I was finally able to get a computer working to transfer my records, after the one I was using kicked the bucket, so I’m now able to post this iconic record of the 1940s. Consider it an encore to yesterday’s performance. However, I must ask one kind favor from all of you people, if you think this audio has a sort of high-pitched tone or crackle (other than the record’s own noise) in the background, or otherwise sounds inferior from my usual transfers, please tell me, so I can take action in bringing it back up to par should it be necessary.
Decca 8659 was recorded on March 15, 1944 and October 4, 1943, respectively. Recordings made in 1943 are fairly uncommon, as the American Federation of Musicians began a strike that resulted in a recording ban on July 31, 1942, and lasted through most of 1943. Decca had only settled with the union the month before this recording was made.
First up, it’s Louis Jordan’s take on Johnny Mercer’s World War II classic, “G. I. Jive”.
G. I. Jive, recorded March 14, 1944 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
Next is Jordan’s famous “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t (Ma’ Baby)”, another classic song of that era, and carried on to many in younger generations by way of the 1946 Tom and Jerry cartoon Solid Serenade.
Is You Is or Is You Ain’t (Ma’ Baby), recorded October 4, 1943 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
Well, I had planned to put up “G.I. Jive”, backed with “Is You is or is You Ain’t (My Baby)” for Louis Jordan’s birthday today, but tragically, my transferring computer met its untimely demise. Since I haven’t been able to repair it or procure a functioning replacement, here’s the only Louis Jordan record I already had transferred, it’s a good one, too.
Louis Thomas Jordan was born July 8, 1908 in Brinkley, Arkansas, his father was a music teacher and bandleader with the famous Rabbit Foot Minstrels. He learned to play clarinet as a child and played in his father’s band. Jordan majored in music at Arkansas Baptist College, and eventually made his way to New York, where he played with Clarence Williams in 1932. In 1936, Jordan began playing in Chick Webb’s orchestra at the Savoy Ballroom, sometimes performing as a vocalist. He was kicked out of the band in 1938 for attempting to poach members for his own band. That same year, he started the band that would become his famous Tympany Five, which first recorded for Decca as “Louie Jordon’s Elks Rendezvous Band”. During and after World War II, Jordan and his Tympany Five became a driving force in the development of the jump blues and rhythm and blues genres, as well as one of the top-selling “race” artists. Changing tastes in the 1950s brought about a decline in his popularity, though he continued to record and perform into the 1960s. Louis Jordan died from a heart attack in 1975.
Decca 23741 was recorded June 26, 1946 in New York City by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
The classic “Let the Good Times Roll” is credited on the label as being composed by Spo-de-ode and Fleecie Moore. Spo-de-ode was a pseudonym for the song’s co-writer, Sam Theard, who was also responsible for “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You” fifteen years earlier (though the authorship of that song was contested by Cow Cow Davenport). Fleecie Moore was Louis Jordan’s wife, who was credited in order to circumvent his contractual restrictions on publishing songs.
Let the Good Times Roll, recorded June 26, 1946 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
On the reverse, Louis sings another classic, “Ain’t Nobody Here but Us Chickens”. This song was popularized in the latter day by its inclusion in the video game L.A. Noire.
Ain’t Nobody Here but Us Chickens, recorded June 26, 1946 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.
On July 1, we commemorate the the 117th anniversary of the birth of Thomas A. Dorsey, known in different phases of his career as “Georgia Tom”, and as the “father of gospel music.” In his long life, he was a prolific songwriter and recording artist of both religious and secular songs.
Thomas Andrew Dorsey was born July 1, 1899 in Villa Rica, Georgia, the son of a preacher and a piano teacher. He began playing piano as a young man, and relocated to Chicago in 1916, where he was educated in music at the Chicago School of Composition and Arranging. He began working for Paramount Records as an agent and accompanist, and made his name in the blues world as “Georgia Tom.” During his time at Paramount, he worked with Ma Rainey and the Pace Jubilee Singers. In 1921, he heard W.M. Nix sing at the National Baptist Convention, and by the end of the 1920s, Dorsey had begun his life’s work as a composer of gospel songs, though he continued to play blues primarily at that time. In 1928, he teamed up with guitarist Hudson Whittaker, better known as Tampa Red, and made a hit with “It’s Tight Like That”. Following that success, he and Tampa Red became the first of many combinations of musicians to record as the “Hokum Boys,” making music in a similar vein as “Tight Like That”, and the duo remained popular into the early 1930s. After the hokum craze ended in the 1930s, Dorsey primarily worked writing sacred songs, and worked as a musical director at several churches. By the end of his life, his blues work was largely forgotten, and he was renowned for his sacred songs as the “father of gospel music.” After a long career, Dorsey died in Chicago in 1993, at the age of 93.
There are a number of different versions of the hokum blues classic “It’s Tight Like That” that will pop up here at some point. We last heard it played by Zack Whyte’s Chocolate Beau Brummels, now here’s original recording, done on in 1928 by Tampa Red and Georgia Tom, the original Hokum Boys. This record set off a craze for so called hokum songs, that is mostly peppy songs with humorously raunchy lyrics and often very thinly veiled innuendo, which reigned in popularity over more serious blues songs for a period in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Vocalion 1216 was recorded in Chicago on two separate dates, October 16, and November 6, 1928. It features the guitar of Hudson Whittaker: “Tampa Red”, and the piano of Thomas A. Dorsey: “Georgia Tom”, with both singing the vocals.
Recorded on the latter date, “It’s Tight Like That” was one of the biggest blues hits of the 1920s, and remains a hokum blues staple. The label rather humorously (at least I think so) lists the composer credits for Hudson Whittaker and Thomas A. Dorsey as “Tampa – Dorsey”, some later issues corrected this error.
It’s Tight Like That, recorded November 6, 1928 by Tampa Red and Georgia Tom.
Next, Georgia Tom sings solo, accompanied by Tampa Red on guitar on “Grievin’ Me Blues”, one of those songs that, even though a little on the humorous side, I feel just emanates the essence of blues music. This one was recorded on the earlier date.
Grievin’ Me Blues, recorded October 16, 1928 by Georgia Tom.
On June 26, we celebrate the probable birthday of blues legend Big Bill Broonzy. As is the case with many early blues players, such as Lemon Jefferson, the exact date of his birth is disputed; Broonzy himself claimed to have been born in 1893, but family records stated a more probable date of 1903. There is also mystery surrounding his place of birth, while Broonzy stated his hometown as Scott, Mississippi, recent research suggests he may have come from Arkansas.
Whatever the true details may be, Big Bill grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and learned from his uncle to play a homemade cigar box fiddle, which he played at local social functions. In 1920, as many Southern black people did at the time, Broonzy emigrated to Chicago in search of new opportunity, where he switched from fiddle to guitar, mentored by Papa Charlie Jackson. In Chicago, Broonzy worked odd jobs while trying make it as a musician. In 1927, he got his break when Charlie Jackson helped him l get an audition with J. Mayo Williams of Paramount Records, and after several rejected tests, made his first released records with his friend John Thomas as “Big Bill and Thomps”. Though his records sold poorly for the first few years, sales eventually began to pick up as he gained popularity in the Chicago blues scene in the 1930s, even playing in John Hammond’s From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 and ’39, with his style evolving from his rural roots to a more urban style all the while. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Big Bill recorded steadily, both solo and as an accompanist. In the late 1940s into the 1950s, Broonzy became a part of the folk music revival occurring at that time, and he toured abroad in the 1950s, starting in Europe in 1951. His autobiography, written with the help of Yannick Bruynoghe, was published in 1955. Broonzy died of throat cancer in August of 1958.
Perfect 0207 was recorded March 29 and 30, 1932 in New York City, at Big Bill’s first and second session for the American Record Corporation under his own name (excepting some 1930 recordings under the name Sammy Sampson and as a part of the Hokum Boys). The Jug Busters side features W.E. “Buddy” Burton on kazoo, piano by Black Bob Hudson, and Jimmy Bertrand on washboard. The identity of the jug player is unknown.
“How You Want it Done?”, recorded March 29, is a fantastic side with stupendous flatpicked guitar by Big Bill, an unusual method for blues playing. It’s likely that Broonzy picked up this song, along with its flatpicking style, from his contemporary Louie Lasky, who later recorded it in 1935, though Bill recorded it earlier. Big Bill first recorded this song in 1930 for Gennett, then for Paramount in ’31 (of which no copies have been located) This recording was also featured on the last record in Vocalion’s race series (1745). It remained in Broonzy’s repertoire for many years, and he was filmed performing it in 1957.
How You Want it Done?, recorded March 29, 1932 by Big Bill.
Recorded one day after the first side, Big Bill is accompanied by a jug band on “M & O Blues”, referring of course to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The authorship of this song is often credited to Walter Davis. It’s worth noting that there was another “M & O Blues” sung by legendary Delta bluesman Willie Brown which was an entirely different song. Though the label looks prettier, this side unfortunately has some pretty bad stripped grooves that make a lot of noise in brief but quite intrusive passages, but it does clean up a bit as it plays. Heck, the Document Records transfer is quite noisy, so cut me a little slack!
M & O Blues, recorded March 30, 1932 by Big Bill & his Jug Busters.
This record is a remarkable one for a number of reasons. One of those is that, being a Depression era release, it is quite scarce (and I don’t mean to sound braggadocious, I’m still surprised that I have it, myself). Another is that is one of a number of records of the 1920s and 1930s to feature black and white artists performing together, in this case Jimmie Rodgers with the Earl McDonald’s Louisville Jug Band. On the downside, this copy has certainly seen better days. The years have not been kind to it, and its sound reflects that. It’s still listenable, but has a layer of surface noise. Another bit worth mentioning is that the flip side of this record, which was released after Rodgers’ passing, features a recording by another blue yodeler who happened to be Jimmie Rodgers’ first cousin.
Both sides of Bluebird B-5942 were recorded on separate occasions. The “A” side was recorded on June 16, 1931 in Louisville, Kentucky, the “B” side was recorded January 28, 1935 in San Antonio, Texas. The personnel of the jug band on the first side includes George Allen on clarinet, Clifford Hayes on violin, Cal Smith on tenor guitar, Fred Smith on guitar and Earl McDonald on jug, the same basic group as the Dixieland Jug Blowers. One seller claimed that it sold a total of 2,757 copies, but I have no idea how they came up with that number and whether or not it’s accurate, though those numbers don’t sound out of line.
On the first side, the Blue Yodeler sings “My Good Gal’s Gone”, with outstanding accompaniment by Earl McDonald’s Louisville Jug Band. Though it was recorded in 1931, this 1935 Bluebird is the first issue of this recording. Takes “2” and “3” of this song exist, this one is the latter.
My Good Gal’s Gone, recorded June 16, 1931 by Jimmie Rodgers.
On the “B” side, Jimmie’s first cousin, Jesse Rodgers sings “Leave Me Alone, Sweet Mama” in a style that reminds me of Cliff Carlisle more than Jimmie. Jesse stuck around for quite a while, later dropping the “d” from his name to become Jesse Rogers by the end of the 1930s.
Leave Me Alone, Sweet Mama, recorded January 28, 1935 by Jesse Rodgers.
