Farewell ...

... sweet-timbred light of (my) soul !!!

Fontella Bass: »Rescue Me« from the Checker LP # 2997:

The Daughters of Reverend Williams

mid-week gospel

Be prepared, folks, tonight the bells strike up a merry peal! I, once again, return to one of the LPs of the fabulous Loving Sisters of Little Rock.

You can hear on this blog a number of songs from their 1970's LPs, so tonight we'll go back further in time, and actually as much you can when following up the Loving Sisters' career, all the way back to their first Peacock LP, Trying Time (PLP # 125), released in May 1965. As their later allbums, this LP offers consistently outstanding material and, a fact especially noteworthy, this material is mainly self-penned (penned by the group's leader Gladys Williams-Givens-McFadden, that is). It is not much of the standard studio LP, that is, all the songs being recorded for the occasion. Rather, the tunes featured were recorded between 1962 and 1965, and some were previously released on 45s, viz. Peacock # 3011 (1962) and # 3027 (1964); a third 45, Peacock # 3060, seems to have been released more or less at the same time as the LP, in 1965. They all were recorded, over the years mentioned, in Houston's Gold Star Studios (see Andy Bradley / Roger Wood: House of Hits. The Story of Houston's Gold Star Recording Studios, Austin 2010, p. 109 for details). So this LP is kind of a summary of the Loving Sisters' early work for Peacock; it also contains one song with the Sisters' father, Reverend Williams, singing the lead vocals.

Because there is not much known about the Loving Sisters, I hope it might be interesting to some of you to read the liner notes from the back cover of their 1965 Peacock LP; the relevant parts - leaving out all generic panegyrics praising the group's excellence, which I take for granted - are the following:

Their singing career started when they were very young. The girls, Leona, Lorraine, Josephine, Anner (!) and Gladys, the original members. The daughters of Reverend and Mrs. Aaron Williams. Reverend Williams pastored a small church and Mrs. Williams served as Choir Directress. During those years the girls participated in the church singing activities along with their two brothers Archie and Luther.
     When Gladys (the baby girl) reached the age of nine she organized the girls group and they performed at the church and along with the school glee clubs ... At twelve years she began to compose her own compositions. When these songs were performed by the girls, the audiences were amazed at the fact that young children could display the words of God so emphatically ...
     In 1951, the girls faced a sudden shock at the death of Leona, the oldest sister. It was some time before they recovered from the loss and attempted to continue their career. They accepted a new member Bobbie Lewis, to fill the vocal vacancy and since then have accepted her as though she were a sister of their family.
     Fortunately in 1962, they were heard by the Pilgrim Jubilee Singers, a professional singing group. They recommended the girls contact Peacock Records Inc., in regards to becoming members of the Peacock Spiritual Family. The group auditioned and was accepted for recording. At the first session their favorite selection (and what they felt most appropriate) »Who Can Ask For More,« was recorded and and later released as their initial Peacock effort. The record sold very well and The Loving Sisters joined with Reverend C.L. Franklin for their first personal appearance tour. The tour proved successful and offered quite an experience for the girls. Since then they have toured the United States many times and many recordings have been recorded and sold. Including such favorites as »Don't Let My Running Be In Vain,« »Sing Your Troubles Away,« »Fix Me« and the ever popular »Trying Time,« which was written by Gladys in a small Mississippi town, during the time the Sisters were participating in a freedom march ...
     The Loving Sisters recently added another member Mary Moore, who serves when needed as vocalist and also designs costumes for the group.

As for the names mentioned in the first paragraph, »Anner« should of course be »Anna« (or »Ann«), and the spelling of the names in general deviates in more than one case from the names as we find them on their 1970's LP (check them here). But it matters not.

The song »Don't Let My Running Be In Vain«, mentioned in the notes on the back cover, was copyrighted by Gladys Givens in Dec. 1962, presumably recorded around that time and subsequently released on Peacock # 3011 (B-side). You can hear it below. It's a beautiful example of a song that comes in two parts, the first almost lyrical, featuring a vocal solo and preparing, with much melodic suspense, for the second part, the second having the background vocals joining in fully. And it comes together with another song from their LP, »Lord Deliver Me«, again penned by Gladys, and only released on this album; it was probably recorded at a later date, possibly in 1965. After an ear-catching piano cascade that opens the song, Glayds powerful voice sets in and, as the song goes on, she cries her soul out. Let not anybody tell me that the Loving Sisters, and their lead singer in particular, have not been underrated in the history of black gospel music!

The Loving Sisters: »Don't Let My Running Be In Vain« / »Deliver Me Lord« from the Peacock LP # 125 (1965):

More from the Gospel Queen of Alabama

mid-week gospel

Ten days ago I wrote a post covering everything I know about Emma Tucker (which is little enough). Today, two more things: First, over on Dave's Jukebox you can listen to Emma Tucker's Nashboro # 793, released around October 1963 and feat- uring »I Don't Have To Worry« w/ »Something To Tell Jesus«.

Second, below you can listen to her Nashboro # 45-860, released in or around June 1965. There are two songs, both credited to Emma Tucker: »You Should Have Been There« and »I'll Reach My Home«.

I couldn't track the lyrics of the first tune anywhere else, so the song may well be an Emma original; other songs by the same title were recorded by several gospel outfits, but I do not know them. As to the music, we have a groovy swing here, with the chorus (»I'm Satisfied«) being much reminiscent of the »Night 'n' Day« refrain in Ray Charles's »(Night Time Is) The Right Time«! (Personnel of backing group is unknown). The second tune, »I'll Reach My Home«, takes its first lines from the traditional hymn known as »Travelin' On«. There is some information about this hymn in Olivia & Jack Solomon (eds.): "Honey in the Rock". The Ruby Pickens Tartt Collection of Religious Folk Songs from Sumter County, Alabama, Macon 2002. This is what you'll find there (and see more here: Ruby Pickens Tartt, 1880-1974):

Emma Tucker: »You Should Have Been There« / »I'll Reach My Home« on Nashboro # 45-860 (1965):

Tuesday's Twosome # 10-11

Folks, there'll be no fussing around today because I'm pretty tired. Just two plain old classics, »I'm Satisfied« and »Something You Got« by Maxine Brown & Chuck Jackson. Famously, »Something You Got«, recorded in NYC in February 1965, was rushed out in March or early April and proved to be their biggest hit (r&b # 10) ever. »I'm Satisfied«, released later that year on Wand # 1109, didn't chart. In order to capitalize on the success of »Some- thing You Got«, Scepter put together (and in July released) an entire album (Wand LP # 669) which at least had the memory word »Something« in its title.

The strategy worked better than expected but eventually backfired: at the end of August '65 only »something« had caught the general attention, with Billboard announcing the LP wrongly as »Say Something« (see excerpt). So it was, it seems, something like a »Something Something« album. In the meantime, Maxine Brown was pictured in the contemporary press together with -- no, not Chuck Jackson but Jackie Wilson! (See the photo from Jet magazine, July 29 issue, below).

Chuck Jackson & Maxine Brown: »I'm Satisfied« / »Something You Got« from the Wand LP # 669 (1965):

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(Photo from Jet magazine, July 29, 1965)

Tuesday's Twosome # 6

In these days my main worry is to somehow make it through the pre-X-mas schedule of year's end dinners and the like. In times like these I tend to resort to some much- cherished classics, and today's classic comes from Fontella Bass (once again on this blog) and Bobby McClure.

Their first Checker 45, out in January 1965, was »Don't Mess Up A Good Thing« / »Baby What You Want Me To Do«. Now, this is a single I'd never hesitate to put in the famous »What-would-you-pick-for-a-lonely-island«-chest. This 45 was issued with two different B-sides, viz. the song you can listen to below and »Jerk Loose« by Oliver Sain (see the picture sleeve here). For all I know the original B-side seems to have been »Baby What You Want Me To Do« (a cover of Jimmy Reed's 1959 hit), and it is explicitly mentioned as flip in the Billboard issue of January 23, '65. Today, copies with »Jerk Loose« tend to be more commonly around, however.

»Baby What You Want Me To Do« is one of the primordial r&b duets from the '60s. Being released in the middle of the Beatles-mania (and contemporary with, for example, Elvis's pitiful »Do The Clam« or the Supremes' »Stop In The Name Of Love«) this record was the ultimate reminder of what r&b was all about when a record company did not look desperately for pop appeal but cut their artists lose on some earthy stuff. It's just such a pity that Fontella & Bobby didn't record more than just their few Chess/Checker sides.

For the record: Checker # 1097 was released towards the end of '64 or in early Jan. '65. The A-side made it to r&b #5 (BB) at the beginning of March and hit #29 on the Cashbox Top 100 in early April.

Fontella Bass & Bobby McClure: »Baby What You Want Me To Do« on Checker # 1097 (1965):

Postscript July 7th 2012: Read more about Fontella Bass here.

YEAH !!!

Today I have to offer you little more than an eye-delight. (Which is good, by the way, because I had a stressy day and don't have much force left for lengthy writing.) But what delight it is! When I saw the photo, because a photo it is that I am speaking of, it took my breath away. I've never seen it before - and it even comes in high resolution! However, the photo should be vaguely familiar to many of you:

CLICK  HERE
AND
BE  AMAZED

Thank you so much! This thanks goes to the wonderful blog Jazz in Photo. Go visit it!

Well, I for my part can only add some sound to the visual experience. As many of you will have realized, the photo is similar, not identical though, to a portrait shot of Aretha Franklin which was used for the cover of her 1965 Columbia LP  Yeah !!! (Columbia CS # 9151). And a yeah it is!

The album was released in May 1965 and proved eventually quite successful on the LP charts in the latter half of '65. It certainly is the jazziest recording Aretha made during the '60s and as such it reminds much of  Rheta Hughes's Columbia LP released in November '65. We have a live setting here, with Aretha (»the swinging chick« according to the sleeve notes) playing with "her quartet" and occasionally in person at the piano. The LP arguably is among the least known albums of Aretha. Mainly, she covers standard tunes here, fault- and effortlessly as always. Man, she IS the Voice! Being live and Aretha accompanied in all songs by the same musicians, the album does inevitably lack somewhat variety of style and arrange- ment. However, as I had to single out two songs for today, my choice was not too difficult after all: »Muddy Water«, the most up-tempo song on the LP, a »true blues« with »healthy blues-shouting« (whatever that is!) according to the notes by Dan Morgenstern on the back cover. After that, you can hear »Without The One You Love« which maybe is the most emotive tune on the album and show-cases Aretha's vocal art particularly well. Again according to the back notes, the tune is »a gospel-flavored pop tune«. Well. The nice thing is that the song was penned by Aretha herself (thanks to Marie from the Catch That Train and Testify! blog for giving me the right hint), and in the version below you can hear Aretha also at the piano. For the record: the album was recorded on February 10, 1965, in New York.

Aretha Franklin: »Muddy Water« / »Without The One You Love« from the Columbia LP # CS 9151 (1965):

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All right, down here I can well supply the cover art of Columbia LP # 9151 in case you don't remember it:

Don't Jump

That's what I'm telling myself, once in a while. So what I was doing since last week- end was going through the older posts of this blog, revising here and there and adding several postscripts. After all, this blog is work in progress and I often come across some new or updated information, especially as information about many artists or songs featured here isn't easily to come by or, worse still, isn't as reliable as one would like. It also happens that I forget to browse my CD collection for re- issues or re-masterings of LP. I should always remember doing so because in many cases the CDs come with substantial and well-researched liner notes which provide information (not seldom in collaboration with the original artists) not found any- where else. And of course, there are the usual mistakes or errors you only detect when not looking for them. You know how it go.

In order not to tell you this without a rhythmic delight coming along with it I made today another Fontella-day! Her first release on Checker (and actually her first 45 after Vesuvius # 1002) had been »Don't Mess Up A Good Thing«, a duet with Bobby McClure arranged by Oliver Sain. The follow-up to this 45, in spring '65, was »You'll Miss Me (When I'm Gone)« / »Don't Jump«. The song on the A-side fared well enough, reaching #27 r&b and even denting the pop charts (# 91). A Billboard critic pronounced »You'll Miss Me« a »stronger entry« than the 45 that went before and prophesied that it had »hit written all over it« (see below). I'm not convinced. But still, these are nice songs and Fontella Bass does, as she always did with whatever material, make them worth listening to. And not to forget that the duets with Bobby McClure (with whom Fontella was also touring in '65) are the great fanfare announcing her soon-to-follow breakout with »Rescue Me«, released on Checker later in '65. My copy of Checker # 1111 has the burgundy red label with Checker in silver letters to the left, while there are other copies around showing the red-and-black »checkered« label on light blue ground. For all we know, the burgundy label was in use before Chess / Checker switched (for a short time really) to the »checkered« label.

Fontella Bass & Bobby McClure:  »You'll Miss Me« / »Don't Jump« on Checker # 1111 (1965):

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Billboard, May 22, 1965, page 35

The Jewboy

Jerry Leiber has died, aged 78. The sad news has been known for some days now.
His is a name that needs no introduction, and so I won't give any. Just some words about his early years.

He grew up in Baltimore, and his first language was Yiddish. His neighborhood was mainly Polish and Italian, with many Jews and blacks around. Jerry was one of the »Jewboys«. Aged 12, he moved to L.A. with his mother and sister. All was to begin there, and it was there that he teamed up with Mike Stoller. They had their first record out in 1951.
In memoriam of Jerry Leiber I thought I might play today three songs: words by Jerry, music by Mike. The framed photo above shows them both seated at the piano; standing behind, Jerry Wexler from Atlantic (2nd from left) and the Coasters.
     Actually, Leiber & Stoller did not produce many songs over the decades, but almost all of them charted. Two of the most famous, and most widely covered over the years, are »Kansas City (Here I Come)« and »Hound Dog«. Equally popular are some tunes they wrote (or co-wrote) for the Drifters during the '60s, such as »On Broadway«.

Kansas City. One of their first songs, written in 1952 for Little Willie Littlefield. Here, you can hear the version of Shirley Ellis, from her 1965 LP »The Name Game« (Congress # CGL-3003, mono). In order to fit her »female version«, the lyrics were changed to »... they got some crazy little fellows there and I'm gonna get me one« (instead of »they got a crazy way of loving there and I'm gonna get me some«).

Shirley Ellis: »Kansas City« from the Congress LP »The Name Game« (1965, mono):

Hound Dog. This song was penned in 1953 for »Big Mama« Thornton. There are quite a few anecdotes about how this happened and what the chemistry was like between the singer and Jerry. According to Jerry, the song had »a country-funky feel« (Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, with David Ritz: Hound Dog. The Leiber and Stoller Autobio- graphy, London - New York 2010, p. 62). Infamously, the song's lyrics, much to the dismay of Leiber, were changed substantially in order not to offend the white public when the song was re-recorded by a Tupelo-born celebrity. It was this version by Elvis that made the song worldfamous. The original lines, as written by Jerry, run »... quit snooping 'round my door. You can wag your tail, but I ain't gonna feed you no more«, and appeared in Elvis's version as »... crying all the time. You ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine«. Jerry later said: »To this day I have no idea what that rabbit business is all about. The song is not about a dog ... Elvis's version makes no sense to me, and, even more irritatingly, it is not the song that Mike and I wrote« (Hound Dog, p. 94). Yet he also acknowledged that the tremen- dous sales success of Elvis's »Hound Dog« »took the sting out of it«, that is, he accepted the garbled lyrics, went along with it and cashed in on the credits. After
all, Jerry Leiber was a song-seller, not a moralist. In the following, you can hear
the rather unlikely cha cha cha-version of the song as recorded by Betty Everett in October 1963. Good thing is that Betty's version has the original lyrics. The song title is given as »Hounddog« on the cover, as »Hound Dog« on the label of Side 1.

Betty Everett: »Hound Dog« from the Vee-Jay LP # 1077 (second release) »It's In His Kiss« (1964):

On Broadway. One of the best-known songs of the Drifters. This tune was originally composed by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Mann had it conceived as »a Gersh- winesque kind of melody« (Ken Emerson: Always Magic in the Air. The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era, London - New York 2005, p. 137), and Weil added the lyrics because she was infatuated with Broadway. However, the song eventually wasn't satisfying. So in January 1963, Mann & Weil took the song to Leiber & Stoller. They re-wrote it to a great extent, thus earning their credits. The version you can listen to in the following was recorded in the Uptown Theatre of Philadelphia on July 24, 1964, and released on Atlantic LP # # 8101 (Saturday Night At The Uptown) later that year. It certainly is the most unusual version of the song you are likely to hear: apart from the excitement of the crowd, the song is done »properly« in the first part, but gradually slips into an ad-hoc group improvisation in the second part. During their performance, the Drifters at one point change »Broadway« into »Broad Street«, »in honor of the Philadelphia thoroughfare« as the notes on the back cover duly remark.

The Drifters: »On Broadway« (live) from the Atlantic LP »Saturday Night At The Uptown« (1964):

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Still Electrifying

During the '60s, Columbia Records was putting out albums of relatively unknown female singers and announced the featured artists as »electrifying« to the buying public. They did it with Aretha Franklin when, in 1962, they released their second album, »The Electrifying« (Columbia LP # CS-8561). And they did it again in October 1965 when they released another LP which, to my greatest dismay and utter surprise, didn't succeed in bringing fame and glory to its protagonist. This LP went by the title »Introducing an Electrifying New Star« ....

Columbia LP # CS-9185 (1965)

The »new star« was Rheta Hughes, born as Henrietta Hughes in Dallas. Her first LP on Columbia (# CS-9185), »Introducing an Electrifying New Star«, presented her as the star she still had to become ... but unfortu- nately never became. This album was to be her one and only LP for Columbia, and it didn't suffice to earn her a place in Gary Marmor- stein's massive 600-page history of Columbia Records (The Label. The Story of Columbia Records, New York 2007).

In the contemporary press, Rheta's LP was not only announced (see the November 27, 1965, issue of Billboard) but also reviewed with much praise: »Rheta Hughes, in her first album, displays an impressive blues and jazz style, a first-rate voice and a flair for proper phrasing.« And in another review: »Rhetta (sic) is a golden and gutsy singer who mastered intonation and phrasing where a young singer should (in a church choir).« (Billboard, December 11, 1965. p. 16). A beautiful example that this praise was well-earned provides the very first song of the LP:

Rheta Hughes w/ Tennyson Stephens:»The Music That Makes Me Dance« from the Columbia LP # CS-9185 (1965):

This song comes from the musical »Funny Girl«, which was first shown on Broadway in 1964, with Barbra Streisand in the title role. But Rheta Hughes, a perfect singer on her first album, made much more of that song than the Broadway production. And this can well be said of all songs we find on her album. Not one of them is less than stunning, and most are prime examples of the so-called Chicago jazz vocal tradition, which was alternatively also called »Soul-Jazz« or »Bluesy Jazz«. Rheta is accompan- ied by Tennyson Stephens on piano, and both had played together in Rheta's church back in Dallas.

On the backcover of the LP we read: »Listen to Rheta ... Let's leave it at that.« There is some irony in these words. Indeed, the album sold little, and Rheta Hughes remained unknown to a larger public. I guess that Columbia somehow made the same mistake with Rheta that they did with Aretha Franklin around the same time: They recorded her, but they wouldn't push her in the market. And as a matter of course they would put her exclusively into the Jazz- or Easy-Listening-corner ... shying away, as it seems, from the then much more profitable markets. Aretha was rescued, in the end, by switching to Atlantic, but Rheta was stuck with it. Even though, one has to admit that most of Rheta's Columbia-recordings are jazzier and, yes, artistically more challenging than anything Aretha recorded for the label. For those of you who aren't convinced of that after hearing the first song above you can try again by listening to two other tunes from Rheta's LP in the following. First »Lost And Lookin'«, a »medium-tempo bluesy number« (that's what the backcover says), then »I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl«. The latter song was announced in Dom Cerulli's sleeve notes with the words: »Hear Rheta blow hot and sexy on the slow blues«!

Rheta Hughes with Tennyson Stephens:

»Lost And Lookin'« / »I Want A Little Sugar in My Bowl« from the Columbia LP # CS-9185 (1965):


The songs on Rheta's beautiful album were produced by Ralph Bass who during his career took part in, and helped to bring about, many a memorable recording; he also was around when the Meditation Singers recorded in Chicago for Chess/Checker Records during the late '60s.

* * *

Rheta Hughes's Columbia-LP did not prove a commercial success and only by hindsight can be judged an artistic success. Back then, she didn't profit much from it. Around the same time, in the mid-'60s, she started appearing on stage as »Rhetta Hughes« what later became her regular artist name. After 1965 she toured through supper clubs and nightclub venues, together with Tennyson Stephens, but they didn't hit it big. Once in a while her name appeared in the rainbow press, e.g. in May 1965 when she was said to have a romance with Tom Jones whom she had met in Las Vegas. In 1969, she recorded another album for the Tetragrammaton-label. This LP has remained rather obscure to this day, although the song »Light My Fire« became a favorite with soul-aficionados.

During the '70s, she was involved in several blaxploitation movies (particularly in »Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song«, 1971), and during the '80s she met with considerable success when she appeared in a number of musicals, including James Baldwin's »Amen Corner«. Due to her checkered career, however, her name didn't find the resonance it deserves and thus information about her life and art is hard to come by. Most of the standard Jazz- and Soul-dictionaries simply ignore her. This is hard to understand for everybody who has heard Rheta Hughes sing. And her Columbia-LP from 1965 was quite an outstanding debut. Sadly and unjustly, it went by largely unnoticed until the present day.