Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tiny Bradshaw - Spider Web








Myron C. ("Tiny") Bradshaw (September 23, 1905 – November 26, 1958) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues bandleader, singer, composer, pianist, and drummer who is best known for his recording of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" (1951). The song was recorded by Johnny Burnette in 1956 and The Yardbirds in 1965. It was covered again by Aerosmith in 1974 and by Motörhead in 1978.



















Here is his recording of Spider Web, which was released on King Records in 1954.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Ray Johnson - Soul City / Kinda Groovy

Ray Johnson is the older brother of saxman Plas Johnson. Theirs was a Creole family that included other fine musical talents, like singing sister Gwen Johnson and cousins Renald Richard (who co-wrote "I Got A Woman" with Ray Charles), Don Vappie and Michael White. Their father, Plas Johnson Sr., was a musician who played multiple instruments, saxophone, guitar and banjo. This rare 1963 single on the Infinity label is a soul gem.



Sunday, March 6, 2011

The Ventures - Lonely Heart

The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in TacomaWashington. The band, formed by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, two masonry workers, has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide, having sold over 100 million records, and are to date the best-selling instrumental band of all time. In 2008, the Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
A Bogle-Wilson original, Lonely Heart was the B-side to The Ventures, single "Ram Bunk Shush" which was released on Dolton 45 No.32 in 1961.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Romancers - Slauson Shuffle

When it comes to 60s instrumentals, this one ranks right up there with Green Onions.
In 1963, The Romancers (Max Uballez, rhythm guitar; Andy Tesso, lead guitar; Chris Pasqual, bass; Armando Mora, tenor sax; and Manuel Mosqueda, drums) showed up to record for Del-Fi Records with two songs written by Max, “Slauson Shuffle” and “All Aboard.”  After recording the two songs, Bob Keane asked “do you have any more?.”  They hurriedly wrote seven songs, added three covers, and finished their first album in five hours total.  The album called “Do the Slauson” still sounds good today. The Romancers were the first East L.A. Chicano band to record an album and were the main influence of the mid-sixties East L.A. sound.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Charlie Byrd - Samba De Uma Nota So / O Pato

Charlie Byrd's versions of the One Note Samba and The Duck were recorded and released a couple years before the Bossa craze hit the U.S. in 1964 with The Girl From Ipanema. This 45 has songs from Byrd's Jazz Samba album, which also featured the late great Stan Getz. They were joined by two bassists (Keter Betts and Charlie's brother Gene (Joe) Byrd), and two drummers (Buddy Deppenschmidt and Bill Reichenbach) for the recording at All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC on 13 February 1962, and it was released on 20 April 1962.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Jake Porter Combo E.P.


Jake Vernon Haven Porter (August 3, 1916, Oakland, California - March 25, 1993, Los Angeles) was an American jazz trumpeter and record producer. In 1951, Porter founded the label Combo Records, which was active until 1961 and released R&B and doo wop releases in addition to some jazz. Much of the material released on the label was recorded in Porter's basement, and he did a fair bit of songwriting for the releases in addition to recording duties.
This e.p. features 4 songs recorded between 1950 and 1952 and is quite a rarity. The songs are Beanville, El Toro, The Whang & Corn Pone Boogie.


Friday, February 18, 2011

Shorty Rogers - The Wild One e.p.

This  45 EP features the tunes Blues for Brando, Chino, The Wild One, and Windswept, from the movie starring Marlon Brando. Recorded 7/14/53. This is one of Maynard Furguson's earliest movie soundtracks. 
I have to admit, that I did not listen to this one much when I was young, but it has grown on me over the years.