Slim Gaillard - Mish Mash (Clef MGC-126)

Side A:
01. Soony-Rooney
02. Babalu
03. Sabroso
04. Laughing In Rhythm

Side B:
01. Taxpayers' Blues
02. Eatin' With The Boogie
03. St. Louis Blues
04. I Know What To Do

Download from here:

http://www48.zippyshare.com/v/BiWXvBXh/file.html

Thanks to El Enmascarado for this 10 inch Slim Gaillard LP which was released in 1953. The initial release was on the Mercury label, also in 1953, with the exact same front and back covers, though with different disc labels. The Clef cover has a "Clef Records" sticker (?) covering the spot where "Mercury" should be.

Track details:

"Laughing In Rhythm" and "Soony Roony" were recorded in NYC on March 5th 1951. Personnel: Dick Hyman (piano); Slim Gaillard (guitar, vocals); Ernie Shepard (bass, vocals); Herbie Lovelle (drums); Pepe Benque (bongos)

"Soony Roony (Song of  Yxabat)" and "Laughing In Rhythm" were released in April 1951 on Mercury single 5606, credited to Slim Gaillard And His Peruvians.

Billboard reviewed "Soony Roony" in its "Popular" section as follows - "Slim's on top form for a wonderful takeoff on Yma Sumac. Loaded with yocks all the way, this one's bound for plenty deejay play."

The review of "Laughing In Rhythm" was less enthusiastic - "Side starts auspiciously, with Slim doing an infectious laughing riff, but nothing develops."

"Babalu" and "Sabroso" were recorded in NYC on May 25th 1951. Personnel: Buddy Tate (tenor sax); Maceo Williams (piano); Slim Gaillard (guitar, vocals); Clyde Lombardi (bass); Charlie Smith (drums)

Mercury single 8950 had "Sabroso" along with a different take of "Babalu," listed on the disc label as "Babalu (Orooney)". Credited to Slim Gaillard And His Internationally Famous Orchestra, and released in August 1951.

Billboard review of "Sabroso" (under "Hot Jazz") - "Attempt a 'commercial' offering, a flabby little jingle, falls flat." The review of "Babalu (Orooney)" was equally negative - "Slim attempts a satire on emotional Latin vocals, sprinkled liberally with vouts and orooney's but nothing happens."

"Taxpayers' Blues," "Eatin' With The Boogie," "St. Louis Blues" and "I Know What To Do" were recorded in NYC on January 24th 1952. Personnel: Harry Carney or Cecil Payne (baritone sax); Slim Gaillard as Bulee Gaillard (guitar, vocals); unidentified others.

"Eatin' With The Boogie" and "Taxpayers' Blues" were released on Mercury single 8970 in April 1952, credited to Bulee Gaillard and His Southern Fried Orchestra.

Although reviewed in the "Hot Jazz" section, Billboard noted of "Eatin' With the Boogie" - "Disk is far better suited to the rhythm and blues market than for the jazz fans. It's a rocking item which could draw coin. Lyric by Gaillard is a Southern menu." Billboard's review of "Taxpayer's Blues" expressed similar sentiments - "Topical blues ditty could get some action in the r.&b. market. Doubtful whether the jazz cats will be attracted."

"St. Louis Blues" and "I Know What To Do" were released on Mercury single 8998 in August 1952, credited to Bulee Gaillard and His Southern Fried Orchestra. I couldn't find a Billboard review for this disk.

As the old year fades into the new, we round off 2016 with a last post (for this year!), thanks to El Enmascarado who sent in this 10 inch LP of sides recorded by Slim Gaillard for Clef / Mercury in the early 1950s. The album title "Mish Mash" is an accurate description of the contents as can be seen from the recording and release details along with the contemporary Billboard reviews above.

The four tracks on Side A were recorded in 1951 and represent some of the well established aspects of Slim's rather unique take on jazz. "Sooney-Rooney" is a send up of the sound of Yma Sumac, a sound with which I was previously unfamiliar but which I made the mistake of listening to on YouTube, specifically her destruction of Mozart's great "Queen of the Night" aria from "The Magic Flute." I may never recover from that experience.

"Babalu" is another send up (in cod Spanish and Vout), this time of a rather melodramatic hit for Miguelito Valdes. Check it out on YouTube. With "Sabroso" and "Laughing In Rhythm" we are in more familiar Slim Gaillard territory with lots of "vout oreenies" being thrown into the mix. "Laughing In Rhythm" was a longtime Gaillard favourite which went back to the late 1930s and his time as part of the duo of Slim and Slam (Stewart) when the hep pair cheered the 52nd Street scene with a string of humorous jive novelties starting with "Flat Foot Floogie (with the Floy Floy)."

The B side of this album, which was recorded in one session in 1952, is in a rhythm and blues style. Was Slim perhaps a little intoxicated at this session? El Emascarado has speculated that perhaps he was. I didn't hear that at first but now I tend to think that the entire studio was out of its gourd. Whatever, these 4 tracks are a world away from Slim's NYC work in the late 1930's and his hepcat tracks recorded in Hollywood after the Second World War. It's not that they're bad, they're just not Slim, apart, perhaps, from "Eatin' With The Boogie" which carries on Slim's career-long obsession with composing songs around items of food!

There may well be more Slim Gaillard music on the blog soon. Keep tuned oroonie, and have a vout New Year!

Don't Move A Vip Till I Say Vop - Doles Dickens Quartet

El Enmascarado has edited another cool video to accompany the B-Side of "Sing Re-Bop." The Doles Dickens Quartet are in hepcat jive mode once more with "Don't Move A Vip Till I Say Vop," a piece of advice with which I find it hard to disagree.

The video incorporates sequences from "Jivin' in Bebop" and "Juke Joint." Both of these films can be viewed on the Internet Archive. Go to http://www.archive.org/ then select "moving images." Put the movie title into the search box and wham bam, thank you ma'am, you can watch or download the complete movie.

Despite the impression given by El Enmascarado's video, Dizzy Gillespie is NOT playing on this record. See the previous "Sing Re-Bop" post for the Doles Dickens story.

And lastly you can listen to "Don't Move A Vip Till I Say Vop" on streaming audio here:

Listen to "Don't Move A Vip Till I Say Vop"

Audio clip ripped by El Enmascarado from the original 78 rpm disc. Thanks to our benefactor for taking us down the road to an obscurer corner of R&B history.

Sing Re-Bop – Doles Dickens Quartet



Scan courtesy El Enmascarado

Recorded in New York City, 1946. Herbie Scott (trumpet); Reuben Cole (piano); Dickie Thompson (guitar); Doles Dickens (bass).

Released in May 1947 with “Don’t Move A Vip Till I Say Vop” on the B-side.

Listen to “Sing Re-Bop” on streamed audio here:

Listen to "Sing Re-Bop"

Ripped by El Enmascarado from the original 78 rpm disc.

This jive novelty was reviewed in the May 10th 1947 issue of Billboard Magazine along with another platter by the group – “I Cried For You” / “Half Time Boogie” on Super Disc.

The Billboard review of “Sing Re-Bop”:

“For their efforts on this label, the Dole (sic) Dickens Quartet make it a swing thingy for both of these Harlemese jive ditties of their own origination. It’s the re-bop phrasings for the solo voice for “Sing Re-Bop” with the piano, trumpet and guitar also phrasing it that way. And for the mated “Vip” side, it’s the same vocal re-bop style, with all the boys joining in on the song. Harlem jump locations will lay in coins for this cutting.”

Scan courtesy El Enmascarado

New York based double bass player Doles Dickens had a long career in recording from the early 1940s into the 1960s. His recording debut was in December 1940 while he was with the Eddie South Orchestra. This was an eight piece jazz band fronted by violinist Eddie South and featuring Ginny Simms on vocals. Band members included Charlie Shavers on trumpet and Russell Procope on alto sax. From this session two singles were released on Okeh and a further session in March 1941 produced a single of “Oh Lady Be Good” / “Stompin’ At The Savoy,” released on Columbia.

Eddie South - "The Dark Angel Of The Violin"

In 1943 and 1944 Doles was a member of Steve Gibson’s 5 Red Caps who at that time were recording for the Joe Davis owned NYC indy label Beacon. He was also a member of the Red Caps “side project” The Red Caps Trio (Steve Gibson – guitar, Romaine Brown – piano, and Doles on bass) which also recorded for Joe Davis. In November 1944 Doles left the Red Caps to join the Phil Moore Four.

The 5 Red Caps in 1944 - Doles Dickens on double bass

Red Caps publicity shot clumsily doctored after departure of Doles

The Phil Moore Four were actually six – Phil Moore (piano, vocal); Remo Palmieri (electric guitar); Eddie Gibbs (guitar); Doles Dickens (bass); Wallace Bishop (drums) and Billy Daniels (vocals). They were contracted to RCA, recording their first session on November 24th, 1944 and they recorded for the label until the end of July 1945.

In 1946 Doles formed the Doles Dickens Quartet with the line up as listed at the top of this post. Their first recording session was for Continental sometime in 1946. The four sides recorded were released on two singles – “Hey Honey” / “Holiday For Slang” (Continental 6046) and “Sing Re-Bop” / “Don’t Move A Vip Till I Say Vop” (Continental 6047). The next recording session for the quartet was for Super Disc, probably in early 1947, which resulted in one single, “I Cried For You” / “Half Time Boogie.”

In January 1949 the Doles Dickens Quintet made its recording debut for Gotham, recording four sides released on two singles – “Cabaret” / “Sam’s Boogie” (Gotham 176) and “You’re The One” / “Arnold Fine” (Gotham 185). The latter disc was reviewed in Billboard on July 9th, 1949. “You’re The One” was categorized as “an easy little ballad tune” while “Arnold Fine” intriguingly received a rather barbed review: “from the import of the lyric, Mr Fine is a journalist for whom the Doles Dickens Quintet have the highest regard. This nice thought is framed in a jump boogie arrangement with a touch of bop. With a different lyric, or none, it would have been a pretty piece.”

The Doles Dickens Quintet which signed up with Decca was a completely different group from the Quartet which had recorded for Continental and Super Disc back in 1946 / 1947. The group’s first Decca session was on June 23rd, 1949, and the line up was: Louis Judge (tenor sax); Clarence Harmon (piano); Sam Hendricks (guitar); Doles Dickens (bass); Jimmy Crawford (drums); Joe Gregory (vocals).

Doles Dickens Quintet

And it is at this point that Doles Dickens enters rock and roll history, for one of the four sides the group recorded at that session was a cover of the Wild Bill Moore opus “Rock And Roll.” Wild Bill’s original version, released on Modern 674, was reviewed in Billboard on the 9th of June, 1949 as “another frenetic instalment in the pounding ‘good rocking’ serial. A potent platter of its kind.” In other words tenor sax honker Wild Bill’s “Rock And Roll” was seen as one of a number of rocking R&B records which followed in the wake of the 1948 hit version of “Good Rocking Tonight” by Wynonie Harris.

The Doles Dickens version is a slightly speeded up, slightly smoothed out adaptation of Wild Bill’s rough house waxing. Otherwise it sticks pretty closely to the arrangement of the original. It’s a damned fine dance record as you can see on this YouTube video.

From that first session for Decca in June 1949, two singles were released – “Hold Me Baby” / “Rock and Roll” (Decca 48110) and “Find ‘Em, Fool ‘Em And Forget ‘Em” / “Choo Choo Hop” (Decca 48115). Billboard’s comment on “Find ‘Em …” was “Thumping shuffle rhythm sets the pace for a rousing performance of an amusing novelty.” The reverse side of the platter was also praised as a sequel to Louis Jordan’s hit “Choo Choo Ch’boogie.”

The Quintet’s next Decca session wasn’t until January 1951. Meanwhile on July 8th, 1950, Billboard noted that “Doles Dickens and His Whispers” were about to take up a residency at the Ceders Inn, a new roadhouse near Atlantic City. A group called The Whispers had a record out on Apollo (1156) in March 1950 – “Your Ever Lovin’ Slick” / “Got No Time.” Was it the Doles Dickens band? We hope not, for according to Billboard, the A-Side featured “mediocre warbling, unexciting tenor and rhythm,” while the reverse side was dismissed as a “dull ballad opus.”

Another two Decca singles were cut from the January 1951 session: “All Alone” / “Blues In The Back Room” (Decca 48199), released in March, 1951, and “Blues In The Evening” / “I Only Have Eyes For You” (Decca 48242), released at the end of September, 1951. The latter disc, which was the Quintet’s final release on Decca, received a less than enthusiastic review in Billboard on October 6th, 1951, with the A side being summed up as a “slow blues … effect is on the cold side,” while “I Only Have Eyes …” was dismissed as a “routine entry.” The same edition of Billboard was rather more enthusiastic about “Because Of You” by Tab Smith (“stacks up as a money making proposition”) and “Riding In The Moonlight” by Howling Wolf (“ok for rural market”).

The Doles Dickens Quintet’s final session for Decca was held in New York on April 25th, 1951. The two resulting singles were: “Woogie” / “Can’t Let Your Lovin’ Go” (Decca 48124), released in June 1951, and “Gonna Rock This Morning” / “Won’tcha Tell Me Where She Went” (Decca 48229) which was released in August 1951.

“Gonna Rock This Morning” turned up many years later on the 1984 Ace LP “Jumpin’ The Blues Vol. 1” (CH94) which was where I first encountered Doles Dickens. Back in September 1951, Billboard summed up “Gonna Rock This Morning” as “… a standard rocking blues. It’s good but nothing special.” In this case the Billboard reviewer was probably erring on the side of kindness. The other side of the disc was summed up as “routine blues.”

“Woogie” also turned up on the Ace “Jumpin’ The Blues” three volume set of LPs of Decca and Coral sides. It featured on Volume 2 (CH135) along with such notable efforts as “Take Out Your False Teeth Daddy” by Margie Day, “Sit Back Down” by Little Esther and “Block Buster Boogie” by baritone sax man Cecil Payne. “Woogie is a nice little shuffler as you can hear on streamed audio below:

Listen to "Woogie"

With the Decca contract not being renewed, this was the end of the Doles Dickens Quintet as a recording act. In July 1952 Doles signed a contract with deejay Ray Hudson to record six sides for his Lion label, but no recordings ever surfaced. The last session featuring Doles as the named artist appears to have been for Dot in 1958. In September of that year “Pia-Kuka-Ung-Cung” / “Our Melody” (Dot 15745) by “Doles Dickens and the De Costa Choir” was released.

The A side (I’m not gonna type it again) must have been something else according to Billboard – “This has the sound of hysteria with guitars, piano and soprano sax and big choral sounds contribute to the wild effects. Has the quality of a jungle war dance.” What about the other side? “A bit of offbeat cacophony that builds and builds.” Sounds like the kind of thing that would turn up on “Jungle Exotica” or “Las Vegas Grind.” It did have a UK release on the London label. I wonder if anyone actually bought the darned thing.

However, this was not the end of Doles Dickens’ recording career. Throughout the 1950s he was an in-demand session man on the New York R&B scene. In November 1952 and March 1953 he was on sessions by Piano Red for RCA. In 1954 he worked for Savoy on sessions for Doc Jones and Wilbert Harrison and the Roamers. In early 1955 he was on a Varetta Dillard session for Savoy. In August 1957 he was on another Piano Red session for RCA and in October of that year he was in the studio with Jimmy Witherspoon, again for RCA. In 1958 he was on a Mahalia Jackson session for Columbia. He popped into Atlantic for a Lavern Baker session in 1959, and in early 1962 along with Charlie Singleton, Buddy Lucas and Sam “The Man” Taylor he cut a series of Twist tracks for Camden. As the 1960s wore on Doles moved into music production and direction. Doles Dickens died in New Jersey on May 2nd, 1972.

And now it’s over to El Enmascarado’s record room to see that original Doles Dickens 78 rpm disc a-spinning on the vintage turntable. But hold! What do we have here? The record room is now doubling as a video editing suite and there are images culled from old films to accompany the crackly sounds. Be Bop Winos will recognize the source of the suitably hep re-bopper visuals on display here. It’s the famous nightclub sequence from the classic film noir D.O.A. Edmund O’Brien is confronted by the latest musical craze in a club called “The Fisherman.” I’m there – I’m the cat in the beret and goatee. Far out!

In his book “Nervous Man Nervous: Big Jay McNeely and the Rise of the Honking Tenor Sax!” Jim Dawson reveals just what is going on musically in the original sequence in D.O.A. On screen the showboating tenor sax man is James Von Streeter and the other musicians are Teddy Buckner (trumpet), Ray LaRue (piano), Shifty Henry (bass) and Al “Cake” Wichard (drums). However the soundtrack features a different set of musicians led by tenor sax man Maxwell Davis. Confusing? Yep.

Sources:

Billboard Magazine, available free to read on Google Books.

Marv Goldberg’s online article on The 5 Red Caps

Albert McCarthy – Big Band Jazz

Bruyninckx Discography

Bruce Bastin – sleevenotes to Krazy Kat LP KK779 “The Red Caps – Lenox Avenue Jump.”

Ray Topping – sleevenotes to Ace LP CH94 “Jumpin’ The Blues Vol.1”

Galen Gart – First Pressings – The History of Rhythm & Blues Volume 2:1952

Jim Dawson – Nervous Man Nervous: Big Jay McNeely and the Rise of the Honking Tenor Sax!

And most of all - thanks to El Enmascarado for "Sing Re-Bop" and its accompanying video.

The Ray-O-Vacs - Besame Mucho (Official LP 6047)

Side 1
1. Besame Mucho
2. Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle
3. If You Ever Should Leave Me
4. My Baby's Gone
5. Let's
6. What's Mine Is Mine
7. I Still Love You
8. She's a Real Lovin' Baby

Side 2
1. Start Lovin' Me
2. Outside Of Paradise
3. I Still Love You
4. All About Daddy
5. I'm The Baby Now
6. Party Time
7. Crying All Alone
8. Wine-O

I remember feeling disappointed by this LP when I bought it twenty years ago in some long vanished record shop. Having never actually heard the Ray-O-Vacs, I was expecting some rockin’ R&B vocal group action, maybe similar to the Dominoes, the Clovers, the “5” Royales, and other early 1950s groups. Instead I found myself listening to something rather different and I didn’t quite know what to make of it. So I stuck the album on the shelf and rarely listened to it again. Hell, I never even wondered about where they got the group name from, only discovering recently that they were named after a make of battery.

Now that I’ve reacquainted myself with the album as I plough my way through the conversion of the Boogie Woody vinyl vault to a digital format, I find myself appreciating the sheer genius of the music contained in the unjustly neglected grooves. The Ray-O-Vacs’ sound is rooted in that of the jive groups of the late 1930s and the 1940s and is similar to that of other self contained vocal / instrumental outfits like The Red Caps or The Four Blazes.

These sides are dominated by the smoky lead vocals of Lester Harris and Herb Milliner, with brilliantly sparse backing arrangements featuring tasty tenor sax and piano fills weaving in an out of the vocals. They are a lesson in the art of being effortlessly cool. Even such apparently unpromising material as the hokey “western” song “Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle” is transformed into a broadcast from the Planet Hep.

Information about the Ray-O-Vacs can be hard to come by. They were from New York and kicked off their recording career with Coleman Records who released 5 singles by the group in 1949. Their first side, “I’ll Always Be In Love With You,” gained some modest chart success and was re-released some years later on Sharp. Two further Coleman sides, “Happy Am I” and “Hot Dog” were re-released on the Savoy subsidiary Regent in 1951. The only Coleman side on this collection is “I’m The Baby Now” which is a slightly rawer version of the sly slinky sound which characterised their sides for Decca for whom they recorded through 1950 and 1951.

Of the Decca releases, only “Besame Mucho” (covered some years later by The Coasters and then by The Beatles) achieved noteworthy sales. The Ray-O-Vacs’ sound was rapidly becoming old fashioned as rockin' gospel-influenced vocal groups began to dominate the R&B market. The Dominoes and The “5” Royales especially were a world away from the comparatively staid Ray-O-Vacs who seemed to belong more to the world of The Charioteers or The Delta Rhythm Boys.

The Decca contract was not renewed and in 1952 The Ray-O-Vacs started recording for Jerry Blaine’s Jubilee label. Lead singer Lester Harris had already gone solo and signed a contract with RCA. He died at the tragically young age of 33 in early 1953. Herb Milliner took over lead vocal duties but the Jubilee releases of 1952 failed to bring commercial success. In 1954 the group transferred to Josie, a sister label of Jubilee. Their first release on the label, the instrumental “Riding High” backed with “Darling” stiffed and the following year the label tried a different approach, with the group backing songthrush Babe Hutton on “All About Daddy” while the B side featured a Herb Milliner vocal on “I Still Love You.”

This single was credited to Flap McQueen & His Ray-O-Vacs. Jackson “Flap” McQueen was the former bass player in the Pancho Diggs Orchestra, a big band who were the kings of swing in Newark, NJ in the 1930s and early 40s. Back in the day they could draw thousands of Lindy Hoppers to the Skateland Ballroom on Montgomery Street, Newark. They would generously let a local lass join them on stage for a few vocal numbers. Someone called Sarah Vaughn. In the early 40s with a beefed-up line up which included Count Hastings and Ike Quebec, they made it to the world famous Savoy in Harlem. The war brought about the end of the band.

See below for mid 1930s photos of the Pancho Diggs Orchestra with Flap McQueen on bass. Photos and information on Flap McQueen and Pancho Diggs are from the book "Swing City: Newark Nightlife 1925-50" by Barbara J. Kukla, Rutgers University Press, 2002.

Now I have to confess that I have no idea when Flap joined the Ray-O-Vacs or how long he stayed with them. Perhaps someone out there can fill in the blanks?

In 1956 the group released “Party Time” / “Crying All Alone” on the small Kaiser label. The single was picked up and re-released by Atlantic subsidiary Atco. “Party Time” was a radical change in sound for the Ray-O-Vacs, being a raw R&B stomper with a shouted vocal by Bill Walker. There was one further release on Kaiser, “Hong Kong” / “Wine-O.” The B side was a ringer for any number of Amos Milburn booze anthems from the early 50s. A good record, though, and the last one released by the group.

Joan K has supplied a couple of label scans from Kaiser plus an issue on Sharp of “I’ll Always Be In Love With You”, which was the first Ray-O-Vacs’ recording to be issued, originally as a 78 rpm disc on Coleman in 1949. And as a final little treat from Joan there’s two m4a rips (plus mp3 conversions) from 78 rpm discs of “What’s Mine Is Mine” / “I Still Love You Baby”, originally released on Decca in 1950.

See this Doowop Nation article for some more Ray-O-Vacs information.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/404140247/Besame_Mucho.rar.html

Or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LERU7HG8

1. Besame Mucho (Decca 48162), 1950
2. Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle (Decca 48197), 1950
3. If You Ever Should Leave Me (Decca, unissued?), 1950
4. My Baby's Gone (Decca 48211), 1951
5. Let's (Decca 48211), 1951
6. What's Mine Is Mine (Decca 48234), 1950
7. I Still Love You (Decca 48234), 1950
8. She's a Real Lovin' Baby (Decca 48274), 1951
9. Start Lovin' Me (Jubilee 5098), 1952
10. Outside Of Paradise (Jubilee 5124), 1952
11. I Still Love You (Josie 781), 1955
12. All About Daddy (Josie 781), 1955 vocal – Babe Hutton
13. I'm The Baby Now (Coleman 112), 1949
14. Party Time (Kaiser 384, Atco 6085), 1956
15. Crying All Alone (Kaiser 384, Atco 6085), 1956
16. Wine-O (Kaiser 389), 1957

Recommended purchases:

In the UK a CD on the Collectables label, “Outside of Paradise,” with a modest 10 tracks from Jubilee, is available via Amazon.

In the US two 22 track CDs were released on the Coleman label – “Besame Mucho” (Coleman 100) and “It’s Party Time with the Ray-O-Vacs” (Coleman 105). They’re probably just about impossible to find now.

A jive group who managed to get a hit in 1952 were The Four Blazes, with “Mary Jo” on the United label. Their sound was similar to that of The Ray-O-Vacs, with tasteful sax fills supplied by Eddie Chamblee. A 24 track Delmark CD, “Mary Jo” (DE-704) is highly recommended by your boogster pal. Oh, and by the way, I haven’t a clue who is playing sax on The Ray-O-Vacs’ sides. Can anyone help?

The King Cole Trio - Trio Days

Early Nat “King” Cole Trio sides recorded for Decca in late 1940 and early 1941. The line up is Nat “King” Cole – piano and lead vocals, Oscar Moore – guitar and ensemble vocals, Wesley Prince – bass and ensemble vocals.

These are mostly jazzy, jivey numbers with plenty of instrumentals, ensemble vocals and hepcat lyrics. The early version of “Sweet Lorraine” hints at the future career of Cole as a peerless ballad singer.

This was a 1984 LP in the Charly jazz subsidiary Affinity’s “Big Band Bounce & Boogie” series although what this album has to do with big bands (or boogie) defeats me. I guess it has got plenty bounce, though!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download link:

https://www49.zippyshare.com/v/RfuzkA6G/file.html

1. Honeysuckle Rose
2. Sweet Lorraine
3. This Side Up
4. Gone With The Draft
5. Call The Police
6. That Ain't Right
7. Are You Fer It?
8. Hit That Jive Jack
9. Early Morning Blues
10. Babs
11. Scotchin' With Soda
12. Slow Down
13. I Like To Riff
14. This Will Make You Laugh
15. Hit The Ramp
16. Stop, The Red Light's On

Please note: this LP was re-upped in June 2016 in a new post with more information here:

https://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-nat-king-cole-trio-trio-days.html
 

Stompin' At The Savoy

Side 1
1. Stompin' At The Savoy (Intro)/ Erroll Garner
2. T'Ain't What You Do / Little Esther
3. My Brown Frame Baby / H-Bomb Ferguson
4. Midnight Rambler / Sam 'The Man' Taylor
5. The Milkshake Stand / The Three Barons
6. Howling Winds / Big Joe Turner
7. Brown Gold / Art Pepper Quartet
8. Romance Without Finance / Tiny Grimes with Charlie Parker
9. Cupid's Boogie / Little Esther & Mel Walker
10. I Ain't Mad At You / Gatemouth Moore
11. All Nite Long / Johnny Otis

Side 2
1. Spinal / Fats Navarro & Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis
2. Ornithology / Babs Gonzales
3. The Birdland Story / Eddie Jefferson
4. Another Hair-Do / Charlie Parker & Miles Davis
5. The Jam Man / Slim Gaillard & Bam Brown
6. Sweet Man / Miss Rhapsody with Slam Stewart
7. Rock Me To Sleep / Helen Humes
8. Write Me A Letter / The Ravens
9. Rib Joint / Sam Price

This is the first music post on Be Bop Wino and it’s a fair representation of the kind of material I hope to post. It presents a mixture of R&B and jazz from the vaults of Savoy Records of Newark, New Jersey. There are also sides from National, another early independent record company which was taken over by Savoy.

Savoy was one of the first (founded in 1942) R&B indies and pioneered not only the new R&B music but also bebop - the new progressive form of jazz. In fact Savoy was the first indie record company to have a hit record on the 'Harlem Hit Parade' as the R&B chart was known at the time - 'Don't Stop Now' by the Bunny Banks Trio in January 1943. This was at a time when the major labels, especially Decca, had a virtual monopoly on the Race Charts. A year later not only Savoy, but other new indies such as Beacon and Exclusive were placing platters on the bestseller list.

These tracks have been ripped from a cassette which was given away free (via mail order) in the New Musical Express either in 1982 or the first half of 1983. At this time Ace and Charly had started their extensive reissue programmes. The Mr R&B group of labels were also issuing obscure and long-forgotten rhythm and blues records. The cassette was a sampler for a reissue programme of LPs of Savoy sides but somehow these albums always seemed to be harder to find than the Ace and Charly stuff.

The programming on the cassette (by Roy Carr and Neil Spencer) was a revelation as it ignored the genre boundaries and boldly mixed R&B and jazz. Somehow the two related but different kinds of music seemed to fit together well, perhaps because they came from the same time period. “Stompin’ At The Savoy” certainly opened my ears to the sound of bebop and related 1940s jazz. Before I heard this cassette I had confined my purchases of vintage music to jump, rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll. After hearing these tracks, my taste in 1940s and 1950s music broadened to encompass bebop, swing and hard bop.

I've included the liner notes in the upload as they are a good evocation of a time when many people were discovering this wonderful music. The list of record shops on the cover certainly came in handy for me as in the summer of 1983 I used it to search out shops such as Doug Dobell's, Rocks Off, Rhythm Records and of course Ted Carroll's legendary Rock On.

Ripped at 320 kbps from a free cassette, so don't expect the sound to be hi in the fi.

Download from here:

Stompin' At The Savoy Cassette (Mega)

Or here:

Stompin' At The Savoy Cassette (Zippy)

1. Stompin' At The Savoy (Intro)/ Erroll Garner

2. T'Ain't What You Do / Little Esther
3. My Brown Frame Baby / H-Bomb Ferguson
4. Midnight Rambler / Sam 'The Man' Taylor
5. The Milkshake Stand / The Three Barons
6. Howling Winds / Big Joe Turner
7. Brown Gold / Art Pepper Quartet
8. Romance Without Finance / Tiny Grimes with Charlie Parker
9. Cupid's Boogie / Little Esther & Mel Walker
10. I Ain't Mad At You / Gatemouth Moore
11. All Nite Long / Johnny Otis
12. Spinal / Fats Navarro & Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis
13. Ornithology / Babs Gonzales
14. The Birdland Story / Eddie Jefferson
15. Another Hair-Do / Charlie Parker & Miles Davis
16. The Jam Man / Slim Gaillard & Bam Brown
17. Sweet Man / Miss Rhapsody with Slam Stewart
18. Rock Me To Sleep / Helen Humes
19. Write Me A Letter / The Ravens
20. Rib Joint / Sam Price

I hope this humble offering serves as a starting point for a journey to the Nirvana of Perfect Hepness. Start your pilgrimage along the Highway of Cool by seeking out the recommended CDs below:


Still Stompin’ At The Savoy (Giant Steps Records GIST 003)

This CD version of “Stompin’ At The Savoy” was released in 2003, twenty years after the original cassette. The number of tracks was expanded to 23, with a few of the original tracks dropping out. There are extensive notes on each track by Roy Carr. Among the “new” tracks are “And The Angels Swing” by Stan Getz, “Mambo Boogie” and “Turkey Hop” by Johnny Otis, “Now’s The Time” by Charlie Parker, “Barbados” by Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, “We’re Gonna Rock, We’re Gonna Roll” by Wild Bill Moore and “The Hucklebuck” by Paul Williams. From the original cassette, tracks by Sam ‘The Man’ Taylor and Sam Price were dropped along with “Another Hair-Do” by Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. This CD is still available at a budget price and also as an mp3 download.

First Steps (Savoy Jazz SVY 17197)

This Billy Vera compilation of 1940s jazz sides from Savoy has only one track in common with “Still Stompin’ At The Savoy” – “And The Angels Swing” by Stan Getz. There are tracks by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Ike Quebec, Dexter Gordon, George Shearing, Leo Parker, Harold Land, etc. Issued in the US, and still available, it turned up in the UK at branches of Fopp at a ludicrously cheap price. It was just the ticket for those whose curiosity for 1940s jazz had been aroused by either the cassette or CD version of “Stompin’ At The Savoy.”

Black California Volume 2 (Savoy Jazz SV-0274)

A 1995 Japanese CD issue of one of the LPs trailed by the “Stompin’ At The Savoy” cassette. It’s probably impossible to find now, but keep searching those second hand record shops. It has 4 tracks by Slim Gaillard (including “The Jam Man”), 4 by Helen Humes (including “Rock Me To Sleep”), 4 by Kenny Clarke, “Wake Up Old Maid” by Russell Jacquet and 2 long jam session tracks – “Blow Blow Blow” by Wardell Gray and “What Is This Thing Called Love” by Wild Bill Moore and Gene Montgomery. The CD has 17 tracks whereas the original double LP set had 21 tracks.

Jumpin’ Like Mad – Cool Cats and Hip Chicks Non-Stop Dancin’ (Capitol Blues Collection)

A 2 CD set compiled by Billy Vera in 1996 with the Swing Revival very much in mind. This is a fantastic choice of Aladdin, Imperial and Capitol sides mixing jazz, jump and R&B. There’s everything from Gene Ammons to Lalo Guerrero, Lester Young to Jimmy Liggins, Cootie Williams to The King Cole Trio. Throw in Ella Mae Morse, Calvin Boze, Louis Prima, Peggy Lee, T-Bone Walker, Jesse Price, Big Jay McNeely and numerous others and we are talking god-like genius in the compilation department. Long out of print. If you get a chance to buy a copy, grab it!

Jumpin’ & Jivin’ (Ace CDCHD 654)

Billy Vera is the king of categorisation busting as he proves with another mix of R&B and jazz. On this 1997 set he juxtaposes West Coast R&B sides from Specialty with hip jazz tracks from NYC label Prestige. This CD is notable for featuring some hard rockin’ late Roy Milton sides. Among the cool cats are Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, King Pleasure, Leo Parker, Joe Carroll and my fellow Scot Annie Ross. Nice! It’s possibly out of print now, but there should be plenty of second hand copies floating around.

Let’s Jump – Swingin’ Humdingers from Modern Records (Ace CDCHD 809)

Once more Billy Vera breaks through the artificial boundaries of genre with this 2002 compilation of jump, swing, R&B and rock ‘n’ roll. The liner notes pay tribute to the Swing Scenesters of the 1990s who gave another boost to the survival of this kind of music. There’s Oscar McLollie, Ben Webster (with Benny Carter), Lucky Thompson, Gene Phillips, Big Jim Wynn, Vido Musso, Jimmy Witherspoon, The Flairs and other swingin’ cats. Still in print and most highly recommended.