Joe & Ann - Ace 577 (1959)

Looks like this is the first of three releases for the duo on Ace Records.

From wikipedia…

Alvin "Red" Tyler (December 5, 1925 – April 3, 1998) was an American R&B and neo-bop jazz saxophonist and arranger.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Tyler grew up listening to the sound of New Orleans marching bands. He began playing saxophone when in the Navy, and by 1950 had joined Dave Bartholomew’s R&B band. He also played jazz in club jam sessions. He made his recording debut on Fats Domino’s The Fat Man (1949) and went on to play on sessions for Little Richard, Lloyd Price, Aaron Neville, Lee Dorsey, Dr. John, and numerous other rhythm and blues artists.

From the mid-1960s he worked as a liquor salesman. He also began leading his own jazz band in clubs and hotel residencies in New Orleans. While the baritone saxophone had been his primary instrument during his years as a studio musician, his jazz playing gradually came to rely much more on tenor saxophone. In the mid-1980s he recorded two jazz albums, Graciously and Heritage, with vocals by Johnny Adams and Germaine Bazzle, for Rounder Records.

At the age of 65, he had a daughter Tajara Brieanne Simms, who currently lives in Temple Hills, Maryland.

Tyler died at age 72 in New Orleans.


Christine Chatman & Her Orchestra (With Mabel Smith aka Big Maybelle) - Decca 8660

Here we have Big Maybelle's debut recording.

From wikipedia

Mabel Louise Smith (May 1, 1924 – January 23, 1972), known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer and pianist. Her 1956 hit single "Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.

Born in Jackson, Tennessee, United States, Big Maybelle sang gospel as a child and by her teens had switched to rhythm and blues. She began her professional career with Dave Clark's Memphis Band in 1936, and also toured with the all female International Sweethearts of Rhythm. She then joined Christine Chatman's Orchestra as pianist, and made her first recordings with Chatman in 1944, and with the Tiny Bradshaw's Orchestra from 1947 to 1950.

Her debut solo recordings, as Mabel Smith, came for King Records in 1947, backed by Oran "Hot Lips" Page, but she had little initial success. However, in 1952 she was signed by Okeh Records, whose record producer Fred Mendelsohn gave her the stage name Big Maybelle. Her first recording for Okeh, "Gabbin' Blues", was a number 3 hit on the Billboard R&B chart, and was followed up by both "Way Back Home" and "My Country Man" in 1953. In 1955 she recorded "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", produced by Quincy Jones, two years before Jerry Lee Lewis's version. More hits followed throughout the 1950s, mainly for Savoy Records, including "Candy" (1956), one of her biggest sellers.

She made the stage of the Apollo Theater in New York City; the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival; and she appeared in Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960), filmed at the Newport Jazz Festival, along with Mahalia Jackson and Dinah Washington. After 1959 she recorded for a variety of labels but the hits largely dried up. She continued to perform in person into the early 1960s, when drug addiction and health problems took their toll on her. Her last hit single was in 1967 with a cover of "96 Tears" by Question Mark & the Mysterians.

Big Maybelle died in a diabetic coma in 1972, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was survived by her only child Barbara Smith and a host of grandchildren. Her final album, Last of Big Maybelle, was released posthumously in 1973.

Recorded on April 6, 1944.

Broadway Seven / Broadway Music Masters - Grey Gull 1192 (1923)

Here we have the Original Memphis Five as the Broadway Seven and an undetermined (by me) Grey Gull studio band on the flip.

Broadway Seven: Phil Napoleon t / Miff Mole tb / Jimmy Lytell cl / as / John Cali bj / Frank Signorelli p / Jack Roth d.

Recorded in New York on December 1, 1923.


Ben Pollack & His Park Central Orchestra - Victor 21827 (1928)

Ben Pollack d, dir / Jimmy McPartland, Al Harris c / Jack Teagarden tb / Benny Goodman cl, as / Gil Rodin as / Larry Binyon cl, ts, f / Al Beller, Ed Bergman vn / Bill Schumann vc / Vic Breidis p / Dick Morgan bj / Harry Goodman bb / Gene Austin, Dick Robertson v.

Recorded in New York on December 3, 1928.


Frisco Syncopators - Resona 11307 (1923)

In my search as to who this band really was (especially pertaining to the jazzier side...Sweet Henry), I was narrowing in on Charley Straight (who recorded the song as the Frisco Syncopators but on different labels) but after finding audio of his version...these were not the same band or at the least, the same take.

The only other audio version I could find was Sissle & Blake and, again, it was not them.

Anyone have an answer?

Edit: The band is indeed that of Charley Straight. I had searched under the wrong number...although it is not the same take as heard on the Paramount release from the same session.


Charley Straight  p, dir / Gene Caffarelli c / Guy Carey tb / cl / as /v / Wally Priessing  ts / Leo Murphy vn / Frank Sylvano bj / Ike Williams bb / Bob Conselman d.

Recorded in Chicago in October, 1923. 



The Georgia Washboard Stompers - Decca 7009 (1934)

From wikipedia

The Washboard Rhythm Kings 1931 to 1933 (aka. Washboard Rhythm Boys, Georgia Washboard Stompers from 1934 to 1935, Alabama Washboard Stompers 1930 to 1932) were a loose aggregation of jazz performers, many of high caliber, who recorded as a group for various labels between about 1930 and 1935.

The band played goodtime swinging music, featuring spirited vocals, horns, a washboard player and occasionally kazoo, and were popular around the time of the Great Depression. They mostly covered current hits from other artists.

Their personnel varied considerably between sessions, with guitarist Teddy Bunn a regular member from 1930 to 1931. Later recordings included singers Leo Watson or Steve Washington, washboard player and vocalist Bruce Johnson (aka Bruce Wiley Robinson?), trumpeters Valaida Snow and Taft Jordan, and clarinetist Ben Smith.

Their 1932 recording of "Tiger Rag" has been cited for its "wild, informal feel" as an early precursor of rock and roll. Their music was also highly influential on the skiffle music of the 1950s and later.

Taft Jordan, ? Dave Page t / cl, as / Clarence Profit p / Steve Washington bj, g / Ghost Howell sb / Jake Fenderson wb, v.

Recorded in New York on August 17, 1934.


The Blenders - MGM 11488 (1953)

Here's an early R&B/doowop group that began when the 2nd tenor of The Ravens, Ollie Jones, was deemed by the manager not to have strong enough vocals and also was told he didn't "blend" in well with the others. (Ironic that the new group was called The Blenders?)

Here are two of the four sides they recorded during a private session under producer Joe Davis which were sold to MGM.

The lineup on these may be Ollie Jones, Abel DeCosta, James DeLoach and Napoleon Allen.

Recorded on March 27. 1953.


Norfolk Jubilee Quartette - Paramount 12734 (1927)

Found this one in Alabama recently.

Excerpted from Allmusic

It took awhile to find the right man to replace Butts. In April 1923, the Norfolks made their first Paramount recordings, now with Norman "Crip" Harris backing Tuston's leading tenor. Over the next few years, the group gradually took on more sacred material and recorded as the Norfolk Jubilee while still performing in vaudeville as the Norfolk Jazz. With few exceptions, most of their studio output during the years 1926-1929 was resoundingly religious, and these constitute some of the finest early gospel recordings in existence. During the Great Depression of the early ‘30s, they retreated back to Norfolk, mainly entertaining at house parties where bootleg liquor was supplied by Delroy Hollins. In 1932, Hollins quit following a disagreement with co-founder Len Williams who would serve as the group's no-nonsense manager for the rest of its existence.

Recorded in October, 1927.