This transcript of the radio show is an approximation of what I said in the show. The real spoken parts may differ slightly.
Yeah thank you thank you, you're being too good for me, so much applause, thank you, I'm so glad that you found your way to my program again, and of course as always I will bring you the best of rhythm and blues like you are used from me and today I start with a piano instrumental of Jimmy Yancey that was released on the Session label on a 12 inch 78 rpm records, and that way it could hold more than the 3 minutes 20 seconds that was the limit of a standard 10 inch record. Not that these records ever got popular, cause they didn't fit on most phonographs. But it gives us nearly 4 minutes of a great piano solo. So here is Jimmy Yancey with the How Long Blues.
01 - Jimmy Yancey - How Long Blues
02 - Blind Joe Reynolds - Married Man Blues
Recorded in the Peabody hotel in Memphis in 1930 for the Victor label, that was the Married Man Blues of Blind Joe Reynolds, a bluesman using different names, mostly to hide his identity to escape the police or his enemies. Reynolds had been blinded by a gunshot in the early twenties and he spent his life busking in the streets when he was discovered by a talent scout of the Paramount label and he did his first session in Grafton, Wisconsin in the studio of Paramount. Apart from these two sessions Reynolds never recorded again.
Next a recording of Willie Brown that did for Alan Lomax's recordings for the library of Congress in 1941. It was released on the Herwin label. Before, he done a session in 1930 for the Paramount label and from that, three records were released but only one survived. Unfortunately, when Paramount closed, the masters were destroyed so re-releases of anything from that label depends on surviving, and often scratchy copies.
Here is Willie Brown with Make Me A Pallet On The Floor.
03 - Willie Brown - Make Me A Pallet On The Floor
04 - Peetie Wheatstraw - Possum Den Blues
(jingle)
05 - Pete Daily's Chicagoans - 5.30 A.M. Blues
06 - Kid Bailey - Rowdy Blues
You got a whole lot of old blues - after Willie Brown that was the Possum Den Blues of Peetie Wheatstraw from 1939 on the Decca label. Peetie Wheatstraw's real name was William Bunch and when he went to work and live in St. Louis he took his stage name, a name that was well rooted in folk traditions. Presenting himself as the devils son in law he gave himself an image that you can compare to nowadays rappers. Wheatstraw recorded some 160 sides, most of them for the Decca label until his death of an accident in 1941 on his 39th birthday.
You got more, after the jingle that were, on the Jump label the 5:30 AM blues of Pete Daily's Chicagoans. This may sound like twenties New Orleans jazz but in fact it was from '46 with the Dixieland revival. Pete Daily played the trombone and cornet in the band that he setup in the late 1930s in Chicago, and in 1942 he moved to Los Angeles after his service in the war when he played long time stints in Hollywood nightclubs until 1970.
And then finally the last one that were the Rowdy Blues of Kid Bailey and with that we went all the way back to 1929 with a recording for the Brunswick label. This was recorded in Memphis in the Peabody hotel, where Brunswick recorded more local bluesmen. This seems to have been the only session he ever done, that is, some think that he is the same person as Willie Brown.
For the next one a blues of big Joe McCoy. Credited on the Bluebird label just as Big Joe here he is with sleeping by myself.
07 - Big Joe McCoy - Sleeping By Myself
08 - Andy Kirk - Hey Lawdy Mama
From 1942 on Decca the band of Andy Kirk with Hey Lawdy Mama and that was released on the Decca label. And with June Richmond they had a strong vocalist and Richmond recorded several versions of the song - including a great soundie from 1944 with Roy Milton and his Solid Senders.
The song has a long tradition - It was already around just after World War 1 but the first recording is from 1934 done by Buddy Moss on the Melotone label. The Meet Me In The Bottom lyrics were from Bumble Bee Slim and he recorded it in '36.
Next the great blues shouting of Big Joe Turner and he recorded this with Lorenzo Flennoy and his trio. Flennoy's real first name was - oddly enough - Lorenza but he didn't use that as his professional name. At age 25 he already led a full size band that played the Club Alabam and occasionally the Savoy - that is, not the prestigious ballroom in Harlem but the nightclub attached to the Savoy Hotel in Los Angeles. In fact, Flennoy never came outside California with his band. He did regular radio appearences and movies as well.
After closure of the Alabam the venues Lorenzo played gradually became less prestigious and at times the outfit got smaller - even playing pretty often for private parties. Now listeners, if I had a swing sextet on my birthday party playing that in better days used to be the smash of one of the better venues in town, and stars on the Silver Screen, well that would be one heck of a party. But I guess these were different times. When the Alabam reopened in 1940 Flennoy again led a 13-piece band, but Uncle Sam drafted his men and that was the end of it. After the war Flennoy led a mere trio modeled after Nat King Cole's, and it's this that backed Joe Turner.
Well Turner seems to have recorded in about every town where he toured, often with local musicians, for any label that showed interest and that's how this session in the end of '47 came, for the Excelsior label. Here they are with Ooh-Ouch-Stop.
09 - Joe Turner & The Flennoy Trio - Ooh-Ouch-Stop
10 - Beale Street Gang - Back Alley Blues
From 1948 on the Savoy label the Beale Street Gang with the Bach Alley Blues. The Beale Street Gang were a New York ensemble gathered around Milt Buckner - by then the regular pianist of Lionel Hampton. Around this time he started to play the Hammond organ too, and that's what he's most remembered for. Now I often hear that he was a pioneer on the instument, but if you consider the Hammond Organ had been around from 1935 - then I wonder what's the pioneering about.
Next the pretty unknown Rickey Jordan. He debuted with a pop standard On The Sunny Side Of The Street. This nice jump blues comes straight from the 78 on the Exclusive label. It's from 1947 - here is the A.B.C. Blues.
11 - Rickey Jordan - A.B.C. Blues
12 - John Lee Hooker - Devil's Jump
From 1949 the Devil's Jump of John Lee Hooker and that comes just in the year after his famous Boogie Chillen, his debut on the Modern label. This is much like the Boogie Chillen, recorded solo and with an extra microphone hidden under a board on the floor for Hooker to stamp his feet on. Many musicians had problems playing together with him - for the variations in the rhythm of his playing.
Hooker credited his stepfather William Moore and his sister's boyfriend Tony Moore as his early influences - it wouldn't have been for his real father, a baptist preacher, in his early years he was only allowed to listen to religious music.
Hooker ran away from home at age fourteen to play the blues on Memphis Beale Street. In '43 he found his way to Detroit to work at the Ford factory and play the blues on Hastings Street and it's in these years[[hier gebleven met corrigeren]] that he switched to the electrical guitar. These blues were recorded in Detroit by Bernie Besman, the owner of Detroit's Sensation label but instead of releasing them himself he sent them to the Bihari brothers, owner of the Modern label. It were demos rather than fully finished recordings but the Biharis thought them perfectly fit for release. Boogie Chillen became a massive hit.
Bernie Besman did a lot to create the raw and eerie atmosphere on these records - and that included building up a board floor to record Hooker's tapping feet that was the only percussion on this, and a toilet bowl to enhance the sound of the electrical guitar. Well it did bring a sound like no other - and success to John Lee Hooker.
Next the debut single for Jimmy McCracklin, on the Globe label from 1945. His breakthrough came many years later, in 1958, with The Walk on the Checker label, and in the years before he had had many releases on smaller labels. Like this one - where he didn't do the piano himself but left them to J.D. Nicholson. Here he is with Miss Mattie Left Me.
13 - Jimmy Mccracklin - Miss Mattie Left Me
14 - Jack McVea - B.B. Boogie
On the Comet label from 1948, the B.B. Boogie of saxophonist Jack McVea and of course we know him primarily for the Open The Door Richard, a vaudeville sketch that he put on music. The typical riff is his but as a comedy sketch it was much older.
McVea was a noted saxman in the forties and fifties. After his popularity waned he started as the clarinettist in the Royal Street Batchelors, a trio that played in Disneyland's French Quarter square. Now that may seem a lame end to a career but Disney hired some of the best musicians for these ensembles. And then, others have spent years of the aftermath of their careers in hotel lobbies or obscure nightclubs - now that ain't exciting either.
Next the obscure Fat Man Robinson on the Regent Label. Here is Sophronia Jones - and I can't help but feel a similarity in the title to Saphronia B - the only hit of Calvin Boze.
15 - Fat Man Robinson - Sophronia Jones
And time seems to have flown faster than ever as this is the end already of another show full of great jumping Rhythm & Blues. Don't know how come but today only fifteen tracks fit in - well I'll try harder to get you more music next time. I hope you liked it anyway and well, just why don't you let me know and write me an e-mail - the address is rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and for sure I'll write back to you.
Then all of today's stories, you can find them back on the website of this program, and easiest way to get there is to search Google for the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman and it will pop up first. You've been listening to show number 220 that you'll find, numbered, in the episode list.
There will be more great music after a week. Until then, keep the faith and be on the lookout for the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman!