This transcript of the radio show is an approximation of what I said in the show. The real spoken parts may differ slightly.
And a great mix again of the best of Rhythm & Blues and where I mostly limit myself to the music from before the Rock & Roll era, for today I wanna start on the brink of the sixties with a group that would totally make it in that decade in Chicago's thriving soul scene. But they started out as one of the best vocal groups around, as Jerry Butler and the Impressions. They signed for the Vee-Jay label that had many of the vocal groups of the Windy City on its roster and there they had their first smash hit, For Your Precious Love. The song that I'm gonna play, I chose it for its wonderful harmonies where you can easily recognize the work of Curtis Mayfield, by then still a teenager. Here is Lovely One.
01 - Impressions - Lovely One
02 - Larks - Rockin' In The Rocket Room
The Larks backed up by the band of Bobby Smith on Rocking In The Rocket Room from 1954 on Lloyds, a subsidiary of the Apollo label. The Larks had a long history of singing both gospel and secular songs under different names but they made fame in 1950 when the group from Raleigh, NC drove up to New York to record at four studios in one day. They ended up at the Apollo label that decided that the group should stay with doowop and there, they were dubbed the Larks.
By '52 the group had disbanded though when lead baritone Allen Bunn went out for his own and tenor Gene Mumford joined gospel group The Golden Gate Quartet. In '53 Mumford formed a new group The Larks and with the existing contract with Apollo, they recorded again in '54 and this goodie comes from that session. Apollo executive Bess Berman wanted a new sound, more pop-stylish and this song bears every aspect of the brand new, teenager oriented rock 'n roll style of the mid-fifties, a goodtime song of rocking and romancing with a girl that's described as a high-octane supersonic Jane.
The vocal effects on the minor key middle part are wonderful and show off the abilities of this new incarnation of the Larks, and also its mood is much different from the rest of the song - and it well describes the vibe of moment when you fall in love with your dance partner.
The Larks really did great songs but they didn't get far - their second incarnation wasn't succesful in terms of record sales. In 1955 they broke up again in the middle of a week long stint in the Apollo Theatre. There was a rumor going around that Gene Mumford and another member would be arrested while on stage for failing to pay alimony and they decided to cancel the shows. The Orioles filled in for them, but it meant the end of the group.
We stay in 1954 with a release on the Grand label. Hear the rather obscure Fay Simmons - best known for her belter Hangin' Around from '56 on the Port label - here backed up by the Nite Riders of Doc Stark, with Whim Wham Whop.
03 - Fay Simmons - Whim, Whap, Whop
04 - Professor Longhair & His Shuffling Hungarians - She Ain't Got No Hair
(jingle)
05 - Todd Rhodes - Hog Maw and Cabbage Chow
06 - Crown Prince Waterford - Pow-Wow Boogie
Four in a row - after Fay Simmons' Whim Wham Whop you got New Orleans pianist Henry Roeland Bird, better known as Professor Longhair with a band that's named as weird as this man was, the Shuffling Hungarians. She Ain't Got No Hair was recorded in 1950 for the Star Talent label of Dallas, TX.
Professor Longhair was well-rooted in the New Orleans traditions and his Mardi Gras in New Orleans is probably his best known record together with Tipitina from 1953. Well, he never got that famous but he definitely is iconic for New Orleans.
Then came the jingle and Todd Rhodes with Hog Maw and Cabbage Chow that he recorded for the King label somewhere around 1953. And on that same label but a few years older is the last one, Charles 'Crown Prince' Waterford with the Pow-Wow Boogie. His nickname came from the Crown Prince Boogie that he did with Jay McShann in 1945. Waterford was an old-fashioned good blues shouter starting in the mid-thirties with Leslie Sheffield's Rhythmaires and Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy. His '49 sessions for King were not his last ones, but after that he recorded only every now and then for different labels - one of them the obscure Torch label in Dallas - best known for their releases of Zuzu Bollin. And I'll get you one of these now. Here is Zuzu Bollin with the Headlight Blues.
07 - Zuzu Bollin - Headlight Blues
08 - Paul Williams - 35-30
Great honking on the baritone saxophone by Paul Williams in a recording for the Savoy label. You heard 35-30 from 1947, his first hit. Of course, we remember him best for the Hucklebuck from December '48, a re-work of the D-Natural Blues of Lucky Millinder. The Hucklebuck started a dance craze and the record is generally viewed as one of the important ingredients in the making of Rock 'n Roll.
Next you'll get a recording of Grant 'Mr. Blues' Jones backed by Bob Call. Bob Call is best known for being the piano man in Elzadie Robinson's blues back in the twenties, but here he leads an outfit that by members of the Red Saunders Research Foundation have been identified as Sax Mallard and Eddie 'Sugarman' Penigar on sax and Ransom Knowling on bass. Personnel was not listed in the documentation of Decca, where this was recorded for their Coral subsidiary.
Here is Grant 'Mr. Blues' Jones with the Talking Baby Blues.
09 - Grant 'Mr. Blues' Jones & Bob Call's Orchestra - Talking Baby Blues
10 - Peppermint Harris - Mabel Mabel
Blues guitarist Peppermint Harris was that with Mabel Mabel on the Sitting In With label - he did some recordings in improvised sessions, and legend has it that one was taken in a whorehouse in Houston. His later recordings for Aladdin sound more sophisticated.
Peppermint was his nickname, but his debut single had been for the Gold Star label as Peppermint Nelson - Harris was his first name. It was Bob Shad of the Sitting In label who mixed it up, and when his Raining in My Heart hit the charts, the name Peppermint Harris stood.
For the next one the obscure Aurelia Joyner together with Ivory Joe Hunter in on of my favorite songs. From 1947 on the Four Star label, here is Are You Hep To The Jive.
11 - Ivory Joe Hunter and Aurelia - Are You Hep
12 - Annisteen Allen with Lucky Millinder - Moanin' Blues
The Moaning Blues - well they don't sound being moaned at all, Annisteen Allen has a bright voice. She's being backed up by the band of Lucky Millinder in this recording from 1949 on RCA Victor. Annisteen was a fusion of Ernestine Allen's first name and Anniston, AL, the birthplace of Lucky Millinder.
For the next one the raw guitar work of Lightnin' Hopkins with his Mistreated Blues from 1953 on the RPM label.
13 - Lightnin' Hopkins - Mistreated Blues
14 - Bea Booze - If I Didn't Love You
From 1942 Bea Booze with If I Didn't Love You on Decca. On the piano is Sam Price, who served as the house pianist of Decca for many years, but he's best remembered for his band the Texas Bluesicians, a loose combination of musicians that at some point included saxman Don Stovall and trumpeter Emmett Berry. Here he is with Nasty But Nice.
15 - Sam Price - Nasty But Nice
16 - Mattie Hardy with Joe Williams & His Chicago Swingers - Striped Ape Blues
(jingle)
17 - Victoria Spivey - I Can't Last Long
18 - Clarence Williams - Dispossessin' Me
And once more four in a row to end this episode of the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman. You got after Sam Price, Mattie Hardy backed up by Joe Williams & His Chicago Swingers with the Striped Ape Blues from 1938 and that was on the Vocalion label. Then after the jingle that was I Can't Last Long of Victoria Spivey and then finally Clarence Williams and his band with a recording from 1933 on Vocalion, Disposessing Me. I'm afraid I'm a bit short on time or I could have told you some more about these goodies.
Cause as usual I do have to tell you that you can provide feedback at rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com - it's always well appreciated. And all of today's story and playlist, you'll find it on my website. Do a google search for the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman and it will show up first in the results. Today's show is number 194 in that long list of shows that I already done. Of course you can also see what will be on for next week, find out more about this radio program and then there's that awful picture of your show host to admire.
Well next week there'll be more rhythm & blues from me. Until then, don't get the blues. See you next time, here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman!