Tag: Paula Watson

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All records from the collection of Axel Küstner. All photos taken by Axel Küstner. Special thanks to Bernd Van Werven for digitizing the photos.

Today’s show kicks off a trio of shows devoted to West Coast piano blues of the 40s and 50s. As Tony Russell wrote: “In the late summer of 1945 Charles Brown recorded “Driftin’ Blues”, a moonlight sonata of rootlessness and uncertainty. It was perhaps the first blues hit of the postwar blues period, and it expanded the language of the blues as dramatically as Leroy Carr’s “How Long – How Long Blues” 17 years earlier.” Brown’s influence was profound, setting the stage for fellow pianists like Amos Milburn, Floyd Dixon, Little Willie Littlefield, Roy Hawkins, Ivory Joe Hunter, Cecil Gant and others. The West Coast pianists were equally adept at singing smokey, after hour ballads as they were laying down some romping boogie woogie. The aforementioned pianists were all recorded prolifically, and all had records hitting the charts. But it wasn’t just the men who dominated the scene, there were several superb woman pianists such as Camille Howard, Hadda Brooks, Betty Hall Jones, Paula Watson, Marth Davis and Effie Smith to name a few. We hear all of these artists over the course of these shows as well as lesser-known figures such as Willie Egan, Charles “Boogie Woogie” Davis, Gus Jenkins, J. D. Nicholson, Lloyd Glenn among others. Some figures, notably Jimmy McCracklin and Mercy Dee, have been covered extensively in prior shows so we we won’t be spotlighting them in this series.

We hear extensively from several artists on this show including Amos Milburn, Little Willie Littlefield, Floyd Dixon Roy Hawkins, Charles Brown and Ivory Joe Hunter. Milburn made a name for himself around Houston before joining the Navy and seeing overseas battle action in World War II. When he came out of the service, Milburn played in various Texas clubs before meeting the woman whose efforts would catapult him to stardom. Persistent manager Lola Anne Cullum reportedly barged into Aladdin boss Eddie Mesner’s hospital room, toting a portable disc machine with Milburn’s demo all cued up. The gambit worked and Milburn signed with Aladdin in 1946. The first of Milburn’s 19 Top Ten R&B smashes came in 1948 with his classic “Chicken Shack Boogie,” which gave his band the name the Aladdin Chickenshackers.

With the ascent of “Bad, Bad Whiskey” to the peak of the charts in 1950, Milburn embarked on a string of similarly boozy smashes: “Thinking and Drinking,” “Let Me Go Home Whiskey,” “One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer” (an inebriating round John Lee Hooker apparently enjoyed!), and “Good Good Whiskey” (his last hit in 1954). Alcoholism later brought the pianist down hard, giving these numbers an ironic twist in retrospect. Milburn’s national profile rated a series of appearances on the Willie Bryant-hosted mid-’50s TV program Showtime at the Apollo. Aladdin stuck with Milburn long after the hits ceased, dispatching him to New Orleans in 1956 to record with the vaunted studio crew at Cosimo’s. In 1957, he left Aladdin for good. Milburn contributed a fine offering to the R&B Yuletide canon in 1960 with his swinging “Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)” for King. Berry Gordy gave him a comeback forum in 1962, issuing an album on Motown predominated by remakes of his old hits. Milburn passed in 1980.

Little Willie Littlfield died on June 23, 2013 in the Netherlands at the age of 81. He was already a veteran when he waxed “K.C. Loving” in 1951, the original version of “Kansas City” although it only charted when Wilbert Harrison picked it up seven years later resulting in a huge smash. After a few sides for Eddie’s and Freedom, Littlefield moved over to the Modern label in 1949, scoring with two major R&B hits, “It’s Midnight” and “Farewell.” Littlefield proved a sensation upon moving to L.A. during his Modern tenure, playing at area clubs and touring with a band that included saxist Maxwell Davis. After a few 1957-58 singles for Oakland’s Rhythm logo, little was heard from Little Willie Littlefield until the late 1970’s, when he began to mount a comeback at various festivals and on the European circuit. He eventually settled in the Netherlands, where he remained active musically. Littlefield has been well served on reissues by the Ace label which has released three collections of his vintage sides: Kat On The Keys, Going Back To Kay Cee, Boogie and Blues And Bounce: The Modern Recordings Vol. 2.

Floyd Dixon was born in Marshall, Texas and moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1942. There Dixon met Charles Brown, who had an influence on his music. Dixon signed a recording contract with Modern Records in 1949.  Both “Dallas Blues” and “Mississippi Blues”, credited to the Floyd Dixon Trio, reached the Billboard R&B chart in 1949, as did “Sad Journey Blues”, issued by Peacock Records in 1950. Dixon replaced Charles Brown on piano and vocals in the band Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers in 1950, when Brown departed to start a solo career. The group recorded for Aladdin Records and reached the R&B chart with “Telephone Blues” (credited to Floyd Dixon with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers). Staying with the record label, Dixon had a small hit under his own name in 1952 with “Call Operator 210.”

Dixon switched to Specialty Records in 1952 and to Cat Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records in 1954. “Hey Bartender” (later covered by the Blues Brothers) and “Hole in the Wall” were released during this time. In the 1970s Dixon left the music industry for a quieter life in Texas, though he did occasional tours in the 1970s and 1980s.  In the mid-1990s, he secured a contract with Alligator Records, releasing the critically acclaimed album Wake Up and Live. Dixon passed in 2006.

Producer Bob Geddins discovered Roy Hawkins playing in an Oakland, CA nightspot and supervised his first 78s for his Cavatone and Downtown labels in 1948. Modern Records picked up the rights to several Downtown masters before signing Hawkins to a contract in 1949. By his October 1949 session the records were being officially issued on Modern. Hawkins was blessed with superb backing on his records including outstanding guitarists like Ulysses James, Chuck Norris, Johnny Moore, T-Bone Walker and Lafayette Thomas. In addition there were great sax men like Lorenzo “Buddy” Floyd, Maxwell Davis and when he lost the use of his arm, high caliber piano from Lloyd Glenn and Willard McDaniel.

Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers with Charles Brown

Hawkins’ 1950 and 1951 find the excellent guitarist Chuck Norris in the band and on the latter session pianist Willard McDainiel (Hawkins lost the use of an arm in a car wreck). Cut during this period was “The Thrill Is Gone” which peaked at #6 on the R&B charts and many years later revived by B.B. King who took the song to #3 R&B, #15 Pop in January 1970. Hawkins never achieved a hit of the same magnitude but Modern stuck with and he continued to record some first-rate material. He waxed his last sides for Modern in 1955 until one final hook up in 1961 for Kent, which Modern had become by then. until one final hook up in 1961 for Kent, which Modern had become by then. In his absence from Modern Hawkins recorded little outside of a 1958 session for the San Francisco Rhythm label. Thankfully the Ace label has issued the bulk of Hawkins’ recordings on CD continuing from their first vinyl release in the early 1980’s. In 2000 Ace issued The Thrill Is Gone collecting some of his best numbers and followed it in 2006 with Bad Luck Is Falling which included uncollected singles, alternate takes and unissued sides.

Charles Brown was born in Texas City, Texas and eventually settled in Los Angeles in 1943. When Nat King Cole left Los Angeles to perform nationally, his place was taken by Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers, featuring Brown’s gentle piano and vocals. The Three Blazers signed with Exclusive Records, and their 1945 recording of “Drifting Blues”, with Brown on piano and vocals, stayed on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart for six months. Brown led the group in a series of further hits for Aladdin over the next three years. Brown left the Three Blazers in 1948 and formed his own trio with Eddie Williams (bass) and Charles Norris (guitar). He signed with Aladdin Records and had immediate success with “Get Yourself Another Fool” and then had one of his biggest hits, “Trouble Blues”, in 1949, which stayed at number one on the Billboard R&B chart for 15 weeks in the summer of that year. He followed with “In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down”, “Homesick Blues”, and “My Baby’s Gone”, before having another R&B chart-topping hit with “Black Night”, which stayed at number one for 14 weeks from March to June 1951. His final hit for several years was “Hard Times” in 1951.

Ivory Joe Hunter was a talented pianist by the age of 13. He made his first recording for Alan Lomax and the Library of Congress as a teenager, in 1933. In the early 1940s, Hunter had his own radio show in Beaumont, Texas, on KFDM, for which he eventually became program manager. In 1942 he moved to Los Angeles, joining Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers in the mid-1940s. He wrote and recorded his first song, “Blues at Sunrise”, with the Three Blazers for his own label, Ivory Records, it became a nationwide hit on the R&B chart in 1945. In the late 1940s, Hunter founded Pacific Records. In 1947, he recorded for Four Star Records and King Records. Two years later, he recorded further R&B hits; on “I Quit My Pretty Mama” and “Guess Who.” After signing with MGM Records, he recorded “I Almost Lost My Mind”, which topped the 1950 R&B charts and Need You So” was a number two R&B hit that same year. By 1954, he had recorded more than 100 songs and moved to Atlantic Records. His first song to cross over to the pop charts was “Since I Met You Baby” (1956). It was to be his only Top 40 pop song, reaching number 12 on the pop chart. Hunter’s “Empty Arms” and “Yes I Want You” also made the pop charts, and he had a minor hit with “City Lights” in 1959, just before his popularity began to decline. Hunter came back as a country singer in the late 1960s, making regular Grand Ole Opry appearances and recording an album titled I’ve Always Been Country.

Floyd Dixon

There were quite a number of boogie-woogie playing ladies who cut records during this period including Camille Howard, Hadda Brooks, Nellie Lutcher, Martha Davis, Paula Watson, Betty Hall Jones, Effie Smith among several others. In 1943 Camille Howard became a member of the Roy Milton Trio. Milton’s group then expanded to become a six- or seven-piece band, the Solid Senders, and they were signed by Art Rupe’s Juke Box label, which later became Specialty Records. Howard also made her first recordings under her own name for the small Pan-American label in 1946. She stayed with Milton’s Solid Senders, and was the featured piano player on all their hits through the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. In the laet 40’s Rupe began promoting her as a solo artist, and she had her first hit under her own name in 1948 with “X-Temporaneous Boogie.” As well as continuing to record with Milton, Howard had 14 singles released under her own name by Specialty between 1948 and 1952.

At age 15, Nellie Lutcher joined her father in Clarence Hart’s Imperial Jazz Band. In 1935, she moved to Los Angeles.  She began to play swing piano, and also to sing, in small combos throughout the area. She was not widely known until 1947 when she learned of the March of Dimes talent show at Hollywood High School, and performed. The show was broadcast on the radio and her performance caught the ear of Dave Dexter, a scout for Capitol Records. She was signed by Capitol and made several records. In 1948, she had a string of further R&B chart hits, the most successful being “Fine Brown Frame”, her third No. 2 R&B hit.

By 1940 Effie Smith was living in Los Angeles, California, with her two children, and was working as a singer in a WPA project.  She sang in a vocal group, the Three Shades of Rhythm, and with the Lionel Hampton and Benny Carter orchestras, and during World War II appeared on several Armed Forces Radio Service broadcasts. She recorded several songs with Johnny Otis for the G&G and Gem labels, and also recorded for Miltone Records in 1947. During the 1950s, she recorded a number of tracks for Aladdin Records, continuing to perform and record into the 60s.

Blues vocalist, stand-up pianist and occasional organist, Betty Hall Jones worked with Bus Moten’s band and Addie Williams in Kansas City. Returning to California, she performed as a single artist before joining drummer/vocalist Roy Milton’s band in L.A. in 1937. She worked with West Coast artists in the 40’s such as Alton Redd and Luke Jones and recorded under her own name in the late 40’s for Atomic, Capitol and under Luke Jones’ name for Modern. In the 1950’s she recorded for Dootone and Combo.

By the mid-1930s, Martha Davis had met and been influenced by Fats Waller, and performed regularly as a singer and pianist in Chicago clubs. In 1948, Davis started her recording career for Jewel Records in Hollywood. Her cover of  “Little White Lies” reached # 11 on the Billboard R&B chart, followed by a duet with Louis Jordan, “Daddy-O” in 1948, which reached #7 on the R&B chart that year. Davis and her husband Calvin Ponder lso began performing together on stage, developing a musical and comedy routine as “Martha Davis & Spouse.” They appeared together in movies including Smart Politics (with Gene Krupa), and in the mid-1950s, variety films Rhythm & Blues Revue, Rock ‘n’ Roll Revue and Basin Street Revue. Several of their performances were filmed for video jukeboxes, and they also broadcast on network TV, particularly Garry Moore’s CBS show.

After moving to California, Paula Watson recorded for the Supreme label in LA, and her first single, “A Little Bird Told Me”, reached number 2 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 6 on the pop chart. Watson had a second R&B chart hit with “You Broke Your Promise”, which reached number 13. She performed, as the press noted as a “rowdy vocalist…[and] vigorous pianist who could lay down a mean boogie-woogie blues”. In late 1949 she began recording for Decca and then moved in 1953 to MGM Records

Hadda Brooks began playing piano professionally in the early 1940’s in Los Angeles. Brooks preferred ballads to boogie-woogie,but worked on her style by listening to Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Meade Lux Lewis records. Her first recording, “Swingin’ the Boogie”, for Modern Records, was a regional hit in 1945. Another R&B Top Ten hit, “Out of the Blue,” was her most famous song. She appeared in In a Lonely Place (1950) starring Humphrey Bogart and in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) with Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas. She was the second African-American woman to host her own television show—after Hazel Scott with The Hazel Scott Show on DuMont in 1950—with The Hadda Brooks Show (1957), a combination talk and musical entertainment show that was broadcast on KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. She resumed her recording career in the 1990’s.

Other artists heard today include Willie Egan, Charles “Boogie Woogie” Davis, Lloyd Glenn, Willard McDaniel, Gus Jenkins and Cecil Gant. When Egan was nine-years-old, his family sent him to live with his grandmother in Los Angeles; there he began playing the piano parked on his uncle’s front porch, learning to play by absorbing records by Amos Milburn and Hadda Brooks. In 1949, the 15-year-old signed to Elko Records to cut his debut record, “It’s a Shame.” The single generated little interest, and he returned to playing local clubs before getting a second chance in 1955 with the Mambo label. Wow Wow” for Mambo was a hit throughout southern California. He went on to cut sides for Vita and Swingin’ through the early 60s. wo decades later, he was subsisting on unemployment when local R&B promoter Steve Brigati tracked him down — believing Egan was now dead, the British label Krazy Kat had compiled his solo singles on an LP, Rock & Roll Fever, and sales were proving remarkably strong throughout Europe. Soon Egan was headlining London’s Electric Ballroom, backed by saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, and for Ace Records he cut a new studio LP, 1984’s Going Back to Louisiana. After a long bout with cancer, Egan died in Los Angeles on August 5, 2004.

Born in San Antonio, Texas, from the late 1920s, Lloyd Glenn played with various jazz bands in the Dallas and San Antonio areas, first recording in 1936 with Don Albert’s Orchestra. He moved to California in 1941, joining the Walter Johnson trio in 1944, and finding employment as a session musician and arranger. He accompanied T-Bone Walker on his 1947 hit “Call It Stormy Monday”, and later the same year made his own first solo records, billed as Lloyd Glenn and His Joymakers. In 1949 he joined Swing Time Records as A&R man, and recorded a number of hits with Lowell Fulson, including “Everyday I Have the Blues” and the #1 R&B hit “Blue Shadows”. He also had major R&B hits of his own, with “Old Time Shuffle Blues” (#3 U.S. Billboard R&B chart in 1950) being followed by “Chica Boo”, which also made #1 on the R&B chart in June 1951.

Gus Jenkins was born in Birmingham, and developed his piano style influenced by St. Louis blues pianist Walter Davis. He toured with Sammy Green’s Hot Harlem Review, and backed singers Big Mama Thornton and Percy Mayfield, before reaching Chicago in the late 1940s. Jenkins first recorded for the Chess label in January 1953, accompanied by Walter Horton (harmonica) and Willie Nix (drums), but his recordings, including “Eight Ball”, were not released for some years. Later in 1953 he recorded “Cold Love” and other tracks as Little Temple for the Specialty label in Los Angeles. He remained in Los Angeles for the rest of his career, and learned woodworking while continuing to perform, with Johnny Otis’ band and others, and record. He recorded “I Miss My Baby” for Jake Porter’s Combo label in 1955, before recording “Tricky” in 1956 for the Flash label owned by Charlie Reynolds. The single reached no.2 on the R&B chart and no.79 on the Billboard pop chart in late 1956. He released several further singles on Flash, including “Spark Plug” and “Payday Shuffle”, before forming his own label, Pioneer International.  He released a string of records on the label until 1962, many being piano and organ instrumentals released under his own name.

J.D. Nicholson was a pianist from Louisiana and learned to play the piano in church from the age of five. He later emigrated to the west coast where, influenced by the popular black recording artists of the day, he built up a solo act and traveled and performed all over California. In the mid-40s he teamed up with Jimmy McCracklin and they made their first demo recordings together; Nicholson played piano, McCracklin sang and both their styles were very much in the mold of Walter Davis. He played behind numerous artists including Jimmy McCracklin, Ray Agee, Harmonica Slim, George Smith, Pee Wee Crayton, Big Mama Thornton and others. He cut only a handful of sides under his own name for labels such as Courtney, Elko, Hollywood and Imco. Nicholson enjoyed a lengthy career, playing in the 60’s through the 80’s with George “Harmonica” Smith, Big Mama Thornton, Bacon Fat and Big Joe Turner. Nicholson was also the subject of a full-length biography titled Headhunter: The Blues Odyssey of J.D. Nicholson.