Artist: Louis Jordan

Happy jivin` Jordan, 2010-05-19
`Jivin` with Jordan` is one of the peerless four CD compilations from Proper Records. It covers Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five from late 1938 to late 1951 and bridges the gap between small group swing of the 1930s, jump bands, to rock and roll of the early 50s. The Tympany Five could in fact be any number between five and nine, but it doesn`t matter how many were in the band, they all played with the same happy, infectious swing. Most of the tunes feature the singing of Louis Jordan, with some quite humorous lyrics; and, as most of the tunes are blues based, this is the best of rhythm and blues.
Louis Jordan is known as the father of rock n` roll, but with recordings of `Caldonia`, `Beware`, `Open the Door, Richard`, `Look Out`, and `Saturday Night Fish Fry`, he was also the father of rap; all be it, a very rhythmic rap.
The band plays some very tight intricate arrangements with some nice alto and tenor solos from Jordan, and trumpet solos from Eddie Roane and Aaron Izenhall; and the rhythm section swings on every track. I also like the big band pieces which Jordan recorded in 1951; most of these arrangements were by Bill Doggett and Oliver Nelson.
If you want to spend a few hours listening, and jivin`, to a happy, swinging little band then this compilation is for you!

Artist: Wynonie Harris

Artist: Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Artist: Various Artists

Artist: Various Artists

Ino the unknown, 2008-05-30
The Los Angeles Combo label ran till the mid 60s before closing shop after some 170 singles.
Never among the high flyers in rhythm'n'blues they nevertheless recorded some great music full of honking saxes,chorded guitar sounds and cascading pianos behind various male and female vocalists.
This is the final in a trilogy from Ace of stuff that's never seen the light of day since it was first made.
Should appeal to anyone into Fats Domino

Artist: T-Bone Walker

A founding father of electric blues in general and Texas blues in particular, guitarist T-Bone Walker influenced countless blues players and, by extension, countless rock & rollers as well. The Complete Imperial Recordings date from the early to mid-1950s, when the idea of electric blues was really taking hold, and the two-disc set is a wealth of classic songs exquisitely performed. While definitely blues, there's more difference between this and the acoustic blues that predated Walker than amplification can account for; there's jazz and swing mixed in as well, as on tracks like "I Walked Away" and "Strollin' with Bone," and something of that feel has remained in electric blues ever since. From B.B. King to Buddy Guy to Stevie Ray Vaughan and beyond, Walker's influence is felt in the blues up through the present day. --Genevieve Williams
Legend, 2010-06-30
most guitarists we know stole from T'bone Walker, Clapton,Hendrix etc. all of them, you can hear it too !!!! anything by this guy is great and welcome in my house.

Artist: Various Artists

Doing a thing, 2006-11-19
One of the great moments in 50s rock'n'roll singles was the sax break-Fats Domino,Little Richard and Joe Turner to name but 3.It was mostly black artists who used saxes and made the instrumentals which used them.Like Bill Doggett whose Honky Tonk is just about the top groover-you could fall into this one (Doggett was the MD and organist-the saxman was Clifford Butler)
Earl Bostic used a soprano sax rather than a tenor one and Flamingo became his property.
50s England meant few of these recordings would be even released here let alone played on the radio. It was still the crooner days and black music was seen to be substandard unless it was Nat King Cole.Anything in black music-until the Beatles era-never even got that much radio play .The only chance you had was a program like Jazz Club and that depended on the producer who may not have thought it represented good jazz.
Yes this was jazz snobbery at work but its a good job there's always been a streak of rebellion about jazzmen -hence the creation of Be Bop and Rhythm'n' Blues or even employing black musicians in white bands-a tradition which still remains today
Heres another of those great value Proper Boxes which sells for under a tenner,has a very detailed 86 page book included and has over nearly 120 totally zonked out zonkers which never let up-its where some kind of insanity takes over as the saxes sometimes hit notes they weren't designed to hit like some kinda spaced out messsge beamed from Mars.This is a World which came into being stright from jazz-probably Lionel Hampton began the idea of the sax star but Illinois Jacquet who covered his Flying Home was the first star of the instrument.
There'll all here in their crazed and stomped out wallbanger music-though it slows down by the time of Lynn Hope and his version of Tenderly.
The sleeve photo shows a saxman on his back as the audience get sent-but strangely the title which comes from an Illinois Jacquet instrumental is missing.

Artist: Buddy & Ella Johnson

More RNB than RNR, 2007-03-21
Good selection of big band jump blues and big beat jazz. Not really Rock n Roll. Kind of a cross between Ella Mae Morse and Louis Jordan (if that makes sense). Worth a look though.

Artist: Willie Dixon

4½ stars. Terrific, superbly arranged electric blues by one of the genre's most important figures, 2009-03-24
Willie Dixon is best known as a songwriter, composer, arranger, producer, and session player for Chicago's Chess Records, but he also recorded occationally as a band leader. This 1970 LP is a collection of some of his 1960s Chess sides, including "Back Door Man", "The Little Red Rooster", and "Spoonful", and you can get most of his remaining Chess sides on the MCA-CD "The Original Wang Dang Doodle". But start with this one, because it is by far the best!

These songs are best known through men like Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Otis Rush, of course, but here they are as performed by the original composer himself. William James Dixon wasn't a singer of the caliber of Muddy Waters or the mighty Howlin' Wolf, but he had a pleasant baritone voice, and here he goes a long way towards making up for his lack of a really distinctive singing voice with his expressive phrasing and overall intelligent use of the vocal power that he does have.

The production is excellent, crisp and clear, and the drums bite harder than on many 50s and 60s blues sides without being obtrusive. And the band or bands backing Dixon are magnificent...I say "band or bands" because there are absolutely no credits to be found, which is really annoying, but a good guess would be that the (absolutely superb) pianist is the great Lafayette Leake, and the drummer may be Clifton James. The harpist doesn't really sound like anyone that I can identify just by listening to him; it sometimes sounds like the huge, horn-like tones of Little Walter Jacobs, but it probably isn't, and it doesn't really sound anything like Dixon's own favourite harpist, Big Walter Horton.

So, why would you buy a collection of songs that Muddy Waters and the Wolf have also recorded when those guys were much better singers? Well, because this isn't just Muddy Waters' single "The Same Thing" or Wolf's "Spoonful" only with different vocals. These are significantly different versions of those songs, different enough to warrant a listen for that reason alone, and as great as the better known versions are, most of these nine songs are in fact just as terrific.
"I Ain't Superstitious" has little besides the lyrics in common with Howlin' Wolf's searing rendition; Dixon's take on his own song is more up-tempo, with a clanging boogie piano part...wonderful, rollicking R&B, made for dancing to! "Back Door Man" is a tough, swaggering boast full of sexual bravado. And this jouyously swinging version of Willie Mabon's superbly melodic 1955 single "The Seventh Son" is absolutely irresistable with its lively upper-register piano fills and Dixon's energetic vocal.

Once you become familiar with his burly baritone you'll start to appreciate Willie Dixon as a singer, I'm sure...I'm starting to like his voice almost as much as Muddy's gruff, manly vocals, or Wolf's ferocious, growling roar of a voice. And as an arranger Dixon was unbeatable, as this volume amply demonstrates.
This is good-time Chicago blues and R&B of the very, very highest order. It's not as intense as prime Howlin' Wolf or Otis Rush, sure, but it is exquisitely presented and utterly charming, and the fidelity is terrific. Very, very highly recommended!

Artist: Keely Smith

Keely to Die For, 2010-07-09
Keely Smith has a voice that it to die for. It is clear and smooth with a constant hint of a smile in it. This is a collection of American standard songs. In some respects nothing special; but when your ears tune into her voice, the whole CD takes you to places a certain lager cannot reach. Buy it and escape the humdrum and drift into a timeless zone with Keely as your guide. Yum!She could Be My Love anytime.