The Magnificent Goldberg

How about his drummer in the Four Aces - Fred Below - who started with jazz in high school, and played with Lester Young in an army band. Later he became the session drummer for Chess Records and is all over the Chicago blues, where he sat alongside Little Brother Montgomery who had a swing band in the thirties and recorded with Lee Collins as well as doing the solo piano blues stuff. He worked with people such as Buddy Petit before appearing on records with people as modern as Buddy Guy, and then took part in the revival scene (didn't Chris Albertson record him?) Yes, he did. It's a nice album; awfully difficult to pin down as either blues or jazz. Mention of Montgomery reminds me of Cousin Joe, the great New Orleans blues composer/singer of the forties. He started off as a jazz musician and ran his own band in NOLA in the thirties. His first (or second - can't be asked to look it up) session featured Syd Bechet. MG

I used to work with a young lady whose name was Ferris (her surname). We all used to call her Ferret. MG

Johnny Copeland - Copeland special - Rounder Benny Simkins Sextet - Linger awhile - Flyright MG

How did you pronounce it? MG

This is one where I'm glad there's two sides, because listening to Side One only of the LP is just right for me. The CD as a whole tends to bog down later on, imo, so I just skip Side Two. It's the only one of Ree's early albums I decided not to bother with. I played it plenty when I was in a record shop in '69 and it never got to me. MG

Now, that's funny. you got that? It took me a while to work it out, and I'm from Essex! Ha ha! Larry is a man of wide experience and can even read in Essex. (OK, gotta admit Larry surprised me, too.) MG

FATHEAD!!!! MG

This turned up today from Amazon It's a Nashboro 1996 reissue of a Creed twofer recorded in November 1979. This is the original sleeve The painting seems very familiar, but I can't put a name to it. Listening to it now. Fabulous! MG

Thanks HP - that's a nice short list from someone who gnoes. What was the Savoy album called? Futuristic sounds, I seem to remember. MG

Ain'tchall gonna say sumping 'bout these peeps? MG (Even if it's just who they worked with back in the day.)

Nice vinyl afternoon Houston Person - Blue odyssey - Prestige (blue label) Lou DOnaldson - Everything I play is funky - BN (Liberty) now Johnny Otis - Back to jazz - Jazz World MG

Now Florida Mass Choir - Let the Holy Ghost lead you - Malaco MG

Racism? Is Polish a race? I didn't know about POlish jokes in the USA either. Yes, we have Irish, Scottish and Welsh jokes here. Even about Essex Woman - What's Essex Woman's favourite wine? 'I want to go to Spine!' MG

Quite right. Are you going to say something about him? If so, don't forget George Freeman. MG

I remember Jim Sangrey, when he got the Big John Greer CD , a couple of years ago, being surprised at how much good jazz feeling there was in the band behind Greer. No one else (in particular, not Big Beat Steve) commented on this and we sidetracked the conversation to Greer’s earlier Sittin’ in with single. So I thought I’d start a thread about the many R&B artists of the forties/early fifties who had jazz backgrounds. I think that pretty well all of the successful R&B artists of the forties learned their trade in the swing bands, many of them territory bands from the Midwest and West. Of course, the two names that everyone knows are those of Louis Jordan and Nat Cole. But I’d like this thread to focus on less well-known people and hope that members come in with little pieces on musicians they think are worthy. In the meantime, I’m going to start with a musician who has perhaps the longest jazz pedigree of all the R&B stars. Todd Rhodes ran a small R&B band in Detroit in the forties and fifties. His best known number is ‘Blues for the red boy’, a tune based on ‘Jeep’s blues’, which made #4 on the R&B charts in 1948 and stayed on the chart for 16 weeks. Pretty big hit. Damn fine recording, featuring the alto of Halley (Hallie or Holley, seen it spelt both ways) Dismukes, who was a Hodges nut. I’ve always thought it was a classic standard tune but, when I looked it up just now in AMG, I found that the only 3 recordings of it are ones I’ve got – Rhodes’ own version; one by Bill Black’s Combo in 1962, the B side of ‘So what’ (not the Miles Davis tune ); and one from 1990, by Hank Crawford, from the album ‘Groove master’. You can get a good compilation of Rhodes’ work for the Sensation label on Ace’s ‘Blues for the red boy: the early Sensation recordings’ CDCHD856. Later, King took over Sensation and Rhodes’ contract and you might find a King LP called ‘Dance music that hits the spot’ which also includes a few Sensation tracks and a lot of stuff from 1951 to 1954. Rhodes goes back a hell of a long way in jazz. He was a founder member, in 1919 or 1920, of the Synco Trio, later the Synco Novelty Orchestra, then McKinney’s Syncos, in Springfield, Ohio. That band later moved to Detroit and was renamed (the King sleeve says at Rhodes’ suggestion but the Ace notes say the change was suggested by Jean Goldkette; the Frog notes say it was one Charlie Stanton) McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Rhodes stayed with the band until its demise in 1934. He then worked with Cecil Lee’s band, from 1936 to 1943 when Lee, a former Cotton Picker, was drafted. Rhodes began leading his own band in 1943. This band lasted until 1957, when the old style R&B was overtaken by newer soul sounds. He died in 1964, aged 64. I have to confess that it was my liking for Rhodes’ R&B records that led me to get into McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Right, that’s your starter for ten. More contributions folks? MG

Louis Armstrong - Complete Decca sessions 1935-46 Discs 3 & 4 MG

I'll watch this thread with interest. I have little Sun Ra. MG

and Teddy Edwards! That's a fine, fine record. Oh, I really should have mentioned Teddy. 'Side mouthin'' is a wonderful track! MG

Ray Charles & Betty Carter - ABC (Dunhill clear vinyl) Gene Ammons - And friends at Montreux - Prestige just started Jimmy Smith - It's necessary - Mercury - smashing 1977 live session from Jimmy Smith's Supper Club, with Blue Mitchell, Harold Land, Ray Crawford, Kenny Dixon & Buck Clarke. MG

Another leaning building; the 13th Century Bookshop, Lewes, Sussex. I used to live down the road from there, in the early '70s. MG

I also have the Hank Marr and Freddie Roach 45s. And the LPs they come off, too. And the Leo Parker album your single comes off (no doubt you do, too). Did you know that 'Googa mooga' is a rip off? It was actually written by Lou Bennett and recorded by him on the Dawn label (only a 45) in - oh, just looking for it to find out when, I see I've forgotten to transfer a number of old 45s to my new computer - anyway, it was about '56 or '57, I think. Freddie put himself down as the composer. The Bunky Green material looks interesting. Not the usual sort of thing he did. MG

Nice piece. There are some shops like that in The Gambia and Senegal. It's really great being in them, once they know you're a serious person. MG

Thanks Dan. MG

Ah, one of the few JAM LPs I ain't got. No good me asking YOU what it's like, is it Dan MG

Continuing on Atlantic MG