This transcript of the radio show is an approximation of what I said in the show. The real spoken parts may differ slightly.
And today's blues are drenched in alcohol as the booze is the central theme of this show. I did a show on drinking blues a long time ago - it was the fourth show of the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman and there are so many songs devoted to whiskey, gin, wine and beer that I can easily do another one. And why not start with the king of the booze song, Amos Milburn. After his number one success in 1950 with Bad Bad Whiskey he did a string of songs on the juice - though none of them written by himself and there's no indication that Milburn was a heavy drinker. Well let's hear that 1950 hit. Here's Bad Bad Whiskey.
01 - Amos Milburn - Bad Bad Whiskey
02 - Cootie Williams - Juice Head Baby
The Juice Head Baby - you heard Cootie Williams and his band with Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson on lead and well it's easy to recognize both Cootie's growling and wah-wahing trumpeting style and the singing style of Vinson. The juice of course is an often used euphemism for the liquor.
One more on the subject of alcoholist women. The Whiskey Headed Woman of Homesick James Williamson was recorded for Chance records but remained unissued at the time until 1977 on a Japanese compilation album on rare blues of the Chance label.
03 - Homesick James Williamson - Whiskey headed woman
04 - Billy Valentine - Beer Drinking Baby
The Beer Drinking Baby - you heard Billy Valentine and the saxophone on this was jazz legend John Coltrane. According to the John Coltrane Reference - that's a book - it was recorded in New York on the first of March of 1950 though other sources locate it in Los Angeles - quite a distance - a few months earlier. The song was released on Mercury as the flip of his version of How Long How Long blues, and it gets a lukewarm review in Billboard magazine - the reviewer says it lacks spark and drive.
Now Billy Valentine was the former lead singer of Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, the man who replaced Charles Brown and Johnny Moore had founds somewhat of a soundalike of Brown, but much less catching and - well just not the quality of Charles Brown.
Next from 1945 on the Philo label Jay McShann and his Jazz Men with When I've Been Drinking - one of the earliest releases of the forerunner of the Aladdin label. On vocals you hear Numa Lee Davis.
05 - Jay McShann feat. Numa Lee Davis - When I've Been Drinking
06 - Louis Jordan - What's the Use of Getting Sober (When You're Gonna Get Drunk Again)
What's the Use of Getting Sober (When You're Gonna Get Drunk Again) - Louis Jordan's first number one hit on the Harlem Hitparade, in December of 1942. By then Decca had taken Jordan over from the Race series - African-American music - to their new "sepia" series, considered music from black artists that had crossover potential to the white public and for sure Louis Jordan had. Jordan though hadn't yet found his typical jump blues style that made him so popular.
From Jordan to an apparent fan of him - Calvin Boze closely copied Jordan's style and with that he picked a grain of the enormous succes of Jordan. From Calvin Boze you'll get Waiting And Drinking.
07 - Calvin Boze - Waiting And Drinking
08 - Jo Jo Adams & Tom Archia - Drinkin' Blues
From 1947 on the Aristocrat label the Drinking Blues - you heard "doctor" Jo Jo Adams backed up by the band of saxophonist Tom Archia.
Next on the Specialty label, recorded in August of 1950 Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers with Whiskey Gin and Wine.
09 - Joe Liggins - Whiskey Gin and Wine
10 - Varetta Dillard - Love And Wine
The good man of Varetta Dillard putting her life in the dump with his love for the wine bottle and the landlady. Love and Wine was recorded in 1951 for the Savoy label and this was her first single, shortly after she won a talent contest at the Harlem Apollo theater that brought her to the attention of Herman Lubinsky of Savoy.
And next - Piano Red on quitting drinking in this song that was recorded in November of 1953 in Atlanta, and that wasn't released at the time. Here is Sober.
11 - Piano Red - Sober
12 - Smokey Hogg - Let's Get Together And Drink Some Gin
Smokey Hogg with Let's Get Together And Drink Some Gin. He recorded this for the Modern label in 1950, where he'd come in after the masters of his session with the Dallas label Bluebonnet were leased to Modern.
Next from '47 Jay McShann. We had him earlier in the show backing up Numa Lee Davis, here he is with Walter Brown on the vocals. McShann got his piano playing style influenced by Earl 'Fatha' Hines and helped define what would become the Kansas City sound. Walter Brown had been McShann's featured singer from 1942 to '45 but at the end of the decade they still recorded together occasionally - and that yielded this song that was released on Mercury in 1947 - Sloppy Drunk.
13 - Jay McShann feat. Walter Brown - Sloppy Drunk
14 - J.B. Summers & Tiny Grimes - Drinking Beer
(jingle)
15 - Red Calhoun - Here Comes The Man With The Gin
16 - Amos Milburn - One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer
One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer was that and you heard another one from Amos Milburn and his Aladdin Chickenshackers as he called his backing band after his monster hit the Chicken Shack. This was from 1953 on Aladdin. Before that you got the obscure Red Calhoun and the Dallas Swingers - by the second half of the forties the house band of the Rose Room in Dallas, but they didn't record much. This song, Here Comes The Man With The Gin was on the Bullet label. And then I have to account for the song befor the jingle, that was Tiny Grimes and his band backing J.B. Summers with Drinking Beer.
Well with all that booze it's good to tell that I have a pepsi-cola - no rum - next to me while producing this show - your show host isn't any of a drinker. Well that helps to get you a consistent story.
We'll have time for two more drinks before the bar closes and the first one is once more from Calvin Boze. This was from 1950 on Aladdin and it's Maxwell Davis and his band who backs him up. Here is Stinkin' from Drinkin'.
17 - Calvin Boze - Stinkin' From Drinkin'
18 - Ollie Shepard - Drunk Again
And Ollie Shepard with his Drunk Again from 1938 on Decca marks the end of this booze parade. I hope there was something for you in the bar and that you enjoyed the show. Well of course you can let me know and send me an e-mail to rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com. And also you can visit my web site, where you can review today's playlist and see what's on next week. Easiest way to find it is by doing a google search for the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman and my site will show up first.
As for now, have a great and rocking day. Hope to see you back, next time here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman!