Updates

• Added info on Jimmy Ford, thanks to Volker Houghton. • Extended and corrected the post on Happy Harold Thaxton (long overdue), thanks to everyone who sent in memories and information! • Added information to the Jim Murray post, provided by Mike Doyle, Dennis Rogers, and Marty Scarbrough. • Expanded the information on Charlie Dial found in the Little Shoe post.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Rare R&B, Volume II

Another bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

Here's the second installment of Bob O'Brien's "Rare R&B" series, another one will follow on this blog. I'm sure you will enjoy this and leave a comment, if you like it!

 ♫♫♫

1. Ivory Joe Hunter - I Almost Lost My Mind
2. Wynonie Harris - Good Morning Judge
3. Big John Greer - Got You On My Mind
4. Percy Mayfield - Please Send Me Someone to Love
5. Hadda Brooks - Brooks‘ Boogie (instrumental)
6. Fats Domino - Goin‘ Home
7. Lloyd Price - Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
8. Little Walter and his Night Cats - Juke (instrumental)
9. Roy Brown - Letter from Home
10. Ray Charles - It Should Have Been Me
11. Wynonie Harris - Bloodshot Eyes
12. The Moonglows - Secret Love
13. Sonny Till and the Orioles - Crying in the Chapel
14. Hank Ballard and the Midnighters - Work with Me Annie
15. Hank Ballard and the Midnighters - Annie Had a Baby
16. Otis Williams and the Charms - Hearts of Stone
17. Johnny Ace with Johnny Otis‘ Band - Pledging My Love
18. The Penguins - Earth Angel
19. Roy Brown - Old Age Boogie Pt. 1
20. Roy Brown - Old Age Boogie Pt. 2
21. Big Joe Turner - Honey Hush
22. Rufus Thomas, Jr. - Bear Cat
23. The Moonglows - Sincerely
24. Smiley Lewis - I Hear You Knocking
25. The Spaniels - Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight
26. BONUS The Flamingos - For All We Know

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Delmore Brothers on King

Delmore Brothers - Got No Way of Knowing / Muddy Water (King 45-1084), 1952

I first learned of the Delmore Brothers when hearing their "Rounder's Blues" years ago. This song was recorded at a time, when they were already recording boogie oriented numbers. "Rounder's Blues," however, was pure blues material, which could have been recorded easily ten years earlier by the Delmores. I was instantly struck with their intense harmony singing and the powerful harmonica solos by Wayne Raney. The brothers had developed their own sound by then, comprising boogie woogie elements, their close harmony singing, and a signature sound provided by their guitars, electric lead guitar and energetic harmonica performances by Raney or Lonnie Glosson.

The Delmores were Alton, born December 25, 1908, and Rabon, born December 3, 1916, to Charles Edward (1875-1951) and Mary Ann Delmore (1978-1958). The brothers had six other siblings and were born and raised in Elkmont, Limestone County, in the Alabama mountainside. Their musical influences rooted deeply in white gospel music and old-time. Their mother composed several gospel tunes and was joined by Alton later on.

The Delmore Brothers at WSM, 1930s
The brothers formed a duo in 1926, whem Rabon was just ten years old. They built up a local reputation by singing at fiddle concests and took a first try at recording when they held a session for Columbia on October 28, 1931, in Atlanta. Two tracks were produced, "Got the Kansas City Blues" and "Alabama Lullaby," which were released on Columbia #15724-D. In 1933, the Delmores began a longer association with Bluebird and recorded countless singles for this label during the 1930s. The duo soon became a member of the Grand Ole Opry and built up a high popularity at the show. Their stint with the Opry ended in 1939 due to disagreements with the show's management and their popularity ceased again. At that time, the brothers were backing their harmony singing mostly with their own guitars. Their style was bluesy and clear, comparable to the Carlisle Brothers, but much smoother.

Their association with Bluebird ended in 1940 and they began recording for Decca that same year. Although record sales were still good, the Delmores struggled to find a solid radio station base to broadcast. By 1943, they settled in Cincinnati, which borught them back on the map. That year, Alton put together the "Brown's Ferry Four," a gospel quartet consisting of Alton and Rabon, Merle Travis, and Grandpa Jones. The group began recording for Sidney Nathan's King record label in Cincinnati and soon, the brothers were allowed to record solo sides again. On King, they found their signature sound, fusing their blues and gospel roots with boogie woogie. "Hillbilly Boogie" was the first of those, cut with Merle Travis and Louie Innis on guitars and Roy Starkey on bass in Hollywood.

Adding electric guitars, bass, and harmonicas played by Wayne Raney or Lonnie Glosson, added to the sound, which soon began making waves in country music, known simply as "Hillbilly Boogie." Their biggest hit became "Blues Stay Away from Me" in 1949. 

Today's selections came from a May 21, 1952, session at the King Recording Studio in Cincinnati. The line-up included Alton Delmore on vocals and rhythm guitar, Rabon Delmore on vocals and tenor guitar, an unknown musician on bass, as well as Wayne Raney and Lonnie Glosson on harmonicas. It was one of their last sessions for King, before Rabon died of lung cancer in December 1952, at the age of 36 years. 

Alton, struggling with mental and health problems after the loss of his father, his brother, and his daughter, moved back to Hunstville, Alabama, but quit the music business. He recorded one last single for the small Linco label out of Fayetteville, Tennessee, in 1958. You can hear the melancholy and trouble of his life, listening to "Good Times in Memphis." Alton died on June 8, 1964. His biography, "Truth is Stranger than Publicity," was posthumously published in 1977.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Chuck Berry R.I.P.

Chuck Berry - No Particular Place to Go (Chess 1898), 1964
 
Chuck Berry has passed away at the age of 90 years. He will always be remembered.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

That Million Dollar Memphis Sound

"That Million Dollar Memphis Sound"
The Story of Eddie Bond's Millionaire and Western Lounge labels

Memphis music personality Eddie Bond had many occupations at the same time. A singer, club owner, radio DJ, TV personality, producer, promoter, and label owner are likely only a couple of functions. He set up his first label Stomper Time Records in 1959, named after his background band, the Stompers. He went on to cut countless 45s for small local labels, including the Millionaire and Western Lounge imprints.

Eddie Bond at KWEM
After Stomper Time folded in ca. 1961, he switched to small Arkansas and Memphis based labels, for which he recorded various discs. Bond filed a petition in bankruptcy in early 1965. He had led a night club in partnership with Baxter Turnage but the club proved to be unsuccessful however, and after Turnage's sudden death in 1964, Bond was left alone with the debths.

Bond however, was provided with enough engagements, recording releases and his steady job as the programm director of KWAM. He released "Cold Dark Waters" on Buford Cody's Memphis label in 1965, which turned out to be a moderate seller for Bond. Soon, things were "looking rosier" for Bond, as Billboard reported in February 1965, and around the same time, he became involved in the Millionaire Music Corporation, which included a publishing firm and two labels, Millionaire and Western Lounge (also shortened to Western at times). The company's name and its slogan "That Million Dollar Memphis Sound," which was printed on both labels variously, were of ironic nature, regarding Bond's financial problems. It is not clear to me if Bond really owned the companies but he was at least heavily involved in them.

In November 1965, Billboard reported that the Western Lounge on 1298 Madison Avenue, Memphis, had set up a label of the same name. Bond's involvement in this label was not mentioned probably due to his bankruptcy. The first two discs on the label were by Dean Cross, a local singer who regularly appeared at the Western Lounge. On February 13, 1966, Cross took part in a charity concert at the Lounge at also included Ace Cannon, Ray Scott, Jerry Fox, and Eddie Bond.

Bond released several 45s on Millionaire as well as an album "Favorite Country Hits from Down Home" (Millionaire #MLP1618) in 1967. Both Millionaire and Western Lounge became dormant after 1967. Bond recorded one disc for Stan Kesler's XL label in 1968 and that same year, his Tab recording label came into existence, for which he recorded steadily during the early 1970s.


Discography

Millionaire

Millionaire 45-101
Leftus & Rightous
Wobbling Stone () / ?
SK4M-0887 / SK4M-0888 (RCA)
1965

Millionaire MC-108
Eddie Bond and the Stompers
I Just Found Out (B. Cody-C. Leatherwood) / Back to Viet Nam (Jim & Gary Climer)
S4KM-0934 / S4KM-0935 (RCA)
1965

Millionaire MC-109/10 (698B-3587)
Chuck Comer - Jukebox Serenade (n.c.) / Doug Stone - She Moved to Kansas City (n.c.) / Buck Turner - What Will I Do (n.c.)
S4KB-3588 (RCA)
Eddie Bond - Hey Joe (n.c.) / Jim Wells - Home in Shelby County (n.c.) / Jim Morgan - What's Gonna Happen to Me (n.c.)
S4KB-3588 (RCA)
1965

Millionaire MC-111/2
Melvin Endsley
To Have My Baby Back () / Keep the Water Running (Melvin Endsley)
SK4M-3643 / SK4M-3644 (RCA)
1965


Millionaire 660S-0885
Sylvia Mobley
Hearts Have a Language (G. Williams) / In and Out of Love (Melvin Endsley)
SK4M-0885 / SK4M-0886 (RCA)
1965

Millionaire 45-120
Leon Starr
Honey Child () / ?
T4KM-5282 / ? (RCA)
1966
 
Millionaire MM-124
Joyce Davis
Actions Speak Louder (Than Words) (Jeffrey Laman) / You Lied to Me (Jeffrey Laman)
T4KM-5285 / T4KM-5286 (RCA)
1966

Millionaire MM-126
Lloyd Arnold
Wake My Heart () / That's How I Wake Up (Lloyd Arnold)
T4KM-5279 / T4KM-5280 (RCA)
1966

Millionaire MM-128
Ed Veglio
I've Got to Tell Somebody (Ed Veglio, Wm. H. Talbert) / I Just Thought I'd Ask ()
TK4M-4066 / ? (RCA)
1966

Millionaire MC 444/5 (698B-9721)
Eddie Bond
Is My Ring on Your Finger (Wayne Walker) / The Little Black Book (Webb Pierce; Wayne Walker; Polly Harrison)
T4KM-9721 / T4KM-9722 (RCA)
1966 

Millionaire MC-446
Eddie Bond
Looks Like a Monkey () / Daddy's Drinkin' Up Our Future ()
112 / 113
1967


Western Lounge

Western Lounge 1298
Dean Gross
Hello Frisco, Goodbye Viet Nam (Gene Rowe) / The Stronger of the Two (Gene Rowe)
SO 2731 / SO 2732 (Plastic Products)
1965

Western Lounge W-1300
Dean Cross
Look In My Boot (Curtis Marshall) / Six By Six By Three (Curtis Marshall)
TK4M-4030 /  TK4M-4031 (RCA)
1966 

Western Lounge W-1301/2
Tommy Tucker
Everybody's Darlin' Plus Mine (Robbins) / Sorry About That (Edna Lee)
TK4M-4547 / TK4M-4548 (RCA)
1966

Western W-111
The Fabulous Jack Fargo
Little Rosa (W. Pierce; R. Sovine) / I Just Dropped In to Say Goodybe (J. Pierce)
P-14 / P-15
Note: This disc was also released in 1962 on Pen #111. 

Western Lounge WPR-311
Frankie Bonds
Ballad of H. H. McKnight (Tommy Tompsen) / Go on Break My Heart (Frankie Bond)
A / B 

Thanks to Apes Ville

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Rare R&B, Volume 1

Another bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

Here is a nice compilation by Bob O'Brien, featuring "rare R&B" that all of you will enjoy, I'm pretty sure. Track information has been carefully researched by Bob and can be found in the original file names.

♪♫

track list:
1. Bill Doggett Combo - Big Dog, Pt. 1
2. Mildred Anderson with Bill Doggett‘s Combo - You Ain‘t No Good
3. Bill Doggett Combo - Glo‘ Glug
4. Mildred Anderson with Bill Doggett‘s Combo - Your Kind of Woman
5. Rusty Bryant‘s Carolyn Club Band - Castle Rock
6. Anisteen Allan with Lucky Millender & his Orch. - I‘m Waiting Just for You
7. The Dominoes - Sixty Minute Man
8. Fats Domino - The Fat Man
9. Jimmy Forrest - Night Train
10. Rusty Bryant‘s Carolyn Club Band - Night Train-All Night Long Medley
11. Big Joe Turner - Chains of Love
12. Jackie Brenston with Ike Turner‘s Band - Rocket 88
13. Rusty Bryant‘s Carolyn Club Band - Pink Champagne
14. Julia Lee & her Boyfriends - The Spinach Song
15. Oscar McLollie & his Honey Jumpers - The Honey Jump, Pt. 1 & 2
16. Rusty Bryant‘s Carolyn Club Band - The Honeydripper
17. Jimmy Preston & his Prestonians - Rock this Joint
18. Annie Laurie - 3 Times 7
19. Louis Jordan & his Tympany Five - Saturday Night Fish Fry
20. Big Joe Turner with Wynonie Harris - Battle of the Blues, Pt. 1
21. Wynonie Harris with Big Joe Turner - Battle of the Blues, Pt. 2
22. Big Jay McNeely - 3-D
23. Hadda Brooks - Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back
24. Wynonie Harris with Lucky Milliner & his Orch. - Oh! Babe
25. Albert Ammons, Meade ‘Lux‘ Lewis, Pete Johnson - Boogie Woogie Prayer (live)

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Cindy Price on Delta

 Cindy Price - Our Love Is Like Sunshine (Delta DR-1003)

Judging from the sound of this record, it was recorded and released in the 1970s. I wasn't able to turn up any info on Cindy Price, unfortunately, but the background band is credited as "Marianna Jamboree Band." It is likely this was the house band of the "Arkansas Jamboree" in Marianna, Arkansas, a live stage show that also included rockabilly musician Jimmy Evans and his daughter Debbie for years. Country music singer Truman Lankford was also part of that show for five years. The Arkansas Jamboree was produced partially by Jack Richard Northrup and also released a LP (see here). It is neither to be confused with the "Arkansas Jamboree Barndance" (later renamed "Barnyard Frolic"), which aired over KLRA from 1946 until 1960 in Little Rock, nor with the 1980s Arkansas Jamboree in Hot Springs.

Delta Records was one of the labels Dan Craft was operating out of his recording studio in West Memphis, Arkansas, which is located only 50 miles northeast of Marianna. Songwriter Harold F. "Buddy" Clements registered six different songs with BMI. Apart from that, he left no info behind. The publishing firm Jamdan also published compositions by Sonny Blake, who also recorded for Dan Craft.

Read more:

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Bob Taylor on Express

Bob Taylor, the Singing Truckdriver - Timber Falling (Express ES 1)

The great quantity of artists with the name "Bob Taylor" in the music business makes it hard to tell who is who. This one, and this is pretty sure, was a local Memphis artist. However, several persons with this name appeared over the years in the Memphis music scene and it is again difficult to tell them apart (if this is necessary at all).


Today's Bob Taylor was born Robert R. Taylor and recorded at least five records for the Express label (likely his own imprint), another two for Gene Williams' Cotton Town Jubilee Records and one for Style Wooten's Tentay custom label.


In 1963 and 1965, Taylor had two releases respectively on Cotton Town Jubilee in West Memphis. These discs were his debut recordings. Taylor possibly appeared on Gene Williams' Cotton Town Jubilee show as well. Through Williams, Taylor made the connection with Style Wooten, who made his first steps in the recording production business at that time. In 1965, Taylor recorded for Wooten's Tentay label "After the Trial" b/w "Like a Crazy Fool" (both Rexclan Publ.). This is what we know for sure.

The chronology of Taylor's Express singles is not clear. The first one was probably the sentimental "Timber Falling" b/w "It's All Over Now," which was produced by Thomas Wayne at a Nashville studio in 1969. The disc was pressed by Wayne Raney's Rimrock plant in Concord, Arkansas. The record label credits Taylor as "The Singing Truck Driver" and shows a truck as the label's logo. It is obvious Taylor held a day job as a truck driver. 

Jimmy Hunsucker, a country music singer, accompanied Taylor to Nashville to cut "Timber Falling," which was based on a true story, as Taylor reinforced several times to Hunsucker. Aside from Thomas Wayne, A&R man Scotty Moore was also present as well as musicians D.J. Fontana on drums and Weldon Myrick on steel guitar to back up taylor. The vocal group of the then newly aired TV show "Hee Haw" provided background vocals. Taylor wanted the song to be perfect and they recorded it over and over again that day. On the same session, Hunsucker recorded "I Feel a Good One Coming Up" and "Lonely World," which was released on Style Wooten's Camaro label shortly afterwards (Camaro #3392, 1969).

Four more discs on Express followed. Publishing was credited to Rexclan Publishing Company, which has 22 compositions listed by BMI, the majority of them by Bob Taylor. It can be assumed Express as well as Rexclan were both Taylor's own companies.

There was also a Bob Taylor who played drums with Narvel Felts in the 1950s and another one who became president of the Memphis Federation of Musicians. Murray Nash also recorded a singer named Bob Taylor on his Do-Ra-Me label in 1963. All three could be the same Bob Taylor from Memphis, which has to be proofed yet.

Discography

Express ES 1: Bob Taylor, the Singing Truckdriver -  Timber Falling / It's All Over Now
Express ES 2: Bob Taylor - Ode to Jimmy Hoffa / Our Country Has Had It
Express 711: Bob Taylor and the Mystics - Love That Woman / Like I Want to Be Loved (1962)
Express 713: Bob Taylor - Don't Accuse Me / Blue Lights
Express 714: Bob Taylor - Hall of Fame / You'll Never Want for Love 
Cotton Town Jubilee 107: Bob Taylor - If I Had Back What I Used to Have / Walking the Street (1963)
Cotton Town Jubilee 114: Bob Taylor - Did You Miss Me / You've Gone and Broke My Heart (1964)
Tentay 45-1041: Bob Taylor - After the Trial / Like a Crazy Fool (1965)

Thanks to Bayou Bum and Jimmy Hunsucker

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Stan Kesler's Crystal label

Stan Kesler's Crystal label has been overshadowed by his other efforts in Memphis and popular American music history. Crystal marked Kesler's first steps as an independent record producer and although it was only a rather short-lived venture, it was home to a handful of noteworthy singles, some of them enjoy cult status among rockabilly collectors.

Stanley Augustus Kesler was born on August 11, 1928, in Abbeville, Mississippi. It became evident in his early years that Kesler was a talented musician, as he learned to play mandolin and guitar as a child. He joined the US Marines in the 1940s and it was during this time that he mastered also the steel guitar. After his discharge in 1946, he began working with a couple of country bands. First he performed with an outfit that also included his brothers, then joining Al Rodgers' combo in Amarillo, Texas.

Stan Kesler
By 1950, Kesler had moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he soon found work with different groups as a steel guitarist. The most prominent of them was Clyde Leoppard's Snearly Ranch Boys, a western swing band that enjoyed great popularity in Memphis and West Memphis, playing regular shows on KWEM and being the house band at the Cotton Club in West Memphis. Kesler would work on and off during the 1950s and 1960s with the band and many members of the Ranch Boys. Leoppard managed to organize a recording session for the band at Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service in 1955. Kesler not only played steel on the session but provided also the song material, "Lonely Sweetheart" and "Split Personality," the latter co-written with fellow Snearly Ranch Boy William E. "Bill" Taylor, who also was the vocalist on those sides. Sam Phillips released the band's recordings on his country label Flip Records in February 1955.

The Flip single had brought Kesler to the attention of Sam Phillips and he began working for Phillips as a musician, songwriter, and engineer. Elvis Presley recorded Kesler's "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" (co-written with Bill Taylor) and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" (co-written with Charlie Feathers) in 1955 for Sun. Kesler also played on many country Sun recordings during this time. In late 1956, Kesler learned to play bass, which eventually became his main instrument.

After leaving his mark at Sun, Kesler set out on his own in late 1957 and went into partnership with Eugene Lucchesi and Drew Canale. They founded Crystal Records with Kesler running essentially the label in creative terms, while Lucchesi and Canale mainly served as investors. The first single was by Jean Kelly, "Someone to Love" b/w "I Keep Forgetting" (Crystal #500), released in either late 1957 or early 1958. Kelly was born in 1935 in Braden, Texas.

Next up was Don Hosea, who also recorded for Sun and for Billy Lee Riley's Rita label. Hosea recorded "Everlasting Love" for Crystal, which was later that year recorded by Barbara Pittman for Phillips International. Originally hailing from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Hosea spent much of the 1950s and 1960s in Memphis, performing with the Snearly Ranch Boys and the Bill Black Combo. He left for Nashville in 1967, where he found work as a songwriter.

Jimmy Knight with "You'll Always Be Mine" b/w "Hula Bop" (Crystal #502) had another interesting disc on Crystal. Knight was also a member of the Snearly Ranch Boys at the time of this release and sang with Kesler's vocal group "The Sunrays." The Stan Kesler-Bill Taylor written "Hula Bop" was likely one of the band's standards, as it had been recorded three years earlier by Snearly Ranch Boy Smokey Joe Baugh for Sun with the band providing the backing.

Crystal #503 was by James Edward "Jimmy" Pritchett, another of Kesler's discoveries. Kesler rented studio time at radio WHBQ to record the Ramon Maupin penned "Nothing on My Mind" and the stunning "That's the Way I Feel" with Pritchett but Kesler ran into problems with the equipment at the studio. Therefore, he instead used Sam Phillips' Sun studio. Sources often credit the Snearly Ranch Boys playing on this record but actually the background band sounds more like Sun's rockabilly staff of Roland Janes (guitar) and Jimmy Van Eaton (drums). May it as it be, the single made some noise around Memphis but finally shared the fate of its presecurors and went nowhere. Pritchtett, who hailed from Osceola, Arkansas, where he was born on March 26, 1935, died in Memphis on July 13, 1982.

According to Kesler, there were a couple of other releases on Crystal, which have yet to be located, however. Kesler became dissatisfied with his partner Canale and recalled: "Canale put in a thousand dollars and expected back 10,000 next week [...]. Me and Drew wouldn't work." In the end, Crystal was shut down and in 1959, Kesler began a new project with Clyde Leoppard and Jack Clement, opening their own recording studio for a short time.

Kesler later established the Echo Recording Studio on Manassas Avenue and ran the Pen and XL labels. Under his supervision, a couple of big pop hits were produced in Memphis during the 1960s and 1970s. He eventually returned to Sun and engineered sessions there well into the 2000s. Stan Kesler died in 2020.


Discography


Crystal 500
Jean Kelly, the Cotton Patch Cinderella
Someone to Love (Stan Kesler) / I Keep Forgetting (William E. Taylor)
C-100 / C-101

Crystal 501
Don Hosea
Everlasting Love (Stan Kesler) / I'll Try Again (Don Hosea)
C-102 / C-103
1958 (BB)

Crystal 502
Jimmy Knight
You'll Always Be Mine (Stan Kesler) / Hula Bop (Stan Kesler; W.E. Taylor)
C-104 / C-105
1958

Crystal 503
Jimmy Pritchett
Nothing on My Mind (Maupin) / That's the Way I Feel (Smith-Hyde)
C-106 / C-107
1958 (BB)

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Billy Eldridge on Vulco

Billy Eldridge - It's Over (Vulco VL1508), 1961

Billy Eldridge was a member of the Fireballs, a local rock'n'roll band from Fort Pierce, Florida. They were recording for Vulco Records, a small label operated by Irvin Vulgamore, who also owned a small record shop that had opened in early 1956. The Fireballs were founded in 1958 or earlier and were led by Pat Richmond. Members included Jim King, Pat Richmond (vocals), Vern Strickland (lead guitar), Billy Eldridge (vocals/guitar), Jim Sanders (guitar), Leo Law (piano), and Jac Morris (drums). Discovered by Vulgamore while playing a club date in 1958, they were asked by Vulgamore to record for him. At Criteria Studios in Miami, the band cut a staple of songs, including the famous "Let's Go Baby." Written by band member Jim King, the song wasn't more than an idea when they decided to record it during the session. On that same session, the Fireballs backed up local DJ Doug Dickens with Eldridge on lead guitar. Dickens recorded "Raw Deal" and "Lucy's Graveside."

"Don't Stop the Rockin'" / "Honey Bee Baby" by the Fireballs with Pat Richmond on vocals made up both the label's and the band's first release (Vulco #1500) in 1958. It was followed by "Let's Go Baby" with vocals by Billy Eldridge (Vulco #1501) in early 1959. The songs were published by Henry Stone's Sherlyn-Pent publishing company and "Let's Go Baby" was received well locally. Stone was possibly responsible for bringing it to the attention of the United Artists label, which issued the single nationally on its subsidiary Unart.

Billy Eldridge and the Fireballs built up quite a reputation locally, performing at clubs and bars around Fort Pierce. They also appeared several times on Uncle Martin Wales' "Sunset Ranch" and Happy Harold's shows, both originated from the Miami-Dade area.

After another single ("Take My Love" / "Half a Heart", Vulco #1506), they recorded today's pick in 1961. While "There's a Reason" was a typical ballad from those days, the flip "It's Over" is an haunting performance by the band, although it is considered to be inferior to "Let's Go Baby" by collectors. The disc was arranged and produced by Fireballs member Vern Strickland and both songs were Eldridge originals. One more record appeared ("Sneaky" / "Maria Elena", Vulco #1510) but soon after, the Fireballs probably disbanded.

Eldridge then embarked on a solo career. He joined up with another Fort Pierce resident, Gary Stewart, and they began writing songs. After they managed to get their composition ""Poor Red Georgia Dirt" recorded by Stonewall Jackson, the duo moved to Nashville, where they successfully settled as a songwriting duo. Eldridge recorded for Kapp in 1969 but he and Stewart returned to Fort Pierce in the early 1970s. Stewart took another approach in 1973 and went on to national fame as a country singer. Eldridge continued to play at bars on weekends in Fort Pierce. Eldridge died on March 16, 2021.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Sophisticated Black Women and/or Tough Cookies, Part II

Another bobsluckycat post presented by Mellow's Log Cabin!

Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (Eleanora Fagan) born in Baltimore Maryland in 1915 was a jazz and pop singer with a very thin, almost waifish voice who, after a troubled childhood and playing Harlem clubs was discovered in 1935 and signed to Brunswick Records and then had major success on Columbia and Decca Records well into the 1940's, including "Solitude" featured here. "Lady Day" as she was known had a successful career, including three sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall during her lifetime and other venues including Europe and a cornacopia of solid jazz recordings right up to her death in 1959 despite the fact that her life was filled with professional and personal problems and financial problems intensified by her blatant use of alcohol and heroin, which killed her in 1959, essentially hospitalized in police custody and near penniless in a New York City hospital at age 44.Her life was a long and at times sordid story packed into those few short years which can be found elsewhere. Her music and her voice lives on, thanks be to God.


Billie Holiday - Solitude

Helen Humes born in 1913 in Louisville Kentucky, the only child of a well-to-do Black couple and was raised with a solid background in church singing and piano and organ lessons. By age 14, she had the good luck to be recorded by Okeh Records and again in in 1929. at age 16. Music did not appear to be in the cards for her professionally, but a trip to Buffalo New York turned into a $35.00 a week job singing with a small group for a long while. 1936 saw Helen at the Cincinnati Cotton Club still making that $35.00 a week. Count Basie came through Cincinnati about that time and offered Helen $35.00 a week to replace the now gone Billie Holiday. She turned him down flat as she was already making an easy $35.00 a week with Al Sears and his small group whom she originally played with in Buffalo N.Y. During a gig in New York City, producer John Hammond convinced her to record 4 sides with the Harry James Orchestra and that led to four years with the aforementioned Count Basie and his band. The nearly constant touring after four years took a toll on her health and, stressed out, she quit the band in 1942. After recovering at home in Louisville, John Hammond came calling again and insisted that she return to several dates in New York City. In 1944, Helen moved to L.A. and did work at film studios and limited tours with Jazz At The Philharmonic and started to record again in an early R&B style and had a couple of hits from 1945 into 1950, but otherwise her career stagnated and after some touring in Europe and a few American Jazz Festivals, Helen retired and stayed retired in Louisville until 1973 when she returned to the Newport Jazz Festival which was followed by very successful European tours and a series of LP's for the French label Black And Blue Records, also picking up the Music Industry Of France Award in 1973 and regular engagements in New York City. Outgoing and gracious to a fault to everyone, Helen was given the Key To The City Of Louisville Ky. in 1975 as well. Helen Humes died from Cancer in 1981 in Santa Monica CA. shortly after the release of her final LP "Helen", recorded live over three evenings June 17, June 18,and June 19 1980.

Helen Humes - Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness
 
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald born in Newport News Virginia in 1917, but grew up in Harlem, was to have one of the longest and successful careers in both Jazz and Popular music with 14 Grammy awards, A National Medal Of Arts, and a Presidential Medal Of Freedom at the top of her accolades. Her early years in the Depression 30's saw her in a girls reform school and street singing in Harlem for change. After winning an Amatuer Contest at the Apollo and a week with the Tiny Bradshaw & His Band at the Harlem Opera House. Ella was brought to the attention of Chick Webb, a noted bandleader who was in need of a female band singer. Reluctant to hire her right away, Ella got a try out at Yale University, and from that success came a job with Chick Webb with a lot of touring nationwide and stays at Webb's home base The Savoy Ballroom in Harlem until Webb's untimely death in 1939. At which time, Ella took over the band and kept it going through 1942 when she disbanded it for a variety of reasons not the least of which was a solo career and a movie offer. Universal Pictures put her in the Abbott & Costello film "Ride 'Em Cowboy" which also starred movie cowboys Dick Foran and Johnny Mack Brown. Ella's two songs "Rockin' And A Reelin' " and "A Tiskit A Tasket", were shot in such a way they easily be cut from copies of the film from wherever theatres in the South and elsewhere didn't want to show them. The songs were left in at various theatres around the country and in the re-releases as well. The film, being an Abbott & Costello film raked in a ton of money.

After World War 2, Ella's career hit the heights and stayed there until she was forced to retire due to ill health and diabetes in 1993. Her most notable albums were devoted to famous pop and jazz music composers and a lot of touring in America and Europe and elsewhere. She shared the stage with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and many, many more in many venues world wide and was truly a household world. Ella Fitzgerald passed away in 1996 from diabetes.

Ella Fitzgerald - Putting on the Ritz