The Fugitives - "Fugitive"

Remember this great post from 2011? Well here finally is the flip side to Freeway.
"Fugitive" by The Fugitives!



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Mose Allison - "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me"

Here is the B side to Mose Allison's "The Seventh Son", which I posted about a year ago.

Prestige Records tried to market Allison as a pop star, but Columbia Records and later Atlantic Records tried to market him as a blues artist. Because he sang blues, Jet magazine thought that he was black and wanted to interview him. I thought he was too when I first heard him as a kid.

Mose is still with us and his March 2010 album, The Way of the World, "marked his return to the recording studio after a 12-year absence."

Ray Charles - "Rockhouse Parts 1 & 2"

Speaking of Ray Charles, here is a great instrumental single from his first gold album "What'd I Say" in 1959. The song was later covered in 1985, by The Manhattan Transfer as "Ray's Rockhouse" with lyrics by Jon Hendricks.

Bill Black's Combo "Smokie Parts 1 & 2"

Smokie is a 1959 instrumental by Bill Black's Combo. The single was the first of four entries on the R&B chart and was successful, where it made to number one for four weeks, in early 1960. "Smokie, Part 2" also hit the top twenty on the pop singles chart.
Most people know the Part 2 version, but Part 1, with it's tinkly toy piano sound and faster tempo is my favorite of the two.
Here are both parts 1 & 2 for your listening pleasure

The Fireballs - "Torquay"

Here is another great guitar instrumental from The Fireballs.
"Torquay" was released in August of 1959 and hit #39 on the Billboards charts. The song was written by their lead guitarist, George Tomsco.

The Fugitives - Freeway (Update! 9/3/11)

I was recently contacted by Dion(Alan) Smith, the man who wrote this song. This is from the email he sent me.

I can give you the whole back story...I wrote it ("Freeway") and played it when I was in high school.
Also placed it with the label (when I was about 16 years old), driving my mom's '59 Hudson
Hornet from Phoenix AZ to "Hollywood".
It was first released on Arvee, then Russel Sims, who had made stampers unbeknownst
to myself (and then 'run out of Phoenix') saw Dollar $igns and released the same session on his
own label from...Memphis, I believe. There's quite a story there, including some 'teenage
espionage', another session of the same tune with the help of LeRoy VanDyke
("Just Walk On By, Wait On The Corner" fame).

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Al Casey - The Stinger/Night Beat

Here is a hot little single from 1959 by the late, great Al Casey. This one came out on the West Coast Highland Records, which was owned by Sid Talmedge and based at 2580 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90006. The label was distributed by West Pico Merchandising and was a subsidiary of Malynn Enterprises.

Above photo shows Al, age 32, holding a Hagstrum V1, in 1968.

Happy Independence Day America!

The Wailers - Shakedown

No, not the Bob Marley variety. These Wailers hailed from Tacoma, WA and in 1959, released this little gem on Etiquette Records.

Ernie Fields Orchestra - In The Mood/Christopher Columbus

Ernie Fields (August 28, 1904 – May 11, 1997) was an African American trombonist, pianist, arranger and bandleader. He first became known for leading the Royal Entertainers, which were based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and toured along a circuit stretching from Kansas City, Kansas, to Dallas, Texas.

In the late 1950s Ernie Fields moved to Los Angeles, California, joining Rendezvous Records, for whom he ran the house band. This included pianist Ernie Freeman, guitarist Rene Hall (who had previously worked with Fields in the 1930s), saxophonist Plas Johnson, and drummer Earl Palmer. In 1959 this band had an international hit with an R&B version of Glenn Miller’s "In the Mood", credited to the Ernie Fields Orchestra, which reached #4 on the Billboard Charts. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The band, with minor changes of personnel, went on to recordinstrumentals under many different names, including B. Bumble and the Stingers, The Marketts and The Routers.

Rendezvous Records folded in late 1963, and Fields retired soon after.

His son is saxophonist and bandleader Ernie Fields, Jr.

Here is the original Rendezvous 45 for your enjoyment.