Thurston Harris - Little Bitty Pretty One

ORIGINATION From Route 66 To The Flamingo (v/a)
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good, rising
RATING

A little bit of rhythm 'n' blues is always welcome 'round these parts of a morning. This one, like Professor Longhair's of a days past, is pretty simple - just piano, drums and a pile of vocals. Harris takes the main vocal with a relaxed tenor and plenty of assured humming. He's backed by at least a trio od doo-woppers who hum and bum along for the whole track.

It makes for a delightful track that happily straddles the ground between rhythm 'n' blues and doo wop.

Professor Longhair - She Ain't Got No Hair

ORIGINATION Honky Soul, Race Music, Hard Bop & Anachronic Jazz (v/a)
LAST LISTENED TO last week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT ok-ish
RATING

Down-home, piano-led rhythm 'n' blues from New Orleans, that was recorded more than 50 years ago. There's not much to it. The Professor signs and tinkles his ivories, with the accompaniment of some simple drums and a little backing vocals. It's about the wife of a friend of his who, well, ain't got no hair. Looka there! It would appear that having no hair is a bad thing.

Ray Charles - See See Rider (again)

ORIGINATION whatever
LAST LISTENED TO ther other day
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT better than i'd like
RATING

I still don't care too much for this song. In fact, when now that i come think of it, the only music of Brother Ray's that i do care for is that recorded during his Atlantic years. The before did not sound like him and the after was far too often quite cheesy. And he played for Ronald Raygun and his republicans. Hmm…

Ray Charles - See See Rider

ORIGINATION some cd of early Ray Charles stuff
LAST LISTENED TO ages ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teeny tiny (although i did listen to Jimmy Smith's version last night)
RATING

Some of Ray Charles' early blues recordings don't really do it for me. His version of Ma Rainey's See See Rider is one of these tracks. It was recorded in 1950 in the period before he found his own voice, when he sang in a voice similar to Nat 'King' Cole. It's a fairly competent blues, but there is nothing special going on here. The only reason for interest in it is when it is seen as part of the whole Charles cannon, which makes it one for the fans.

Hoagy Carmichael - Hong Kong Blues (again)

ORIGINATION Honky Soul, Race Music, Hard Bop & Anachronic Jazz
LAST LISTENED TO a month back
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT low
RATING

This one appeared a wee while back. You can find it here.

Hoagy Carmichael - Hong Kong Blues

ORIGINATION Honky Soul, Race Music, Hard Bop & Anachronic Jazz
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty good
RATING

Hoagy Carmichael is best known for such tunes as Georgia On My Mind and Stardust. Both those and many more of his compositions went on to become standards in American pop. This tune, however, did not which is hardly a surprise considering that it is about an opium sot. It tells the tale of this poor unfortunate who is stranded in Hong Kong and who has no money left to return home. Compared to the kind of anti-drug messages we have become prey to today, it is quite soft and in fact does not seem to offer much in the way of discouragement. Also, its laid-back jazzy setting with light oriental motifs does nothing to help spread any negative feeling. Still, for all that it is an enjoyable little song.

Du Droppers - Bam Balam

ORIGINATION The RCA Blues & Rhythm Revue
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good and high
RATING

Like many of their contemporaries, the members of Du Droppers started out singing gospel. They formed as a group in '52 and soon began singing r'n'b. After an initial hit for a minor label, they were signed early in '53 to RCA, who were trying to break into the r'n'b market at the time. A few more hits quickly appeared, but that was as far as they went. By '54 they had been sidelined to a subsidiary label and, after some line up problems, they were gone by mid '55.

Bam Balam was recorded in late '53 and like all good r'n'b it couches its true meanings in euphemisms and made-up words. Listening to it today, it's blatantly clear what they're singing about. However one has to assume that in the '50s the culture was more naïve, a safe assumption given that there was a genre born then and given the name rock 'n' roll (if you don't understand this means, go ask your mummy and daddy). Therefore songs like this were quite acceptable as pop records.

What is most notable about Bam Balam is that it was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in their first year on the scene. Famous for such (later) tunes as Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock and Stand By Me, they were about to become the biggest names in r'n'b. Less well know was that they were also about to become pivotal in shifting r'n'b towards the mainstream and in so doing they helping to vastly increase its cultural impact. This happened primarily through two avenues of their work.

Firstly through their song writing: they turned their songs into mini-plays which helped hook the listener, whilst simultaneously toning down some of the bawdiness for which r'n'b was known. Secondly, their production and arrangements brought in pop influences hitherto unseen in r'n'b. In this they are credited with bringing strings to the style, which helped shape a sound that soon became known as Soul music.

However, Bam Balam was before much of this happened. Nonetheless it's still a Leiber & Stoller composition and as such it's no different to the rest: a fun, up-tempo romp that has some pretty good melodies. You can't ask for much more.