LATEST ADDITIONS  07/11/2016

COMPACT DISCS
HANK BALLARD & THE MIDNIGHTERS

CHARLIE & RAY
KING CURTIS
LEE DORSEY
FAIRPORT CONVENTION
ARTHUR FIELDS & FRED HALL
THE FIVE BLIND BOYS OF MISSISSIPPI
ROY HAWKINS
LINDA HAYES
JONI JAMES
JOHNNY & THE HURRICANES
BUDDY JONES
DOUG KERSHAW

MEADE LUX LEWIS
MEZZ MEZZROW
ROY MILTON
THE JOHNNY OTIS SHOW
DAN PENN
LLOYD PRICE
TOMMY RIDGLEY
CHESTER SMITH
HUEY "PIANO" SMITH & THE CLOWNS
THE TRENIERS
WESLEY TUTTLE & HIS TEXAS ALL STARS
VARIOUS ARTISTS
DINAH WASHINGTON
THE YORK BROTHERS


IMPORTANT NOTE: We currently do not have a shopping cart. The company who handled our cart has gone out of business. However we are still handling orders and are keeping our web site up to date with new releases. You may place your orders by email (roots@toast.net), phone (toll free in USA 1-888-ROOTS-66, Elsewhere: 510-965-9503) or by mail P.O. Box 837, El Cerrito, CA 94530, USA

 
Since our Second Time Around listings are so popular this list includes some great releases which have been out for a while but you may have missed them the first time we listed them.To avoid you getting possible duplicates we have added  asterisks (**) after these particular titles.

 

COMPACT DISCS

 

HANK BALLARD & THE MIDNIGHTERS Kent CDKEND 451 Unwind Yourself - The King Recordings, 1964-1967 ● CD $18.98
26 tracks, highly recommended
Every dyed in the wool R&B fan knows Hank Ballard & the Midnighters and their string of influential 50's classics - Work With Me Annie/ Sexy Ways/ The Twist/ Kansas City/ Annie Had a Baby and more. Although the hits continued into the early 60's - notably Finger Poppin' Time and Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go - by 1964 the group's chart run had ended. But Ballard never stopped recording and the sessions he recorded for King Records between 1964 and 1967 are being re-issued in their entirety here for the first time. From dancey numbers like Let's Get the Show On the Road/ Poppin' the Whip, and One Monkey Don't Stop No Show to ballads like He Came Along/ Here Comes the Hurt, and Somebody's Got to Help Me, Ballard continued to turn out exceptional material during this period, even if it was somewhat out of step with the prevailing trends in R&B/Soul at the time. R&B fans, and fans of Ballard in general, would be doing themselves a disservice not to check this collection out for themselves. (GMC)

 
CHARLIE & RAY Acrobat ACMCD 4310 I Love You Madly - The Herald Recordings ● CD $13.98 $8.98
16 tracks, 39 min., strongly recommended
The title tune here is the closest that this duo ever came to a bonafide hit, nonetheless, their mastery of the up tempo, chalypso, and ballad tempos popular in the last half of the 1950's is more than evident is this collection of their material for Al Silver's Herald Records. The program includes the title tune, plus Tag Along/ Certainly Baby/ Dearest One/ You're To Blame/ The Closest Thing to an Angel/ Guess I'm Through with Love, and others. There are several originally unissued titles including a second, slightly slower version of I Love You Madly. Though the possibilities for harmony are limited with just two voices, these two won the weekly amateur night contest at Harlem's Apollo Theater five times in a row. (DH)

 
KING CURTIS Shout 69 Music For Dancing - The Twist ● CD $18.98 $12.98
12 tracks, 29 mins, highly recommended
A strange, one off release for RCA in 1961, this album was cut to cash in on the Twist craze and this is the first time it's been issued on CD. King Curtis was a well known session man and some-time recording artist by this time, and, with a red hot band behind him (featuring guys like Paul Griffin and Mickey Baker), he seemed to a good candidate for such a project. With the exception of Curtis original Twistin' Time, all the tracks are either "twisted up" re-makes of big band standards (Honeysuckle Rose/Jersey Bounce/ Stompin' at the Savoy) or covers of actual "twist" songs (Peppermint Twist/ Let's Twist Again). The results are surprisingly good, mostly due to the pile driving force of the band, especially on The Hucklebuck and 12th Street Twist. Although the CD consists of mostly instrumentals, the few vocal tracks feature Don Covay on lead vocals and he smokes on Peppermint Twist/ The Fly, and Twistin' Time. Definitely a curio, this CD is a fun listen for King Curtis or Don Covay fans. (GMC)

 
LEE DORSEY Great American Music 875 Funky As I Can Be ● CD $12.98 $8.98
16 tracks, 47 mins, highly recommended
This collection was a bit of a pleasant surprise. The pleasant surprise is not that Lee Dorsey is great--he's one of the greatest singers to come out of New Orleans--but in how many fantastic tracks were on here that I didn't yet have. Starting off with a couple of Dorsey's big hits that are always on his collections: Ya Ya, and Do-Re-Mi, then veering off to fantastic early album tracks, cool radio commercials using some of his bigger hits, strong live tracks from the end of his career, and--best of all--three killer unreleased tracks from early '60s sessions that, as far as I know, are making their first appearance on this CD! An alternate take on the Allen Toussaint penned Lonelyology (For Your Love)/ You Better Tell Her, and the quintessential New Orleans funk of Oo-Na-Nay all could have been hits on their own, but for whatever reason never got released until now. Other highlights include Dorsey's take on Little Walter's My Babe, and his original version of Sneaking Sally Through The Alley, better known by the Robert Palmer version that doesn't hold a candle to Lee Dorsey's. It's really all highlights on this collection, and even the later live tracks are all fantastic; you could tell that even at his advanced age, Lee Dorsey was still bringin' the house down on his home turf of New Orleans. (JM)

 
FAIRPORT CONVENTION Real Gone 459 Live In Finland, 1971 ● CD $14.98
7 tracks, 35 mins, strongly recommended
The only live recordings of the fourth incarnation of Fairport featuring Simon Nicol on guitar and vocals with the three Daves (Swarbrick/ fiddle & vocal, Pegg/ bass and Mattacks/ drums). Although the sublime vocals of Sandy Denny and the spectacular guitar of Richard Thompson are missed the group turns in a fine and energetic selection of traditional or traditionally oriented songs and tunes in front of an enthusiastic audience, including several from their recently issued "Angel Delight" LP (Bridge Over The River Ash/ The Journeyman's Grace and Sir William Gower) as well selections from previous albums (Mason's Apron/ Sir Patrick Spens/ Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament and, of course, Matty GRoves. Sound quality is excellent and there are informative notes by Ritchie Unterberger. (FS)

 
ARTHUR FIELDS & FRED HALL B.A.C.M. 024 Eleven More Months & Ten More Days** ● CD $14.98
21 tracks, strongly recommended
Delightful collection of novelty songs by this popular and prolific duo who teamed up in the late 20s - both having had extensive careers previously. They were not authentic hillbillies but rather urban performers who used some elements of country music in their music. They recorded under a number of aliases and recorded their most famous song Eleven More Months & Ten More Days under the name of the Colt Brothers - a song that was subsequently recorded by numerous performers. This 21 track collection also includes Back In The Old Green Hills/ Oh For The Life Of A Hobo/ I Laughed So Much I Nearly Died/ Pickwick Club Tragedy/ Empty Barrels/ Our Hometown Mountain Band, etc. (FS)
ARTHUR FIELDS & FRED HALL: Back In The Old Green Hills/ Cousin Cindy's Wedding/ Down At The Bottom Of The Mountain/ Eleven More Months & Ten More Days Pt.1/ Eleven More Months & Ten More Days Pt.2/ Empty Barrels/ Four Stone Walls And A Ceiling/ Hank Simmons' Show Boat/ Henry Did You Weed The Cabbage Patch/ I Laughed So Much I Nearly Died/ I Love Virginia/ I'm In Heaven/ In Dear Old Tennessee/ Me & My Brother Joe/ Oh For The Life Of A Hobo/ Our Hometown Mountain Band Pt. 1/ Our Hometown Mountain Band Pt. 2/ Pickwick Club Tragedy/ She Lives ‘round The Bend A-ways/ The Smoking Habit/ Those Were The Very Last Words He Said

 
THE FIVE BLIND BOYS OF MISSISSIPPI Shout 34 Something To Shout About ... From The Golden Age Of Gospel** ● CD $18.98
23 tracks, 66 mins, essential We've turned up few more of copies of this great set but once these are gone there are no more. Two classic albums ("Precious Memories" - Peacock 102 and "Father I Stretch My Hands To Thee" - Peacock 113) by one of the greatest of all gospel groups combined on this CD. "Precious Memories" was issued in 1959 as tribute to the group's recently deceased lead singer Archie Brownlee. Brownlee was one of the greatest if not THE greatest hard gospel quartet singer - an utterly superb vocalist with a high, emotion drenched style who could wail to bring the church down but whose versatile pipes could articulate the whole range of human emotions. The four tracks from the January 1959 sessions, Brownlee's last for Peacock, have such an intensity that it's likely to leave you drained by the time you finish listened. After Brownlee's death the group underwent some personal changes and lead roles were handled by Henry Johnson, a superb tenor singer - not in Brownlee's league but certainly the equal of many of the other quartet leaders out there. Their 1964 session here featured 11 fine performances with the standouts being Time Is Winding Up/ Oh Why and, particularly, Father I Stretch My hands To Thee with Johnson switching between preaching and singing with an intensity that rivals Brownlee. Includes 12 page booklet. (FS)

 
ROY HAWKINS Ace CDCHD 1096 Bad Luck Is Falling - Modern, RPM & Kent Recordings Vol. 2** ● CD $18.98
24 tracks, 66 mins, essential
Complementing Ace 754 (now out of print) this is the second collection of sides by this superb and underrated West Coast bluesman recorded for Down Town and Modern between 1948 and 1961. Although very popular in the early 50s with two R&B hits to his name very little is known about Roy's life. He was a a fabulous vocalist with a style a little bit like Charles Brown but more intense. He was also a fine songwriter with a penchant for moody minor key songs and his great The Thrill Is Gone was turned into a worlwide hit by B.B. King in 1970. Roy's original version of the song is on the first volume - this one includes a fine alternate take. Roy was accompanied by some superb bands led by the likes of Buddy Floyd and Maxwell Davis and his tracks often feature stellar guitar work from musicians like Ulysses James, Chuck Norris and Johnny Moore. One 1952 session features T-Bone Walker on guitar who provides some truly stunning accompaniments. Hawkins left Modern in 1954 and recorded little else until he returned to Modern in 1961 where he recorded a four track session which included a remake of his 1948 recording Strange Land with a wonderful band including some incredible guitar - who is it? Superb stuff with immaculate sound and in-depth notes. (FS)

 
LINDA HAYES Shout 49 Atomic Baby - Hollywood R&B From The Platters' First Dish ● CD $18.98 $12.98
21 tracks, 55 mins, highly recommended
The original "Dish" from the Platters gets her own collection, showing her as a pretty great solo singer in her own right. Although little-known now outside of Platters fans and hardcore R&B enthusiasts, at one time it was thought (at least by her record company) that Hayes was going to be the next big Rhythm & Blues singer. Her 1952 single for the Recorded in Hollywood label, Big City, was advertised as "THE GREATEST R&B RECORD EVER RECORDED!" That's some hype, but unfortunately although Hayes was a fine singer (compare to somewhere between Dinah Washington and LaVerne Baker), she was not as great as that would make her out to be. Although she would have some chart success, Hayes never caught on that big as a solo artist. Her lack of success was not for lack of great material, most of which is found on this fine collection. At times backed by such greats as Red Callender, Maxwell Davis, Chico Hamilton, Johnny Moore and many more. This collection features great tracks like the mambo flavored Atomic Baby, the rockin You Ain't Movin' Me, and the slow burner Our Love's Forever Blessed. Also of note are her answer records, one to Willie Mabon's I Don't Know called Yes, I Know, and one to Hank Ballard My Name Ain't Annie, (with backing vocals by the Platters,) along with her tribute record to Johnny Ace Why Johnny Why recorded with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers. These and many more fine cuts recorded for the RIH/Hollywood, King and Antler Labels during the 1950's, making for an excellent overview of a rather under-appreciated artist that deserves to be heard. (JM)
LINDA HAYES: Atomic Baby/ Change of Heart/ Darling Angel/ Don't Do Nothin Baby (Til You Hear from Me)/ I Had a Dream/ I've Tried So Hard/ Jack What's It to You/ Let's Babalu/ My Name Ain't Annie/ No Next Time/ Oochi Pachi - (featuring Tony Williams)/ Our Love's Forever Blessed/ Please Have Mercy - (featuring The Platters)/ Pt. 1 Big City/ Pt. 2 Big City/ Take Me Back/ Why Johnny Why/ Yes I Know/ You Ain't Moving Me/ You're the Only One for Me/ Yours for the Asking

 
JONI JAMES Acrobat 3155 The Very Best of Joni James ● CD $16.98 $12.98
Two CD set with 54 tracks by this pop vocalist who had numerous hits between 1951 and 1962 and all of them are here including her number 1 seller Why Don't You Believe Me and many other top ten hits like Have You Heard/ Your Cheatin' Heart/ Almost Always/ My Love, My Love/ How Important Can It Be and more.

 
JOHNNY & THE HURRICANES Ace CDLUX2 015 Hurricane Force - Rare & Unreleased ● CD $28.98 $22.98
Two CD set of rarities and live performances by one of the most popular rock 'n' roll instrumental groups of the 1960s. Disc one has 26 rare tracks, nine previously unissued, including their first recordings from 1959 as backing group for Freddie & The Parliaments and The Dream Girls. It also includes tracks by The Fascinators which was The Hurricanes after they left Johnny Paris in 1961 and brought in another sax man to replace him. It includes two rare sides from 1965 from the band's guitarist Dave Gordo as Dave & The Orbits. It includes previously unissued alternate takes of Rockin' T and Sand Storm, a studio rehearsal version of Rocking Goose and more. The second disc is all live material including the group's rare live German LP from 1981 never released anywhere else in the world and has never been on CD along with other live recordings - 11 of them previously unreleased The 40 page booklet includes extensive notes from Dave Burke and Alan Taylor who run the British magazine Pipeline devoted to instrumental rock 'n' roll along with loads of rare photos, label shots and other memorabilia.

 
BUDDY JONES B.A.C.M. 014 Police Officer & Honky Tonk Singer** ● CD $14.98
20 tracks, 57 mins, highly recommended
A terrific collection of bluesy western swing by this fine singer, guitarist and songwriter accompanied by a hot band. Band members are not identified but usually included the likes of Buster Jones (Buddy's brother), Bob Dunn, Moon Mullican and others. One cut features a duet with his good friend Jimmie Davis and one track, the raunchy, Butcher Man Blues is a fine example of talking blues. (FS)
BUDDY JONES: Actions Speak Louder Than Words/ Butcher Man Blues/ Carry The Good Work On/ Dear Old Sunny South By The Sea/ Don't Ever Leave Me Alone/ Ease My Troubled Mind/ Every Day Blues/ Gonna Change My Business All Around/ I Wish I'd Never Met You/ I'll Get Mine Bye And Bye No. 2/ I'm Gonna Get Me A Honky Tonk Baby/ Mean Hangover Blues/ Mean Old Sixty Five Blues/ Ragged But Right/ Red River Blues/ She's A Hum Dum Dinger/ She's Selling What She Used To Give Away/ Shreveport County Jail Blues/ What Is Life Lived Alone/ You've Got Just What It Takes

 
DOUG KERSHAW Goldenlane 109 Rare Masters Anthology; 1959 to 1969 ● CD $19.98 $14.98
Two CD set of 52 demos recorded by this versatile and talented singer, songwriter and fiddle player. Most of them were recorded at home and a number feature his brother Rusty and, according to the notes, none were recorded commercially. The first disc finds Doug accompanied by various small groups - mostly country flavored but sometimes more rock oriented. The second disc is just guitar accompanied demos. The material is a mix of country and rock 'n' roll songs - some with a Cajun flavor. Some of the songs are pretty good - others are not and two CDs worth is a bit indulgent - picking the best songs for a single CD would be better though I suppose if I were a diehard Doug Kershaw fan I might think differently.

 
MEADE LUX LEWIS Fabulous 2059 The Meade Lux Lewis Collection, 1927-1961 ● CD $9.98
Two CDs, 39 tracks, essential
Meade "Lux" Lewis was one of the pioneering giants in the development of piano boogie along with Jimmy Yancey, Albert Ammons & Pete Johnson and this wonderful set is the most extensive overview of the recordings of this magnificent performer currently available. It opens with his original 1927 recording of Honky Tonk Train Blues, one of the most iconic of all boogie numbers and one that became his theme tune. We also hear a 1935 recording of the same tune which is even better and a frenzied version of the tune from a live 1944 show. We hear Meade in a variety of setting, often solo but we also hear him duets with Jimmy Yancey and in a trio with Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons including their sublime Boogie Woogie Prayer. We also hear him with various small groups including musicians like Sidney Bechet, Frankie Newton, Louie Belson and others. We hear accompanying the pedestrian Blue singer George Hannah as well as the great blues shouter Joe Turner. Although much of the material is boogie woogie oriented Meade could also do stellar low key blues renditions as on The Blues/ Melancholy and others and shows that he had jazz chops too on numbers like Dark Eyes and Jabouti. Stellar music, excellent sound, an informative booklet and a budget price - what's not to like? (FS)

 
MEZZ MEZZROW Fabulous 2057 The Collection, 1928-1955 ● CD $9.98
Two CDs, 45 tracks, highly recommended

Another fine budget priced introduction to a significant figure in the history of jazz. This one focuses on the colourful Chicago clarinetist and occasional saxophonist Milton Mesirow or as he preferred to be known Mezz Mezzrow. In addition to his talents as a musician he was also a leading purveyor of marijuana to his fellow musicians. Although not a major virtuoso he was certainly a fine musician and worked with some of the best musicians around and this collection finds him in a variety of settings including his first appearance on record in 1928 as a member of The Chicago Rhythm Kings with Muggsy Spanier, Frank Teschemaker, Gene Krupa and others, with Eddie Condon & His Footwarmers (1928 with Jack Teagarden, Jimmy McPartland, Joe Sullivan, etc), his own Orchestra (1934 and other years with Max Kaminsky, Benny Carter, Bud Freeman and others), Tommy Ladnier & His Orchestra (1938 with Sidney Bechet, Cliff Jackson, Teddy Bunn, etc.) and more. He is also in the group accompanying blues singer Rosetta Howard on Stop It Joe) and there are four tracks from a 1945 session held for his own King Jazz label featuring him with the great soprano saxist Sidney Bechet which are considered by many to be his finest recordings. Sound quality is superb and there are full notes and discographical info in the 16 page booklet. (FS)

 
ROY MILTON Specialty 7060 Vol. 3 - Blowin' With Roy ● CD $14.98 $8.98
25 tracks, 68 min, highly recommended
Roy Milton and his Solid Senders were so damn good that Vol. 3 of their work at Specialty Records contains mostly b-sides, previously unreleased material (nearly half the tracks!), and only one real hit (Everything I Do Is Wrong) and it's still great. Some of the unreleased cuts (covers of Along The Navajo Trail/ Old Man River/ Blue Skies) sound like numbers Roy and company would dish out primarily to white audiences, but it doesn't matters since Camille Howard sounds perfect on the piano all the time. All cuts were recorded between 1947-53, and each is a cool slice of boogie 'n' blues. If you haven't picked up Vol. 1 or 2, you will after you hear this. (JC)
ROY MILTON: Along The Navajo Trail/ Believe Me Baby/ Blowin' With Roy/ Blue Skies/ Blues Ain't News/ Cool Down/ Coquette/ Everything I Do Is Wrong/ I've Had My Moments/ If You Don't Know/ If You Love Me Baby/ La Hop/ My Sweetheart/ New Year's Resolution/ Ol' Man River/ Practice What You Preach/ Sad Feeling/ The Song Is Ended/ Thelma Lou/ Them There Eyes/ There Is Something Missing/ Train Blues/ What's The Use/ When I Grow Too Old To Dream/ You Mean So Much To Me

 
THE JOHNNY OTIS SHOW Wounded Bird 2652 Cuttin' Up ● CD $13.98
12 tracks, strongly recommended
Reissue of 1970 Epic album when the great Johnny Otis was going through a resurgence of interest in his music. He is joined by a stellar group of musicians and vocalists including Johnny, Delmar Evans, Sugarcane Harris and Margie Evans on vocals with Johnny's then 16 year old son Shuggie on guitar, harmonica, piano and organ) plus "Gene "Mighty Flea" Connors/ tb, Preston Love/as, Jackie Kelso/ ts and others. The material is a mix of new material (often with a funk flavor) and older sides. Among the highlights are two instrumentals featuring the dazzling guitar work of Shuggie, a superb performance of Dinah Washington's Evil Gal Blues by Margie Evans and a new version by Don "Sugar Cane" Harris of his obscure single Elim Stole My Baby which also includes some of his soulful violin playing. An excellent collection with perhaps a little too much funk. (FS)

 
DAN PENN Ace CDCHD 1477 Close To Me - More Fame Recordings ● CD $18.98
24 tracks, highly recommended
In 2012, Ace Records issued "The Fame Recordings" (Ace 1353 - $18.98) the first collection of demos cut by Southern Soul songwriter Dan Penn; to hear Penn singing his own compositions was truly glorious. Ace have gone back to the vaults and produced a second volume of Penn recordings from the same time frame of '63 to '66. The set kicks off with Penn's first single-issued in August 1964 - Close to Me, a beautifully sung powerhouse that's in the ballpark of contemporaries like Chuck Jackson and Brook Benton. Also included is Diamonds, the flip side of the second single, Just As I Am, which is a sprightly little number that hits all the right notes. As on the first volume, this set gives ample evidence of Penn's prowess as a singer/songwriter, with the likes of Miss Personality/ Love is a Wonderful Thing/ Standing in the Way of a Good Thing/ I Can't Stop (The Feeling Won't Let Me), and the towering Downright Uptight Good Woman. The second helping of Penn is as good as the first and should please Soul fans of every taste. (GMC)

 
LLOYD PRICE Shout 43 Mr. Personality - Million SEllers And More FRom ABC ● CD $18.98
27 tracks, 66 mins, highly recommended
Louisiana-born Price first hit the big time in 1952 with his recording of Lawdy Miss Clawdy for Specialty but he scored even more hits after he got out of the service and joined ABC Paramount in 1957. This superb collection features all his ABC R&B hits (many of which were also pop hits) recorded between 1957 and 1960 - Stagger Lee/ Just Because/ / Where Were You (On Our Wedding Day)?/ Personality/ Lady Luck/ I'm Gonna Get Married, among others. Although more pop oriented than his earlier Specialty Lloyd's singing is superb and there's plenty of hard driving R&B numbers like Mailman Blues/ Why/ What Do You Do To My Heart/ Ain't That Just Like A Woman and a remake of his Specialty hit Lawdy MIss Clawdy. The last eight tracks are drawn from his 1961 album "Lloyd Price Sings The Million Sellers" where he does excellent covers of recent R&B hits like Will You Love Me Tomorrow/ Shop Around/ He Will Break Your Heart/ Spanish Harlem and others. A splendid collection remastered from original tapes with 12 page booklet with informative notes by R&B expert Clive Richardson. (FS)

 
TOMMY RIDGLEY Acrobat ADDCD 3031 King Of The Stroll ● CD $16.98 $11.98
Two CDs, 44 tracks, highly recommended
Terrific collection of blues, R&B and black rock 'n' roll from this outstanding New Orleans singer, songwriter and bandleader featuring his entire recorded output cut between 1949 and 1959 including sides issued under his name as well as a couple of cuts as vocalist with the Dave Bartholomew Orchestra and a couple of cuts issued as by The Royal Playboys and The Shrewsbury Kid. All the sides through 1952 were produced by Bartholomew with such great New Orleans sidemen as Clarence Hall, Alvin "Red" Tyler, Salvador Doucette, Ernest McLean and others. For his 1953 & '54 sessions he recorded with different but great New Orleans sidemen including two tracks with Ray Charles on piano. After a couple of years without recordings he moved to Herald in 1957 and cut 19 sides - several not originally issued. These sessions were produced by Lee Allen - again with superb New Orleans musicians like Melvin Lastie, Red Tyler and others. A few of these tracks are rather forgettable rock 'n' roll novelties and whoever thought of having Tommy record Mairzy Doats should have had his head examined. Nonetheless most of these tracks are very fine. Sound quality is excellent and there are informative notes by Bob Fisher and full discographical data. (FS)
TOMMY RIDGLEY: A Day Is Coming/ Alone But Not Lonely/ Anything But Love/ Baby Do Liddle/ Baby Do Liddle (Alt Take)/ Boogie Woogie Mama/ Booted/ Come Back Baby/ Come Home Baby/ Ding Dong School/ Early Dawn Boogie/ Good Times/ Got You On My Mind/ How I Feel/ I Live My Life/ I’ll Be True/ I’m Gonna Cross That River/ I’ve Got My Eyes On You/ I’ve Heard That Story Before/ Jam Up (Twist)/ Junie Mae/ Just A Memory/ Lavinia/ Lawdy Lawdy Lawd Pt 1/ Lawdy Lawdy Lawd Pt 2/ Lonely Man Blues/ Lonely Tune/ Looped/ Mairzy Doats And Dozy Doats/ Memory Melody/ Monkey Man/ Nobody Cares/ Once In A Lifetime/ Ooh Lawdy My Baby/ Real Gone Jam/ Shrewsbury Blues/ The Girl Across The Street/ Tina/ Tra La La/ Tra La La- Dave Bartholomew/ What’cha Gonna Do/ When I Meet My Girl/ Wish I Had Never/ Woncha Gone

 
CHESTER SMITH B.A.C.M 529 Sweet Memories ● CD $14.98
23 tracks, strongly recommended
Chester Smith was a fine but little known artist from Oklahoma who settled in California recording for Capitol in the mid 50s. He was also an important disc jockey broadcasting over KTRB in Modesto which helped launch the careers of Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Del Reeves and others. Smith was a fine honky tonk style vocalist with down home accompaniments including mandolin on some cuts. One of the members of Smith's band was Hazel Houser who was also a gospel songwriter and several of the songs here are ones written by Houser, some in collaboration with Smith, including Wait A Little Longer Please Jesus which became the best selling country gospel song of 1954 and has become a country gospel. Other songs come from the pens of Tommy Collins, Tommy Reiff and others including Holiday For Tears/ If I Had My Life To Live Over Again/ Sweet Memories/ Singin' My Blues To The Lord/ All The Way With Jesus/ Love, Love, Love and others. (FS)
CHESTER SMITH: All The Way With Jesus/ Another's Wedding Ring/ Bend Down/ Cold Grey Dawn/ Fellowship/ He Will Calm The Troubled Waters/ Holiday For Tears/ I'm Gonna Serve Him/ If I Had My Life To Live Over Again/ Kvi-Vi--V-Vi-Vitt (Kvee-Vee-Vee-Vee-Veet)/ Love, Love, Love/ Men Are So Busy/ No Wonder/ One Life To Live/ Singin' My Blues To The Lord/ Sweet Memories/ Tennessee Saturday Night/ There'll Be Other Times/ Thirsty (The Cotton Choppin' Song)/ Wait A Little Longer Please Jesus/ Weeping Heart/ Wishing My Life Away/ You Can't Lose With God On Your Side

 
HUEY "PIANO" SMITH & THE CLOWNS Great American Music 228 Just Clownin' (More Of The Best) ● CD $15.98 $10.98
20 tracks, 50 mins, highly recommended
This collection is, no surprise, full of all kinds of rhythm & Blues classics, done by, or featuring, one of the all time greats: Huey "Piano" Smith. Many classic versions like Huey's own Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, The Bobbetts' Fortune Teller, Frankie Ford's Sea Cruise, etc, mixed with lesser known and previously unreleased gems. One of the tracks (I Don't Want A Broken Heart) is so obscure that the vocalist is still unknown, I guess all we know is that it was a Huey Smith session; doesn't matter, it's great. As a matter of fact, the whole CD is fantastic, essential for fans of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues for sure. The Clowns with Barbara/ Mississippi, and Don't You Just Know It, Junior Gordon with Blow Wind Blow, Jesse Thomas with That Will Get It, Curley Moore, Gerri Hall & Benny Spellman doing I Tried, and so on, just one great track after another. Some discographical information, especially on all the rarer tracks would be nice; there are some good liner notes, but all biographical stuff, no nuts and bolts on the sessions etc. Oh well, that don't stop the party. (JM)
THE BOBBETTS: Fortune Teller/ Walking Down the Street/ THE CLOWNS: Barbara/ Mississippi/ PEARL EDWARDS: It Was a Thrill/ FRANKIE FORD: Sea Cruise/ JUNIOR GORDON: Blow Wind Blow/ PEG LEG MARTIN & THE CLOWNS: Alimony/ CURLEY MOORE: She's Coming Home/ They Gonna Do What They Wanna Do/ I Tried/ HUEY SMITH & GERRI HALL: I Think You're Jiving Me/ HUEY "PIANO" SMITH & THE CLOWNS: Don't You Just Know It/ Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu/ BENNY SPELLMAN & GERRI HALL: Somewhere/ JESSE THOMAS: Chitt'lins/ That Will Get It/ UNKNOWN VOCALIST: I Don't Want a Broken Heart/ DANNY WHITE: Educated Fool/ NORMAN WILLIAMS: Ending of Love

 
THE TRENIERS Rev-Ola CRREV 248 In The 50s - This Is It! ● CD $15.98 $9.98
30 tracks, highly recommended
Another one of those 50's groups that remain unsung today, the Treniers were led by twin brothers Cliff and Claude Trenier and had been active since the 1940's playing music that was a cross between swing and early rock 'n' roll, and contained a thumping backbeat. Known for the humorous content in their songs and on stage acrobatics, they were very much perceived as precursors to the later rock and roll groups and were a big influence on Bill Haley and His Comets. The guys at Rev-Ola have kindly given us 30 of the group's finest rockin' moments, including their cover of Haley's Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie plus Everybody Get Together/ It Rocks! It Rolls! It Swings/ Rockin' Is Our Bizness/ Bug Dance/ Rock 'n' Roll Call/ Everything's Wild In Wildwood/ Sorrento/ (We Want A) Rock And Roll President (amen to that!)/ Madune/ Holy Mackerel, Andy, etc. (GM)
THE TRENIERS: Bug Dance/ Cool It Baby/ Drink Wine Spo Dee O Dee/ Everybody Get Together/ Everything's Wild In Wildwood/ Go Go Go/ Go Go Go/ Good Rockin' Tonight/ Goodnight Irene/ Hey Jacobia/ Hi Ho Silver/ Holy Mackerel Andy/ It Rocks It Rolls It Swings/ Longest Walk/ Lover Come Back To Me/ Madune/ Oo La La/ Out Of The Bushes/ Rock A Beatin' Boogie/ Rock A Way/ Rock And Roll Call/ Rock Calypso Joe/ Rockin' Is Our Bizness/ Rockin' On Sunday Night/ Sorrento/ This Is It/ Trapped In The Web Of Love/ We Want A Rock 'n' Roll President/ Why Do You Get So High Shorty/ You Know Yeah Tiger

 
WESLEY TUTTLE & HIS TEXAS ALL STARS B.A.C.M 528 Capitol Transcriptions ● CD $14.98
26 tracks recorded for Capitol radio transcriptions in the 1940s by this popular California based western performer accompanied by his band. A varied collection of songs including a number written by Johnny Bond who worked in Tuttle's band at the time. Includes I Got To See Texas/ I Long For The Hills Of Old Wyoming/ Here Comes My Heart Again/ He's Gone Up The Trail/ On The Strings Of My Lonesome Guitar and more.
W. LEE O'DANIELS HILLBILLY BOYS: Sweet Jennie Lee/ WESLEY TUTTLE: Blue Bonnet Girl/ Blue Bonnet Rag (Instr.)/ By The River Of The Roses/ Don't Fence Me In/ Don't Say We're Through/ He's Gone Up The Trail/ Here Comes My Heart Again/ I Got To See Texas/ I Long For The Hills Of Wyoming/ I Want To Sure/ I Was Born With The Blues/ I'll Step Aside/ Just A Baby's Prayer At Twilight/ Keep A Light In Your Window Tonight/ Last Letter/ Many Tears Ago/ On The Strings Of My Lonesome Guitar/ Poor Little Rose/ Someday You'll Want Me To Want You (Instr.)/ South (Instr.)/ Tear Stains On Your Letter/ Texas Plains (Instr.)/ Those Gone And Left Me Blues/ Wasted Tears/ When I Was A Boy From The Mountains/ Worried Mind (Instr.)

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Ace CDCHD 524 Ebb Story ● CD $18.98 $13.98
31 tracks, 71 min., recommended
In 1957 after Leonora "Lee" Rupe had split with husband Art Rupe, big cheese at Specialty Records, she started the graphically unadorned Ebb label. Ebb enjoyed only one national hit in The Hollywood Flames Buzz Buzz Buzz before calling it quits in 1959. But the Ebb story sounds a lot better than it sounds. No shortage of talent existed. Artists included Smokey Hogg, Ted Taylor, Professor Longhair, The Jaguars, The Roulettes, Jerry Hawkins, Tony Harris, and many more. The Ambers (really The Jaguars acting as back-up band) featuring Johnny Mathis' younger brother Ralph Mathis on lead vocals prove that genetics are not everything and that Ebb wasn't perfect. Oh well. Excellent overview of a terribly fun albeit short lived label--booklet notes include a complete discography. (JC)
THE 5 ORLEANS: The Way You Carry On/ RAY AGEE AND ELLY JOHNSON: My Silent Prayer/ True Lips/ DOLLY COOPER: Time Brings About A Change/ EDDIE DANNIELS: I Wanna Know/ FLOYD DIXON: What Is Life Without A Home/ THE EBB-TONES: I've Got A Feeling/ THE GEORGETTES: Love Like A Fool/ TONY HARRIS: You Fascinate Me/ JERRY HAWKINS: Lucky Johnny/ Need Your Lovin'/ SMOKEY HOGG: Good Mornin' Baby/ Sure 'nuff/ THE HOLLYWOOD FLAMES: Buzz, Buzz, Buzz/ Much Too Much/ THE JAGUARS: Mine All Mine/ J J JONES: Darkness/ DAVE LEE: Kiss Me, Squeeze Me/ PROFESSOR LONGHAIR: Look What You're Doing To Me/ Looka, No Hair/ RALPH MATHIS: Never Let Me Go/ EARL NELSON: Come On/ Hali-lou/ RIFF RUFFIN: If You Please/ THE SOUVENIRS: Voodoo Love/ TED TAYLOR: Keep Walking On/ Wrapped Up In A Dream/ KIP TYLER: Hali-lou/ Oh Linda/ She's My Witch/ SAMUAL VANCE: Run, Run, Run

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Ace CDCHD 982 The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions, Vol. 2 ● CD $18.98 $13.98
26 tracks, 66 mins, essential
The second volume of recordings from the field trips to the South made by Joe Bihari and Ike Turner features 26 tracks recorded in Arkansas and Mississippi in the spring of 1952 including many of the same artists as on the first volume. The first 12 tracks were from Mississippi including two tracks by the excellent Boyd Gilmore including the Elmore James flavored All In My Dreams to which the Biharis dubbed in the intro and guitar solo from Elmore's Please Find My Baby to accentuate the connection. He also does a terrific version of Take A Little Walk With Me with some splendid guitar work from Boyd himself. There are two tracks by the man Elmore himself and the rest of the Mississippi recordings features Greenville based trio of musicians - singer/guitarist Charley Booker, singer/ harmonica player Houston Boines and singer/ drummer Cleanhead Love. They all take turns at the vocal mike and all are fine - Boines's songs feature some memorable lyrics - his Superintendant Blues is actually about a school superintendent! The last 14 sides feature another all star Arkansas group led by singer/ harmonica player Drifting Slim (aka Model T Slim aka Elmon Mickle), a fine singer and harmonica player influenced by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. This group also featured the superb guitarist and vocalist Baby face Turner and singer/ harmonica player Sunny Blair - all of them fine. This superb disc features several previously unissued songs or alternate takes. Sound quality is sensational and the 12 page booklet has extensive notes by Jim O'Neal - much of it based on hs own research. (FS)
SUNNY BLAIR: My Baby's Gone/ Send My Baby/ Step Back Baby/ Step Back Baby (please Send My Baby Back)/ HOUSTON BOINES: G Man/ Monkey Motion/ Operator Blues (take 1 False Start)/ Operator Blues (take 2)/ Operator Blues (take 3)/ Superintendent Blues/ CHARLEY BOOKER: Charley's Boogie Woogie/ DRIFTING SLIM: Good Morning Baby/ I Feel So Good/ My Sweet Woman/ Shout Sister Shout/ You're An Old Lady/ BOYD GILMORE: All In My Dreams/ Take A Little Walk With Me/ ELMORE JAMES: Long Tall Woman/ Please Find My Baby/ CLEANHEAD LOVE: Why Don't My Baby Write To Me/ BABY FACE TURNER: Best Days/ Blue Serenade/ Blue Serenade (take 1)/ Blue Serenade (take3)/ Gonna Let You Go

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS B.A.C.M. 527 Pre War Western Swing - Vol. 1 - Rare Radio TRanscripti ● CD $14.98
29 tracks, essential
Fabulous collection of previously unissued western swing drawn from radio transcriptions recorded between 1937 and 1943. It includes well known groups like The Swift Jewel Cowboys, W. Lee O'Daniel's Hillbilly Boys, Louise Massey's Westerners, and Curley Williams' Georgia Peach Pickers along with fine lesser known groups that only recorded a handful of sides commercially like Dave Edwards & His Alabama Boys and Jimmy's Saddle Boys as well as groups that never recorded commercially like Jerry Sadler's Cowboy Stringsters (featuring members of O'Daniel's Hillbilly Boys including vocals by Leon Huff) and Carl Cole & His Flint Hill Boys. Whether well known or utterly obscure the music is wonderful jazzy country with hot fiddles and steel guitars, dynamic accordion and occasional horns. Sound quality is occasionally a bit rough but it's all listenable and worth listening to and it comes with authoritative notes by Kevin Coffey. (FS)
JESSE ASHLOCK WITH EZRA & HIS BEVERLY HILLBILL: Draggin The Bow/ CARL COLE & HIS FLINT HILL BOYS: After You've Gone/ In The Mood/ Jumpin Jive/ Rosetta/ Steel Guitar Rag/ The Sheik Of Araby/ DAVE EDWARDS & HIS ALABAMA BOYS: Carnival In Cotton Town/ Ridin' Down The Texas Trail/ South/ Worried Mind/ JIMMY'S SADDLE PALS: Cool Water/ In A Little Spanish Town/ Limehouse Blues/ Up A Lazy River/ W. LEE O'DANIELS HILLBILLY BOYS: I Get The Blues When It Rains/ JERRY SADLER'S COWBOY STRINGSTERS: I've Got The Blues For Mammy/ Texas Plains/ MASSEY WITH LOUISE MASSEY & THE WESTERNE SWEET GEORGIA BROWN: Curt/ THE SWIFT-JEWEL COWBOYS: Crazy Rhythm/ Estalee/ Jig In G/ Weary Blues/ Willie The Weeper/ CURLY WILLIAMS & HIS GEORGIA PEACH PICKERS: Columbus Stockade/ Home In San Antone/ Smoke On The Water/ When The Sun Goes Down

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Bear Family BCD 15622 That'll Flat Git It! Vol. 1; Rockabilly From The Vaults** ● CD $21.98
31 tracks, 68 minutes, essential
31 tunes covering many of the highlights of RCA's love affair with rockabilly. You'd be smitten too if your sweetheart (we're talkin' Elvis) stuffed millions into your bank account. Except for the brief novelty of a "female Elvis" (Janis Martin) the rest of the boppers here hardly made a ripple. That's not to say there wasn't plenty of talent though. Joe Clay wails on Sixteen Chicks and Duck Tail . Joey Castle tears it up on That Ain't Nothing But Right and Ric Cartey romps on Oooh-Wee . Even when the singer or the song is marginal, the RCA studio band of Chet Atkins (g), Hank Garland (g), Floyd Cramer (p), Bob Moore (b), etc. elevates the proceedings considerably. Other artists features include David Houston, Tommy Blake, Skeeter Bonn, Gene Morris, Lee Denson, etc. The beautiful photo filled 48 page booklet, written by Bill Millar is fantastic. ( AE)
MILTON ALLEN: Don't Bug Me Baby/ TOMMY BLAKE: All Night Lon/ Honky Tonk Min/ SKEETER BONN: Rock-A-Bye-Baby/ MARTHA CARSON: Now Stop/ RIC CARTEY: Born To Love One Woma/ Heart Thro/ Oooh We/ JOEY CASTLE: That Ain't Nothing But Righ/ NAN CASTLE: Star Light, Star Bright/ JOE CLAY: Duck Tai/ Sixteen Chicks/ FRANKIE DEE: Shake It Up Baby/ JIMMY DELL: I've Got A Dollar/ LEE DENSON: New Shoes/ DICK GLASSER: Catty Town/ TED HARRIS: Just Thought I'd Set You Straight/ DAVID HOUSTON: One And Only/ Sugar Sweet/ AUTRY INMAN: Mary Nell/ HOYT JOHNSON: Little Boy Blue/ JANIS MARTIN: Barefoot Babe/ Drugstore Rock & Roll/ THE MCCOYS: Full Grown Cat/ GENE MORRIS: Lovin' Honey (1)/ Lovin' Honey (2)/ DAVE RICH: Rosie Let's Get Cozy/ JIMMIE RODGERS SNOW: Milkcow Blues/ THE SPROUTS: Teen Billy Baby/ MORGAN TWINS: TV Hop/ ART WOOD: Hey Jibb

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Bear Family BCD 15623 That'll Flat Git It! Vol. 2: Rockabilly From The Vaults** ● CD $21.98
30 tracks, very highly recommended
Dynamite 30 tune collection from the Decca vaults featuring about as solid a lineup as you'll find outside of a Sun compilation. And like Sun, most of the Decca releases had a big, distinctive and dynamic sound due to the friendly confines of Bradley Studios in Nashville and the fantastic session cats led by guitarist Grady Martin. Handsome Johnny Carroll was the wildest of the bunch and could've been a big star if rockabilly wasn't squashed by the industry in favor of some more controllable music. His half a dozen tunes are hot as can be, especially Hot Rock , Crazy, Crazy Lovin' and Wild Wild Women . Roy Hall's music usually fell into the hillbilly boogie catagory but his 4 Decca tunes rock like mad with great guitar to go along with Roy's 88 bangin'. Guys like Eddie Fontaine, Jackie Lee Cochran and Terry Noland passed through and stayed long enough to record some of their best rockabilly, heck even country legend Webb Pierce sounded OK on his Teenage Boogie . But it's the obscure records like Peanuts Wilson - Cast Iron Arm , Johnny Bell- Flip, Flop And Fly and Billy Harlan - I Wanna Bop that really gettcha goin'. And I must give another plug for the rough & rowdy harmony of the Five Chavis Brothers on Baby, Don't Leave Me , just one of 30 reasons to add this one to your collection. (AE)
CHUCK & BILL: Way Out There/ JIMMY & JOHNNY: Sweet Love On My Mind/ JOHNNY BELL: Flip, Flop And Fly/ JOHNNY CARROLL: Corrine, Corrina/ Crazy, Crazy Lovin'/ Hot RocK/ Rock 'n' Roll Rube/ To Get To You/ Tryin'/ Wild, Wild WomeN/ FIVE CHAVIS BROTHERS: Baby Don't Leave Me/ BUDDY COVELLE: Lorraine/ EDDIE FONTAINE: Cool It Baby/ ROY HALL: Diggin' The Boogie/ Off-Beat Boogie/ See You Later Alligator/ Three Alley Cats/ Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On/ BILLY HARLAN: I Wanna Bop/ AUTRY INMAN: Be Bop Baby/ It Would Be A Doggone Lie/ JERRY KENNEDY: Teenage Love Is Misery/ JACKIE LEE COCHRAN: Mamy Don't You Think I Know/ Ruby Pear/ GENE MALTAIS: Crazy Baby/ TERRY NOLAND: Ten Little Women/ WEBB PIERCE: Teenage Boogie/ PEANUTS WILSON: Cast Iron Arm/ DON WOODY: Bird Dog/ Make Like A Rock And Roll/ You`re Barking Up The Wrong Tree

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Bear Family BCD 17419 Martians, Demons and Fools Like Me - MCI Records Story ● CD $21.98 $15.98
39 tracks recorded by this small Arizona label between 1954 and 1961. The label's main claim to fame was the big hit The Fool by Sanford Clark which is featured here along with its flip side and two previously unissued demos. A mix of rock 'n' roll, country, pop and musical radio commercials (one of the labels' specialties) it also includes sides by Spence Bare (with great steel guitarist Bud Isaacs), Maxine Johnson, Denny Reed, Lee Hazelwood (a previously unissued demo with Al Casey), The Newton Brothers (featuring a evry young Wayne Newton), Al Casey, Dick Robinson & His Makebelievers (the novelty The Boppin' Martian), Connie Conway (her I Should Not Be Seeing featured in the popular TV series "Mad Men" and more including eight brief radio commercials for radio station KRLA, Blakley's Gasoline, Mecham Pontiac and others.

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Charly SNAJ 743 Sun Rockabilly Meltdown ● CD $24.98 $17.98
Three CDs, 107 tracks, approx 4 hours, essential
At first glance this is just another collection of rockabilly from THE rockabilly label - Sun, but it's more than that. Apart from the tracks by Elvis almost all the tracks on this wonderful collection were not originally issued by Sun - many not coming to light until the 70s and 80s including originally unissued songs and alternate takes and, from what I can tell, quite a few of the tracks here are making their first appearance on CD and a number appear to have never been reissued before in any format - some don't appear in any Sun discographies! It just never ceases to amaze me as to how good most of the unissued Sun recordings were and so if you love rockabilly you have to have this collection. In addition to Elvis and other familiar name like Jerry Lee Lewis, Warren Smith, Sonny Burgess, Carl perkins, Charlie Rich, Carl Mann, Johnny Cash, Ray Smith (all featured on originally unissued songs or alternate takes) we have great sides from lesser known artists like Dick Penner, Jimmy Williams, Alton & Jimmy, Tommy Blake, Ken Cook, Glenn Honeycutt, Jerry Arnold, Howard Chandler and others. Sound quality is splendid and 28 page booklet has informative notes by compiler Clive Anderson. The only negative is the lack of any discographical info and maybe another couple of CDs worth of material but you can't have everything! (FS)
ALTON & JIMMY: I Just Don't Know/ JERRY ARNOLD: Little Boy Blue/ ERNIE BARTON: She's Gone Away/ Whirlpool/ SMOKEY JOE BAUGH: Hula Bop/ TOMMY BLAKE: I Dig You, Baby (Alternate)/ You Better Believe It (Alternate)/ EDDIE BOND: This Old Heart Of Mine/ EDWIN BRUCE: Rock Boppin' Baby (Alternate)/ SONNY BURGESS: Little Town Baby/ Truckin' Down The Avenue/ We Wanna Boogie (Alternate)/ JOHNNY CASH: Folsom Prison Blues (Alternate)/ Two Timin' Woman (Alternate)/ HOWARD CHANDLER: Wampus Cat/ JEAN CHAPEL: Welcome To The Club/ KEN COOK: Problem Child/ Crazy Baby (Take 2)/ HAROLD DORMAN: To Be With You/ JACK EARLS: Crawdad Hole (Take 3)/ Slow Down/ CHARLIE FEATHERS: Corrine, Corrina/ MICKEY GILLEY: Thinkin' Of Me/ CLIFF GLEAVES: Your Cheatin' Heart/ ROY HALL: I Lost My Baby/ RAY HARRIS: Come On Little Mama/ Love Dumb Baby/ CURTIS HOBACK: Apron Strings/ GLENN HONEYCUTT: If It Wasn't For Love/ On Mobile Bay/ DICKEY LEE: Good Lovin'/ JERRY LEE LEWIS: Cool, Cool Ways (Sexy Ways)/ Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee/ Friday Night/ I Don't Love Nobody/ Lewis Boogie/ Mean Woman Blues/ Milkshake Mademoiselle/ Ooby Dooby/ Rockin' With Red (She Knows How To Rock Me)/ Whole Lotta Twistin' Goin' On/ Wild One (Real Wild Child)/ CARL MANN: Baby, I Don't Care/ I Love You, I Adore You/ Pretend/ LUKE MCDANIEL: Go Ahead, Baby/ CARL MCVOY: A Woman's Love (The Thrill Of Your Love)/ Little Girl/ MISSISSIPPI SLIM: Try Doin' Right/ ROY ORBISON: Domino (Undubbed)/ It's Too Late/ KENNETH PARCHMAN: Treat Me Right (Alternate)/ TRACY PENDARVIS: Bop A Cha-Cha Baby/ Hypnotized/ Is It Me?/ Please Be Mine (Come To Me)/ Southbound Line/ DICK PENNER: Cindy Lou/ Don't Need Your Lovin' Baby (Alternate)/ Move, Baby, Move/ CARL PERKINS: Blue Suede Shoes (Alternate Take 3)/ Caldonia/ Dixie Fried/ Everybody's Tryin' To Be My Baby (Alternate)/ Glad All Over/ Her Love Rubbed Off/ I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry/ Pink Pedal Pushers (Alternate)/ Put Your Cat Clothes On (Take 3)/ BARBARA PITTMAN: Voice Of A Fool/ JOHNNY POWERS: Waitin' For You/ ELVIS PRESLEY: I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine/ Milkcow Blues Boogie/ Mystery Train/ Trying To Get To You/ JIMMY PRITCHETT: That's The Way I Feel/ SLIM RHODES: Gonna Romp And Stomp/ CHARLIE RICH: Blue Suede Shoes/ Lonely Weekends (Alternate)/ Yes, Ma'am/ BILLY LEE RILEY: (Come Back Baby) One More Time/ Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll/ I Want You Baby/ Pearly Lee (Undubbed)/ GENE SIMMONS: I Done Told You/ Shake, Rattle And Roll/ RAY SMITH: Break Up/ I Want To Be Free/ Why, Why, Why (Alternate)/ Willing And Ready/ WARREN SMITH: Dear John/ Who Took My Baby?/ HAYDEN THOMPSON: Blues, Blues, Blues (Alternate Take 2)/ Fairlane Rock/ Mama, Mama, Mama/ One Broken Heart/ JESSE LEE TURNER: Put Me Down/ MACK VICKERY: Drive-In/ JIMMY WAGES: Miss Pearl/ SID WATSON: Don't You Worry/ ONIE WHEELER: That's All/ Walkin' Shoes (Alternate)/ JIMMY WILLIAMS: Fire Engine Red/ Sonny Boy/ MALCOLM YELVINGTON: Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee/ Have Myself A Ball/ Rockin' With My Baby

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Eardrum 105 Yesterday Is Gone - 21 Soul Country Rarities ● CD $16.98 $12.98
21 tracks, highly recommended
Like the previous volume the title and inside notes are confusing - it gives the impression we are getting soul singers doing country songs and while this is mostly true there are also songs that are not country oriented. Still there are some great soul performances including sides by Jimmy McCracklin (the great bluesman with the countryish Yesterday Is Gones), Ketty Lester (the gorgeous One Day At A Time which is a gospel song with a country flavor that is from 1984 though sounds like it is from much earlier), Benjamin Joy (very obscure but superb), Bobby Powell, James Phelps (a great hard driving soul rendition of the Ernest Tubb classic Walking The Floor Over You), Tim Chandell (English Caribbean soul singer), Rodge Martin, Arthur Alexander (a superior rendition of the Freddie Hart song She'll Throw Stones At You) and more. A great collection if not exactly what you might expect. Many of these tracks are making their first appearance on CD (FS)

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Frog DGF 71 Frogspawn - The First Batch - Red Jazz Rarities, etc. ● CD $18.98 $13.98
25 tracks, very highly recommended
"Frogspawn "- what a wonderful title - and the music is even better. 25 tracks featuring alternate takes, unissued tracks and impossibly rare gems from the period 1924 through 1933 - most making their first appearance on CD, and the few that have been out before are in superior sound. The first six tracks feature alternate takes from King Oliver & His Orch, Earl Hines & His Orch., Thomas Morris & His Seven Hot Babies and Fletcher Henderson & His Orch. Then it's on to a whole batch of real obscurities including Paul Davis & His Orchestra (a real mystery man with a fine version of Elllington's Black And Tan Fantasy), The Texas Blues Destroyers (a remarkable duo featuring Bubber Miley / cornet and Arthur Ray/ accordion!), The Blue Rhythm Orchestra, Frankie Franko & His Louisianans (the superb Golden Lily Blues

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Great American Music 231 The Fire/ Fury Doo Wop Story ● CD $19.98 $12.98
2 CDs, 40 tracks, 100 mins, highly recommended
This is the companion piece of sorts to the "Fire/ Fury Rhythm & Blues" collection that came out recently, with both collections well worth picking up. This features great early tracks by Gladys Knight & The Pips (Every Beat Of My Heart/ Letter Full Of Tears, and Darling - -credited to just The Pips), plus fantastic songs by The Kodaks (Teenager's Dream/ Oh Gee Oh Gosh/ My Baby and Me, and more), the Channels (Bye Bye Baby/ The Girl Next Door/My Heart Is Sad.), The Starlites, Du Mauriers, Federals, Little Bobby Rivera & The Hemlocks, The Scarlets, Lewis Lymon (Frankie's little brother) & The Teenchords, and many more fine Doo Wop acts. All recordings here were done for the Fire & Fury record labels in the late 1950s to early 1960s. (JM)
THE CHANNELS: Bye Bye Baby/ My Heart Is Sad/ My Love Will Never Die/ The Girl Next Door/ THE DU MAURIERS: All Night Long/ Baby I Love You/ THE FEDERALS: Dear Lorraine/ She's My Girl/ While Our Hearts Are Young/ You're the One I Love/ CARL HOGAN & MIRACLES: Your Love/ CARL HOGAN & THE MIRACLES: I Love You So/ JACKIE & THE STARLITES: I Found Out Too Late/ I'm Coming Home/ GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: Every Beat of My Heart/ Letter Full of Tears/ THE KODAKS: Guardian Angel/ Little Boy and Girl/ My Baby and Me/ Oh Gee Oh Gosh/ Teenager's Dream/ LITTLE BOBBY RIVERA & THE HEMLOCKS: Joys of Love/ LOUIE LYMON & THE TEENCHORDS: Honey Honey/ I'm Not Too Young to Fall in Love/ I'm so Happy/ Lydia/ Please Tell the Angels/ BOBBY MARCHAN: This Is the Life/ THE PIPS: Darling/ Linda/ THE RAINBOWS: Mary Lee/ LITTLE BOBBY RIVERA & THE HEMLOCKS: Coralee/ THE SCARLETS: East of the Sun/ Truly Yours/ SHERMAN & THE DARTS: Remember/ Rockin' at Midnight/ THE STARLITES: Ain't Cha' Ever Coming Home/ Valarie/ Way Up in the Sky/ THE VIBRA-HARPS: Only Love of Mine

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Hi-Lo 1403 Lost R&B Shouters, Vol. 3 ● CD $16.98
24 tracks, strongly recommended
After a while we now have a third volume in this excellent series featuring some of the lesser known exponents of blues shouting recorded between 1949 and 1953. This volume opens in fine form with an excellent cover of Sticks McGHee's Drinking Wine, Spo-De-O-Dee featuring fine vocal from Kenny White and we also hear from artists like Fat Man Humphries (a rocking R&B treatment of the country hit Birmingham Bounce), George Green (the terrific Brand New Rockin' Chair), Billy Langford & His Combo, Rose Brown & Jimmie Harris (the topical Back From Korea), Jack Cooley & His Orch., Chicago Davis with Hal "Corn Bread" Singer & His Orch., Piney Brown & His Orch. (probably the most familiar name here with the tough Kokimo), Little Mr. Blues and others. Excellent sound and booklet with discographical information. (FS)
SONNY BRIDGES COMBO: Birthday Blues/ Got To Go 'Round The Corner/ PINEY BROWN & HIS ORCH.: Kokimo/ ROSE BROWN & JIMMIE HARRIS WITH BUBBLES & HIS: Back From Korea/ JACK COOLEY & ORCH.: 50 Dyna-Flow/ Mr. Two-Gun Pete/ CHICAGO DAVIS WITH HAL (CORN BREAD) SINGER & HIS: I Feel So Good/ Travelin' Shoes/ BILLY FORD & HIS NIGHT RIDERS: Old Age/ GEORGE GREEN WITH JIMMY BINKLEY & HIS JAZZ QUIN: Brand New Rockin' Chair/ GILBERT HOLIDAY & HIS COMBO: Let's Drink/ FAT MAN HUMPHIRES & ORCH. (VCL. TED HUMPHRIES): Birmingham Bounce/ Doby At The Bat/ ANDY KIRK & HIS CLOUDS OF JOY (VCL KENNY WHIT: Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee, Drinking Wine/ BILLY LANGFORD & HIS COMBO: Be-Bop On The Boogie/ LITTLE MR. BLUES: Mule Train Gal/ Walking Alone/ JESSE LOCKETT WITH EARL SIMS' SEXTET: Mellow Hour Blues/ FRANK MARTIN & HIS ORCH. (VCL. PEPPER NEELY): Come Back Baby/ LEE NORMAN & BAND (VCL. FATS THOMAS): Whoo-Ee Blues/ JOHNNY SELLERS: Josie Jones/ RAY SNEAD: Let's Ball/ FLOYD TURNHAM (VCL. CLEDUS HARRISON): Beer Drinking Woman/ SONNY WILSON WITH BILLY MITCHELL COMBO: The Rainy Day Blues

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS History of Soul 13 Witchcraft In The Air: Detroit Soul, 1957-1962 ● CD $19.98
2 CD, 53 tracks, highly recommended
For the last few years, History of Soul has been issuing CD collections of 50's and 60's R&B that have documented various music scenes-ranging from New York to New Orleans. Turning their attentions to Detroit R&B during the time before Berry Gordy and his Motown empire dominated the local scene, this two disc set gives a good overview of this transitional era. To anyone who already owns the three CDs of Tri-Phi/Harvey recordings (Tri-Phi 1001, 1002 & 1003 - $16.98 each) or the 2 CD "A Family Affair: Motor City Roots" (Jasmine 218 - $19.98) this is familiar territory, and indeed there is a bit of overlap of material. However, anyone who is late to the party will be very happy with this compilation that includes tasty tracks from Anna, Tri-Phi, and Harvey-in their own right, large players in the Motown saga-as well as early Motown cuts before the company hit its' stride. And for those of you who already have the earlier collections all is not lost because there's something for you too - scattered rarities from The Ambassadors, Fred Bridges, J.J. Barnes, The Four Holidays, Timmy Shaw, and The Ohio Untouchables to name but a few. So, although this collection seems similar to other Detroit R&B CDs covering the same era, there's enough "new" material to make it worthy for owners of the aforementioned compilations. (GMC)
THE 4 HOLLIDAYS: He Can't Love You/ THE AMBASSADORS: Power Of Love/ LAMONT ANTHONY: Let's Talk It Over/ J.J. BARNES: Won't You Let Me Know/ LABRENDA BEN: The Chaperone/ FRED BRIDGES: Baby Don't You Weep/ EDDIE BURNS: Hard Hearted Woman/ THE CHALLENGERS: Everyday/ THE CONTOURS: Whole Lotta Woman/ THE CORVELLS: He's So Fine/ MELVIN DAVIS: I Won't Be Your Fool/ THE DEL-PHIS: I'll Let You Know/ THE DIABLOS: The Way You Dog Me Around/ THE DISTANTS: Come On/ THE FABULOUS PLAYBOYS: Honkey Tonk Woman/ THE FALCONS: I Found A Love/ Lah-Tee-Lah-Tah/ RUBEN FORT: Nobody/ MARVIN GAYE: Never Let You Go/ FREDDIE GORMAN: Just For You/ DAVE HAMILTON: Cooter Bug/ MIKE HANKS: The Hawk/ HARVEY: Come On And Answer Me/ BRIANT HOLLAND: Shock/ EDDIE HOLLAND: Action Speaks Louder Than Words/ TY HUNTER: Memories/ JOHNNY & JACKEY: Someday We'll Be Together/ MARV JOHNSON: All The Love I've Got/ LETHA JONES: I Need You/ BOB KAYLI: Tie Me Tight/ GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: Whistle My Love/ BETTYE LAVETTE: Witchcraft In The Air/ HATTIE LITTLES: Here You Come/ THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN: Leap Frog/ MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS: I'll Have to Let Him Go/ THE MARTINIQUES: Broken Hearted Me/ JOHNNIE MAE MATTHEWS: The Headshrinker/ NATHANIEL MAYER: Village Of Love/ THE MIRACLES: I'll Try Something New/ THE O'JAYS: Can't Take It/ THE OHIO UNTOUCHABLES: I'm Tired/ DAVID RUFFIN: Action Speaks Louder Than Words/ JIMMY RUFFIN: Don't Feel Sorry For Me/ THE SEMINOLES: I Can't Stand It/ TIMMY SHAW: A Letter From My Baby/ THE SPINNERS: I've Been Hurt/ ALLEN STORY: Why Oh Why/ BARRETT STRONG: Misery/ JOE TEX: I'll Never Break Your Heart/ JUNIOR WALKER ALL STARS: Brain Washer/ GINO WASHINGTON: Gino Is A Coward/ MARY WELLS: I Don't Want To Take A Chance/ KIM WESTON: Love Me All The Way

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Kent CDKEND 452 Modernism ● CD $18.98
24 tracks, highly recommended
The CD's title, "Modernism," is a take-off on "Mod" which was the term for a certain type of British youth during the early and mid 60's. Mods were young people who dressed impeccably, were sophisticated, and listened to only the very best Black American R&B. The Mod aesthetic has been continually revived during the past couple of decades, and the search for great dance music is eternal. This collection features 24 cuts "that would have filled dancefloors at any time in mod's history." As usual with these types of compilations, the list of artists range from the known (Chuck Jackson, The Shirelles) to the semi-known (Lou Johnson, Bob & Earl) to the unsung (Pat Powdrill, Chet "Poison" Ivey), which makes for an interesting listening experience. Spanning the years 1958 (because every dance needed a good jazz number to close out the night-in this case, Listen to Me (Baby) by Ralph Ventsha & Rod Julian Quartet) to 1969, songs are all either uptempo barn-burners, with Jackson's Beg Me, Powdrill's Do It, and Teddy Reynolds' Ain't That Soul leading the way, or smooth groovers, highlighted by Lou Johnson's Magic Potion. In sum, a good follow up to Kent's earlier "Modernists" (Kent 431 - $18.98) compilation. (GMC)
THE AMBERTONES: Clap Your Hands/ EDDIE BO: Tee Na Na Na Na Nay/ BOB & EARL: Dancin' Everywhere/ DARROW FLETCHER: I've Gotta Know Why/ TOMMY G & THE CHARMS: I Know What I Want/ LITTLE JOHNNY HAMILTON & THE CREATORS: Go/ LEROY HARRIS: I'm Gonna Get You/ CHET "POISON" IVEY & HIS FABULOUS AVENGERS: Soul Is My Game/ CHUCK JACKSON: Beg Me/ JOE JOHNSON: We Gonna Rub Part 1/ LOU JOHNSON: Magic Potion/ WALLACE JOHNSON: Private Eye/ SAMMY JONES: Cinderella Jones/ KING CARL: Everybody's Feelin Good/ JACKIE LEE: The Duck Part 2/ M&M & THE PEANUTS: The Phillie/ JOE MAYFIELD: I'm On The Move/ JOAN MOODY: The Life Of The Party/ PAT POWDRILL: Do It/ TEDDY REYNOLDS: Ain't That Soul/ THE SHIRELLES: Crossroads In Your Heart/ KENNY SMITH & THE LOVELITERS: Night Beat/ THE TURNAROUNDS: When One Of Them Won't/ RALPH VENTSHA & RED JULAIN QUARTET: Listen To Me (Baby)

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Kent CDKEND 453 The Arock-Serock-Sylvia Soul Story Continued ● CD $18.98
25 tracks, recommended
This is the long time coming follow up to "The Arock/Sylvia Soul Story" (Kent 212 - $18.98) which contains more tracks from noted saxophonist Al Sears' family of labels. All three labels lived their short lives during the early to mid Sixties, and all issued obscure and/or semi-obscure R&B. The biggest act were The Diplomats (who have one contribution here, I Really Love You) and noted producer Van McCoy appears under his own name and as The D.C. Playboys (It Ain't No Big Thing and You Were All I Needed, respectively). Sprinkled among the single releases are demos recorded for Sylvia Music, Sears's publishing company, such as Don Covay's Did You Hear, as well as demo versions of singles like Garrett Saunders' I Keep Comin' Back For More and Marie Knight's Nothing in the World. Also included is the follow up to the company's biggest hit record - Theola Kilgore's The Love of My Man from 1963 - an alternate version of Kilgore's This is My Prayer. Although, like the first compilation, there's nothing earth-shaking here, there is some solid early 60's R&B for die hard fans. (GMC)
GENE BURKS: Take My Hand/ VIVIAN COLLINS: Hey Officer/ THE CORVAIRS: Love Is Such A Good Thing/ DON COVAY: Did You Hear/ THE DC PLAYBOYS: You Were All I Needed/ THE DIPLOMATS: I Really Love You/ GARY & GARY: I'm Leavin' (For Parts Unknown)/ TUTTI HILL: When The Goin' Gets Rough/ CHET "POISON" IVEY & HIS FABULOUS AVENGERS: Something Else/ THEOLA KILGORE: This Is My Prayer/ EDDIE KING: Kindness, Love & Understanding/ MARIE KNIGHT & JUNIOR LEWIS: Nothing In This World/ THE LARKS: Another Sleepless Night/ JUNIOR LEWIS: It Won't Work Out/ Where You Are/ STERLING MAGEE: Get In My Arms Little Girlie/ VAN MCCOY: It Ain't No Big Thing/ ANSLER MONTELL: Chained Am I/ JOAN MOODY: I Can't Stay Away/ Music To My Ears/ GARRETT SAUNDERS: Easier Said Than Done/ I Keep Comin' Back For More/ FREDDIE SOLOMON: I Don't Care/ SINNER STRONG: Nobody But Me/ BILLY WASHINGTON: I Wanna Come In

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Rhythm & Blues 026 Rumba Blues From The 1940s ● CD $37.98
Four CDs, 107 tracks, highly recommended
Some years back this label issued a series of CDs devoted to the impact of Latin music on blues, jazz and vocal group music from the the 1940s and early 60s. This four CD set is an expanded selection based on the 1940s recordings from those sets with many additional titles and with a primary focus on the blues. The selection is broad and, at times, surprising - what does Latin music have to do with Muddy Waters' I Can't Be Satisfied - well the rumba appears in bass player Big Crawford's playing. There are many other delightful surprises like that too with the informative notes by Nick Duckett putting them all into context. Among the wide variety of artists here are Erskine Hawkins & His Orch., T-Bone Walker, Skeets Tolbert, Russell Jacquet, Jimmy Yancey, The Delta Rhythm Boys, Helen Humes, Slim Gaillard, Big Jay McNeely, Professor Longhair, Clarence Garlow, The our Vagabonds, The Nat King Cole Trio, Sonny Thompson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Louis Jordan, Dave Bartholomew, Roy Brown, The Pilgrim Travelers, Cecil Gant and many others. Sound quality is superb and, as mentioned above, the notes help explain it all. (FS)
JOHNNY ALSTON: Ecstasy/ BLUE LU BARKER: Round And Round The Valley/ DAVE BARTHOLOMEW: Ah Cubanas/ Bum Mae/ Carnival Day/ Messy Bessy/ EARL BOSTIC: Earl's Rhumboogie/ TINY BRADSHAW: One, Two, Three Kick Blues/ BROTHER BONES: Sweet Georgia Brown/ ROY BROWN: Whose Hat Is That/ TEXAS JOHNNY BROWN: Bongo Boogie/ The Blues Rock/ CAB CALLOWAY: Rhapsody In Rhumba/ GOREE CARTER: Drunk Or Sober/ THE CHARIOTEERS: Jesus Is A Rock In A Weary Land/ KING COLE TRIO: Bang Bang Boogie/ Calypso Blues/ Go Bongo/ Rex Rhumba/ Rhumba Blues/ PEE WEE CRAYTON: Blues After Hours/ THE CREOLE SERENADERS: Mo Pas Lemme Ca/ THE DELTA RHYTHM BOYS: Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho/ JEANNE DEMETZ WITH JOHNNY ALSTON: Calypso Daddy/ CHAMPION JACK DUPREE: Mexican Reminescences/ ROY ELDRIDGE: Minor Jive/ DUKE ELLINGTON: Conga Brava/ THE FOUR VAGABONDS: Choo Choo/ T.J. FOWLER: Mango Blues/ LOWELL FULSOM: Back Home Blues/ Blue Shadows/ SLIM GAILLARD: Laguna Oroonee/ Bongo Cito/ Cuban Rhumbarini/ Puerto Vootie/ CECIL GANT: In A Little Spanish Town/ Rhumba Boogie Woogie/ CLARENCE GARLOW: Bon Ton Roula/ PAUL GAYTEN: Hey Little Girl/ Oooh La La/ You Shouldn't/ DIZZY GILLESPIE: Manteca/ THE GOLDEN GATE JUBILEE QUARTET: Packing Up Getting Ready To Go/ THE GOLDEN GATE QUARTET: Shadrack/ ERSKINE HAWKINS: Hey Pretty Baby/ Opportunity/ Satan Does The Rhumba/ BILL HAYES: Highway 75/ EDGAR HAYES: Fat Meat 'n' Greens/ Sunday Mornin' Blues/ LYNN HOPE: Tenderly/ HELEN HUMES: He Don't Love Me Any More/ RUSSELL JACQUET: Bongo Blues/ Tropical Fever/ BUDDY JOHNSON: Shake 'em Up./ BUNK JOHNSON: Porto Rico/ LOUIS JORDAN: Bahama Joe/ De Laff's On You/ Early In The Morning/ Push-Ka-Pee She Pie/ Run Joe/ THE JUBALAIRES: I Declare This World/ St Louis Blues/ PEE WEE KING: Bull Fiddle Boogie/ SMILEY LEWIS: Growing Old/ JOE LIGGINS: Fascination/ Hey Mama!/ Tanya/ PROFESSOR LONGHAIR: Hey Now Baby/ JOE LUTCHER: Mardi Gras/ Pasadena Rhumboogie/ Take A Ride/ Jumpin' At The Mardi Gras/ MACHITO & HIS AFRO-CUBANS: La Rumbantela/ BIG JAY MCNEELY: Blow Big Jay/ Tondelayo/ FREDDIE MITCHELL: Freddie's Calypso/ Frenesi/ LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY: El Ritmo/ JOE MORRIS: Tia Juana/ HOT LIPS PAGE: Harlem Rhumbain' The Blues/ KING PERRY: Sarah, Sarah!/ Wait Now/ THE PILGRIM TRAVELERS: Jesus Met The Woman At The Well/ PEREZ PRADO: Mambo No. 5/ PROFESSOR LONGHAIR: Hey Little Girl/ Longhair's Blues - Rhumba/ Mardi Gras In New Orleans/ FREDDIE SLACK WITH WILL BRADLEY TRIO: Rhumboogie/ JOHNNY SPARROW & HIS BOWS & ARROWS: Saratoga Rock/ JOE SWIFT WITH JOHNNY OTIS ORCHESTRA: That's Your Last Boogie/ FRANTIC FAY THOMAS: Waga Waga/ SONNY THOMPSON: Back Yard Affair/ Long Gone/ SKEETS TOLBERT: Holy Holy Roly - Poly/ The Rhumba Blues/ T-BONE WALKER: I Wish You Were Mine/ Mean Old World Blues/ T - Bone Blues/ The Plain Old Down Home Blues/ ELLIS WALSH: New Orleans Is My Home/ MUDDY WATERS: I Can't Be Satisfied/ DEE WILLIAMS SEXTETTE: Bongo Blues/ JIMMY WITHERSPOON: Who's Been Jivin' You A87/ JIMMY YANCEY: Death Letter Blues

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Rhythm & Blues 036 Mississippi Juke Joint Blues - 9th September, 1941 ● CD $37.98
Four CDs, 102 tracks, highly recommended
This is not only a great collection of music it's a significant historical document. On 9th of September, 1941 African-America researcher Lewis Jones arrived in the Mississippi Delta town of Clarksdale and visited five of the juke joints in the town and listed the records on the jukeboxes in the joints. These results were fowarded to Alan Lomax at the Library of Congress and were eventually published in Jazz and Blues magazine by Tony Russell in 1971 and now, for the first time, we can hear all those recordings. While one shouldn't read too much into one set of data points the information gleaned is fascinating since it reflected the popularity of certain strands of music among the African-American market as a whole but with a stronger emphasis on blues and boogie than was to be found in the first national charts published the following year in Billboard. The list is dominated by African-American jazz and swing bands and vocalists including Earl Hines, Erskine Butterfield, Jimmy Lunceford, Andy Kirk & His Clouds of Joy, Fats Waller, Count Basie and his Orchestra and others - often featuring blues singers or blues oriented tunes. Country blues is represented by only a handful of cuts from Blind Boy Fuller, Tommy McClennan and Arthur Crudup but there are quite a few titles of down home blues from Chicago blues artists like Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Memphis Slim, Jazz Gillum and others including three from Clarksdale native Lil Green. The highly popular Louis Jordan is strongly represented and, interestingly, Walter Davis's Come Back Baby is the only song that appeared on all five juke boxes. There are also a handful of white bands and vocalists featured including Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Bing Crosby and Connie Boswell and others. Altogether there are 126 songs represented but only 102 here - the remaining 24 tracks are on a bonus disc that you have to write away for - still this has at least one side of every 78 on the list. A delightful and truly fascinating collection. (FS)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG: 2.19 Blues/ L'll Get Mine Bye And Bye/ Perdido Street Blues/ COUNT & HIS ORCH. BASIE: Dupree Blues/ COUNT BASIE & HIS ORCH.: Basie Boogie/ Down, Down, Down/ Red Wagon/ You Betcha My Life/ BIG BILL BROONZY: Getting Older Every Day/ Rockin' Chair Blues/ Shine On Shine On/ When I Been Drinking/ ERSKINE BUTTERFIELD: You Might Have Belonged/ CAB CALLOWAY: We Go Well Together/ LARRY CLINTON: Do You Call That A Buddy/ Taboo/ BING CROSBY & CONNIE BOSWELL: Yes Indeed!/ WALTER DAVIS: Come Back Baby/ No Place To Go/ BILLY ECKSTINE WITH EARL HINES ORCH.: Jelly Jelly/ Julia/ ELLA FITZGERALD: Keep Cool Fool/ THE FOUR CLEFS: Dig These Blues/ FOUR OF THE BOB CATS: Call Me A Taxi/ I Hear You Talking/ BLIND BOY FULLER: Good Feelin' Blues/ Passenger Train Woman/ BILL "JAZZ" GILLUM: Key To The Highway/ She Belongs To Me/ LIL GREEN: Love Me/ My Mellow Man/ Romance In The Dark/ What Have I Done/ Why Don't You Do Right/ ERSKINE HAWKINS: Riff Time/ Tonight You Belong To Me/ FLETCHER HENDERSON: I Like My Sugar Sweet/ Let's Go Home/ WOODY HERMAN: Blue Flame/ EARL HINES: Comin' In Home/ JOHNNY HODGES: Good Queen Bess/ That's The Blues Old Man/ BILLIE HOLIDAY: God Bless The Child/ Solitude/ THE INK SPOTS: Until The Real Thing Comes Along/ BUDDY JOHNSON: I'd Be Ever So Grateful/ In There/ Please Mr Johnson/ Swing Along With Me/ Boogie Woogies Mother-In-Law/ New Please Mr. Johnson/ BUDDY JONES: Red Wagon/ LOUIS JORDAN: Brotherly Love [Wrong Ideas]/ Do You Call That A Buddy/ Pan Pan/ Pinetop's Boogie Woogie/ Pompton Turnpike/ Saxa-Woogie/ T-Bone Blues/ SAMMY KAYE: Daddy/ ANDY KIRK & HIS CLOUDS OF JOY: Fifteen Minute Intermission/ Fine And Mellow/ JIMMIE LUNCEFORD: Battle Axe/ Chocolate/ Whatcha Know Joe/ JIMMY LUNCEFORD: Twenty-Four Robbers/ TOMMY MCCLENNAN: Bottle It Up And Go/ Whiskey Head/ JAY MCSHANN: Swingmatism/ Vine Street Boogie/ MEMPHIS SLIM: Beer Drinking Woman/ Grinder Man Blues/ GLENN MILLER: Boulder Buff/ The Booglie Wooglie Piggy/ SAMMY PRICE: I Know How To Do It/ Just Jiving Around/ Things About Coming My Way/ JIMMY RUSHING WITH COUNT BASIE ORCH.: Goin' To Chicago Blues/ Undecided Blues/ ARTIE SHAW: Blues Part 1/ Blues Part 2/ Cross Your Heart/ My Blue Heaven/ Summit Ridge Drive/ OLLIE SHEPARD: Cool Kind Papa/ Throw This Dog A Bone/ ROOSEVELT SYKES: Knock Me Out/ She's In My Blood/ ART TATUM: Battery Bounce/ SISTER ROSETTA THARPE: Stand By Me/ There Is Something Within Me/ BIG JOE TURNER W ART TATUM: Wee Baby Blues/ FATS WALLER: All That Meat & No Potatoes/ Buckin' The Dice/ WASHBOARD SAM: Just Got To Hold You/ Yes I Got Your Woman/ PEETIE WHEATSTRAW: Gangster's Blues/ Look Out For Yourself/ GEORGIA WHITE: Come Around To My House/ Mama Knows What Papa Wants/ SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON: I Been Dealing With The Devil/ War Time Blues

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Sequel 939 Herb Abramson's Festival Of Groups ● CD $14.98 $10.98
25 tracks, highly recommended
Terrific collection of black doo-wop recorded by Atlantic co-founder for his Festival label in the late 1950s and early 60s - most of it originally unissued. It includes sides by three legendary groups who had reformed with most of the original members - The Ravens (with JImmy Ricks' great bass vocals), Sonny Til & The Orioles and The Clovers (with Buddy Bailey). The other groups are lesser known but all excellent including The Universals, The Cashmeres, The Symbols and others. The originally unissued titles originally appeared on a couple of Red Lightnin' LPs in the 1980s but this is their first appearance on CD. Excellent sound quality and informative notes by doo-wop expert Gordon Skadberg. (FS)
THE CASHMERES WITH EDDIE JONES: Daddy Can I Go To The Hop?/ THE CHANTECLAIRES: (down At) Ling Ting Laundry/ Snatchin' Peaches/ THE CLOVERS: He Sure Could Hypnotise/ Poor Baby/ THE DOVERS: The Invasion/ THE ESSENTIALS: Sha-he-be/ THE MAGNETICS: Sardines/ TONY MIDDLETON WITH JACK HAMMER: Earth Cousins/ JIMMY RICKS: You've Got Just What I Need/ Cecili/ Daddy Rollin' Stone/ Deep Rive/ Homesic/ Oh! What A Feelin/ Ol'man River/ Umgowa Twis/ THE SYMBOLS: Do The Zombie/ SONNY TIL & THE ORIOLES: Night & Day/ Sincerely/ So Long/ Some Of This Some Of That/ THE UNIVERSALS: Dreaming/ Kisses In My Dreams/ Love Bound

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Westside 601 We're A Lover - Brunswick/ Dakar's Brothers Of Soul ● CD $13.98 $9.98
Fine 24 track collection of Chicago soul recorded for the Brunswick and Dakar labels between 1966 and 1976. It includes familiar names like Jackie Wilson, Gene Chandler, Tyrone Davis & Chi-Lites along with lesser known but excellent artists like Mighty Doug Haynes, Wales Wallace, Chuck Carter, Chuck Bernards, Marvin Smith, Eddie McLoyd, Ben Monroe and others.
THE ARTISTICS: It's Those Little Things That Count/ CHUCK BERNARD: Contract On Your Love/ CICERO BLAKE: A Woman Needs To Be Loved/ CHUCK CARTER: I'm A Love/ GENE CHANDLER: My Baby's Gone/ CHANNEL 3: The Sweetest Thing/ THE CHI-LITES: Love Is Gone/ TYRONE DAVIS: How Could I Forget You?/ TONY DRAKE: Suddenly/ MIGHTY DOUG HAYNES: Can I Change My Mind/ DONALD HEIGHT: I Choose You/ FRED HUGHES: Baby Boy/ WALTER JACKSON: I Never Had It So Good (And Felt So Bad)/ EDDIE MCLOYD: Once You Fall In Love/ MISTER T.: Saving My Love For You/ BEN MONROE: Since You Came Into My Life/ RICHARD PARKER: Wrapped Up In Your Warm And Tender Love/ THE PERSUADERS FEAT. DOUGLAS SCOTT: Another Time, Another Place/ SIDNEY JOE QUALLS: Where The Lillies Grow/ BOBBY REED: You Are/ MARVIN SMITH: Hold On/ THE VISITORS: Until You Came Along/ WALES WALLACE: We're Not Happy/ JACKIE WILSON: I Still Love You

 
DINAH WASHINGTON Giant Steps 24 The Birdland Broadcasts, 1951-1952 ● CD $16.98 $11.98
26 tracks, highly recommended
Splendid set of live radio broadcasts by this great jazz, R&B and pop singer drawn from five different shows at New York's legendary Birdland club in 1951 and '52. She is accompanied by various small jazz combos usually featuring Wynton Kelly/ piano, Percy Heath/ bass and Art Blakey/ drums. She performs a varied selection of material including many of her big R&B chart hits of the time My Heart Cries For You/ I'll Never Be Free/ Harbor Lights/ I Wanna Be Loved/ Tell Me Why/ her unique interpretation of Hank Williams' Cold Cold Heart and others. It also includes some of her fine B-sides and non hits including I Cross My Fingers/ It's Too Soon To Know/ It's Magic and more including a terrific rendition of Percy Mayfield's Please Send Me Someone To Love. Sound quality is superb and there are detailed notes by Roy Carr. (FS)

 
THE YORK BROTHERS Ace CDCHD 1103 Long Time Gone ● CD $18.98 $13.98
More gems drawn from the original King & Deluxe acetates. This one features tracks from fine and influential Detroit based hillbilly duo The York Brothers and includes 10 previously unissued tracks.
THE YORK BROTHERS: Gravy Train/ I Don't Want No Part Of You/ I Wish I Had Of Known/ I'm Coming Back Home To Stay/ If I Knew I'd Never Lose You/ It Ain't No Good/ Kill Her With Kindness/ Let's Don't Sleep Again/ Let's Talk Our Troubles Over/ Life Can Never Be The Same/ Long Gone/ Long Time Gone/ Motor City Boogie/ Motor City Boogie/ Mountain Rosa Lee/ New Mississippi River Blues/ Nothing But The Blues/ Riding And Singing My Song/ Road Of Sadness/ They Laid My Darling Away/ Traveling Man/ Traveling Man/ You Won My Heart With A Song/ You're The One

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