Pogo Hopping

Cozy Cole - The Pogo Hop

I've posted some Cozy Cole goodness before, so I don't need to reiterate his jazz drumming credentials. Here's a fun tune that he released as a b-side in 1960, The Pogo Hop.

This Bitter Earth

Dinah Washington - This Bitter Earth

This Bitter Earth is a seemingly sad song from the Queen of the Blues, Dinah Washington, with just a tiny twist of hope right at the end. Written by songwriter, producer and A&R executive, Clyde Otis, it was released by Washington in 1960 and climbed to the top of the R&B charts. Washington would have been no stranger to the feelings of heartbreak that she became so famous for singing about -- she divorced seven times before having a fatal drug overdose in 1963, aged just 39. A couple slow dances to today's selection in a memorable scene from Charles Burnett's brilliant 1977 film, Killer of Sheep.

Boogie music has a pretty sound

Freddy Martin - Bumble Boogie

I posted a rockin' version of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight Of The Bumble Bee earlier this month; today's selection is the original modernising of that classical piece. It was released in 1946 by the bandleader and saxophonist Freddy Martin and features the incredible piano playing of Jack Fina. In 1948 it was memorably used in the Disney film, Melody Time. Speaking of Disney animations, watching clips of Melody Time on YouTube reminded me of a stunning Salvidor Dali and Walt Disney short collaboration which I caught at a Dali exhibition a few years back. It's called Destino and is well worth checking out, screening at an internet near you. In the meantime, boogie on!

Guest Post: Rock'n'Rolio mix

After the success of hosting Johnny Alpha's popcorn mix, I decided it would be a good thing to feature some more guest mixes. This one is from DJ Stuart Style who, along with DJ Lovely Zoo, hosts a monthly night at the Moustache Bar in Dalston (just up the road from me here in old London town). Their club is called Rock'n'Rolio and they play pretty much all tunes from the 1950s -- rock'n'roll, jump blues, etc. You can find them on Facebook and they also regularly put stuff on Mixcloud. Hope you enjoy this new mix from the Rock'n'Rolio guys and, if you're in the area, head to their club night's first birthday on Saturday April the 2nd.



What highlight do we pick from Rock'n'Rolio's first year? Lewis Floyd Henry bringing the house down? Grohs magically reworking Blue Moon to close the night? Or the ravers on the dancefloor, swinging their t-shirts in the air and whooping to Commonwealth Jones? Then, as if all that wasn't enough, the discerning DJ Diddy Wah invites us to feature a mix on this blog!

mp3: Rock'n'Rolio

Fats Domino - Be My Guest
Clyde Mcphatter And His Drifters - Money Honey
Carl Perkins - Honey Don't
Jimmy Liggins And His Drops Of Joy - Drunk
Young Jessie - Hit Git And Split
Ricky Nelson - Boppin' The Blues
Carl Smith - Go Boy Go
Johnny Cash - Hey Good Lookin
Hank Williams - Move It On Over
Arthur Big Boy Crudup - My Baby Left Me
Elmore James - Knockin' At Your Door
Tommy Scott - Cat Music
Bill Haley And The Saddlemen - Rock The Joint
Chuck Wiley - Tear It Up
Little Richard - She Knows How To Rock
Chuck Berry - Let It Rock
Jerry Lee Lewis - It'll Be Me
Piano Slim - Lot Of Shakin', Lot Of Jivin'
Mickey Hawks - Bip Bop Boom
Cliff Richard - My Feet Hit The Ground

Enchiladas!

The Chiefs - Enchiladas!

Today's offering is another kooky instrumental from The Chiefs, a group with a penchant for exclamation marks. Enchiladas! was released in 1958 on New York's Greenwich Records as the follow up to Apache!, posted here just a few months back. Like Apache!, Enchiladas! comes from the mad mind of muzak man Sid Bass, but this time he draws inspiration from Mexico rather than the Native Americans of the United States.

The Sidewinder

The Ray Charles Orchestra - Sidewinder

Today's selection came out in 1971 on Ray Charles' own label, Tangerine Records. Sidewinder is a cover of the Lee Morgan hard-bop Blue Note hit from 1963. Charles' version doesn't surpass the original, but it brings some harder funk flavour to what's already a smashing tune. It was released as the b-side to another instrumental, the funky Booty Butt, and features Leroy Cooper on baritone sax.

It might grind slow, but it grinds fine

Richie Havens - Indian Rope Man

Recorded in '68 and released in '69 on Verve Forecast, Indian Rope Man was written by Richie Havens, an artist perhaps better known as an interpreter of songs. Havens emerged from the Greenwich Village sixties folk scene and onto the world stage through performances at Woodstock and the Isle of White festival. I can't be the first to describe today's offering as a slow burner with inherently psychedelic lyrics. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity released a storming funk-rock version of it that same year (as featured on a Diddy Wah mixtape of yore). The Indian rope man was also recast as an African herbsman in 1972 by Bob Marley and Lee Scratch Perry.

Battle fit

Mahalia Jackson - Joshua Fit The Battle

Born in New Orleans in 1911, Mahalia Jackson became the most successful gospel singer of her time. She sang at JFK's inaugural ball and at the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. She also sang at King's funeral. On today's selection, recorded in the mid 1950s, Jackson is backed by the Falls-Jones Ensemble. I've always enjoyed the Mildred Jones' rollicking piano on this recording, taken from an EP released on the Philips label around 1960. Although I'm not generally a fan of EPs, I love Dutch pressings with their pretty picture sleeves.

Joshua Fit The Battle is, unsurprisingly, a biblical story and the song and is thought to have been composed by slaves early in the nineteenth century. The lyrics make more sense if you know that fit can mean fought to some folk. It's about a fella named Joshua who led the Israelites in a battle for a place called Jericho. Rumour has it that the surrounding walls fell when Joshua's army (which must have doubled as his marching band) encircled the city whilst blowing their trumpets. As with any religious tales, a hefty grain of salt is highly recommended. If it actually occurred, this battle happened many thousands of years ago, maybe three and a half, but, sadly, the area is still home to land related disputes.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Frankie Laine - Rawhide

More cowboy sound-effect enhanced goodness available here on Diddy Wah. Today it's Frankie Laine's original version of the theme to Rawhide. From 1959, this is a personal favourite of mine, as is any song that featured in The Blues Brothers.

A Cowboy Legend

The Ramrods - Riders In The Sky

Here's a record which I'm surprised I haven't posted before. I thought it was included on a podcast or mixtape at one time or another, but it seems not. Complete with cattle noises, this instrumental version of the cowboy classic, Ghost Riders In The Sky, is absolutely awesome. Hailing from Connecticut, and featuring female drummer Claire Lane, The Ramrods released today's offering as a single in 1961. Although Riders In The Sky charted in the US, it found a more appreciative audience in wild woods across the Atlantic, hitting number 8 in the UK.

The Stax Southern Soul Sound

The Mar-Keys - The Dribble
The Mar-Keys - Bo-Time

The Mar-Keys were the Stax Records house band. They featured members such as Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn, who also recorded as Booker T & The MGs, and Wayne Jackson from the Memphis horns. They were basically most of the guys who created the Stax southern soul sound and played behind Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, and loads more of the greats, waay too many to mention here. Their own biggest hit was their first single, Last Night, which shifted a million records in 1961. Today's selections, The Dribble and Bo-Time, were released two years later. They're both instrumentals -- like Booker T & The MGs, The Mar-Keys were an instrumental group -- and both sides are undoubtedly dancefloor dynamite and tittyshakers to boot.

I picked up this 45 in Camden a few years back. From the pictures you can see what attracted me to it; on the sleeve in clear marker-pen it says "GREASY MEMPHIS INSTRUMENTAL" and "SOUTHERN SOUL". But what's really interesting is that the names of the tracks, the group's name, and the release numbers have all been scratched off both labels. This was the practice of certain secretive old-school DJs who had killer tunes that they didn't want other DJs to know about. My approach is the complete opposite, get into it one and all.

Breaak-Aaa-Waaaay

Irma Thomas - Break-A-Way
Irma Thomas - Break-A-Way 33rpm

Irma Thomas, a successful New Orleans soul queen, recorded a bunch of great records throughout the 60s and worked with local luminaries including Allan Toussaint. Although I'm not fortunate enough to have seen her perform (yet), I believe she tours regularly and is still going strong. Break-A-Way was released as a b-side, but eventually ended up eclipsing the a-side in popularity – a phenomenon I have been blogging a lot of late, for no particular reason. Although the a-side, Wish Someone Would Care, charted reasonably highly in 1964, Break-A-Way was seemingly ignored by the radio DJs at the time. However, with such a breakneck-speed beat, I imagine that in time it became a popular spin on the Northern Soul scene. I’m only speculating, but this may have led to it being chosen as a good song to be covered in 1983 by British actress/comedian/television-presenter, Tracey Ullman. All you really need to know, is that it’s a cracking tune, one that you surely won’t regret adding to your mp3 collection.

This morning, when I went about the process of ripping this recording from vinyl, it begun playing with the speed on the wrong setting. This reminded me about a slightly alcohol fueled conversation I had on Friday about running a whole night playing 45rpm records at 33. I reckon it’s a concept that's got potential. Here (here and here) are some other candidates. Any fresh suggestions would be most welcome.

Spooky Satan

The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra - Spooky Takes A Holiday

Today's selection is another easy find which I just bought for the name and was pleasantly impressed when it turned out to be a crowd favourite at my DJ nights. To me, it sort of creates a similar vibe to the music from the bar scene in Star Wars. Billed as the The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, this record was actually made a couple of years after Dorsey died in 1956. Trombonist Warren Covington had taken charge of the ensemble (at Dorsey's widow's request) and lead them through this version of Satan Takes A Holiday (Satan became Spooky on the UK release for some reason), a song which was written by Larry Clinton and previously had been recorded by Dorsey himself in 1937. It appears as the b-side to I Want To Be Happy Cha Cha, which I'm guessing was an attempt to capitalise on the success of Tea For Two Cha Cha, also released in '58.

What I love about a record like this, apart from it being a killer tune, is that it's cheap and easy to find. As a DJ, it's easy to get sucked in to thinking that all the banging tunes are rare and cost big bucks; that ain't the case at all, you just need to do some digging.

Flight Of The B. Bumble

B. Bumble & The Stingers - Bumble Boogie

B. Bumble & The Stingers (not a real band) came from the same fertile ground of imagination as Teen Flip and Workin' Out. Initially, Earl Palmer, René Hall and Plas Johnson decided to to a rockin' version of In The Mood, which was successful, so they turned their minds towards repeating the trick with a classical piece. At producer Kim Fowley's suggestion, Hall approached pianist Jack Fina, who's arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight Of The Bumble Bee had been a hit for Freddy Martin and was later used in the 1948 Disney film, Melody Time. Around 1961, Fina dropped into L.A.'s Gold Star studios and showed Ernie Freeman the arrangement. Also on the recording are Earl Palmer on drums, Red Callender on bass and Tommy Tedesco on guitar. The resulting record sold well and paved the way for the group's next excursion into classical music, the incredibly popular (especially in the UK) interpretation of Tchaikovsky's March Of The Wooden Soldiers from the Nutcracker Suite, known as Nut Rocker. You can read more about the mysterious B. Bumble & The Stingers here.

Now, I had no idea about any of this when I first picked up this particular record a number of years ago. Although I was familiar with Nut Rocker -- it's not a difficult record to find in my local vinyl spots -- I bought this one for the name alone, because I have a penchant for songs about bees. A long time after hearing it I still had no idea who recorded it, I just thought it was an amazingly fast, wild, weird song. I often play it late in the night when I'm DJing, once everyone is warmed up enough to handle its frenetic piano, but I always considered it as an oddball record. Little did I know that Bumble Boogie was created by some of the sames musical characters who provided the backing for many of the other 45s in my record box.

On other matters, a couple of weeks back Justin, from the always excellent Aquarium Drunkard blog, invited me to be a guest on his weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU satellite radio. Which, if you have access, you can listed to on channel 26 (SIRIUS) and channel 43 (XM) every Friday at Noon and Midnight, EST. You can also listen through the internet and there's apparently a free trial for that. So, tune in tomorrow to hear my set, if you can. Also, Justin has made every track I play available to be downloaded from his blog. And, while I'm in the mood for plugging things, if you happen to be near the London Borough of Hackney this Friday evening, drop by and say hi at my Diddy Wah DJ night at The Haggerston, it's free to get in and loads of fun.

Subway

The Champs - Subway

This recording was released in 1958 as the flip side to Chariot Rock. Earlier that same year, another b-side from The Champs had propelled them into the pages of rock'n'roll history -- of course I'm referring to the phenomenal Tequila. Subway has the same dirty low-down sax sound, but is not as peppy. It doesn't matter though, it's an awesome tune, full of sleaze. The Champs are sometimes referred to as one-hit wonders, which may be factually accurate but if all you know of them is Tequila, then you're missing out.

The night was black

Jody Reynolds - Endless Sleep
Jody Reynolds - Tight Capris

For anyone following this blog recently, this post was perhaps inevitable. I've previously blogged about a couple of Jody Reynolds records (here and here) and Endless Sleep was his first and biggest hit, resting for a few weeks in 1958 at #5 on the US charts. It's a song about a woman committing suicide, quite dark a subject matter to be so high up on the charts, then or now. The flip side is a more upbeat number, about a girl who wears tight capris. Capris are 3/4 length pants, or long shorts, which is something I just learned and feel better for knowing. The singing and guitar playing on both tunes is perfect.