This transcript of the radio show is an approximation of what I said in the show. The real spoken parts may differ slightly.
And if you're a frequent listener, you may have found out that every now and then I spell out the catalog of Decca's Race series, a higly enjoyable and let's not forget very easy-to-find catalog of great music. The series ran from 1934 up to the somewhere in 1942 with an odd reissue after the 1942-44 recording strike of the American Federation of Musicians. It featured the best in blues musicians from both New York and Chicago, the two cities where the label was active.
And to start with here is from late 1940 number 7815 of the catalog. Peetie Wheatstraw with a title that well fit his image of a bad guy - the Gangster Blues.
00 - 7815 - Peetie Wheatstraw - Gangster's Blues.wav
00 - 7816 - Blind Teddy Darby - Bootleggin' Ain't Good No More.wav
Bootleggin' Ain't Good No More and for sure that was true after prohibition ended - you heard Blind Teddy Darby, and this St. Louis guitarist and singer served some time in custody in the twenties for selling moonshine so he knows what he's talking about. He got blind at the age of 20 and like more Black blind men, singing the blues provided him an income. His cousin Tom Webb did the piano on his recordings - also on this one - and when the man was stabbed to death in the late thirties, Darby ended his musical career to become a minister. In the early sixties he made a few recordings for Testament Records but these never got released.
The next release of Decca - number 7817 - was Johnnie Temple with Bowleg Woman.
00 - 7817 - Johnnie Temple - Bowleg Woman.wav
00 - 7818 - Bill Gaither - Wintertime Blues.wav
(jingle)
00 - 7822 - Georgia Pine Boy - One More Greasing.wav
00 - 7823 - Peetie Wheatstraw - What's That.wav
And another one of the Devil's Son In Law, Peetie Wheatstraw and you heard What's That on Decca number 7823. Wheatstraw's real name was William Bunch, and he was popular in the St. Louis area where he had given himself a demonic image.
Now many of his songs sound alike, with a 'oh well well' in every third line of his blues, and a lot of them opening with the same intro. There's a set of seven CDs on the Document label convering all of his recordings but when you listen to all of them, well you just can't tell them from each other anymore. His lyrics on the other hand are good and deal with the hardships of African Americans in the Great Depression, no-good women, and death.
Well you got more - before Peetie Wheatstraw, I played One More Greasing and on the label the artist was billed as Georgia Pine Boy - now the singer was Joe McCoy, one of the stars of the Decca label. Now issuing a record under a completely unknown name, to me that makes no sense - after all I guess they want the record to sell. Decca did this more often and it's a mystery to me why.
Then, finally before the jingle, that was the Wintertime Blues of Bill Gaither, as always singing under the name of Leroy's Buddy in honor of his friend Leroy Carr who had died in 1935. The recording was over a year old when it was released, it was from July 1939.
Next one was recorded in November of 1940. Here is Big Joe Turner with Doggin' The Dog.
00 - 7824 - Big Joe Turner - Doggin' The Dog.wav
00 - 7825 - Johnnie Temple - Corrine Corrina.wav
The blues standard Corrina Corrina sung by Johnnie Temple and it's just one of the many versions since Bo Carter recorded it in 1928. Charlie McCoy, Tampa Red, Frankie Jaxon and Walter Davis had recorded it since and also Joe Turner would soon do so.
And next up another of Leroy's Buddy - here is on Decca number 7826 the Sweet Woman Blues.
00 - 7826 - Bill Gaither - Sweet Woman Blues.wav
00 - 7827 - Joe Turner - Careless Love.wav
A song he would record more often in his career, like so many of his songs. This was Joe Turner's very first version of Careless Love and by then it had been recorded by many artists before - around 1900 it was the top piece of the band of Buddy Bolden, one of the originators of New Orleans jazz.
Next a very obscure bluesman who goes by the name of Pigmeat Terry. For sure he has a very distinctive own style, one that I would love to hear more from - but it doesn't exist. It had laid on the shelf at Decca for five years when they released it. Here is the Black Sheep Blues.
00 - 7829 - Pigmeat Terry - Black Sheep Blues.mp3
00 - 7830 - Al Miller - Juicy Mouth Shorty.mp3
Country style blues of Al Miller, and that must have been another result of dusting off the shelves of the Decca vaults - just like the one I played before this. It was recorded in 1936 and it has pianist Cripple Clarence Lofton and Odell Rand on the clarinet on it.
Also from years before its release in '41 - recorded in 1935 - is the next one, the No Good Woman Blues of Scrapper Blackwell, on the label well disguised as Frankie Black.
00 - 7832 - Scrapper Blackwell - Good Woman Blues.mp3
00 - 7833 - Roosevelt Sykes - 47th Street Jive.mp3
Roosevelt Sykes with the 47 Street Jive, a great boogie woogie blues about the hepcat scene and that was Decca release number 7833. June Richmond did two memorable versions of this song, one together with Andy Kirk and she fronted his band on many occasions, and the other one on a soundie where she's backed by Roy Milton and his Solid Senders. I played that some time ago here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman, and if you missed that, I suggest you look it up on YouTube, 'cause that one's really worth seeing.
From this raging boogie woogie to a vocal harmony group is quite a step but that's the next one for today. On Decca 7835 here are the Cabineers with Lindy.
00 - 7835 - Cabineers - Lindy.mp3
00 - 7836 - Yack Taylor - Knockin' Myself Out.mp3
Yack Tailor Texas Blusicians says the label for this Knockin' Myself Out and there's just a few songs left of this obscure blues singer backed up here by the piano of Sammy Price. They left the horns of the Texas Blusicians at home though.
And there's time for one more so here is on Decca 7837, once more the Devil's son in law Peetie Wheatstraw. Straigt from the 78 here is My Little Bit.
00 - 7837 - Peetie Wheatstraw - My Little Bit
And Peetie Wheatstraw brings us again to the end of the hour, where I brought you some of the Decca catalog of around 1940 and 41. There's so much great music to find on the Race series of what was by then the leading label in Rhythm & Blues, that I could easily devote a hundred shows to it, when I would play both sides of each release. Most of the music is re-released on all kinds of compilation albums and that makes it not so hard to find, yet still most of this music has been completely forgotten.
I hope you like me reviving these old blues and of course, you can provide your feedback at rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com. And when you'r curious what's on the menu for next time, or you want to read back the information of today's show, go to my web site and easiest way to find that is searching Google for the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman.
For now time's up so I hope you have a rocking day. I hope to see you back for your next shot of Rhythm & Blues, here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman!