Jan August - "Martha"

"Martha" is the flip side to Cow Cow Blues which I posted back in February of 2011.
The song, "Martha" is adapted from the Friedrich Von Flowtow opera of the same name.

George Wright - "Tumbling Tumbleweeds/Brazilian Sleigh Bells"

Here is something a bit different from Dad's 45s and somewhat fitting for the holiday season.

George Wright (August 28, 1920 in Orland, California – May 10, 1998 in Glendale, California) was an American musician, possibly the most famous virtuoso of the theatre organ of the modern era.

Wright was best known for his virtuoso performances on the huge Wurlitzer theater pipe organs at the famed Fox Theater on Market Street in San Francisco and the ornate Paramount Theaters in both New York and Oakland. He was in constant demand during the 1940s, '50s and early '60s, playing at concerts and recitals around the world.

Here is side 1 of a 4-song E.P. that was released on the HiFi Record label in 1956.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - "Okie Dokie Stomp"

Happy Thanksgiving from Dad's 45s & 78s.

This one's no turkey from 1954 on the famous Peacock label. This is badass rhythm and blues guitar work from a master that inspired countless players. Rock composer, Frank Zappa credits Gatemouth, along with Guitar Slim and Johnny Guitar Watson, as important influences on his guitar playing.

Hutch Davie - "Woodchopper's Ball"

Robert Bunyan Davie III (born c.1932), known as Bob "Hutch" Davie is an 
orchestra leader, arranger, pianist, and composer of popular music. He composed the song "Green Door", and led the orchestra which backed Jim Lowe on the best-selling version of the song in 1956. With record producer Bob Crewe, he also arranged Santo and Johnny's hit "Sleep Walk", and in 1958 had this #51 chart hit, as "Hutch Davie and his Honky Tonkers", with his version of Woody Herman's "Woodchopper's Ball"

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars - "The Duke You Say!"

Howard Rumsey is a Californian bassist primarily known for his leadership of the Los Angeles group the Lighthouse All-Stars in the 1950s.The Lighthouse Café is a nightclub located at 30 Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach, California. It has been active as a jazz showcase since 1949 and, under the name "The Lighthouse", was one of the central West Coast jazz clubs from the 1950s through the late 1970s.

The Lighthouse Then & Now

The Fugitives - "Fugitive"

Remember this great post from 2011? Well here finally is the flip side to Freeway.
"Fugitive" by The Fugitives!



Download from iTunes

The Four Tops - "I Can't Help Myself"

My introduction to the Motown sound of Detroit, came by way of this record from dad's black plaid box.
This song was one of two #1 hits the The Four Tops had in the mid-60s. The other being "Reach Out, I'll Be There." Both songs were penned by the highly successful songwriting and production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland.

Music from "The Man With The Golden Arm" by Elmer Bernstein

The 1955 Otto Preminger film, The Man With The Golden Arm starring Frank Sinatra, featured a riveting score written by Elmer Bernstein. The jazz sequences were arranged and performed by Shorty Rogers and His Giants with Shelly Manne on drums. Shorty plays a mean flugelhorn on the menacingly intense, "Frankie Machine."
Here is the "A" side of this Decca Extended Play (EP) 45.











"Frankie Machine"

"Desperation"

Earl Bostic - "Where Or When"

The 1956 version of "Where or When" features Bostic growling through the mid-range of his alto sax behind a heavy backbeat and loud bass and it is a marked departure from his approach to the same tune recorded on Gotham in 1947 which showed off his sweet "singing' in the upper register with barely audible percussion. Bostic proved that saxophone instrumentals could climb the hit charts and other saxists with hits including Boots Randolph and Stanley Turrentine have acknowledged his influence.
Great stuff from a man who passed away too soon.

Dion - "He'll Only Hurt You"

I posted the plug side, "Ruby Baby" a couple years ago. I never really listened to this one much as a kid. It was too slow and sappy. I think it sounds a bit like Roy Orbison. Anyway, here it is in all it's teenage heartbreak glory, "He'll Only Hurt You"

Cannonball Adderley - "Blue Brass Groove"

Way back in May of 2011, I posted the B-side of this 45 and am happy to finally share the other side. This was another one that dad bought for the flip and I did not hear "Blue Brass Groove" much until more recently and I must say that I love it. It has such an uplifting feeling when I listen to it.
Both of these songs were included on Adderley's 1961 album, African Walt

Boots Randolph - "Windy And Warm"

Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit "Yakety Sax" (which became Benny Hill's signature tune). Randolph was a major part of the "Nashville Sound" for most of his professional career.

Bill Doggett - "Blue Largo"

Here is another smokey flavored nugget from the legendary Bill Doggett, whose multi Gold Record break thru 1956 crossover r&b instrumental mega hit, "Honky Tonk" set in motion the use of the jazz organ as an essential lead instrument for pop and jazz combos. Jimmy Smith, Groove Holmes, Jimmy Mc Griff all followed the door that Bill Doggett opened.

Bill Black's Combo - "Josephine"

Sorry I have not been posting much lately. I have been busy with a lot of things this summer, but will try and get back to more regular postings. I have plenty more things to share with you. Like this one.

I have always preferred instrumental tunes and Bill Black's Combo was a sound I dug from day one as a boy. Here is his 1960 single "Josephine." I posted the B-side to it three years ago. "Josephine" was one of eight songs by the combo that placed in the Top 40 between 1959 and 1962.

Paul Weston - "Crescent City"

Paul Weston's 1957 musical tribute to New Orleans, "Crescent City - The Music of New Orleans" is an American music classic of the 20th Century. It is a hauntingly beautiful mosaic of the city.  The music came to be written when husband & wife Paul Weston & Jo Stafford visited New Orleans, Louisiana, they fell in love with the city.

Milt Jackson - " 'Round Midnight"

Remember "Namesake"? Well, here is that A-side that I mentioned way back in May of 2011. Hard to believe it's been over three years since I started this blog.

"'Round Midnight" is a 1944 jazz standard by pianist Thelonious Monk. It is the most-recorded jazz standard composed by a jazz musician.

The Drifters - "If You Don't Come Back"

The A side of "Rat Race" by The Drifters, features Johnny Moore on lead vocals.
Although it was the A side the song did not fare as well as the B-Side which made it to number 71 on the U.S. Pop Chart.

The Cadillacs - Let Me Explain

Remember Speedo? Well here is the downtempo B-side in all it's sappy doo-woppy goodness.

Sax Man Brown - "Flaming Blues"

Time for the the flip side of this one, by Sax Man Brown & The Broomdusters.
Golden smokey blues that invokes cinematic memories of old.

Ramsey Lewis Trio - "Iracy Blues"

Here again is the Ramsey Lewis Trio, doing a little thing called "Iracy Blues". I love the stand up bass lines, which I believe were played by Eldee Young.

Lewis performing at JazzFe 2006. Photo by Tomas Forgac

Percy Mayfield - "Loose Lips"

Here is the other side of this record. This was the side that dad always played. I imagine that these were somewhat risqué lyrics for the time.

Mose Allison - "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me"

Here is the B side to Mose Allison's "The Seventh Son", which I posted about a year ago.

Prestige Records tried to market Allison as a pop star, but Columbia Records and later Atlantic Records tried to market him as a blues artist. Because he sang blues, Jet magazine thought that he was black and wanted to interview him. I thought he was too when I first heard him as a kid.

Mose is still with us and his March 2010 album, The Way of the World, "marked his return to the recording studio after a 12-year absence."

Lionel Hampton - "Railroad No. 1"

You could not spend a better 9 cents than on this record by Lionel Hampton and his orchestra. This record swings a jazzy, instrumental blues groove that will have you bopping in no time.
This is the B side to this post from last year.

Gus Jenkins - "Road Runner"

As promised, here is the A-Side of "Road Runner" by Gus Jenkins.

Dizzy Gillespie - "Over The Rainbow"

This big band version of the famous song from The Wizard Of Oz features Austin Cromer on vocals and was recorded in 1957.

Comer was an enormously powerful singer, who was a member of The Ravens in the middle 'fifties, sang and recorded with Dizzy Gillespie in 1956-57, was rediscovered by Atlantic Records working on a labor crew in Columbus in 1965, released a solo album, then "disappeared".

Clef Records was an American Jazz record label founded by Norman Granz in 1946. It was later absorbed into Verve Records.

Chuck Berry - "Down Bound Train"

Here is the flip side to "No Money Down" which I posted last February.
Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986, with the comment that he "laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance." Berry is included in several Rolling Stone "Greatest of All Time" lists, including being ranked fifth on their 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll included three of Chuck Berry's songs: "Johnny B. Goode," "Maybellene," and "Rock and Roll Music." Today, at the age of 87, Berry continues to play live.