Be Bop Wino Pages

Joan Selects - the complete Joan Selects Collection

Big Ten Inchers - 78rpm rips by El Enmascarado


Attention Mac Users!

Mac users have been experiencing problems in unpacking the WinRAR archives used on this blog. Two solutions have been suggested.

1. Use The Unarchiver - www.theunarchiver.com - see comments on Little Esther Bad Baad Girl post for details.

2. Use Keka - http://www.kekaosx.com/en/ - see comments on Johnny Otis Presents post.

Thursday, 9 April 2020

Old King Gold Volume 11 re-up





















Side One:
01) Move Me Baby - Jimmy Witherspoon
02) The Big Push - Cal Green
03) It Feels So Good - The Swallows
04) No Regrets - Little Willie John
05) I Know - Lula Reed
06) Rub A Little Boogie - Champion Jack Dupree

Side Two:
01) Let's Rock - Johnny Otis
02) Oh Miss Nellie - The Drivers
03) Nosey Joe - Bull Moose Jackson
04) Don't Leave Me This Way - Billy Ward & The Dominoes
05) Light Up Your Lamp - Willie Mabon
06) Must I Cry Again - Todd Rhodes & Lavern Baker






Mustn't forget this one! The mysterious Volume 11 sent in by an anonymous contributor. Who knows what lies behind this. We're now taking a break from Old King Gold, although we will revisit the series in the near future.

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

Old King Gold Volume 7 re-up






















Side One:
01) That's What You're Doing To Me - Billy Ward & The Dominoes
02) Don't Take It So Hard - Earl King
03) The Greasy Spoon - Hank Marr
04) Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong - Albert King
05) I Want A Bowlegged Woman - Bull Moose Jackson
06) It Won't Be This Way Always - The King Pins

Side 2:
01) Annie Had A Baby - Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
02) Dearest - The Swallows
03) Mellow Blues (Part 1) - Sonny Thompson
04) Mellow Blues (Part 2) - Sonny Thompson
05) I'm Tore Up - Billy Gayles
06) Diamonds And Pearls - The Escos






At last, the dreaded Volume 7. Dreaded because it is so badly pressed that the lead-in vanishes off the edge of the disc, leading to much cursing by myself as I tried to get the stylus down just right. Mission accomplished, and here is the updated rip. Mo' greasy R&B for those who dig this sort of groove. Keep on keepin' on.

Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Old King Gold Volume 6 re-up




















Side One:
01) The Twist - Hank Ballard
02) The Bells - Billy Ward & The Dominoes
03) Bloodshot Eyes - Wynonie Harris
04) Walkin' With Mr. Lee - Johnny Pate
05) Come Home - Bubber Johnson
06) Hold It - Bill Doggett

Side Two:
01) Gumdrop - Otis Williams & The Charms
02) My Friends - The Strangers
03) The Goof - Big Jay McNeely
04) Somebody Done Stole My Cherry Red - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
05) Big Boy - Bill Jennings






Gettin' towards the end now. Volume 6 re-recorded, re-ripped and re-upped. I've been listening to these one after the other. To paraphrase an early commentor on the blog years ago - it's like listening to a juke box in Cleveland or Toledo. I presume. Comin' at ya from Glasgow!

Monday, 6 April 2020

Old King Gold Volume 4 re-up





















Side One:
01) Hideaway - Freddie King
02) Fever - Little Willie John
03) Little Things Mean A Lot - Billy Ward & The Dominoes
04) Good Rockin' Tonight - Wynonie Harris
05) Trying - Todd Rhodes & Laverne Baker
06) September Song - Earl Bostic

Side Two:
01) Chica Boo - Lloyd Glenn
02) Kansas City - Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
03) All My Love Belongs To You - Bull Moose Jackson
04) Another Woman's Man - Joe Tex
05) Shout Bamalama - Otis Redding
06) Tenderly - Lynn Hope






This is what I believe is the best rip I've done of Volume 4. A heap more budget priced King R&B classics in a thick cardboard sleeve with a cut out mark, and yes, the back cover really is that squint. It's basically a paper sheet glued on to the cover! I'm in bargain basement heaven. Check back to the original post in October / November 2017 for comments on the fact that there may well be an undistorted version of "Shout Bamalama" out there somewhere. I haven't heard it yet, despite having the track on several collections.

More re-ripped Old King Gold coming your way soon, hipsters and flipsters!

Sunday, 5 April 2020

Old King Gold Re-Re Launched! Volumes 2 and 3.




















Volume 3:
Side One:
01) Have Mercy Baby - Billy Ward & The Dominoes
02) Let Them Talk - Little Willie John
03) Let's Go, Let's Go - Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
04) Guess Who - Ivory Joe Hunter
05) This Little Girl Of Mine - The Hurricanes
06) Soft - Tiny Bradshaw

Side Two:
01) Hearts Of Stone - Otis Williams & The Charms
02) I Love You, Yes I Do - Bull Moose Jackson
03) Think - The "5" Royales
04) Tomorrow Night - Lonnie Johnson
05) Over The Rainbow - The Checkers
06) Tonk Game - Hank Marr

Volume 2:
Side One:
01) Honky Tonk (Part 1) - Bill Doggett
02) Honky Tonk (Part 2) - Bill Doggett
03) Talk To Me - Little Willie John
04) Sixty Minute Man - Billy Ward & The Dominoes
05) Down The Aisle - Patti Labelle & The Blue Bells
06) White Cliffs Of Dover - The Checkers

Side Two:
01) Harlem Nocturne - Earl Bostic
02) Beside You - The Swallows
03) Sexy Ways - The Midnighters
04) Dedicated To The One I Love - The "5" Royales
05) Well Oh Well - Tiny Bradshaw
06) It Hurts To Be In Love - Annie Laurie

"Great Googa Mooga," I hear you cry. "Has Be Bop Wino finally lost it? Why does he keep posting this stuff? Again and again." OK what now follows over the next few posts is the final, best possible iteration of my five Old King Gold LPs. The new rips I was going to put up (and already did with Volume 2) were definitely overdriven with far too much volume on the mp3s.

Another issue came to light as I listened to the rips - distortion and crackling on a few tracks where none was audible on the original vinyl. I traced this to my use of the clean up function on my Audio Cleaning Lab software. If I used the clean up function to eliminate clicks and crackling across the whole album in one sweep then on a few tracks very short bursts of distortion could be heard. On the other hand, if I cleaned up each track individually then there was no such problem.

So over the last couple of days I have re-recorded and re-ripped the LPs at a more reasonable and sensible volume and without the distortion problem. You'll still hear the occasional crackling, clicking and popping but that's what you get with beat up vinyl that I've been playing for over 40 years. Here are your new and final links for Volumes 2 and 3 (ripped at 320 kbps, complete artwork):






Why go to all this bother with these cheapo knock off LPs? They are the very embodiment of the bargain bin ethos - cardboard sleeve, no inner sleeve, tasteless artwork, generic back cover, no info about the tracks which seem to have been randomly thrown together, and poorly pressed on poor quality vinyl. Well, on the surface they may well appear to be low quality exploitation tat but the music they contain is guaranteed to turn the squarest of squares into the heppest of hep cats. It happened to me.

And that brings me back to the question with which I started this post. The answer is sentiment.

The Grim Reaper stalks the land. We may all be socially isolated but we can keep on rockin'.  More Old King Gold comin' up soon, so hang on in there.

Wednesday, 1 April 2020

Old King Gold Volume 2 re-ripped and re-upped!
























Side One:
01) Honky Tonk (Part 1) - Bill Doggett
02) Honky Tonk (Part 2) - Bill Doggett
03) Talk To Me - Little Willie John
04) Sixty Minute Man - Billy Ward & The Dominoes
05) Down The Aisle - Patti Labelle & The Blue Bells
06) White Cliffs Of Dover - The Checkers

Side Two:
01) Harlem Nocturne - Earl Bostic
02) Beside You - The Swallows
03) Sexy Ways - The Midnighters
04) Dedicated To The One I Love - The "5" Royales
05) Well Oh Well - Tiny Bradshaw
06) It Hurts To Be In Love - Annie Laurie






Ripped at 320 kbps

I'm killing two birds with one stone here - responding to a request to re-up King compilations and also providing new rips of the Old King Gold series.

Back in October / November 2017 I posted my 5 volumes of Old King Gold but at that time I was battling with the fact that the audio settings on my PC had been knocked for six and my rips were hopelessly muffled. I suspect a Windows update had affected my Realtek Audio Manager and the results were horrendous. In fact yesterday I listened to my 2017 rip of Volume 4 and it was so bad that I couldn't believe I actually posted it.

Since those dark days I have replaced my old belt driven turntable which was nearing the end of its useful life and upgraded my ripping software so here's hoping that downloaders will notice an all round improvement in sound quality on these re-recorded, re-ripped, re-upped big 12 inchers.

If you go back in the blog to October and November 2017 and read the Old King Gold posts you'll find yourself confronted with the thoughts of a blogger on the edge of a nervous breakdown. The comments are worth another look too. It was all very unfortunate as these LPs were my first experience of "real" R&B. I bought them in HMV in Union Street, Glasgow, around 1977 and so began the long journey in search of rhythm and blues heaven. It's always just out of reach, but there's been a lot of fun along the way.

The LPs came in thick cardboard sleeves with no inner sleeves and the discs themselves weren't in what you might call audiophile condition. Add decades of wear and tear and you've got yourself a slightly rough listening experience. But it's worth it, so download and join the start of the trail that led to Be Bop Wino!

Tuesday, 31 March 2020

Bo Diddley - Chess Masters























Side 1:
01) Bo Diddley
02) Bring It To Jerome
03) Road Runner
04) Who Do You Love
05) Hush Your Mouth
06) Pretty Thing

Side 2:
01) Pills
02) Mona
03) Memphis
04) You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover
05) Hey Bo Diddley
06) Hucklebuck

Side 3:
01) Mumblin Guitar
02) She's Alright
03) Diddley Daddy
04) I'm A Man
05) I'm Looking For A Woman
06) Say Man

Side 4:
01) I Can Tell
02) My Babe
03) Cops And Robbers
04) I'm Sorry
05) Before You Accuse Me
06) Dearest Darling






1980s PRT compilation of 24 Bo Diddley tracks which is guaranteed to have you swinging from the lights as self isolation really kicks in. Turn it on and crank it up. Voodoo hoodoo twangin' guitar craziness with wild lyrics. Recorded between 1955 and 1963, although the '63 track "Hucklebuck" isn't actually by Bo. See bottom of post for details.

Included because it's the greatest LP cover ever

A Brief History Of Voodoo Rock'n'Roll Singles:

Musicians with Bo include - Jerome Green (maracas); Jody Williams, Peggy Jones (guitar); Billy Boy Arnold, Lester Davenport, Little Walter (harmonica); Otis Spann, Lafayette Leake (piano); Willie Dixon (bass); Clifton James, Frank Kirkland (drums); The Moonglows (vocal group); plus sundry others.

Bo Diddley / I'm A Man - Checker 814 - April 1955 (#1 R&B)

Diddley Daddy / She's Fine, She's Mine - Checker 819 - June 1955 (#11 R&B)

Pretty Thing / Bring It To Jerome - Checker 827 - November 1955 (#4 R&B)

Diddy Wah Diddy / I Am Looking For A Woman - Checker 832 - February 1956

Who Do You Love? / I'm Bad - Checker 842 - July 1956

Cops And Robbers / Down Home Special - Checker 850 - November 1956

Hey! Bo-Diddley / Mona - Checker 860 - April 1957

Say! (Boss Man) / Before You Accuse Me (Take A look At Yourself) - Checker 878 - October 1957

Hush Your Mouth / Dearest Darling - Checker 896 - June 1958

Oh Yea / I'm Sorry - Checker 914 - January 1959

Say Man / The Clock Strikes Twelve - Checker 931 - August 1959 (#20 pop, #3 R&B)

Say Man, Back Again / She's Alright - Checker 936 - November 1959

Road Runner / My Story - Checker 942 - January 1960 (#75 pop, #20 R&B)

Pills / Call Me - Checker 985 - August 1961

You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover / I Can Tell - Checker 1019 - July 1962 (#48 pop, #21 R&B)

Monkey Diddle / Memphis - Checker 1058 - November 1963

"Mumblin' Guitar" first released on Checker LP 2974 (Have Guitar, Will Travel) in 1960.

"My Babe" first released on Checker LP 2982 (Bo Diddley's A Twister) in 1962

"Hucklebuck" first released on Checker LP 2987 (Surfin' With Bo Diddley) in 1963. This track is actually by Billy Lee Riley and The Megatons.


Issue information from 45worlds.com, Discogs.com, The Cash Box. Chart information from notes to "Bo Diddley - His Best" (The Legendary Chess Masters Series) - MCD 09373. See below:

 Absolutely recommended

Sunday, 29 March 2020

Elmore James and the Broom Dusters - Blues After Hours (Crown CLP 5168)
























Side 1:
01) Dust My Blues
02) Sunnyland
03) Mean And Evil
04) Dark And Dreary
05) Standing At The Crossroads

Side 2:
01) Happy Home
02) No Love In My Heart
03) Blues Before Sunrise
04) I Was A Fool
05) Goodbye Baby






You know, there are often hidden treasures to be found in the virtual bargain basement of the virtual Be Bop Wino record store for there is much musical delight to be found in the unlikeliest looking of albums. And then there's this. Cheapo budget label? Check. Magnificently sleazy cover? Take another look! Now tear your eyes away from the gal at the bar and check out the tracks on the back. Only ten, and they were all five or six years old when this platter was issued.

It's 1960, you see, and Elmore James is currently recording for Bobby Robinson's Fire label in New York. In the last couple of years he's had sides out on Chief and Vee-Jay which were recorded in Chicago, but the tracks on this LP date back a few years to when Elmore was being recorded by the Bihari brothers and these sides were being issued on the Flair label. And now they've made it to the Biharis' budget priced Crown label, complete with lurid cover and thick cardboard sleeve.

But hey, you can't judge a book by its cover (clue to upcoming post) and when you get this sucker back home and pop it on the Dansette, you immediately realise that you are in the presence of genius. This is one hell of an album and although there are only 10 tracks, every one is a winner. And then some, for the final two tracks are gobsmackingly brilliant.

And it's thanks to Marv for reconstructing and sending this album in. I've been working on another LP project over the last couple of days, but as soon as I listened to these tracks (just yesterday afternoon) I dropped everything and started on this post instead. While I've been cobbling together the information for these words of wisdom I've been repeatedly playing the album and am now a hopeless Elmore James addict. It's time for you to surrender to the impassioned vocals and slide guitar of one of the great blues performers, so grab this, pump up the volume, and have a Sunday blues blast.

Recording And Original Release Details:

Dark And Dreary - recorded in Chicago, August 1953. Personnel: Elmore James (vocals, guitar); Boyd Atkins (baritone sax); J.T. Brown (tenor sax); Johnny Jones (piano); Ransom Knowling (bass); Odie Payne (drums).

Rock My Baby Right / Dark And Dreary - Elmore James and His Broomdusters - Flair 1048 - 1954

Sunnyland, Standing At The Crossroads, Mean And Evil, Happy Home, No Love In My Heart - recorded in Culver City, California, in August / September 1954. Personnel: Elmore James (vocals, guitar) with the Maxwell Davis Band: James Parr (trumpet); Maxwell Davis (tenor sax); Jewell Grant (baritone sax); Willard McDaniel (piano); Ralph "Chuck" Hamilton (bass); Jesse Sailes (drums).

Sunny Land / Standing At The Crossroads - Elmore James and His "Broomdusters" - Flair 1057 - October 1954


Late Hours At Midnight / The Way You Treat Me (aka "Mean And Evil" on this LP) - Flair 1062 - March (?) 1955

Happy Home / No Love In My Heart - Elmore James and His "Broomdusters" - Flair 1069 - May 1955

Dust My Blues, Blues Before Sunrise, I Was A Fool, Goodbye Baby - recorded in New Orleans, summer 1955. Personnel: Elmore James (vocals, guitar) with Edward Frank (piano); Frank Fields (bass); Earl Palmer (drums). Vocal Group - The Don Ralke singers dubbed onto "Goodbye Baby" in Los Angeles.
 
Dust My Blues / I Was A Fool - Elmore James and His "Broomdusters" - Flair 1074 - August 1955





















Blues Before Sunrise / Good Bye (aka "Goodbye Baby" on this LP) - Elmore James and His "Broom Dusters" - Flair 1079 - November 1955

Elsewhere On The Blog:



Two collections of Meteor and Flair sides including alternate takes. You'll find "Rock My Baby Right" and "Late Hours At Midnight" on these LPs. Both posts have new download links.

Recommended Purchases:

Ace CDCHM 1043

Mid-price extended edition of "Blues After Hours" with 8 bonus tracks and notes by Dave Sax.

Ace CDCHD 583

28 track compilation of Meteor / Flair / Modern sides plus the Trumpet issue of "Dust My Broom" - a terrific compilation. I've had this one for many years and it remains one of my favourite Ace compilations.

Thanks to Joan K for the scans of the Flair singles. Thanks to the original uploaders of the artwork on this reconstructed LP. Many thanks to Marv for "Blues After Hours."

Saturday, 28 March 2020

Sonny Thompson - Mellow Blues For The Late Hours (King LP 655)























Side 1:
01) Mellow Blues (Part 1)
02) Palmetto
03) Clang, Clang, Clang
04) Sugar Cane
05) Cat On The Keys (Part 1)
06) Cat On The Keys (Part 2)
07) Cotton Ball
08) Single Shot

Side 2:
01) Smoke Stack Blues
02) Real, Real Fine
03) Let's Move
04) Behind The Sun
05) Blues Mambo
06) First Base
07) Gum Shoe
08) Frog Legs






Released in October 1959, this King collection of Sonny Thompson instrumentals doesn't consist solely of late night, closing time "slows", there are some shufflers and jumpers in here too. It's the echo drenched sleazy sax and piano after hours instros that appeal to me but the tracks aimed at the dance crowd are also worth a listen.

I've reconstructed the album using tracks from various reissue compilations kicking around in my collection plus artwork found on the internet. My thanks to the original uploaders. Note that some of the tracks on this album were originally released as two part singles. In such cases I have assumed that the "part 1" from these singles are the tracks featured on the LP. The release details of the singles are given below. The information was gathered from 45worlds.com, discogs.com and Billboard magazine which can be searched via google.

Original Release Details:

Sugar Cane / I'm Coming Back Home To Stay - King 4345 - April 1950

After Sundown / Frog Legs - King 4364 - June 1950

Nightfall / Palmetto - King 4384 - July 1950

Smoke Stack Blues / Uncle Sam Blues - King 4431 - March 1951

Mellow Blues (Part 1) / Mellow Blues (Part 2) - King 4488 - December 1951

I'll Drown In My Tears / Clang, Clang, Clang - King 4527 - April 1952

Let's Call It A Day / Blues Mambo - King 4541 - June 1952

Real, Real Fine (Part 1) / Real, Real Fine (Part 2) - King 4554 - October 1952

Let's Move / My Heart Needs Someone - King 4657 - September 1953

I'm Beggin' And Pleadin' / Single Shot - King 4718 - May 1954

Cotton Ball (Part 1) / Cotton Ball (Part 2) - King 4729 - July 1954

Cat On The Keys (Part 1) / Cat On The Keys (Part 2) - King 4746 - October 1954

Behind The Sun (Part 1) / Behind The Sun (Part 2) - King 4791 - April 1955

First Base / Lonely Moon - King 4809 - July 1955

Gum Shoe / Stop, Come See Me - King 5055 - June 1957


Elsewhere On The Blog:

Cat On The Keys

A 1980s Swingtime collection with quite a few tracks in common with the Mellow Blues For The Late Hours LP. The original post in 2007 has a write up on the career of Sonny Thompson and can be found here:


The LP was later re-upped with more complete artwork in 2017 here:


There are now updated download links on both of these posts.

For an in-depth look at a couple of Sonny Thompson 78 rpm singles thanks to El Enmascarado, go to the following posts which still have working links for your listening pleasure -





I see my write up on "Cotton Ball" inadvertently anticipated the feel of the "Mellow Blues For The Late Hours" LP. The comments are worth reading!

A Request!

This was the second Sonny Thompson LP released on King. The first Sonny LP, "Moody Blues - Play Only After Midnight" was released in April 1958. I have the tracks to reconstruct it except one - "Low Down" which was released on the single King 4992 b/w "Lost In This Great Big City" in December 1956. If anyone out there has a decent rip of "Low Down" and is willing to see it posted on the blog, please get in touch via email.