This transcript of the radio show is an approximation of what I said in the show. The real spoken parts may differ slightly.
And another of these shows where I explore Rhythm & Blues of all kinds, from several decades, and some obscure mixed with the great names. And to start with, a composition of a highschool kid that was recorded, without composer credit, in 1933. No-one would ever expect that this boy, named Sonny Blount, would grow out to the eccentric musical genius who legally changed his name into Le Sony'r Ra - or shortly Sun Ra.
From his hand, there is the Chocolate Avenue played by the band of Clarence Williams.
01 - Clarence Williams - Chocolate Avenue
02 - June Richmond - Are You With It
June Richmond backed up by the band of Johnny Warrington with a recording from 1945 for the Mercury label. You heard Are You With It. June Richmond of course is best known for the time she sang with Andy Kirk and his band. After the war, she moved to Europe, first to France and later to Sweden where she died at the age of 47.
There's a few soundies of her from '47 with Roy Milton's Solid Senders on YouTube that are great to watch and listen to. June was a heavyweight - a big mama and despite she definitely could cut a rug and Roy Milton and his band, they were a sharp outfit.
Next the man whom we lost in 2015 as one of the latest of his generation. B.B. King toured the world until a few months before he died at age 89 in Vegas. And though he played a few times on the prestigious North Sea Jazz festival in my little country, I never got the chance to see him play live.
Now my son in law, he works as a chauffeur for a company that drives V.I.P.s, mostly captains of industry and diplomats, but every year for that North Sea Jazz Festival, he's got musicians in his car. B.B. King was considered the main prize, he got a great name among them chauffeurs for he was nice and friendly and one of the greats of course, and one year my son in law would drive him - and that would mean, a signed CD for me. But last-minute he was changed to a colleage of him so that CD never got his signature on it.
From him, Mean Old Frisco, a blues written by Arthur Crudup.
03 - B.B. King - Mean Old Frisco
04 - Big Joe Turner - Born to Gamble
(jingle)
05 - Smokey Hogg - Misery Blues
06 - Bobby Bland - No Blow No Show
You got four in a row - after B.B. King that was Big Joe Turner with Born To Gamble, a song that he also recorded under the title of Life Is Like A Card Game. Then after the jingle you got Smokey Hogg with Misery Blues and that was released on the tiny and obscure, Houston based Independent label in '49.
Then finally from a 45 of the Duke label a young Bobby Bland from 1953 with No Blow No Show, the flip of his second release for the label. These were modest efforts compared to the soulful blues he did in the sixties and seventies that made him famous among the soul crowd - but he never achieved success in the mainstream. Still, he's considered one of the greats of blues and soul.
Next the vocal group with the most famous bass lead voice - the Ravens. Jimmy Ricks wrote this song that was released on Mercury in 1952 as the flip of Write Me One Sweet Letter.
Here is Rock Me All Night Long
07 - Ravens - Rock Me All Night Long
08 - Mel Walker - Feelin' Mighty Lonesome
Also on Mercury that was Mel Walker with Feelin' Mighty Lonesome that he recorded in 1954. He was one of the great discoveries of Johnny Otis together with Little Esther Phillips and with her he did several duets with the band of Otis. There's a remarkable resemblance between the two, both heavily addicted to drugs and both completely lost their way and their success after they quit working with Otis.
But where Esther Phillips got herself a second chance in the early sixties, though still struggling with the drugs, Walker was found dead in a Los Angeles alley after an overdose in April of 1964 - that is, it's most likely that the body found was his.
Next from 1950 Roy Brown on the DeLuxe label with a song titled New Rebecca. What the New in the title stands for has puzzled me - the lyrics don't tell. In the late thirties it was a way to tell that it was a re-recording - but AFAIK Brown never recorded a Rebecca before.
Or it must be a belated answer song to Wynonie Harris' Rebecca Blues of five years before, that is about a married woman having an affair with the singer, where this is about the singer's woman, running around with the neighbor and a man downtown.
Well anyhow here it is - Roy Brown with New Rebecca
09 - Roy Brown - New Rebecca
10 - Lee Graves - Cloudy Weather Blues
"Preacher" Lee Graves was that with the Cloudy Weather Blues. He was a Texas bluesman and trumpeter and for the last he'd been playing in the band of Johnny Otis for a while. This session was in 1951 with Henry Hayes, a noted Houston band leader who at some point owned his own record label named Kangaroo.
Next the Big Three Trio consisting of bass player Willie Dixon, Ollie Crawford on guitar and Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston on the piano. They formed in 1946 and were succesful on the Columbia label and later its subsidiary OKeh. Mississippi born Willie Dixon was both a singer in local vocal groups, songwriter and a succesful boxer and when he moved to Chicago he got champion heavyweight for the state of Illinois. It was gym mate Leonard 'Baby Doo' Caston who brought him in music and after the war - when Dixon had served in prison for being a conscientious objector - they started the trio with initially guitarist Bernardo Dennis, and they replaced him for Ollie Crawford.
After the trio broke up in 1952 Dixon moved over to the Chess label where he had quite some success - though he was paid badly. His efforts for organizing the American Folk-Blues Festivals in the sixties were better paid.
For now the Big Three Trio with You Sure Look Good to Me - by far their most succesful song.
11 - Big Three Trio - You Sure Look Good to Me
12 - Ray-o-Vacs - I Still Love You Baby
The obscure Ray-O-Vacs, the Newark band that so oddly named itself after a battery brand with a 1950 recording when they were with Decca. While their records didn't sell, they got fame on the road and even won a popularity contest in the Pittsburgh Courier where they were voted best small combo, beating out Paul Gayten and - not the least I'd say - Louis Jordan.
Their music style is defined by smoky voice of Herb Milliner and the very own style of their saxophonist Leopart 'Chink' Kinney.
Next Oh! Red - the great hit of the Harlem Hamfats in a vocal arrangement for the Ink Spots from 1938 on Decca. Oh Red was written by Charlie McCoy and made enough impact to be covered by Count Basie.
13 - Ink Spots - Oh! Red
14 - Ora Alexander - You've Got To Save That Thing
A blueswoman whose life facts, apart from her recordings, are unknown. Ora Alexander recorded for Columbia in two New York sessions in 1931 and '32, with in most cases pretty primitive accompaniment from unknown musicians - she probably did the piano herself. She shouts her blues though, full of bawdy lyrics, in a rough and strong voice. Date of birth and death and anything more on here whereabouts or other biographical information has been lost in time.
This was titled You've Got To Save That Thing.
Next Tiny Parham in a Decca recording from 1940. Parham played the organ in theater houses and some of these were recorded for Decca. Here is his Moving Day.
15 - Tiny Parham - Moving Day
17 - Clarence Williams - Mister, Will You Serenade
Now that is a great piece of washboard 'n jug band jazz - Clarence Williams from January 1934 on Vocalion with Mister Will You Serenade. Novelty Dance it says on the record label and the little masterpiece was written by Clarence Williams together with Alexander Hill and Ikey Robinson. It was also released on OKeh with a Fletcher Henderson ditty on the flip.
It got a wonderful cover of Tiny Bradshaw later that year for Decca that I promise you to play in a next show, here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman - as it's one of my favorites.
Before that you got another piece of feelgood depression swing with the Georgia Washboard Stompers, who also went by the names of the Washboard Rhythm Kings and the Alabama Washboard Stompers - a combo that had a lot of personnel changes but at some point included great names as Valaida Snow on the trumpet, Ben Smith on the clarinet, Teddy bunn on the guitar and singers Leo Watson and Bruce Johnson who also did the washboard. This was on the brand new US branch of Decca in 1934, one of the earliest releases in their 7000 race series.
Now you may have recognized the outtro tune, and indeed this brought us to the end of the show. As always I invite you to let me know whether you liked the show, and send me an e-mail. The address is rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com. And today's show is documented on my web site should you have missed a part of my story that you want to know about. You can also find what will be on for next week. Easiest way to get there is search the web for the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman and my site will show up first. This was show number 142 in that ever growing list of shows.
For now time's up so have a rocking day. Let the good times roll - and see you next week here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman!