|
RHYTHM
& BLUES, SOUL & DOO-WOP
The
Coasters -> King Curtis
| THE COASTERS |
Warner Bros. 27604 |
The Ultimate Coasters |
● CD $12.98 |
|
|
| THE CONCORDS |
Crystal Ball 1011 |
The Best Of the Concords - Again! |
● CD $17.98 |
The Brooklyn Concords are one of the better aggregations
from the white revival era of the early 60's, that is to say the guys
rarely sing flat. Too bad the bulk of their material is of little lasting
significance. The original quartet consisted of Dickie Goldman, lead; Mike
Lewis, first tenor; Murray Moshe, 2nd tenor; Chas Presti, baritone; and
Steven Seider, bass. The group cut three outstanding sides, Our Last
Goodbye (Gramercy, 1961), It's Our Wedding Day
Down The Aisle Of Love (Boom, 1966), all included in this set along
with 27 other tracks on CD for the first time including back up work for
Sue Kenny, Joel Grayson and others. (OLN/FS)
THE CONCORDS: A Fool In Love/ Again/ Away/ Cold and Frosty Morning/ Cross
My Heart/ Don't Go Now/ Down The Aisle of Love/ Ev'ryone Was There But
You/ First Date/ He's So Good/ I Feel Love Comin' On/ It's Our Wedding
Day/ Little Girl/ Look/ Marlene/ Mr Moon/ My Dreams/ My True Story/ No
More/ One Step From Heaven/ Our Last Goodbye/ Our Love Wasn't Meant To Be/
Run To Me/ Scarlet Ribbons/ Should I Cry/ The Boy Most Likely/ Tonight/
True Confession/ Why Do I Cry/ You Are My Sunshine
|
| LITTLE JOE COOK |
Eagle 90410 |
The Ultimate Little Joe Cook Collection |
● CD $18.98 |
32 tracks, 78 min., recommended
A maximum length overview of
the performing career of the man who found his greatest fame with his
falsetto lead on the 1957 hit Peanuts by Little Joe and the
Thrillers. Joe Cook actually began his recording career in 1949, recording
with the gospel group, the Evening Star Quartet, two of whose recordings -
Say a Prayer for the Boys in Korea and Make It In - are
including here. His many subsequent vocal group and solo sides make up the
rest of the varied program here, including Peanuts, Please Don't
Go, The Echoes Keep Calling Me, Let's Do the Slop, This
I Know, These Lonely Tears, Meet Me Down at Soulville,
and Doodle Pickle. Most tracks fall between 1956 and 1961, and run
the gamut between doo-wop and soul. Sound quality, cover graphics, and the
strangely-spelled liner notes are all up to snuff. (DH)
|
| LITTLE
JOE COOK & THRILLERS/ SCHOOLBOYS |
Collectables 5076 |
Little Joe & The Thrillers Meet The
Schoolboys |
● CD $11.98 |
Little Joe Cook is from Philly and a strong church
background. In 1949 and '51, Joe sang lead with The Evening Star Quartet
(see Gotham Gospel - Amazing Grace, Krazy Kat 836) on Gotham/ Apex.
He then carried over his high falsetto tenor from gospel to pop music, and
with a new group The Thrillers signed with Columbia/ Okeh. Their second
release, and worst effort Peanuts became a monster smash around
Xmas 1956. Gems like This I Know/ Please Don't Go went nowhere (all
three are included). The Schoolboys were Okeh Records' answer to The
Teenagers. This Harlem-based teentette started out as The Scobians, until
Tommy "Dr. Jive" Smalls gave the group their new improved name.
The group's best remembered sides are Shirley/ Please Say You Want Me
(1956), both included here alongside odes for gals named Mary, Pearl, and
Carol. 6 songs each. (OLN)
|
| SAM COOKE |
RCA 5181 |
Feel It! Sam Cooke Live At The Harlem Square
Club |
● CD $15.98 |
9 tracks, recommended. Sam as you've never heard him! RCA
recorded Cooke live in a North Miami nightclub on Jan. 11, 1963 and
preserved a set that was too gritty for them to release - excellent band
featuring Cooke's long-time accompanists Cliff White (gtr) & June
Carter (d) joined by King Curtis - 10 nice, raw songs including Bring
It On Home To Me/ Twistin' The Night Away/ Somebody Have Mercy etc.
|
| SAM COOKE |
Specialty SPCD 2119 |
The Two Sides Of Sam Cooke |
● CD $12.98 |
|
|
| COOKIE & THE
CUPCAKES |
Jin 9037 |
By Request |
● CD $14.98 |
20 tracks, 53 min., essential
Louisiana swamp-pop at its
finest, Cookie (Huey Thierry) and the Cupcakes recorded their big hit Mathilda
(included
here) for George Khoury's Lyric label (later distributed on Judd and
Chess) in 1959 and spent much of the next decade cutting stunning
swamp-pop originals like
Belinda/ I Cried/ Trouble In My Life/ I've Been
So Lonely,
and equally wonderful R&B covers, including Chuck Willis'
Betty And Dupree/ Charged With Cheating and Ivory Joe Hunter's I Almost
Lost My Mind. Cookie shares vocal duties with Shelton Dunnaway on (Just
One Kiss/ Honey Hush) and Lil' Alfred (Walking Down The Isle/ Even
Though). Get it if you don't got it. (JC)
|
| LES COOPER |
Collectables 5157 |
Wiggle Wobble |
● CD $11.98 |
12 R&B sax tracks.
|
| THE COUNTS |
Note 1001 |
The Counts |
● CD $17.98 |
22 tracks, 61 min., highly recommended
The digital reissue
of the complete output of this relatively obscure Indianapolis vocal
group, offering a solid mix of jump and ballads, with impressive sound
quality, minimal but enthusiastic liner notes, and one unnecessarily
distorted vintage photograph. The Counts recording career began in 1954
and ended in 1956, during which time their output included Darling Dear,
perhaps their best known number, plus Hot Tamales, She Won't Say
Yes, Baby I Want You, an r&b cover of Joan Webber's pop hit
Let Me Go Lover, Love and Understanding, Sally Walker,
Heartbreaker, Each Night, and Sweet Names. All in
all, a group whose performances reveal a decided blues edge. Well worth
the price of admission. (DH)
|
| DON COVAY |
Official 5565 |
Ooh! My Soul |
● CD $17.98 |
A collection of 26 sides from the 50s and early 60s recorded
by Covay before he achieved fame as a soul songwriter. It includes rockin'
R&B and vocal group stylings - some of the former very much in the
vein of Little Richard who Covay was an opening act for. There is doo wop
material with his first group The Rainbows and some Drifters style
material. Includes Ooh! My Soul/ Believe It or Not/ Rockin' The Mule/
One Little Boy Had Money/ Come On Back/ Pony Time/ Hand Jive Workout/ It's
terrific and others including the original recordings of his classic mercy,
Mercy
|
| ROBERT COVINGTON |
Evidence 26074 |
Blues In The Night |
● CD $12.98 |
9 tracks, 42 minutes, good Reissue of Red Beans 012 from
'88. Covington, the "Dapper Drummer" from the Sunnyland Slim
Band, is heard on these 9 fine pieces of uptown soul & blues, backed
up by Chicagoans carl Weathersby (g), Sumito Ariohshi (p) & Lonnie
Brooks's bassist Harlan Terson. As an added bonus, there's Robert's '83
single for B.L.U.E.S., I Want Ta Thank Ya. Includes a bunch of
Robert's originals as well as fine covers of Mack Rice's Playing On Me,
Willie & Muddy's I Just Want To Make Love To You, James
Gordon's Mean Mistreater, & a beautiful version of the title
standard. (GM)
|
| JAMES
"SUGAR BOY" CRAWFORD |
Bayou 1001 |
30 New Orleans Classics |
● CD $18.98 |
30 tracks of classic New Orleans R&B from the 50s by
this fine performer including his first four sides from 1952 with the
vocal group The Shaweez. Includes Jock-O-Mo/ No More Heartaches/ I
Don't Need You/ Ooh Wee Sugar/ Stop/ What's Wrong/ There Goes My Baby/
Trouble Mind/ You Made Me Love You, etc.
|
| THE CRESTS |
Collectables 5009 |
Golden Classics |
● CD $11.98 |
18 tracks from the late 50s/ early 60s
by this group with the soaring lead vocals of Johnny Maestro. Includes
their hits 16 Candles/ Six Nights A Week/ Flower Of Love/ The Angels
Listened In, etc plus less successful titles.
THE CRESTS: 16 Candles/ A Year Ago Tonight/ Beside You/ Flower of Love/
Gee But I'd Give The World/ I Thank The Moon/ Isn't It Amazing/ It Must Be
Love/ Journey of Love/ Mister Happiness/ Model Girl/ Pretty Little Angel/
Six Nights A Week/ Step By Step/ The Angels Listened In/ Trouble In
Paradise/ What A Surprise/ Young Love
|
| THE CRESTS |
Rhino 70948 |
The Best Of The Crests, Featuring Johnny
Maestro |
● CD $15.98 |
All their hits, including 16 Candles/Step By Step/Trouble
In Paradise/The Angels Listened In, with 11 of the 18 selections newly
remastered in stereo! From Coed Records, 1958-1962.
|
| THE CRICKETS |
Relic 7022 |
Dreams And Wishes |
● CD $13.98 |
The compact disc issue of the Jay Dee and MGM tracks by one
of the smoothest and best vocal groups of the early fifties. Led by the
distinctive tenor of lead singer Dean Barlow, at their best The Crickets
rank with The Flamingos and The Harptones as masters of the romantic
ballad. Specific titles include the beautiful Be Faithful/ You're Mine/
Changing Partners/ Are You Looking for a Sweetheart and I'm Going
to Live My Life Alone. Excellent sound quality and fine notes, but I
still think that Relic needs to hire a new art department to design its
covers. Oh Well. Buy it for the music. (DH)
THE CRICKETS: Are You Looking For A Sweetheart/ Be Faithful/ Changing
Partners/ Dreams And Wishes/ Fine As Wine/ For You/ I Have Eyes/ I'll Cry
No More/ I'm Going To Live My/ I'm Not The One You Love/ Just You/ Live
Alone/ Man From The Moon/ Milk And Gin/ My Little Baby's Shoes/ Never Give
Up Hope/ When I Met You/ You're Mine/ Your Love
|
| THE CROWS/ THE
HARPTONES |
Collectables 7004 |
Echoes Of A Rock Era |
● CD $16.98 |
Repress of Roulette double album circa 1972, featuring
material recently regurgitated on out of print Murray Hill collections
(#1071 & 1098). Harlem's alleyway harmonizers The Crows quartet are
made up of Daniel "Sonny" Norton, William Davis, Harold Major,
and Gerald Hamilton. The group recorded over a dozen sides during a
two-year period, principally on George Goldner's Rama label. Their most
remembered swan songs were Gee/ Baby. Although their style was not
particularly unique, the excitement generated during live concerts could
not be matched. Harlem's Haarptones, on the other hand, had a distinctly
'soft' harmonic sound made renowned by one Willie Winfield. Here the
quintet sing all their heaviest requests: Sunday Kind Of Love/ My
Memories Of You/ That's The Way It Goes/ The Shrine Of St. Cecilia
etc., all arranged by the great Raoul Cita. The Bruce/ Rama group
consisted of Winfield, Nicky Clark, Jimmy Beckum, Bill Galloway, Churtis
Cherebin, and Bill Brown. Classic uptown doo-wop - 12 cuts by each. (OLN)
THE CROWS: Baby/ Call the Doctor/ Gee/ Heartbreaker/ I Love You So/ I
Really Really Love You/ Mambo Chevitz/ Miss You/ Perfidia/ Seven Lonely
Days/ Sweet Sue/ Untrue/ THE HARPTONES: A Sunday Kind of Love/ Cry Like I
Cried/ My Memories of You/ On Sunday Afternoon/ Oo Wee Baby/ So Good, So
Fine, You're Mine/ That's the Way It Goes/ The Masquerade Is Over/ The
Shrine of St Cecilia/ Three Wishes/ Until the Real Thing Comes Along/ What
Did I Do Wrong
|
| THE CROWS/ THE WRENS |
Westside 604 |
Strictly For The Birds |
● CD $13.98 |
30 tracks featuring all the recordings these two fine New
York groups cut for Rama and Gee between 1953 and '56 including five
previously unissued alternate takes.
|
| KING CURTIS |
Ace CDCHD 545 |
Trouble In Mind/ It's Party Time |
● CD $18.98 |
21 tracks, 65 min., recommended
The straightforward reissue
of two lps from the early 60's: TRU-15001 and TRU-15008, on the first of
which, Mr. "King" Curtis Ousley, the stellar session sax man,
does a credible job of singing. Among the vocal gems are the self-penned I
Have to Worry, the classic Trouble in Mind, and Chuck Willis's Don't
Deceive Me. And among the more expected instrumental standouts are Free
For All, Hot Saxes, The Party Time Twist, (Let's Do)
The Hully Gully Twist, Slow Motion, and Something Frantic.
Tempos vary, a virtue in my book, moods range from downhome blues to
mellow jazz and even a slight touch of country, and the musicianship, of
course, is nothing short of splendid. (DH)
|
| KING CURTIS |
Ace CDCHD 614 |
Old Gold/ Doing The Dixie Twist |
● CD $18.98 |
Two Tru-Sound LPs on one CD.
|
| KING CURTIS |
Bear Family BCD 15670 |
Blow Man, Blow! |
● CD $75.98 |
Before the session sax master "King" Curtis (Ousley)
moved to Atlantic Records in 1965, he spent three frustrating years at
Capitol. He frequently found fault with the corporate execs there, who
started him in '62 with a session's worth of country tunes, hoping of
cashing in on Ray Charles' Modern Sounds LP. On Wagon Wheels
and a couple of others, Curtis even sings a little like Ray. Aside from Soul
Serenade, which stalled at #51 on the 1964 charts, Capitol wasn't
happy with the return they were getting on their investment. From this odd
union, however, came some fine recordings. The many styles represented on
this 77-cut (many previously unissued), 3-disc set are a testament to
Curtis' versatility, as he moved easily from pop to jazz to soul to
R&B to country. And while some songs are filler (Do The Monkey
comes to mind), even they have moments of redemption courtesy of Curtis,
who lifted weak material up to his level. The 12" x 12" booklet
contains discography, notes from Peter Grendysa, and a wealth of photos
including 4 wonderful publicity stills. (JC)
|
| KING CURTIS |
Capitol 36504 |
The Best Of King Curtis |
● CD $15.98 |
16 Capitol sides with accompaniments by Billy Butler, George
Stubbs, Ernie Hayes, and others - Night Train/ Soul Twist/ Soul
Serenade/ Slow Drag/ Strollin' Home/ Tanya/ Hung Over/ More Soul/ A Change
Is Gonna Come,D>< etc.
|
| KING CURTIS |
Collectables 5119 |
Soul Twist And Other Golden Classics |
● CD $11.98 |
Fabulous New York R&B collection with fellow tenor
honkers Willis "Gatortail" Jackson and Noble Watts. 15 cuts,
mostly instrumental.
|
| KING CURTIS |
Collectables 5156 |
Enjoy Records...The Best Of - Golden
Classics |
● CD $11.98 |
King Curtis fans have certainly been well served lately on
the reissue front. This disc collects 10 Enjoy label sides, including his
big hit Soul Twist, already reissued on the plainly superior
Collectables #5119 - Soul Twist And Other Golden Classics (LP and CD).
Some of these "classics" sure ain't no 14 karat gold, but I bet
you'll gyrate to Groovin' With The King/ Sach O'Woe/ the
instrumental version of What'd I Say and the sax-less closer Hot
Potatoes. Midnight Blue is a mellow nocturnal number with
oh-so-good solos by Curtis and his guitarist (most likely Mickey Baker,
who steals the spotlight more than once on this disc). Forget about the
rest of these sides, especially the two vocal numbers, but get the
aforementioned volume or the Edsel release reviewed in this issue at
least. (MB)
|
| KING CURTIS |
Collectables 5687 |
The Best Of King Curtis |
● CD $13.98 |
18 Capitol tracks - Tanya/ Bill Bailey/ Soul Twist/ Night
Train/ Soul Serenade/ One Mint Julep/ Hide Away/ The Prance/ Summer Dream,
etc.
|
| KING CURTIS |
Collectables 6418 |
Have Tenor Sax, Will Blow/ Live At Small's
Paradise |
● CD $13.98 |
21 tracks, 70 mins, recommended Two complete Atco albums -
"Have Tenor Sax" is from 1959 and features 11 tunes with
accompaniments from the likes of fellow New York horn man Noble Watts and
such great guitarists as Al Casey, Jimmy Spruill and Joe Puma and bassist
Jimmy Lewis. Mostly cooking originals from Curtis including Midnight
Ramble/ The Shake/ Lil' Brothers/ The Groove and others. The second
album from his second stint with Atco is from 1966 and is a live set with
Melvin Lastie, Cornell Dupree, Paul Griffin and others. The material is a
mix of originals and covers of the expected (Philly Dog/ Something On
Your Mind) and the unexpected (Get Along Cindy/ Blowing In the Wind)
- the latter is given an arrangement very similar to his hit Soul
Serenade. The performances are good without having the drive of the
earlier set and the apathetic audience doesn't help. Still, a worthwhile
package. (FS)
|
| KING CURTIS |
Koch 8015 |
Plays The Memphis Hits/ King Size Soul |
● CD $14.98 |
Two Atco albums from 1967 on one CD - the former is mostly
songs and tunes that were hits on Stax and affiliated labels - Knock On
Wood/ Hold On, I'm Comin'/ Green Onions/ Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-fa (Sad Song)/ The
Dog and others. "King Size Soul" is a collection of pop,
R&B, rock and country hits of the 60s - Ode To Billy Joe/ For What
It's Worth/ Memphis Soul Stew/ I Never Loved A Man/ C.C. Rider, etc.
|
| KING CURTIS |
Koch 8024 |
Live At Fillmore West |
● CD $12.98 |
First CD reissue of 1971 Atlantic album. Curtis is backed by
the Kingpins featuring Billy Preston, Cornell Dupree & Pretty Purdie,
plus the Memphis Horns led by Wayne Jackson & Andrew Love. The set
starts & ends with Curtis's 2 biggest hits, which happen to be the
only originals in the set - Memphis Soul Stew & Soul
Serenade . The other 7 tunes are covers, strangely enough of white
rock hits inc. Ode To Billy Joe/ Whole Lotta Love/ Whiter Shade Of Pale
(GM)
|
| KING CURTIS |
Prestige 24033 |
Jazz Groove |
● CD $18.98 |
2 LP set featuring Curtis as sax player in the Nat Adderly
Quintet, with Adderly (t), Wynton Kelly ( p), Paul Chambers (b), & Sam
Jones (d) - In A Funky Groove/ Soul Meeting/ Lazy Soul, etc.
|
| KING CURTIS |
Relic 7102 |
Piping Hot - The Complete Enjoy Sessions |
● CD $13.98 |
15 tracks, 42 min., recommended Among the current bumper
crop of overdue King Curtis releases this fine collection from Relic,
containing all of Curtis's early 60's recordings for Bobby Robinson's
Enjoy label, is surely the most vibrant of the lot. The combination of one
of the preeminent session sax men in Curtis and sympathetic
entrepreneurial expertise in Robinson not only produced high energy
instrumental and vocal music, but it also produced for Curtis what no one
had done for him before, a certified hit in Soul Twist. And the
other tracks here are equally solid, including Harmonica Twist, What'd
I Say, Irresistible You, I Know, Sack O'Woe, Get
With It, and the title track. It's too bad in at least some ways that
Curtis left Robinson's label so quickly, signing with Capitol in late
1962. (DH)
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