"Rusty Rocks" by RUSTY YORK. A Review Of The 2004 CD Compilation By Bear Family.

"…Sugaree…You Know I Love You So…"

Released on Bear Family BCD 16543 AR, "Rusty Rocks" is a 28-track CD compilation featuring his recordings between 1957 and 1964.
It's part of Bear Family's "Rocks" Series - which in April 2004 had only 5 other releases - but now in January 2012 sports 42 - and rising (see list below and other titles reviewed).

It comes in Bear Family's now standard packaging for this series – a 3-way foldout card digipak containing a detachable oversized booklet inside (52 pages for this issue). Pages 2 to 33 feature an in-depth essay on Charles Edward York (his real name) by noted writer and musicologist COLIN ESCOTT, Pages 35 to 40 show photos from Rusty’s own 'Scrapbook' - while Pages 41 to 50 have a full Discography on all 28 recordings (and more) by Bear's own RICHARD WEIZE. The text throughout is peppered with trade adverts from Billboard and Cashbox, black and white and colour photos of Rusty in the USA and Europe as well as reviews and posters for Dick Clark Shows in Hollywood and Michigan. It’s the usual classy act from Bear.

And then of course there's the great sound courtesy of JURGEN CRASSER. I’ve raved about his mastering work before (see my TAG for him and reviews for the astonishing "Blowing The Fuse" series (16 compilations) and the "Sweet Soul Music" series (10 discs). Musically it's Rock'n'Roll and Rockabilly with a little Pop on the later Sixties stuff, but it sounds great - full of atmosphere, echo and life.

TRACK LIST:
1. Sugaree
2. Sweet Love
3. The Girl Can't Help It
4. Mean Woman Blues
5. Peggy Sue
6. Great Balls Of Fire
7. Shake 'Em Up Baby
8. Red Rooster (Instrumental)
9. Sweet Talk
10. Peggy Sue (2)
11. Sadie Mae
12. Tore Up Over You
13. Tremblin'
14. Love Struck
15. La Dee Dah (Duet with BONNIE LOU]
16. Cajun Blues/Frosty (Instrumental)
17. Goodnight Cincinnati, Good Morning Tennessee
18. Sweet Love (2)
19. You'd Better Leave My Baby Alone
20. Baby What You Want Me to Do See [as BILL STAMPER]
21. Don't Do It
22. One, One, One, Wonderful (Instrumental)
23. Molly Darlin' [as BILL STAMPER]
24. Tremblin' (Alternate)
25. Tore Up Over You (Alternate)
26. The Girl Can't Help It (2)
27. A Fallen Star
28. Margaret Ann

Tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 22, 23 and 24 are from the 1979 vinyl album "Rusty York: Rock And Roll Memories" on Jewel JRC 917

Tracks 4, 5, 6, 12, 16, 18, 19, 25, 26, 27, 28 are from a 1994 CD compilation called "Cincinnati Fireball" on Gee Dee 270 103

Tracks 24 and 25 are 'Alternate Takes' of "Tremblin'" and "Tore Up" and are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

The other tracks (and some above) are either 7” single releases or from rare US compilations – and many are seeing the CD light of day for the first time.

Born in Kentucky – Rusty York's lone chart entry is the fabulous "Sugaree" – a song I've loved and featured on many a rocking CD compilation. Its ultra-rare original US 45 is repro’d on the CD label (P.J. Records 100). "Sugaree" has a great history. Written by country singer Marty Robbins, it was aired by gospel group The Jordanaires on Capitol as their first secular release in late 1956. York’s version rearranged it into a faster beat and was recorded April 1959 as a casual B-side, but the finished Rock'n'Roller demanded release. It was immediately hawked around RCA, Mercury and other big record companies - but none showed any interest. Undeterred – it was put out on the self-published P.J. Records in April 1959 (P for was Pat Nelson and J for Jackie DeShannon). They pressed up a thousand copies at a time and sold them from cars. 10,000 singles later - it was picked up by Note Records that summer (Note 10021) and then at the end of the year released on the mighty Chess label. Chess 1730 finally charted on the Billboard Top 200 at a lowly ranking of 77. Hank Ballard and The Midnighters even put out a version on King in June 1959. "Sugaree" is just one of those irresistibly brill Rock'n'Roll records that never dates. Bolstered up by great Saxophone work from Jimmy Risch – it boogies along and wins fans every time. It's rare instrumental B-side "Red Rooster" is also on here.

The rest of the tracks comprise of like-minded cover versions – Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue", Little Richard's "The Girl Can't Help It", "Mean Woman Blues" (sung by Elvis Presley in 1957 on his "Loving You" album) and Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls Of Fire". He sounds like 1950's Buddy Holly on the pretty "A Fallen Star". The cool Rockabilly of "Shack 'Em Up Baby" turned up on "All I Wanna Do Is ROCK" – Bear Family's budget-priced CD sampler for the "Rocks" series (a great introduction). I also particularly like the two versions of 1957's "Sweet Love" which is very Gene Vincent in his prime. The instrumental "Cajun Blues/Frosty" too features JIMMY RISCH on sax, but also has some excellent guitar work from York himself. Even the 1961 material like "Tore Up Over You" and "Love Struck" is good – sounding not unlike period Jerry Lee Lewis. There's also a tremendous boogie cover of Jimmy Reed's shuffling Blues classic "Baby What You Want Me To Do" which was put out as a 45 in 1964 with "Molly Darlin'" on the A (REM Records REM 330 - credited to BILL STAMPER). The only real turkey for me here is a terrible duet with Bonnie Lou on "La Dee Dah" – a sappy 1959 "cha cha cha" song on King Records – I guess it's been included due to its rarity.

To sum up – I liked this compilation a lot. Rusty York may be a criminally forgotten figure in the Rock’n’Roll and Rockabilly pantheon – but this superb "Rocks" compilation by the incomparable Bear Family does him and his recorded legacy proud.

PS: The "Rocks" Series by Bear Family features the following artists:

1. Chuck Berry [see REVIEW}
2. Pat Boone
3. Johnny Burnette [see REVIEW]
4. The Cadillacs
5. Eddie Cochran
6. Bobby Darin
7. Fats Domino
8. Connie Francis
9. Don Gibson
10. Glen Glenn
11. Bill Haley
12. Roy Hall
13. Slim Harpo [see REVIEW]
14. Dale Hawkins
15. Ronnie Hawkins
16. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
17. Wanda Jackson [see REVIEW]
18. Sonny James
19. Buddy Knox & Jimmy Bowen with the Rhythm Orchids
20. Sleepy LaBeef
21. Brenda Lee
22. Jerry Lee Lewis
23. Smiley Lewis [see REVIEW]
24. Little Richard
25. Bob Luman
26. Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
27. Carl Mann
28. Amos Milburn [see REVIEW]
29. Ella Mae Morse [see REVIEW]
30. Ricky Nelson
31. Carl Perkins
32. Roy Orbison
33. Lloyd Price
34. Piano Red (aka Dr. Feelgood) [see REVIEW]
35. Charlie Rich [see REVIEW]
36. Jack Scott
37. Shirley & Lee
38. The Treniers
39. Big Joe Turner [see REVIEW]
40. Conway Twitty
41. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps
42. Rusty York [see REVIEW]

The Bear Family "Rockin' Rollin'" Series features:

1. Johnny Horton
2. Marvin Rainwater
3. Marty Robbins Vol.1
4. Marty Robbins Vol.2
5. Marty Robbins Vol.3

"Rocks" by PIANO RED aka Dr. FEELGOOD. A Review Of The 2009 Bear Family CD Compilation.

"…Do You Want To Rock Baby? Yes! Yes!”

Released April 2009 on Bear Family BCD 16639 AR, "Rocks" offers up 33 slices of Piano Red’s pumping Rhythm 'n' Blues piano style – and it’s a peach. “Rocks” covers 1950 to 1966 on the Groove, Jax, Okeh and RCA Victor labels - and at a generous 78:04 minutes - doesn't scrimp it on content or value for money.

Like all the titles in this extensive series, "Rocks" comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak with a large detachable booklet in the centre (48-pages for this one). The CD label itself repros the 1956 7" single of “Woo-Ee” complete with its Groove Records label bag - and that's again repro’d in full on the flap beneath the see-through tray (a nice touch).

The substantial booklet features extensive liner notes from Page 2 to 26 by BILL DAHL who did such stunning work on Bear's "Sweet Soul Music" Series from 1961 to 1971 (see separate reviews for all 10 compilations). There's even a Discography for all 33 tracks from Page 34 to 45 by Bear Family’s own RICHARD WEIZE - which in itself pictures 45"s and album sleeves in full colour (very tasty to look at). Especially worth noting is a series of black and white photos of Piano Red and his band in concert in March 1956 at the Magnolia Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia – they’re peppered throughout the text pages and are very intimate shots of the band and the audience enjoying themselves. Great stuff…

The remastered sound is by one of their best tape engineers JURGEN CRASSER – he handling the “Blowing The Fuse” series from 1945 to 1960 (I’ve reviewed all 16 volumes). Alive, clean and far better than previous CDs I've had of the same material, the sound is wonderful.

Musically William Perryman (his real name) was like Amos Milburn, Louis Jordan, Smiley Lewis and Louis Prima - an irrepressible force of rockin' joy. His warmth and witty words filled every song and when he was pumping out those party tunes with a big brassy band behind him, it must have been nigh on impossible to resist dancing your nuts off. Highlights include the 1957 instrumental “Wild Fire” with the whole band cooking like eggs on the bonnet of a car, the “I’ve had lots of big women…I’m having a ball…” song of “What Up Doc?” while in “Rock, Baby” he tells his girl to “Get out your silk and satin, because that old gal dress just won’t do…” because they’re going out to party (lyrics above). But the biggest surprise is kept until last.

Not found when the 4CD box set “The Doctor Is In!” was being formed in 1993, five previously unreleased studio cuts have surfaced from Columbia’s vaults – “Jumping The Boogie”, “The Double Twist” and “Rock Me” were recorded in December 1962 – while “I Need You” and “Can’t Wait No Longer” were recorded in March 1966. Being fully-formed and expertly recorded Columbia studio cuts, the Stereo sound is fabulous – and the quality of the songs themselves shockingly good. There's even a slightly Mod feel to “I Need You” from 1966 where it sounds like he's being backed up by Booker T And The MG’s. It’s the kind of song that a DJ would discover on the B-side of some single somewhere and play it in a UK Northern Soul club!

But if you want to get a taster of the songs and sound quality for a reasonable cost - try the 36-track "All We Wanna Do Is ROCK" sampler for this series - it has the 1954 Groove single of "Big Rock Joe From Kokomo” - typical of his style (see separate review).

Great stuff and such fun. In the vernacular - recommended the most...

PS: The "Rocks" Series by Bear Family features the following artists:

1. Pat Boone
2. Johnny Burnette
3. The Cadillacs
4. Eddie Cochran
5. Bobby Darin
6. Fats Domino
7. Connie Francis
8. Don Gibson
9. Glen Glenn
10. Bill Haley
11. Roy Hall
12. Dale Hawkins
13. Ronnie Hawkins
14. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
15. Wanda Jackson
16. Sonny James
17. Buddy Knox & Jimmy Bowen with the Rhythm Orchids
18. Sleepy LaBeef
19. Jerry Lee Lewis
20. Smiley Lewis
21. Bob Luman
22. Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
23. Carl Mann
24. Amos Milburn
25. Ella Mae Morse
26. Ricky Nelson
27. Carl Perkins
28. Roy Orbison
29. Lloyd Price
30. Piano Red
31. Charlie Rich
32. Jack Scott
33. Shirley & Lee
34. The Treniers
35. Conway Twitty
36. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps
37. Rusty York

The Bear Family "Rockin' Rollin'" Series features:

1. Johnny Horton
2. Marvin Rainwater
3. Marty Robbins Vol.1
4. Marty Robbins Vol.2
5. Marty Robbins Vol.3

JULIA LEE And HER BOY FRIENDS - LP Discography - Referencing “Kansas City Star” The 1995 Bear Family CD Box Set.

"…I Used To Run Away From The Stuff…But Now Somehow…I Can’t Get Enough…"

JULIA LEE And HER BOY FRIENDS
LP Discography Referencing “Kansas City Star”
The May 1995 Box Set On Bear Family BCD 15770 EI (5CDs)

Notes:
15/4 = Track 15, Disc 4
12/3 = Track 12, Disc 3 etc
All albums credit her as JULIA LEE and HER BOY FRIENDS

1. “Party Time” [aka Julia Lee’s Party Time]
1950 USA 10” LP on Capitol H-228 [Mono]
Side 1:
1. King Size Papa [16/3]
2. (Opportunity Knocks But Once) Snatch And Grab It [14/2]
3. You Ain't Got It No More [15/4]
4. Tell Me, Daddy [22/3]
Side 2:
1. Tonight's The Night [7/4]
2. I Didn't Like It The First Time (The Spinach Song) [20/3]
3. Ain't It A Crime [3/3]
4. Don't Save It Too Long [13/4]

2. “Party Time” [aka Julia Lee’s Party Time]
1955 USA 12” Reissue LP on Capitol T-228 [Mono]
[4 Extra Tracks Over The 10” Original, Slightly Different Artwork]
Side 1:
1. King Size Papa [16/3]
2. (Opportunity Knocks But Once) Snatch And Grab It [14/2]
3. You Ain't Got It No More [15/4]
4. Tell Me, Daddy [22/3]
5. Last Call (For Alcohol) [16/5]
6. I Was Wrong [11/3]
Side 2:
1. Tonight's The Night [7/4]
2. I Didn't Like It The First Time (The Spinach Song) [20/3]
3. Ain't It A Crime [3/3]
4. Don't Save It Too Long [13/4]
5. After Hours Waltz [14/4]
6. My Man Stands Out [8/4]

3. “The History Of Jazz Volume 2 – The Turbulent ‘Twenties”
1956 Various Artists USA 12” LP on Capitol T-794 [Mono]
1. (It Will Have To Do) Until The Real Thing Comes Along [24/3]

4. “KC In The 30’s” [Kansas City]
1958 Various Artists USA 12” LP on Capitol T-1057 [Mono]
1. Dragging My Heart Around [19/4]
2. My Sin [9/3]
3. When You’re Smiling [10/3]
4. I Was Wrong [11/3]

5. “Julia Lee & Her Boy Friends”
1964 USA LP on Capitol T 2038 [Mono]
Side 1:
1. King Size Papa [16/3]
2. Dragging My Heart Around [19/4]
3. My Man Stands Out [8/4]
4. Crazy World [21/3]
5. Gotta Gimme What'cha Got [3/2]
6. After Hours Waltz [14/4]
Side 2:
1. (Opportunity Knocks But Once) Snatch And Grab It [14/2]
2. There Goes My Heart [13/2]
3. Tonight's The Night [7/4]
4. I Was Wrong [11/3]
5. You Ain't Got It No More [15/4]
6. Last Call (For Alcohol) [16/5]

6. “Tonight’s The Night”
1983 UK LP on Charly R&B Records CRB 1039 [Mono]
(* = Referenced in the BF Discography)
Side 1:
1. (Opportunity Knocks But Once) Snatch And Grab It [14/2]
2. I Didn't Like It The First Time (The Spinach Song) [20/3]
3. Come On Over To My House [9/1]
4. That's What I Like [15/3 *]
5. Knock Me A Kiss [4/3 *]
6. King Size Papa [16/3]
7. Can't Get Enough Of That Stuff [3/5 *]
8. Gotta Gimme Whatcha Got [3/2]
Side 2:
1. My Man Stands Out [8/4]
2. Tonight's The Night [7/4]
3. Don't Come Too Soon [11/4]
4. All This Beef And Big Ripe Tomatoes [12/5 *]
5. Mama Don't Allow It [1/3]
6. Trouble In Mind [10/1]
7. Take It Or Leave It [14/3]
8. Last Call (For Alcohol) [16/5]

7. “Ugly Papa”
1983 Swedish LP on Jukebox Lil JB-603 [Mono, Reissued on CD in 1991 on RBD 603]
Side 1:
1. Do You Want It? [9/4]
2. Dream Lucky Blues [14/1]
3. Lotus Blossom [13/1]
4. Ugly Papa [12/4]
5. Julia's Blues [1/2]
6. If You Hadn't Gone Away (I Wouldn't Be Where I Am) [15/2]
7. Bleeding Hearted Blues [18/2]
8. Oh, Chuck It (In A Bucket) [17/4]
Side 2:
1. It Won't Be Long [1/5]
2. Decent Woman Blues [18/4]
3. Scream In The Night [5/5]
4. I Know It's Wrong (The Diet Song) [6/5]
5. Bop And Rock Lullaby [24/5]
6. Goin' To Chicago Blues [15/5]
7. King Size Papa [23/5]
8. Scat You Cats [21/5]

8. “Julia Lee And Her Boy Friends”
1983 USA-only LP on PA USA Records PR 9020
Side 1:
1. King Size Papa [16/3]
2. Draggin My Heart Around [19/4]
3. My Man Stands Out [8/4]
4. Crazy World [21/3]
5. Gotta Gimme Whatcha Got [3/2]
6. After Hours Waltz [14/4]
Side 2:
1. (Opportunity Knocks But Once) Snatch And Grab It [14/2]
2. There Goes My Heart [13/2]
3. Tonight's The Night [7/4]
4. I Was Wrong [11/3]
5. You Ain't Got It No More [15/4]
6. Last Call (For Alcohol) [16/5]

9. “A Porter’s Love Song”
1985 Swedish LP on Jukebox Lil JB-614 [Mono]
Side 1:
1. If It’s Good [16/1]
2. When A Woman Loves A Man [4/2]
3. Show Me Missouri Blues [12/1]
4. I’ll Get Along Somehow [6/2]
5. A Porter’s Love Song [7/2]
6. Young Girl’s Blues [11/2]
7. Since I’ve Been With You [9/2]
8. Oh, Marie [5/2]
Side 2:
1. Doubtful Blues [2/3]
2. On My Way Out [12/2]
3. Wise Guys (You’re A Wise Guy) [20/2]
4. All I Ever Do Is Worry [13/3]
5. Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me) [19/3]
6. Christmas Spirits [23/3]
7. The Glory Of Love [6/4]
8. Charmaine [1/4]

10. “Of Lions And Lambs”
1988 UK LP on Charly R&B Records CRB 1175 [Mono]
(* = Referenced in the BF Discography)
Side 1:
1. When Jennie Does That Lowdown Dance [9/5 *]
2. Don't Save It Too Long [13/4]
3. Back Street [aka Living Back Street For You] [19/2]
4. Tell Me, Daddy [22/3]
5. I Was Wrong [11/3]
6. When A Man Has Two Women [4/5 *]
7. Away From You [5/4 *]
8. You're Gonna Miss It [2/5 *]
Side 2:
1. It Comes In Like A Lion [10/4 *]
2. Lotus Blossom [13/1]
3. Ain't It A Crime [3/3]
4. When Your Lover Has Gone [16/4 *]
5. Oh, Chuck It (In A Bucket) [17/4]
6. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out [16/2]
7. You Ain't Got It No More [15/4]
8. I Got News For You [14/5 *]

“Rocks” by SMILEY LEWIS. A Review of the 2010 Bear Family CD Compilation.

"…I’m Goin’ Home…Never More To Roam…Spend The Rest Of My Life…Right There With My Wife…"

Released February 2010 on Bear Family BCD 16676 AR, "Rocks" offers up 36 slices of primo Smiley Lewis New Orleans style Rhythm 'n' Blues on the Colony and Imperial labels from 1950 through to 1958 - and at an envelope-pushing 85:36 minutes, doesn't scrimp it on content or value for money.

Like all the titles in this extensive series, "Rocks" comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak with a large detachable booklet in the centre (40-pages for this one). The CD label itself repros the 1953 7"single of “Blue Monday” complete with its Imperial Records record bag - and that's again repro’d in full on the flap beneath the see-through tray (a nice touch). The substantial booklet features extensive liner notes from Page 2 to 28 by BILL DAHL who did such stunning work on Bear's "Sweet Soul Music" Series from 1961 to 1971 (see separate reviews for all 10 compilations). There's even a Discography for all 36 tracks from Page 29 to 39 by WOOTER KEESING and Bear Family’s own RICHARD WEIZE which in itself pictures each 78" and 45" at the base of every page (very tasty to look at). Knowledgeable people like DAVE “DADDY COOL” BOOTH and others contributed information and illustrations too.

The remastered sound is by one of their best tape engineers JURGEN CRASSER who handling the “Sweet Soul Music” series I raved about. One or two tracks are rough (“Dirty People” is one) because they’re dubbed off discs, but the sound on the others is fabulous - far better than previous CDs I've had of the same material.

Musically Smiley Lewis was like Louis Jordan, Amos Milburn and Louis Prima - an irrepressible force of rockin' joy. His big pipes had the room-filling fun of Big Joe Turner at his Atlantic Records best, while his rolling piano fills made every track a Fats Domino blast. You can just 'feel' the good vibes of a hot gig on a Saturday Night at the local bar coming off these songs (his mischievous lyrics to "Ain’t Gonna Do It" title this review).

Given the vintage of the material, this CD is expensive for sure (as most of Bear Family's product is), but it's the best representation of Lewis’ material I've ever heard or seen. If you want to go deeper, there’s the “Shame, Shame, Shame” 4CD Box Set they issued in 1993. But if you want to get a taster of the songs and sound quality for a reasonable cost - try the 36-track "All We Wanna Do Is ROCK" sampler for this series - it has the 1953 Imperial single of "Big Mamou” (see separate review).

Great stuff – and such fun. In the vernacular - recommended the most daddy-o...

PS: The "Rocks" Series by Bear Family features the following artists:

1. Pat Boone
2. Johnny Burnette
3. The Cadillacs
4. Eddie Cochran
5. Bobby Darin
6. Fats Domino
7. Connie Francis
8. Don Gibson
9. Glen Glenn
10. Bill Haley
11. Roy Hall
12. Dale Hawkins
13. Ronnie Hawkins
14. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
15. Wanda Jackson
16. Sonny James
17. Buddy Knox & Jimmy Bowen with the Rhythm Orchids
18. Sleepy LaBeef
19. Jerry Lee Lewis
20. Smiley Lewis
21. Bob Luman
22. Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
23. Carl Mann
24. Amos Milburn
25. Ella Mae Morse
26. Ricky Nelson
27. Carl Perkins
28. Roy Orbison
29. Lloyd Price
30. Piano Red
31. Charlie Rich
32. Jack Scott
33. Shirley & Lee
34. The Treniers
35. Conway Twitty
36. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps
37. Rusty York

The Bear Family "Rockin' Rollin'" Series features:

1. Johnny Horton
2. Marvin Rainwater
3. Marty Robbins Vol.1
4. Marty Robbins Vol.2
5. Marty Robbins Vol.3

“Kansas City Star” by JULIA LEE. A Review of the 1995 Bear Family 5CD Box Set.

"…I Used To Run Away From The Stuff…But Now Somehow…I Can’t Get Enough…"

“Kansas City Star” is a 5CD Box Set by Bear Family Records of Germany (released March 1995) which offers up a huge 109 remastered tracks in chronological release date order (20 are previously unreleased). It covers everything from her 1st rare 78” on the Meritt label in 1927 where she featured as a Duet Vocalist in her brother George’s jazz band - right through to her last recordings in 1957 – privately pressed 45”s on the obscure Foremost label.

Bear Family BCD 15770 EI breaks down as follows…

Disc 1, 22 Tracks, 61:24 minutes
Previously unreleased tracks are - “Wee Baby Blues” (15), “If It’s Good” (16), “I’ve Got A Crush On The Fuller Brush Man” (17), “Two Lovers Have I” (18), “Some Of These Days” (19), “St. Louis Blues” (20), “Shake That Thing” (21) and “Shake It And Break It” (22)

Disc 2, 20 Tracks, 57:47 minutes
Previously unreleased tracks are – “Have You Ever Been Lonely” (8) and “The Curse Of An Aching Heart” (17)

Disc 3, 24 Tracks, 73:53 minutes
Previously unreleased tracks are – “My Sin” [Takes 1, 2 and 3] (6, 7 and 8)

Disc 4, 19 Tracks, 54:50 minutes
Previously unreleased track is – “Marijuana” (3)

Disc 5, 24 Tracks, 62:51 minutes
Previously unreleased tracks are – “Music, Maestro Please” (7), “If I Didn’t Care” (10), “Lazy River” (11), “Can’t Get It Off My Mind” (13), “Kansas City Boogie” (17) and “Love In Bloom” (18)

CONTENT:
This box will allow you to sequence all her 78”s and 45”s (42 entries) on the Meritt, Brunswick, Capitol, Premier, Mercury, Damon and Foremost labels. Her debut 1950 10” LP “Party Time” on Capitol Records and its extended 1955 12” LP equivalent are here in their entirety - as is her 2nd big official album - 1964 ‘s “Julia Lee & Her Boy Friends”.

During the Eighties Charly Records of England and Jukebox Lil of Sweden began to license unreleased Capitol recordings from her 1940s heyday - and along with 78” sides that had never been on album before - they issued 4 LPs between them. You get Charly’s “Tonight’s The Night” (1983) and “Of Lions And Lambs” (1988) and Jukebox Lil’s “Ugly Papa” (1983) and “A Porter’s Love Song” (1985) – all 4 LPs are here in their entirety too.

BOOKLET/SOUND:
The 32-page album-sized booklet features a superb life/music appraisal by noted UK writer BILL MILLAR, while CHARLES J. HADDIX and Bear Family’s own RICHARD WEIZE compiled the very detailed session-by-session Discography. Like most Bear Family booklets of the time, it’s a lovely thing to behold featuring full page black & white shots of Julia in the Capitol Records studio, trade adverts, newspaper clippings, sheet music, repros of those beautiful American 78” labels and so on… And each CD has a different photo with a 78” repro’d on the other side of the single-sheet inlay.

The Disc/Metal Part Transfers have involved great names like WALTER DeVENNE and BOPPIN' BOB JONES - while the mastering was handled by ADAM SKEAPING. Excepting the 4 x 78”s featuring George E. Lee and His Novelty Singing Orchestra from the 1920s (rough sounding), once you hit the Capitol stuff (bulk of what’s on here), the sound quality is amazingly good. Some of the takes have studio chatter at the beginning and end and Disc 1 contains a newly discovered 8-track session from 1947 that is brilliant.

Musically – Julia Lee was a saucy soul – almost all of her songs involved sexual innuendo of some kind, which was both daring for the day and huge fun. Like her Capitol label mate Nellie Lutcher, you only had to hear that great voice and cast an eye on her ample frame – and good things were bound to happen. Julia had Big Joe Turner in her blood and Bessie Smith in her soul (at times compared to her). Her piano playing was good too.

Highlights for me include the salacious and sly lyrics (title above) of “I Didn’t Like It The First Time (The Spinach Song)” which as you can imagine isn't really about a vitamin supplement. There’s also lot of jazz blues on here too – but towards the end of her career – the ‘naughty’ angle had played itself out – and too many of the songs feel like they’re looking for a hit rather than actually being one.

Still – listening to these discs has been a joy for me and a real discovery. I’ve even sequenced the 12-track version of her fabulous “Party Time” album and play it often. Niggles – despite a 2-year search, the 2nd 45 from the Foremost label (Foremost 105) with “Trouble In Mind” and “Saturday Night” was never found – so its not here. And being a luxury box set, it's not cheap as an import...

Julia Lee died in December 1958 aged 56 and right up until the end of her life had been working bars in her beloved Kansas City. Her brother George Ewing who gave Julia her first 78” way back in 1927 died the following year. White boys Dave Dexter of Capitol who championed her and saxophonist Big Dave Cavanaugh who was one of her “Boy Friends” (she and her band were almost always credited as Julia Lee and Her Boy Friends) are long gone too. Thankfully this fabulous box set is here to remember them all in grace and style.

The mighty Bear Family folks - another peach from them and recommended like a life-enhancing tin of Spinach.

PS: I've also reviewed the following Bear Family box sets (with discographies) that may be of interest - Louis Jordan, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Roy Orbison, Freddie King, Ella Mae Morse and Nellie Lutcher.

PPS: for single discs, see also reviews for 2010 CDs from Bobby Charles "See You Later, Alligator" and the "Rocks" series budget sampler "All We Wanna Do Is ROCK".