This transcript of the radio show is an approximation of what I said in the show. The real spoken parts may differ slightly.
Thank you Renee for that great way that you anounce me every time, and you're right, cause legends is what you're gonna get from me as well as some obscurities. Today I took a pile of 78s, an odd 45 and some compilation LPs and I cooked a delicious stew from it, and that's what I'm gonna serve you today. No central theme and not too much talking, after all I know you came here for the music so let's start off a wonderful double-sider. Here is Sammy Franklin and his Atomics with their version of that smash hit of the mid-forties, The Honeydripper.
Sammy Franklin & His Atomics - The Honeydripper Pt. 1 & 2
The Honeydripper. This was the version of Sammy Franklin and his Atomics, with Len Talley on vocal, straight from a 78 of the Black & White label. The original from Joe Liggins hit number 1 on the race charts, as the Rhytm & Blues charts were called back then, for 18 weeks and number 13 on the pop charts and that was unprecedented at that time, and it might have sold even more copies when the small Exclusive record company could have been able to keep up with the demand.
Next on Johnny Otis' Orchestra with a guy called Floyd Hollis, but on stage he took the nickname of Redd Lyte. Here is Cool and Easy.
02 - Johnny Otis Orch. feat. Redd Lyte - Cool and Easy
03 - Fluffy Hunter - Climb The Wall
What a voice. Fluffy Hunter with that wonderful shouter Climb the wall. Next up is Champion Jack Dupree. Apart from a succesful boxer, which brought him the nickname, he was a great piano player. From him, When I got married.
04 - Champion Jack Dupree - When I Got Married
05 - Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup - She's Got No Hair
Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup with She's Got No Hair. Crudup was one of these artists that hardly got any acknowledgement for his talents. He was the writer of several songs that were made very succesful by Elvis Presley, that are "That's All Right", "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine". For many years he tried to get the royalties he was entitled to, but with no success; it wasn't after his death in 1974 that his heirs finally succeeded in getting the money that he should have earned. The official record at BMI for That's allright show an impressive 35 covers of the song, including Elvis, the Beatles, Rod Stewart and Albert King.
Next to his life as a bad-paid musician and a labourer he took up the .. let's call it profession of bootlegging, providing Moonshine to the drinking establishments where he also sang.
Next up Chris Powell with his version of the 1949 hit Rock the Joint, originally sung by Jimmy Preston and his band. It's widely considered as one of the important fore-runners of Rock 'n Roll. Some even say that it's the first Rock 'n Roll record, but there are many songs that share the nomination for that. Here is Rock the Joint on Columbia from 1949.
06 - Chris Powell - Rock The Joint
07 - Buddy Lucas - High Low Jack
Buddy Lucas was that with High Low Jack. Lucas played the tenor saxophone and harmonica, though not simultanously, but on this track, from the Groove label, he is the vocalist.
Going to another Buddy - Buddy Johnson and his orchestra with I ain't mad at you. There are quite a few versions of this song out there. All of them have that relaxed feeling and that structure that shows off that the rock 'n roll era was still far away. Here is Buddy Johnson.
08 - Buddy Johnson Orch. - I Ain't Mad At You
09 - Joe Liggins - Miss Betty's Blues
Joe Liggins with Miss Betty's Blues. Now Liggins will of course always be remembered for his monster hit The Honeydripper in 1945. Though this was released after that hit, the song was written well before that, says Joe Liggins himself on the sleeve notes of the LP Darktown Strutters Ball where this song was also included. I got both the LP and the 78 so I thought I'd treat you with that authentic shellac sound instead of the much cleaner vinyl. The cracks are on the house and yours to enjoy freely on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman.
More shellac sound, though this one's pretty clean, with Sonny Parker. Here is She Sets My Soul On Fire
10 - Sonny Parker - She Sets My Soul On Fire
11 - Jesse Belvin - Deacon Dan Tucker
Jesse Belvin with Deacon Dan Tucker. Jesse Belvin had a short-lived career in Rhythm 'n Blues starting in 1950 with Big Jay McNeely's vocal backup band Three Dots and a Dash and ending unfortunately with a car crash in early 1960 after he had played in Little Rock, AK. That concert was the first in the history of town to play for a mixed audience. It was disturbed several times by people shouting racist comments and urging the white teenagers to leave. Belvin had got death threats before the concert but there was no proof the car had been tampered with.
Next up is Oscar McLollie. Oscar started singing in the armed forces during the war. In 1951 he started to work in for Leon Rene, whose Exclusive label had gone bust, but he'd started a new and more low-profile label, Class, in cooperation with the Modern label of the Bihari brothers. Leon Rene stayed his manager and producer for the rest of Oscar's recording career. From Oscar McLollie I will play Rain.
12 - Oscar McLollie - Rain
13 - Robins - All I Do Is Rock
The Robins, fronted by baritone and bass singer Bobby Nunn, with All I do is rock, from December 1953 on the Crown label, a subsidiary of Modern Records.
Next Roy Brown, who made fame with the original version of Good Rocking Tonight that was covered by several great artists including Wynonie Harris, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. From 1948 to 1951 he had fourteen hits with Deluxe records including Hard Luck Blues that I'll play now. He is backed up by the Griffin Brothers orchestra. It hit number one on the R&B chart in 1950. Here's the wonderful Hard Luck Blues.
14 - Roy Brown - Hard Luck Blues
15 - Big Joe Turner - Careless Love
Big Joe Turner, with Careless Love. Now we all know him from his immortal Shake Rattle and Roll, that influential 1954 song that was so important in the development of Rock 'n Roll. Much earlier is this song Careless Love, that was first recorded in 1941 on Decca. He re-recorded it several times, for Atlantic in 1959 and for the National label in 1947 and it's that version, that remained unreleased at the time, that I played here.
We'll stay with the unreleased songs with the Five Keys. In 1954 they had a recording session with RCA for their subsidiary Groove. None of the songs from that session were released by then because RCA found out that the group also had a deal with Capitol records. The masters were rediscovered in the late seventies. The song that I'm going to play was included on a 1989 Detour LP that features all four takes from that session. From them, here is Teeth and Tongue Will Get You Hung.
16 - Five Keys - Teeth and Tongue Will Get You Hung
17 - Clarence Garlow - Crawfishin'
That was Clarence Garlow with Crawfishing. As we reach the end of this episode of the legends of the rocking dutchman, I want to spotlight a talentful lady that wasn't just fairly succesful in the Rhythm 'n Blues, but she also played a major role in the development of later styles. I'm talking about Sylvia Robinson, born as Sylvia Vanderpool. When she teamed up in 1954 with Mickey Baker they had quite some success under the name of Mickey and Sylvia, a musical partnership that lasted well into the seventies. Of course their greatest hit was Love is Strange. Later she had a smash hit under the name of just Sylvia with Pillow talk, a straight disco classic. She started her own record label, Sugarhill records, that was influential in the development of funk and hiphop.
For the last song in this show I go back to the start of her career. In 1953 she recorded Everything I Need But You for the Jubilee label, but it was never released until 1995, on a CD on the Sequel label with the title Jubilee Jezebels. She is backed up by the orchestra of Buddy Lucas. Here is Everything I Need But You.
18 - Little Sylvia - Everything I Need But You
And Little Sylvia marks the end of this show. I hope you liked it, and if so, or if not, just drop a line at rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com. For now, byebye and have a great day. No, have a rocking day. See you next time at the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman.