“Rocking & Crying – The Complete Singles 1951 – 1954 Plus” by THE FIVE KEYS. A Review Of The 2CD Jasmine Compilation (2010).

"…Got The Most Coast To Coast…She The Most…"

Offering up a huge 58-tracks - this 2CD set covers the 78" and 45" output for the American vocal group THE FIVE KEYS on the Aladdin, Groove and Capitol labels between 1951 and 1954 (not all of it as the title suggest, but close enough).

UK released May 2010 - "Rocking & Crying - The Complete Singles 1951-1954 Plus" by THE FIVE KEYS on Jasmine JASCD 555 (Barcode 604988055528) is a 2CD reissue that plays out as follows…

Disc: 1
1. With A Broken Heart
2. Too Late
3. Hucklebuck With Jimmy
4. Glory Of Love, The
5. It's Christmas Time
6. Do I Need You
7. Old Macdonald (Had A Farm)
8. Yes Sir That's My Baby
9. Goin' Downtown
10. Darlin'
11. Red Sails In The Sunset
12. Be Anything But Be Mine
13. How Long
14. Mistakes
15. Hold Me
16. I Hadn't Anyone 'Til You
17. I Cried For You
18. Serve Another Round
19. Can't Keep From Crying
20. Come Go My Bail Louise
21. There Ought To Be A Law
22. Mama (Your Daughter Told A Lie On Me)
23. I'll Always Be In Love With You
24. Rocking And Crying Blues
25. These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)
26. Lonesome Old Story
27. Teardrops In Your Eyes
28. I'm So High

Disc: 2
1. My Saddest Hour
2. Oh Babe
3. Someday Sweetheart
4. Love My Loving
5. Deep In My Heart
6. How Do You Expect Me To Get It
7. Why Oh Why
8. My Love
9. Story Of Love
10. When Will My Troubles End
11. I'll Follow You
12. Lawdy Miss Mary
13. Ling Ting Tong
14. Close Your Eyes
15. Verdict, The
16. I Wish I'd Never Learned To Read
17. She's The Most
18. I Dreamt I Dwelt In Harlem
19. My Pigeons Gone
20. Out Of Sight Out Of Mind
21. Wisdom Of A Fool
22. Let There Be You
23. It's A Cryin' Shame
24. Emily Please
25. Handy Andy
26. One Great Love
27. From The Bottom Of My Heart
28. Gypsy, The
29. Who Do You Know In Heaven (That Made You The Angel You Are)
30. To Each His Own

Disc 1 (78:33 minutes):
1 and 2 are Aladdin 3085 (April 1951)
3 and 4 are Aladdin 3099 (July 1951)
5 and 6 are Aladdin 3113 (December 1951)
7 and 8 are Aladdin 3118 (January 1952)
9 and 10 are Aladdin 3119 (Unissued)
11 and 12 are Aladdin 3127 (April 1952)
13 and 14 are Aladdin 3131 (May 1952)
15 and 16 are Aladdin 3136 (July 1952)
17 and 18 are Aladdin 3158 (October 1952)
19 and 20 are Aladdin 3167 (January 1953)
21 and 22 are Aladdin 3175 (March 1953)
23 and 24 are Aladdin 3182 (Unissued)
25 and 26 are Aladdin 3190 (May 1953)
27 and 28 are Aladdin 3204 (September 1953)

Disc 2 (77:33 minutes):
1 and 2 are Aladdin 3214 (December 1953)
3 and 4 are Aladdin 3228 (February 1954)
5 and 6 are Aladdin 3245 (May 1954)
7 and 8 are Aladdin 3263 (May 1955)
9 is the A-side of Aladdin 3312 (January 1956)
10 is an un-issued track on RCA/Groove Records recorded July 1954
11 and 12 are RCA/Groove 0031 (August 1954)
13 is Capitol 2945 [A] (October 1954)
14 is Capitol 3032 [A] (January 1955)
15 is Capitol 3127 [A] (May 1955)
16 is Capitol 3185 [A] (July 1955)
17 and 18 are Capitol 3392 (April 1956)
19 is Capitol 3455 [A] (June 1956)
20 is Capitol 3502 [A] (August 1956)
21 is Capitol 3597 [A] (November 1956)
22 is Capitol 3660 [A] (February 1957)
23 is Capitol 3830 [A] (November 1957)
24 and 25 are Capitol 4009 (July 1958)
26 is Capitol 4092 [A] (November 1958)
27 is Capitol 4828 [A] (August 1962) (see also below for 27)
27, 28, 29 and 30 are from the 1957 LP “The Five Keys On Stage” on Capitol T 828

The compilation and annotation have been put together by BOB FISHER (small liner notes in the fold-out inlay) with the CD Mastering done by TALL ORDER of the UK.

Hailing from Virginia, The Five Keys have long been considered by collectors as a class act and often compared to the big boys of Doo Wop and Rhythm ‘n’ Blues – The Flamingos, The Orioles and The Moonglows (with a little bit of the rocking Clovers thrown in for good measure). Their most famous lead vocalist was Rudy West and yet up until now, their material has only sporadically turned up on CD.

Given the vintage, the sound varies from good (the Aladdin Years) to superb (the later Capitol releases). Being a major label with decent equipment for the time, their Capitol sides were beautifully recorded - hence the excellent sound quality on Disc 2. Also, as you can see from the list above, the flip-sides to the Capitol releases are not here (despite the word “Complete” being in the title). However, if you want more of that period, some are on the excellent “Collector Series” CD put out by Capitol in 1989 – a disc I’ve treasured for two decades now.

The Aladdin material tended to be all pleading ballads, while the Capitol stuff rocked it up a bit (the years had moved on). Highlights for me include their fantastic Murray Berlin bopper “She’s The Most” (lyrics above) and the sheer smooth-as-silk class of “Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind” written by Ivory Joe Hunter and Clyde Otis (a beautiful vocal by Rudy West).

Lot of tracks, very good sound and it’s cheap too. Until Bear Family does a more comprehensive box set one day covering the later stuff and solo releases – this is a rather lovely release to be getting on with. Recommended.

PS: Jasmine have also done "The Flamingos" in a similar 2CD set (see separate review)

“The Complete Checker Hit Singles – 24 High Fidelity R’n’B Classics” by LITTLE MILTON, A Review of the UK 2001 Connoisseur Collection CD.

"…Like Medicine Baby…You’re Good For Me…"

After diligently collecting nearly 1000 Chess, Checker and Cadet tracks across the years, I still find I have only 8 Little Milton songs - so the remaining 16 tracks on this rare UK compilation are welcome inclusions.

A few details first - the word 'Hit' in the title means that just the songs he placed on the US Rhythm 'n' Blues charts between 1962 and 1971 on the Checker label are featured here (some Checker singles didn't chart and are not easily available anywhere on CD). Also all tracks are A-sides except "The Dark End Of The Street" and "I Can't Quit You Baby" which are B-sides (see notes below).

Here's a breakdown of what is on Connoisseur Collection VSOP CD 351 (71:50 minutes):

1. So Mean To Me (January 1962, Checker 994)
2. Losing Hand (July 1962, Checker 1020)
3. What Kind Of Love Is This (August 1964, Checker 1078)
4. Blind Man (December 1964, Checker 1096)
5. We're Gonna Make It (March 1965, Checker 1105)
6. Who's Cheating Who (June 1965, Checker 1113)
7. Your People (December 1965, Checker 1128)
8. We Got The Winning Hand (February 1966. Checker 1132)
9. When Does The Heartache End (April 1966, Checker 1138)
10. Man Loves Two (August 1966, Checker 1149)
11. Feel So Bad (January 1967, Checker 1162)
12. I'll Never Turn My Back On You (June 1967, Checker 1172)
13. More And More (December 1967, Checker 1189)
14. The Dark End Of The Street (1968. Checker 1203)
[B-side of "I (Who Have Nothing)", a non-chart entry, listed here as a `bonus track']
15. Let Me Down Easy (October 1968, Checker 1208)
16. Grits Ain't Groceries (All Around The World) (January 1969, Checker 1212)
17. I Can't Quit You Baby (January 1969, Checker 1212)
[B-side of "Grits Ain't Groceries...")
18. Just A Little Bit (April 1969, Checker 1217)
19. Let's Get Together (July 1969, Checker 1225)
20. Poor Man (October 1969, Checker 1221)
21. If Walls Could Talk (December 1969, Checker 1226)
22. Baby I Love You (April 1970, Checker 1227)
23. Somebody's Changing My Sweet Baby's Mind (July 1970, Checker 1231)
24. I Play Dirty (May 1971, Checker 1239)

Connoisseur Collection were a budget label operating out of Britain in the late Eighties and used to release very good double-albums on vinyl of all sorts of artists (Nils Lofgren, Labi Siffre, Chess Story, Rak Records etc). Their CDs usually featured the full double-album on a single disc, but the sound was only ever ok, rather than great. Well I'm glad to say the sound quality here is fantastic. The material is licensed from Universal who have charge over the entire Chess label and although the liner notes don't advise who remastered what - they sound like the good work of Erick Labson who has handled vast swaths of the Chess catalogue to uniform praise. Veteran compiler Bob Fisher put the compilation together and the booklet features a 8-page appraisal by noted music writer and Blues discographer Neil Slaven.

As you can see from the dates above, a lot of these tracks are from the mid to late Sixties and even into the early Seventies - they're far more funky than you would credit - not just straight up R'n'B or Blues (like "Let Me Down Easy"). Highlights include the Stax Shaft funk of "Poor Man" and the gritty guitar and brass of "I Play Dirty". And while he wasn't as vocally blistering as Bobby Bland at his best, when James "Little Milton" Campbell was working a tune like say "More And More" which has a very Sixties Them feel to it - he came damn close - it's hard-hitting and impressive stuff (lyrics above).

I'm sure there's a Hip-O Select 4 or 5CD mini box set in the future pipeline to compliment their Little Walter, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry sets, but until then, this will do nicely.

“The Complete Checker Hit Singles – 24 High Fidelity R’n’B Classics” by LITTLE MILTON, A Review of the UK 2001 Connoisseur Collection CD.

"…Like Medicine Baby…You’re Good For Me…"

After diligently collecting nearly 1000 Chess, Checker and Cadet tracks across the years, I still find I have only 8 Little Milton songs – so the remaining 16 tracks on this rare UK compilation are welcome inclusions.

A few details first - the word 'hit' in the title means that just the songs he placed on the US Rhythm 'n' Blues charts between 1962 and 1971 on the Checker label are featured here (some Checker singles didn’t chart and are not easily available anywhere on CD).
Also All tracks are A-sides except “The Dark End Of The Street” and “I Can’t Quit You Baby” which are B-sides (see notes below).

Here’s a breakdown of what is on Connoisseur Collection VSOP CD 351 (71:50 minutes):

1. So Mean To Me (January 1962, Checker 994)
2. Losing Hand (July 1962, Checker 1020)
3. What Kind Of Love Is This (August 1964, Checker 1078)
4. Blind Man (December 1964, Checker 1096)
5. We're Gonna Make It (March 1965, Checker 1105)
6. Who's Cheating Who (June 1965, Checker 1113)
7. Your People (December 1965, Checker 1128)
8. We Got The Winning Hand (February 1966. Checker 1132)
9. When Does The Heartache End (April 1966, Checker 1138)
10. Man Loves Two (August 1966, Checker 1149)
11. Feel So Bad (January 1967, Checker 1162)
12. I'll Never Turn My Back On You (June 1967, Checker 1172)
13. More And More (December 1967, Checker 1189)
14. The Dark End Of The Street (1968. Checker 1203)
[B-side of “I (Who Have Nothing)”, a non-chart entry, listed here as a ‘bonus track’]
15. Let Me Down Easy (October 1968, Checker 1208)
16. Grits Ain't Groceries (All Around The World) (January 1969, Checker 1212)
17. I Can't Quit You Baby (January 1969, Checker 1212)
[B-side of “Grits Ain’t Groceries…”)
18. Just A Little Bit (April 1969, Checker 1217)
19. Let's Get Together (July 1969, Checker 1225)
20. Poor Man (October 1969, Checker 1221)
21. If Walls Could Talk (December 1969, Checker 1226)
22. Baby I Love You (April 1970, Checker 1227)
23. Somebody's Changing My Sweet Baby's Mind (July 1970, Checker 1231)
24. I Play Dirty (May 1971, Checker 1239)

Connoisseur Collection were a budget label operating out of Britain in the late Eighties and used to release very good double-albums on vinyl of all sorts of artists (Nils Lofgren, Labi Siffre, Chess Story, Rak Records etc). Their CDs usually featured the full double-album on a single disc, but the sound was only ever ok, rather than great. Well I’m glad to say the sound quality here is fantastic. The material is licensed from Universal who have charge over the entire Chess label and although the liner notes don’t advise who remastered what – they sound like the good work of Erick Labson who has handled vast swaths of the Chess catalogue to uniform praise. Veteran compiler Bob Fisher put the compilation together and the booklet features a 8-page appraisal by noted music writer and Blues discographer Neil Slaven.

As you can see from the dates above, a lot of these tracks are from the mid to late Sixties and even into the early Seventies – they’re far more funky than you would credit – not just straight up R’n’B or Blues (like “Let Me Down Easy”). Highlights include the Stax Shaft funk of “Poor Man” and the gritty guitar and brass of “I Play Dirty”. And while he wasn’t as vocally blistering as Bobby Bland at his best, when James “Little Milton” Campbell was working a tune like say “More And More” which has a very Sixties Them feel to it - he came damn close – it’s hard-hitting and impressive stuff (lyrics above).

I’m sure there’s a Hip-O Select 4 or 5CD mini box set in the future pipeline to compliment their Little Walter, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry sets, but until then, this will do nicely.