Dizzy Gillespie - Dee Gee Days (2LP Set)

Finding himself without a recording contract in early 1951, Dizzy Gillespie (with the help of businessman and jazz fan Dave Usher) started his own label, Dee Gee, and released a series of 78rpm discs recorded at five sessions between March 1951 and July 1952.

It’s obvious that these sides were released with commercial success in mind as many of the tracks come under the category of hep/jive/novelty/ with Joe “Bebop” Carroll or Dizzy himself on hepcat vocals, plus there’s a couple of Billy Eckstine type ballads with Melvin Moore taking over on vocal duties. It’s all good stuff though, with small group backing which includes John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Budd Johnson, Percy Heath, Milt Jackson, and somewhat surprisingly, swing era violinist Stuff Smith.

UK downloaders may be rather disorientated by the inclusion of “Umbrella Man” in the band’s repertoire as this song (under the title “Any Umbrellas”) is invariably associated with music hall act Flanagan and Allen.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/148657988/Dee_Gee_Days.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XZ3XMKVB

Disc 1

1. Tin Tin Deo
2. Birk's Works
3. We Love To Boogie
4. Lady Be Good
5. Love Me Pretty Baby
6. The Champ
7. I'm In A Mess
8. School Days
9. Swing Low Sweet Cadillac
10. Bopsie's Blues (unreleased)
11. Bopsie's Blues
12. I Couldn't Beat The Rap

Disc 2

1. Caravan (unissued)
2. Caravan
3. Nobody Knows
4. The Bluest Blues
5. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
6. Stardust
7. Time On My Hands
8. Blue Skies
9. Umbrella Man
10. Pops' Confessin'
11. Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee
12. They Can't Take That Away From Me

James Brown and Others - Night Train (King LP 771)

Many thanks to the anonymous donor who sent in this original King LP. “Night Train” was originally released in 1962 and was subsequently reissued several times under the titles “Twist Around” and “Jump Around”. Of the twelve instrumentals on this compilation, half are credited to James Brown with contributions from others including Bill Doggett Combo sax player Clifford Scott (of “Honky Tonk” fame) and organ combo leader Hank Marr. “Night Flying” is a note by note rip-off of Bill Butler’s guitar solo on “Honky Tonk”.

Ripped from vinyl at 192 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/147160630/Night_Train.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1LSVQV9G

1. Hold It / James Brown
2. The Scratch / James Brown
3. Night Train / James Brown
4. The Wobble / The Wobblers
5. Night Flying / James Brown
6. Just A Little Bit Of Everything / Herb Hardesty
7. Doin' Everything / Henry Moore
8. Suds / James Brown
9. Tonk Game / Hank Marr
10. Switch-A-Roo / Henry Moore
11. Bushy Tail / Clifford Scott
12. Cross Firing / James Brown

Doo Dob Sha Bam - A Rhythm & Blues Dance Party

One of my favourite rock ‘n’ roll blogs is Rocker Stomp where you can find not only music but features on all aspects of the rockin’ scene in Spain – cars, clothes, gals and festivals. The music on the blog is in the form of compilations put together by DJs and guest compilers and it covers the gamut of rockin’ music including rockabilly, doowop, rhythm ‘n’ blues and instrumental rock ‘n’ roll. So you can imagine I was very flattered to be invited to put together a compilation for Rocker Stomp.

What I’ve come up with is a whole mess of 1950’s R&B put together with dancers in mind. Most of the artists and tracks on the comp are well known to long time R&B fans, but there are a few rarities thrown in. If you’re fairly new to this kind of music then this is an ideal intro to real rockin’ rhythm ‘n’ blues. If you’ve already got most of these tracks download anyway and enjoy the program! Thanks to Javi at Rockerstomp for the covers.

Bitrates are between 224 and 320 kbps. No password.

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/145199343/Doo_Dob_Sha_Bam.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TF1OPJLI

Go to Rocker Stomp here:

http://rockerstomp.blogspot.com/

Tracklist:

1. Rock & Roll - Red Prysock
2. Big Fat Mama - Chuck Higgins
3. Doo Dob Sha Bam - The Spence Sisters
4. Teardrops From My Eyes - Ruth Brown
5. Drive It Home - The Clovers
6. Hey Little Girl - The Larks
7. Camel Walk - T.J. Fowler
8. Slow Walk - Sil Austin
9. It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day) - Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
10. Oh Babe! – Lucky Millinder with Wynonie Harris
11. Love Don't Love Nobody - Roy Brown
12. Cry Hard Luck - Jimmy Nelson
13. Nervous Man Nervous - Big Jay McNeely
14. Jam Up - Tommy Ridgley
15. Early Morning Blues - Haji Baba & His Arabian Knights
16. Laundromat Blues - The "5" Royales
17. Little Side Car - The Larks
18. Back Biter - T.J. Fowler
19. Walk That Walk - Eddie Bo
20. Jockomo - James "Sugarboy" Crawford
21. Be-Bop Wino - The Lamplighters
22. Wango Blues - Preston Love
23. Driving Home, Part 1 - Paul Gayten
24. Driving Home, Part 2 - Paul Gayten
25. Bloodshot Eyes - Wynonie Harris
26. Butcher Boy - Mr Sad Head
27. Down Boy Down - Wynonie Harris
28. Flip Flop and Fly - Big Joe Turner

Lionel Hampton - In The Bag!

Here is another album in Charly’s “Big Band Bounce & Boogie” series, and this is the second of the Lionel Hampton issues in the series. See the earlier post “Leapin’ With Lionel” for another helping of the hardest swinging big band of them all.

Tracks 1-12 were recorded between 1942 and 1950 in the heyday of the Hampton outfit and are a mixture of swing, jazz and R&B. Musicians include Illinois Jacquet, Jack McVea, Charles Mingus, Morris Lane, Arnett Cobb, Johnny Griffin and Johnny Sparrow. There’s also a fine blues shouting vocal from Sonny Parker on “Hamp’s Gumbo No.2”.

The final four tracks were recorded live at the Silver Supper Club in Las Vegas in 1963 and are pleasant enough jazz, but don’t really stand comparison with the earlier tracks from the great days of swing and early R&B.

Ripped from cassette at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/143141341/In_The_Bag_.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KH51BV53

1. In The Bag
2. Dig Those Vibes
3. Jack The Fox Boogie
4. How High The Moon
5. Million Dollar Smile
6. Turkey Hop (Parts 1 & 2)
7. Double Talk
8. Empty Glass (Normania)
9. Hamp's Gumbo No 2
10. Mingus Fingers
11. Three Minutes On 52nd Street
12. Hamp's Got A Duke
13. Dancing On The Ceiling
14. Blues For Little 'T'
15. Memories Of You
16. Silver Slipper

Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra - Ram-Bunk-Shush

This is a 1989 Official LP of tracks recorded by Lucky Millinder for the King label between 1950 and 1955, the year when the band finally broke up. In some ways the Millinder outfit was an anachronism by the mid-fifties as they were one of the last big bands left on the R&B circuit. The music is mainly a mixture of jivey instrumentals (the title track – later recorded by Bill Doggett and even later by The Ventures, “Ow!”, “Old Spice”, and “Heavy Sugar”), good swinging ballads (“Loaded With Love”, “I’m Waiting Just For You”) a couple of duffers (“Please Open Your Heart”) and three standout vocal efforts: Wynonie Harris on “Oh Babe!”, Myra Johnson on the salacious “Silent George” and Pigmeat Pederson on the bluesy “Please Be Careful”. Bubber Johnson’s semi-rock ‘n’ roll effort “Goody Good Love” is also goody good.

Download from here:

http://www80.zippyshare.com/v/t9y2r0J6/file.html

1. Ram-Bunk-Shush
2. Oh Babe! (vocal – Wynonie Harris)
3. Please Open Your Heart (vocal – Lee Richardson)
4. Silent George (vocal – Myra Johnson)
5. I'm Waiting Just For You (vocal – Anisteen Allen)
6. No One Else Could Be (vocal – Anisteen Allen & Melvin Moore)
7. It's Been A Long, Long Time
8. Please Be Careful (vocal – Pigmeat Pederson)
9. Loaded With Love (vocal – Corky Robbins & Johnny Bosworth)
10. When I Gave You My Love (vocal – Corky Robbins & Johnny Bosworth)
11. Heavy Sugar
12. Old Spice
13. I'm Here Love (vocal – Cathy Ryan)
14. It's A Sad, Sad Feeling (vocal – Cathy Ryan)
15. Ow!
16. Goody Good Love (vocal – Bubber Johnson)

Huey 'Piano' Smith & His Clowns - Having A Good Time (Ace LP 1004)

Joan K has provided these rips from 1950s vinyl and a folder of label scans.

In the post “The Roots Of Rock ‘N Roll”, a 2LP set of Savoy sides, the first solo recordings of Huey ‘Piano’ Smith were included. Recorded in June 1953, they were pretty dreadful. So how come Huey Smith started making some of the best ever New Orleans R&B / Rock ‘n’ Roll recordings just three years later?

Huey Smith’s first recordings were actually made for Imperial in 1951 when he was part of a small group which included guitarist Eddie Jones who would soon become famous as Guitar Slim. In truth these Imperial recordings were no great shakes either. Both musicians’ fortunes changed when they met Johnny Vincent who was a talent scout for Specialty Records. Guitar Slim was the first to benefit as Johnny split him from Huey and teamed him up with the Lloyd Lambert band plus Ray Charles on piano to record the hit “The Things I Used To Do”.

Meanwhile Huey had recruited Earl King as replacement guitarist and singer. With Huey on piano, Earl recorded some sides for Specialty and then for Johnny Vincent’s new label, Ace. Huey also recorded an uncredited B side for Eddie Bo (“We Like Mambo”) on Ace and in 1956 recorded his first solo single for Ace, “Little Liza Jane” / “”Everybody’s Whalin’”. With these sides Huey established the formula which would bring him chart success: simple lyrics, catchy choruses and an insistent dance beat. Ensemble vocals helped disguise Huey’s own rather weak vocal contributions.

Bobby Marchan was recruited to Huey’s group which was by now called The Clowns and in 1957 they recorded the massive hit “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”. More hits which followed the same formula ensued: “High Blood Pressure”, “Don’t You Just Know It” and “Don’t You Know Jockomo”. The LP “Having A Good Time” was released in 1959.

Joan’s rips are from 1950s vinyl with some surface noise, and, yes, the occasional sound of the needle hitting the shiny wax disc. Moments in time captured forever. Thanks Joan!

Download from here:

Having A Good Time (Mega)

Having A Good Time (Zippy)

1. Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu
2. Little Chickee Wah Wah
3. Little Liza Jane
4. Just a Lonely Clown
5. Hush Your Mouth
6. Don't You Know Yockomo
7. Havin' A Good Time
8. Don't You Just Know It
9. Well I'll Be John Brown
10. Everybody's Whalin'
11. High Blood Pressure
12. We Like Birdland

Count Basie & His Orchestra - Swingin' The Blues

There’s a distinct lack of swing on the blog since I removed the Jazz Greats links, so it’s time to start uploading some more and what better band is there to start with than that of Count Basie? These classic recordings for Decca were cut between July 1937 and February 1939. The band line-up included the twin tenor sax threat of Lester Young and Herschel Evans, and of course the All American Rhythm Section of Freddy Green (guitar), Walter Page (bass), Jo Jones (drums) and the Count himself on piano. There’s a tremendous blues shouting performance by Jimmy Rushing on the classic “Sent For You Yesterday” which is a number I just can’t get out of my head at present.

“Jive at Five” and “Lady Be Good” were recorded on the third of February 1939, just five days before Herschel Evans died of a heart condition. On these tracks Chu Berry deputised for the ailing Herschel. Berry himself was to die in an automobile accident just two years later.

These tracks are ripped from a cassette issued in 1984 by Charly Records.

Ripped at 320 kbps.

Download from here:

http://www82.zippyshare.com/v/9cCIFLS2/file.html

1. Swinging The Blues
2. John's Idea
3. Blue & Sentimental
4. Texas Shuffle
5. Panassie Stomp
6. Sent For You Yesterday
7. You Can Depend On Me
8. Every Tub
9. Jumpin' At The Woodside
10. Time Out
11. Jive At Five
12. Oh Lady Be Good
13. Shorty George
14. Out The Window
15. Topsy
16. Doggin' Around

Rare Blues Girls From King

This 1988 LP from Official compiles sides by mostly little known women blues singers for the King and Federal labels. The bulk of the recordings date from the early to mid 1950s and what really stands out is the calibre of the R&B combos on these tracks. A glance at the track list is an R&B fan’s delight as names like Earl Bostic, Lucky Millinder, Roy Milton, Bill Doggett, Duke Hampton and Gene Redd (the vibes player in the Earl Bostic band) catch the eye.

And there’s more good news for fans of swingin’ blues bands. Dorothy Ellis is backed by musicians from the Johnny Otis band of the early 50s including Ben Webster, Pete “Guitar” Lewis and Devonia Williams. The frantic Lil Greenwood track “Grandpa Can Boogie Too” features Joe Lutcher on alto sax. Fluffy Hunter’s bluesy “Climb The Wall” features red hot backing from The Buddy Banks Sextet and Sarah McLawler and the excellent Flo Garvin are backed by Sonny Thompson and Jimmy Coe. Sugar Pie is of course Sugar Pie De Santo and the band on her track is The Preston Love Orchestra which includes Pete “Guitar” Lewis, Ernie Freeman, Plas Johnson and Floyd Turnham.

A special word about Marion Abernathy’s “Undecided”. This was recorded in late December 1947 when King were frantically stockpiling recordings as a Musicians’ Union strike was due to begin on January 1st 1948. The band in the studio was led by Hot Lips Page with Hal Singer and Tom Archia on tenor saxes. The same band also recorded a series of sides with Wynonie Harris on the same day they recorded with Ms Abernathy. A few days later a slightly slimmed down version of the same band would cut “Good Rockin’ Tonight” with Mr Harris.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/139840962/Rare_Blues_Girls_From_King.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=03DWBQ2S

1. He's Gone / Dorothy Ellis
2. Grandpa Can Boogie Too / Lil Greenwood
3. Portrait Of A Faded Love / Earl Bostic & His Orchestra (v- Helen Young)
4. Please Be Good To Me / Duke Hampton & His Orchestra (v- Aletra Hampton)
5. Climb The Wall / Fluffy Hunter
6. You're Gonna Suffer Baby / Roy Milton & His Orchestra (v- Mickey Champion)
7. I Need You Now / Sarah McLawler
8. I Dreamed The Blues / Gene Redd & His Orchestra (v- Valerie Carr)
9. No More In Life / Bill Doggett Trio (v- Mildred Anderson)
10. Undecided / Marion Abernathy
11. I'm On The Outside Looking In / Flo Garvin
12. Let Me Keep You Warm / Flo Garvin
13. You Can't Have Me Now / Lorraine Lester
14. It's A Sad, Sad Feeling / Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra (v- Cathy Ryan)
15. Slowly Going Out Of My Mind / Dorothy Ellis
16. Please Be True / Sugar Pie

Star Dust / Bo-Lee - Buddy Lucas on Luniverse

Joan K was kind enough to send in this copy of saxman Buddy Lucas' one and only release on the Luniverse label. "Star Dust" c/w "Bo-Lee" was released in 1957. The A side is a deadpan stroll through the Hoagy Carmichael standard. "Bo-Lee" is a much more R&B sounding side with Buddy in fine hoarse-voiced shouting form. Click on the Buddy Lucas label or use the search box to find more music and info on this artist.

Ripped from vintage vinyl complete with the inevitable surface noise. Password = greaseyspoon

Download links:

http://rapidshare.com/files/139572588/Buddy_Lucas_on_Luniverse.rar

OR:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DTUE5X70

Thanks for this rare 45 disc, Joan!

Screaming Saxophones Have A Ball

This crackly collection of sax blowouts (“mastered” from original 78s and 45s) makes a nice supplement to the double CD “Tenor Madness” post. Just about every artist here (except Joe Houston) is a veteran of the big bands and this disc nicely captures the era of the end of the swingin’ aggregations and the move towards small group R&B and jazz. The sleevenotes by Morgan on the back cover give background info on the artists. For me, the sides by former Erskine Hawkins saxman Paul Bascomb are raucous standouts.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/137608908/Screaming_Saxophones_Have_A_Ball.rar

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=32GYUCET

1. Have A Ball / Joe Houston Orchestra (vocal – Lois Butler)
2. Houston's Hot House / Joe Houston Orchestra
3. Leo's Boogie / Leo Parker And His Mad Lads
4. Cool Leo / Leo Parker And His Mad Lads
5. SOS / Charlie Singleton And His Band
6. Please Don't Leave Me Here / Charlie Singleton And His Band (vocal – Jake Vaughn)
7. Artistry In Mood / Joe Thomas And His Orchestra
8. Tearing Hair / Joe Thomas And His Orchestra
9. Turntable / Morris Lane And His Combo
10. What Did Sam Say / Paul Bascomb And His Orchestra (vocal – Paul Bascomb)
11. Ain't Nothin' Shakin' / Paul Bascomb And His Orchestra (vocal – Paul Bascomb)
12. Forty-Nine-Fifty / Bumps Myers Sextet
13. Memphis Hop / Bumps Myers Sextet
14. September Song / Morris Lane And His Combo

Listen to "What Did Sam Say":

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA