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2024-08-17 06:15:19 UTC
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PermalinkToday………from 1959
LITTLE ESTHER – PAPA DO
Recorded February 19 1959 at a New York City session for Savoy that
produced both sides of Little Esther’s March single (that was her last
for the label) “It’s So Good”/”Do You Ever Think Of Me”.
The third track laid down was the rhythmic “Papa Do” which went into
Grandpa Herman’s deepest vaults not to be seen again until 1979 when it
appeared (as “Oo Papa Do”) on the massive Savoy set “Ladies Sing The
Blues : Roots Of Rock ‘N’ Roll Vol.5” (which contained several other
Esther performances plus songs by Big Maybelle,Albinia Jones,Miss
Rhapsody and Linda Hopkins
JOHN HALL & THE FIVE BELL AIRES – WEDDING BELLS
Hailing from Hartford Ct came the Five Bell Aires who have already made
an appearance in this series (see the 1958 entry in this series posted
on 12 July 2024).
The record listed there was “My Friends” by Henry Hall & The Five Bell
Aires. It’s the same group that are appearing here except that the lead
is now Henry’s brother John Hall.
Recorded for M-Z Records of Middletown Ct “Wedding Bells” unfortunately
never saw release at the time and
had to wait till 1990 to put an appearance on the exact same album that
bro Henry’s “My Friends” debuted on---yep,’twas “Unreleased Gems Of The
1950’s : The Hartford Groups” put out by---you guessed it---our friends
at Relic Records in Hackensack NJ
THE KING CROONERS – PRETTY LITTLE GIRL
Hailing from Jacksonville,Florida The King Crooners were a solid five
man group comprising John Standberry,Bobby Jones, Clifford Williams,
Alfred Corley and Douglas Marshall.
After a debut single on Hart label out of Birmingham Alabama the guys
next port of call was Ernie Young’s Excello company in Nashville where
they had a couple of singles released in 1959/1960
The very nice “Pretty Little Girl” was an outtake from their Excello
sessions (not sure tho if there was more than one??) that remained in
the vaults until 1995 when it finally surfaced on the super AVI “Excello
Vocal Groups” CD collection
BRENDA LEE – THE STROLL
At her first Decca recording session of 1959 (on January 4th to be
exact) Brenda Lee arrived at the Bradley Studio in Nashville together
with her backing entourage Hank Garland (gtr) Harold Bradley (gtr) Bob
Moore (bass) Buddy Harman [dms), Floyd Cramer (pno) Jack Gregory (sax)
and The Anita Kerr Singers with production in the capable hands of Owen
Bradley
First up for the Brenda Lee treatment is “The Stroll”----the song under
consideration here and the song
that had recently graced the higher reaches of the charts in the
Diamonds original version. Brenda doesn’t disappoint.Two other songs are
cut (both destined for the forthcoming “Grandma What Great Songs You
Sang” LP)---“Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody” and “Pretty Baby”
As for “The Stroll” it is consigned to the vaults where it remains until
1974 when it debuts on the German
Coral LP “Legends Of Rock Vol.2”
DEAN MARTIN & RICKY NELSON – MY RIFLE,MY PONY AND ME
One of the high spots in one of my very favorite movies---1959’s “Rio
Bravo”---is this number from
Dean Martin with the able assistance of Ricky Nelson.
This Western classic is generally held in high esteem in most movie
circles and comes in as #6 on IMDb’s list of best movies of 1959
1, BEN-HUR
2. SOME LIKE IT HOT
3. SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER
4. THE 400 BLOWS (no,I never saw this one either 😊 )
5. NORTH BY NORTHWEST
6. RIO BRAVO
Tho Dino had a Capitol 45 out in 1959 of “My Rifle,My Pony And Me” this
is a different studio-made
take featuring just him and nary a sign of Ricky to be seen. The actual
movie version (WITH Ricky Nelson)
had to wait till 1998 for release when it turned up as part of Dino’s
epic “Return To Me” set on Bear Family
JIMMY McCRACKLIN – FOLSOM PRISON BLUES
One of the best names in 50’s r&b takes on one of the best songs in
50’s country music when the great
Jimmy McCracklin meets up with Johnny Cash’s immortal “Folsom Prison
Blues” song classic.
Cut during his brief 1959/60 soujourn with Mercury Records the loping
rendition was sadly never released at the time.It finally surfaced in
1992 on the CD “The Mercury Recordings” from our friends at Bear Family
which like it says on the tin contains his entire Mercury output
including greats like “The Wobble” and “Georgia Slop”
JOHNNY POWERS – ME AND MY RHYTHM GUITAR
Johnny Powers (real name John Leon Joseph Pavlik) was born in 1938 and
hailed originally from East
Detroit Mi had already cut records for several labels (including Fox and
Fortune) before arriving at Sun
He had several sessions at 706 Union producing one genuine release on
the label (“With Your Love With
Your Kiss”/”Be Mine All Mine” on Sun 327 in September 1959). His usual
session crew was Brad Suggs (gtr)
Billy Riley (bs) Charlie Rich (pno) M Van Eaton (dms)
“Me And My Rhythm Guitar” was cut on an unknown date in 1959 and lay in
the vaults until 1979 when it
appeared on a Sun 45 #604 (b/w “Waitin’; For You”) originating in
France (and of unknown legal status)
A more legalized first release is likely to be the songs appearance on
the mixed artists LP on Charly in
1985 “Country Rock Sides”----that features both sides of the above
mentioned single plus other numbers from artists such as Vernon
Taylor,Tracy Pendarvis,Ray Smith,Warren Smith etc etc
SHIRLEY & LEE – SO TIRED
Likely among the last---if not the very last---numbers recorded by these
two sweethearts of the blues for the Aladdin label before they jumped
ship to Warwick in 1959.
Never issued at the time it waited literally decades to see light of day
before finally getting a release spot on their massive multi-CD Bear
Family collection “Sweethearts Of The Blues” in 1997
So....“Let The Good Times Roll!”
THE SPANIELS – AUTOMOBILES
Comprising Pookie Hudson,Gerald Gregory,Ernest Warren,Donald Porter and
James Cochran The Spaniels’
“Automobiles”was just one of the tracks recorded at a marathon session
for Vee Jay on August 27 1959.Never
released at the time the track finally surfaced in 1981 on a Spaniels
collection on Charly in UK “Great Googley Moo”
The track got some attention on here in November 2022 when I nominated
it that months edition of Bruce’s
Obscurities contest. It did fairly well there (as most Spaniels titles
nominated in various editions of the contest did) reaching the Semi
Finals.
FRANKLIN STEWART – I FORGOT TO TELL MY BABY
Here’s Franklin Stewart native of Jackson,Tennessee and best remembered
for his excellent “That Long
Black Train” rockabilly number on Lu in 1957.
“I Forgot To Tell My Baby” was recorded at the Hi Studios in Memphis in
1959 possibly for Hi Records
itself. Whoever it was recorded for it was never issued at the time.
As far as I can tell the track first appears on the CD “Rock It : 32
Authentic R&R and Rockabilly Shakers”
in 1993 on the Rockhouse (Netherlands) label.