Johnny Moore And His New Blazers - Bullfrog
Just a month after after finding out that a record for which I paid two figures was
worth four figures (an unsubstantiated claim and, yes, I would
happily part with it...), I have smashed my spending ceiling and paid three
figures for a 45. Of course, it's a little crass to talk about cash, but I
thought you might be interested to know what kind of sounds I reckon it's
worth shelling out the big bucks on.
Johnny Moore headed up
one of the most influential R&B combos in late '40s early '50s LA.
His original Blazers featured legendary vocalist Charles Brown. However,
I suspect the key name on this record is Rene Hall, who's credited as
Bullfrog's arranger and whose wife, Sugar Hall, is credited as the
writer. Based on its heavy rhythms and the label it was recorded for, my
guess is that the Rendezvous Records house band were the prime creative force
behind this 1960 instrumental monster. Along with Hall's distinctive
guitar, that would be Ernie Freeman on piano, Earl Palmer on drums and
Plas Johnson on sax. These guys often recorded as the Ernie Fields
Orchestra. They were also the session guns responsible for several
rock'n'roll reinterpretations of classical favourites as B. Bumble and
the Stingers. I've harped on about them all so much you are probably sick
of it by now. The main thing is that today's offering is a straight-out
killer tune. One that will bring joy to the late-night dancers at my
gigs for a while yet and hopefully to you too.
Labels: instrumental, rhythm and blues