This transcript of the radio show is an approximation of what I said in the show. The real spoken parts may differ slightly.
And there's another hour of sizzling Rhythm & Blues waiting for you. No central theme today but a whole lotta jumpin' 'n gruntin', rootin' 'n tootin', honkin' 'n plonkin' and hollerin' singers. And that starts with the great Wynonie Harris with a wonderful double-sider. The lyrics are pretty much nonsense and the flip is instrumental but that's OK, just as long as it jumps and rocks. Here is Wynonie Harris with Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop.
01 - Wynonie Harris - Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
02 - Lionel Hampton - Red Top
Lionel Hampton with his classic Red Top. It's one of these many compositions that copyright is being disputed on. Saxophonist Ben Kynard wrote it in 1946 when he was a member of Lionel Hampton's band, and this recording was his arrangement. Red Top was written in honor of his red-headed wife. Gene Ammonds recorded a vocalese version that sold much better and he went away with the credits, and it was even suggested that it was Ammonds' wife for whom it was written. BMI credit both men as writers and that's probably most Kynard could get out of it.
Next a little boy who was the child prodigy sensation of the mid-forties. Frank 'Sugar Chile' Robinson was born in December of 1938 in Detroit and according to his father, at the age of two he was always playing at the piano when to his surprise the kid was able to hammer a recognizable Tuxedo Junction. At the age of three he could play any current hit that he'd heard on the radio. At six he played in Lionel Hampton's band but child labour regulations prevented Hamp from having the boy working for him on the road. He also did a short performance in the movie No Leave, No Love singing and playing Louis Jordan's Caldonia. And when performing for president Truman, in the middle of this song he shouted "How'm I doin' Mr. President?"
During these years he was a lot on radio and shows and earned fortunes. Yet by '48 he still didn't have a recording contract and the 1948 recording ban prevented him from recording in that year. And so it was in '49 that he did a few sessions for Capitol - both blues and boogie woogie, that he was good in, and some Christmas songs.
It was the boy himself who had to ask his dad to get back to a normal life and school instead of the tutor he got. Apparently he was smart enough to be ahead of the kids in school despite his life on the road. But the novelty of the child prodigy went off and in 1952, he traded the busy life for school and did just a few stints a year until he was 18 when he completely ended his musical career. That is, in 2002 at the age of 63 he appeared as a surprise act on a concert celebrating pre-Motown music from Detroit.
So here is Sugar Chile Robinson with Please Mr. Teacher, the flip of Numbers boogie that made it number 4 in the R&B chart.
03 - Sugar Chile Robinson - After School Blues
04 - Meredith Howard - Just Kiss Me Once
(jingle)
05 - Kirby Walker - When My Love Comes Tumbling Down
06 - Lee Graves - Sixty Years and a Day
That wre three musicians that have gotten pretty obscure. You heard Lee Graves, who played the trumpet with Johnny Otis band arond 1950. This was Sixty Years and a Day and that was recorded with the combo of Henry Hayes from Houston from 1951. Now Hayes may be a bit of a forgotten name, in Houston he'd made some name with his band either called the Four Kings, the Rhythm Kings or just Henry Hayes Orchestra. In the late fifties he launced the Kangaroo record label and had some releases of his own band there.
Before that you got Kirby Walker who recorded When My Love Comes Tumbling Down for DeLuxe in 1946 backed by the band of the British born Leonard Feather, and well you may have heard this was taken straight from that Deluxe 78. And before the jingle you got Meredith Howard, and man there are a lot of women by that name on the web, so it's real hard to get something on her. Just kiss me once was that and that was recorded in 1951 for the Mercury label.
Next a lady who'd already been a star of the thirties blues when she recorded with Georgia Tom Dorsey and Blind Blake and later that decade with Earl Hines and his orchestra - Laura Rucker. The track that I'm going to play is much later, from around 1949 and she recorded it for the Aristocrat label with the Claude McLin Combo. I can't find it on the Aristrocrat discography so I assume it's not been released at the time. I found it on a CD with Chess re-releases, and Chess was the follow-up of Aristocrat. Listen to Laura Rucker and her Cryin' the blues.
07 - Laura Rucker - Cryin' The Blues
08 - Julia Lee - My Man Stands Out
Typical Julia Lee's style, and I was surprised to find so many of her songs on several CDs with mid-forties blues of this lady. The dirty blues had become her trademark, and the session band was dubbed her boyfriends and they included pianist Jay McShann and saxophonist and trumpeter Benny Carter. But when she was so succesful with these songs, she already was in her mid-forties and she had a 25 year music career behind her - fifteen years of them with the band of her brother George.
Next the Prisonaires - a group that was formed in the Tennessee State Penitentiary that quickly rose to stardom with their hit Just Walkin' in the Rain for Sam Phillips Sun label. For their session they'd been transported from prison to the Memphis studio and later they were allowed to perform on stage on day passes. The Tennessee State governor was a big fan of the group and they've performed on his mansion several times.
Here is That Chick's Too Young to Fry - the Prisonaires.
09 - Prisonaires - That Chick's Too Young to Fry
10 - Cats 'n Jammer Three - One Hundred Years from Today
More vocal delight with Bill Samuels and his Cats 'n Jammer Three and despite the name it was a quartet. You heard One Hundred Years from Today - for the time already a somewhat old-fashioned sounding performance. The group formed in 1945 and signed with Mercury and disbanded somewhere during the 1948 recording ban.
Next the Ravens and on this they were the vocal backup for Dinah Washington. Hey Good Lookin was from 1951 and released on the Mercury label.
11 - Ravens & Dinah Washington - Hey Good Lookin'
12 - Paul Bascomb - Mumbles Blues
Paul Bascomb was that and what a mover was that - the mumbles blues.
Next a recording of Ray Charles that he did in Miami in 1951. Ray had become succesful in Seattle where he'd moved to in '48, to flee his dreary time in Florida after the death of his mother. In 1950 he left town and went touring with Lowell Fulson and it was that tour that brought him to a Miami hotel where record boss Henry Stone was impressed with Ray's gig. For his Rockin' label Ray recorded four songs that have been forgotten since, until they were re-released as sound files for iTunes and other on-line music services. Well that's where I got them from too. Here is Ray Charles with St. Pete Florida, also known as I Found My Baby There.
13 - Ray Charles - St. Pete Florida
14 - Roosevelt Sykes - Ethel Mae Blues
From way back in 1934 that was Roosevelt Sykes with his Ethel Mae blues that he recorded for Decca. The US Branch of the originally British Decca was just launced and they also had started a race record series managed by the influential producer J. Mayo Williams. Numbered 7011 this was just the twelfth issue of the succesful 7000 race series of Decca that lasted until 1942.
And we're making a jump to 1952 with Mel Walker, one of the many discoveries of Johnny Otis. On the mercury label here is Unlucky Man.
15 - Mel Walker - Unlucky Man
16 - Todd Rhodes - Feathers
And how time flies when you're having fun. The hour's gone already with this somewhat scratchy King 78 of Todd Rhodes. You heard Feathers from 1953. Rhodes by then was some 53 years old and had a long-time career behind him in jazz and R&B that went back to the early twenties.
Well that was a much varied selection today and I hope you liked what I chose. And I know radio is pretty one-way communication but I'd really like it when you drop me a line and let me know what you think of it. The e-mail address is rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com and of course you can also visit my web site to review the play list, read back all the blabla that I told you today or see what's on the menu for the next show.
Today's mixed bag of goodies is done, so have a wonderful and rocking day and I hope to see you next time, when again I'll play the best of the most exciting music ever, the Rhythm & Blues, here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman.