Sun 29 Aug 2010
Big Road Blues Show 8/29/10: Jumpin’ On The West Coast! – West Coast Blues 1942-1952
Posted by Jeff under 1940's Blues, 1950's Blues, Playlists, West Coast Blues
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| ARTIST | SONG | ALBUM |
|---|---|---|
| Charlie "Boogie Woogie" Davis | Rainin' Blues | Jump 'n' Jive: Rare West Coast R&B 1945-1954 |
| Charlie "Boogie Woogie" Davis | Going To L.A. | Jump 'n' Jive: Rare West Coast R&B 1945-1954 |
| Al "Cake" Wichard Sextette | Gravels In My Pillow | Cake Walkin' |
| Al "Cake" Wichard Sextette | His Majesty's Boogie | Cake Walkin' |
| Pete Johnson | Rockin' After Hours | 78 |
| Big Jim Wynn | West Coast Lover | Jim Wynn 1947-1959 |
| Jimmy "T-99" Nelson | Married Men Like Sport | Cry Hard Luck |
| Chas Q. Price | Early Morning Blues | Jumpin' On The West Coast! |
| Crown Prince Waterford | Time To Blow | Crown Prince Waterford 1946-1950 |
| Great Gates | Later After Hours | The Great Gates |
| Great Gates | Teardrops Are Falling | The Great Gates |
| Luke Jones | Feelin' Low Down | West Coast R&B 1947-1952 |
| Red Mack | Mr. Big Head | West Coast R&B 1947-1952 |
| Poison Gardner & His All Stars | Gotta Find My Baby | Jump 'n' Jive: Rare West Coast R&B 1945-1954 |
| Poison Gardner & His All Stars | Mobile Boogie | Jump 'n' Jive: Rare West Coast R&B 1945-1954 |
| Baby Davis & Buddy Banks Sextet | Happy Home Blues | Happy Home Blues |
| Fluffy Hunter & Buddy Banks Sextet | Fluffy's Debut | Happy Home Blues |
| Al "Cake" Wichard Sextette | Junction Drive | Cake Walkin' |
| Al "Cake" Wichard Sextette | Geneva Blues | Cake Walkin' |
| Al "Cake" Wichard Sextette | Boogie Woogie Basement | Cake Walkin' |
| Johnny Taylor & His Mellow 5 | West Coast Baby | Blues For Dootsie |
| Calvin Boze | Angel City Blues | Calvin Boze 1945-1952 |
| King Porter & His Orchestra | Baby, What's The Matter With You | Jump 'n' Jive: Rare West Coast R&B 1945-1954 |
| Dick Lewis & His Harlem Rhythm Boys | Old Crow Boogie | Jump 'n' Jive: Rare West Coast R&B 1945-1954 |
| Pearl Traylor | Playboy Blues | Blues Belles With Attitude!! |
| Edna Broughton | Two Years Of Torture | Blues Belles With Attitude!! |
| Effie Smith | Great To Be Rich | Blues Belles With Attitude!! |
| Saunders King | SK Blues Pt. 1 | Cool Blues, Jumps & Shuffles |
| Saunders King | SK Jumps | Cool Blues, Jumps & Shuffles |
| Al "Cake" Wichard Sextette | Good Lover Blues | Cake Walkin' |
| Al "Cake" Wichard Sextette | T.B. Blues | Cake Walkin' |
Show Notes:
Today’s show spotlights a decade in the vibrant, swinging Los Angeles blues scene between 1942 and 1952. The West Coast had a thriving blues and jazz scene in the 1940’s and 50’s with most of the activity centering around the Los Angeles, Richmond, Oakland and San Francisco Bay areas. The Black population swelled in the 1940′s, due to large manpower needs to work in the U.S. defense industry during World War II. These new arrivals needed entertainment, of course, and the local jazz and blues club scene heated up quickly. From approximately 1920 to 1955, Central Avenue was the heart of the African-American community in Los Angeles. Like New York City’s 125th Street or Memphis’s Beale Street or Chicago’s South Side, Central Avenue was one of the world capitols of nightlife, of jazz, rhythm & blues, of black culture and society.
I’ve devoted several shows to the West Coast blues scene of this period but many of today’s artists I haven’t played before. The bulk of today’s recordings come from three excellent recent reissues: the 4-CD collection on JSP, Jump ‘n’ Jive: Rare West Coast R&B 1945-1954 which collects several obscure and rarely anthologized sides, Cake Walkin’ : The Modern Recordings 1947-1948 on the Ace label which collects terrific sides drummer Al Wichard and his swinging sextet and Blues Belles With Attitude!!, also on the Ace label, which gathers together some gritty blues ladies who recorded for the Modern label, many of the sides previously unreleased.
Jump ‘n’ Jive: Rare West Coast R&B 1945-1954 draws together sides from West Coast artists Charlie “Boogie Woogie” Davis, Dick Lewis, King Porter, Roy Milton, Lloyd Glenn, Calvin Boze, Jimmy Liggins, Gene Phillips and Poison Gardner. From the notes: “Several musicians - Jake Porter, Gene Phillips and Marshal Royal - are common to many of these cuts, but the collection’s jewels are recordings by Charlie ‘Boogie Woogie’ Davis, Richard ‘Dick’ Lewis and Leon ‘Poison’ Gardner. Little is known of them but collectors have long treasured their records. Few of these 78s were ever reissued on LP let alone on CD until now: of the 101 tracks over half are by this trio of artists. With the eight titles by Lloyd Glenn they represent the first batch of releases on Imperial Records’ 5000 ‘race records’ series which began in 1947.”
Virtually nothing is known about vocalist/pianist Charlie “Boogie Woogie” Davis who cut two dozen sides in L.A. at three sessions in 1947. Davis is a fine big voiced singer who could pound the 88′s and was blessed with a swinging combo featuring the outstanding trumpeter Jake Porter. Porter moved to L.A. in 1949 where he performed in the clubs with Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, Flether Henderson and others. He was an in-demand session artist working with Saunders King, Lloyd Glenn, Gene Phillips and others. He also cut a handful of sides under his own name in 1948 and 1949. Richar “Dick” Lewis cut some two-dozen sides for Imperial and Aladdin between 1947 and 1954. From the notes: ”Once again biographical information is sparse with only brief mentions in Billboard and the knowledge of other sessions he worked on.” Pianist Poison Gardner is another shadowy figure who seems to have been a major attraction in L.A. He cut two-dozen sides for Imperial between 1945 and 1947.
The Wichard tracks come from the terrific recent reissue on Ace, Cake Walkin’: The Modern Recordings 1947-1948. Al Wichard was born in Welbourne, Arkansas, on August 15th, 1919 but the steps by which he arrived in Los Angeles as a drummer in 1944 remain shadowy. He managed to record with Jimmy Witherspoon and Jay McShann within weeks of his arrival, and in April 1945 was the drummer on Modern’s first session, accompanying Hadda Brooks. This CD consists entirely of sessions made under his own name. Thirteen tracks have vocals by Jimmy Witherspoon while others feature vocalist Duke Henderson and guitarist Pee Wee Crayton. All these sides were cut between 1945 and 1949. Witherspoon is in magnificent form throughout, including our selections, “Geneva Blues”, “Good Lover Blues” and “T.B. Blues.” Henderson wasn’t quite in Spoon’s league, few were, but he turns in the high octane “His Majesty’s Boogie” and the superb low-down performance on “Gravels In My Pillow” as he boasts:
They call me the devil’s stepchild, they say I’m just no good (2x)
They say I’m rotten from the start, wouldn’t be no other way if I could
We also spin a pair of Wichard’s instrumentals including the gentle swing of “Junction Drive” featuring superb piano from McShann and an impressive, but unknown guitar player, and the blistering “Boogie Woogie Basement” featuring some incredibly wild guitar by Pee Wee Crayton with Wichard pounding away mightily in the background. If anything, the other Crayton spotlight, “Boogie Woogie Basement”, is even wilder and one I promise to play on an upcoming show.
All the sides on the Ace CD Blues Belles With Attitude!! were cut for the Modern label. 18 of these sides are previously unissued and a further eight that have not seen prior CD release. This is a terrific collection spotlighting fine, obscure singers like Edna Broughton who we hear on Percy Mayfield’s “Two Years Of Torture” featuring a superb T-Bone Walker inspired guitarist, Effie Smith’s jumping “It’s Great To Be Rich” sporting another smoking, uncredited guitar player, and the tough Pearl Traylor on “Play Boy Blues” with great trumpet from Howard McGhee. We also spin Del Graham with Johnny Ingram’s band on ” Mr T 99″ an answer song to the Jimmy Nelson hit. There were a number of these kind of answer songs including Donna Hightower’s “I Ain’t In The Mood” in answer to John Lee Hooker and Cordella De Milo’s “Ain’t Gonna Hush” in answer to Big Joe Turner. All these singers were criminally under recorded, making these previously unissued sides all the more valuable.
We feature two tracks spotlighting guitarist Chuck Norris. Norris worked in Chicago until the mid-’40s, when he moved out to the West Coast. He soon became one of the in-demand musicians in Hollywood backing artists such as Ray Agee, Charles Brown, Floyd Dixon, Roy Hawkins, Duke Henderson, Helen Humes, Etta James, Pete Johnson, Litle Willie Littlefield, Percy Mayfield, Johnny Otis, Johnny Watson, Jimmy Witherspoon and many others. From time to time he did sessions on his own for labels like Atlantic, Mercury, Imperial, Aladdin and others between 1947 and 1953. Today’s tracks find him backing Big Jim Wynn on “West Coast Lover” and Pete Johnson’s “Rockin’ After Hours. “
Saxophonist and bandleader Jim Wynn was born Texas, but grew up in Los Angeles. Playing tenor saxophone, he began his professional career with Charlie Echols and was a sideman on hundreds of West Coast recordings, including a long association with Johnny Otis. As a bandleader (often billed as Big Jim Wynn), he recorded sporadically from 1945 to 1959 with a dozen different labels, including 4 Star/Gilt Edge, Modern, Specialty, Supreme, and Mercury. Wynn switched to baritone sax later in his career, and continued working as a sideman into the 1970′s.
Pete Johnson was one of the three great boogie-woogie pianists (along with Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis) whose sudden prominence in the late ’30s helped make the style very popular. He was part of the Kansas City scene in the 1920s and ’30s, often accompanying singer Big Joe Turner. Producer John Hammond discovered him in 1936 and got him to play at the Famous Door in New York. After taking part at Hammond’s 1938 Spirituals to Swing Carnegie Hall concert in 1938, Johnson started recording regularly and appeared on an occasional basis with Ammons and Lewis as the Boogie Woogie Trio. He also backed Turner on some classic records. Johnson recorded often in the 1940s and spent much of 1947-49 based in Los Angeles. He moved to Buffalo in 1950 and, other than an appearance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, he was in obscurity for much of the decade. A stroke later in 1958 left him partly paralyzed. Johnson made one final appearance at John Hammond’s January 1967 Spirituals to Swing concert, playing the right hand on a version of “Roll ‘Em Pete” two months before his death.
Born in Philadelphia, Jimmy “T-99″Nelson started his career in Oakland, where he met and was influenced by Big Joe Turner. Blessed with a booming voice and a hip delivery, Nelson cut a swath of fine sides for Modern’s RPM and Kent imprints in the early 50′s and 60′s but only scored big with his signature “T-99 Blues.” After getting dropped from Modern Nelson bounced through a number of small labels before giving up music in the 60?s. It wasn’t until the 80?s that he decided to refocus his energies on music, playing locally and making some guest appearances on record and appearing at festivals. After many trials and tribulations Nelson finally made his long awaited comeback record with 1999?s Rockin’ And Shoutin’ The Blues on Rounder, followed by two more on his own Nettie Marie label. I never got the chance to see him live but did manage to interview him twice, and of the numerous interviews I’ve done, they remains among my favorite. Jimmy passed in 2007.
Charles “Crown Prince” Waterford was from Jonesboro, Arkansas. He sang with Leslie Sheffield’s Rhythmaires and Andy Kirk’s Twelve Clouds of Joy before beginning his career as “The Crown Prince of the Blues” in Chicago in the 1940s. Waterford shouted the blues for labels like Hy-Tone, Aladdin and Capitol. In 1949, he joined the King stable. In the 1950’s he recorded for small companies and later dedicated his life to the Church and became known as Reverend Charles Waterford. Waterford also passed in 2007.
Red Mack was a west coast vocalist who also played piano, organ, trumpet, cornet and drums. He fronted bands that cut sides for Gold Seal, Atlas and Mercury at sessions recorded in 1945, 1946 and 1951. Mack is heard to fine effect on the humorous “Mr. Big Head:”
You said your wife was fine, when you lived down on the farm (2x)
Now you got the big head, and a glamor girl on your arm
Well you making more money, and that’s a fact
You won’t drive nothing baby, but those big fine Cadillacs
Well your head is big and you think you own the moon
Well I’m tellin’ you fool, your head will go down sore
Mack’s sides have been collected, along with those of his contemporary Luke Jones, on the Krazy Kat LP Luke Jones & Red Mack – West Coast R&B 1947-1952. Luke Jones was a bandleader, alto and baritone sax player and clarinettist who was born in Louisiana but as an infant moved to Los Angeles. From the late 1930′s he was involved in the LA scene, playing for Lionel Hampton and Roy Milton before forming his own jump trio with pianist Betty Hall Jones and drummer/blues shouter George Vann. Between 1946 and 1949 he cut some two-dozen sides for the Atlas and Modern labels
Also on the Krazy Kat label is The Great Gates – West Coast R’ n B 1949-1955. Edward Gates White aka “The Great Gates” enjoyed a recording career as an R&B vocalist from 1949 to 1955, before changing to recording jazz organ instrumentals. He continually shifted between various small West Coast labels such as Selective, Kappa and Miltone. Gates was a smooth big voiced singer heard today on the moody “Late After Hours” backed by a killer little combo featuring the cooking tenor of Marvin Phillips and the smoldering “Teardrops Are Falling” featuring an excellent uncredited band with a superb guitarist.
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| Read Liner Notes |
Tenor sax blower Buddy Banks began his career in California and played with all the best West Coast Orchestras. In 1945 he formed his own sextet. The band began recording by backing singer Marion Abernathy for the Juke Box label and in its own right for the tiny Sterling label. The band went on to record for Excelsior, United, Modern and Specialty through 1949.The band employed some fine vocalists including Fluffy Hunter, Baby Davis, Marion Abernathy and Bixie Crawford. The obscure Davis belts it out “Happy Home Blues” while Hunter storms through the rocking “Fluffy’s Debut.” It’s a shame both singers recorded so little. All these tracks come from the excellent LP Happy Home Blues issued on the Official label.
After wartime service Calvin Boze settled in Los Angeles and, as singer and trumpet player, heavily influenced by Louis Jordan. Boze first recorded in 1945, but his biggest successes came with Aladdin Records after 1949. In May 1950 he released “Safronia B”, which made it to made #9 on the Billboard R&B chart in June 1950.
Pioneering R&B guitarist Saunders King had his first hit in 1942 with “S.K. Blues.” It also features one of the earliest examples of electric blues guitar, the style for which T-Bone Walker would soon be famous. King recorded for the Aladdin, Modern, and Rhythm labels. He may have made a greater impact in the burgeoning West Coast blues scene of the ’40s but was saddled with numerous personal problems including the suicide of his wife in 1942, a serious wound from a .45-caliber pistol fired by his landlord in 1946, and his serving time at San Quentin prison for heroin possession. King retired from music in 1961 and dedicated time to the church. In 1979, he briefly came out of retirement to play on his son-in-law Carlos Santana’s Oneness album. He passed away on August 31, 2000 at his Oakland home. He was 91.
-Al ‘Cake’ Wichard Sextette: Cake Walkin‘ (PDF review from Blues & Rhythm Magazine website)
-Blues Belles With Attitude!! (PDF review from Blues & Rhythm Magazine website)





Among the label’s big hits were “The Honeydripper” by Joe Liggins inn 1945 and “Pink Champagne” five years later, posting many more solid sellers in between. Inspired by the success of his brother Joe, Jimmy jumped into the recording field in 1947 on Art Rupe’s Specialty logo. His “Tear Drop Blues” hit the R&B Top Ten the next year, while “Careful Love” and “Don’t Put Me Down” hit for him in 1949. “R.M. Blues” was a million seller for Roy Mitlon in 1945 and really got Specialty off and running. Rupe knew a good thing when he saw it, recording Milton early and often-through 1953. He was rewarded with 19 Top Ten R&B hits. Camille Howard was installed as pianist with drummer Roy Milton & the Solid Senders sometime during World War II, playing on all their early hits for Art Rupe’s Juke Box and Specialty labels (notably the groundbreaking “R.M. Blues” in 1945). Rupe began recording her as a featured artist at the end of the year. Her biggest hit was the romping instrumental “X-Temporaneous Boogie” but she was also a very fine vocalist.
In 1952, Rupe made his first field trip to the south, being impressed with the music of Fats Domino on another Los Angeles-based label, Imperial. He went to Fats’ hometown of New Orleans to search for talent. He announced on a radio show that he was looking for talent and for artists to come to Cosimo Matassa’s recording studio for auditions. The auditions had not produced anything worthy of recording, and Rupe was packing up to head back to Los Angeles when a 17 year old named Lloyd Price came in and sang his own composition, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” Rupe canceled his plane ticket home and stayed in New Orleans to record the song. He got Fats Domino to play piano and Dave Bartholomew to assemble the other backing musicians. The record became the #1 R&B record for 1952 on both the Billboard and Cash Box charts, and Lloyd Price was the Cash Box “Best New R&B Singer of 1952.”
Mercy Deed Walton debuted on record in 1949 with “Lonesome Cabin Blues” for the tiny Spire logo, which became a national R&B hit. Those sides were cut in Fresno, but Los Angeles hosted some of the pianist’s best sessions for Imperial in 1950 and Specialty in 1952-53. His “One Room Country Shack” was a huge R&B hit in 1953 and has become a blues standard.
rooms, and as many as 40 blues clubs, including the Lincoln Theater, Esther’s Orbit Room, and Slim Jenkins’ Place.
Accompanying himself on both guitar and rack harmonica Bonner sung highly personal tales typified in songs like “Life Gave Me A Dirty Deal” and “Struggle Here In Houston.” He won a talent contest in 1947 in Houston that led to a radio spot. He cut his first sides for Bob Geddins’ Irma label in 1957 and next for *Goldband in 1960. Full length albums came about do to the interest of Mike Leadbitter, co-editor of Blues Unlimited, who recorded Bonner in 1967, issuing his full length debut on Flyright. He cut his best work between 1968-69 for Arhoolie Records. A few European tours ensued but by the 70’s he was working outside of music. He died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1978.
urrent popularity and released “They Raided The Joint” on Geddins’ Cava-Tone label. After recording some more sides with Hawkins, Geddins sold “It’s Too Late To Change” and “Strange Land” to Modern and Jules Bihari then brought Hawkins and his band to LA to record. Starting in October 1949 through 1954/55 Hawkins’ records were released on Modern. In 1958 Hawkins cut a four-song session for Geddins’ Rhythm label.
ce’s “Pledging My Love”, produced some of Little Richard’s earliest recordings and played the drums on Charles Brown’s first major hit “Driftin’ Blues” in 1946. Below is some background on some of today’s featured artists.
said, All week long you’ve been raving to me about a new young girl singer you’ve discovered. Yeah, Hunter, I found her singing down on 103rd. Street at the Largo Theatre. I want you all to hear her tonight, here she is, Little Esther Jones. Esther sang the blues, the crowd went nuts, and that night, thirteen-year-old Little Esther began her historic, bittersweet career. …She instantly became the teenage favorite among Black music lovers. Everywhere we went, from coast to coast, thousands of adoring fans lined up to see and hear Little Esther.” Otis brought the 13-year-old into the studio for a recording session with Modern Records and added her to his live revue. Billed as “Little Esther,” and sounding mature beyond her years, she recorded “Double Crossing Blues” with Johnny Otis, selling 400,000 copies before her 14th birthday. The record hit number one on the charts making Little Esther the youngest female singer to have a #1 hit on the R&B charts. More successful singles followed including “Mistrustin’ Blues” (#1 R&B), “Misery,” “Cupid Boogie” (#1 R&B), and “Deceivin’ Blues” (#4 R&B). A traveling review called the Savoy Records Barrelhouse Caravan of Stars hit the road for a series of one nighters across the South in early 1950 drawing huge crowds. The show included The Johnny Otis band, The Robins, Little Esther, Mel Walker, and Redd Lyte. Proving the sudden star power of Little Esther, she came in number one in a poll of the national juke box operators for best jazz and blues performer for the year of 1950.

The latest collection is no exception, boasting exhaustive but fascinating notes from Dave Sax and several unissued alternate takes among the 26 tracks. A doomy brand of blues pervades this collection like the fog that obscures the rain slicked streets and neon signs in those classic film noirs of the 1940′s (yes, I’ve been watching way too many old movies!). Geddins discovery James Reed was an exceptional vocalist delivering downtrodden tales with terrific, minimalist accompaniment on “This Is The End”, “Dr Brown”, “My Love Is Real” and “My Momma Told Me” (the latter two featuring the always outstanding guitar of 
Among T-Bone’s legion of disciples was Houston’s Goree Carter, whose big break came when he signed to Houston’s Freedom Records circa 1949. For his gis first couple of side he was billed as “Little T-Bone.” Freedom issued plenty of Carter records over the next few years, and he later recorded for Imperial/Bayou, Sittin’ in With, Coral, Jade, and Modern without denting the national charts. Eventually, he left music behind altogether. Technically Carter isn’t a West Coast artist but I decided to lump him in as he’s certainly a T-Bone disciple and I was looking for an excuse to feature his music.
and other Capitol successes such as “Ma, He’s Making Eyes At Me” and “In The Dark.” Striking out on his own in 1960, he formed his own band and was sought after by many of the major blues stars that came into L.A. for backing when they were without their own bands. B.B. King and T-Bone Walker would always use Jimmy and his band when they were in town without their sidemen. Jimmy played throughout California and Arizona working steadily until he decided to accept James Brown’s offer to join his band in 1965. His patented funky chicken scratch style can be heard on hits like “Papa’ Got A Brand New Bag” and many more hits between 1965 to 1983, except for the two years he left the band to go with Brown sidemen, Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley as “All the Kings Men”. He was with the band in Atlanta, GA when he suffered a fatal heart attack on December 16, 1983 at the age of 48.
“Louisiana Hop”, “Raggedy Blues”, “Goofy Dust Blues” and “Chocolate Pork Chop Man.” For Peacock he backed Johnny Ace (most notably “Pledging My Love”), Big Mama Thornton (most notably “Hound Dog”) plus others. Lewis stuck with Otis throughout the 50′s cutting some sides for Otis’ Dig label during this period. He was eventually replaced by Jimmy Nolen in 1957. Lewis went on to play with George “Harmonica” Smith with whom he recorded for Sotoplay. He died of alcohol related problems in the early 60′s.

Jesse Thomas



