Cab Calloway & His Orchestra - Perfect 15457 / 15541 (1931)

Cab Calloway v, dir / R.Q. Dickerson, Lammar Wright, Reuben Reeves t / De Priest Wheeler, Harry White tb / Arville Harris cl, as / Andrew Brown bcl, ts / Walter Thomas as, ts, bar, f / Earres Prince p / Morris White bj / Jimmy Smith bb, sb / Leroy Maxey d.

Recorded in New York on March 9, 1931.

Cab Calloway v, dir / Edwin Swayzee, Lammar Wright, Reuben Reeves t / De Priest Wheeler, Harry White tb / Arville Harris cl, as / Andrew Brown bcl, ts / Walter Thomas as, ts, bar, f / Morris White bj / Jimmy Smith bb, sb / Leroy Maxey d.

Recorded in New York on October 12 / November 18, 1931.

Dean Martin - Embassy 124 (1947)

Below is a repost from 2 years ago:

Dean Martin is, hands down, my favorite entertainer (as evidenced by the name of this blog). My late Italian Grandmother would play his albums constantly on her wall length Sears console stereo as she had the scratchy vinyls stacked on the automatic changer spindle as high as they could possibly go. Every once in a while she would have to get up and nudge the needle that had became stuck in an endless skip. (I would later give her cd's of every Martin track, but as grateful as she was, she still spun the wax.)

Unfortunately, I did not come around to Dino's music until he passed away. Even though it was Christmas day, Grandma was not in a joyous mood. While one of his cd's was playing in the background, a song that I had heard countless times before, finally resonated with me...Innamorata. I saw how it brought tears to my Grandma's eyes.

Since I was just starting to collect 78s at this time, I thought it would be fun to also round up some of Dino's tracks. Purple Capitols were found in abundance everywhere I looked. Even grabbed a few on eBay at decent prices.

Then I discovered that he had recorded 10 sides...5 discs...before he embarked on his massive Capitol output. In the 16 years that I have been collecting Martin 78s, I have all but one. It hasn't been the case of being outbid at the last second or finding it in an antique store only to be cracked or unplayable...it's that I have never come across one...online or in person...for sale, on display, mentioned or otherwise.

In late November of 1947, Dean Martin recorded One Foot In Heaven and The Night Is Young And You're So Beautiful for Embassy Records just before a recording ban went into effect on January 1, 1948.

Of course this is probably the most coveted Dean Martin 78 out there...but I'm starting to wonder...are there even any out there...other than the pics found in a book included with the box set of cd's I have? (see below)

I have had this record as an eBay saved search for almost 15 years now and never once had a hit...which only added to the mystique. I recently saw the following exchange on The Dean Martin Fan Center's Bulletin Board which only dimmed my hopes further of ever finding the record:

[Dear DMFC: I wanted to reply to the person who asked if anyone has a copy of Dean's 78 recording on the Embassy Record label. The answer is "Yes".

We (Record Review & Prices) did a story of the most valuable record discs of all time, and Dean's Embassy recording of "One Foot in Heaven" was included in the top 100.

We believe that there are only three (3) copies in existence today. Two of them are in the possession of your Fan Center's president, Neil Daniels (which one of them was displayed in the Bear Family set he produced), along with another copy we knew changed hands over 25 years ago, but have lost track of who has it today in their possession. If anyone turns up another copy, they would have a Goldmine on their hands.]

But...just last week, there it was in my inbox. I had to read and re-read the listing many times over. For five days, I couldn't think much about anything else. I left the window open on my computer just to remind me every time I sat down at my desk. After a very anxious auction process, the record became mine. The only obstacle left was the ride in the US Mail.

Now...I can finally say, without a doubt, that the record does indeed exist after having arrived in the mail safely today. This is my personal Zulu's Ball or Original Stack O' Lee Blues.

I just wish my Grandmother was here to see it...although I have a feeling she already has.

Ethel Waters Acc. By James P. Johnson - Columbia 14353 (1928)

Recorded in New York on August 21, 1928.

Four Tones & Eddie Beal Trio - Make Believe Ballroom 02357/8 (1941)

Could only find this snippet of information on the Four Tones...looks to be their first recording.

Released in October, 1941.

The Five Scamps - Columbia 30168 (1949)

Not much I could add to the story of this early R&B group that isn't already written in this extensive article.

Recorded in June, 1949.

Erskine Butterfield & His Blue Boys - Decca 8539 (1941)

After learning the identities of all the sidemen...makes one wonder why this was released under Decca's Sepia Series.

Yank Lawson, Don Lipsey t / Moe Zudecoff (Buddy Morrow) tb / Jerry Jerome cl / Erskine Butterfield p, v / Tony Gottuso g / Haig Stephens sb / Sam Weiss d.

Recorded in New York on February 28, 1941.

Marie Bryant Acc. Mike McKenzie Quintet Featuring Bertie King - Lyragon 701 (1953)

Found this one over the holidays while rummaging around Old San Juan.

From wikipedia…

Albert "Bertie" King (1912 – 1981) was a Jamaican jazz and mento musician who was a saxophonist.

King was born in Panama, and raised in Kingston, where he attended Alpha Boys' School; there he was taught by Sister Mary Ignatius Davis, a remarkable woman who nurtured the talents of many of the leading Jamaican musicians of the era.

During the 1930s he led his own band, Bertie King and his Rhythm Aces, described at the time as "Jamaica's Foremost Dance Orchestra". In 1936 he left for England, sailing on the same ship as his friend Jiver Hutchinson. In London he joined Ken Snakehips Johnson's West Indian Dance Band, and later played with Leslie Hutchinson's band. He also worked with visiting American musicians including Benny Carter, George Shearing and Coleman Hawkins. In 1937 he recorded four sides in the Netherlands with Benny Carter, and in 1938 he recorded with Django Reinhardt in Paris. In 1939 he joined the Royal Navy. He left the Navy in 1943 and formed his own band, also working and recording with Nat Gonella.

King returned to Jamaica in 1951, where he started his own band, known as the Casa Blanca Orchestra, playing in the mento style. Since there were no Jamaican record labels at this time, he arranged for his recordings to be pressed in a plant in Lewisham, England, owned by Decca Records. He returned a number of times to England, working and recording with Kenny Baker, George Chisholm, Chris Barber, Kenny Graham and Humphrey Lyttelton, and also toured in Asia and Africa with his own band. During this period he also played and recorded in London with some of the leading Trinidadian calypsonians. He was noted for his impassive demeanour on stage, which belied an expressive playing style.

King led the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation's house band in the 1950s; his sidemen included Ernest Ranglin and Tommy Mowatt. He recorded extensively with this outfit. In 1965 he moved to the USA. His last known public performance was at Jamaican Independence Day celebrations in New York in 1967. He died in the USA in 1981.

Zez Confrey - QRS Piano Roll M-614680 (1927)

Went out over the weekend and came up slap empty on finding any 78s (worth getting that is). Did manage to snag a few piano rolls though.

Here's a QRS roll of Zez Confrey's composition Dizzy Fingers played by Victor Arden.

(The piano is in need of a tuning)

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.