Twenty-two 45 sides: Mel-O-Dots, Betty Nickell, Paul Hampton, The Four Lads, Tracey Twins, more!

 

Or, "A Mess of 45s, Part 2."  Nineteen 45s from my collection that were crying out to be posted, with at least a few repeats from lost links gone by.  For example, friend-of-the-blog Betty Nickell's marvelous I'm Ready is back, and this time I have the year: 1970.  That's what the ARP (Atwell Record Pressing, Inc. of Lafayette TN) 1160 matrix number tells me, at least.  And 1970 seems like the right year, as I was thinking 1970-1973-ish.  Betty's rockabilly gem is fifth in the list, preceded by two tracks sung in duet by the Tracey Twins of Cleveland, Ohio on a 1958 EastWest 45 (a subsidiary of Atlantic!). The twins, Eudice and Eunice Margolis, sound a little bit outside their stylistic comfort zone on these, but they have marvelous voices, and the sides rock, so who's complaining?  They are followed by the Chargers, a group which likely includes Jesse Belvin, whose name appears, with Jo Ann Belvin, in the song/adaptation credits.  Beautifully smooth 1958 doowop, courtesy of RCA Victor.

Then, the terrific Cathy Johnson is backed up (literally) by the Four Lads, one of my favorite '50s pop quartets (Canadian, natch), as they cover a Maddox Brothers and Rose number called I've Got Four Big Brothers (To Look After Me).  To hear it in country mode, click here.  Then, Ella Mae Morse with a pre-Elvis Money Honey from 1954, which in turn is a cover of the 1953 Drifters hit.  Penned by the great Jesse Stone.  Then a distaff Thirteen Women (as Thirteen Men, in the usual superb and sexy Dinah Shore manner), a tune which was going to be the A-side of Bill Haley's Rock Around the Clock--until Clock had its second, smash chart run in 1955.  Then, the superbly inane Be Bop Grandma, beautifully and soulfully sung by Solomon Burke, with a Twist-style backing and a memorable guitar break (Mickey Baker?).  Sounds a little odd for Atlantic, but I do not complain.

And we have the Marty-Robbins-pretending-to-be-a-teen gem, 1959's Cap and Gown.  The songwriters use a Pachelbel I/vi/ii/V scheme, with some modifications, plus a lovely bridge/interlude, and Marty is great as always.  Oh, That'll Be Joyful is well sung by the Four Lads, and, as I once explained in the now-missing portion of my blog, Joyful was a glee club number (dating back at least as far as the late 1800s) usually titled The Peanut Song, and the melody, including the refrain, can be found (under the title "Joyful") in the 1844 Sacred Harp tunebook.  So there.

One More Time is a rocking 1952 track by the Mel-O-Dots, and I have a fondness for the hunt-and-peck organ solo, though I suspect many listeners will regard it as the ruination of the side.  And the R. Allen-J Stone I Just Don't Know (crooned by the Four Lads) is perfectly titled, since I just don't know whether or not songwriter "J. Stone" is the great Jesse Stone.  A Google search failed to turn up an answer; rather, just a bunch of "J. Stone" listings.  Good, bluesy number, so it could be Jesse.  Meanwhile, don't ask me to explain 1964's Burn Baby Burn, save to note that I don't think any political statement is being made.  You've got to love the label.

Next, Big Maybelle does a soul rendition of the onetime garage-band-oldies champ 96 Tears, and then Paul Hampton provides us with further proof that Mitch Miller was not nearly as unwilling as legend would have it to give rock and roll a go at Columbia--I refer to the rockers Slam Bam Thank You Ma'am and Live a Life of Love, both co-written by Otis (All Shook Up) Blackwell.  Hampton was one of Burt Bacharach's early songwriting partners, by the way.  Then, and not very logically enough, Woody Herman's 1941 recording of Misirlou, as reissued on a 1950 Decca 45--perfect for those who didn't know that, long before Dick Dale did it, Misirlou made the big band rounds.  Then, Jo Stafford (possibly in "Mitch made me record this" mode) ably crooning Ray Charles' I Got a Woman--as I Got a Sweetie.  And then I had to turn around and follow Jo's sublime vocalizing with Dick Stop's Class Cutter, which I'm guessing was intended for humor.  If so, it works.  The final two bars are something to hear.  Or not hear, depending on your tolerance level for terrible falsettos.

From a 1957 London 45, two sides of Winifred Atwell tickling the ivories to the latest rock and roll hits, including (wait a minute)... Singing the Blues?  Hm.  Well, I suppose Singing... could kind of, sort of, maybe fall into that camp.  Winifred thought so.  It works, so why ruin the party?  Go, Boy Go (why the missing second comma?), on the other hand, is definitely rock and roll--at least to the extent that the instrumental backing is straight out of Essex-era Bill Haley, complete with the riff from 1953's Crazy Man, Crazy complete with a riff rhythmically identical to the "Go, go, go, everybody!" portion of Crazy Man, Crazy (another curious instance of punctuation).  Meanwhile, Carl Smith's vocal is unadulterated country.  The side bops ably, and I've always wanted to type "bops ably."  The download link follows...

DOWNLOAD: 22 45s April 2022

Heartbreak Hill--Tracey Twins, 1958

Don't Mean Maybe Baby--Same

Old MacDonald (Adaptation by Jesse and Jo Ann Belvin)--The Chargers With Shorty Rogers' Orch., 1958

Dandilyon (Jesse and Jo Ann Belvin)--Same

I'm Ready--Betty Nickell and the Mystics, 1970?

I've Got Four Big Brothers (To Look After Me)--The Four Lads and Candy Johnson, O. Dir. by Ray Ellis, 1955

Money Honey (Jesse Stone)--Ella Mae Morse With Big Dave and His Orch., 1954

Thirteen Men--Dinah Shore With Harry Zimmerman's Orch. and Chorus, 1958

Be Bop Grandma--Solomon Burke, 1961

Cap and Gown--Marty Robbins, 1959

Oh, That'll Be Joyful--The Four Lads, Orch. Dir. by Jimmy Carroll, 1955

One More Time--Mel-O-Dots, 1952

I Just Don't Know (R. Allen-J. Stone)--The Four Lads With Ray Ellis, 1957

Burn Baby Burn--Rockin' Rebels, 1964

96 Tears--Big Maybelle, 1966

Slam Bam Thank You Ma'am--Paul Hampton, 1958

Live a Life of Love--Same

Misirlou--Woody Herman and His Orchestra, V: Woody Herman, 1941 (1950 45 rpm re.)

I Got a Sweetie (Ray Charles)--Jo Stafford With Paul Weston and His Orch., 1955

Class Cutter--Dicky Stop, 1959

Let's Rock 'n' Roll, Pts. I and II--Winifred Atwell and Her Other Piano, 1957

Go, Boy Go--Carl Smith, 1954

Lee