These three recent historical box sets should serve as a reminder to jazz musicians why they only play to 10 people in a nightclub-PEOPLE WANT TO DANCE! As Art Blakey famously declared, “All music is dance music” and the music here will get you on your feet, unless you are just too cool to enjoy life. In that case, go pull out your Bartok collection and have a thrill.
The four disc, 97 song anthology from the 1940s shows that the difference between jazz and R&B back then was the width of a red hair. Most of these tunes are by bona fide jazzers, but of course with vocals emphasized. Singing sax men like Louis Jordan or Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson were the stars of the day, with hits like “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”, the hoot of “Caldonia” and “Old Maid Boogie”. Nat Cole crooned with his trio on “Al lFor You” and a definitive “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good To You” while even Duke Ellington had some juke box hits like “Main Stem” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”. The blues were jumping with Buddy Johnson with “When My Man Comes Home” and the piano ivories were worn blue by Amos Milburn on “Roomin’ House”. Some rich crooning is delivered by Joe Liggins on “Pink Champagne” and Ivory Joe Hunter on the classic “Almost Lost My Mind”. The ladies were stomping it off as well, with Dinah Washington shouting out “Baby, Get Lost” and Ella Fitzgerald teaming up with Louis Jordan for a hoot of the calypso’d “Stone Cold Dead In The Market”. Music just never got better than this. Long live the ’78 rpm!
The venerable teen TV show American Bandstand , hosted by the eternally young Dick Clark was the mecca for a generation of music fans. This 4 disc, 100 song collection of the (duh) “Top 100” for August 5, 1957 shows how ecumenical the American public was for music. 1957 was a pivotal year in popular music, as the “new thing” of rock and roll was just gaining traction, with black artists like Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino jumping to the other side of the tracks. The genres range from Elvis rocking on “Teddy Bear” and a ton of others, to crooners like Pat Boone (“Bye Bye Love”) and the doe eyed Johnny Mathis (“Wonderful, Wonderful”) and even country and western such as Mary Robbins’ “ White Sport Coat”. The 50s were the halcyon days for doo wop fans, and you have plenty of it here with “Over The Mountain, Across The Sea”, “Little Darlin” and “Come Go With Me” for starters. Bona fide R&B was presented by Clyde McPhatter on “Just To Hold My Hand” and Bobby Blue Bland singing “Farther Up The Road”. There’s tons of the pioneers (sorry, couldn’t help that one) with material by Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, as they and Elvis were the Mount Rushmore of modern rock and roll, while rockabilly guys like Ricky Nelson and Buddy Knox. Even jazzer Sarah Vaughan and Perry Como get into the act, and as far as acts, look no further than the Coasters. Like it’s adult counterpart The Ed Sullivan show, there was something for everyone back then, before music got so specialized.
Last but not least was music from the golden year of 1959, the year that gave us classic jazz albums from Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus and just about anyone that entered a studio. What was in the water back then?
R&B was just as verdant, with white proto-rockers like Elvis vying for attention with East LA garage rocker Richie Valens on “Donna”, along with crooners like Frankie Avalon with a misty eyed “Venus”. This was also the heyday of guys like Jackie Wilson, who ruled the nightclubs with things like “Talk That Talk”, “You Better Know It” and the all time classic “Lonely Teardrops”. Doo Wop was at its zenith with The Platters (“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”) and The Falcons (“You’re So Fine”) while black rockers like Chuck Berry and Fats Domino started appealing to people in the US and Liverpool. Warmed toned Bobby Blue Bland as well as rough and fun Lloyd Price had big hits with “I’ll Take Care of You” and “I’m Going To Get Married” with a lighter side of life also being represented by The Coasters. The ladies got into the act with Dinah Washington’s definitive “What A Difference A Day Makes”, while Nina Simone agonizes over “I Loves You Porky” and Lavern Baker crying a tear. The mix of gritty blues, jump tunes, vocal harmonies and even some WASPY schmaltz mix one hit wonders with perennial giants. The future of soul is represented by Sam Cooke on “Only Sixteen” and Ray Charles’ 1959 seminal album produced his mega hit “What’d I Say”. Even Dee Clark and Stonewall Jackson sounded good in ’59! Bring back the Ike Years!