"Slim Harpo Rocks" by SLIM HARPO. A Review Of The 2011 Bear Family CD Compilation.

"…I'm A King Bee…Buzzin' 'Round Your Hive…"

Saying that Slim Harpo 'rocks' is probably pushing it a tad – but that doesn’t stop this CD compilation from being another winner in a series that is fast becoming definitive. There’s a lot on here - so let’s the details out of the way first…

Released November 2011, Bear Family BCD 17129 AR breaks down as follows (75:41 minutes):

1. Wild About My Baby (1960 recording 1st issued on a 1978 USA 45 on Blues Unlimited 2015, A-side)
2. I Got Love If You Want It (1957 USA 45 on Excello 2113, B-side)
3. I'm A King Bee (1957 USA 45 on Excello 2113, A-side)
4. You'll Be Sorry One Day (1959 USA 45 on Excello 2162, B-side)
5. That Ain't Your Business (1957 recording 1st issued in 1976 on the UK LP called "Blues Hangover – The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Volume 4" on Flyright 520)
6. Buzz Me Babe (1960 USA 45 on Excello 2171, A-side)
7. My Little Queen Bee (Got A Brand New King) (1964 USA 45 on Excello 2246, A-side)
8. I’m Waiting On You Baby (1964 recording 1st issued in 1993 on a UK CD called "I'm A King Bee" on Ace CDCHD 510)
9. Something Inside Me (1961 recording 1st issued in 1969 on a US LP called "Rural Blues Vol.2 – Saturday Night Function" on Imperial 94001)
10. Bobby-Sox Baby (from Slim Harpo's 1961 USA LP "Raining In My Heart" on Excello LP 8003)
11. I Need Money (Keep Your Alibis) (1964 USA 45 on Excello 2246, B-side)
12. Yeah Yeah Baby (1960 recording 1st issued in 1993 on a UK CD called "I'm A King Bee" on Ace CDCHD 510)
13. Shake Your Hips (1966 USA 45 on Excello 2278, B-side)
14. Harpo's Blues (1965 USA 45 on Excello 2265, B-side)
15. Don't Start Cryin’ Now (1961 USA 45 on Excello 2194, B-side)
16. Boogie Chillun (1964 recording 1st issued in 1993 on a UK CD called "I'm A King Bee" on Ace CDCHD 510)
17. Baby, Scratch My Back (1965 USA 45 on Excello 2273, A-side)
18. Buzzin' [Instrumental] (1963 USA 45 on Excello 2239, A-side)
19. Hey Little Lee (1968 USA LP called "Tip On In" on Excello LPS-8008)
20. The Music's Hot (1970 USA LP called "Slim Harpo Knew The Blues" on Excello LPS-8013)
21. Wondering And Worryin' (1958 USA 45 on Excello 2138, A-side)
22. Late Last Night (1959 recording 1st issued on the 1996 CD compilation "The Scratch – Rare And Unissued, Volume 1" on AV/Excello CD 3015)
23. That's Alright (aka "You'll Be Sorry One Day") (1959 recording 1st issued in 1976 on the UK LP called "Blues Hangover – The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Volume 4" on Flyright 520)
24. That's Alright Baby (aka "Don't Start Cryin' Now") (1960 recording 1st issued in 1993 on a UK CD called "I'm A King Bee" on Ace CDCHD 510)
25. Cigarettes (1959 alternate version 1st issued on a 1986 UK LP called "Baton Rouge Blues – The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Volume 42" on Flyright 607)
26. Buzz Me Babe (1959 recording 1st issued in 1993 on a UK CD called "I'm A King Bee" on Ace CDCHD 510)
27. I'm A King Bee (1957 alternate recording 1st issued in 1976 on the UK LP called "Blues Hangover – The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Volume 4" on Flyright 520)
28. You Ain't Never Had To Cry (1959 recording 1st issued in 1976 on the UK LP called "Blues Hangover – The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Volume 4" on Flyright 520)
29. I Got Love If You Want It (1957 recording 1st issued in 1980 on the UK LP called "Got Love If You Want It – The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Volume 20" on Flyright 558)
30. Wondering And Worryin' (1957 recording 1st issued on the 1996 CD compilation "The Scratch – Rare And Unissued, Volume 1" on AV/Excello CD 3015)
31. Rainin' In My Heart (1961 USA 45 on Excello 2194, A-side)

[Note: As you can see from the track list above - there were many unreleased recordings put out on reissue vinyl albums by revered labels like Flyright, Imperial and England’s Ace Records – many of which (not all) are featured here on CD for the first time. Most songs however are Excello Recordings from 1957 to 1970 – American 7" singles and key album tracks.]

"Slim Harpo Rocks" comes in Bear's now standard packaging for this series – a 3-way foldout card digipak containing a detachable oversized booklet inside (32 pages for this issue). Pages 5 to 18 feature an in-depth essay on James Moore (his real name) by noted writer and musicologist JEFF HANNUSCH and Pages 19 to 29 have a full Discography on all 31 recordings by archivist BILL MILLAR. The text is peppered with trade adverts, black and white and colour photos of the great man with his guitar in hand and harmonica in mouth - as well as lovely repros of 3 rare album sleeves. It’s the usual classy act from Bear. And then of course is the great sound courtesy of JURGEN CRASSER. I’ve raved about his work before (see my TAG for him and reviews for the astonishing "Blowing The Fuse" series (16 compilations) and the "Sweet Soul Music" series (10 discs). It's old Blues and R'n'B for sure, but it sounds great - full of atmosphere, echo and life.

Second only to Jimmy Reed, Slim was the most successful Blues and R'n'B artist on the Excello label and a product of JAY MILLER'S legendary studio in Crawley, Louisiana. One of Slim's most famous and beloved songs "I'm A King Bee" defined his witty languid style for decades (lyrics above) – yet as his debut single - it never charted. "King Bee" would later however take on a life of its own – to a point where like Elmore James who found a riff and stuck with it – Slim would repeat the style again and again (both the CD and the inlay beneath the see-through tray picture the 7" of "I'm A King Bee" on Excello 2113). Slim pumped out more soundalikes for years (both Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones covered it).

Highlights include "I Got Love If You Want It" (another signature hit for him) and the rockin' harmonica-driven of "That Ain't Your Business" where sauciness is always close to the surface ("…when I pulled down the shade…and turned out the light…"). The huge drum sound of "Buzz Me Babe" is irresistible foot-tapping stuff – in fact – there’s a great fun vibe about so many of the songs on here. "I'm Waiting On You Baby" first turned up on an Ace CD in 1993 and it's a "did me wrong girl" bopper – misery with a beat. "Shake Your Hips" was famously covered by the Stones on their 1972 2LP masterpiece "Exile On Main St." – it shuffles along like his cover of John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillun". But best of all is the slinky "Baby, Scratch My Back" which I've been featuring on R'n'B compilations for years in the shop shuffle – it now sounds just HUGE. And it all ends on the lovely "Rainin' In My Heart" - a winner from 1961.

Niggles - it’s a shame there isn’t more from the later years – the track "Hey, Little Lee" is from his 1968 LP "Tip On In" and the recording quality is fantastic – chugging along like a cool Sixties R'n'B tune should. "The Music's Hot" from the 1970 LP "Slim Harpo Knows The Blues" is the same – sounding tremendous – and both in STEREO. The song "Tip On In" is excellent too - but again a no-show when there was room. But still, it's a great listen overall and makes you ache for more...as a good compilation should.

The incomparable Bear Family folks – class and quality - they may cost you – but the best always does.

I’m off now to review the Chuck Berry set and hide the bills from the missus…and convince her that the recession is not my fault all in 'her' mind...

SLIM HARPO USA LPs referenced in the Bear Family discography:

"Slim Harpo Sings Raining in My Heart"
USA 1961 LP on Excello LP 8003 [Mono]

Side 1:
1. Rainin’ In My Heart [31]
2. Blues Hangover
3. Bobby-Sox Baby [10]
4. I Got Love If You Want It [2]
5. Snoopin’ Around
6. Buzz Me Baby [6]

Side 2:
1. I’m A King Bee [3]
2. What A Dream
3. Don’t Start Cryin’ Now [15]
4. Moody Blues
5. My Home Is A Prison
6. Dream Girl

"Baby Scratch My Back"
USA 1966 on Excello LP 8005 [Mono]

Side 1:
1. Shake Your Hips [13]
2. Midnight Blues
3. Harpo’s Blues [14]
4. Buzzin’ [18]
5. My Little Queen Bee [7]
6. I Love The Life (I’m Livin’)

Side 2:
1. Baby, Scratch My Back [17]
2. I’m Gonna Miss You (Like The Devil)
3. Rainin’ In My Heart
4. Wonderin’ Blues
5. We’re Two Of A Kind
6. I Need Money [11]

"Tip On In"
USA 1968 LP on Excello LPS-8008 [Stereo]
Hey Little Lee [19]


"Slim Harpo Knew The Blues"
USA 1970 LP on Excello LPS-8013 [Stereo]
The Music’s Hot [20]

PS: The "Rocks" Series by Bear Family features the following artists:

1. Chuck Berry [see REVIEW}
2. Pat Boone
3. Johnny Burnette [see REVIEW]
4. The Cadillacs
5. Eddie Cochran
6. Bobby Darin
7. Fats Domino
8. Connie Francis
9. Don Gibson
10. Glen Glenn
11. Bill Haley
12. Roy Hall
13. Slim Harpo [see REVIEW]
14. Dale Hawkins
15. Ronnie Hawkins
16. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
17. Wanda Jackson [see REVIEW]
18. Sonny James
19. Buddy Knox & Jimmy Bowen with the Rhythm Orchids
20. Sleepy LaBeef
21. Brenda Lee
22. Jerry Lee Lewis
23. Smiley Lewis [see REVIEW]
24. Little Richard
25. Bob Luman
26. Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
27. Carl Mann
28. Amos Milburn [see REVIEW]
29. Ella Mae Morse [see REVIEW]
30. Ricky Nelson
31. Carl Perkins
32. Roy Orbison
33. Lloyd Price
34. Piano Red (aka Dr. Feelgood) [see REVIEW]
35. Charlie Rich [see REVIEW]
36. Jack Scott
37. Shirley & Lee
38. The Treniers
39. Big Joe Turner [see REVIEW]
40. Conway Twitty
41. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps
42. Rusty York

The Bear Family "Rockin' Rollin'" Series features:

1. Johnny Horton
2. Marvin Rainwater
3. Marty Robbins Vol.1
4. Marty Robbins Vol.2
5. Marty Robbins Vol.3

“Blowing The Fuse – 28 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1948” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Award-Winning 2004 Bear Family CD Compilation by Mark Barry...

"…When You Were Here I Took You For A Square…

Now I’m Biting My Nails And Pulling Out My Hair…"

Bear Family's truly fabulous "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations chronicles the transition of minority ghettoized Blues into national Rhythm 'n' Blues and stretches across 16 individual single-disc volumes that cover the years 1945 to 1960. Released across 2004 and 2005 –"Blowing The Fuse" was then followed in 2008 and 2009 by Bear’s equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 15 sets from 1961 to 1975 - complimented in turn by their spiritual and musical partners - 15 volumes of Vocal Group sets called "Street Corner Symphonies" covering 1939 to 1963 (released 2012 and 2013). I suppose you could argue that I just say, "Buy the lot man!" in a very loud voice - but bluntly they're so good - each deserves a thorough review (and that’s what I’ve done). So here goes with Volume 4 of 16...

"Blowing The Fuse - 28 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1948" is on Bear Family BCD 16703 AS (Barcode 4000127167033) and was released November 2004 in Germany. Each US-based yearly compilation comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak sleeve. The left flap pictures an original record relevant to the year (1948 has "A Little Bird Told Me" by PAULA WATSON on Supreme 1507), the centre flap holds a 70 to 90 page oversized booklet that slips out so you can read it separately and the right flap a colour-themed CD that matches the outer packaging. As with the 15 volumes of "Sweet Soul Music" and "Street Corner Symphonies" - each of the "Blowing The Fuse" spines makes up a whole photo when placed alongside each other (a fantastic black & white shot of a crowd of hip dudes and their gals dancing at some Saturday night bar). As you can see from the cover photos of these compilations too, the theme of people dancing and artists enjoying themselves is repeated right across all of these wonderfully restored photographs (they're from The Showtime Music Archive in Toronto). Siding the text and black/white publicity photos are uber rare trade adverts and of course those equally scarce 78’s in their lovely label bags. This 1948 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a jam-packed 79:54 minutes.

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Sourcing the best disc available (or occasional tape) Bear’s Audio Engineer genius JURGEN CRASSER has mastered each cut with care. Depending on the condition of the disc – the audio varies wildly - and as you can imagine it’s a case of astonishingly clean transfer one moment and hiss & cackle-laden version the next. While 1945, 1946 and 1947 had their fair share of rough-transfer moments – 1948 sees master tapes on a lot more entries and the resulting audio difference is consequentionally better – spectacular in places - and of course all of it imbibed with huge musical and lyrical talent and the sense of an entire nation saying to "hell-with-it-all!" after the misery of WW II...let's party...

THE BOOKLET:
The booklet in each of these reissues is to die for. There's an intro on Page 4 with the text for the songs beginning on Page 5 and ending on Page 70, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful page plate of lesser-seen trade adverts, or a rare 78” in its label bag (long ago American Record labels like King, Columbia, Specialty, RCA Victor  and Exclusive). What’s noticeable about the 1947 and 1948 Volumes (over 1945 and 1946) is that there’s more advert repros which are  massively evocative of the time period (a Billboard 3rd Annual Poll proves that "Miracle Records set the pace" for Sonny Thompson on Page 37). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT and because the booklet allows him to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read.

THE SONGS:
Volume 4 of 16 opens with Rock 'n' Roll history – "Write Me A Letter" by The Ravens - sung by the fabulous deep-as-the-Pacific bass vocals of the legendary Jimmy Ricks. It was the theme song of Memphis DJ Dewey Philips who began his radio show in 1949. By 1954 he was the first to pioneer Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and anyone else that pumped out Blues, Jump, R 'n' B and the new fangled sensaation of the age Rock 'n' Roll music (coloured or no). Like that other airwaves pioneer Alan Freed, Tennessee-born Philips adored Black musicians and what they played – broadcasting with wild on-the-air abandon to a segregated audience who longed for something better than the old ways. Smut isn't far from the menu with Julia Lee's wonderful "King Size Papa" where she assures us that her man has "...four foot shoulders...and that ain't all..." Furthermost she says he’ll "...last until 1992..." (I'll have a bowl of whatever he's eating says you). The Blues slow things down with the classic "Call It Stormy Monday" from the guitar of T-Bone Walker resplendent here with great Audio (the pictured 78" on Page 12 shows its full title which I've used in the track list below). The shuffling honky-tonk instrumental "Thirty-Five Thirty" by Paul Williams was an unlikely hit in 1949 - while the piano boogie-woogie of "Move Your Hand, Baby" features the hysterical vocals of Crown Prince Waterford (but what you really notice is Big Joe Turner's sideman Pete Johnson ripping up and down the piano like playing boogie-woogie was literally hotwired into his very DNA).

The Audio drops a serious notch with the rough transfer of "I Love You, Yes I Do" by Lucky Millinder's Saxophonist Bull Moose Jackson where he croons with great results (King Records took this song into litigation about songwriting credits and lost). Fun returns in the shapely audio guise of one of my fave lady singers – Nellie Lutcher – who sings the praise of her man's physique "...I wanna scream...because I've never seen...such a fine brown frame..." (steady girl). Gatemouth Moore boasts "...got a great big car and a pocketful of dough..." but still he's miserable because when he goes home Mary has left him for an even fancier suitor. I love the Clovers-smooch of "You Sure Look Good To Me" – a very cool shuffler from the Big Three Trio featuring the wit of Leonard Caston and future Chess superstar Willie Dixon.

Things then jump straight into the realms of music legend – twice. We get a cultural double-whammy - "I Can't Be Satisfied" by Muddy Waters and "Good Rockin' Tonight" by Wynonie Harris. Muddy's musical atomic bomb changed so much (and not just for Chess Records) while the  Wynonie Harris cover of Roy Brown's song is said to be the one a 13-year old Elvis Presley heard – and nothing has ever been the same since. As if sensing its importance, the King Records 78" is pictured alongside an early shot of Harris on Pages 30 and 31.

Genius choices go to "Cadillac Boogie" by Jimmy Liggins with slick Chuck Berry type lyrics like "...air foam cushions and a modern design...that cat's purring...got eight kittens crying..." Another gem piano player is Camille Howard (was with Roy Milton’s band) who gives us the boogie-woogie instrumental of "X Temperaneous Blues" – a fantastic listen that will you tapping your fingers on the table top uncontrollably. Then there’s a pistol in the shape of Mabel Scott on "Elevator Baby". She's pictured on Page 45 and man what a firecracker she was - the kind of woman who would even excite her gay husband Charles Brown – she literally exuded sexy sophisticated Forties Rhythm 'n' Blues.

But my absolute favourite is the lonesome-pine guitar of "Tomorrow Night" by Laurie Johnson – it’s so good. "Tomorrow Night" would be a huge R 'n' B hit for LaVern Baker in 1955 on Atlantic Records and again for Joe Turner in 1959. Elvis also covered its quiet hurting vibe at Sun Records. 59-year old Laurie Johnson and his rare King 78" are pictured on Pages 26 and 27. "Pretty Mama Blues" by Ivory Joe Hunter is a rough transfer but doesn't stop it from being a pretty R 'n' B pleader that is so appealing (..."let me call you up some night...I'll make everything alright...") And 1948 ends with a great double shot – a Louis Jordan duet with Martha Davis on the shuffling "Daddy-O" while Amos Milburn brings down the house down with his famous "Chicken Shack Boogie". Brill...and then some...

To sum up - even though they were initially expensive as imports - as the years have gone by they've gone down in price (some online retailers via Amazon or eBay are selling them for about £8.50. But I can't help thinking that once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked and need to own the lot.

For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1948" is 'the' place to start. I've collected and reviewed the whole set (16 titles)...and they're amongst my favourite reissues...

TRACK LIST for "Blowing The Fuse - 1948" (79:54 minutes)

Volume 4 of 16

Song Title, ARTIST (Record Label and US 78" Catalogue Number, A-Side or B-Side)

1. Write Me A Letter – THE RAVENS (National 9038, A)
2. King Size Papa – JULIA LEE and her Boyfriends (Capitol 40082, A)
3. Call It Stormy Monday But Tuesday Is Just As Bad – T-BONE WALKER and his Guitar (Black & White 122, A)
4. Thirty-Five Thirty – PAUL WILLIAMS SEXTET (Savoy 661, A)
5. Move You Hand, Baby – CROWN PRINCE WATERFORD (Capitol 40074, A)
6. I Love You, Yes I Do – BULL MOOSE JACKSON and his Buffalo Bearcats (King 4181, A)
7. Fine Brown Frame – NELLIE LUTCHER and her Rhythm (Capitol 15032, A)
8. Hey Mr. Gatemouth – GATEMOUTH MOORE (King 4211, A)
9. Tomorrow Night – LONNIE JOHNSON (King 4201, A)
10. X-Temperaneous Blues – CAMILLE HOWARD and her Trio (Specialty 307, A)
11. Good Rockin' Tonight – WYNONIE HARRIS (King 4210, A)
12. You Sure Look Good To Me – BIG THREE TRIO (Columbia 30110, A)
13. Long Gone – SONNY THOMPSON with The Sharps and The Flats (Miracle 126, A)
14. Cadillac Boogie – JIMMY LIGGINS and his Drops Of Joy (Specialty 521, A)
15. Pretty Mama Blues – IVORY JOE HUNTER and his Band (Pacific 637, A)
16. Run Joe – LOUIS JORDAN and his Tympany Five (Decca 24 448, A)
17. Elevator Baby – MABEL SCOTT (Exclusive 35, A)
18. We're Gonna Rock – BILL MOORE (featuring Paul Williams on Baritone Sax) (Savoy 666, A)
19. My Heart Belongs To You – ARBEE STIDHAM (RCA Victor 20-2572, A)
20. I Can't Be Satisfied – MUDDY WATERS with Rhythm Accompaniment (Aristocrat 1305, A)
21. Corn Bread – HAL SINGER SEXTETTE (Savoy 671, A)
22. It's Too Soon To Know – THE ORIOLES (Natural 5000, A)
23. Hop, Skip, And Jump – ROY MILTON And His Solid Senders (Specialty SP 314, B-side of “Everything I Do Is Wrong”)
24. That's Your Last Boogie – JOE SWIFT with Jonny Otis and his Orchestra (Exclusive 51, A)
25. A Little Bird Told Me – PAULA WATSON (Supreme 1507, A)
26. Long About Midnight – ROY BROWN and his Mighty, Mighty Men (DeLuxe 3154, A)
27. Daddy-O – LOUIS JORDAN and his Tympany Five (Decca 24 502. A)
28. Chicken-Shack Boogie – AMOS MILBURN (Aladdin 3014, A)

“Blowing The Fuse – 27 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1949” by VARIOUS ARTISTS (2004 Bear Family CD Compilation, Volume 5 of 16, Jurgen Crasser Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Boogie Woogie…It's In Him…And It's Got To Come Out…"

Bear Family's truly fabulous "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations chronicles the transition of minority ghettoized Blues into national Rhythm 'n' Blues and stretches across 16 individual single-disc volumes that cover the years 1945 to 1960. Released across 2004 and 2005 –"Blowing The Fuse" was then followed in 2008 and 2009 by Bear’s equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 15 sets from 1961 to 1975 - complimented in turn by their spiritual and musical partners - 15 volumes of Vocal Group sets called "Street Corner Symphonies" covering 1939 to 1963 (released 2012 and 2013). I suppose you could argue that I just say, "Buy the lot man!" in a very loud voice - but bluntly they're so good - each deserves a thorough review (and that’s what I’ve done). So here goes with Volume 1 of the R&B Series "Blowing The Fuse"…

"Blowing The Fuse - 27 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1949" is on Bear Family BCD 16704 AS (Barcode 4000127167040) and was released November 2004 in Germany. Each US-based yearly compilation comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak sleeve. The left flap pictures an original record relevant to the year (1949 has "Rockin At Midnight" by Roy Brown on DeLuxe), the centre flap holds a 70 to 90 page oversized booklet that slips out so you can read it separately and the right flap a colour-themed CD that matches the outer packaging. As with the "Sweet Soul Music" and "Street Corner Symphony" setes of compilations, each of the 16 R&B spines makes up a whole photo when placed alongside each other (a fantastic black & white shot of a crowd of hip dudes and their gals dancing at some Saturday night bar). As you can see from the cover photos of these compilations too, the theme of people dancing and artists enjoying themselves is repeated right across all of these wonderfully restored photographs (they're from The Showtime Music Archive in Toronto). This 1949 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a fulsome 79:10 minutes.

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (or the best disc available) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given their age and the wildly varying sources, the sound quality is uniformly great. But - it has to be said that in comparison to 1951 to 1960, the sound on both 1949 and 1950 is a lot rougher, especially when it’s off a 78”…

The first indication of this is on Track 3 – the ballad “Bewildered” by Red Miller (originally a hit for Tommy Dorsey 10 years earlier) – it’s rough sounding, but the charm is there and still remains a lovely listen. But then things jump straight into the legendary – the awesome one-chord, foot-stomping “Boogie Chillen” by John Lee Hooker - sounding like Blues was literally invented right here.
As if sensing its importance, the Modern Records 78” is pictured alongside an early shot of him on Pages 12 and 13. Over 60 years old and this simplest of Blues stomps still has incredible power and mojo (lyrics above).

Outside of Blues (Jimmy Witherspoon) and Vocal Groups (The Orioles) - the other order of the day was shuffling boogie tunes – most of which were instrumentals. There’s “Texas Hop” by Pee Wee Clayton (with Buddy Floyd on Tenor Sax), “The Hucklebuck” by Paul Williams (a tremendous dancer that was No.1 for weeks) and “T.J. Boogie” by Georgia piano player T.J. Fowler, where you can literally hear Glenn Miller and Lionel Hampton receding into the background, blurring into that new rocking Rhythm ‘n’ Blues sound – and even Rock 'n' Roll…

Criminally forgotten gems go to "The Spinach Song" by the witty and saucy Julia Lee. Sounding fantastic (top Capitol Records production values), it’s a master class in double-entendre lyric writing – sex disguised as a song about a hot vegetable on a dinner plate (“I didn’t like it at first, but oh how it grew on me…”). It’ll have you grinning and running to the confessional. Speaking of likeable sinners, habitual womanizer and whiskey drinking Wynonie Harris gives us his fantastic voice and another irresistible bopper in “All She Wants To Do Is Rock” – where he also uses the lyric couplet “rock ‘n’ roll” six years before its explosion. “Numbers Boogie” sounds like a nine-year old singing, because it is… Sugar Chile Robinson was a piano-playing child prodigy born in Detroit and Capitol rather cutely advertised him as needing his stool to be propped up by two telephone directories in order to reach the keys. He was a smash though – and even headlined in England’s West End in 1951 (great advert and publicity photo on Pages 54 and 55). Ruth Brown’s “So Long” on Atlantic sounds far better here than it has done on any other compilation I have by her. And of course, there’s the perfection of Louis Jordan on “Saturday Night Fish Fry” – it’s easy to see why he was so beloved and shifted so many units – everything about his songs was right – catchy tune, great lyrics, huge personality…

But my favourites are two criminally forgotten blues shouters - Billy Wright and Charles Brown. Now a footnote in history, the openly gay Billy Wright looked like a younger Little Richard. Wild showmanship, Pancake 31 makeup to lighten his face, even his singing style was lifted by Richard a few years later (James Brown and Otis Redding name-checked him too). His “Blues For My Baby” on Savoy is exactly the kind of great choice the compilers should make. Charles Brown was a ‘classy’ Blues singer – his “Trouble Blues” has a real beauty about it - the great bluesman even received a letter of consolation written by President Clinton, which was read out at his funeral in 1999.

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. There's an intro on Page 4 with the text for the songs beginning on Page 5 and ending on Page 70, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful full colour plate of lesser-seen records and their label bag graces an entire page (“Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee” by “Stick” McGhee on Atlantic and "Rock The Joint” by Jimmy Preston on Gotham and are on Pages 36 and 58). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT and because the booklet allows him to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1949" is 'the' place to start.


Detailed track list for the Bear Family CD compilation “Blowing The Fuse - 1949"
Label & Catalogue Number () for the USA 78" follow the Title and Artist Name.
If there's TWO Catalogue Numbers, the first is the Original; the 2nd is the Reissue.

1. Up Above My Head, I Hear Music In The Air – SISTER ROSETTA THARPE and MARIE KNIGHT with the Sam Price Trio (Decca 48090)
2. Texas Hop – PEE WEE CRAYTON and his Guitar (Modern 643)
3. Bewildered – RED MILLER TRIO (Staff 607/Bullet 295)
4. Boogie Chillen – JOHN LEE HOOKER (Modern 627)
5. Deacon’s Hop – BIG JAY McNEELY (Savoy 685)
6. Ain’t Nobody’s Business, Part 1 – JIMMY WITHERSPOON (Supreme 1506)
7. The Hucklebuck – PAUL WILLIAMS and his Hucklebuckers (Savoy 683)
8. The Spinach Song – JULIA LEE and her Boyfriends (Capitol 15367)
9. Rockin At Midnight – ROY BROWN and his Mighty, Mighty Men (DeLuxe 3212)
10. Tell Me So – THE ORIOLES (Jubilee 5005)
[Featuring Sonny Til and Norman Bridges on Lead and Bridge Vocals]
11. T-Bone Shuffle – T-BONE WALKER (Comet T-53/Capitol 57-70042)
12. Pot Likker – TODD RHODES and his Orchestra (Sensation 15/King 4287)
13. Trouble Blues – CHARLES BROWN TRIO (Aladdin 3024)
14. Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee – "STICK" McGHEE and his Buddies (Atlantic 873)
15. T. J. Boogie – T.J. FOWLER and his Orchestra (National 9075)
16. So Long – RUTH BROWN with Eddie Condon’s N.B.C. Television Orchestra (Atlantic 879)
17. All She Wants To Do Is Rock – WYNONIE HARRIS (King 4304)
18. Roamin’ House Boogie – AMOS MILBURN (Aladdin 3032)
19. Baby Get Lost – DINAH WASHINGTON (Mercury 8148)
20. Why Don’t You Haul Off And Love Me – BULL MOOSE JACKSON and his Buffalo Bearcats (King 4322)
21. Numbers Boogie – SUGAR CHILE ROBINSON (Capitol 70037)
22. Rock The Joint – JIMMY PRESTON and his Prestonians (Gotham 188)
23. Blues For My Baby – BILLY WRIGHT (Savoy 710)
24. Saturday Night Fish Fry, Parts 1 & 2 – LOUIS JORDAN and his Tympany Five (Decca 24725)
25. Cuttin’ Out – ANNIE LAURIE with The Paul Gayten Orchestra (Regal 3235)
26. For You My Love – LARRY DARNELL (Regal 3240)
27. Mary Is Fine – CLARENCE 'GATEMOUTH' BROWN, his guitar and Orchestra (Peacock 1504)

“Blowing The Fuse – 28 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1950” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Award-Winning 2004 Bear Family CD Compilation

"…Gonna Drink Myself A Whole Wad Of Gin…Let The Good Times Roll ‘Til The Cops Come In…"

The "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations stretches across 16 volumes from 1945 to 1960 and was then followed by Bear Family's equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 10 sets from 1961 to 1970 (I've reviewed all 10 of those in detail). Having been drawn in by the truly beautiful sound quality and presentation of the 'Soul' discs, I knew it would be a big blow to my bank balance buying even one of these R&B issues - and it was! But I've laboured with all of these time-consuming detailed reviews because these reissues are the business...they truly are.

"Blowing The Fuse - 28 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1950" is on Bear Family BCD 16705 AS and was released November 2004 in Germany. Each US-based yearly compilation comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak sleeve. The left flap pictures an original record relevant to the year (1950 has "Please Send Me Someone To Love" by Percy Mayfield on Specialty), the centre flap holds a 70 to 90 page oversized booklet that slips out so you can read it separately and the right flap a colour-themed CD that matches the outer packaging. As with the 10 "Sweet Soul Music" compilations, each of the 16 R&B spines makes up a whole photo when placed alongside each other (a fantastic black & white shot of a crowd of hip dudes and their gals dancing at some Saturday night bar). As you can see from the cover photos of these compilations too, the theme of people dancing and artists enjoying themselves is repeated right across all of these wonderfully restored photographs (they're from The Showtime Music Archive in Toronto). This 1950 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a jam-packed 79:58 minutes.

Compiler Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth took his time with this - actually playing the set through - mixing in the famous with the obscure but in a new order - and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. The compilation begins in January and in rough chronological order ends in December.

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (or in many cases, the best disc available) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given their age and wildly varying sources, the sound is uniformly great. But - it has to be said that in comparison to 1951 to 1960, the sound on 1950 is a lot rougher - the music is as blissfully exuberant as ever (“Stack–A ‘Lee” and “The Fat Man”), but the sound has definitely taken a dip…

The proceedings open with two songs about women – the man in the first song doesn’t understand the signals they send out - and the woman in the second song won’t “put out” at all - "Information Blues" by Amos Milburn and "Sittin’ On It All The Time" by Wynonie Harris. Cleverly chosen instrumentals go to “Strollin’ With Bones” by T-Bone Walker and “Old Time Shuffle Blues” by Lloyd Glenn – both are easy on the ear shuffles – while two overly familiar tracks (and personal favourites of mine) now sound fantastic – the best I’ve ever heard them – they are “Teardrops From My Eyes” by Ruth Brown (see track notes below) and “Please Send Me Someone To Love” by Percy Mayfield.

There’s a lot of great dancers on here too – “Well Oh Well” by Tiny Bradshaw, “Come On Let’s Boogie” by Goree Carter (great guitar work) and “Safronia B.” by Calvin Boze who was as musically and lyrically sophisticated as Louis Jordan. A superb coupling is tracks 18 and 19 – they are “Count Every Star” by The Ravens (which some claim practically started the Doo Wop and Vocal Groups craze) and “Blue Shadows” by guitarist Lowell Fulson – an infectious R&B groove that perfectly compliments its predecessor. Great stuff…

After 22 slices of hip R&B dancers and commercially astute smoochers, the straight-up acoustic blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins then comes as both a genuine shock and thrill. “Shotgun Blues” was written by Sonny Boy Williamson and is so sparse and moody that it’s like a dark past licking at your feet – echoes of Robert Johnson. And that voice – wow - his presence too – extraordinary stuff.

Criminally forgotten gems go to "Double Crossing Blues" by Johnny Otis which introduced the wonderfully expressive vocals of “Little” Esther Phillips to the world, Eddie Mack swigs back a few drinks on his “Hoot And Holler Saturday Night” (lyrics above) and Roy Hawkins practically writes the handbook on “poor me” blues songs on his “misery…lonesome…strange things happening…” whiner “Why Do Everything Happen To Me”. And it all ends as it started – a blasting rocker by Jimmy Preston (written by Louis Prima years before he went solo in 1956). It’s impressive stuff…

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. A couple dancing grace Page 3 (and the front sleeve), there's an intro on Page 4 with the text for the songs beginning on Page 5 and ending on Page 70, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful full colour plate of lesser-seen records and their label bag graces an entire page (“I Almost Lost My Mind” by Ivory Joe Hunter on M-G-M and "Rag Mop” by Doc Sausage and his Mad Lads on Regal and are on Pages 11 and 12). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT with knowledgeable contributions from BILL MILLAR, DAVE BOOTH, Larry Cohn, Walter DeVenne and many more (photos from Michael Ochs Archives, Victor Pearlin & others). And because the booklet allows Escott to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - like Dahl's work on "Sweet Soul Music" - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1950" is 'the' place to start.

Track List for the CD "Blowing The Fuse 1950"
(Label & Catalogue Number For The US 78" Follow The Title. If There's TWO Catalogue Numbers, The First Is The Original; The 2nd Is The Reissue)

1. Information Blues – ROY MILTON and his Solid Senders (Specialty 349)
2. Sittin’ On It All The Time – WYNONIE HARRIS (King 4330)
3. I Almost Lost My Mind – IVORY JOE HUNTER (MGM 10578)
4. Rag Mop – DOC SAUSAGE and his Mad Lads (Regal 3251)
5. The Fat Man – FATS DOMINO (Imperial 5058)
6. Double Crossing Blues – JOHNNY OTIS QUINTETTE (Savoy 731)
[Featuring “Little” Esther Phillips and Mel Walker on Duet Vocals]
7. Hoot And Holler Saturday Night – EDDIE MACK and Orchestra (Apollo 417)
8. Mardi Gras In New Orleans – PROFESSOR LONGHAIR and his New Orleans Boys (Atlantic 897)
9. 3 x 7 = 21 – JEWEL KING (Imperial 5055) [Mary Jewel King]
10. Why Do Everything Happen To Me – ROY HAWKINS and his Orchestra (Modern 734)
11. Pink Champagne – JOE LIGGINS and his Honeydrippers (Specialty 355)
12. Strollin’ With Bones – T-BONE WALKER, his guitar and his Orchestra (Imperial 5071)
13. Well Oh Well – TINY BRADSHAW (King 4357)
14. Still In the Dark – JOE TURNER and Orchestra (Freedom 1531)
15. Stack-A’ Lee, Parts 1 & 2 – ARCHIBALD and his Orchestra (Imperial 5068)
16. Come On Let’s Boogie – GOREE CARTER (Freedom 1536)
17. Safronia B. – CALVIN BOZE and his All-Stars (Aladdin 3055)
18. Count Every Star – THE RAVENS (National 9111)
19. Blue Shadows – LOWELL FULSON (Swing Time 226)
20. Blue Light Boogie Parts 1 & 2 – LOUIS JORDAN and his Tympany Five (Decca 27114)
21. Love Don’t Love Nobody – ROY BROWN and his Mighty, Mighty Men (DeLuxe 2306)
22. Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere – JOE MORRIS and his Orchestra (Atlantic 914)
[Uncredited Lead Vocals by LAURIE TATE; Atlantic’s first No. 1 R&B hit]
23. Shotgun Blues – LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS (Aladdin 3063)
[Written by Sonny Boy Williamson]
24. Teardrops From My Eyes – RUTH BROWN with Budd Johnson’s Orchestra (Atlantic 919)
[In October 1950 in reached No. 1 on the R&B charts (their 2nd number one) and was the first Atlantic track issued on the new 45 RPM 7” single format as well as a 78”]
25. Boogie Rambler – CLARENCE ‘GATEMOUTH’ BROWN, his guitar and his Orchestra (Peacock 1505)
26. Please Send Me Someone To Love – PERCY MAYFIELD and Orchestra (Specialty 375)
27. Old Time Shuffle Blues – LLOYD GLENN with Th’ Fulson Unit (Swing Time 237)
[Featuring Lowell Fulson on Guitar, Lloyd Glenn on Keyboards]
28. Oh, Babe! – JIMMY PRESTON and his Band (Derby 748)

“Blowing The Fuse – 28 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1951” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Award-Winning 2005 Bear Family CD Compilation

"…I’m Looking For A Chick That Only Drinks Lemonade…I’m Tired Of Being Broke The Day After I Get Paid..."

The "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations stretches across 16 volumes from 1945 to 1960 and was then followed by Bear Family's equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 10 sets from 1961 to 1970 (I've reviewed all 10 of those in detail). Having been drawn in by the truly beautiful sound quality and presentation of the 'Soul' discs, I knew it would be a big blow to my bank balance buying even one of these R&B issues - and it was! But I've laboured with all of these time-consuming detailed reviews because these reissues are the business...they really are.

"Blowing The Fuse - 28 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1951" is on Bear Family BCD 16706 AS and was released April 2005 in Germany. Each US-based yearly compilation comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak sleeve. The left flap pictures an original record relevant to the year (1951 has "Little Red Rooster" by Margie Day on Dot), the centre flap holds a 70 to 90 page oversized booklet that slips out so you can read it separately and the right flap a colour-themed CD that matches the outer packaging. As with the 10 "Sweet Soul Music" compilations, each of the 16 R&B spines makes up a whole photo when placed alongside each other (a fantastic black & white shot of a crowd of hip dudes and their gals dancing at some Saturday night bar). As you can see from the cover photos of these compilations too, the theme of people dancing and artists enjoying themselves is repeated right across all of these wonderfully restored photographs (they're from The Showtime Music Archive in Toronto). This 1951 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a healthy 78:24 minutes.

Compiler Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth took his time with this - actually playing the set through - mixing in the famous with the obscure but in a new order - and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. The compilation begins in January and in rough chronological order ends in December. And even the way-too-familiar tracks on here like "Rocket “88”" by Jackie Brenston and "I’m In The Mood" by John Lee Hooker are all sorted out by the next big plus...the massively improved sound…

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (or the best disc available) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given their age and wildly varying sources, the sound is uniformly GLORIOUS.

Six years after the Second World War, America wanted to rock - so it's not surprising that so many songs in 1951 were about drink, sex and partying (with an occasional nod towards their consequences in between). The proceedings open with a superlative double-whammy – “Bad, Bad Whiskey” by Amos Milburn and “Little Joe’s Boogie” by Joe Liggins – both with stunning sound and infectious dancefloor rhythms. Dark-edged blues then follow in the “…long distance” moaner “Telephone Blues” by Floyd Dixon and the lingering chill of “…my brother’s in Korea…” on “Black Night” by Charles Brown. Then it’s back to more boozy tunes like “Bloodshot Eyes” by Wynonie Harris - whose style and voice Louis Prima mimicked almost phrase for phrase 5 years later on his Capitol debut album - while Louis Jordan’s wonderfully catty “Lemonade” has a very funny monetary take on the demon-drink (lyrics above).

Genius choices - "Chica Boo" is an instrumental rumba shuffle beautifully arranged and played by one of the periods great unsung-heroes – Lloyd Glenn (the 78” is also pictured on Page 40), while the brass on “I’m Just Waiting For You” by Lucky Millender is likely to blow your speakers out - so powerful, so clear. “I Got Loaded” by Peppermint Harris on Aladdin is probably one of the best celebrations of getting drunk ever - it was later covered by The Cadets with the stunning bass vocals of Will “Dub” Jones on lead.

Criminally forgotten gems go to "Sixty-Minute Man" by The Dominoes, which not only dominated almost half of the year it was such a huge hit – but some say is one of the most important records ever made because it was ‘the’ crossover song for black music into the white charts. With Bill Brown heading up the deep bass vocals and Clyde McPhatter on background operatic yelps, it also used the words “rock” and “roll” together in the same song (The Boswell Sisters used the combo of words in 1934, but The Dominoes track is the one most associated with the pairing). Somehow sensing its importance, the 78” is pictured in its Federal bag on Page 33.

Vocal Group collectors and Blues enthusiasts will flip for the sound quality on “The Glory Of Love” by The Five Keys and “I’m In The Mood” by John Lee Hooker – clarity on both like I’ve never heard before. My only slight disappointment is that excepting Margie Day, 'women' singers are entirely absent from 1951 (unlike 1952 onwards).

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. The Treniers grace Page 3 (and the front sleeve), there’s an intro on Page 4 with the text for the songs beginning on Page 5 and ending on Page 70, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful full colour plate of lesser-seen singles and their label bag graces an entire page ("I Got Loaded" by Peppermint Harris on Aladdin and "Fool, Fool, Fool” by The Clovers on Atlantic are on Pages 49 and 66). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT with knowledgeable contributions from BILL MILLAR, DAVE BOOTH, Marv Goldberg's online R&B site, Robert L. Campbell, Red Saunders Research Project, Larry Cohn, Walter DeVenne and Bernd Matheja (disc pictures supplied by John Tefteller and Victor Pearlin). And because the booklet allows Escott to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - like Dahl's work on "Sweet Soul Music" - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1951" is 'the' place to start.

Compilations like this live or die based on a few key ingredients - great track choices, properly remastered sound and all of it wrapped up in knowledgeable and (if you're lucky) sumptuous presentation. Well "Blowin The Fuse" wins on all counts - it really does. The entire series is gorgeous to look at and especially to listen to. Well done to all involved...

Track List for the CD "Blowing The Fuse 1951"
(Label & Catalogue Number For The US 78"/7" Single Follow The Title. If There's TWO Catalogue Numbers, The First Is The Original; The 2nd Is The Reissue In That Year)

1. Bad, Bad Whiskey – AMOS MILBURN and his Aladdin Chickenshackers (Aladdin 3068)
2. Little Joe’s Boogie – JOE LIGGINS and his Honeydrippers (Specialty 379)
3. Telephone Blues – FLOYD DIXON with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers featuring Oscar Moore (Aladdin 3075)
4. Rockin’ With Red – PIANO RED (RCA 22/50-0099)
5. Lemonade – LOUIS JORDAN and his Tympany Five (Decca 27324)
[Featuring Bill David on Organ]
6. I Will Wait – THE FOUR BUDDIES (Savoy 769)
7. Rockin’ Blues – THE JOHNNY OTIS ORCHESTRA with Mel Walker (Savoy 766)
8. Little Red Rooster – MARGIE DAY with the Griffin Brothers’ Orchestra (Dot 1019)
9. Black Night – CHARLES BROWN and his Band (Aladdin 3076)
10. I’m Waiting Just For You – LUCKY MILLINDER and his Orchestra, Vocal by Annisteen Allen and John Carol (King 4453)
11. Rocket “88” – JACKIE BRENSTON and his Delta Cats (Chess 1458)
12. Long Distance Call – MUDDY WATERS and his Guitar (Chess 1452)
13. Sixty-Minute Man – THE DOMINOES (Federal 12022)
[Featuring Bill Brown on Lead Vocals, Clyde McPhatter on Backing Vocals]
14. Tend To Your Business – JAMES WAYNE (Sittin’ In 588)
15. Chains Of Love – JOE TURNER with Vann “Piano Man” Walls and his Orchestra (Atlantic 939)
[On this 78” ‘Van’ is spelt with two n’s’ in error; on all subsequent issues it’s spelt ‘Van’]
16. Chica Boo – LLOYD GLENN (Swingtime 254)
17. Go! Go! Go! – THE TRENIERS (Okeh 6804)
18. The Glory Of Love – THE FIVE KEYS (Aladdin 3099)
19. I Got Loaded – “PEPPERMINT” HARRIS with Maxwell Davis and his ALL-STARS (Aladdin 3097)
20. Castle Rock – JOHNNY HODGES and his Orchestra (Mercury 8944)
[Featuring Al Sears On Tenor Saxophone]
21. Eyesight To The Blind – THE LARKS (Apollo 427)
22. Bloodshot Eyes – WYNONIE HARRIS (King 4461)
[Featuring Big John Greer on Saxophone]
23. '’T’ 99 Blues – JIMMIE NELSON and The Peter Rabbit Trio (RPM 325)
24. Walkin’ The Chalk Line – TINY BRADSHAW (King 4457)
25. I’m In The Mood – JOHN LEE HOOKER (Modern 835)
26. Fool, Fool, Fool – THE CLOVERS (Atlantic 944)
27. Flamingo – EARL BOSTIC and his Orchestra (King 4475)
28. How Many More Years – HOWLIN’ WOLF (Chess 1479)

“Blowing The Fuse – 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1952” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Award-Winning 2005 Bear Family CD Compilation

"…I’ve Got Six Extra Children…From A Getting Frisky..."

The "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations stretches across 16 volumes from 1945 to 1960 and was then followed by Bear Family's equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 10 sets from 1961 to 1970 (I've reviewed all 10 of those in detail). Having been drawn in by the truly beautiful sound quality and presentation of the 'Soul' discs, I knew it would be a big blow to my bank balance buying even one of these R&B issues - and it was! But I've laboured with all of these time-consuming detailed reviews because these reissues are the business...they really are.

"Blowing The Fuse - 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1952" is on Bear Family BCD 16707 AS and was released April 2005 in Germany. Each US-based yearly compilation comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak sleeve. The left flap pictures an original record relevant to the year (1952 has "The Bells Are Ringing" by Smiley Lewis on Imperial), the centre flap holds a 70 to 90 page oversized booklet that slips out so you can read it separately and the right flap a colour-themed CD that matches the outer packaging. As with the 10 "Sweet Soul Music" compilations, each of the 16 R&B spines makes up a whole photo when placed alongside each other (a fantastic black & white shot of a crowd of hip dudes and their gals dancing at some Saturday night bar). As you can see from the cover photos of these compilations too, the theme of people dancing and artists enjoying themselves is repeated right across all of these wonderfully restored photographs (they're from The Showtime Music Archive in Toronto). This 1952 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a healthy 78:59 minutes.

Compiler Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth took his time with this - actually playing the set through - mixing in the famous with the obscure but in a new order - and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. The compilation begins in January and in rough chronological order ends in December. And even the way-too-familiar tracks on here like "Dust My Broom" by Elmore James and "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by Lloyd Price are all sorted out by the next big plus...the massively improved sound (on almost all tracks)...

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (both Mono and Stereo) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given the wildly varying sources, the sound is uniformly GLORIOUS.

The post war years saw America wanting to rock – so it’s not surprising that so many songs in 1952 did just that – infectious floor-fillers include “Lovin’ Machine” by Wynonie Harris, “The Train Kept-A-Rollin’” by Tiny Bradshaw and “I Can’t Lose With The Stuff I Use” by Lester Williams. Even the Doo Wop vocal groups were in on the boppin’ act – “Baby, Please Don’t Go” by The Orioles and “Rock Me All Night Long” by The Ravens. But best of all is “Have Mercy Baby” by The Dominies where the lead singer tells us in a pleading warble “…I’ve been a good for nothing…I’ve lied and cheated too…” That fabulous new vocalist was Clyde McPhatter, ably backed up by Billy Ward’s ultra-tight combo (he fined them for missing beats). The result is R’n’B perfection.

In between these rockers were the misery guts songs like the wonderfully bluesy “So Tired” by Roy Milton and the almost dark “Hard Times” by Charles Brown. “Hard Times” was one of the first songs to benefit from the stunning Leiber & Stoller songwriting partnership – it sounds amazing despite its dubbed-from-disc roughness. Speaking of which, it’s not all good news on the sound front - “Booted’ By Rosco Gordon features very audible crackle and hiss, while “My Song” by Johnny Ace is not just badly recorded – it’s almost unlistenable. And there’s some disappointing clicks on “5-10-15 Hours” by Ruth Brown – but it’s still better than I’ve ever heard it…

Genius choices – there’s two superb instrumentals - “Night Train” by Jimmy Forrest (later covered so well by James Brown) and “Juke” by Little Walter – a harmonica blast so good it might tempt the dead back from Heaven for one more turn on the barroom floor. But my poison is the fantastically catchy dancer “It Ain’t The Meat” by The Swallows (whose picture graces the front cover). It bops along with great double-entendre lyrics - the handclaps and lead vocals beautifully clear from the remaster.

Criminally forgotten gems go to “Got You On My Mind” by John Greer (covered over the years by acts as diverse as Piano Red, Cookie And The Cupcakes and Eric Clapton) and the stunning discovery of Thomas Braden’s lead vocals on “Mary Jo” by The Four Blazes – a cross between Louis Prima and Smiley Lewis. The slashing guitar of Elmore James on the seminal “Dust My Broom” sounds like it was recorded in a bucket with a microphone bought at Woolworths, but it still packs the punch of a fist in the face – and it also reminds you of how many white guitar players fell under its voodoo spell who then subsequently shaped rock music for the next 40 years. And once again – like 1953 – it’s also noticeable just how far ahead of the game "Atlantic" was as a label - "The Chill Is On'" by Big Joe Turner, "5-10-15 Hours" by Ruth Brown and the irresistibly saucy “One Mint Julep" by The Clovers (lyrics above) – all great.

The women are either containing their men’s ardour - “Easy, Easy Baby” by Varetta Dillard or being shot because they’re cheated on them – “Goodbye Baby” by Little Caesar – an extraordinarily grim tune where bullets sound out in the dying moments – twice (he does himself too!).

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. With an intro on Page 4, the text for the songs begins on Page 5 and ends on Page 69, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful full colour plate of lesser-seen singles and their label bag graces an entire page ("3 O’Clock Blues” by B.B. KING on RPM Records and “Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by Lloyd Price on Specialty are on Pages 11 and 48). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT with knowledgeable contributions from BILL MILLAR, DAVE BOOTH, Marv Goldberg's online R&B site, Robert L. Campbell, Red Saunders Research Project, Larry Cohn, Walter DeVenne and Bernd Matheja. And because the booklet allows Escott to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - like Dahl's work on "Sweet Soul Music" - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1952" is 'the' place to start.

Compilations like this live or die based on a few key ingredients - great track choices, properly remastered sound and all of it wrapped up in knowledgeable and (if you're lucky) sumptuous presentation. Well "Blowin The Fuse" wins on all counts - it really does. The entire series is gorgeous to look at and especially to listen to. Well done to all involved...

PS: the pictures on the front sleeves of 1952 and 1953 have been 'reversed' by Bear Family despite what the Amazon pictures above show (probably done at the last minute – see my own photos provided).

Track List for the CD "Blowing The Fuse 1952"
(Label & Catalogue Number For The US 78"/7" Single Follow The Title. If There's TWO Catalogue Numbers, The First Is The Original; The 2nd Is The Reissue In That Year)

1. The Chill Is On – JOE TURNER With Van “Piano Man” Walls And His Orchestra (Atlantic 949)
2. It Ain’t The Meat – THE SWALLOWS (King 4501)
3. 3 O’Clock Blues – B.B. KING (RPM 339)
4. Got You On My Mind – JOHN GREER And The Rhythm Rockers (RCA 20/47-4348)
5. Booted – ROSCO GORDON (Chess 1487)
6. Weepin’ And Cryin’ – THE GRIFFIN BROTHERS ORCHESTRA Featuring Tommy Brown (Dot 107)
7. Dust My Broom – ELMORE JAMES (Trumpet 146)
8. Lovin’ Machine – WYNONIE HARRIS With Todd Rhodes’ Orchestra (King 4485)
9. Hard Times – CHARLES BROWN And His Band (Aladdin 3116)
10. Wheel Of Fortune – DINAH WASHINGTON With Orchestra Accompaniment (Mercury 8267)
11. Baby, Please Don’t Go – THE ORIOLES (Jubilee 5065)
12. The Train Kept-A-Rollin’ – TINY BRADSHAW (King 4497)
13. Goin’ Home – FATS DOMINO (Imperial 5180)
14. One Mint Julep – THE CLOVERS (Atlantic 963)
15. I Can’t Lose With The Stuff I Use – LESTER WILLIAMS And His Band (Specialty 422)
16. Night Train – JIMMY FORREST And His Allstar Combo (United U 110)
17. I’m Gonna Play The Honky Tonks – MARIE ADAMS With Bill Harvey’s Band (Peacock 1583)
18. Have Mercy Baby – THE DOMINOES (Federal 12068)
[Clyde McPhatter on Lead Vocals]
19. So Tired – ROY MILTON And His Solid Senders (Specialty 429)
20. Lawdy Miss Clawdy – LLOYD PRICE And His Orchestra (Specialty 428)
21. 5-10-15 Hours – RUTH BROWN With Orchestra (Atlantic 962)
22. Mary Jo – FOUR BLAZES (Lead Vocal Thomas Braden) (United U 114)
23. My Song – JOHNNY ACE With The Beale Streeters (Duke R-102)
24. The Bells Are Ringing – SMILEY LEWIS (Imperial 5194)
25. Easy, Easy Baby – VARETTA DILLARD (Savoy 847)
26. Juke – LITTLE WALTER (Checker 758)
27. Goodbye Baby – LITTLE CAESER (Hollywood 235)
28. I Don’t Know – WILLIE MABON And His Combo (Chess 1531)
29. Rock Me All Night Long – THE RAVENS (Mercury 8291)

“Blowing The Fuse – 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1953” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Award-Winning 2005 Bear Family CD Compilation

"...Get Out That Big Ten-Inch...Record Of The Band That Played The Blues..."

The "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations stretches across 16 volumes from 1945 to 1960 and was then followed by Bear Family's equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 10 sets from 1961 to 1970 (I've reviewed all 10 of those in detail). Having been drawn in by the truly beautiful sound quality and presentation of the 'Soul' discs, I knew it would be a big blow to my bank balance buying even one of these R&B issues - and it was! I’ve laboured with all of these time-consuming detailed reviews because these reissues are the business...

"Blowing The Fuse - 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1953" is on Bear Family BCD 16708 AS and was released April 2005 in Germany. Each US-based yearly compilation comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak sleeve. The left flap pictures an original record relevant to the year (1953 has "Gabbin’ Blues" by Big Maybelle on Okeh), the centre flap holds a 70 to 90 page oversized booklet that slips out so you can read it separately and the right flap a colour-themed CD that matches the outer packaging. As with the 10 "Sweet Soul Music" compilations, each of the 16 R&B spines makes up a whole photo when placed alongside each other (a fantastic black & white shot of a crowd of hip dudes and their gals dancing at some Saturday night bar). As you can see from the cover photos of these compilations too, the theme of people dancing and artists enjoying themselves is repeated right across all of these wonderfully restored photographs (they're from The Showtime Music Archive in Toronto). This 1953 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a healthy 79:27 minutes.

Compiler Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth took his time with this - actually playing the set through - mixing in the famous with the obscure but in a new order - and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. The compilation begins in January and in rough chronological order ends in December. And even the way-too-familiar tracks on here like "Crying In The Chapel" by The Orioles, "Mess Around" by Ray Charles and "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer" by Amos Milburn are all sorted out by the next big plus...the beautifully clear sound...

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (both Mono and Stereo) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given the wildly varying sources, the sound is uniformly GLORIOUS.

Little prepares you for the clarity of Ruth Brown’s tambourine in the opening seconds of “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean” which is followed by the fabulous “Baby Don’t Do It” from The “5” Royales – an equally astute lyric and infectious rocker. In fact throughout 1953, the tunes are about hitting someone, getting drunk or getting laid – or all three combined. Bull Moose Jackson’s staggeringly lewd "Big Ten-Inch Record" (lyrics above) and Jimmy Liggins’ mean old bottle song “Drunk” are perfect examples – masterpieces of the teasing double-entendre. Offset against this naughtiness is the almost clinging innocence of the Doo Wop songs (“The Clock” by Johnny Ace) - all sweetness and light and heartfelt longing. Its also noticeable just how far ahead of the game “Atlantic” was as a label – “Good Lovin’” by The Clovers, “Honey Hush” by Joe Turner and “Money Honey” by Clyde McPhatter And The Drifters are all such irresistible smashes that they sit as awkward bedfellows with the heavy-handed blues tunes like Earl Forest’s “Whoppin’ And Hollerin’” which seemed to struggle with the word ‘hit’. And having been treated to truly great sound, the obviously rare but dubbed from disc “I Had A Notion” by Joe Morris is sonically rough to say the least.

The women are either loving their men or killing them – “Sweetheart Of The Blues” Shirley is in lovely voice on “I’m Gone” by Shirley & Lee, while Rose Marie McCoy’s spoken answers in Big Maybelle’s “Gabbin’ Blues” are full of staggeringly catty insults and full-on slag-offs – you’d rather face a baseball bat than the wrath of this Mississippi belle. There’s also a sense to of changing times among some songs – “TV Is The Thing (This Year)” by Dinah Washington.

Genius choices go to “Marie” by The Four Tunes – a brilliant fast vocal-group cover of an Irving Berlin song that is part “Reet Petite” and part Platters on speed! Tiny Bradshaw’s “Soft” is a brassy instrumental that sounds like a World War II dancefloor shuffle – a really sweet discovery. Little Junior Parker’s “Feelin’ Good” is fantastic too – it’s half Bo Diddley, half John Lee Hooker boogie – a joke done in the studio that turned out to strike a new rocking-guitar chord. Little Walter’s “Blues With A Feeling” is the absolute dog’s bollox - his huge-sounding amplified harmonica warbling through your speakers - mean and gritty – it’s astonishingly potent stuff.

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. With an intro on Page 4, the text for the songs begins on Page 5 and ends on Page 69, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful full colour plate of lesser-seen singles and their label bag graces an entire page ("Hound Dog" by “Big Mama” Thornton on Peacock and "Please Don’t Leave Me" by Fats Domino on Imperial are on Pages 16 and 38). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT with knowledgeable contributions from BILL MILLAR, DAVE BOOTH, Marv Goldberg's online R&B site, Robert Pruter, Robert L. Campbell and Tom Kelly. And because the booklet allows Escott to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - like Dahl's work on "Sweet Soul Music" - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read. I just wish there was more of it...

Niggles - the glossy card sleeve is easy to smudge and I wish the booklet was 90 pages and not 72, but apart from that there's just way too much great stuff on here to whinge about.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1953" is 'the' place to start.

Compilations like this live or die based on a few key ingredients - great track choices, properly remastered sound and all of it wrapped up in knowledgeable and (if you're lucky) sumptuous presentation. Well "Blowin The Fuse" wins on all counts - it really does. The entire series is gorgeous to look at and especially to listen to. Well done to all involved...

Track List for the CD "Blowing The Fuse 1953"
(Label & Catalogue Number For The US 78”/7" Single Follow The Title. If There's TWO Catalogue Numbers, The First Is The Original; The 2nd Is The Reissue In That Year)

1. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean – RUTH BROWN (Atlantic 986)
2. Baby Don't Do It – THE “5” ROYALES with Charlie Ferguson, His Tenor & Orchestra (Apollo 443)
3. Gabbin' Blues – BIG MAYBELLE (Okeh 6931)
[Duet vocals with Rose Marie McCoy who also co-wrote the song]
4. Whoopin' And Hollerin' – EARL FOREST with The Beale Streeters (Duke 108)
5. Hound Dog – WILLIE MAE “Big Mama” THORNTON with Kansas City Bill & Orchestra (Peacock 1612)
6. Big Ten-Inch Record – BULL MOOSE JACKSON with Tiny Bradshaw’s Orchestra (King 4580)
7. I'm Gone – SHIRLEY & LEE with Dave Bartholomew and his Orchestra (Aladdin 3153)
[Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee]
8. Please Love Me – B.B. KING and his Orchestra (RPM Records 386)
9. Soft – TINY BRADSHAW (King 4577)
10. Dream Girl – JESSE And MARVIN (Specialty 447)
[Jesse Belvin and Marvin Phillips]
11. I'm Mad – WILLIE MABON and His Combo (Chess 1538)
12. I Wanna Know – THE DU DROPPERS (RCA Victor 20/47-5229)
13. The Clock – JOHNNY ACE and The Beale Streeters (Duke 112)
14. Get It – THE ROYALS (Federal 45-12133)
15. Please Don't Leave Me – FATS DOMINO (Imperial 5240)
16. Crying In The Chapel – THE ORIOLES (Jubilee 5122)
17. Hittin' On Me – BUDDY JOHNSON And His Orchestra, Vocal by Ella Johnson (Mercury 70116)
18. Good Lovin' – THE CLOVERS (Atlantic 1000)
19. Mess Around – RAY CHARLES And His Orchestra (Atlantic 999)
20. Shake A Hand – FAYE ADAMS With The Joe Morris Orchestra (Herald H-416)
21. One Scratch, One Bourbon, One Beer – AMOS MILBURN and his Aladdin Chickenshackers (Aladdin 3197)
22. Honey Hush – JOE TURNER And His Band (Atlantic 1001)
23. Blues With A Feeling – LITTLE WALTER And His Jukes (Checker 780)
24. Marie – THE FOUR TUNES (Jubilee 5128)
25. I Had A Notion – JOE MORRIS ORCHESTRA Vocal By Al Savage (Herald H-417)
26. Feelin' Good – LITTLE JUNIOR’S BLUE FLAMES (Sun 187)
27. TV Is The Thing (This Year) – DINAH WASHINGTON (Mercury 70214)
28. Money Honey – CLYDE McPHATTER And The Drifters (Atlantic 1006)
29. Drunk – JIMMY LIGGINS And His 3-D Music (Specialty 470)