Intermission Riff / Sing Sing Sing - The Bernie Lowe Orchestra

Hi friends! It's been a while, but I have recently found some things in the archives that I had not posted yet, so here we go with a couple from The Bernie Lowe Orchestra.
I love Intermission Riff. I am surprised how good this Cameo Records 45 sounds considering how much I played it when I was a kid. The song was first recorded by Stan Kenton and was composed by trumpeter, Ray Wetzel, but I love this version with the snazzy organ arrangements.



On the B side, we have the Louis Prima classic, "Sing Sing Sing," which is given a bit of an Afro-Cuban flavor in this 1958 rendition.

Hutch Davie - Honky Tonk Train

Here is the other side of the Hutch Davie, ATCO 45 from 1958.
This song was written by American pianist and composer, Meade Lux Lewis in the 1920s.
My favorite version of this number was recorded by the late, great Keith Emerson and is featured on the ELP album, Works Volume 2.

The Virtues - Guitar In Orbit

Remember the classic rock instrumental "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" post? Here is the other side for your listening pleasure.

The Virtues - Guitar In Orbit

Hutch Davie - "Woodchopper's Ball"

Robert Bunyan Davie III (born c.1932), known as Bob "Hutch" Davie is an 
orchestra leader, arranger, pianist, and composer of popular music. He composed the song "Green Door", and led the orchestra which backed Jim Lowe on the best-selling version of the song in 1956. With record producer Bob Crewe, he also arranged Santo and Johnny's hit "Sleep Walk", and in 1958 had this #51 chart hit, as "Hutch Davie and his Honky Tonkers", with his version of Woody Herman's "Woodchopper's Ball"

Ramsey Lewis Trio - "Iracy Blues"

Here again is the Ramsey Lewis Trio, doing a little thing called "Iracy Blues". I love the stand up bass lines, which I believe were played by Eldee Young.

Lewis performing at JazzFe 2006. Photo by Tomas Forgac

Gus Jenkins - "Road Runner"

As promised, here is the A-Side of "Road Runner" by Gus Jenkins.

Ramsey Lewis Trio - "Delilah"

Here's a nice one from 1958, by the Ramsey Lewis Trio, released on the Argo label.

Set up in Chicago, 1955 as the jazz subsidiary of Chess Records, Argo Records changed its name to Cadet Records in 1965, after the discovery of the UK based jazz, classical and spoken word label Argo Records that was already in existence.

Gus Jenkins - "Hit The Road"

Here is another track Gus Jenkins recorded for L.A. based Flash Records.

"Hit The Road" was released as the b-side to "Road Runner" in 1958. I will post the other side at some point in the future.

Boots Brown And His Blockbusters - "Juicy"

Boots Brown cut this knockoff of Bill Justis' "Raunchy" called "Juicy" in 1958. It's just similar enough to have the hit potential without blatantly plagiarizing the original. The A side is a "Tequila" ripoff called "Cerveza," which I will also post at some point in the future. If you like twangy guitars and sax, then you will dig this.

Reader snakeboy pondered if this might have been Boots Randolph and Chet Atkins. Looking into it, I found that Boots Brown was a pseudonym used by West Coast jazz trumpetist Shorty Rogers. He played with his backing band the Blockbusters which included the likes of Barney Kessel, Bill Pittman and Milton Norman on guitar, Red Callender on bass, Shelly Manne on drums and Larry Bunker on percussion. On this single the band featured Bud Shank, Jimmy Rowles and Mel Lewis. "Cerveza" went to number 23 in the U.S. charts in 1958.

Googie Rene - Big Foot b/w Rebecca

 Googie Rene does a bit of a novelty song here with Big Foot, but Rebecca on the other side is the one I like.
From 1958

Googie Rene - Wiggle-Tail

Dad hipped me to the Googie Rene sound at an early age and this was one that used to get me and my brother jumpin'.
Born Rafael Leon Rene, 30 March 1927, Los Angeles, California Died 25 November 2007.
Googie Rene is one of those unjustly overlooked musical figures from the rock 'n' roll years. Today, his records are sought out by rare groovers and northern soulsters. Googie had only three minor hits: "The Slide, Part 1" (# 20 R&B, early 1961), "Flapjacks, Part 1" (# 25 R&B, 1963) and "Smokey Joe's Lala" (# 77 pop, # 35 R&B, 1966). Now dig this!

The Virtues - Guitar Boogie Shuffle

This is personally one of the most influential records that had me wanting to play guitar as a lad. The song was originally written by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith as a country hit in 1948 that sold nearly 3 million copies. Frank Virtue (1922-1987) struck gold again with this song when his band, The Virtues released a rock reworking of the song in 1958. The instrumental became a major hit in the U.S., peaking at #27 on the Black Singles chart and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. Recorded in the basement of his Fayette Street house in Philadelphia, Guitar Boogie Shuffle is a milestone in early rock and roll history.

Johnny Pate - Swinging Shepherd Blues

Johnny Pate (born December 5, 1923, Chicago Heights, Illinois) is a jazz bassist who later became a music arranger/producer, and a leading figure in Chicago soul as well as pop/R&B music.
The Johnny Pate Quintet had a hit with "Swinging Shepherd Blues," which reached number 17 on Billboard's R&B chart in spring 1958. Johnny is still with us and has a website that you can check out.
Here's dad's copy as released on Parlophone Records. The flip side is called "The Elder".