened to. You dressed like an actor in a Film Noir, with a sharp suit and a Frank Sinatra hat. You drank martinis, or maybe a Rock and Rye or a Manhattan, and popped the 78 onto your Sparton. Voila!"

Here are the remaining links to the updated posts:

Jealousy / The Sidewalks Of New York - Tiny Grimes

Let's Make Christmas Merry Baby / Bow Wow - Amos Milburn

Still Waters / Nite-Flite - Lloyd Glenn

 Well Oh Well / I Hate You - Tiny Bradshaw

Little Girl Don't Cry / Moosey - Bull Moose Jackson

Jumpin' On 78

Well, there's gonna be a few changes around here I guess. First the good news. El Enmascarado has recently acquired yet another stash of jumpin' and jivin' and bluesin' and boozin' 78s. And that's not all - the Masked One has started using a new method to clean these precious but often very dirty and worn slabs of shellac with a resultant improvement in sound quality. You can get a taste of the hard work that goes into preparing these old discs for ripping by viewing SwingMan 1937's video on how to clean a 78. He's the guy who not only developed this method, he also has a fabulous YouTube channel. Click on this link to find out more.

Now speaking of YouTube, the Tubeseventyeight channel which furnished the videos which accompanied many of El Enmascarado's 78 rips will soon close down. This is because many of the uploaded videos were removed by YouTube. Things have surely got a bit out of hand when videos of a 65 year old record spinning on a turntable accompanied by a shellac rip are deemed to be affecting current music sales.

And speaking of things getting out of hand, all of you will already be aware of the bad news - megaupload links are dead. We now have to rely on the kindness of rapidshare. There have been a few messages recently about dead rapidshare links and I will replace them as and when I can. Keep an eye on the latest comments section in the sidebar for details of new links. I suspect that more fileshare services will bow to pressure and it will become impossible to offer vinyl downloads on this blog. It may even become impossible to post streaming audio, at which point the blog will probably cease to exist.

Let us end on a positive note. El Enmascarado is putting in a power of work, not only on his new shellac stash, but also on upgrading many of the rips which have already been posted on the blog. The posts which featured YouTube videos are being modified by the removal of these videos and the uploading of streaming audio of the new improved rips. I will maintain a list of links to the updated posts at the bottom of this post.

You can guess by the title that we're hoping to get together a series similar to the popular "Blues On 78" which we will call "Jumpin' On 78". It will feature a mix of upgraded versions of rips previously posted on the blog plus completely new material. El Enmascarado also hopes to send in upgraded blues tracks for a second volume of "Blues On 78." What with Joan's new series and my own efforts we hope that Be Bop Wino will keep swingin', jumpin', jivin', a-rockin' and a-rollin' and a-boppin' and a-strollin' through the months ahead.

Updated posts:

Lovers Lament / Miss Betty's Blues - Joe Liggins

Late Freight / Sonny's Return - Sonny Thompson

Blow Wynn Blow / J.W. Bop - Jim Wynn

Drippers' Boogie Parts 1 and 2 - Joe Liggins 

Strato-Cruiser / Sunday Blues - Joe Lutcher

                                                  

Big Fat Mama Mystery Disc

El Enmascarado has acquired another load of 78 rpm discs and among the shellac stash was this intriguing item.

According to The Masked One (currently recovering from his latest defeat at the hands of Manolito The Mighty Midget - height 3 feet 6 inches) many of the items he purchased came from a radio station. He thinks it may be possible that it was a test pressing dropped off by a promo man way back in the distant past. Who knows? There is no identification of the artist on the label and neither El Enmascarado nor myself knows who it might be. Can anyone out there help? One possible clue is that the disc was in a King label cover, but of course that might not mean anything.

One side is a cracking little version of "(I Want A) Big Fat Mama". This is a much recorded song and I've listened to versions by Lucky Millinder, Roy Milton, King Perry, Rozelle Gayle, Cousin Joe and Gene Phillips and it doesn't match any of them. El Enmascarado has also listened to the Millinder and Milton versions as well as one by Tommy Johnson and the mystery remains.

One other puzzle - why is the band chanting "Rigoletto, Rigoletto" at the beginning of the song?

The other side of the disc is a performance of "P.S. I Love You" - not the Beatles song but a ballad composed by Gordon Jenkins and Johnny Mercer. It was performed by Frank Sinatra on his "Close To You" LP.

So rhythm fans, can anyone solve the mystery? Who is performing on this record? Listen here:

Listen to "Big Fat Mama"

Listen to "PS I Love You"

The Wallflower / Hold Me, Squeeze Me - Etta James and "The Peaches" (Modern 947)

Recorded on November 25th 1954, Culver City. Personnel: Etta James, Abbye Mitchell, Jean Mitchell (The Peaches), Richard Berry (vocals); Don Johnson (trumpet); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Big Jim Wynn (baritone sax); Devonia Williams (piano); Chuck Norris (guitar); Chuck Hamilton (bass); Leard Bell (drums); Johnny Otis (vibraphone).

Listen to "The Wallflower"

Listen to "Hold Me, Squeeze Me"

With thanks to El Enmascarado for this 78 rpm disc which marked the recording debut of Etta James. In 1954 the 15 year old Jamesetta Hawkins  formed a female vocal trio (originally called The Creolettes) with two older sisters - Abbye (short for Abyssinia) and Jean Mitchell. The Mitchells in particular were big fans of The Midnighters who had a number one R&B hit that year with "Work With Me Annie", an irresistible piece of double entendre dancefloor stomp composed by lead singer Hank Ballard.

The Peaches wrote an answer song, "Roll With Me Henry" which they pitched to The Midnighters who weren't too enthusiastic. Abbye arranged a meeting with Johnny Otis who was sufficiently impressed by the group and their song to drive them out to the Modern studios at Culver City and a recording session with his band plus Maxwell Davis and Richard Berry. The Otis band remained uncredited on the record as he was under contract to Peacock Records at the time.

Richard Berry contributed  new introductory lines and a vocal which turned the opening and closing verses into a call and response duet with Etta. Maxwell Davis took a customarily classy tenor sax break, and in the background The Peaches wailed and the Otis outfit swung along merrily which all made for one classy piece of rhythm 'n' blues. A less suggestive title "The Wallflower" was chosen for the disc which climbed to the number one R&B spot in early 1955. The pop chart action was grabbed by a cover version (entitled "Dance With Me Henry") by Georgia Gibbs which spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard pop chart in the spring of 1955.

Thanks once more to El Enmascarado for the opportunity to focus on this piece of R&B and rock 'n' roll history, particularly as Etta James and Johnny Otis have now sadly left us.

Source: "Let The Good Times Rock! A fan's notes on post-war American roots music" by Bill Millar, Music Mentor Books, York, England, 2004. Another Boogiewoody recommended read!

Johnny Otis and Etta James

Johnny Otis

What a sad week for fans of R&B with two of the all time greats gone. There have been plenty of tributes and appreciations elsewhere so Be Bop Wino marks the passing of Johnny Otis and Etta James with a couple of streamed audio playlists.

The Johnny Otis tracks date from his big band days of the mid 1940s (with his first hit "Harlem Nocturne" plus the raunchy "My Baby's Business" with Jimmy Rushing) to the jump and boogie of his smaller groups of the late 1940s and early 1950s (with great contributions from the likes of Big Jay McNeely and Pete "Guitar" Lewis).

My first Etta James record - the Ace 10 inch LP from the early 1980s

The tributes to Etta James have tended to concentrate on her great soul sides for Chess such as "I'd Rather Go Blind" but my little playlist is made up of some of her 1950s sides for the Bihari Brothers' Modern label, starting with her first ever release - "Roll With Me Henry" - an answer record to The Midnighters' "Work With Me Annie." Recorded towards the end of 1954 (and subsequently renamed "The Wallflower") it was a big hit for the young Etta James who had been introduced to the Biharis by Johnny Otis. The list also includes "The Pick-Up" which is one of my all time favourite R&B records.

Thanks to Joan for the two Crown LP covers shown below.

Joan Spins Again! - Volume 1

Side 1
1. Get With It - The Flamingos
2. Night After Night - The Derbys
3. Angel Of My Dreams - The Sonnets
4. Can This Be Love - The Winners
5. 535 - The Dreamers
6. The Bells Ring Out - The L' Captans
7. Dreamin' and Dreamin' - The Scale-Tones
8. I Dream Of You Night After Night - The Senders
9. You For Me - The Hollyhocks

Side 2
1. Is It Right - The Castros
2. Ain't Got The Money To Pay For This Drink - The Thrills
3. You Belong To Me - The Radars
4. Little Island Girl - The Goldentones
5. Will You Be Mine - The Swallows
6. Rock, Lilly, Rock - The Corsairs
7. Joyce - The Radiants
8. Native Girl - The Native Boys
9. What Makes You Do The Things You Do - The Wrens

Joan K makes a welcome return to the blog with a stack o' rockin' records. If enough people like this, then there may well be another series to follow the great "Joan Selects." Let's listen to some words of wisdom from the lady herself while she spins the platters that matter:

The Joan Selects series is BACK! We launch into the New Year 2012 with a brand new volume of great obscure doo-wop harmonies. In this first volume we find several familiar groups and lots of really non-mainstream cuts.

The Flamingos open Volume One with "Get With It" recorded in November 1954. Members of the Flamingos were: Nate Nelson (lead), Johnny Carter (first tenor and falsetto), Zeke Carey (second tenor), Paul Wilson (baritone), and Jake Carey (bass). As on their later Chance sessions, the group was backed a combo led by bass player Al Smith and a four-horn front line Sonny Cohn, trumpet; Harlan “Booby” Floyd, trombone; Red Holloway, tenor saxophone; and Mac Easton, baritone sax. Shortly after this second Parrot session the Flamingos departed for Chicago's Checker Records.

There is a mix of up tempo and slow ballads in this first volume of Joan Spins Again. The Derbys recorded "Night After Night" for major label Mercury Records. The Winners were a late doo wop addition to the Bihari Brothers repertory of artists signed to their Modern, Flair, RPM and Crown marquees, this recording being issued on their Kent label. Also an up-tempo high-light in this volume is "535" by the Dreamers on Philadelphia's Grand Records; this one is evocative of the unreleased masterpiece by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters in their great up-tempo "333".

The Hollyhocks were one of the first doo wop groups to issue a 45 for the Nasco Label, and sounded to some degree like label predecessors, the Marigolds, with their calypso tempoed "You For Me". The rarest recording in this first volume is The Thrills - "Ain't Got The Money To Pay For This Drink" recorded and issued on JAB 103 in June 1956.

The Radars and the Swallows represent harmonies from the very early 1950s, actually 1951. Junior Denby was lead vocalist for the Swallows: "Will You Be Mine" recorded on King 4458. The Native Boys issued "Native Girl" for Los Angeles based Modern Records in mid 1954. Soon thereafter, on the Combo label the Native Boys recorded "Strange Love", "Oh Let Me Dream" and "Laughing Love" during 1955. Volume One closes with New York’s fantastic Wrens from December 1955 on Rama 184, featuring the lead vocals of Bobby Mansfield, in "What Makes You Do The Things You Do".

Ripped from vinyl at 128 – 320 kbps.

Download from here:


Joan Spins Again - Volume 1 (Mega)


01 The Flamingos - Get With It - Parrot 811 1955
02 The Derbys - Night After Night - Mercury 71437 1957
03 The Sonnets - Angel Of My Dreams - Lane 501 March 1958
04 The Winners - Can This Be Love - Rainbow 331 1956
05 The Dreamers - 535 - Grand 131 1955
06 The L' Cap-Tans - The Bells Ring Out - Hollywood 1092 1958
07 The Scale-Tones - Dreamin and Dreamin - Jay-Dee 810 1956
08 The Senders - I Dream Of You Night After Night - Kent 320 1959
09 The Hollyhocks - You For Me - Nasco 6001 1957
10 The Castros - Is It Right - Lasso 502 1959
11 The Thrills - Ain't Got The Money To Pay For This Drink - JAB 103 June 1956
12 The Radars - You Belong To Me - Abbey 3025
13 The Goldentones - Little Island Girl - Hush 101 1959
14 The Swallows - Will You Be Mine - King 4458 1951
15 The Corsairs - Rock, Lilly, Rock - Hytone 110 1958
16 The Radiants - Joyce - Chess Demo, unreleased 1962
17 The Native Boys - Native Girl - Modern 939 1954
18 The Wrens - What Makes You Do The Things You Do - Rama 184 1955

Hope y'all dig this selection. I certainly do - it's been blasting out on my PC media player for a couple of days now. Thank you Joan!

Varetta Dillard - Double Crossing Daddy

Side 1
1. Them There Eyes
2. Please Come Back To Me
3. Love And Wine
4. Double Crossing Daddy
5. I Love You Just The Same
6. Getting Ready For My Daddy
7. Love
8. (That's The Way) My Mind Is Working

Side 2
1. Send Me Some Money
2. You're The Answer To My Prayer
3. I Can't Stop Now
4. Got You On My Mind
5. Skinny Jimmy
6. One More Time
7. I Don't Know What It Is But I Like It
8. Scorched

There’s just time to squeeze in a last post for the year 2011. So here’s a 1984 Mr R&B compilation of Varetta Dillard sides: a mix of blues, ballads and the big beat!

In the early 1950s, a number of big voiced female R&B chanteuses followed in the wake of the great Dinah Washington. There was Ruth Brown, Big Maybelle, Marie Adams, Lavern Baker, Faye Adams and the subject of this post, Varetta Dillard. She was born in Harlem, New York, in 1933. A congenital bone disease left her with a disfigured leg and a lifelong limp but she dealt with these difficulties by throwing herself into a showbiz career, starting by entering local singing contests. She went on to win the prestigious Amateur Hour contest at the famed Apollo Theatre where she was spotted by Lee Magid who signed her to Savoy Records in 1951.

Her biggest hits for Savoy were “Easy, Easy Baby” (#8 R&B in 1952), “Mercy, Mr Percy” (#6 R&B in 1953) and a tribute to the late, great Johnny Ace – “Johnny Has Gone” (#6 R&B in early 1955). In 1956 she signed for the RCA subsidiary Groove, moving over to the main RCA label in 1957. Her contract was not renewed in 1958, and thereafter she had a few releases on Triumph and Cub, with her recording career ending in 1961.

Varetta’s forte was the big beat ballad, and there are some good examples on this excellent LP. “Love” is perhaps the pick of the bunch, with yours truly reaching for the whisky bottle (again!) when it blasts forth from the be bop wino music machine. “Double Crossing Daddy” is a more bluesy performance and just about worth the price of admission alone. “I Love You Just The Same” is another good weepy performance and “Getting Ready For My Daddy Tonight” (with the T.J. Fowler band) is a great sassy “let the good times roll” blaster. A lot of the Savoy material was recorded under the supervision of Leroy Kirkland and features top notch NYC session musicians.

I would go so far as to say there isn’t a weak track on the album. You can hear some of the tracks on the playlist featured below which also includes a couple of tracks not on the LP. The download includes good biographical notes by Glenn Slade. Varetta Dillard died in 1993.


Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download from here:


Double Crossing Daddy (Mega)


1. Them There Eyes
Recorded in New York on July 18th, 1952
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by unknown ts, bar, p, prob. Mickey Baker (g) unknown b and d
Released on Savoy 859

2. Please Come Back To Me
Recorded in New York on September 18th, 1951.
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by Leroy Kirkland Orchestra: Nathaniel Allen, Emile De Villia (tb) George Kelly (ts) Sol Moore (bar) Fletcher Smith (p) Wally Richardson (g) Prince Babbs (b) Bobby Donaldson (d)
Released on Savoy 822

3. Love And Wine
Recorded in New York on September 18th, 1951.
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by Leroy Kirkland Orchestra: Nathaniel Allen, Emile De Villia (tb) George Kelly (ts) Sol Moore (bar) Fletcher Smith (p) Wally Richardson (g) Prince Babbs (b) Bobby Donaldson (d)
Released on Savoy 822

4. Double Crossing Daddy
Recorded in New York on July 18th, 1952
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by unknown ts, bar, p, prob. Mickey Baker (g) unknown b and d
Released on Savoy 871

5. I Love You Just The Same
Recorded in New York on July 1st, 1953
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by Buddy Tate's Orchestra: Bobby Johnson (tp) Buddy Tate (ts) Haywood Henry (bar) Skip Hall (p) unknown g, Carl Wilson (b) Billy Smith (d)
Released on Savoy 1107

6. Getting Ready For My Daddy
Recorded in Detroit on January 16th, 1953
Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by T.J. Fowler & his Orchestra: Dezie McCullers (tp) Frank Taylor (as) Walter Cox (ts) T.J. Fowler (p) Henry Ivory (b) Clarence Stamps (d)
Released on Savoy 884

7. Love
Recorded in New York on August 20th, 1954
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by Leroy Kirkland Orchestra: unknown ts, bar, p, Mickey Baker (g) unknown b, prob. Bobby Donaldson (d)
Released on Savoy 1137

8. (That's The Way) My Mind Is Working
Recorded in New York on November 4th, 1953
Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by Sam Taylor (ts) Haywood Henry (bar) Mal Waldron (p) Wally Richardson (g) John Williams Sr. (b) Bobby Donaldson (d) Leroy Kirkland (arr)
Released on Savoy 1118

9. Send Me Some Money
Recorded in New York on August 20th, 1954
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by Leroy Kirkland Orchestra: unknown ts, bar, p, Mickey Baker (g) unknown b, prob. Bobby Donaldson (d)
Released on Savoy 1137

10. You're The Answer To My Prayer
Recorded in New York on May 3rd, 1955
Personnel: Varetta Dillard with The Roamers: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by Jerome Richardson, Sam Taylor (ts) Budd Johnson (bar) Ernie Hayes (p) Mickey Baker (g) Milt Hinton (b) Dave Bailey (d) The Roamers (vcl group) Leroy Kirkland, Kelly Owens (arr)
Released on Savoy 1160

11. I Can't Stop Now
Recorded in New York on May 3rd, 1955
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by Jerome Richardson, Sam Taylor (ts) Budd Johnson (bar) Ernie Hayes (p) Mickey Baker (g) Milt Hinton (b) Dave Bailey (d) Leroy Kirkland, Kelly Owens (arr)
Released on Savoy 1166

12. Got You On My Mind
Recorded in New York on June 26th, 1956
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by King Curtis (ts) Haywood Henry (bar) George Berg (bassax) George Rhodes (p) Mickey Baker (g) Lloyd Trotman (b) Panama Francis (d) unknown (vcl group) Leroy Kirkland (arr)
Released on Groove 4G-0159

13. Skinny Jimmy
Recorded in New York on June 26th, 1956
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by King Curtis (ts) Haywood Henry (bar) George Berg (bassax) George Rhodes (p) Mickey Baker (g) Lloyd Trotman (b) Panama Francis (d) unknown (vcl group) Leroy Kirkland (arr)
Released on Groove 4G-0159

14. One More Time
Recorded in New York on October 23rd, 1956
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) acc. by King Curtis (ts) Belford Hendricks (p) Eddie Thomas (g) Russ Saunders (b) Panama Francis (d) The Nightcaps (vcl group) Ray Ellis (arr)
Released on Groove 4G-0177

15. I Don't Know What It Is But I Like It
Recorded in New York on March 7th, 1961
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) with unknown acc. incl. vcl chorus
Released on Cub 9091

16. Scorched
Recorded in New York on February 24th, 1959
Personnel: Varetta Dillard (vcl) with unknown acc.
Released on Triumph 608

Chess Doo-Wop

Side 1
1. White Cliffs Of Dover - The Bluejays
2. Darling I Know - The El-Rays
3. Shoo Doo Be Doo (My Loving Baby) - The Moonlighters
4. Newly Wed - The Orchids
5. Show Me The Way - The Five Notes
6. Give Me (A Simple Prayer) - The Ravens
7. Nadine - The Coronets
8. Ding Dong - The Quintones

Side 2
1. 4 O'Clock In The Morning - The Tornadoes
2. I Want To Love - The Sentimentals
3. Teardrops - Lee Andrews & The Hearts
4. Soft Shadows - The Monotones
5. I'm So Young - The Students
6. So Far Away - The Pastels
7. This Broken Heart - The Sonics
8. False Alarm - The Ravels

Ah, the age-old question - what becomes of the broken-hearted? Well, I’ll tell ya what becomes of the broken-hearted. First of all we (I mean THEY) pull out this old doo-wop comp from a pile of mouldering vinyl and slap side 2 down on the turntable. Then we (no, THEY) reach into the drinks cabinet for a bottle of the real hard yet mellow stuff. Twelve-year old Scotch single malt should do the trick. This isn’t a job for mere wine. Pouring ourselves (no, themselves) a more than generous dram with a wee sensation of water to release the flavour, we (oh, I give up) return to the turntable, glass and bottle in hand and drop the tone arm straight on to “4 O’Clock In The Morning” by the Tornadoes. “It’s four o’clock in the morning, where can my baby be?” pleads our lovelorn, two-timed sufferer. That sets the mood.

Now we’ve gotta remain on the floor by the hi-fi on turntable duty ‘cos we’re going to skip a few tracks here. ‘Scuse me while I take another sip. Forget The Sentimentals, they’re sub Frankie Lymon pre-pubescent strictly for the kids merchants, so just go straight to the phenomenal Lee Andrews & The Hearts. “I sit in my room looking out at the rain …” He’s thinking of a lost romance. I gotta pour me another one.

“Soft Shadows” by The Monotones is another pleader “I’m crying, my poor heart is dying … Please don’t leave me, don’t ever go …” Lord have mercy. “I’m So Young” by The Students is another slow, but it’s more kids stuff, so we’re gonna skip it and go straight to the coup de grace, two absolute killers if you’re feeling emotional, guaranteed to finish me (them, we, you, the bottle, what the hell) off for once and for all. “So Far Away” by The Pastels which reeks of soulful longing and then just when you think it can’t get any deeper you get hit by “This Broken Heart” by The Sonics. “But no other heart will love you like this broken heart of mine.” Too late, she’s gone off with another guy.

The bottle’s nearly empty and I’m face down on the carpet. Just gotta raise enough effort to push the tone arm past the final track by The Ravels as it doesn’t fit the mood. I guess that’s why God invented PCs, media players and playlists. You can stay in your armchair with the bottle by your side, have your selections on repeat play and listen to the same tracks hour after hour before passing out. And they’ll keep on playing …

Ripped from tearstained vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download the LP from here:

http://www25.zippyshare.com/v/D7eIfLem/file.html

White Christmas - The Drifters featuring Clyde McPhatter and Bill Pinckney

 

Christmas has crept up on Be Bop Wino again, so there is nothing for it but to repost my favourite vocal group festive track - thanks to Joan K.

And of course we can't let Christmas go without reposting the link to the most popular of the Joan Selects collections - the Christmas Special.

Download from here: https://rapidshare.com/files/329639692/Joan_Selects_Volume_11.rar
Password = greaseyspoon

My thanks to all of you - contributors, commenters, followers, readers and email correspondents. It's you folks who really keep this show on the road. More rhythm and bluesin' goodies are in the pipeline so here's hoping we can all keep rockin' through what remains of 2011 and right through 2012.

Have a Merry Christmas, all of you out there on the hepcat internet.