“Blowing The Fuse – 28 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1951” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Award-Winning 2005 Bear Family CD Compilation

"…I’m Looking For A Chick That Only Drinks Lemonade…I’m Tired Of Being Broke The Day After I Get Paid..."

The "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations stretches across 16 volumes from 1945 to 1960 and was then followed by Bear Family's equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 10 sets from 1961 to 1970 (I've reviewed all 10 of those in detail). Having been drawn in by the truly beautiful sound quality and presentation of the 'Soul' discs, I knew it would be a big blow to my bank balance buying even one of these R&B issues - and it was! But I've laboured with all of these time-consuming detailed reviews because these reissues are the business...they really are.

"Blowing The Fuse - 28 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1951" is on Bear Family BCD 16706 AS and was released April 2005 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 (1951 has "Little Red Rooster" by Margie Day on Dot), 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 10 "Sweet Soul Music" compilations, each of the 16 R&B 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). This 1951 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a healthy 78:24 minutes.

Compiler Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth took his time with this - actually playing the set through - mixing in the famous with the obscure but in a new order - and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. The compilation begins in January and in rough chronological order ends in December. And even the way-too-familiar tracks on here like "Rocket “88”" by Jackie Brenston and "I’m In The Mood" by John Lee Hooker are all sorted out by the next big plus...the massively improved sound…

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (or the best disc available) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given their age and wildly varying sources, the sound is uniformly GLORIOUS.

Six years after the Second World War, America wanted to rock - so it's not surprising that so many songs in 1951 were about drink, sex and partying (with an occasional nod towards their consequences in between). The proceedings open with a superlative double-whammy – “Bad, Bad Whiskey” by Amos Milburn and “Little Joe’s Boogie” by Joe Liggins – both with stunning sound and infectious dancefloor rhythms. Dark-edged blues then follow in the “…long distance” moaner “Telephone Blues” by Floyd Dixon and the lingering chill of “…my brother’s in Korea…” on “Black Night” by Charles Brown. Then it’s back to more boozy tunes like “Bloodshot Eyes” by Wynonie Harris - whose style and voice Louis Prima mimicked almost phrase for phrase 5 years later on his Capitol debut album - while Louis Jordan’s wonderfully catty “Lemonade” has a very funny monetary take on the demon-drink (lyrics above).

Genius choices - "Chica Boo" is an instrumental rumba shuffle beautifully arranged and played by one of the periods great unsung-heroes – Lloyd Glenn (the 78” is also pictured on Page 40), while the brass on “I’m Just Waiting For You” by Lucky Millender is likely to blow your speakers out - so powerful, so clear. “I Got Loaded” by Peppermint Harris on Aladdin is probably one of the best celebrations of getting drunk ever - it was later covered by The Cadets with the stunning bass vocals of Will “Dub” Jones on lead.

Criminally forgotten gems go to "Sixty-Minute Man" by The Dominoes, which not only dominated almost half of the year it was such a huge hit – but some say is one of the most important records ever made because it was ‘the’ crossover song for black music into the white charts. With Bill Brown heading up the deep bass vocals and Clyde McPhatter on background operatic yelps, it also used the words “rock” and “roll” together in the same song (The Boswell Sisters used the combo of words in 1934, but The Dominoes track is the one most associated with the pairing). Somehow sensing its importance, the 78” is pictured in its Federal bag on Page 33.

Vocal Group collectors and Blues enthusiasts will flip for the sound quality on “The Glory Of Love” by The Five Keys and “I’m In The Mood” by John Lee Hooker – clarity on both like I’ve never heard before. My only slight disappointment is that excepting Margie Day, 'women' singers are entirely absent from 1951 (unlike 1952 onwards).

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. The Treniers grace Page 3 (and the front sleeve), 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 full colour plate of lesser-seen singles and their label bag graces an entire page ("I Got Loaded" by Peppermint Harris on Aladdin and "Fool, Fool, Fool” by The Clovers on Atlantic are on Pages 49 and 66). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT with knowledgeable contributions from BILL MILLAR, DAVE BOOTH, Marv Goldberg's online R&B site, Robert L. Campbell, Red Saunders Research Project, Larry Cohn, Walter DeVenne and Bernd Matheja (disc pictures supplied by John Tefteller and Victor Pearlin). And because the booklet allows Escott to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - like Dahl's work on "Sweet Soul Music" - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1951" is 'the' place to start.

Compilations like this live or die based on a few key ingredients - great track choices, properly remastered sound and all of it wrapped up in knowledgeable and (if you're lucky) sumptuous presentation. Well "Blowin The Fuse" wins on all counts - it really does. The entire series is gorgeous to look at and especially to listen to. Well done to all involved...

Track List for the CD "Blowing The Fuse 1951"
(Label & Catalogue Number For The US 78"/7" Single Follow The Title. If There's TWO Catalogue Numbers, The First Is The Original; The 2nd Is The Reissue In That Year)

1. Bad, Bad Whiskey – AMOS MILBURN and his Aladdin Chickenshackers (Aladdin 3068)
2. Little Joe’s Boogie – JOE LIGGINS and his Honeydrippers (Specialty 379)
3. Telephone Blues – FLOYD DIXON with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers featuring Oscar Moore (Aladdin 3075)
4. Rockin’ With Red – PIANO RED (RCA 22/50-0099)
5. Lemonade – LOUIS JORDAN and his Tympany Five (Decca 27324)
[Featuring Bill David on Organ]
6. I Will Wait – THE FOUR BUDDIES (Savoy 769)
7. Rockin’ Blues – THE JOHNNY OTIS ORCHESTRA with Mel Walker (Savoy 766)
8. Little Red Rooster – MARGIE DAY with the Griffin Brothers’ Orchestra (Dot 1019)
9. Black Night – CHARLES BROWN and his Band (Aladdin 3076)
10. I’m Waiting Just For You – LUCKY MILLINDER and his Orchestra, Vocal by Annisteen Allen and John Carol (King 4453)
11. Rocket “88” – JACKIE BRENSTON and his Delta Cats (Chess 1458)
12. Long Distance Call – MUDDY WATERS and his Guitar (Chess 1452)
13. Sixty-Minute Man – THE DOMINOES (Federal 12022)
[Featuring Bill Brown on Lead Vocals, Clyde McPhatter on Backing Vocals]
14. Tend To Your Business – JAMES WAYNE (Sittin’ In 588)
15. Chains Of Love – JOE TURNER with Vann “Piano Man” Walls and his Orchestra (Atlantic 939)
[On this 78” ‘Van’ is spelt with two n’s’ in error; on all subsequent issues it’s spelt ‘Van’]
16. Chica Boo – LLOYD GLENN (Swingtime 254)
17. Go! Go! Go! – THE TRENIERS (Okeh 6804)
18. The Glory Of Love – THE FIVE KEYS (Aladdin 3099)
19. I Got Loaded – “PEPPERMINT” HARRIS with Maxwell Davis and his ALL-STARS (Aladdin 3097)
20. Castle Rock – JOHNNY HODGES and his Orchestra (Mercury 8944)
[Featuring Al Sears On Tenor Saxophone]
21. Eyesight To The Blind – THE LARKS (Apollo 427)
22. Bloodshot Eyes – WYNONIE HARRIS (King 4461)
[Featuring Big John Greer on Saxophone]
23. '’T’ 99 Blues – JIMMIE NELSON and The Peter Rabbit Trio (RPM 325)
24. Walkin’ The Chalk Line – TINY BRADSHAW (King 4457)
25. I’m In The Mood – JOHN LEE HOOKER (Modern 835)
26. Fool, Fool, Fool – THE CLOVERS (Atlantic 944)
27. Flamingo – EARL BOSTIC and his Orchestra (King 4475)
28. How Many More Years – HOWLIN’ WOLF (Chess 1479)

“Blowing The Fuse – 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1952” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Award-Winning 2005 Bear Family CD Compilation

"…I’ve Got Six Extra Children…From A Getting Frisky..."

The "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations stretches across 16 volumes from 1945 to 1960 and was then followed by Bear Family's equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 10 sets from 1961 to 1970 (I've reviewed all 10 of those in detail). Having been drawn in by the truly beautiful sound quality and presentation of the 'Soul' discs, I knew it would be a big blow to my bank balance buying even one of these R&B issues - and it was! But I've laboured with all of these time-consuming detailed reviews because these reissues are the business...they really are.

"Blowing The Fuse - 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1952" is on Bear Family BCD 16707 AS and was released April 2005 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 (1952 has "The Bells Are Ringing" by Smiley Lewis on Imperial), 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 10 "Sweet Soul Music" compilations, each of the 16 R&B 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). This 1952 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a healthy 78:59 minutes.

Compiler Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth took his time with this - actually playing the set through - mixing in the famous with the obscure but in a new order - and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. The compilation begins in January and in rough chronological order ends in December. And even the way-too-familiar tracks on here like "Dust My Broom" by Elmore James and "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by Lloyd Price are all sorted out by the next big plus...the massively improved sound (on almost all tracks)...

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (both Mono and Stereo) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given the wildly varying sources, the sound is uniformly GLORIOUS.

The post war years saw America wanting to rock – so it’s not surprising that so many songs in 1952 did just that – infectious floor-fillers include “Lovin’ Machine” by Wynonie Harris, “The Train Kept-A-Rollin’” by Tiny Bradshaw and “I Can’t Lose With The Stuff I Use” by Lester Williams. Even the Doo Wop vocal groups were in on the boppin’ act – “Baby, Please Don’t Go” by The Orioles and “Rock Me All Night Long” by The Ravens. But best of all is “Have Mercy Baby” by The Dominies where the lead singer tells us in a pleading warble “…I’ve been a good for nothing…I’ve lied and cheated too…” That fabulous new vocalist was Clyde McPhatter, ably backed up by Billy Ward’s ultra-tight combo (he fined them for missing beats). The result is R’n’B perfection.

In between these rockers were the misery guts songs like the wonderfully bluesy “So Tired” by Roy Milton and the almost dark “Hard Times” by Charles Brown. “Hard Times” was one of the first songs to benefit from the stunning Leiber & Stoller songwriting partnership – it sounds amazing despite its dubbed-from-disc roughness. Speaking of which, it’s not all good news on the sound front - “Booted’ By Rosco Gordon features very audible crackle and hiss, while “My Song” by Johnny Ace is not just badly recorded – it’s almost unlistenable. And there’s some disappointing clicks on “5-10-15 Hours” by Ruth Brown – but it’s still better than I’ve ever heard it…

Genius choices – there’s two superb instrumentals - “Night Train” by Jimmy Forrest (later covered so well by James Brown) and “Juke” by Little Walter – a harmonica blast so good it might tempt the dead back from Heaven for one more turn on the barroom floor. But my poison is the fantastically catchy dancer “It Ain’t The Meat” by The Swallows (whose picture graces the front cover). It bops along with great double-entendre lyrics - the handclaps and lead vocals beautifully clear from the remaster.

Criminally forgotten gems go to “Got You On My Mind” by John Greer (covered over the years by acts as diverse as Piano Red, Cookie And The Cupcakes and Eric Clapton) and the stunning discovery of Thomas Braden’s lead vocals on “Mary Jo” by The Four Blazes – a cross between Louis Prima and Smiley Lewis. The slashing guitar of Elmore James on the seminal “Dust My Broom” sounds like it was recorded in a bucket with a microphone bought at Woolworths, but it still packs the punch of a fist in the face – and it also reminds you of how many white guitar players fell under its voodoo spell who then subsequently shaped rock music for the next 40 years. And once again – like 1953 – it’s also noticeable just how far ahead of the game "Atlantic" was as a label - "The Chill Is On'" by Big Joe Turner, "5-10-15 Hours" by Ruth Brown and the irresistibly saucy “One Mint Julep" by The Clovers (lyrics above) – all great.

The women are either containing their men’s ardour - “Easy, Easy Baby” by Varetta Dillard or being shot because they’re cheated on them – “Goodbye Baby” by Little Caesar – an extraordinarily grim tune where bullets sound out in the dying moments – twice (he does himself too!).

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. With an intro on Page 4, the text for the songs begins on Page 5 and ends on Page 69, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful full colour plate of lesser-seen singles and their label bag graces an entire page ("3 O’Clock Blues” by B.B. KING on RPM Records and “Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by Lloyd Price on Specialty are on Pages 11 and 48). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT with knowledgeable contributions from BILL MILLAR, DAVE BOOTH, Marv Goldberg's online R&B site, Robert L. Campbell, Red Saunders Research Project, Larry Cohn, Walter DeVenne and Bernd Matheja. And because the booklet allows Escott to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - like Dahl's work on "Sweet Soul Music" - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1952" is 'the' place to start.

Compilations like this live or die based on a few key ingredients - great track choices, properly remastered sound and all of it wrapped up in knowledgeable and (if you're lucky) sumptuous presentation. Well "Blowin The Fuse" wins on all counts - it really does. The entire series is gorgeous to look at and especially to listen to. Well done to all involved...

PS: the pictures on the front sleeves of 1952 and 1953 have been 'reversed' by Bear Family despite what the Amazon pictures above show (probably done at the last minute – see my own photos provided).

Track List for the CD "Blowing The Fuse 1952"
(Label & Catalogue Number For The US 78"/7" Single Follow The Title. If There's TWO Catalogue Numbers, The First Is The Original; The 2nd Is The Reissue In That Year)

1. The Chill Is On – JOE TURNER With Van “Piano Man” Walls And His Orchestra (Atlantic 949)
2. It Ain’t The Meat – THE SWALLOWS (King 4501)
3. 3 O’Clock Blues – B.B. KING (RPM 339)
4. Got You On My Mind – JOHN GREER And The Rhythm Rockers (RCA 20/47-4348)
5. Booted – ROSCO GORDON (Chess 1487)
6. Weepin’ And Cryin’ – THE GRIFFIN BROTHERS ORCHESTRA Featuring Tommy Brown (Dot 107)
7. Dust My Broom – ELMORE JAMES (Trumpet 146)
8. Lovin’ Machine – WYNONIE HARRIS With Todd Rhodes’ Orchestra (King 4485)
9. Hard Times – CHARLES BROWN And His Band (Aladdin 3116)
10. Wheel Of Fortune – DINAH WASHINGTON With Orchestra Accompaniment (Mercury 8267)
11. Baby, Please Don’t Go – THE ORIOLES (Jubilee 5065)
12. The Train Kept-A-Rollin’ – TINY BRADSHAW (King 4497)
13. Goin’ Home – FATS DOMINO (Imperial 5180)
14. One Mint Julep – THE CLOVERS (Atlantic 963)
15. I Can’t Lose With The Stuff I Use – LESTER WILLIAMS And His Band (Specialty 422)
16. Night Train – JIMMY FORREST And His Allstar Combo (United U 110)
17. I’m Gonna Play The Honky Tonks – MARIE ADAMS With Bill Harvey’s Band (Peacock 1583)
18. Have Mercy Baby – THE DOMINOES (Federal 12068)
[Clyde McPhatter on Lead Vocals]
19. So Tired – ROY MILTON And His Solid Senders (Specialty 429)
20. Lawdy Miss Clawdy – LLOYD PRICE And His Orchestra (Specialty 428)
21. 5-10-15 Hours – RUTH BROWN With Orchestra (Atlantic 962)
22. Mary Jo – FOUR BLAZES (Lead Vocal Thomas Braden) (United U 114)
23. My Song – JOHNNY ACE With The Beale Streeters (Duke R-102)
24. The Bells Are Ringing – SMILEY LEWIS (Imperial 5194)
25. Easy, Easy Baby – VARETTA DILLARD (Savoy 847)
26. Juke – LITTLE WALTER (Checker 758)
27. Goodbye Baby – LITTLE CAESER (Hollywood 235)
28. I Don’t Know – WILLIE MABON And His Combo (Chess 1531)
29. Rock Me All Night Long – THE RAVENS (Mercury 8291)

“Blowing The Fuse – 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1953” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Award-Winning 2005 Bear Family CD Compilation

"...Get Out That Big Ten-Inch...Record Of The Band That Played The Blues..."

The "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations stretches across 16 volumes from 1945 to 1960 and was then followed by Bear Family's equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 10 sets from 1961 to 1970 (I've reviewed all 10 of those in detail). Having been drawn in by the truly beautiful sound quality and presentation of the 'Soul' discs, I knew it would be a big blow to my bank balance buying even one of these R&B issues - and it was! I’ve laboured with all of these time-consuming detailed reviews because these reissues are the business...

"Blowing The Fuse - 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1953" is on Bear Family BCD 16708 AS and was released April 2005 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 (1953 has "Gabbin’ Blues" by Big Maybelle on Okeh), 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 10 "Sweet Soul Music" compilations, each of the 16 R&B 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). This 1953 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a healthy 79:27 minutes.

Compiler Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth took his time with this - actually playing the set through - mixing in the famous with the obscure but in a new order - and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. The compilation begins in January and in rough chronological order ends in December. And even the way-too-familiar tracks on here like "Crying In The Chapel" by The Orioles, "Mess Around" by Ray Charles and "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer" by Amos Milburn are all sorted out by the next big plus...the beautifully clear sound...

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (both Mono and Stereo) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given the wildly varying sources, the sound is uniformly GLORIOUS.

Little prepares you for the clarity of Ruth Brown’s tambourine in the opening seconds of “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean” which is followed by the fabulous “Baby Don’t Do It” from The “5” Royales – an equally astute lyric and infectious rocker. In fact throughout 1953, the tunes are about hitting someone, getting drunk or getting laid – or all three combined. Bull Moose Jackson’s staggeringly lewd "Big Ten-Inch Record" (lyrics above) and Jimmy Liggins’ mean old bottle song “Drunk” are perfect examples – masterpieces of the teasing double-entendre. Offset against this naughtiness is the almost clinging innocence of the Doo Wop songs (“The Clock” by Johnny Ace) - all sweetness and light and heartfelt longing. Its also noticeable just how far ahead of the game “Atlantic” was as a label – “Good Lovin’” by The Clovers, “Honey Hush” by Joe Turner and “Money Honey” by Clyde McPhatter And The Drifters are all such irresistible smashes that they sit as awkward bedfellows with the heavy-handed blues tunes like Earl Forest’s “Whoppin’ And Hollerin’” which seemed to struggle with the word ‘hit’. And having been treated to truly great sound, the obviously rare but dubbed from disc “I Had A Notion” by Joe Morris is sonically rough to say the least.

The women are either loving their men or killing them – “Sweetheart Of The Blues” Shirley is in lovely voice on “I’m Gone” by Shirley & Lee, while Rose Marie McCoy’s spoken answers in Big Maybelle’s “Gabbin’ Blues” are full of staggeringly catty insults and full-on slag-offs – you’d rather face a baseball bat than the wrath of this Mississippi belle. There’s also a sense to of changing times among some songs – “TV Is The Thing (This Year)” by Dinah Washington.

Genius choices go to “Marie” by The Four Tunes – a brilliant fast vocal-group cover of an Irving Berlin song that is part “Reet Petite” and part Platters on speed! Tiny Bradshaw’s “Soft” is a brassy instrumental that sounds like a World War II dancefloor shuffle – a really sweet discovery. Little Junior Parker’s “Feelin’ Good” is fantastic too – it’s half Bo Diddley, half John Lee Hooker boogie – a joke done in the studio that turned out to strike a new rocking-guitar chord. Little Walter’s “Blues With A Feeling” is the absolute dog’s bollox - his huge-sounding amplified harmonica warbling through your speakers - mean and gritty – it’s astonishingly potent stuff.

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. With an intro on Page 4, the text for the songs begins on Page 5 and ends on Page 69, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful full colour plate of lesser-seen singles and their label bag graces an entire page ("Hound Dog" by “Big Mama” Thornton on Peacock and "Please Don’t Leave Me" by Fats Domino on Imperial are on Pages 16 and 38). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT with knowledgeable contributions from BILL MILLAR, DAVE BOOTH, Marv Goldberg's online R&B site, Robert Pruter, Robert L. Campbell and Tom Kelly. And because the booklet allows Escott to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - like Dahl's work on "Sweet Soul Music" - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read. I just wish there was more of it...

Niggles - the glossy card sleeve is easy to smudge and I wish the booklet was 90 pages and not 72, but apart from that there's just way too much great stuff on here to whinge about.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1953" is 'the' place to start.

Compilations like this live or die based on a few key ingredients - great track choices, properly remastered sound and all of it wrapped up in knowledgeable and (if you're lucky) sumptuous presentation. Well "Blowin The Fuse" wins on all counts - it really does. The entire series is gorgeous to look at and especially to listen to. Well done to all involved...

Track List for the CD "Blowing The Fuse 1953"
(Label & Catalogue Number For The US 78”/7" Single Follow The Title. If There's TWO Catalogue Numbers, The First Is The Original; The 2nd Is The Reissue In That Year)

1. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean – RUTH BROWN (Atlantic 986)
2. Baby Don't Do It – THE “5” ROYALES with Charlie Ferguson, His Tenor & Orchestra (Apollo 443)
3. Gabbin' Blues – BIG MAYBELLE (Okeh 6931)
[Duet vocals with Rose Marie McCoy who also co-wrote the song]
4. Whoopin' And Hollerin' – EARL FOREST with The Beale Streeters (Duke 108)
5. Hound Dog – WILLIE MAE “Big Mama” THORNTON with Kansas City Bill & Orchestra (Peacock 1612)
6. Big Ten-Inch Record – BULL MOOSE JACKSON with Tiny Bradshaw’s Orchestra (King 4580)
7. I'm Gone – SHIRLEY & LEE with Dave Bartholomew and his Orchestra (Aladdin 3153)
[Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee]
8. Please Love Me – B.B. KING and his Orchestra (RPM Records 386)
9. Soft – TINY BRADSHAW (King 4577)
10. Dream Girl – JESSE And MARVIN (Specialty 447)
[Jesse Belvin and Marvin Phillips]
11. I'm Mad – WILLIE MABON and His Combo (Chess 1538)
12. I Wanna Know – THE DU DROPPERS (RCA Victor 20/47-5229)
13. The Clock – JOHNNY ACE and The Beale Streeters (Duke 112)
14. Get It – THE ROYALS (Federal 45-12133)
15. Please Don't Leave Me – FATS DOMINO (Imperial 5240)
16. Crying In The Chapel – THE ORIOLES (Jubilee 5122)
17. Hittin' On Me – BUDDY JOHNSON And His Orchestra, Vocal by Ella Johnson (Mercury 70116)
18. Good Lovin' – THE CLOVERS (Atlantic 1000)
19. Mess Around – RAY CHARLES And His Orchestra (Atlantic 999)
20. Shake A Hand – FAYE ADAMS With The Joe Morris Orchestra (Herald H-416)
21. One Scratch, One Bourbon, One Beer – AMOS MILBURN and his Aladdin Chickenshackers (Aladdin 3197)
22. Honey Hush – JOE TURNER And His Band (Atlantic 1001)
23. Blues With A Feeling – LITTLE WALTER And His Jukes (Checker 780)
24. Marie – THE FOUR TUNES (Jubilee 5128)
25. I Had A Notion – JOE MORRIS ORCHESTRA Vocal By Al Savage (Herald H-417)
26. Feelin' Good – LITTLE JUNIOR’S BLUE FLAMES (Sun 187)
27. TV Is The Thing (This Year) – DINAH WASHINGTON (Mercury 70214)
28. Money Honey – CLYDE McPHATTER And The Drifters (Atlantic 1006)
29. Drunk – JIMMY LIGGINS And His 3-D Music (Specialty 470)

“Blowing The Fuse – 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1954” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Award-Winning 2005 Bear Family CD Compilation

"...I Didn’t Want To Do It ...But She Sends Me So..."

The "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations stretches across 16 volumes from 1945 to 1960 and was then followed by Bear Family's equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 10 sets from 1961 to 1970 (I've reviewed all 10 of those in detail). Having been drawn in by the truly beautiful sound quality and presentation of the ‘Soul’ discs, I knew it would be a big blow to my bank balance buying even one of these R&B issues - and it was! But – and I can’t state this enough – they are a new benchmark in terms of sound and packaging, and are intended as such…

"Blowing The Fuse - 29 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1954" is on Bear Family BCD 16709 AS and was released April 2005 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 (1954 has "Hearts Of Stone” by The Charms on DeLuxe), 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 10 "Sweet Soul Music" compilations, each of the 16 R&B 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). This 1954 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a healthy 79:08 minutes.

Compiler Dave "Daddy Cool" Booth took his time with this - actually playing the set through - mixing in the famous with the obscure but in a new order - and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. The compilation begins in January and in rough chronological order ends in December. And even the way-too-familiar tracks on here like "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite" by The Spaniels, "I Just Want To Make Love To You" by Muddy Waters and "Honey Love" by The Drifters are sorted out by the next big plus...the beautifully clear sound...

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (both Mono and Stereo) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given the wildly varying sources, the sound is uniformly GLORIOUS.

Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (both Mono and Stereo) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given the wildly varying sources, the sound is uniformly GLORIOUS.

It opens with a genre-mixing double-whammy, "Gee" by The Crows and "You're So Fine" by Little Walter - romantic Doo Wop followed by hard-hitting Blues and R'n'B. "Gee" sounds really clean, but the drums and guitar of Freddie Bellow and Jimmy Rogers on "You're So Fine" (as well as Walter's harmonica) are just huge - like they're going to invade your living room. The audio drops a notch on the infamously lo-fi Johnny Ace track "Saving My Love For You" - the hiss is more than apparent, but it's still the best I've ever heard this fateful song (he died in 1954). I'm not particularly enamoured with Faye Adams or Guitar Slim, but the saucy "I Didn't Want To Do It" by The Spiders is a dancer I'll never tire of (lyrics above). There's also a wonderful indication of changing times on Page 22 which pictures Buddy And Ella Johnson's wonderful "I'm Just A Fool" 45 - its Mercury Records label-bag proudly announcing that their 7" single product is "non-breakable" (unlike the shellac 78)!

Fans of the much-loved vocal group The Harp Tones will be shocked at the clarity of Willie Winfield's lead vocal on the churchy "Sunday Kind Of Love". The same applies to "Gloria" by The Cadillacs. The audio quality is just beautiful, incredibly clean - and even towards the end of the song where there are two or three clicking glitches on the tape, Bear Family hasn't edited them out - thereby keeping the integrity of the recording intact (as their blurb on transfers regularly says).

“Lovey Dovey” by The Clovers, “It Should Have Been Me” by Ray Charles and “Oh What A Dream” by Ruth Brown show why Atlantic was such a great label – and all of them sonically improved to my ears. The chipper dancefloor rhythms of "Work With Me Annie" with Hank Ballard’s great vocal work follow perfectly after Cozy Eggleston’s "Big Heavy" – a brilliant guitar and brass instrumental re-working of Louis Jordan’s “Blue Light Boogie”. Like so many cleverly written songs of the day, they reached out to the teen audience and their longings (especially the whites) and won them over.

Obscurities and genius choices go to a rare outing by Fats Domino’s principal songwriter Dave Bartholomew on "Jump Children” (a great bopper) and the hugely likeable dancer called “Hearts Of Stone” by The Charms who featured Otis Williams on Lead vocals (the tune is a re-working of a Doo Wop track by The Jewels on R&B Records from earlier in the year). And it all ends with a genuine gem – the huge blasting Saxophone of Joe Houston on his largely instrumental “All Night Long” – the kind of cool party tune that’s going to turn up in a hip-movie coming to you real soon.

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. With an intro on Page 4, the text for the songs begins on Page 5 and ends on Page 71, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful full colour plate of lesser-seen singles and their label bags graces an entire page (“I Feel So Bad” by Chuck Willis on Okeh and “Shake, Rattle & Roll” by Joe Turner on Atlantic are on Pages 43 and 48). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT with knowledgeable contributions from BILL MILLAR, DAVE BOOTH, Marv Goldberg's online R&B site, Robert Pruter, Robert L. Campbell and Tom Kelly. And because the booklet allows Escott to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - like Dahl's work on "Sweet Soul Music" - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read. I just wish there was more of it…

Niggles - the glossy card sleeve is easy to smudge and I wish the booklet was 90 pages and not 72, but apart from that there's just way too much great stuff on here to whinge about.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1954" is 'the' place to start.

Compilations like this live or die based on a few key ingredients - great track choices, properly remastered sound and all of it wrapped up in knowledgeable and (if you're lucky) sumptuous presentation. Well "Blowin The Fuse" wins on all counts - it really does. The entire series is gorgeous to look at and especially to listen to. Well done to all involved...

Track List for the CD "Blowing The Fuse 1954"
(Label & Catalogue Number For The US 7" Single Follow The Title. If There's TWO Catalogue Numbers, The First Is The Original; The 2nd Is The Reissue In That Year)

1. Gee – THE CROWS (Rama RR-5)
2. You’re So Fine – LITTLE WALTER And His Dukes (Checker 788)
[Features Willie Dixon on Bass and Jimmy Rogers on Guitar]
3. Saving My Love For You – JOHNNY ACE And Band (Duke 118)
4. I’ll Be True – FAYE ADAMS with Joe Morris Orchestra (Herald H-419)
5. I Didn’t Want To Do It – THE SPIDERS (Imperial 45-5265)
6. Sunday Kind Of Love – THE HARP-TONES Vocal Solo Willie Winfield (Bruce 101)
[Co-written with Louis Prima, aka “A Sunday Kind Of Love”]
7. I Do – THE “5” ROYALES With Charlie “Little Jazz” Ferguson And His Orchestra (Apollo 452)
8. I’m Just Your Fool – BUDDY JOHNSON And His Orchestra Vocal By Ella Johnson (Mercury 70251)
9. The Things That I Used To Do – GUITAR SLIM And His Band (Specialty 482)
10. Lovey Dovey – THE CLOVERS (Atlantic 969)
11. It Should Have Been Me – RAY CHARLES And His Orchestra (Atlantic 1021)
12. Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite – THE SPANIELS (Vee-Jay VJ-107)
13. Big Heavy – COZY EGGLESTON And His Combo (States S 133)
[A cover version of Louis Jordan’s “Blue Light Boogie” from 1950 on Decca]
14. Work With Me Annie – THE MIDNIGHTERS (Federal 12169)
[Written by and featuring Hank Ballard on Lead Vocals]
15. Jock-A-Mo – SUGAR BOY And His Cane Cutters (Checker 787]
[Sugar Boy Crawford – the song was originally an Indian chant first recorded in the 1940’s by Danny Barker’s Creole Cats as “Chockomo-Fendo-Hey”. It was later revised as “Iko Iko” by The Dixie Cups in 1965 and then covered as “Iko Iko” by many other artists since then – including most famously by Dr. John]
16. Just Make Love To Me – MUDDY WATERS And His Guitar (Chess 1571)
[78”s carried the title “Just Make Love To Me”, but it is of course more famously known as “I Just Want To Make Love To You”]
17. I Feel So Bad – CHUCK WILLIS (Okeh 7029)
18. Sh-Boom – THE CHORDS (Cat 104)
19. Shake, Rattle And Roll – JOE TURNER And His BLUES KINGS (Atlantic 1026)
20. Oh What A Dream – RUTH BROWN And Her Rhythmakers (Atlantic 45-1036)
[Her ‘Rhythmakers’ were The Drifters under another name]
21. Riot In Cell Block No. 9 – THE ROBINS (Spark 103)
[Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller]
22. Honey Love – THE DRIFTERS Featuring Clyde McPhatter (Atlantic 45-1029)
23. Evil is Goin’ On – HOWLIN’ WOLF (Chess 1575)
[Written by Willie Dixon]
24. Oop Shoop – SHIRLEY GUNTER And The Queens (Flair 1050)
25. Jump Children – DAVE BARTHOLOMEW (Imperial 5308)
26. Gloria – THE CADILLACS With The Jesse Powell Orchestra (Josie 765)
27. You Upset Me Baby – B.B. “Blues Boy” KING And His Orchestra (RPM 416)
28. Hearts Of Stone – THE CHARMS (DeLuxe 6062)
29. All Night Long – JOE HOUSTON (Money 203)