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 blend of tunes today that spans over three-and-a-half decade of African American music - mostly named Rhythm & Blues but we should not forget that that as a term wasn't coined before 1948 when Billboard Magazine abandoned the then-usual demoninator Race Music. And of course through these years a lot changed but what didn't is that it's all exciting music. And I'm not intending to do them chronologically but I do start back in 1936 with a recording for Decca of Red Nelson. A masterpiece - says Allmusic in its biography on Red Nelson. On piano is Cripple Clarence Lofton. Here is the Crying Mother Blues.
01 - Red Nelson - Crying Mother Blues
02 - Robbins - That's What The Good Book Says
And with the Robbins we jumped to 1950 with That's What The Good Book Says - a jumping vocal mentioning some bible stories. The Robbins were one of the many discoveries of Johnny Otis and it's likely that it's his own band backing them up and that he does the vibes on here. The song was released on the Modern label that brought so many of Otis' proteges.
And I realise that I don't do that many of vocal groups, here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman so let's just do another one. From 1954 on Jubilee here is the sensation of vocal groups of the early fifties. Ladykiller Sonny Til and the Orioles with Longing.
03 - Orioles - Longing
04 - Tiny Grimes - 125th Street Sunrise
(jingle)
05 - Lionel Hampton - One sweet letter from you
06 - Louise Johnson - On The Wall
Well a more varying allsorts is hard to imagine. You just heard a blues of Louise Johnson, one of the four ever recorded, from as long ago as 1930, and that was from a famous session of country blues done way up in Grafton, WI on May 28 of 1930 for the legendary Paramount label. That session also Charley Patton, Son House, and Willie Brown were present and accounts vary on who's on the piano and who does the talking in between. The piano most likely is Louise Johnson herself, and the talking Son House.
Now the story goes that Charley Patton was Louise Johnson's boyfriend when they started the long journey to Wisconsin, but on their way back to Mississippi she'd given her love to Son House instead - which inspired Patton to write his Joe Kirby Blues, named after the plantation that Johnson lived on. Nowadays that would have been a juicy story for Entertainment Today.
Well before Louise Johnson I played more - Lionel Hampton's band with One sweet letter from you and that was on Victor from 1939 and then before the jingle you got that great instrumental, that was the 125th Street Sunrise of Tiny Grimes.
And the next one on the turntable is a Bluebird 78 from 1941 - Lil Green and she sings I'm Going To Copyright Your Kisses.
07 - Lil Green - I'm Going To Copyright Your Kisses
08 - Todd Rhodes feat. Louie Saunders - Fool For You
Louie Saunders backed up by the orchestra of Todd Rhodes recorded for the Sensation label but the master was traded to Vitacoustic, a pretty obscure label that within months ran in troubles and went bankrupt. That way the masters ended up at the King label that didn't release them either. I found it on an Ace CD with recordings for the Sensation label.
And for the next one I go to the Federal label and Little Esther. After she left the Savoy label and her mentor, Johnny Otis, things went downhill rapidly for her. The releases on Federal didn't sell and that was quite a contrast with the jump start she had with Otis. Her drug addiction did the rest - by 1954 she had to concentrate on fighting that and earning some money performing in night clubs.
From 1952 on Federal you get Better Beware.
09 - Little Esther - Better Beware
10 - Priscilla Bowman - A Spare Man
That was Priscilla Bowman and this was on the Falcon label - a subsidiary of Vee-Jay - in 1957. Well you don't get 'em that young often here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman, but hey, this is great music. This wasn't one of her greatest successes, we know her of course from her Hands Off that she did with Jay McShann in 1955 and of her first version of A Rockin' Good Way, that in the version of Brook Benton and Dinah Washington made it number one in 1960.
Well back to the beginning of the decade with Paula Watson and her Pretty Papa Blues. I got it from a CD that was titled Midnight Blues Party volume 2 where they apparently took it directly from 78 and it comes with two skipped grooves unfortunately. But it's a great song so I hope you'll enjoy it anyhow.
11 - Paula Watson - Pretty Papa Blues
12 - Louis Jordan - Beware
The man that don't need an introduction on this show - Louis Jordan with Beware from 1946. Now on this Jordan only did talking - a very early precursor of modern rap.
Next straight from a 78 on the Four Star label Pee Wee Crayton with the After hours boogie. Now this was released in 1949 but recorded two years earlier, before his great hit Blues after hours of 1948 on Modern and the follow ups Long after hours and Answer to Blues After Hours. Blues after hours is much slower and more mellow, like you should expect of an instrumental with that title, than this one.
Listen to the After Hours Boogie.
13 - Pee Wee Crayton - After Hours Boogie
14 - Lloyd Glenn - Old Time Shuffle
More instrumental with the Old Time Shuffle of pianist Lloyd Glenn on Aladdin from 1956. He was one of those many Texas musicians that went to the West Coast - in his case in 1941 and he had many successes both as a session man as under his own name. This Old Time Suffle hit number 3 in 1950, just before his 1951 number one hit Chicka Boo.
Next Got Cool Too Soon of Paul Bascomb. Back in the late twenties, Bascomb was one of the founders of the Bama State Collegians - the student jazz band that later under the direction of Erskine Hawkins moved to New York to gain fame as the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra.
Now thanks to his work with Hawkins and a good deal of re-issues on the output of the United and States labels, Bascombs music is easy to find. I found this one on an album titled Blues & Beat on Vintage Masters featuring Bascomb - originally this was from 1952 on the States label, the subsidiary of United records. Here is Got Cool Too Soon.
15 - Paul Bascomb - Got Cool Too Soon
16 - Walter Brown - Lovin' A Beggar
On Mercury from 1947 the Lovin' Beggar of Walter Brown and Jay McShann's quartet provided the instrumentals on here. He'd been with Jay McShann from 1941 to '45 where he did his most succesful recordings including the Hootie Blues and Confessing The Blues. His solo career wasn't that succesful and he re-united with McShann on several occasions to record. This was from such a session.
And there's still time for a little more so here is, from 1956 on the Checker label the high pitched voice of J.B. Lenore. The late fifties were a particular succesful time for him with a few blues standards like Don't Touch My Head and Don't Dog Your Woman. But here is his Let Me Die With The One I Love
17 - J.B. Lenore - Let Me Die With The One I Love
18 - Jo Jo Adams - Upstairs
And Jo-Jo Adams closes today's show with Upstairs, a great blues that sounded so typical for him. He was backed up by Maxwell Davis on this one and it was recorded for Aladdin in June of 1947. Before, he had recorded for the Hy-Tone label and its ancestor Melody Lane and these sessions make up for a great CD on Jo Jo Adams on the Classics series from 2004 - that unfortunately left out four great sides he did with Tom Archia for the Aristocrat label.
Well it has been a very varied set today with music from as far back as 1930 and as recent as 1957 - well, for as far as you can call that recent. Yeah you do get old stuff on here only and I hope you like it. So let me know what you think of it and send me an e-mail at rockingdutchman@rocketmail.com. And if you want to read back what I done told you today or see what's on for next week, just do a google search for the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman and my website will show up first. Well it's so much easier to find it that way than that I have to spell out the web address that contains my last name, and I don't want to bother you with that - it's unpronounceable for anyone but Dutch people, a sequence of characters that don't seem to make sense if you're not familiar with my native language.
Now time's up so have a great and rocking day. See you next time, here on the Legends of the Rocking Dutchman!