"…Let’s Drink Some Mash
And Talk Some Trash..."
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 2 of the R&B
Series "Blowing The Fuse"…
"Blowing The Fuse - 27
R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1946" is on Bear Family BCD
16701 AS (Barcode 4000127167019) 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 (1946 has
"I Cover The Waterfront" by Cats 'N Jammer Three on Mercury 2003),
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 1946 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a
bruising 79:52 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. Overall
though I’m more than pleased with what I’m hearing...all of it imbibed with
huge musical and lyrical talent and a sheer sense of to
"hell-with-it-all!" – let's have some fun...
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 Majestic, Bluebird, Victor, Decca,
Exclusive, Philo and others). 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 2 of 16 opens with a
boozy crowd-pleaser by Wynonie Harris (lyrics from it title this review) simply
called "Wynonie's Blues" and despite its lo-fi dubbed-from disc sound
is charged with post-war mischief and extramarital shenanigans. Joe Liggins
goes into a very cool dancefloor shuffle for his "Got A Right To Cry"
while Johnny Moore's "Drifting Blues" is a straight up piano and
voice moaner ("...I give you all my money...tell what more can I
do..."). Big and brassy describes "Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'"
by The Delta Rhythm Boys – it's great fun but behind those fabulous voices is
heavy-duty crackle in the transfer of this uber rarity.
Sporting impressive audio -
the Louis Jordan cut "Buzz Me" is incredibly clean and full of vim -
as is the stunning smoocher "Joy Juice" where Dinah Washington
advises women to get their man down to the nearest joint to get him "nice
and stewed" because he's a better Casanova that way - but get him home
before he starts getting funny ideas with the fine brown frames at the bar.
Equally juicy is the shout-and-call of "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" by Lionel Hampton
where he tells us someone in the family is "...on the floor blowing his
natural top..." We go into Fats Domino piano-stroller territory with the
wickedly slick "R.M. Blues" by Roy Milton & His Solid Senders -
but the honours belong to Camille Howard who fills the song with some truly
brilliant runs on the old Joanna. Rough describes "I Cover The
Waterfront" which I'm sure is included for historical reasons. It was
inspired by (not in) the Claudette Colbert movie of the same name and was instrumental
in putting Mercury as a label on the chart map when it reputed sold over 4
million copies.
Back to a giggle with
"Voo-it! Voo-it!" credited to Blues Woman who turns out to Marion
Abernathy – but even that's trumped by the barnstorming piano boogie-woogie of
"Chicago Breakdown" by Big Maceo – three minutes of keyboard-pounding
joy (feels like Piano Red letting rip - Peace on them both). Onwards to a
wonderful vocal group romancer with "I Know" by Andy Kirk and his
Orchestra where the song is made genius by the deep crooning of The Jubalaires
(a highlight on the whole disc for me). It's a little jarring to hear Nat King
Cole's "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" on here but I can understand
its inclusion (maybe its overly familiar to me). I love "Cherry Red Blues"
by Eddie Vinson because it reminds me of the mighty Big Joe Turner who of
course wrote and recorded it with Pete Johnson in 1939. Wit returns with Bull
Moose Jackson who wants to tell us to a hand-clapping R&B rhythm that it
was possibly Caldonia's mammy who "...threw the whiskey in the
well..." (naughty woman). More vocal group magic comes in the shape of The
Ink Spots classic "The Gypsy" sounding amazingly clean here (compared
to versions I've had before anyway). Not so clear is the really-rough-sounding
"Red Light" - but that doesn't stop the tune from bringing out the
finger-clicking rhythm in us all (great little song). And on it goes through
more crowd-pleasing dancefloor R&B with Joe Turner on National and the
irrepressible Louis Jordan on Decca – ending with a wicked Julia Lee witticism
on Capitol...
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 -
"1946" is 'the' place to start. I've collected the whole set...and
they're amongst my favourite reissues...
TRACK LIST for "Blowing
The Fuse - 1946" (79:52 minutes):
Volume 2 of 16
Song Title, ARTIST (Record
Label and US 78” Catalogue Number, A-Side or B-Side)
1. Wynonie’s Blues – WYNONIE
"Blues" HARRIS with Illinois Jacquet and his All Stars (Apollo 362,
A)
2. Got A Right To Cry – JOE
LIGGINS and his Honeydrippers (Exclusive 210, A)
3. Drifting Blues – JOHNNY
MOORE’S THREE BLAZERS (Philo P 112 and Aladdin A 112, A)
4. Just A-Sittin' And
A-Rockin' – DELTA RHYTHM BOYS (Decca 18 739, A)
5. Buzz Me – LOUIS JORDAN and
his Tympany Five (Decca 18 734, A)
6. Joy Juice – DINAH
WASHINGTON with Gus Chappel's Orchestra (Mercury 2052, B)
7. Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop – LIONEL
HAMPTON and his Orchestra (Decca 18 754, A)
8. R.M. Blues – ROY MILTON
and his Solid Senders (Specialty 504, A)
9. I Cover The Waterfront –
CATS N’ JAMMER THREE Vocals by Bill Samuels (Mercury 2003, A)
10. Voo-It! Voo-It! – THE
BLUES WOMAN with the Buddy Banks Sextet (Jukebox 502, A)
11. Chicago Breakdown – BIG
MACEO (Bluebird 34-0743, A)
12. I Know – ANDY KIRK and
his Orchestra Vocal by The Jubalaires (Decca 18 782, A)
13. (Get Your Kicks On) Route
66 – NAT COLE TRIO (Capitol 256, A)
14. Cherry Red Blues – EDDIE
VINSON and his Orchestra (Mercury 8003, A)
15. I Know Who Threw The
Whiskey (In The Well) – BULL MOOSE JACKSON and his Orchestra (Queen 4116, A)
16. The Gypsy – THE INK SPOTS
(Decca 18 817, A)
17. Red Light – RED CALLENDER
(Black & White 781, A)
18. If I Were A Itty Bitty
Girl, Part 1 – VELMA NELSON with Will Rowland and his Band (Aladdin 139, A)
19. Sunny Road – ROOSEVELT
SYKES with his Original Honeydrippers (RCA Victor 20-1906, A)
20. My Gal's A Jockey – JOE
TURNER with Bill Moore’s Lucky Seven Band (National 4002, A)
21. Choo Choo Ch' Boogie –
LOUIS JORDAN and his Tympany Five (Decca 23 610, A)
22. So Glad You're Mine –
ARTHUR 'Big Boy' CRUDUP (RCA Victor 20-1949, A)
23. Voodoo Woman Blues – JAY
McSHANN and his Sextet (Mercury 8020, A)
24. After Hours – ERSKINE
HAWKINS and his Orchestra (featuring Avery Parrish on Piano) (Bluebird 10879 /
RCA Victor 20-1977)
25. Port Wine – BILL SAMUELS
and The Cats 'n Jammer Three (Mercury 8012, A)
26. Come Back To Me Baby –
T-BONE WALKER with Marl Young's Orchestra (Mercury 8016, A)
27. Gotta Gimme Whatcha' Got – JULIA LEE and her Boyfriends (Capitol 308, A)
27. Gotta Gimme Whatcha' Got – JULIA LEE and her Boyfriends (Capitol 308, A)
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