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"MANNISH BOY"
BLUES, VOCAL GROUPS, DOO WOP, ROOTS
RHYTHM 'n' BLUES and ROCK 'n' ROLL ON CD
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters
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"…Mighty, Mighty Man…"
I'm not surprised that Ace is trumpeting the sound quality of this CD. When they began shipping the De-Luxe and King Acetates in the 00's from Nashville to North London for sound engineering - Alec Paolo and Tony Rounce apparently unearthed what the Braun Brothers (founders of the labels) had said had been destroyed in a fire - a bunch of pristine Acetates for Roy Brown's 1949 and 1950 string of Rocking and Blues R'n'B 78's on De-Luxe. I say this because Duncan Cowell's remastering here is utterly exceptional - crisp, clear, full of life and presence (barely any clicks). You'd swear you were in the presence of master tapes and not precious one-off studio acetates.
They've even declared on the back of the CD that these digital remasters are now re-entered into Copyright (most unreleased in the USA) and the icing on the cake is that eight of these babies are Previously Unreleased (with the remainder in best-ever sound quality). Roy Brown fans are going to flip for this stuff. Here are the Big Shouter details...
UK released March 2015 - "Pay Day Jump - Later Sessions" by ROY BROWN on Ace Records CDTOP 1423 (Barcode 029667063524) is a CD compilation that's part of The King & Deluxe Acetate Series and pans out as follows (67:44 minutes):
Title (Recording Date, Release Year and American 78" Catalogue Number)
1. Boogie At Midnight (recorded 20 Sep 1949, 1949 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3300 AA)
2. The Blues Got Me Again (recorded 20 Sep 1949, 1949 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3300 A)
3. I Feel That Young Man's Rhythm (recorded 20 Sep 1949, 1950 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3302 AA)
4. End Of My Journey (recorded 20 Sep 1949, 1950 USA 78" De-Luxe 3302 A)
5. Butcher Pete (Part 1) (recorded 2 Nov 1949, 1950 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3301 AA)
6. Butcher Pete (Part 2) (recorded 2 Nov 1949), 1950 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3301 A)
7. Special Kind Of Treatment (recorded 2 Nov 1949, Matrix No D 1506-2, Previously Unreleased)
8. Pay Day Jump (Wine, Women And Song (Take 1) (recorded 2 Nov 1949, Matrix No D 1507-1, Previously Unreleased)
9. Cadillac Baby (recorded 19 April 1950, 1950 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3308 A)
10. Hard Luck Blues (recorded 19 April 1950, 1950 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3308 AA)
11. New Rebecca (recorded 19 April 1950, 1950 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3304 A)
12. Sweet Peach (recorded 19 April 1950, 1950 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3312 AA - see also 15)
13. Love Don't Love Nobody (recorded 15 May 1950, USA 78" on De-Luxe 3306 A)
14. Dreaming Blues (recorded 15 May 1950, USA 78" on De-Luxe 3306 AA)
15. Good Man Blues (recorded 19 April 1950, 1950 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3312 A - see also 13)
16. Too Much Lovin' Ain't No Good (recorded 15 May 1950, first released 1985 on the UK LP compilation "Boogie At Midnight" on Charly CRB 1093)
17. China Blues (recorded January 1949, Matrix D 894-2, Previously Unreleased)
18. Fanny Brown's Wedding Day (recorded January 1949, matrix D 872-4, Previously Unreleased)
19. Judgement Day Blues (recorded January 1949, USA 78" on De-Luxe 3212 B - see also 21)
20. Special Lesson No. 1 Take 3 (Remake) (recorded January 1949, Matrix D 880-3 - Previously Unreleased)
21. Rockin' At Midnight (recorded January 1949, USA 78" on De-Luxe 3212 A - see also 19)
22. Miss Fanny Brown (recorded January 1949, 1949 USA 78" on De-Luxe 3128 B - remake)
23. Mighty, Mighty Man (Take 3) (recorded January 1949, previously unreleased Take 3 of USA 1949 De-Luxe 3128 A - remake)
24. Pay Day Jump (Wine, Women And Song) (Take 2) (recorded 19 April 1950, Matrix D 1507-2, Previously Unreleased)
NOTES: Tracks 1-18, 20 & 24 credited to ROY BROWN & His Mighty-Mighty Men
Tracks 19 and 21, 22 and 23 credited to ROY BROWN With His Mighty-Mighty Men
Tracks 7, 8, 11, 17, 18, 20, 23 and 24 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (2015)
The 12-page booklet is festooned with lovely repros of those precious De-Luxe American 78s, three King/De-Luxe American Trade Magazine Adverts and classy black and white publicity photos of Roy Brown. Long-standing archivist and writer TONY ROUNCE (has handled hundreds of reissues) has done the liner notes that go as far as breaking down each matrix number allocated and which song was recorded at what session (it's properly detailed and hugely informative). But it's the DUNCAN COWELL remasters that blow you away (Cowell did almost all of the exceptional Blue Horizon CD reissues in 2006, 2007 and 2008 - I've reviewed most of them). Notoriously rough - these minted Acetates have been given a gorgeous going over - and fans will be lapping this up.
The music is good-time Forties & Fifties R'n'B - usually a dancing shouter on the A about girls and drinking and being naughty in the bushes with a Bluesy miserable song of woe on the flipside. It opens with a wonderful we're gonna "Boogie At Midnight" bopper - "you get the bottle...I'll get the chicks...we're gonna get together and have some natural kicks..." It's impossible not to want cut a rug listening to this. The lyrics on stuff like "I Feel That Young Man's Rhythm" and especially "Butcher Pete" doesn't leave much to the imagination - incredibly juicy words where Pete's been doing single women, married women and old maids and all (he's a busy boy is Pete). As you can imagine this stuff is great fun.
The first Previously Unreleased cut is "Special Kind Of Treatment" where our poorly sexpot "went down to my doctor...lately I ain't been feeling fine..." - Roy tells the worried practitioner. He adds that "I need a special kind of treatment...and I hope I'm understood..." I think "Cadillac Baby" is what the poor boy needs - "How that woman loves to ride...she loves her rolling...loves to ball a jack..." - that's what fidgetty Roy needs. Another unreleased winner with great Saxophone work is "China Blues" where Elvina writes to her man that she's "...way out here in China" (not that Elvina conveniently rhymes with China you understand). And on it goes to his signature "Mighty, Mighty Man" where Roy modestly hollers "WELLLL! I'm a mighty, mighty man - I'm young and in my prime!"
So all in all fabulous stuff and yet another winner from Ace. "...I see five on Friday...five on Saturday too...better put my rock in the Hall of Fame..." - Roy Brown cheerfully boasts on the fruity "I Feel That Young Man's Rhythm".
Should your rhythm stick need stirring - my advice is to get this saucy piece of reissue genius in 'your' socket right quick...Daddy-O!